Selil

RAND recently released the Counterinsurgency Scorecard: Afghanistan in early 2011 relative to the insurgencies of the past 30 years. I read this with considerable interest as the topic (insurgency) and methodology (Delphi study) interest me greatly. The use of experts to attempt to understand a domain or area of knowledge is specifically of interest to [...]

[Read more →]

The following is a critique of the new policy document introduced by the Whitehouse on May 16th. All elements of the attribution policy of this blog/website apply. Though I’m critical of the document in general it is consistent with previous work done by various entities. I do not see anything revolutionary in this document that [...]

[Read more →]

I have a chapter in a new book out. The Kindle edition was just released and the print edition will soon be released. With a bevy of top authors and edited by Dan Abbott this book is one of the first comprehensive looks at post fourth generation warfare. My chapter is based on unified theories [...]

[Read more →]

I’ve wanted for some time to increase the number of book reviews I publish and to get them up a little faster. I’ve been re-reading a bunch of my computer security books and the review for today is Computer Capers: Tales of electronic thievery embezzlement and fraud. This is a great, timely, interesting, and of [...]

[Read more →]

A couple of thing you should know about me. First, I am in the process of completing my PhD and second, I have recently taken up running. I began both of these pursuits reluctantly. I began my PhD course work in 2005. I did not want to be a PhD student as I already had [...]

[Read more →]

Sometimes a book comes along that just by the title you have to read. In a rather thin book you find between the hard covers a discussion of the love of reading. The different ideas of how to read. Though I found a couple of hyperlinks that meander in the world of /dev/null the rest [...]

[Read more →]

This book as part of the movement that doesn’t appear to have gotten off the ground is an influential to me short story of what education could become. The book is fairly old so we can see how little effect the ideas have had on the education of children. For what the book lacks in [...]

[Read more →]

This book is a work of fiction looking at the special operations forces working in Northern Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos near the end of the war. The author provides and excellent view into the fictional world of these actors with a guiding principle of the realities of war. If you are looking for a blood [...]

[Read more →]

The author Ronald Krutz takes the reader through the various elements of cyber security as it is applied to SCADA systems. Documenting the various protocols and issues in depth the author mentions some very specific threats to cyber security that the information technology practitioner will likely be interested in. I was very intrigued by the [...]

[Read more →]

 ”Cyberpower and National Security” edited by Fraklin D. Kramer, Stuart H. Starr, and Larry K. Wentz is a deep dive book into the substantive literature and ideas of the interaction between cyberspace, conflict, people, politics, and the diplomacy of deciding who should do what. As an anthology of ideas and concepts the authors have broke [...]

[Read more →]

I wrote a chapter for a book called “Threats in the age of Obama” that was edited by Michael Tanji and there were many superior authors included Dan tdaxp, Christopher Albon, Matt Armstrong, Matthew Burton, Molly Cernicek, Christopher Corpora, Shane Deichman, Adam Elkus, Matt Devost, Bob Gourley, Art Hutchinson, Tom Karako, Carolyn Leddy, Adrian Martin, [...]

[Read more →]

A new book is out “Threats in the age of Obama” with chapters by many fine writers. The book is a look at the national security implications and issues from some outsiders and former insiders. The book has articles on a variety of threats to the national interest covering a wide scope of issues and [...]

[Read more →]

The Chicagoboyz are hosting the round table I’m looking forward to the adventure of bouncing some ideas off them. For the purposes of the round table I will be posting at Chicagoboys. I will post an abstract here and link to the Chicagoboyz post. The chancellor at Purdue University Calumet each year picks three faculty to lead a round table with [...]

[Read more →]

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) recently released a report titled “Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency: A report of the CSIS commission on cybersecurity for the 44th presidency”. This report is an in depth look at policy recommendations. Realizing that this an effort of many people and not to denigrate the work [...]

[Read more →]

When I received “The black swan: The impact of the highly improbable” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Random House, New York, 2007), I was intrigued by a view into the financial world of high finance. In the interest of saving you time reading this review I will be looking at how to apply Taleb’s ideas and [...]

[Read more →]