The SIGNAL Blog

Dramatics to Drama: From the Fiscal Cliff to “Zero Dark Thirty”

Joe Mazzafro

Unless we are existing in a weird parallel universe, the Mayan’s were clearly wrong about the world ending last month, but the National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds” does warn the U.S. will likely lose its status as the planet’s only superpower by then. And how about that fiscal cliff?!? Lots of drama for New Year’s Day legislation that only raised taxes on those making $400k or more without any meaningful impact on reducing the deficit or dealing with sequestration. More or less a two month “U” turn at the fiscal cliff or a demonstration of “Democracy Inaction!”

The White House and the Congress “agreeing “ to defer dealing with either the debt ceiling or sequestration for two months only insures that budgetary uncertainty for almost all national security accounts will continue until “March Madness.” Sequestration will then join raising the debt ceiling and extending the Continuing Resolution (CR) for the rest of FY 13 as requiring legislative action of some type in March. While there could be some kind of grand bargain providing a comprehensive solution to all three of these separate but related tectonic fiscal issues, I remain unable to see what will change between now and March given the political posturing that has been going since 2010 without any significant increases in revenues or cuts in spending. And as we heard the President and the Republican leaders of Congress publicly “trash talking” with each other on January 14, any discussion about raising the debt ceiling is an opportunity for political brinkmanship regarding shutting down the government.

Departments:

Intelligence

Energy Boost for Materials Development

January 15, 2013

By Maryann Lawlor

Critical Materials Institute to bring together researchers from academia, the private sector and four DOE national laboratories to find solutions that can be applied to a material’s life cycle and increase U.S. global competitiveness in the materials marketplace.

Cool App-titude: Readability

January 15, 2013

By Rachel Eisenhower

Want to surf your favorite sites without all the clutter? The free Readability app for iOS and Android turns any website into a clean view.

Readability automatically changes sites into a simple, one-column view for easy reading. You can even save a webpage to your computer or smartphone, and the article will be available for you later whether you are online or offline.

Customize the reading view by setting the type size, contrast and margins.

Once you're done reading, share the article with friends through Facebook, Twitter or email; mark it as a favorite; or archive it. Then, use the Top Reads list to quickly find another interesting article.

Download the free app 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.

Homefront Help: Purple Heart Homes

January 24, 2013

By Rita Boland

For many wounded warfighters, leaving the hospital is only the first step on a long journey toward healing and a renewed sense of belonging in the world. Purple Heart Homes reaches out to such service-connected disabled veterans from any conflict and their caregivers through two specialized programs. Veterans Aging in Place helps older veterans who currently own a home, while the Veteran Home Ownership program aids disabled former troops with becoming homeowners. Assistance ranges from adapting homes to accommodate injuries, building a home from the ground up or modifying a foreclosed home, all with the purpose of assisting veterans reintegrate into their communities.

Purple Heart Homes partners with local contractors who can take ownership of the process and thereby work with existing supply networks. This process involves members of the community from the outset. In addition to looking for volunteers from the building trades to lend a hand, the organization seeks people who can help with registration, fundraising, publicity or feeding volunteers, and is happy to use the enthusiasm of any hard workers willing to help out. Anyone interested in participating can learn more on the volunteer page. Disabled veterans interested in taking advantage of the available resources can fill out an application online to participate in the programs.

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 news editor.

Homefront Help: Defending the Blue Line

January 17, 2013

By Rita Boland

The NHL strike is over, and amateur hockey is going strong. Defending the Blue Line helps military children enjoy the sport by providing free equipment, hockey camps, special events and financial assistance for other costs associated with playing the game. Families interested in taking advantage of the offerings can learn more on the website. Certain programs and the grants for 2013 open later in the year.

Hockey enthusiasts who want to help out can donate equipment, volunteer or offer services associated with hockey.

Homefront Help: Operation American Dream

January 10, 2013

By Rita Boland

The Operation American Dream contest sponsored by Signal 88 Security is taking a veteran “From Battlefield to Boss” by offering start-up money for an entrepreneurial venture. Each month through May 15, eligible veterans can submit a 500-word essay on why they deserve to be their own boss. Three monthly finalists will be selected by Signal 88 Security and the winner will be determined by a public vote. Those winners receive $500 and are eligible for the Grand Prize of $5,000. If the winner decides to open a Signal 88 Security franchise with the winnings, the company will increase the amount to $10,000.

Essays are due by January 15 for the first round of the contest. More complete information is available on the website.

Micrometer Materials Form 3-D Military Tools

January 9, 2013

By Rita Boland

Researchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Johns Hopkins University have discovered methods to control folding pathways and enable sequential folding on a millimeter scale using a low-intensity laser beam. Lasers at a low intensity worked as a trigger for tagging applications. Developers are fabricating sheets of millimeter-size structures that serve as battery-free wireless actuators that fold when exposed to a laser operating at eye-safe infrared wavelengths. The metallic structures may respond even to high-powered LED lighting. At the millimeter scale, the structures could attach, jump, apply friction and perform as mechanical switches serving a number of defense functions such as the remote initiation of energetic materials, micro thrusters for robotics and the attachment of transponder tags to fabric surfaces. They also could possibly integrate with logic/memory circuits, sensors, transponder tags and optical modules such as light emitting diodes. 

Departments:

Defense

Cool App-titude: Soulver

January 8, 2013

By Rachel Eisenhower

Do you ever find yourself jotting down quick calculations on a piece of scrap paper or the back of an envelope? The Soulver app for iOS devices gives you a new way to crunch numbers on the go.

The program, developed by Acqualia, lets you do quick calculations without needing a traditional calculator. With the app, you simply type out your problem and see the answer as you write. You can use words alongside the numbers to make sense of specific scenarios.

In short, you can work with numbers the way you think them. For example, type in a problem like: This year my electric bill is $620 - 10% discount. Soulver will produce the answer as you go.

In addition to instant calculations as you type, the app provides a large keyboard designed for quick math; currrency conversions; easy percentages; all standard math functions; and the ability to save your work, sync it to your computer, share files or send data as emails.

Purchase the app for $2.99 from the iTunes App Store for the iPhone or the iPad.

Big Data in Demand for Intelligence Community

January 4, 2013

By George I. Seffers

The National Security Agency is poised to deliver an initial cloud computing capability for the entire intelligence community that will significantly enhance cybersecurity and mission performance, and unleash the power of innovation for intelligence agencies, Lonny Anderson, NSA chief information officer, says.

Departments:

Intelligence

U.S. Army Issues First NIE 14.1 Request for Proposal for Vehicle Tactical Router

December 27, 2012

SIGNAL

The U.S. Army recently announced that it is seeking mature solutions supporting the Vehicle Tactical Router gap to participate in the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 14.1 event, scheduled to take place in October - November 2013 at Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. This marks the first request for proposal (RFP) to support the NIE events. The Army will use the RFP method to seek capability for targeted capability gaps, while also relying on Sources Sought notifications to target vendor solutions for broad capability gaps. The RFP will result in an NIE support contract award.

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