CIA

When you think CIA, one of last words likely to come to mind is "open." And yet the U.S. spy organization has begun to lift the lid on its operations--albeit ever so slightly--in a bid to cultivate public support. In fact, the agency recently launched a retooled Web site, complete with YouTube and Flickr channels.

The following gallery shows some of the mementos the agency is now sharing with the public for the first time. If you thought James Bond had cool tech toys, get a load of some of this stuff, which includes a tiny intrusion detector and a pigeon-cam.

This gallery originally appeared on CBSNews.com. … Read more

DWe're pretty sure that both Lukin (in Computer Love) and the CIA are displaying a sense of humor this week, but frankly, it's kind of hard to tell. WTF? Also, did the FCC really try to tell us that they don't need wireless Net neutrality regulations because, um, Android is open? Wow. And NPR hands it to Ping in a big way, calling it one of the worst ideas in music in 2010. Ouch. And ... yes. And a special Computer Love on a Wednesday because it's the last live show of the year! See you all in 2011, everyone! --Molly

The CIA allegedly purchased flawed targeting software for drone missile attacks on suspected terrorists--software it knew was faulty, and that could misdirect attacks by as much as 39 feet--according to a report in The Register based on claims made in a lawsuit.

The suit, filed by a Massachusetts-based company called Intelligent Integration Systems (IISi), involves another Massachusetts company, Netezza, The Register said in its report today. Netezza, a data warehousing company IBM has made a bid to buy, allegedly got a $1.18 million purchase order from the CIA last year to provide data warehouse appliances for use in drones, … Read more

Google Ventures and In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA, have provided funding to a company that monitors all the noise on the Web looking for connections between people, groups, and events, according to Wired.

The company, Recorded Future, offers a Temporal Analytics Engine for predictive analysis, allowing people to "visualize the future, past, or present."

In addition, In-Q-Tel and Google Ventures both have seats on the board Recorded Future and have been "very helpful," providing advice to the Cambridge, Mass.-based start-up, Chief Executive Christopher Ahlberg, an ex-Swedish Army ranger, told Wired in an article … Read more

New technology allows organic brain cells to control robots, leading us to conclude that eventually we'll all be brains in a data center. Also Apple announces a bunch of updates to its computer line as well as a new magic mouse. And the PS3 is now the King of the console hill. Who saw that coming?

Apple redesigns iMac and 13-inch MacBook, revamps Mac Mini http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10378884-1.html http://www.apple.com/macbook/ http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/ … Read more

Back in April of 2008 BJ (before Justin), motivational speaker James Arthur Ray guest-hosted The 404 Podcast and Jeff, Wilson, and Randall spoke to him about how to grow your own meat--no lie. Anyway, the show left a sour taste in The 404's collective mouth, and more than a year later it turns out that Mr. Ray is a big phony, not unlike Balloon Boy Sr.

Turns out that three people died in Arizona at a spiritual retreat "sweat lodge" organized by the self-appointed guru. It's a very sad story, and our hearts go out to the families of the victims. And James? Shame on you.

Oh, and surprise! The personal information you put up on the Internet is no longer private. According to this Wired Danger Room blog, a branch of the CIA has begun heavily investing in Visible Technologies, a software firm that monitors social media, including blog posts, Internet forums, online videos, radio reports, and so on. Luckily, Facebook is currently immune to such companies due to its closed architecture, but Twitter, Amazon, and YouTube are all fair game.

This report is definitely worth reading, but we're not surprised. Actually, we thought there was already a system set up to spy on our Web activities: it's called GOOGLE, and it's not doing such a great job at keeping our information private. The company is under suspicion of accidentally posting transcribed voice mails from its Google Voice service. Although this issue might actually concern me if my entire voice mail box weren't filled with concerned messages from my mother...

We're doing three Beck's Beer Audio Drafts this week to make up for the one we skipped last Friday due to Wilson's absence, and Wilson's pick for today is Works Progress Administration, a country outfit comprised of some of the most recognizable names in country music, including Glen Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket, Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek, and Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

The songs of the day are called "Good as Ever" and "Always Have My Love," and although Jeff and I aren't huge fans of the country music genre, we can definitely appreciate the musical talent of this supergroup, and Wilson chimes in to explain the difference between country-pop, country-rock, and a million other sub-genres. The band is currently on a West Coast Tour, so be sure to check out the WPA Web site for more details.

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Visible Technologies, a company that monitors online social activity and packages the findings for clients, has forged a "strategic partnership" with In-Q-Tel, the CIA's not-for-profit investment arm, to give the organization insight into social media.

The deal was first reported on Monday by Wired.

According to Visible Technologies, In-Q-Tel is also investing in the company through a "technology development agreement." It did not release more details than that.

However, examining Visible Technologies' work may offer insight into what In-Q-Tel has in mind.

Visible Technologies, which is based in the Seattle area, provides services that allow … Read more

If any organization needs to make sense of unstructured data it's the government--especially agencies like the CIA and other intelligence groups that comb through a myriad of disparate information on an hourly basis.

Last week, In-Q-Tel, the technology arm of the CIA, invested in Lucid Imagination, which provides support, maintenance, and add-on software for Apache Lucene and Solr. According to Lucid, the Lucene/Solr technology is downloaded more than 9,000 times per day, and more than 4,000 organizations are using the software for enterprise search.

I've wondered aloud quite a few times as to whether or not open-source projects (and specifically Apache projects) can turn into businesses or if they are simply the cogs and wheels that make other products function better (aka the Oracle syndrome).

I probably would have argued that enterprise search would fall into one of those no-man's lands where the technology is important but not quite a standalone business. There has been a huge amount of venture capital investment in search but few big winners in the category.

But the investment from In-Q-Tel adds some credence to the value of the function as well as the technology in the respect that the government is actually using the software and not just making an investment as we see in the venture capital world. Lucene and Solr are "sufficiently complex" open-source products that require a commercial entity to support ongoing efforts once they are adopted. This gives Lucid a legitimate shot at building a business. … Read more

If you think the most you can do with a microwave is bake a potato or two, think again. Panasonic just announced a new collaboration with The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). What does this collaboration mean for you? Oh, only that some of the best chefs in the country will develop no-fuss gourmet recipes for cooking with Panasonic microwaves, as well as create key microwave-cooking technique videos that will be hosted on Panasonic's microwave Virtual Test Kitchen Web site.

The recipes are designed to be affordable, easy, and quick to prepare, with broad appeal. The CIA will also … Read more