Tech Talk

Insurgents are using inexpensive software to breach one of America’s primary tools in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, senior defense and intelligence officials were quoted in a prominent American newspaper as saying.

The militants have been utilizing over-the-counter software, like SkyGrabber, sold for as little as $25.95 on the Internet to intercept and capture live video feeds coming from U.S. Predator drones, the Wall Street Journal reported late this week.  The feeds could allow America’s enemies to evade and monitor military operations.

The newspaper reports:

[T]he intercepts could give America’s enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S. surveillance.

The story is significant for two reasons:

• The first is that the Obama administration has come to rely largely on the drones in this two battlefronts.  Hacking into their operations could greatly reduce their effectiveness.  According to the Journal, drones account for 36 percent of the planes in the Air Force’s proposed 2010 budget.
• Insurgents have found yet another means to utilize cheap software to outmaneuver America’s trillion-dollar military budget.  And with more software being developed and becoming available to consumers around the world, the trend will likely grow. 

There’s a program growing quickly in popularity that you need to be aware of.

Skype, a service that provides free video and voice calls, instant messaging and file sharing capabilities, is a must-have tool for all Internet surfers.

One could easily connect with friends and associates via video and/or audio messaging.  During the conversation, one’s screen and files could be shared creating a dynamic Web experience.

As web cams become increasingly standard on new laptops and desktops and more folks gain access to high-speed Internet, Skype is quickly becoming one of society’s “it” programs.

And as more people join the service, it is becoming increasingly powerful.  I bet at least a dozen of your friends colleagues are using the service already.

I have known folks to use Skype to:

• video chat with friends and family members who are studying abroad
• chat audibly with several dozen friends simultaneously
• share files and screen captures while meeting virtually with professors and employers

An increasing number of users are leaving AIM and Yahoo! Messenger for Skype.

I think you should at least give it a try.

What began just 13 years ago as a small community of people united by a common desire to celebrate Jerry Garcia‘s music has transformed into a powerhouse.

In this photo, courtesy of the Vibes, fans huddle around the event's stage.

The Vibe Tribe, as the individuals are known, is a growing group of folks who take a single weekend out of their busy summers to simply enjoy life to the soundtrack of great music at the Gathering of the Vibes.

Event organizers have made it easier for the tribe to connect ahead of this weekend’s festival at Bridgeport‘s Seaside Park with an increased focus in social networking.

“We’ve always had some online social networking,” Kevin O’Brien, marketing director of the Gathering of the Vibes, said. “But as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter has really blown up in the last couple of years we’ve realized we needed to be in that world.”

The Gathering of the Vibes recruited two recent University of Colorado graduates to help.

Jason Mitchell and Eric Dieter, co-founders of Movement Strategy, created a Twitter account and managed the Vibes’ other social networking sites.

“They came through for us,” O’Brien said.

Mitchell said he and Dieter attempted to get people talking.

“We wanted to build a community around the Vibes and what people are interested in,” he said of Movement Strategy’s efforts. “We wanted to give fans a place to have a conversation and I think we’re pretty successful with that — particularly on Facebook.”

In all, Movement Strategy has managed the Vibes’ Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube accounts.

“People are really sharing their stories and uploading their photos and videos,” Mitchell said. “One thing that was very successful for us was getting people to upload videos from previous shows.”

Just hours before the event kicked off, there were 6,172 fans on Facebook; 2,561 followers on Twitter and 7,760 friends on MySpace.

“We definitely focused a lot on Facebook because when you look at numbers around social networking, that’s where people are — and it allows you to share tour photos and videos,” Mitchell said. “I hope we can continue to build the community.”

In addition to the social network aspects, the Vibes also have a very active forum with 18,002 threads, 326,648 posts, 12,522 members and 2,736 active members.

The Vibes have also hosted weekly streaming video conferences with an average of 40 “dedicated fans” regularly attending, Mitchell said.

“The Gathering of the Vibes community has definitely gathered around social networking more than other communities have,” Mitchell said. “We understand better than other people that social media is about asking people to participate.”

Users input through the social networking sites have been noted and have directly affected decision-making, O’Brien said.

He pointed to one item in particular — the passing of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas.

“It was a huge concern,” O’Brien said. “So we have implemented strike forces and a 24-hour call line.”

He said if people are scared to come to the festival, they just won’t attend, so feedback is always considered seriously.

Mitchell said he will be at this weekend’s event shooting video and still photos and regularly uploading their materials throughout their social networks.

“We will encourage people there to upload their own stuff,” Mitchell added.

He said he hopes to have a contest of user generated materials following the weekend-long concert.

“The idea is to get people to become part of the Gathering of the Vibes community — not just the weekend or the week leading to it,” he said.

The longest total solar eclipse of the century will plunge parts of Asia into darkness tonight at 8:15 p.m. E.D.T., NASA reports.

In this NASA photo, the Sun, the Moon, Antarctica and two photographers all lined up in 2003 during an unusual total eclipse.

Although centered thousands of miles from America’s East Coast — stretching from India to the Pacific Ocean — revelers around the world could take in the event’s wonders, NASA reports.

University of North Dakota researchers are planning to stream the historic event on the Web.  You can check it out here starting just after 8 p.m.

You can also check out a livestream from China here.

The eclipse, which NASA reports will last for six minutes and 39 seconds, will approach the theoretical maximum duration for a solar eclipse of seven minutes and 21 seconds.

The eclipse’s shadow will be cast over some of earth’s most populated cities — including Shanghai, the largest city in China.  As a result, the American space agency reports this could become the “best-observed solar eclipse in human history.”

But don’t forget to set an alarm.  You will have to wait until June 13, 2132 if you miss this one for another opportunity this good.

NASA, of course, has assembled a comprehensive PDF guide on this eclipse, check it out here.

For all the wonderful things that technology makes possible, you’ve got to appreciate how amazing it is how such events — such as total eclipses — could be accentuated through the power of the net.