Boeing drops the ball again on SBInet for border security
Boeing’s SBInet was supposed to be the ultimate in anti-illegal immigrant technology: miles of surveillance-radar towers (colloquially, “Cameras on a Pole”) hooked up to ground-based sensors that detected the heat of someone’s footprints or the metal of a border-crossing vehicle. Sound impractical? That’s what the GAO Government Accountability Office found in October, when it lamented SBInet’s “well-chronicled history of not delivering promised capabilities and benefits on time and within budget.”
It only took nearly a year of hiatus and $1 billion in sunk costs, but the Department of Homeland Security has finally gotten rid of the networked suite of sensors that made up its virtual border fence. But some of its technology may live on as zombie border protection.
The virtual fence “cannot meet its original objective of providing a single, integrated border-security technology solution,” Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded in a statement today heralding the program’s termination.
see more on info on Boeing's failures to deliver on promises at the GAO office report
see actual GAO report on Boeing failures and promises
see more info at
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/homeland-security-junks-its-sensor-laden-border-fence/
Saturday, January 15, 2011
1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance
1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance
In his earlier book, 1421: The Year China Discovered America (2002), Menzies, a former British Royal Navy submarine commander, asserted that a mighty Chinese fleet commanded by the eunuch Zheng visited North America. The book generated considerable interest and a cult following among laymen, but professional historians in both China and the West largely dismissed his claims. Now Menzies, still the provocateur, insists that a Chinese fleet visited Italy and imparted the wisdom of the highly advanced Chinese civilization, thus sparking the explosion of scientific inquiry and creativity during the Renaissance. As scholarly history, this work is weak. Menzies takes fragmentary evidence and blows it up into “without a doubt” conclusions. Still, as a combination of nautical tall tale and historical speculation, this is a fun book. Menzies knows how to spin a yarn and does so in the manner of a good detective story. This isn’t serious history, but many will find it an enjoyable read. --Jay Freeman
1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance (P.S.)
In his earlier book, 1421: The Year China Discovered America (2002), Menzies, a former British Royal Navy submarine commander, asserted that a mighty Chinese fleet commanded by the eunuch Zheng visited North America. The book generated considerable interest and a cult following among laymen, but professional historians in both China and the West largely dismissed his claims. Now Menzies, still the provocateur, insists that a Chinese fleet visited Italy and imparted the wisdom of the highly advanced Chinese civilization, thus sparking the explosion of scientific inquiry and creativity during the Renaissance. As scholarly history, this work is weak. Menzies takes fragmentary evidence and blows it up into “without a doubt” conclusions. Still, as a combination of nautical tall tale and historical speculation, this is a fun book. Menzies knows how to spin a yarn and does so in the manner of a good detective story. This isn’t serious history, but many will find it an enjoyable read. --Jay Freeman
1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance (P.S.)
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