After crashing both my phone and computer, I've not had the time to get this thing (re)started. As it's New Year's Eve, I'll just link to a few end-of-year lists that likely won't make it to popular media sources. NSA, ISIS, Ebola, Crimea, Sony....is it any wonder the national past time became volunteering to be doused in ice water?
What will the new year bring? How many unknown unknowns are lurking? First, a look back --
IntelNews shares its top 10 intelligence-related stories of 2014. The link here is to the top five, with the #6-10 linked within the article. I was a bit surprised by their choice of #1, which isn't to say I challenge it, as it's a worthy choice and one that will continue to present many challenges.
Homeland Security Today highlights issues related to cyber-security threats and capabilities expected to manifest in 2015. See here.
Brookings shared, in no particular order and in apparent need for an intern to do something before leaving for holidays, their "top infographics" of 2014. See here
George Friedman of Stratfor offered his top five stories of 2014. Spoiler alert -- his #1 story allows Friedman to share a personal moment of great significance, with a nice point tying the birth of his child to the continuance of time and human existence, which is indeed nice but a little too "as the world turns" for me. Still, he's usually a worthy read. See here
And now for something completely different, the top Bitcoin-related stories of 2014. The emergence of this murky, alternate currency is fascinating to me, though I can't claim to know a great deal about it beyond NPR and similar reporting over the last year. These folks, on the other hand, obviously pay much closer attention. Whatever the future of Bitcoin specifically, the genie is out of the bottle and it seems reasonable to expect similar technologies to develop and proliferate. See here.
Looking ahead....
The editor-in-chief of the Economist offers a London-foggy-gloom essay on the fate of democracies in 2015. As the greatly over-long and money-wasting two year experience we call a U.S. presidential election is underway, it's a worthwhile read. See here.
The Atlantic offers two pieces, one with expert opinions on what to expect in the global economy in 2015. See here. The other is a report on how this report, produced in early 2000 by the intelligence community and presents the IC's vision for what to expect in 2015. The Atlantic summary is here. I think I'll open my Foreign Policy class with this document in January.
Here is a list of lists, summarizing fifteen sets of predictions as issued by tech producers and experts. I find this well worth the time to explore (it's written in layperson's vernacular) as the future of the digital realm is, like all futures, to be in part determined by the darker and/or revolutionary elements of global society. The trends indicated in these summaries and the links provided within include threats to all levels of our security as individuals, nationals, and participants in globally-connected institutions. Information security, privacy concerns, and social stability are all at stake.
More immediately, I simply wish for all to have a fun and safe evening and a new year that brings joy, comfort and security to us all. I welcome all civil comments and discussions, and look forward to continuing the blog as the new semester gets underway in January.
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