SIGNAL Extras

After some growing pains and a shake out period, will a true democracy with all its flaws and opportunities emerge, or will it be hijacked by a small core group of extremists? Or will it just be more of the same old story?

The Defense Department's FY 2012 budget proposal features $2.3 billion for improved cyber capabilities, according to figures released this afternoon. Key elements of that funding include $0.5 billion for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to invest in cyber technologies. Funding also will be provided to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for cyber identity, monitoring and enforcement.

This month's Connections poll: Will U.S. military services' cost savings--efficiencies--be enough to fund the needed improvements announced by Secretary Gates?

Back in October, AFCEA's Professional Development Center hosted a series of speakers talking about issues facing today's leaders. The Executive Leadership Series lives on in video form, as SIGNAL Editor in Chief Robert K. Ackerman spent a few minutes with each of the speakers prior to their presentations. The result is Lens on Leadership, six short videos in which each speaker shares wisdom from his or her area of expertise.

This month's SIGNAL Connections poll is out, and we're curious: Are the new TSA security techniques, involving revealing full-body scans and aggressive pat-down searches, too invasive?

Not everyone can step into the cockpit of an aircraft, but training allows U.S. Air Force officers and airmen from all backgrounds to get on the Internet and defend threatened networks.

The U.S. Department of Treasury recently announced an end to the sale of paper savings bonds through employer-sponsored payroll savings programs. Find out how this change could impact the way you save in the future.

In less than 30 days, the Defense Department will dish out 11 prizes for innovative solutions to real-world challenges facing digital forensics examiners. And it's not too late to join the fight against cyber crime. Submissions for the 2010 Defense Department Cyber Crime Center (DC3) Digital Forensics Challenge will be accepted until November 2.

The trend to house information technology infrastructure off site moved a step forward recently when Philadelphia Technology Park opened in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Despite the name, the area is not a collection of buildings where people experiment with scientific ideas. Rather, the complex offers a secure, redundant data center to accommodate technology from multiple groups including companies, universities and nonprofit organizations.

Absentee Voting Week begins today and ends on October 4, 2010. All citizens who have not received their absentee ballot in the mail can go to the Federal Voter Assistance Program (FVAP) website (http://www.FVAP.gov) to cast their votes.