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NSA files decoded: Edward Snowden's surveillance revelations explained | US news
Two factors opened the way for the rapid expansion of surveillance over the past decade: the fear of terrorism created by the 9/11 attacks and the digital revolution that led to an explosion in cell phone and internet use. But along with these technologies came an extension in the NSA’s reach few in the early 1990s could have imagined. Details that in the past might have remained private were suddenly there for the taking. Chris Soghoian Principal technologist, ACLU NSA is helped by the fact that much of the world’s communications traffic passes through the US or its close ally the UK – what the agencies refer to as “home-field advantage”. The Snowden documents show that the NSA runs these surveillance programs through “partnerships” with major US telecom and internet companies. The division inside the NSA that deals with collection programs that focus on private companies is Special Source Operations, described by Snowden as the “crown jewels” of the NSA. Jeremy Scahill Fiber-optic cable
Can You Dig It? More Evidence Suggests Humans From The Ice Age
Students Patrick Rohrer, Sarah Warthen, Alix Piven and Lauren Urane are led by Mercyhurst University Archeologist Andy Hemmings. Their project has picked up where Florida's State Geologist Elias Sellards left off in 1915. Sellards led an excavation of the site where workers digging a drainage canal found fossilized human remains. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption toggle caption Greg Allen/NPR Students Patrick Rohrer, Sarah Warthen, Alix Piven and Lauren Urane are led by Mercyhurst University Archeologist Andy Hemmings. Greg Allen/NPR In Florida, archaeologists are investigating a site that a century ago sparked a scientific controversy. But in 1915, it was a spot that became world-famous because of the work of Elias Sellards, Florida's state geologist. Andy Hemmings of Mercyhurst University is the lead archaeologist on a project that has picked up where Sellards left off a century ago. In Sellards' 1916 Florida Geological Survey report, markings suggest evidence of humans.
30 Compelling Examples of Visual Storytelling on the Web
Storytelling is a powerful approach that can, when done right, compel users to convert more effectively than what any amount of optimization, crazy visual callouts, or awesome interactive elements can do otherwise. Much like how we expect to see a moral at the end of a book, we expect to find a purpose at the end of a site with a storytelling experience. When the path to the “moral of the story” (or conversion point, to be more specific) is laid out clearly in front of our users’ eyes, the rest of the work lies simply in convincing them that the purpose is really worth grabbing on to… which is great since with storytelling, a user is normally in the mindset of learning more about what the story has to offer. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 2011 Annual Report ( 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. inTacto 10 Years ( 29. 30. The end!
Map Men: teaching geography through comedy
Mark Cooper-Jones and Jay Foreman tap into a rich vein of geographical quirks to teach through comedy ‘Maps are probably the best gateway into geography,’ argues comedian Mark Cooper-Jones. ‘They have become trendy, and cool. People are even putting them up on their walls.’ For any geography teacher looking for ways to make the world’s many maps, and the various strange geographical oddities they portray, funny and yet still educational, they should definitely watch Map Men. Short, snappy videos produced and presented by comedian map-fans Cooper-Jones and Jay Foreman, Map Men explores interesting stories about maps from the UK and overseas, merging snippets of educational information with quick-fire jokes and sketches. ‘Comedy is the thing that makes them clickable,’ observes Cooper-Jones. The YouTube series covers a wide range of subjects, such as the UK’s north-south divide, the India-Bangladesh enclave situation, and the famous Hereford Mappa Mundi.
Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek - Multimedia Feature
Rats Blamed For Bubonic Plague, But Gerbils May Be The Real Villains
Rats have a bad rap. They have for centuries. Ever since the middle of the 14th century when the Black Plague descended over Europe. Rats took the rap for spreading the bubonic plague, which killed millions of people over the next 400 years. Rat has been an epithet ever since. But perhaps rats have gotten a bum rap. Professor Nils Christian Stenseth and scientists from the University of Oslo say they've compared tree-ring records from Europe and Asia with more than 7,000 outbreaks of the plague. But he says wet springs succeeded by warm summers would be a honeymoon atmosphere for another species of vermin. "Such conditions are good for gerbils," Stenseth told the BBC. "If we're right," he added, "we'll have to rewrite history." Gerbils may be the real rats. But we've had centuries of image spin. This is not to say that rats can't be dangerous. But it's hard to imagine Jimmy Cagney sneering, "You dirty gerbil!"
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'American Panorama' Is a Historical Atlas for the 21st Century
When Charles Paullin’s Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States first appeared in 1932, it was hailed as a “monument to historical scholarship.” Its 700 maps traced nearly every dimension of American life across the country’s geographical bounds—its natural history, its settlement by Europeans, the spread of railroads, state boundaries, suffrage, and much else. Paullin, a naval historian, hoped his meticulous research and beautiful renderings would inspire new research into history’s old narratives. They did. And yet for nearly a century, no other project really attempted to match its depth. Inspired by the scope and intellectual ambition of its predecessor, a new project promises an American historical atlas for the online era. “We don’t want it to be faithfully following the look of a historical atlas,” says Jon Christensen, a partner at Stamen and scholar of history at UCLA. A map titled “Foreign-Born Population: A Nation of Overlapping Diasporas” is just one.
