An Excerpt From Social network analysis
from Surveillance,
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One
common form of surveillance is to create maps of social networks based
on data from social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter
as well as from traffic analysis information from phone call records such
as those in the NSA call database,... and others. These social network
"maps" are then data mined to extract useful information such as personal
interests, friendships & affiliations, wants, beliefs, thoughts, and
activities....
Many
U.S. government agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) are investing heavily in research involving
social network analysis.... The intelligence community believes that
the biggest threat to U.S. power comes from decentralized, leaderless,
geographically dispersed groups of terrorists, subversives, extremists,
and dissidents. These types of threats are most easily countered
by finding important nodes in the network, and removing them. To
do this requires a detailed map of the network....
Jason
Ethier of Northeastern University, in his study of modern social network
analysis, said the following of the Scalable Social Network Analysis Program
developed by the Information Awareness Office:
The
purpose of the SSNA algorithms program is to extend techniques of social
network analysis to assist with distinguishing potential terrorist cells
from legitimate groups of people.... In order to be successful SSNA
will require information on the social interactions of the majority of
people around the globe. Since the Defense Department cannot easily
distinguish between peaceful citizens and terrorists, it will be necessary
for them to gather data on innocent civilians as well as on potential terrorists.... |
AT&T
developed a programming language called "Hancock", which is able to sift
through enormous databases of phone call and Internet traffic records,
such as the NSA call database, and extract "communities of interest" --
groups of people who call each other regularly, or groups that regularly
visit certain sites on the Internet. AT&T originally built the
system to develop "marketing leads",... but the FBI has regularly requested
such information from phone companies such as AT&T without a warrant,...
and after using the data stores all information received in its own databases,
regardless of whether or not the information was ever useful in an investigation....
Some
people believe that the use of social networking sites is a form of "participatory
surveillance", where users of these sites are essentially performing surveillance
on themselves, putting detailed personal information on public websites
where it can be viewed by corporations and governments.... About
20% of employers have reported using social networking sites to collect
personal data on prospective or current employees....![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
Shrinking Units of Measure
Sam Aurelius Milam III
Suppose
that you paid $40,000 for a house, lived in it for 30 years, and then sold
it for $90,000. How wonderful to measure value with shrinking units.
Your house got more valuable.
Suppose
that you bought a piece of wood that was eight feet long, used part of
it to build a little shelf in your utility room, and discovered that the
remaining piece was 20 feet long. How wonderful to measure length
with shrinking units. Your piece of wood got longer.
The
deception that I'm suggesting here is more obvious with a piece of wood
than it is with a house. The remedy to the deception is actually
pretty simple. In that case, why don't the economists understand
it? I believe that they do, at least the smart ones, but that they're
deceiving us. For anyone who wants to understand the remedy, I suggest
my essays on money, taxes, and corporations. They're available on
Pharos.
For subscribers who don't have internet access, I can provide printed copies
upon request.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
Please use the enclosed envelope to send a contribution.
I prefer cash. For checks or money orders, please inquire.
For PayPal payments, use Frontiersman@manlymail.net.
April 2012 |
Frontiersman, c/o
4984 Peach Mountain Drive, Gainesville, Georgia 30507 |
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