Michael Cooney, Author at NetworkingNexus.net

Michael Cooney

Author Archives: Michael Cooney

The iconic Boeing 747 is almost 50!

Happy 47thImage by Reuters/Pascal RossignolThe 747 truly ushered in the Jumbo Jet era when it first flew for the first time this week – Feb. 9 -- in 1969. “The fuselage of the original 747 was 225 feet (68.5 meters) long; the tail as tall as a six-story building. Pressurized, it carried a ton of air. The cargo hold had room for 3,400 pieces of baggage and the total wing area was larger than a basketball court. Yet, the entire global navigation system weighed less than a modern laptop computer,” Boeing wrote of the aircraft. The massive airplane required construction of the 200 million-cubic-foot 747 assembly plant in Everett, Wash., the world's largest building by volume. Here’s a brief look at the giant of the skies:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

NASA’s Skylab marks 42nd anniversary of last space mission

The month marks the 42 anniversary of the last manned occupation of the US’ first big attempt to live in outer space – Skylab.+History in pictures: Skylab: NASA's first space station marks 40 years+Launched on May 14, 1973, the Skylab saw three crewed manned missions—the last being concluded in February 1974. In terms of technology the lab was pretty advanced for the time. According to IBM, two Big Blue computers controlled the orientation of the laboratory throughout the mission. The onboard computers, which were arranged redundantly, were models of IBM's System/4Pi, a computer designed for the special weight and environmental requirements of aerospace applications. Each of the IBM computers aboard Skylab weighed 100 pounds and measured 19 by 7.3 by 31.8 inches. They were capable of handling more than 100 signals to Skylab attitude control equipment, IBM says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Feds grab $39M worth of fake sports gear ahead of NFL Super Bowl 50

In its annual Super Bowl-timed crackdown on counterfeit sports gear – everything from fake hats to shirts-- the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said it had seized nearly 450,000 phony items worth an estimated $39 million. In 2014 it grabbed 326,147 phony items worth more than $19.5 million – so the problem isn’t getting any smaller. +More on Network World: 26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers+ The crackdown, known as Operation Team Player, began at the conclusion of last year’s Super Bowl, also resulted in 41 criminal arrests and 35 convictions, ICE stated.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Star Trek’s USS Enterprise gets serious Smithsonian restoration

Few museums in the world can restore and preserve important historical items like the Smithsonian. So it comes as no surprise the level of detail and effort by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on the conservation of the original TV studio model of Star Trek’s main attraction, the USS Enterprise. +More on Network World: 26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers+ According to a recent post on its “Air and Space” blog, the museum detailed the meticulous work going into the refurbishing of the 11-ft model: “After a year of extensive research, conservation work on the original studio model of the USS Enterprise is now underway in the Museum’s spacedock. Our goal is to stabilize the model and return it to its appearance from August of 1967, during the filming of the episode The Trouble with Tribbles, which marked the last known modification of the ship during the production of Star Trek.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IRS Scam: 5,000 victims cheated out of $26.5 million since 2013

The Internal Revenue Service says that aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents continues to plague taxpayers.The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration in January said it has received reports of roughly 896,000 contacts since October 2013 and have become aware of over 5,000 victims who have collectively paid over $26.5 million as a result of the scam.+More on Network World: CIA details agency’s new digital and cyber espionage focus+“The phone fraud scam has become an epidemic, robbing taxpayers of millions of dollars of their money,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration in a statement. “We are making progress in our investigation of this scam, resulting in the successful prosecution of some individuals associated with it over the past year.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

NASA’s big rocket will carry 13 cool tiny satellites

NASA today said the first voyage of its heavy-lift rocket will include 13 tiny satellites or cubesats that will conduct a variety of experiments from taking a closer look at the moon to evaluating space weather.NASA’s rocket – the Space Launch System (SLS) – along with an unmanned Orion spacecraft are expected to launch in 2018. The heart of the mission is to test the rockets but also to evaluate the Orion spacecraft which is the first spacecraft built for astronauts destined for deep space since NASA’s Apollo missions and ultimately is destined for deep space travel.More on Network World: Quick look: NASA Orion’s critical test missionTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Communication breakdown: US Secret Service needs a radio-system updgrade

The US Secret Service needs to upgrade its radio communications system before it creates difficulties in protecting the White House, the Vice President’s residence and foreign diplomatic embassies.That was the general conclusion of a report issued this week by The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General who stated: In the case of radio communications, a single missed transmission or delay could result in a national incident. Secret Service must ensure that its communications programs work effectively.+More on Network World: 26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Communication breakdown: US Secret Service needs a radio-system upgrade

The US Secret Service needs to upgrade its radio communications system before it creates difficulties in protecting the White House, the Vice President’s residence and foreign diplomatic embassies. That was the general conclusion of a report issued this week by The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General who stated: In the case of radio communications, a single missed transmission or delay could result in a national incident. Secret Service must ensure that its communications programs work effectively. +More on Network World: 26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Feds primary network security weapon needs more bang

In the face of relenting network attacks and it seems that the government’s chief weapon for combatting the assault lacks some teeth.That weapon – the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS)—also known as Einstein has is intended to provide DHS with capabilities to detect malicious traffic traversing federal agencies’ computer networks, prevent intrusions, and support data analytics and information sharing. A tall tale no doubt but one that is imperative to protecting the gargantuan amount of government intelligence and personally identifiable information the feds watch over.+More on Network World: 26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Feds primary network security weapon needs more bang

Feds’ primary network security weapon needs more bang

In the face of relenting network attacks and it seems that the government’s chief weapon for combatting the assault lacks some teeth. That weapon – the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS)—also known as Einstein has is intended to provide DHS with capabilities to detect malicious traffic traversing federal agencies’ computer networks, prevent intrusions, and support data analytics and information sharing. A tall tale no doubt but one that is imperative to protecting the gargantuan amount of government intelligence and personally identifiable information the feds watch over. +More on Network World: 26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Feds’ primary network security weapon needs more bang

In the face of relenting network attacks and it seems that the government’s chief weapon for combatting the assault lacks some teeth. That weapon – the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS)—also known as Einstein has is intended to provide DHS with capabilities to detect malicious traffic traversing federal agencies’ computer networks, prevent intrusions, and support data analytics and information sharing. A tall tale no doubt but one that is imperative to protecting the gargantuan amount of government intelligence and personally identifiable information the feds watch over. +More on Network World: 26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US lab develops gigantic turbine blades to capture vast wind energy

US researchers at Sandia National Laboratories say they are working on a design for gigantic wind turbine blades that are longer than two football fields which could support 50-megawatt-- more than six times the power output of the largest current turbines --offshore wind farms in the future.+More on network World: Energy Dept. wants big wind energy technology in all 50 states+Sandia researchers said most US wind turbines produce power in the 1- to 2-MW range, with blades about 165 feet (50 meters) long, while the largest commercially available turbine is rated at 8 MW with blades 262 feet (80 meters) long. A 50-MW turbine requires a rotor blade more than 650 feet (200 meters) long, two and a half times longer than any existing wind blade, the researchers stated.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US lab develops gigantic turbine blades to capture vast wind energy

Say hello to The Matrix: DARPA looks to link brains and computers

Building a high-speed brain-to-computer interface that would offer “unprecedented signal resolution and data-transfer bandwidth between the human brain and the digital world” is the goal of a new program announced by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency recently. The research agency’s Neural Engineering System Design (NESD) want to develop an implantable device that would “serve as a translator, converting between the electrochemical language used by neurons in the brain and the ones and zeros that constitute the language of information technology. You may recall in the sci-fi film The Matrix, protagonists were plugged into a violent virtual future world though a brain interface.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Say hello to The Matrix: DARPA looks to link brains and computers

CIA: 10 Tips when investigating a flying saucer

Most people don’t typically associate the Central Intelligence Agency with historical UFO investigations but the agency did have a big role in such investigations many years ago.That’s why I thought it was unusual and kind of interesting that the agency this week issued a release called “How to investigate a flying saucer.” [The release is also a nod to the fact that the science fiction TV series X-Files returns to the screen this weekend]In the article the CIA talks about the Air Force’s Project Blue Book which investigated public reports of UFOs and operated between 1952-1969. Project Blue Book was based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Between 1947 and 1969, the Air Force recorded 12,618 sightings of strange phenomena — 701 of which remain "unidentified.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

TSA: Gun discoveries in baggage up 20% in 2015 over 2014

I am sure it’s not a statistic that makes anyone feel ecstatic about flying: There was a 20% increase in firearm discoveries at TSA airport checkins from 2014’s total of 2,212. +More on Network World: 26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers+ It’s an astounding number really, but the details get worse. The TSA goes onto say 2,653 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country, averaging more than seven firearms per day. Of those, 2,198 (83%) were loaded. Firearms were intercepted at a total of 236 airports; 12 more airports than last year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

26 of the craziest and scariest things the TSA has found on travelers

More guns and ammo foundGuns and ammo continue to be the scourge of the TSA. Week after week of the agency’s own blog report on what its agents find on people looking to travel through the country’s airports are inundated with stories of loaded guns and ammunition. We won’t go into the ridiculous gun situation but will look at the weirder stuff the TSA has found folks traveling with, like meat slicers and Chihuahuas. Take a look (all entries are from the TSA Blog site).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Big Hang-up: IRS customer call center service stinks

If you have ever tried to get tax help from the IRS over the phone and weren’t able to get any – you are not alone.That’s because the Internal Revenue Service provided the lowest level of telephone service during fiscal year 2015 compared to prior years, with only 38% of callers who wanted to speak with an IRS assistant able to reach one, according to a report this week from the Government Accountability Office. Perhaps worse yet is that the IRS and Department of Treasury have no real plans to improve the situation, the GAO stated.+More on Network World: IRS warns yet again on scam artist trickery+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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