Three Great Databases, Three Cool Resources (Link List)

I have run across a number of interesting databases and resources over the last several weeks. Here is a quick roundup:

World Economic Outlook Database. You have to love the IMF! They have put together a great database of economic forecasts that goes out to 2013 on a wide variety of indicators in just about every country in the world. Authoritative, comprehensive, detailed and free! Not much more you could ask for...

History Research Online. This site is simply an extensive, organized list of history sites on the web and therein lies its utility. It is not entirely clear who runs this site but I found it to be useful in pointing to a number of sites I had not heard about previously.

The Global Terrorism Database. All of the terrorism analysts will no doubt be familiar with this excellent National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (at the University Of Maryland) product but, for the rest of us, it is a great one stop shop for historical information about terrorist attacks. I found the database to be particularly useful in helping me search for patterns and trends I wanted to identify for a recent classroom exercise in crisis briefing and reporting.

Printable Paper. How many times have you needed a sheet of graph paper or some such and not had any on hand? With the Printable Paper site you can download a wide variety of templates for printing out on ordinary bond paper for free.

Picture-based Computer Tutorials. We often have our students push the outside of the capability envelope of MS Office and other software tools we use in our classes. This site has a number of useful picture-based tutorials on how to do all sorts of routine and advanced operations in Word, Excel and Powerpoint as well as in a variety of other types of software.

36 Beautiful Resume Ideas That Work. While I can't comment on how well they might work, I found many of these resume ideas to be useful in thinking about resumes in a new way. If you are looking for ideas on how you might make your resume "pop", there is likely something here for you.

Is Keyword Searching Dead? (Radar Networks Via TechCrunch)

TechCrunch points to a very interesting presentation on the future of search on the web. The article, quoting extensively from a Radar Networks presentation (see below) on the future of finding stuff on the web, makes some very interesting points. Both the article and the slides below are worth the time to read them.

Syrian Nuclear Reactor Video (USIC via Veoh)

The recent release of the US Intelligence Community's (USIC) video interpretation of the purpose of a Syrian facility bombed by the Israeli's back in September, 2007 is an interesting story but is even more interesting as an example of how the IC "translates" intelligence reports from their traditional print format (with a few graphics) to a primarily multimedia format with just enough text to highlight the findings.

We have run these kinds of projects for a number of years here (in our Intelligence Communications classes) and I have found that the most difficult thing to do is to make the video without coming across as "selling" the finding. I think the analysts and production people who did this report met that goal, at least, successfully (though you do wish that a 50 billion dollar organization would have been able to find a better microphone...). See for yourself:

Middle East Dynamics, Challenges Facing Colombia And Robert Mueller On Intelligence Gathering (Fora.tv)

Fora has changed its format a bit, making it easier to watch full programs or just interesting snippets. The items below are taken from Fora's offerings over the last week.

Parag Khanna on Middle East Dynamics
Parag Khanna, author of The Second World, divides the Middle East into three distinct regions with unique political issues and highlights the rise of arabism and islamism, which permeates all three.

The Honorable William R. Brownfield on Colombia
Ambassador William R. Brownfield, United States Ambassador to Colombia outlines the current challenges facing Colombia and discusses the U.S.-Colombia relationship. Following his presentation, he answers questions from the audience.

FBI Director Robert Mueller on Intelligence Gathering
FBI Director Robert Mueller describes the subtleties of effective intelligence gathering, comparing it to panning for gold.

DRC: Opportunism Trumps Peace (ISN)

Brent Pearson, a first year graduate student here at Mercyhurst, has just published (at ISN) a very interesting analysis of the situation in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He claims that "The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) are unlikely to be able to enforce Security Council resolutions and ceasefire agreements between the government and armed groups in the country's eastern provinces due to ethnic loyalties and opportunities to profit from illicit trading in minerals." The reasons for his position are worth the read (full text article here).