The SIGNAL Blog

Homefront Help: Operation Covert Santa

December 6, 2012

By Rita Boland

Ever wanted to be one of Santa's elves? Here's the perfect chance to try it out and help wounded warriors at the same time. Operation Covert Santa gathers the wish lists from recently injured troops and their families, removes all identifying information and asks volunteers to supply the presents. All the gifts are given and received anonymously. It isn't charity—it's the magic of Christmas.

Last year, more than 175 elves provided presents for 74 severely injured soldiers and their families. People who want to participate this year can help in several ways:

Donate cash by sending a check made out to the Aleethia Foundation at:

Aleethia Foundation 
Operation Covert Santa 
1718 M Street NW Suite 1170
 Washington DC 20036

Put "Operation Covert Santa VI" in the memo line.

Go to the Aleethia Foundation website and donate electronically by choosing "Ed Meagher's Covert Santa Program." Whether you send a check or use the Web option, email Ed Meagher at huskyelf@cox.net with "Cash Donation" in the subject line so the program can know how much to budget.

Elves also can sign up to buy a single gift, support an individual soldier, or adopt a small or large family. Send an email to the huskyelf@cox.net address with the appropriate choice in the subject line. Participants then will receive the information about what to buy, so they can shop for it, wrap it and put on the number they will receive. The packages can be delivered in person or shipped to:

Operation Covert Santa
 453 Walker Road 
Great Falls, Virginia 22066

Donations are requested as soon as possible but no later than December 16. Email Ed Meagher for more information.     

Cool App-titude: ShopKick

November 27, 2012

Rachel Eisenhower

The shopping season is upon us, and buying gifts for others could translate into treats for yourself with the ShopKick app for iOS and Android.

This free program gives you rewards for shopping—even if you don't buy anything. Simply walk into a store like Target, Best Buy or Old Navy and get "kicks" you can redeem for rewards. You can get even more kicks if you scan items or make a purchase.

Treats include a free coffee at Starbucks, gift cards, iTunes song downloads and more.

Download ShopKick from the iTunes App Store or Google Play.

These sites are not affiliated with AFCEA or SIGNAL Magazine, and we are not responsible for the content or quality of the products offered. When visiting new websites, please use proper Internet security procedures.

Information Security Scholarships Available

November 21 ,2012

By Maryann Lawlor

The (ISC)2 Foundation’s information security 2013 scholarship program application process will open on January 1, 2013, offering a total of $120,000 in awards to women, graduate students, young professionals and faculty.

Departments:

Cyber

Education

Cool App-titude: TalkTo

November 20, 2012

Rachel Eisenhower

We’ve probably all had the experience of calling a business and getting trapped in a maze of automated voice prompts—frantically dialing 0 and yelling into the phone that you want to speak with a human being. Well, those days could be over.

Customer service just got easier thanks to the TalkTo app for iOS and Android. Forget picking up the phone to call a company. With this app, you can simply text any business for information, appointments, reservations or whatever you may need.

Simply type in the name of a company you want to contact, from stores to restaurants, salons and hotels. Then send a text message just like you would to chat with a friend. The app delivers the message and ensures that you receive a text response.

Download the free app from the iTunes App Store or Google Play.

Notes On Intelligence – New Chair, Continuing Challenges

Sept 2012

Bill Nolte

            I did not want to finish my term as chair of the Intelligence Committee without providing a few parting thoughts. First of all, my thanks to AFCEA and Kent Schneider for continuing to sponsor and support the committee. It is an important activity, recognized as such by everyone in the intelligence profession. Secondly, I, along with every other AFCEAN with an interest in intelligence, owe an enormous debt to Steve Ritchey and his staff, for all he and they do to make this committee functional. They allow the members to think from time that we are responsible for the committee’s success, but we know better. And I need both to thank and congratulate my longtime friend, colleague, and now successor, Maureen Baginski. Mo’s record of innovation and leadership speaks for itself; I leave the chair in good hands.
               Finally, let me thank the committee members – past and present – I’ve served with over the years. Sometimes I hear it said that serving in the public sector is somehow nobler than serving in the corporate world, and I’ve simply never accepted that. Different rewards? Yes. Perhaps a different manner of service? Yes again. But my experience with the committee’s members and its government liaison representatives convinces me the motive to serve remains the same. That experience leads me to remind my students (over and over, they would probably say) that they can perform public service in the private sector as well as in government.
            The American intelligence establishment, as with the rest of the national security structure, faces enormous challenges ahead, generated by the operating and information environments they face and by difficult budgetary circumstances.

Cool App-titude: Sidecastr

November 13, 2012

Rachel Eisenhower

Thanks to Twitter, watching your favorite TV show can be a social experience. Thousands of celebrities, cast members and fans now tweet during episodes of popular shows, and a new iPad app gathers all that commentary in one place.

The Sidecastr app is a free service that captures tweets, comments and conversations posted during live broadcasts. It then filters out the best commentary and presents it in a visual timeline with screen shots from the show.

Whether you're watching a show live or catching up after the fact, the app lets you in on the conversation.

The app automatically detects what you're watching in order to play the live-captured tweets. You can organize your timeline by adding or customizing the sources of content. The app filters the tweets to eliminate spam and redundancy, and super fans help to curate the comments, giving you the highlights.

Currently, the app collects tweets for a variety of popular shows, including the Walking Dead, Glee and the Voice. It also includes special broadcast events.

Download the free app from the iTunes App Store.

Petraeus, Benghazi, the DNI and IC-ITE

November 13, 2012

Joe Mazzafro

My initial intent was to discuss with you the intelligence related issues associated with the September 11th Benghazi attack and offer my views on the proceedings of AFCEA’s Fall Intelligence Symposium that focused on the importance of implementing the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise (IC ITE, pronounced “eye sight”). This train of thought, however, was jarringly interrupted Friday (9 Nov) afternoon with the mind bending announcement that the President had accepted (reluctantly) David Patraeus’ resignation as CIA Director because of an extra-marital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell (“ALL IN - - - The Education of General David Patraeus” with Vernon Loeb). Ironically, Patraeus’ necessary but unforced departure from the seventh floor at Langley will vector us back to Benghazi and IC ITE.
My first reaction to the bulletin “Petraeus Resigns” was this probably is related to Benghazi being cast as an intelligence failure and somebody with sufficient name recognition had to fall on their sword post election to placate administration critics and get this story out of the media. My next thought was what does unexpectedly having to find a new CIA Director means for IC?

U.S. Technology Training for Kids in the Pacific

November 8, 2012

By Rita Boland

The U.S. Department of State is hosting its first-ever Youth TechCamp in the Pacific region later this month. Coordinated in conjunction with Pasifika Nexus and the University of the South Pacific, Youth TechCamp Fiji will offer six days of training to as many as 300 youths from various Pacific islands. Local and international technology experts from the fields of digital content creation, mobile applications and social activism will participate as well. Organizers aim to enable future leaders from the region to contribute to policy development, encourage local content creation and leverage connection technologies in positive ways.

Members of the public can join the conversation about this event through the Youth TechCamp Facebook page or on Twitter with the hashtag #TechCamp.

Departments:

Cyber

International

Veterans Day

November 9, 2012

U.S. veterans—on the day our nation sets aside especially for you, we at SIGNAL want to say thank you for all you’ve done overseas and domestically to make life better for everyone who lives here. From fighting vicious enemies to rescuing people during natural disasters, you step up when others run. We appreciate the sacrifice of you and your families. Welcome home.

Homefront Help: Thank You for My Freedom Campaign

November 8, 2012

By Rita Boland

The National WWII Museum has launched the Thank You for My Freedom campaign to give the public a chance to share videos, photos and words of appreciation to support the nation’s veterans. Efforts center around the www.myveteransday.org website, where people can upload their messages and see what others have posted. Participants also can text THANKS to 51555 or send their messages to the museum’s Twitter and Facebook pages. The work leads up to the museum’s Veterans Day celebrations on November 10 and 11. Organizers want to gather a million thank-yous for U.S. military veterans. So pull out those smartphones and start getting creative!

Homefront Help also has a Facebook page where visitors can gather and share information. If you know of a program that is helping service personnel, veterans or their families please submit that information to Rita Boland, SIGNAL’s senior news editor.

You are here

Pages