The Return on Investment of Blogging

What's the return on investment (ROI) of blogging? Blogging for dollars is happening already, whereas this great post by Charlene Li emphasises on many more qualitative benefits and ways of measuring their progress, or slowed down performance :

"My colleague, Chloe Stromberg, and I have been interviewing companies about how they measure ROI and realized that we needed to throw the net wider – this is where you come in! The working idea is to create a framework for measuring the ROI of external blogging efforts for medium- and large-sized companies. Below is an outline of ingredients for the framework. Please help us by fleshing out sources, providing examples, and adding/editing our ROI factors – feel free to add comments to this post or to email us directly (if you’d prefer, we’ll keep specific numbers and examples confidential and use them only as background)."

What's my initial investment? It's time, and time doesn't really mean money, it means opportunities.

My ROI factors :
- visitors' retention
- blog stickiness
- average time spent
- echo-effect
- improved networking, communication with colleagues, friends, and of course, ordes of hypocrites
- successfully reaching, retaining, and informing predefined audiences
- differentiated content channel, barely links posting only
- third-party syndication
- self-preservation and self-awakening
- setting the foundation for my successful identity upload and immortality into cyberspace?

Cloud courtesy of the main blog index and density of the keywords.

North Korea's Nuclear Testing Roundup

Way too much is happening right now, so here's are some of the articles, imagery and comments that made me an impression recently. Go through previous coverage on various North Korean developments in case you're interested.

Anyway, Who needs nuclear weapons anymore?!

Wikipedia
2006 North Korean nuclear test - full coverage, Wikipedia style

North Korea
Anti U.S Propaganda - 2004
U.S. commits over 170 aerial espionage in May: DPRK
U.S. Commits Over 180 Cases of Aerial Espionage against DPRK
U.S. Imperialists Commit Aerial Espionage Against North Korea
N Korea in 'US spy plane' warning
North Korea's grislyarms tests on babies
North Korea Condemns Japan for Militarization, Blames U.S. for Breakdown in Nuclear Talks
Photos from Yongbyon nuclear site
North Korea and Nuclear Weapons: The Declassified U.S. Record

Google Maps Imagery
North Korea Nuclear Test Site Eyeball

Commercial Satellite Imagery
The Nodong launch facility
Possible Nuclear Test SiteP'unggye-yok, (Kilju / Kilchu / Kisshu / Gilju)
Taepodong Missile Complex, North Korea -- very good resolution!

Recent Developments Coverage
Nork Nuclear Test : It's a Dud (UPDATED)
U.S "Dragnet" Hunts for Nuke Clues
Korea Nuke : A 'Fizzle'?
North Korea eases the heat on Iran - for now
Iran does not criticize North Korea's nuclear test, blames Washington
KGB had regularly told Russia on Pak-China-N-Korea nuke ties
Pentagon Assesses Responses, Including a Possible Blockade
U.S. opposed to raising S. Korea's surveillance alert: defense minister
Diverted Attention, Neglect Set the Stage for Kim's Move
Analysis: Should U.S. talk to N. Korea?

(Wrong) Speculations
CIA: North Korea Could Make 50 Nuclear Bombs a Year - 2002
CIA says North Korea missile can reach U.S. - 2003
North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: How Soon an Arsenal?

Interactives
North Korea Missile Range
North Korea nuclear test picture gallery
North Korea Nuclear Test photos

Russia
North Korea joins the nuclear club?
Radiation in Russia normal after N. Korean nuclear test - agency

China
China opposes millitary action against N. Korea
U.S. Congressman thanks China for informing U.S. of DPRK nuclear test

U.S
US missile defense said ready for N.Korea threat
Responding to North Korea
USA set to blockade North Korea and create defense complexes in space
North Korean test 'went wrong,' U.S. official says

In-depth Analysis
North Korea Conducts Nuclear Test

The History and Future of U.S. Military Satellite Communication Systems

Resourceful and visually rich retrospective on the developments related to the U.S. Military Satellite Communication Systems :

"Satellite communication has been a vital part of the United States military throughout the space age, beginning in 1946, when the Army achieved radar contact with the moon. In 1954, the Navy began communications experiments using the moon as a reflector, and by 1959, it had established an operational communication link between Hawaii and Washington, D.C. As the U.S. space program grew in the 1960s, the Department of Defense (DOD) began developing satellite communication systems that would address the special requirements of military operations. In addition to protection against jamming, these needs included the flexibility to rapidly extend service to new regions of the globe and to reallocate system capacity as needed."

And here's what the future -- NCW all the way -- has to offer :

"Military satellite communications (or milsatcom) systems are typically categorized as wideband, protected, or narrowband. Wideband systems emphasize high capacity. Protected systems stress antijam features, covertness, and nuclear survivability. Narrowband systems emphasize support to users who need voice or low-data-rate communications and who also may be mobile or otherwise disadvantaged (because of limited terminal capability, antenna size, environment, etc.)."

Communications and PSYOPS win wars, information overload though, doesn't.

China Targeting U.S Satellite - Laser Ranging or Demonstration of Power?

In previous posts "Is a Space Warfare Arms Race Really Coming?,"Weaponizing Space and the Emerging Space Warfare Arms Race", and "Anti-Satellite Weapons" I covered various developments and emerging trends in respect to space warfare. Last week, China supposedly conducted a jamming test on a U.S satellite, which is more of a satellite ping in order to analyze the response data, rather than jamming :

"The Defense Department remains tight-lipped about details, including which satellite was involved or when it occurred. The Pentagon's National Reconnaissance Office Director Donald Kerr last week acknowledged the incident, first reported by Defense News, but said it did not materially damage the U.S. satellite's ability to collect information. "It makes us think," Kerr told reporters.

The issue looms large, given that U.S. military operations have rapidly grown more reliant on satellite data for everything from targeting bombs to relaying communications to spying on enemy nations. Critical U.S. space assets include a constellation of 30 Global Positioning Satellites that help target bombs and find enemy locations. This system is also widely used in commercial applications, ranging from car navigation systems to automatic teller machines.

The Pentagon also depends on communications satellites that relay sensitive messages to battlefield commanders, and satellites that track weather in critical areas so U.S. troops can plan their missions."

What this really was is a rather common satellite ranging practice, thus determing the exact geocentric position of the U.S satellite and tracking it, which is a bit of a unethical move, but given there's no code of honor in space yet, it's more of a demonstration of ongoing R&D activities to me.

Luxury Vehicles on Demand

Sharing luxury vehicles among club members who got bored of their Rolls Royce and want to experiment?

Propositions like these are rather common for NYC and Las Vegas where people do crazy things on the top of their rich and bored euphoria -- and why not?! Ultimate ownership as a driving force, or tiny private moment with what you've always wanted, what would you chose?

"Demand is increasing for alternatives to traditional ownership of high-end cars. Membership clubs and organizations offering fractional luxury-car ownership are in their infancy, as are agencies that rent new-model supercars, but they are expanding. More and more exotic-car drivers are finding they don't spend enough time in their cars to justify owning them year-round and paying six-figure prices. If you're a Manhattan executive with a Lamborghini, you probably don't drive it to work each day. You might only use it on vacation. Or maybe you only bring out your Rolls-Royce. These are the kind of folks signing up. Another advantage of membership clubs is that instead of having to choose which car to buy, you can get a variety of different vehicles delivered in the course of a year. "It's a bit of an addictive thing," said Fuller. "Once you've driven a Ferrari and a Bentley and a Lamborghini and a Lotus, you ask, 'What's next on my hit list?'

It's interesting to note that the major car manufacturers suffering from over-supply and becoming even more insensitive to customers' preferences, are coming up with bargain deals when it comes to their most expensive jewels.

Customer perceived pricing and value on luxury cars and brands positioned as the fastest, hottest, and trend-setting vehicles, indeed play a crucial role in the profit margins here. Then again, building the ultimate beast and waiting for a middle class citizen to finally manage to fulfil his or her America dream isn't really what liquidity is all about. Ownership of luxury vehicles though, is still very concentrated.

Intimate moment with your very own precious, or car manufacturers looking for greater liquidity while potentially turning luxury into a commodity?

A trend definitely worth keeping an eye on, just make sure you join the club first.

The Insider's Guide to Georgia-Russia Espionage Case

An informative FAQ on the most recent nation-2-nation espionage case, David vs Goliath aka Georgia's counter-intelligence services spotting Russian military personnel performing HUMINT reconnaissance under Russia's umbrella. It answers the following questions :

- Russian spies in Georgia? I thought some of the folks in Atlanta looked a bit suspicious...
- So what's the problem this week?
- And did Georgia back down?
- What were four Russian military officers doing in Tblisi in the first place?
- Anything else they're unhappy about?
- Is the situation likely to escalate any further?

What happened actually? Russia is very interested in its post-soviet era "satellites" and their ongoing and upcoming activities with NATO, and yes, the U.S interest in breaking the ice by organizing various military exercises, even worse from Russia's point of view - opening military bases and a country's airspace to the U.S Air Force. Russia was basically underestimating Georgi's capabilities, sensitivity to the reconnaissance, and courage to go public with the findings if any, and later on acted as a wounded 800 pound gorilla feeling embarresed.

Meanwhile, who's been killing all these journalists -- 42 since 1992 -- acting as the society's watchdog, and was Anna Politkovskaya assassination on purposely done on Vladimir Putin's birthday to destabilize the public opinion on the government's capability to solve the case, and open up countless speculations on the similarities between Georgi Markov's case who was also killed on a puppet's birthday?

It's the typical Fox Mulder situation, he knows everything about you, you know everything about him, do something to him and make him a hero of a cause, so I feel organized crime isn't interested in Russia's social accountability and is destabilizing the process.

Related posts and resources:
Prosecuting Defectors and Appointing Insiders
A top level espionage case in Greece
India's Espionage Leaks
Intelligence
Espionage

Automated SEO Spam Generation

In a previous post "An Over-performing Spammer" I commented an impossible to both, read and detect scam message -- loading remote email images is both, an infection and privacy exposing vector. In case you also remember automated bots were also self-praising themselves over Ebay back in August.

Just noticed a good example ( http://hsbc-internet-banking.1st-results-links-resource-7.info/No-Anti-Virus-Software-No-E-Banking-For-You/ ) of automated SEO spam generated page out of my "No Anti-Virus Software, No E-banking For You" post :

"Welcome to the No Anti Virus Software No E Banking For You one stop website! We offer the best information, resources and links on this side of the planet, you will find no greater and more comprehensive source for all your No Anti Virus Software No E Banking For You needs! ONLY at our website, will you find every Top Quality information and knowledge resource website on the No Anti Virus Software No E Banking For You topic! Please Enjoy your stay at your #1 No Anti Virus Software No E Banking For You website, and do remember to bookmark, come again and tell all your friends!"

While it's amusing, Google seems to have already picked up the now dissapeared subdomain. I wonder when, and would Google utilize the "wisdom of crowds" concept when it comes to users signaling such search results the way it's already flaging blogs? From another perspective, web application vulnerabilities in domains Google's very found of have the potential to undermine any web site rating initiative. Such spam pages aren't the big problem, the big problem is an ecosystem that allows the author to take advantage of the "upcoming search traffic" on a topic while taking advantage of a marketing window of an event to abuse.