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  Facebook Deletes Wikileaks Fan Page, Citing Promotion of 'Illegal Acts'

  JP 2:33 pm on April 24, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: facebook (302), Fan Page, illegal acts, Iraq, Julius Baer, page (9), Read (1,390), U.S. (106), web outfit, Wikileaks

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  

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  If you don’t know whistle-blowing Web outfit Wikileaks by now, you should. Most recently, it released this blood-curdling video showing the shooting of over a dozen people — including two of Reuters’ staff — by the U.S. military in Iraq. Infamous as it now is for sharing this kind of classified information, Wikileaks is getting protective (if conspiratorial) about its social media presence — or, rather, its lack of presence. The site claims that Facebook just deleted its 30,000-member strong fan page. In its defense, Facebook has claimed that the page “promotes illegal acts.”

  Keep in mind that we said the fan page was deleted, not the official Wikileaks Facebook page. Wikileaks is on the offensive, nevertheless, especially after Facebook users who were trying to share the helicopter video ran into some snafus, for which Facebook ultimately denied responsibility. Gawker cites an episode from 2008, in which a member of the Wikileaks Facebook page was mistakenly subpoenaed in a lawsuit initiated by Swiss banker Julius Baer over the site’s posting of stolen documents. Facebook was likely perturbed by having one of its users dragged into a lawsuit for simply being a member of a page, and may now be trying to protect itself by deleting the Wikileaks fan page. Still, it’s a curious case, and the promotion of “illegal acts” is a questionable accusation. We’ll update as we learn more. [From: Gawker]

  Continue reading Facebook Deletes Wikileaks Fan Page, Citing Promotion of ‘Illegal Acts’

  Facebook Deletes Wikileaks Fan Page, Citing Promotion of ‘Illegal Acts’ originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Veterans Affairs Engages Vets via Facebook, Twitter and Blogs

  JP 1:47 am on April 13, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Afghanistan (15), Brandon Friedman, department of veterans affairs, facebook (302), Iraq, media strategy (2), nbsp (1,601), post (6), Read (1,390), V.A, Veterans

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  In an effort to reach increasingly younger veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs hired a former member of the 101st Airborne, and active blogger, to revamp its social media strategy. According to The Washington Post, Brandon Friedman’s job is to change the way veterans communicate with a department that’s long been known for its lack of transparency. Friedman, who received a book deal in 2007 after he’d begun blogging about his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, has created Facebook pages and a Twitter account for the V.A., redesigned its Web site, and has formulated plans to launch a blog dedicated to veterans by the end of this year.

  The Post reports that about 60-percent of the service’s members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are under 30-years old. Since that means they’re very likely to use social media as a primary means of communication, all that Veterans Affairs must do is open up a channel. “Veterans want to be engaged,” Friedman told the Post. “They want a two-way conversation with us, to tell us what we can improve on.”

  Continue reading Veterans Affairs Engages Vets via Facebook, Twitter and Blogs

  Veterans Affairs Engages Vets via Facebook, Twitter and Blogs originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  How Social Networking Helped Bag Saddam Hussein

  JP 12:51 am on February 26, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: interpersonal networks, Iraq, nbsp (1,601), Networking (61), Read (1,390), Saddam Hussein, Saddam HusseinHow, Social (38), social networking sites (50), western models

  Filed under: Social Networking

  We’ll bypass both the criticisms and the flag waving for now, and establish one simple fact about the Iraq war: we found and captured Saddam Hussein. It’s a success that is often lost in the sea of critiques (deserved and otherwise) and overshadowed by our failure to do the same with Osama Bin Laden. What makes this success particularly interesting, however, is how the military utilized what were, at the time, relatively new ideas regarding the ways in which people form interpersonal networks — now the linchpin of modern social networking sites.

  Traditional, Western models of military and government power are understood to be strictly hierarchical, top-to-down commands. But Iraqi society does not have the same fundamental structure; on the contrary, it relies heavily on tribal ties.

  Continue reading How Social Networking Helped Bag Saddam Hussein

  How Social Networking Helped Bag Saddam Hussein originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Military Eyes Brain Scanners for Identifying and Preventing PTSD

  JP 11:54 am on January 18, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: anxiety and depression, brain (5), Iraq, military eyes, nbsp (1,601), PTSD, Read (1,390), traumatic stress disorder

  Filed under: Computers

  Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) poses a significant threat to military personnel, and some psychological experts believe that more than one-third of the troops returning from Iraq will suffer from some form of the debilitating psychological condition. Coping with, and easing the effects of, the disorder has proven to be incredibly difficult, so the armed forces are taking a direct, and preventive, approach in confronting the conflict epidemic.

  The military is reportedly developing a portable, weather-resistant brain-scanning device. In theory, the brain monitor (which could revolutionize diagnosing psychiatric disorders) would identify the neurological markers for PTSD, anxiety, and depression. According to Wired, it could also measure an incredibly diverse array of mental functions, “including reaction time, problem solving, and memory recall.”

  Continue reading Military Eyes Brain Scanners for Identifying and Preventing PTSD

  Military Eyes Brain Scanners for Identifying and Preventing PTSD originally appeared on Switched.com on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  U.S. Military Drones Hacked With $26 Commercial Software

  JP 12:53 am on December 21, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: extremist groups (2), insurgents in iraq, Iraq, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, military drones, nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390), S. Military, software (7), U.S. (106), video (27)

  Filed under: Computers

  

  Years of top secret R&D and millions of dollars of military hardware has been thwarted — by a $26 program you can buy on the Internet. Insurgents in Iraq have figured out how to use off the shelf software to intercept video feeds from unmanned drones, like the Predator, on the battlefield.

  Yesterday, Lt. Gen. David Deptula announced that this summer, American military personnel found laptops with days’ worth of footage, snatched from drones that were streaming back to military control centers. Furthermore, it was evident that insurgents had shared the video with other extremist groups, providing valuable intelligence to those looking to defeat the U.S. military effort in the country. The vulnerability lies in an unencrypted video link that sends the footage back to ground control, which the enemy has been able to intercept using programs such as SkyGrabber. The military is working to secure and encrypt all data feeds between operators on the ground and the unmanned craft, but why designers didn’t think to include that basic level of security from the beginning isn’t clear.

  Continue reading U.S. Military Drones Hacked With $26 Commercial Software

  U.S. Military Drones Hacked With $26 Commercial Software originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  McAfee Warns Browsers of Cameroon and Romania, Australia's Okay

  JP 12:53 am on December 5, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: amp nbsp (6), Australia (7), Cameroon, company (15), computer security company, Detroit (4), Iraq, McAfee, nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390), Romania, Somalia, worldwide domains

  Filed under: Computers, Web

  

  When it comes to booking your next holiday retreat, there are a number of places in the world you’d probably be unlikely to visit if you value your safety — places like Iraq, Somalia, or Detroit. Digital locations are apparently no different. Anti-virus and computer security company McAfee has a map for you, and red most certainly means don’t go.

  The company has done a search of worldwide domains — Internet addresses — and categorized the unhealthy ones based on country. These are the websites that look real but are fake, trying to get user names, passwords, and other account information so that malicious folks can steal your precious infos. The worst of the worst? Cameroon. The country’s domain identifier is .CM, which looks awfully close to .COM, meaning it’s a place people often get to by accident. Meanwhile, Romania’s .RO has the most viruses and malicious downloads, while good ‘ol governmental domains, ending in .GOV, tend to be safest. At least politicians can do one thing right. [From: McAfee, via CNET]

  McAfee Warns Browsers of Cameroon and Romania, Australia’s Okay originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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