Satellite Photos Show Cleansing of Syrian Site

By WILLIAM J. BROAD and MARK MAZZETTI

Published: October 26, 2007

The New York Times

New commercial satellite photos show that a Syrian site believed to have been attacked by Israel last month no longer bears any obvious traces of what some analysts said appeared to have been a partly built nuclear reactor. Read More (NYTimes). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I found it interesting how traditionally "filtered" news relating to wars/conflict found more accountability to the public after the integration of global communication systems into society. We saw it during the second Iraq War with "embedded" journalists, freelance journalism, and first hand accounts from soldiers utilizing digital cameras, cell phones, and blogs to relay uncensored information that once was filtered by those in power. With the availability of high spatial and temporal resolution satellite imagery it seems the public has one more weapon to keep tabs on our government and others. Cheers, Josh

Satellite Images Reveal Burmese Atrocities

I guess they're not just looking for lost hikers anymore..... Cheers, Josh By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee ScienceNOW Daily News 29 September 2007 The military dictatorship of Myanmar--also known as Burma--has consistently dismissed allegations of human-rights violations against ethnic minorities and other citizens. But new satellite images that show the charred remains of villages in east Myanmar and a buildup of refugees across the country's border with Thailand provide silent confirmation of those atrocities. Read more...

Google Earth and Darfur

Google Earth has begun mapping the Darfur crisis.

Speculative NSA Surveillance Map

The ACLU has released an article and map that speculate on the ways and means the National Security Agency might be spying on Americans. The map is especially interesting, showing known ports of entry for telecom data into the country, and potential points of NSA interception. I suppose it's largely rhetorical since it's almost completely speculative, but it's a powerful infographic nonetheless. Is this an abuse of cartography or a case study in its ability to simply convey important data?

That, sir, is implantable

World's smallest GPS receiver, by a company called Rakon. I want to put one in every organ in my body so if any of them are ever stolen, I will know where to find them. Then I could make a website called "Map Ken-ichi's Pancreas." No doubt the advertising royalties would enable me to buy a new pancreas.