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Once again, we hope everyone had a restful weekend and that you are ready to take on the working world with dignity and tenacity. Once again, we have compiled a number of actionable news stories designed for you to seize the working week. We start off this post with a story about how troops in Afghanistan are being provided with tools to help them deal with the overwhelming amount of data that is being supplied via drones. In addition, we offer a number of other stories that relate to GEOINT, defense and intelligence. As we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.

Data Dump For YouTube Troopers
Troops in Afghanistan are about to get a big help called Valiant Angel for sorting and moving the massive amounts of still and video imagery collected by dozens of aerial drones and other aircraft orbiting the region via the intel shop at Joint Forces Command. Troops and intelligence analysts are simply overwhelmed by the vast amounts of drone supplied digital video that is served up daily in massive quantities. Digital connections worsen the farther one travels from large, fixed headquarters. Small units in isolated combat outposts, for example, are often stuck with the equivalent of a 56k dial-up connection; they lack the big data pipes to tap into video feeds or access the massive images stitched together by wide area surveillance platforms (WAS). Read the full DoD Buzz article here.

CIA Director: US Attacks Have Weakened al-Qaida
CIA Director Leon Panetta says aggressive attacks against al-Qaida in Pakistan have forced Osama bin Laden and his top associates deeper into hiding, and weakened the terrorist group’s ability to plan sophisticated operations. Panetta told The Washington Post newspaper that in a recently intercepted message an al-Qaida lieutenant urged bin Laden to come to the group’s rescue and provide leadership. Panetta also said cooperation between the CIA and its Pakistani counterparts has improved over the past year. Read the full Voice of America article here.

2010 Federal Geospatial Summit – May 11 and 12, 2010
NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will host a summit to share information with other federal agencies on proposed improvements to the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS)—the coordinate system that defines latitude, longitude, height, scale, gravity, and orientation throughout the United States. Plans for the replacement of the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 1988) will be discussed, and the summit will help answer the following questions…read the full press release at GISUser.com here.

Afghan Army Mapping the Future
The Afghan National Army (ANA) Intelligence Directorate (G2) Geographic Information/Intelligence Service (GEOINT) took a huge leap recently towards self-sufficiency with the installation of almost $600,000 in computer equipment. This is one of the hidden gems being shaped inside the Afghan Army. Building an Afghan Army entails a “whole man” process, where combat forces are generated, but supporting agencies that enable and enhance an Afghan Army’s capabilities, must to be generated simultaneously with Twenty First Century equipment; especially as the Army grows more self-sufficient. Check out the full blog post from the NATO Training Mission site here.

Apple Applies for ‘iGroups’ Mobile Social Patent
Apple has applied for a patent on a social networking technology called iGroups, which would establish a ad-hoc, mobile social networking group. The iGroups patent is the fourth Apple social patent made public since the beginning of 2010, according to Patently Apple, which tracks Apple’s patent filings. iGroups is noteworthy for two reasons: first, there’s the fact that iGroups is simply an Apple social networking application. Apple is deservedly famous for creating an ecosystem: in addition to its hardware platforms, it has developed several pieces of software, as well as a robust framework for third-party developers to sign on and write software. Read the full PC Magazine article here.

FAA, NASA Vie for Authority Over Commercial Space Safety
Congress hasn’t yet voted on White House proposals to outsource manned space flights to private enterprise, but the concept already is prompting a bureaucratic tussle over which federal agency should be responsible for ensuring the safety of such flights. The Federal Aviation Administration believes it should be the agency in charge, while National Aeronautics and Space Administration believes the flights fall under its jurisdiction. The dispute came into public view Thursday during a hearing of a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee. The panel’s chairman, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, home to thousands of NASA jobs, indicated that he views the space agency as the final arbiter of astronaut safety. Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

Happy Monday!