] In Washington, the national security agency used Echelon,
] an intelligence system coordinated by the United States
] but involving several of its allies, including the UK, to
] monitor more than 10 mobile phones used by Mohammed.

There are also some other interesting links at the bottom of the page, which trace connections between the hijackers and other members of Al Qaeda.

Echelon Helped Capture 9/11 Planner

] A monster bomb with an explosive blast so massive it is
] similar to a nuclear weapon is scheduled to be tested at
] Eglin Air Force Base next week, possibly as early as
] Tuesday, a Pentagon official said.
]
] Eglin would not comment on the test of the 21,000-pound
] MOAB, short for "massive ordnance air burst," and
] referred all questions about its development and testing
] to Pentagon officials.

I just heard them commenting about this test on CNN. They said that they were testing it in order to have it ready in time for Iraq. Something about using the weapon to "demoralize" the Iraqi army.

"We got us a biiiiiiig bomb! Really big! MASSIVE! You think the bombs we dropped on you guys last time were somethin'?? Well we spent BILLIONS makin' even bigger ones for this time around!"

I'm pretty sure the Iraqis are already terrified of our bomb capability. They saw it first-hand recent enough to recall with great clarity. This "demoralizing" that is sought is going to happen in very short order upon an invasion, regardless of having a bigger bomb.

News | PensacolaNewsJournal.com | Massive bomb test

] Can we produce diagrams of social networks in real time,
] so the participants in a large group can be aware of
] conversational clusters as they are forming?

This is one of the goals for the SocialNet stuff. It will start to work its way in whenever I get around to coding the next version.

Shirky: Social Software and the Politics of Groups

] This was, a Microsoft rep told Joe, "just a mistake." It
] is however perfectly legal. So, Neowin was blacked out
] and lost its live SQL database along the way without any
] kind of due process, without being informed of the
] alleged offence, and without any right of appeal. As we
] say, in the wonderful world we now live in this is now
] perfectly legal, and could happen to just about any site.
] And that, we submit, is the point.

The Register - MS shuts down site over P2P leak

] "Afghanistan is officially planting its flag in
] cyberspace, gaining full legal and technical control of
] the '.af' Internet domain," the organization said.
]
] "For Afghanistan, this is like reclaiming part of our
] sovereignty," Communications Minister Mohammad Moassom
] Stanakzai said in a statement on Sunday.

Wired News: Afghan Internet Domain Launches

] Deloder is a network worm infecting Windows machines
] which have set a weak password to the "Administrator"
] account. It also installs remote access tool VNC, opening
] the computer to the world.
]
] The worm scans random IP addresses, trying to locate
] Windows machines which have port 445 accessible. Port 445
] (Microsoft SMB over TCP/IP) allows outsiders to access
] Windows file shares.

It exploits user stupidity! Its unstoppable! :P

F-Secure Computer Virus Information Pages: Deloder

We have a long way to go in developing a real intellectual, social, and legal infrastructure that balances opportunities and threats. We, as technologists and entrepreneurs, really have no choice but to be involved.

Memestreamers will not really be surprised by anything in this article, but I blog it as yet another sign that people are taking notice of the situation.

The Social Risks of New Technologies

] Command-and-control organizations, Hock says, "were not
] only archaic and increasingly irrelevant. They were
] becoming a public menace, antithetical to the human
] spirit and destructive of the biosphere. I was convinced
] we were on the brink of an epidemic of institutional
] failure."

This is a starting point for some extremely rich and interesting ideas.

The founder of Visa on Corporations

] TERRIFIED Iraqi soldiers have crossed the Kuwait border
] and tried to surrender to British forces - because they
] thought the war had already started.
]
] The motley band of a dozen troops waved the white flag as
] British paratroopers tested their weapons during a
] routine exercise.
]
] The stunned Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade were forced
] to tell the Iraqis they were not firing at them, and
] ordered them back to their home country telling them it
] was too early to surrender.
]
] The drama unfolded last Monday as the Para batallion
] tested mortars and artillery weapons to make sure they
] were working properly.

SADDAM'S SOLDIERS SURRENDER

] "It's a phenomenon that's not on the mainstream radar
] quite yet, but it will be in six months."

Wait a minute.. I know the date up there says 2003, but this feels so 1999. Tech company buyout, The Valley, dude with laptop wearing Dead Kennedys t-shirt, something about advertising, where Lycos and AOL stand, etc.. I bet someone got nostalgic when doing this article. You could almost forget that the tech industry is a disaster and many people trying to innovate can barely afford to keep food in their mouths.

Blogging goes mainstream - Mar. 10, 2003