Cool Chart, Cool Charting Program (VisibleCertainty.com)

Verifiable.com is a new-ish online tool for visualizing data. The chart below is an example of how their product works (while making a fairly thought provoking point at the same time). The chart is interactive -- mouse over the points to see the data in detail.

Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools To Do Intel Analysis (Original Research)

In my Advanced Analytic Techniques class this term, we have been taking a quick look at a number of different intel analysis methods (with the results posted on our ADVAT blog) but we have also been examining some methods in a bit more detail.

One of the more interesting experiments was Jeff Welgan's attempt to do competitive intelligence analysis using free, online search engine optimization tools. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), for those of you new to the term, is basically about trying to make your website, blog, etc. easier to find.

Jeff noticed that there are many, many tools to help people do this on the cheap. His thought was that you could use these tools not to aid your own efforts but rather to gather data about a competitor company, organization or even a terrorist group through their web presence. This, in turn, might allow an analyst to gain insight into their strategies and, possibly, their next moves.

For his purposes, he focused on two competitors, Starbucks and Caribou Coffee for his case study. His site, however contains a good bit more data, however. He has included basic background material on SEO, a list of operational definitions, a fairly comprehensive list of online tools, and a concise section on how-to use these tools as an intelligence method.

I think Jeff would be the first to admit that relying on SEO analysis exclusively is kind of like relying on HUMINT exclusively when you have SIGINT and IMINT as well. That said, this approach certainly has the potential to add a rich, structured source of data to bounce off the anecdotal and unstructured stuff that makes up most of what is available to the intel analyst.

Surreal Saturday: Can People Distinguish Pâté From Dog Food? Apparently, The Answer Is... (Wine-economics.org via Marginal Revolution)

Image via Wikipedia

...no. Marginal Revolution points to this new bit of research from the scientists at wine-economics.org that pretty clearly states:

"We conclude that, although human beings do not enjoy eating dog food, they are also not able to distinguish its flavor profile from other meat-based products that are intended for human consumption."

In other words, "Open another can of Alpo, honey. Company's a' comin"!"

On Being A Spy; Europe, Iran And The Bomb; How Organized Crime Got Hooked On Drugs -- And Other Interesting Stuff (Fora.tv)

Fora.tv is a streaming video service that hosts speeches and presentations by world class experts in a variety of areas. A number of their recent offerings should be particularly interesting to intelligence professionals (Note: The descriptions below come directly from Fora but have been lightly edited for length, etc.):

Stella Remington on Being A Spy
Stella Remington says she's had 4 careers. First as a librarian/archivist, then a diplomat's wife, in MI5, and now as an author. She has written four books, her first a memoir titled Open Secret: the Autobiography of the Former Director-General of MI5. She has published three spy-thriller novels Secret Asset, Illegal Action and Dead Line. She's currently working on a fourth novel.
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009
Location: Sydney, Australia, Dymocks Literary Lunch
Program and discussion: http://fora.tv/2009/03/27/Stella_Rimington_on_Being_A_Spy

Under a Mushroom Cloud: Europe, Iran, and the Bomb
Since Iran's illicit nuclear program was exposed to a stunned world in 2002, Tehran has defied the international community and continued to pursue its nuclear goals. What drives this seemingly apocalyptic quest? Are Iran's aims rational or not? Under a Mushroom Cloud analyzes this catastrophic and murky situation, and examines Iran's dual-track approach of accelerating its nuclear activities while weaving itself ever more tightly into the fabric of the European economy.
Date: Wed, 01 Apr 2009
Location: Transatlantic Institute, Brussels, Belgium
Program and discussion: http://fora.tv/2009/04/01/Under_a_Mushroom_Cloud_Europe_Iran_and_the_Bomb

Smack Express: How Organised Crime Got Hooked on Drugs
One of Australia's most successful detectives, Clive Small's book, Smack Express: How Organised Crime got Hooked on Drugs is an insight into drug trafficking and organised crime on Australia's east coast. Written with journalist Tom Gilling, it features an extraordinary range of colourful characters and situations such as one bloke who thought that throwing someone into the boot of a car and driving it to South Australia wasn't kidnapping, because "he never asked to get out of the boot".
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 2009
Location: Gleebooks, Sydney, Australia
Program and discussion: http://fora.tv/2009/04/09/Smack_Express_How_Organised_Crime_Got_Hooked_on_Drugs

Border Patrol: Pakistan and Afghanistan
Eight years after 9/11, the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is as lawless as ever and Osama bin Laden is still on the loose. Should the U.S. move to secure this region, home to ranks of Taliban and al Qaeda leaders?
Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2009
Location: Foreign Policy Association, New York, NY
Program and discussion: http://fora.tv/2009/02/01/Border_Patrol_Pakistan_and_Afghanistan