It seems to me that Robert Gates has made a choice and will deliver his plan this coming May. That is to cutback on programs that are costly. This includes programs for existing deployed weapons systems and proposed modernization and futuristic programs. Technology will have to respond in a way to address such characterization as costly. Is technology really costly? Gates did think so. So do we, the United States of America, stay with old non-advanced technology and still think we are safe and has the most powerful armed forces in the world?

There are some opposition to Gates led by Senator Saxby Chambliss (Republican Georgia), Johnny Isakson (Republican Georgia), and Senator James M. Inhofe (Republican Oklahoma).


Senator Saxby Chambliss (Republican Georgia) website got this post.

April 6, 2009

WASHINGTON – U.S. senators Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., released the following statements today following Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ announcement to procure only 4 additional F-22 Raptors.

“I am extremely disappointed in this decision by the Obama administration. America has maintained air dominance in every conflict since the Korean War, and now this administration is giving that advantage up and is willing to sacrifice the lives of American military men and women for the sake of domestic programs favored by President Obama,” said Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “This is purely a budget-driven decision. When this administration is spending trillions of taxpayer dollars on everything from bailing out a failing auto industry to policymakers’ pet projects at the expense of protecting our military men and women, its priorities are apparent. This decision will likely have long-term repercussions, as we don’t know who our next enemy will be.

Chambliss continued: “Because it is unwise to invest billions of dollars in systems that are not adequately proven or tested, or that cannot evade sophisticated air threats, Air Force leadership recommended procuring 60 additional F-22s. I am disappointed that the Obama administration did not accept its recommendations.

“Simply put, this decision is imprudent. But this fight is not finished. I will work to overturn the secretary’s recommendation to continue production of the F-22 to meet the Air Force’s recommendations and ensure America’s air dominance.”

“The F-22 Raptor is the most sophisticated fighter jet in the world, and it provides a priceless service to our Armed Services. I’m severely disappointed in today’s announcement by the Secretary of Defense to end production of this aircraft, which is absolutely essential to our national security and meeting future threats against our nation,” Isakson said. “I also believe that it is unacceptable that this administration wants to eliminate 2,000 jobs in Marietta and potentially 95,000 jobs nationwide at a time when unemployment rates are rising across the country. Senator Chambliss and I will be taking the case of the F-22 to members of Congress and the Appropriations Committees. The F-22 is vital to 21st century American military superiority.”

The F-22 is the nation’s only 5^th generation fighter aircraft in full-rate production and is in mature rate production and operationally deployed around the world.  The F-22 continues to establish industry benchmarks for an aircraft production program.  The program is on budget, has decreasing costs, and in 2008 every F-22 delivery was ahead of schedule.  In 2008, nearly one-half of the F-22 deliveries were evaluated to be “zero defect” – an exceptionally high level of aircraft quality.  Other contemporary aircraft programs have never delivered a zero defect aircraft.

Lockheed F-22 Raptor

Lockheed F-22 Raptor Detail

Senator Johnny Isakson (Repbulican Georgia) website got this post.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 16, 2009

Isakson to Obama: Make F-22 A Priority, Continue Production

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today joined with dozens of his colleagues in calling on President-elect Barack Obama to continue production of the F-22 Raptor, citing its status as the world’s most sophisticated fighter jet and the only operational fifth-generation fighter aircraft in full-rate production.

Isakson sent a letter to Obama along with 46 other senators calling on the President-elect to certify continued production of the F-22 by March 1, 2009.

“The F-22A is the most sophisticated fighter jet in the world with the latest stealth technology to reduce detection by radar,” Isakson said. “The Raptor provides a priceless service to our Armed Services and its continued production is essential to our national security.”

The full text of the letter is below:

January 16, 2009

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President-Elect of the United States
The President’s Transition Team
Washington, DC 20270

Dear President-elect Obama:

The fiscal year 2009 National Defense Authorization Act requires your certification on continued F-22 production by March 1, 2009. We urge your certification of continued production of the F-22 Raptor. The F-22 Raptor is the nation’s most capable fighter and the world’s only operational fifth generation fighter aircraft in full-rate production. The F-22 is a model production line and, since full-rate production began, the unit flyaway cost has decreased 35 percent.

The F-22 is optimized to achieve the air dominance necessary to protect our joint fighting forces in any future conflict. However, a fleet of 183 aircraft, the current program of record, is insufficient to meet potential threats. After accounting for test, training, and maintenance aircraft, only about 100 F-22s would be immediately available for combat at any given time. Even those who don’t support continued production of the F-22 agree that to sustain the currently planned level of combat-coded aircraft over the life of the program will require an additional lot of aircraft. In fact, 30+ air campaign studies completed over the last 15 years have validated a requirement for far more than 183 F-22 Raptors to replace the original force of 800 F-15 A-D Eagles. Some have suggested filling the remaining F-22 requirement with other aircraft, like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. However, the F-35 is designed for multi-role strike missions and not optimized for the air dominance missions of the F-22.

Further, we must not overlook the fact that our potential adversaries are increasing their air combat capabilities both in terms of technology and numbers of aircraft. Several have announced that they are developing stealthy, twin-engine, high-altitude, fifth generation fighters that will reach production within the next five to ten years. Additionally, sophisticated and highly lethal air defense systems such as the SA-20, and S-300/400 are proliferating worldwide resulting in the possible requirement to achieve air dominance in multiple theaters simultaneously.

The F-22 program annually provides over $12 billion of economic activity to the national economy, it fulfills a validated Air Force requirement, and it helps to sustain our strong national defense industrial base. If this certification is not provided, layoffs will begin as this critical supplier base shuts down, and it will quickly become expensive or perhaps impossible to reconstitute in the event the Department of Defense chooses to procure additional F-22’s at a later date. Furthermore, certifying continued production by March 2009 will enable production to continue while the Department undertakes a more in-depth analysis of the F-22 requirement in the 2009 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).

Over 25,000 Americans work for the 1,000+ suppliers in 44 states that manufacture the F-22. Moreover, it is estimated that another 70,000 additional Americans indirectly owe their jobs to this program. As we face one of the most trying economic times in recent history it is critical to preserve existing high paying, specialized jobs that are critical to our nation’s defense.

With these things in mind, we urge you to expeditiously certify that continued production is in the economic and national interest of the United States of America.

Lockheed F-35 Lightning II

Lockheed F-35 Lightning II Detail

Senator James M. Inhofe (Republican Oklahoma) website got this post.

December 23, 2008

LAWTON-CONSTITUTION

Inhofe offers positive words on BRAC projects, Obama picks

BY MITCH MEADOR
STAFF WRITER MMEADOR@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe remains upbeat about the future of Fort Sill and the Non-Line of Sight (NLOS) Cannon after touring new construction on post Monday.

Speaking to a group of area business leaders, Inhofe said Maj. Gen. Peter M. Vangjel, commander of the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, took him around to see the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) construction, and he was amazed by the progress that had occurred since he was here five weeks ago.

“A couple of the big buildings weren’t out of the ground … and now they’re up,” said Inhofe, noting that he came at an interesting time because he got to see modular units as they were brought in and stacked up. Once the exterior goes on, they will look just like any other permanent building.

Inhofe said he tries to visit all five of the Oklahoma military installations at least every other month, because when the defense authorization bill comes up for consideration in January, “you’d be surprised how much more persuasive it is if the member of the Armed Services Committee who’s making these decisions has actually been there, touched it, walked through it, as opposed to some guy who’s just gotten a briefing from the staff.”

“So many things are going on right now. There is no place else in America that is doing as much as Fort Sill is doing right now in terms of new missions,” said Inhofe, adding that much of the work is ahead of schedule.

“And we have an ambitious program that is going to support Air Defense as well as all the other missions that are coming through, and the transitional ones, the warriors who are coming through, who are now going to get the training here as well as the transition. Good things are happening, better here than any place else,” he said.

Inhofe reassured Elgin Mayor Larry Thoma that, insofar as the NLOS Cannon is concerned, “I think we’re going to stay on schedule.” While Inhofe said Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. have not been the strongest supporters of the Future Combat System (FCS), “this first element, which we’re able to get as No. 1, before any of the other 15 elements – we’re so far along now that that’s not going to change. And I’ve talked to some of the people who will be advising them on this, and I think that’s going to work out.”

Inhofe went on MSNBC Monday evening to talk about the cost of FCS – somewhere between $165 billion and $200 billion – versus the bailout.

“Seventy-five of our United States senators voted to throw away $700 billion. I’m glad to see my banker nodding at that, because that’s exactly what happened,” said Inhofe, criticizing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for promising he was going to use the $700 billion to buy damaged assets and then reversing himself.

“All these senators who are complaining about the bailout of the American auto system, I’m reminding them that they’re the very ones who voted to give the president that ability to go in there and do it,” he said.

Retired Maj. Gen. David C. Ralston congratulated Inhofe on his re-election and praised the work he does for Oklahoma. The senator proceeded to tell it like it is, mentioning that he was one of the ranking Republican committee members who have gotten cell phone calls from Presidentelect Barack Obama, who is “very much concerned about what we’re going to be doing with the transportation authorization bill that’s coming up.”

Inhofe said he was “surprised – pleasantly surprised” when he saw the appointments Obama made having to do with the military.

“I mean, keeping Gates on. That just blew my mind. And of course Gen. Jim Jones, (the National Security adviser). I just got back from Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago, and I spent that week with him (as) they were going around and trying to put these partnerships together to get the economy moving there, and there’s no one that I have a higher regard for than Gen. Jones,” Inhofe said.

Retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki, whose name Obama has put in the hopper for Veterans Affairs secretary, was controversial as chief of staff of the Army, but Inhofe said he turned out to be right when he predicted the Army would have to double its troop strength in Iraq.

Not all of Obama’s appointments meet with Inhofe’s approval.

“There were a couple of bad ones,” he said, naming two examples: Steven Chu, the nuclear physicist nominated to be energy secretary, and Carol Browner, head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Bill Clinton, tabbed for White House energy czar.

Inhofe recalled that eight years ago, when President George W. Bush came into office and the Republicans were in the majority, he was chairing a meeting on live television, and he looked at Browner and said to her, “Madam administrator, has it occurred to you that this is the last time in our lifetimes we’ll have to be in the same room again?”

“And she said, ‘I don’t know who is going to enjoy that more, you or me.’

“Now we’re back in the same room after eight years have passed. And she’s as bad as it gets,” Inhofe quipped.

“Steven Chu has said we need to get rid of all coal, not tomorrow but yesterday. All coal. I mean, 53 percent of the energy to run this machine we call America is coal. And you can’t do it. And hopefully they won’t be quite as extreme,” Inhofe said.

As the most vocal opponent of “global warming” theories, he says he can produce more than 650 scientists who have rethought their position and says he’s willing to debate anybody on this issue.

“Even if CO2 and man-made gases were a major contributor to global warming … then does it make sense that we would unilaterally, as the United States of America, punish ourselves economically – no one argues with the figure of $300 billion a year, minimum figure. At the same time, we are pushing more of our manufacturing base overseas to countries like India and Mexico and places where they don’t have any restrictions, and so you have a net increase in CO2,” Inhofe said.

Elsewhere in his talk, Inhofe touched on his Ethiopian granddaughter, Zegita Marie Rapert. She was three days old when he found her, almost dead, and his daughter adopted her. She spoke at the African dinner given on the same day as the National Prayer Breakfast last year, “and she brought the house down.” She recently told her Ethiopian godfather on the phone she’s going to give her speech again this year, “but it’s going to be much longer.”

Future Combat Systems (FCS) Network - Lead SIs Boeing & SAIC

General Dynamics Stryker

News source to read

• Gates’s Cuts to an Array of Weapons Bring a Fight
  

  WASHINGTON — Members of Congress and advocates for the armed services pushed back on Tuesday against Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’s plans to pare billions of dollars from a variety of Pentagon weapons systems, but others said that the cuts were prudent and that fights over them would be limited to several leading programs.

• Fight Over F-22′s Future to Test Defense Overhaul
  

  The highest-profile test of Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s plan to overhaul how the Pentagon buys weapons will be whether he succeeds in winding down production of the most advanced fighter the Air Force has ever flown.

• Lockheed Martin executive says Pentagon wants to move up F-35 purchases
  

  Lockheed Martin is likely to receive significant additional funding over the next three to five years to speed up testing and production of the F-35 joint strike fighter under the budget that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has proposed.

DD(X)

DD(X) Detail

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report for Congress

• The Army’s Future Combat System (FCS): Background and Issues for Congress
  

  The Future Combat System (FCS) is the U.S. Army’s multiyear, multibillion- dollar program at the heart of the Army’s transformation efforts.  It is to be the Army’s major research, development, and acquisition program to consist of 18 manned and unmanned systems tied together by an extensive communications network.  FCS is intended to replace such current systems as the M-1 Abrams tank and the M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle with advanced, networked combat systems.  The FCS program has been characterized by the Army and others as a high- risk venture due to the advanced technologies involved as well as the challenge of networking all of the FCS subsystems together so that FCS-equipped units can function as intended.

• Navy CG(X) Cruiser Program: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress
  

  The Navy is currently developing technologies and studying design options for a planned new cruiser called the CG(X). The Navy wants to procure 19 CG(X)s as replacements for its 22 existing Ticonderoga (CG-47) class Aegis cruisers. The Navy wants the CG(X) to be a highly capable multi-mission ship with an emphasis on air defense and ballistic missile defense (BMD).

• Navy Aegis Cruiser and Destroyer Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
  

  Many believe that the Department of Defense (DOD) — including the Air Force — must transform itself to ensure future U.S. military dominance. The Air Force has a transformation plan that includes advanced technologies, concept development, and organizational innovation. Issues for Congress include the efficacy of this plan, its feasibility, and the attendant costs. This report will be updated.

CG(X)

CG(47) Detail

References

• http://www.army.mil
• http://www.armytimes.com
• http://www.airforce.com
• http://www.navy.com
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Combat_Systems
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-22_Raptor
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-35_Lightning_II
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stryker
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Navy_cruisers
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ticonderoga_(CG-47)
• http://informationdissemination.blogspot.com/2009/02/analysis-of-navys-fy-2010-surface.html

RSVP to IBM Business Partner Global Community events at IMPACT May 3-8

(Facebook group and events got some issues as of the moment.)

group link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34687834307

SUN 5-3

IBM IMPACT SOA Sunday at the Fountains
8:30-10pm
Bellagio Fountains
RSVP: LinkedIn or Facebook

TUE 5-5

IBM IMPACT SOA Tuesday at the Canals
10p-12a
Venetian Canals
RSVP: LinkedIn or Facebook

WED 5-6

IBM IMPACT SOA Wednesday at the Fountains
8-10pm
Bellagio Fountains
RSVP: LinkedIn or Facebook

FRI 5-8

IBM IMPACT SOA Friday Aftermath
12-7p
Venetian Canals
RSVP: LinkedIn or Facebook

During The Event Day: Follow Status

@byronpojol in twitter and in brightkite. Also feel free to call or text 302-377-4916.

Read more about twitter and brightkite here.


Spread the word in your status

LINKEDIN cut&paste

RSVP! faceup linkup tweetup brightup IBM IMPACT SOA event – http://is.gd/rtpd SUN 830-10p Bellagio Fountains

RSVP! IBM IMPACT SOA Sunday at the Fountains 830-10p Bellagio Fountains http://is.gd/rtpd by IBM Business Partner Global Community

RSVP! faceup linkup tweetup brightup IBM IMPACT SOA event – http://is.gd/rtoX TUE 10p-12a Venetian Canals

RSVP! IBM IMPACT SOA Tuesday at the Canals http://is.gd/rtoX 10p-12a Venetian Canals by IBM Business Partner Global Community

RSVP! faceup linkup tweetup brightup IBM IMPACT SOA event – http://is.gd/rtox WED 8-10p Bellagio Fountains

RSVP! IBM IMPACT SOA Wednesday at the Fountains 8-10p Bellagio Fountains http://is.gd/rtox by IBM Business Partner Global Community

RSVP! faceup linkup tweetup brightup IBM IMPACT SOA event – http://is.gd/rtpr FRI 12p-7p Venetian Canals

RSVP! IBM IMPACT SOA Friday Aftermath http://is.gd/rtpr 12-7p Venetian Canals by IBM Business Partner Global Community

FACEBOOK cut&paste

(Facebook group and events got some issues as of the moment.)

RSVP! faceup linkup tweetup brightup IBM IMPACT SOA event – http://is.gd/rgYw SUN 830-10p Bellagio Fountains

RSVP! IBM IMPACT SOA Sunday at the Fountains 830-10p Bellagio Fountains http://is.gd/rgYw by IBM Business Partner Global Community

RSVP! faceup linkup tweetup brightup IBM IMPACT SOA event – http://is.gd/rgZA TUE 10p-12a Venetian Canals

RSVP! IBM IMPACT SOA Tuesday at the Canals http://is.gd/rgZA 10p-12a Venetian Canals by IBM Business Partner Global Community

RSVP! faceup linkup tweetup brightup IBM IMPACT SOA event – http://is.gd/riyP WED 8-10p Bellagio Fountains

RSVP! IBM IMPACT SOA Wednesday at the Fountains 8-10p Bellagio Fountains http://is.gd/riyP by IBM Business Partner Global Community

RSVP! faceup linkup tweetup brightup IBM IMPACT SOA event – http://is.gd/rh0v FRI 12p-7p Venetian Canals

RSVP! IBM IMPACT SOA Friday Aftermath http://is.gd/rh0v 12-7p Venetian Canals by IBM Business Partner Global Community

Hope to see you there

We are all using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We can access all of these in our phones using its browser.

Twitter even allows us to receive SMS text message when we received a private message known as Twitter Direct Message (DM) and allows us to send SMS text message to DM our contact. See Twitter Text Commands near the bottom.

But all these three social services does not address real time location awareness and search. We can all search by name, company, network affiliations, current town, zipcode, and many other criteria but not real time location. This is where Brightkite works well.

Brightkite connects people based on the places they visit in the real world. With Brightkite you can see where your friends are, what they’re up to, see what’s going on around you, and meet real-world friends. Most people who have tried the service understand that Brightkite doesn’t really track you, it’s up to you to decide how often you “check in”, and at what accuracy. On top of that, we have pretty comprehensive privacy controls.

When you’re out and about in the real world, you tell Brightkite where you are by checking in at places (you can do this on your phone). Brightkite can then tell you who else is there, who’s been there, what’s happened there, who is nearby etc. Additionally you can post notes and photos at places that others nearby will see. Everything you do in Brightkite is accessible on the website. You can choose who gets to see your stuff by adjusting your privacy settings, but by default everybody can (after all, the idea is to meet people).

Brightkite allows us to

• discover and invite our existing contacts from Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail
• discover and invite people at and nearby our check in place
• share our activity, status updates, and photos to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr
• receive and send SMS text messages on our phone
• access our account thru our phone browser

Wanting to meet new contacts at a location? Brightkite is the answer! See Brightkite Text Commands near the bottom.





Brightkite Text Commands

Twitter Text Commands

IMPACT 2009 is approaching and there are a number of great GWC activities planned. We want to get the community involved in event and are asking for your participation.

The Global WebSphere community is very much an integral part of the IBM WebSphere ecosystem and in an effort to recognize this, we have made plans to ensure plenty of exposure and special emphasis on activities for the GWC and WebSphere User Groups at IMPACT 2009.

We want your feedback on the following items:

• Providing topics and questions for the Meet the Experts and Deep Dive Technical sessions
• Creating a video about your user group
• Volunteering for 1 hour slot to help at the GWC pedestal in the Solution Center
• Competing against other user groups at our reception for some great prizes!

Please read through for more details.

GWC Meeting – Wednesday, May 6, 2009 3:15pm – 6:00pm
Join us for a first annual GWC meeting, open to all GWC and WebSphere User Group members, where we will feature:

3:15 – 4:30 pm: Meet the Experts
Come and engage in a panel discussion with key WebSphere and SOA Technologists and Strategists. What topics of interest would you like the panel to cover? Please provide feedback to Tin Dizdarevic.

4:30 – 4:45 pm: Break

4:45 – 6:00 pm: WebSphere Technical Deep Dive session
Selected Topics based on User Group input will be discussed with members of the WebSphere product development team. Please provide input on requested topics you want included in the discussions to Tin Dizdarevic.

GWC Reception – Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 6:00pm – 7:30pm
GWC members will host a Cocktail Reception open to all IMPACT attendees.. Join your colleagues for a cocktail, network with community members and honor our top user group leaders.

Participate in our contest and go head-to- head with other User Groups from around the globe to create the most interesting and unique User Group “exhibit”. Examples might be dazzling card tricks, incomparable musical talents, artistic balloon figures, death defying acrobatics. You get the picture, just something fun, different (and did we mention – tasteful) to draw reception attendees to your User Group’s table. Think out of the box, have fun, be creative, and our champion team will win a catering voucher worth $100 for an upcoming WUG meeting. More details to be provided by your User Group leader.

Don’t miss the GWC Awards Presentation at the GWC Reception. User Groups are the backbone of the GWC and we want to recognize those user group leaders who have made significant contributions to the community over the past year. Join Rob High, Chief Architect for the SOA Foundation and IBM Distinguished Engineer, as he presents awards to these outstanding GWC User Group leaders. Come and join in on the applause!! We will be presenting awards to our most involved and active User Groups and their leaders. Come and join in on the applause!!. Awards will include:

• $300 “Most Influential UG Leader Award”.
  • Criteria will include member growth and number of meetings in 2008.
• $250 prize to (2) WUG Leaders with 15 or more members attending from their groups
  • If more than (2) User Groups have greater than (15) members attending Impact, the award will be determined by drawing
• $150 refreshment credit towards next WUG meeting to (2) WUG Leaders with 10 or more members attending from their groups
  • If more than (2) User Groups have greater than (10) members attending Impact, the award will be determined by drawing.
• $100 refreshment credit towards next WUG meeting to (2) WUGs with the most interesting “Exhibit” at the GWC Reception
  • As voted on by reception guests

If you would like more information on the awards and user group competition , please contact Tin Dizdarevic.

GWC 4-for-1 Attendance Promotion
For each (4) NEW non-IBM IMPACT registrations per User Group between 3/17 – 4/17, the User Group will receive a free Impact ticket for use by a NON registered member of the group. Free passes will be distributed to non-IBM WebSphere user group (WUG) members based on the WUG Leader’s discretion (Ex. drawing). These passes are non transferable and can only be used by the WUG earning the pass(es). Note: Any members receiving registration through the complimentary guest pass program, the WebSphere Inner Circle Program or the WebSphere Board of Advisors Program, will not be counted toward this offer.

GWC Registration Discount
$100 off Standard fee of $2,050; Offer from 2/15 – 5/1. Just select that you are currently or would like to be a GWC member during Impact 2009 online registration process.

Impact Promotional Room Rate at the Venetian
The Impact room rate has been reduced, from $229 to $190 per night (plus tax), for Impact 2009 attendees. For those already registered for Impact 2009, reservations have been modified accordingly to take advantage of this reduced rate.

All GWC members will receive a “GWC Member” ribbon when checking in at the registration desk. This will allow community members to recognize each other throughout the week at Impact.

GWC Information Table at Registration
Stop by at the table to receive information about GWC activities so you can be sure to support your community by attending and letting others know about the GWC activities throughout the week.

GWC Pedestal in the Solution Center
Visit the GWC Pedestal at Impact where we will be sponsoring a $250 prize raffle for new members registering at the GWC Solution Center Pedestal demo “The New Faces of the GWC” volunteer to participate for a 1 hour shift at the pedestal to share your WUG and GWC experiences with visitors.

Sunday: 5:00pm-8:00pm
Monday: 10:30am-2:30pm;   5:30pm- 8:00pm
Tuesday: 10:00am-2:00pm
Wednesday: 10:00am-2:00pm

If you are interested in signing up for a 1 hour time slot to participate at the pedestal, please email Tin Dizdarevic with the your preferred time.

And of course, don’t forget to send us your User Group video. All of you web cam hams out there, we want you!! Send us a video of yourself or your User Group describing your positive User Group and GWC experiences and we’ll make you and your User Group STARS at the GWC Solution Center Pedestal! Send questions to Tin Dizdarevic.

And don’t forget to bookmark the GWC Impact Zone page to find out the latest information about GWC and the WebSphere User Group activities at Impact.

Thank you for your continued support. Your success is our success!!

Annette Rossi

In my previous blog MQIT on Speech Technology, IVR, CTI, VoiceXML, Web, SaaS, I wrote the following.

(I wonder what input technology the future has to offer. I think it will be in a form of a wave energy. We had sound, speech, microwave, radio, infrared, light, electro, sub-atomic rays. Brainwave is next.

I once asked IBM Research on Ask IBM session in a conference, questions similar to these:
- Do IBM know of existing technology that can access our brain wireslessly?
- Do IBM know of existing technology that can network with our brain wirelessly?
- Is IBM working on such technology?

I still yet to hear from IBM.

I am sure someone already working on it, if not done it. The brain is just another computer to hack or network with, depending on the context of the access.)

For physical brain interface, we all know that brain trauma victims or paralysis patient are helped by electronics for speech, muscle movement, prosthetic arm, and computer interface which is called cyberkinetics.

For wireless brain interface, ESP is all what we get from available resources but cannot be proven substantially and not taken as fact.

I came about a documentary about Extrasensory Perception (ESP) where two person were able to communicate limitedly while in two different rooms. The first person,  the sender, is watching something. The second person, the receiver, is saying what the other is watching. Wikepedia has ESP under Parapsychology which include the topics Remote viewing, Clairvoyance, Cold Reading, Extrasensory Perception, Near-Death Experience, Precognition, Psychic, Psychokinesis, Psychometry, Telepathy, Ganzfeld Experiment, and Apparitional Experience. Wikipedia also mentioned that

ESP is is the apparent ability to acquire information by paranormal means independent of any known physical senses or deduction from previous experience. The term was coined by Duke University researcher J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance. ESP is also sometimes casually referred to as a sixth sense, gut instinct, hunch, or intuition. The term implies sources of information currently unexplained by science.

Other ESP documentaries I watched include FBI and CIA employing psychics.

Today, I came about this photo while watching P.W. Swinger on Military Robots and the Future of War at TED.com which prompted this blog. “P.W. Swinger Robotics” has a lot of Google and YouTube hits too.

Googling “Brain Interface Programs Turning Thought Into Action” results to many hits on physical brain interface known as cyberkinetics but only allusion to wireless brain interface. Apparently the term “Brain Interface” and “Turning Thought Into Action” are the buzzwords for this subject matter.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is the most prestigious entity I can find on this matter on their search but non-confidential materials only points to physical brain interface. DARPA is funding a project called Brain Machine Interface, this could be a long time ago and there could be a lot more confidential projects nobody knows about.

Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) has a Turning Thought into Action: Exploring Brain-Body Interfaces forum topic on physical brain interface.

Chipped in the Forehead — in the Brain at mindcontrolforums.com got the following pages which I took with grain of salt for its contents.

D.A.R.P.A. IS FUNDING AN IMPLANTABLE CHIP FAR MORE ADVANCED THAN”DIGITAL ANGEL”!
M.M.E.A. – MULTIPLE MICRO ELECTRODE ARRAY IS SO ADVANCED IT CAN FULFILL REV 13:16-18!
Subtitle: We explain the actual science of MMEA in this article so you can see how all humans on earth can be completely controlled by this implantable chip! Emotions – fear, euphoria, depression — plus pleasure and pain, can be controlled and even caused, by R.F. (Radio-Frequency signal)! Silent, large funding is occurring that soon will be ready for “The Christ” to use once he arises. RFID is just the “tip of the iceberg”.[For full details of D.A.R.P.A., read NEWS1739]

Part 1 — The Science of MMEA and of Brain Machine Interface (BMI)
Part 2 — DARPA Funding
Part 3 — Possible Prophecy Implications — Blending religion with science, spiritual applications already being discussed
Part 4 — MMEA – Is The Mark of the Beast Just Another “Satanic Insert” So Commonly Used In Covens For Centuries?
Part 5 — M.M.E.A. – Multiple Micro Electrode Array Implantable Chip: Buying And Selling Is Easier Than You Might Think!

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE) article Cognitive radio: brain-empowered wireless communications is the closest I got from the title match but I did not bother to get the premium content. It might detail totally different matter and not wireless brain interface that I coined in the this blog together with physical brain interface.

BrainGate is an implant that may turn intent into action.

The following four photos are from Brain Tap and Brain Power – Advanced Electronic Security Company about physical brain interface. This is the closest wireless brain interface article I found and it quoted brain waves.

Emotiv Systems got EPOC. Based on the latest developments in neuro-technology, Emotiv has developed a new personal interface for human computer interaction. The Emotiv EPOC uses a set of sensors to tune into electric signals naturally produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expression and connects wirelessly to most PCs. The Emotiv neuroheadset now makes it possible for games to be controlled and influenced by the player’s mind.

EPOC employs sensors similar to electrode caps thus not truly wireless more a contact or close-proximity sensor.

I am still in search of detail about wireless brain interface meaning natural brain no cyberknietics. The Brain is Just Another Computer to Hack or Network With. I am looking and thinking that it should be like two-way radio or a wireless internet, no need for electrode cap or an implant.

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