What's Wrong With the US Defense R&D Budget?

I've been part of the military-industrial complex for the past ten years. The real waste is not in risky projects that sometimes fail. We need more of that, especially as today's wars wind down and we reset the force to handle a full spectrum of threats and missions, from terrorism to a major conflict with a "near peer" competitor like China or Russia.

The real waste is in the mind-numbing, innovation-stifling bureaucracy. For every person (usually a contractor, despite the bad press) trying to actually *do* something, there are 10 people (government and contractor) worrying about budgets, funding, politics, endless layers of architecture and governance, ineffective security protocols, and, most of all, territorial "rice bowls." Almost every time I've tried to actually *do* something, I would promptly run into someone who claimed that it was their responsibility:

"OK, great! The war fighters I'm supporting need a thing that does exactly that. What do you have?"

"I have this PowerPoint presentation that shows my charter, my org chart, my budget, my made-up timeline, and some hand-waving architectural diagrams that don't even meet the [overwrought] DODAF standards never mind speak to the actual need."

"What about the actual [widget]?"

"It should be done in 2017."

At this point, an actual military officer (not a civilian bureaucrat), usually with boots-on-the-ground combat experience, points out that the present wars will be over in 2017. He already knows that I could build a 70% solution in a few weeks if people would just get out of the way. We depart, shaking our heads in disgust.

But woe be unto us if we try to solve our own problem or find someone else to help us. The bureaucrat, marking time until his retirement in 2016, safely before his project craters in 2017, will raise holy hell: "Hey, it's my job to not do that!"

The lack of technical guidance and leadership is also appalling. Some new initiatives are improving this, but too often there are no concrete guidelines at a hands-on technical level to even follow. The technical leadership role is in the hands of career bureaucrats who know their way around the org chart, but haven't a clue about the tech. Compare this to an environment like Google App Engine or the various Web 2.0/Web services ecosystems around Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, and the like where your options are clear, there is tangible guidance on what you can and cannot do, and can often go from zero to an end-to-end proof-of-concept in a few days, if not hours.

I've tried to help, but I can't stomach it anymore and am executing a "strategic re-deployment" to the Internet/mobile consumer and professional market, where innovation and agility is welcomed, nigh demanded, instead of smothered.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/FOvjiC5P9Yw/whats-wrong-with-the-us-defense-rd-budget

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The top 10 tech stories of 2011

By Rosa Golijan

AP file / Khaled Desouki/AFP - Getty Images / Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Whew! Good ol' 2011 is almost over and that means that we're gonna take a little break from tech news and relax until the spring.

Just kidding! What the end of the year really means is that we're getting a bit sentimental and reviewing the top tech stories of the last 365 days. Here are the 10 which stood out to us, in no particular order.

Apple

The landing page of the official Apple website, as it was for weeks after the death of Steve Jobs.

The death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs
When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs?died on Oct. 5, at age 56, the loss resonated?throughout the tech world?in?unprecedented ways.?He was described as?our generation's Thomas Edison?and his legacy was celebrated accordingly.

The Internet mourned the passing of the man with over?2.5 million tweets?in the twelve hours following his death. People around the world sent?over one million emails?filled with wishes, memories and words of sympathy to an address set up by Apple.

Samsung and Google, some of the company's competitors, delayed the release of new products out of respect for the loss of the man who launched Apple.

As his eponymous biography by Walter Isaacson hit the shelves, we?dissected everything about Jobs from minutia ??such as his?final words, eating habits, reading list, workaholic nature?and?old pranks???to grand concepts such as?his life's work. (It is worth noting that the Jobs biography became Amazon's best-selling book of 2011?and?Sony Pictures is said to be working on a movie version.)?

Lulzsec (R) and Anonymous (L)

Pictured are the logos used by hacking groups Lulzsec (R) and Anonymous (L).

The trouble stirred up by Anonymous and Lulzsec
What's any year without a couple of big security scares? In 2011, hacking groups Anonymous and Lulzsec were two entities that struck fear in a lot of network administrators' hearts.

Between the two groups?? who even teamed up at one point???there was a great deal of trouble stirred up.

Lulzsec, a mysterious and loosely knit organization, took out (or at least claimed credit for affecting)?multiple gaming websites,?an?FBI website,?a porn site,?a?Senate website, a CIA website, Rupert Murdoch's Sun newspaper website?and more. The fun was over once the group's key member and spokesperson?? a fellow who goes by the name "Topiary"?? was nabbed by authorities in the U.K.

Anonymous on the other hand didn't suffer any similarly large casualties or stumbling points while taking credit for?sharing thousands of military email addresses, taking down a tourist-oriented website in Orlando, Florida, hacking an FBI partner site, snatching files from servers belonging to large U.S.-based companies, conducting a DDoS attack on MasterCard, as well as some miscellaneous mischievous deeds.

Now?this all may sound?somewhat funny, but you should probably keep in mind that the individuals responsible for these events are heralding a world of heightened security and constant threats.

?

Jesus Diaz/Gizmodo

The many headaches suffered by RIM
This year made me want to hug Research in Motion's troubled executives. The folks over there just couldn't catch a break as one of the company's shiny new gadgets?? the BlackBerry Playbook?? got slammed in reviews, its share of the U.S. smartphone market shrunk?and its freshly launched music-sharing service was ridiculed.

And as if that's not enough, the company's sites were hacked after it offered to cooperate with U.K. authorities in order to research what?? if any?? role the BlackBerry Messenger service might've played in inciting riots in early August.

But hey, at least the company managed to squeak by with a decent quarter?(if you ignore millions of dollars worth of unsold BlackBerry Playbook tablets, that is).

Khaled Desouki/AFP - Getty Images

An Egyptian man, holding up a sign praising the social network Facebook, joins others in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Feb. 1.

How the Internet helped bring down a dictator
As much trouble as the Internet ??or rather, social media ??can cause, it can also do quite a bit of good at times. In 2011, we saw a great example of this phenomenon as?the Internet and social media played a pivotal role in a revolution.

What happened? Well, on Jan. 27, right before the Egyptian government pulled the plug on the country's Internetin order to quiet protestor activity, there was a great deal of traffic coming to social networks, Facebook in particular. What better place to get organized?than Mark Zuckerberg's playground, after all?

You'd think that the whole business of shutting down the Internet would've eliminated social media and the like from the big fight against the 30-year government of Hosni Mubarak, but Egyptians kept in touch with the outside world using a series of workarounds.

Anyway, long story short: When the Internet switch was flipped back on, Egyptian's were celebrating the end of Mubarak's rule and social media was praised for aiding a revolution.

Netflix

Netflix and its wacky business moves
A recent consumer study revealed that the satisfaction levels of Netflix customers have dropped?significantly and?? unless you've been sleeping under a rock with no Wi-Fi connection?? you shouldn't be surprised by that.

After all, the company alienated and angered a lot of folks when it announced that it would?no longer be offering a combined DVD and streaming plan and?would instead separate the services, for a minimum cost of about $16 a month if you still want both.

And as if people weren't riled up enough over that?? and boy, were they riled up!?? Netflix announced that it would split itself into two separate businesses, video-streaming company Netflix and DVD rental company Qwikster. No one truly understood?where that particular idea came from or why the heck Netflix didn't secure the @Qwikster Twitter username before announcing its plans.

None of that matters anymore though, because Netflix made our heads spin all the way around again by canceling the whole plan to split into two.

Apple

The release of the iPhone 5, er, 4S
Every year since 2007 has brought us a shiny new smartphone from Apple and 2011 was no different. The year marked the introduction of the iPhone 4S?? yes, it really wasn't called the iPhone 5?? and its built-in voice-activated personal assistant Siri.

After months of wildly inaccurate speculation?and a keynote sans Mr. Jobs, we stood in lines, whined about little technical hiccups, and found silly things to giggle over as soon as the device was released.

It's worth noting that the hardware?? the actual iPhone 4S itself?? wasn't really the big star this year. Instead iOS 5, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, made us swoon with all its new features.?

Google

The launch of Google+
There's no such thing as too many social networking services, right?

Well, at least Google didn't think so when it launched something called Google+.

The service?? which is finally open to everyone after a long period of being invitation-only?? is now unavoidable. It's?integrated into our Gmail accounts, has the obligatory mobile apps, keeps us busy with privacy issues that we can debate?and has some confusing labels that we still haven't entirely figured out. (What do you call adding a friend on Google+? I still maintain that "plussing" someone sounds slightly dirty.)

It's worth noting that despite the fact that Google+ is so darn difficult to avoid, interest in the social network appears to be waning?after initially rocketing when the service opened its doors to the general public.?

Google

Android's dominance
Even as the token Apple?? and iOS?? fangirl around here, I couldn't turn a blind eye to how Android's been doing this year. It seemed that not a day could pass before there was yet another study, survey, or other data set that listed Google's mobile platform as being the No. 1 something-or-other or the top thingamajig-of-some-sort.

Don't believe it? Alright, let's run down a couple of highlights.

Android is the No. 1 smartphone platform in the U.S. (based on market share), comes out on top of worldwide sales statistics, rules?about 50 percent of the global smartphone market, dominates the southern part of the U.S., has the biggest chunk of the mobile app download market, has more daily Facebook users than iPhone, it's the most popular mobile platform for malware, and may have nicer users than iOS.??

Oh, and in case you wanted more statistics: Nowadays over 700,000 new Android devices are supposedly activated each day. We don't really know if that earns Android another No. 1 trophy as Apple hasn't released any official numbers for comparison.

Getty Images

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (L) jokes with comedian Andy Samberg during a keynote address at the Facebook f8 conference on Sept. 22, 2011 in San Francisco, Calif.

Facebook Timeline re-design (and Mark Zuckerberg's silly antics)
No end-of-the-year story round up would be complete without a mention of Facebook or its founder's antics. So let's hit on the big topics of the year?? aside from the usual privacy drama that always surrounds the social network.

In 2011 we were introduced to Timeline, a new Facebook profile design which naturally got us riled up. (Because we don't like change, darn it!) We didn't mind most of the new apps that were announced along with the redesign?though ? until we realized that the way they're integrated could lead to a lot of embarrassment?(and reveal our love of Justin Bieber songs).

Upset with Facebook's features and designs or not, we still aren't really managing to stay away from the social network. At least that's what a study suggested when it showed that we're all only about four degrees of separation apart on Facebook (rather than the six degrees assumed by the popular Kevin Bacon-themed game).

Facebook itself aside, many of us?? yours truly included?? were once again far more fascinated by the social network's founder than anything else. How could we not be when the man revealed that he is currently only eating animals which he kills and keeps?slipping us private photos thanks to technical glitches?

Apple

The release of the iPad 2
What? You think that one major Apple product release a year should be enough? Sorry, buddy?? but 2011 brought us the iPad 2 on top of the iPhone 4S.

The second generation tablet?? which was upgraded to iOS 5, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, months after its release?? is everything a shiny new toy should be: It's thinner, lighter, and more powerful than its predecessor.

Live Poll

Which do you think was the top tech story of 2011?

• 171884

  The death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs

  60%

• 171885

  The trouble stirred up by Anonymous and Lulzsec

  5%

• 171886

  The many headaches suffered by RIM

  1%

• 171887

  How the Internet helped bring down a dictator

  18%

• 171888

  Netflix and its wacky business moves

  2%

• 171889

  The release of the iPhone 5, er, 4S

  2%

• 171890

  The launch of Google+

  0%

• 171891

  Android's dominance

  9%

• 171892

  Facebook Timeline re-design (and Mark Zuckerberg's silly antics)

  0%

• 171893

  The release of the iPad 2

  3%

VoteTotal Votes: 505

We naturally waited in line for it, collected every detail we could while preparing for its release date, and hugged it tightly as soon as we picked it up. (Ok, maybe only I did that last part.)

All in all, we treated the release of the iPad 2 like any other major product release: With glee. But neither that behavior nor the actual iPad 2 itself were the big story this year. The gadget was such a darn big deal because it showed that the public finally grasped the notion of tablets, of life in a post-PC world.

The device topped holiday wish lists, was among the most searched terms on Google, earned the Consumer Reports seal of approval, sold out insanely quickly (and mostly to first-time iPad buyers), and kept selling despite constantly delayed shipping times. And if you prefer that in terms of hard statistics: Apple sold a whoppin' 11.12 million iPads during the fourth quarter of its fiscal year. (Yes, that's a lot??? an all-time record for iPad sales.) ?

Related stories:

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/29/9781095-the-top-10-tech-stories-of-2011

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Japan?s tsunami refugees brace for harsh winter

By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, December 28, 2011

?

ISHINOMAKI, Japan ? As the mercury plunges in Japan?s disaster-hit northeast, thousands of people in temporary homes are digging in for what could be a long, hard and very cold winter.

Snow and driving winds will add to the misery of tsunami survivors in a region where the temperature frequently dips below freezing through December, January and February.

Many lost their homes when the huge waves swept ashore on March 11, killing 20,000 people and grinding whole neighbourhoods into matchwood.

In Ishinomaki, one of the hardest-hit coastal settlements, more than half of the city?s 61,000 houses were either swept away completely or severely damaged by the tsunami.

City authorities have built more than 7,000 temporary homes that are now providing shelter for around 6,800 families.

Heaters, insulation, new tatami straw mats and even electrically heated toilet seats have all been provided, said a city official.

A further 6,500 families have moved into apartments rented by the local government on their behalf.

But thousands of others are not so fortunate.

Ishinomaki officials concede they are unsure how up to 20,000 families will be keeping warm this winter.

?They must be either staying with relatives far away or living in their own house if the damage was not so bad,? an official said.

?But we don?t have much information about them.?

Hideko Kamiyama and her family were confined to the upper floor of their partially-destroyed home for months, as they patiently waited for craftsmen to transform the lower floor from a mess of broken and rotting timbers.

?Our house was almost completely destroyed in the disaster, but many volunteers and carpenters worked hard to repair it,? she said, wrapping her jacket tighter against the cold.

?It?s 80 percent repaired now, and volunteers gave us heaters and carpets.

?(They also) gave me various things such as patches you can stick on your back to warm you up. I think I can handle the winter now, no matter how cold it gets,? Kamiyama said.

In a town that registered a low of minus eight degrees Celsius (17 degrees Fahrenheit) in February, Kamiyama will need all the warmth she can get.

People allocated temporary homes have few complaints about the austere conditions in which they currently live, but are desperately hoping a more permanent solution can soon be found.

Ishio Abe and his family of five have been living in just three rooms since May.

The homes are intended to be used for just two years, but, says Abe, he does not know if this will be long enough.

?We were given a stove as well as electric carpets. I think we are good for now but I have no job and I wonder what I am going to do next,? he said.

Yoshinori Sato of the Ishinomaki City Council said authorities are working hard, but they know that real recovery will only come when residents have a sense of long-term security.

?Rebuilding houses takes time, we don?t really know how long yet,? he said.

?Once we have some idea, we can start telling the people when they can move back into real houses.?

Agence France-Presse

AFP journalists cover wars, conflicts, politics, science, health, the environment, technology, fashion, entertainment, the offbeat, sports and a whole lot more in text, photographs, video, graphics and online.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/8ZbgWak-yWs/

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Maryland company gives unlimited vacation

Imagine this, when you?re carefully plotting out when to use your precious vacation days next year: what if you could take as much time off from work as you?d like?

You don?t have to imagine it, if you work for WeddingWire. The Maryland-based company is now offering its employees unlimited vacation time.

The company claims it has no problem giving its workers plenty of time off, as long as they do their work and meet their job goals.

?We just want you to do your job,? Jennifer Harding, WeddingWire?s director of human resources, told The Washington Post. ?If you can do that, why limit the amount of vacation you can?t take??

Does the deal sound too good to be true? The Bethesda-based company is actually afraid of that. In fact, it?s making sure employees don?t think this policy is some manipulative way to keep them from taking no vacation at all.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45809001/ns/business-careers/

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