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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? While many of us are gearing up for a short holiday work week, the reality is that there is plenty to be accomplished before we all head off into the sunset. Surely a nice turkey dinner with family and friends is around the corner. Though in the meantime, there is a whole world of news you need to kick off a highly productive short week. So, as we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on. Happy Thanksgiving!

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In areas around the equator, natural climate cycles influence localized conflict and civil wars, according to a new study published in Nature. For example, countries in this region face double the risk of armed conflict breaking out during warm, dry El Niño years than during the cooler La Niña phase. So, the big takeaway is that heat equals conflict in these regions. This study is remarkable because it shines a light on a hotly contested climate-influence issue in the science community, and can help reinforce localized national security strategies.

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One of the biggest mysteries is the human brain. Scientists, psychologists, philosophers and even artists have tried to crack the code on the one organ that essentially creates the foundation for who we are and why we behave the way we do. And fully understanding the brain and how we process information can surely be beneficial for the Intelligence Community (IC). The is precisely what the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) was thinking when it contracted Raytheon BBN to explore modeling the brain’s ability to make sense of large amounts of haphazard, partial information. Ultimately, this research can help the IC analyze fast-moving battlefield video, audio and text data quickly and accurately.

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As we all know, the Central Intelligence Agency’s primary mission is to collect, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence to assist the President and senior US Government policymakers in making decisions relating to national security. To accomplish its mission, the CIA engages in a wide range of research and development for collection, analysis, and security purposes. Knowing exactly what the technology focus areas are for the CIA is very valuable to any member of the community — especially for those development cutting-edge solutions for the agency. From signals processing to biotechnology to trusted computing, there is a wide-range of technologies that will help the CIA better achieve its mission. And, you can actually view this entire list in this PDF document from the CIA. We hope you find this information beneficial. Happy Thursday.

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Often looking into the past makes us realize how things have changed and progressed. Remember life before the Internet? Seems kind of odd to think that more than 15 years ago, we were not hyper-connected to each other — and phoning and faxing were the only way to get things done. Well, the same can be said about how intelligence gathering techniques have changed over time. From the evolution of GEOINT being the common denominator for all other layers of intelligence to the rise of innovative intelligence gathering and sharing technologies, the Intelligence Community (IC) moves at a very quick pace when it comes to innovation. Though back during World War I, the IC used some very interesting intelligence-gathering techniques that could come straight out of a Hollywood movie.

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As our faithful readers know, we like to do a mid-week news summary, especially when things are blowing up in the news media! Well, that may be an exaggeration, though there is plenty happening today. We have the NGA Tech Showcase East going on, and the International LiDAR Mapping Forum is happening in New Orleans (one of our favorite places) right now. And, well, there’s plenty of other key news — like the CIA fully embracing social media and the NGA looking for IT support. To achieve true enlightenment when it comes to GEOINT news, please read on…again, perhaps another exaggeration. But trust us, there’s some good stuff in this post. Happy Wednesday!

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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? As always, we hope you had a restful weekend. As always, we have provided all of the key news you need to kick off the work week in one convenient post. And, for this weeks MMNKO post, we offer an eclectic mix of stories about WikiLeaks, cybersecurity, holograms, business acquisitions and much more. So, as we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on. Happy Monday!

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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? As always, we hope you had a restful (and dry) weekend. Fall is officially in full swing. And this means that GEOINT 2010 is right around the corner. Have you done everything you can to make GEOINT 2010 exceptional for you? Have you logged into CrowdVine? What is CrowdVine you ask? Why it is the definitive social network for GEOINT 2010 and we highly recommend you check it out. You can discuss topics, schedule meetings and check out any pre-event buzz. Click here to start your own profile. And, we would be remiss if we did not say this: “Fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.” Happy Monday!

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Welcome to a wet and rainy Friday. For those who live in Seattle, this is pretty normal, but for us folks on the East Coast we are drowning in a sea of rain water and frankly it’s starting to freak us out. “Noah, where’s the ark?” is one of the most common Facebook updates happening right now. So, what better thing to do on a rainy day than read a book. That is right, the got geoint? editorial staff not only prides itself on tapping into all things cool about GEOINT, we also occasionally like to take a load off, fire up the tea kettle and read a good book. What kind of stuff do we read? Well, you guessed it…geography- and IC-related books (yes, we are GEOINT nerds). Though we do want to read the new Jonathan Franzen book. And oh, watch out…Snooki is writing a book (no joke.) Check out our latest installment of cool reads in this post. Happy Friday!

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Call it the big information chill, looming across the military and intelligence communities. After the massive Afghan war data spill by WikiLeaks, some veteran intelligence officers and experts are calling for a tightening of access to information and more monitoring in the spy community’s lower levels. They’re blaming post-9/11 changes that promoted information sharing as the culprit that made it too easy to lose control of the nation’s secrets.

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