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Welcome once again to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? We hope everyone in the mid-Atlantic region was able to enjoy their hibernation brought on by the massive snow storm that hit this past weekend. Many of you may actually be working from home today because of road conditions. Either way, we hope you are maximizing your WiFi connections and have time to check out this week’s MMNKO post. This week, we have a mixture of stories to share: from extended coverage of last week’s Select Committee on Intelligence hearing to news of Apple rejecting any applications using GPS for location-aware ads and more. Fire up that second cup of coffee and read on!

Intelligence Community Warns Senate Committee of Increased Terror Threats
Thursday’s hearing before the Select Committee on Intelligence brings to light very different views held by its members on Miranda warning policies and should such warnings be offered to terrorist suspects. The committee also heard how terrorists are falling off the grid. The first question asked by Chairman Sen. (D) Dianne Feinstein set the tone: “Is a terrorist attack against the United States likely in the next 3 to 6 months?” All 5 witnesses — Adm. Blair (DNI), Dir. Panetta (CIA), Lt. Gen Burges (MI), Dir. Mueller (FBI) and acting Assist Secretary of INR Dinger — testified yes. Read the rest of Doug Hanchard’s ZDNet blog post here.

Obama Pays Tribute to CIA Officers Killed in Suicide Blast in Afghanistan
President Obama paid tribute Friday to the seven CIA officers killed in December by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, calling them patriots who “served in the shadows” and gave their lives to protect their country. At a memorial service at CIA headquarters in Langley, Obama addressed more than 1,000 agency workers, along with members of Congress and relatives of those killed in the Dec. 30 attack. The White House released a transcript of his remarks from the service, which was closed to the news media. The seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed when a suicide bomber posing as an al-Qaeda informant set off explosives at a tightly secured CIA base in the Afghan province of Khost. The attacker, a Jordanian doctor identified as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, had won the confidence of CIA officials by providing credible leads about al-Qaeda. Read the full Washington Post article here.

Northrop Grumman had $1.7 Billion Profit in 2009
Northrop Grumman posted a $1.7 billion profit in 2009, officials at the Los Angeles-based defense contractor said Thursday. It was a stark contrast to the $1.3 billion in losses the company incurred the previous year, when it had to account for the decline in value of companies it bought earlier in the decade. The $5.21-per-share profit, company officials said, reflects the December sale of its Chantilly-based advisory services business TASC and the consolidation of some operations in its five units. But officials also attribute it to revenue generated from contracts to build spy satellites, fighter jets and electronic systems to protect planes from missiles. Read the full Washington Post article here.

NASA’s Outsourcing May Benefit Large Contractors
Despite the Obama administration’s multibillion dollar bet that a scrappy band of entrepreneurs can revitalize the U.S. manned space program, its budget also offers sweeteners to some of the nation’s largest aerospace contractors. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s proposed $19 billion spending plan for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 includes early seed money for development of pioneering technologies to deliver cargo and astronauts to Earth orbit and beyond. But two of the five initial recipients hardly fit the mold of hungry start-ups: Boeing Co., one of NASA’s premier suppliers, and United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin Corp rocket joint venture that currently has a virtual monopoly launching U.S. military and spy satellites. Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

DigitalGlobe to Announce Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2009 Financial Results
DigitalGlobe Inc., a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution, world-imagery products and services for defense and intelligence, civil government, and commercial clients, today announced the company will conduct a conference call to discuss fourth quarter and fiscal year 2009 financial results on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 3:00pm MT (5:00pm ET). A live webcast of the call will be available on DigitalGlobe’s Investor Relations website here, and will be available as a replay shortly after the call. An audio replay of the call will be available for 30 days. The conference call replay numbers are as follows: United States – (800) 642-1687, International – (706) 645-9291. The access code is 5428-3392.

OSI Geospatial Sells Soldier Systems to Harris Corp. for $6.5 million
OSI Geospatial Inc. has signed an agreement with U.S.-based Harris Corp. to sell all rights to certain military intellectual property for US$6.5 million. The agreement covers computer-based command and control technology that’s used by soldiers on the front lines of military operations, the company said Monday. President and chief executive Ken Kirkpatrick said the transaction is part of a broader move to sell off non-core assets of its overall business, announced early last year. Read the full Canadian Press article here.

Apple Will Reject Apps Using GPS for Location-Aware Ads
Apple is now advising App Store developers that it will reject any application submitted for review if the location-aware capabilities of the iPhone API is used to provide the user with location-aware ads, MacNN has reported. The move could be a signal that the company itself plans tapple app storeo move into the space, and that wouldn’t be that surprising. Consider that Apple did look into a buyout of AdMob, which ended up being purchased by Google. It bought out mobile advertiser Quattro Wireless, and has said it wants to offer its developers advertising solutions within their apps. Read the full PC World article here.

Happy Monday!

Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, Dennis Blair, DigitalGlobe, Director of National Intelligence, Fallen CIA Officers, Harris Corporation, NASA, Northop Grumman TASC, Northrop Grumman, Obama, OSI Geospatial, Select Committee on Intelligence