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Amazon Tribes Use Latest Gadgets to Battle Developers

Isolated tribes in the Amazon are now using satellites, computers, and even Google Earth to guard against threats from logging, agriculture, drug wars, and oil operations.

  Many Indian groups have struggled to protect their lands—which often contain oil reserves or high-value timber—because they have no official records of the borders of tribal territories. So activists have been training these South American communities to use digital mapping technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) to build maps that definitively outline their properties.

Details Here: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070123-amazon-maps.html

first published week of:   01/29/2007

Border GIS in demand

Geographic information is being churned out for federal agencies in preparation for the Homeland Security Department's rollout of the Secure Border Initiative Network surveillance system in the next several months. “Given the attention our borders have gotten, it's not surprising they would want map-accurate, high-resolution information,” said Mark Brender, vice president of GeoEye Corp., a commercial satellite images provider in Dulles, Va.

GeoEye's commercial satellite photos have a ground resolution of 39 inches, which will be strengthened to 16 inches with news satellites debuting in spring 2007, Brender said.

Details Here: www.washingtontechnology.com/news/21_20/federal/29510-1.html

first published week of:   01/15/2007

California Building Standards Commission Completes Adoptions for New California Building Standards Code

The California Building Standards Commission has completed adoptions of new building standards that will take advantage of the latest technology in construction. “ the first time in nearly ten years, California will have a complete set of building codes based on the latest national and international model building codes, making use of the most current technologies and methods of construction. This will put California back in the forefront as a leader in the use of the latest technology for building safety, fire prevention, safe construction, and code enforcement,” said Rosario Marin, Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency and chair of the Commission.

The improved standards will allow California to utilize the latest technological advances in the construction and remodeling of residences, state government buildings, schools, hospitals, and other occupancies regulated by the state. The new regulations include the approval of Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) plastic pipe for use in residential water supply piping systems. CPVC has been a nationally accepted material since 1982, however, California has only permitted its use on a limited basis since 2001. The Department of Housing and Community Development prepared and certified an Environmental Impact Report resulting in a recommendation that the Commission adopt and approve the use of CPVC. The Commission's vote was unanimous and CPVC will be placed in the 2007 California Plumbing Code.

Details Here: www.bsc.ca.gov

first published week of:   02/05/2007

County gets ready in case dam fails

Local emergency officials are preparing for a worst-case scenario regarding a possible breach of a 240-foot-high Kentucky dam. The Army Corps of Engineers began lowering Lake Cumberland's water level Monday to reduce pressure on the weakened Wolf Creek Dam. Corps spokesman Bill Peoples said a dam failure is not imminent, but downstream cities — Burkesville in Kentucky and Celina, Carthage, Gallatin, Nashville, Hendersonville and Clarksville in Tennessee — should prepare evacuation plans.

Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency Director Steve Jones is pleased because his crew has an unusual amount of time to formulate a plan. “It's not often you have a potential disaster of this magnitude where we have this much lead time,” Jones said. “We've got time. Time's on my side.”

For years EMA has worked with Austin Peay State University's Geographic Information Systems Center to better understand and brace for disasters. GIS maps are being used to get an idea of where the water would go if the dam breaks. The maps are based on geographic elevation data, along with Army Corps of Engineers data. The GIS models show effects from different levels of flooding, 377 feet when the water just begins to spill over the banks, to 385 feet, 400 and, worst-case scenario, 415 feet.

“We feel pretty confident about this,” Michael Wilson, GIS manager, said of the mapping accuracy. Surrounding counties along the river, including Robertson, Dixon, Cheatham and Stewart, are also using the information. The maps indicate which properties will be affected and Jones said a "reverse E-911" effort will place warning calls to the most likely affected property and homeowners.

Details Here: www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070128/NEWS01/701280345

first published week of:   02/02/2007

cyber counterattack: Bomb 'em one way or the other

If the United States found itself under a major cyberattack aimed at undermining the nation's critical information infrastructure, the Department of Defense is prepared, based on the authority of the President, to launch a cyber counterattack or an actual bombing of an attack source.,The primary group responsible for analyzing the need for any cyber counterstrike is the National Cyber Response Coordination Group (NCRCG). The three key members of the NCRCG, who hail from the US-CERT computer-readiness team, the Department of Justice and the Defense Department,… described how they would seek to coordinate a national response in the event of a major cyber-event from a known attacker.

This week's massive but unsuccessful denial-of-service (DoS) attack on the Internet's root DNS, which targeted military and other networks, did not rise to the level of requiring response, but made the possibility of a massive Internet collapse more real than theoretical. Had the attack been successful there may have been a cyber counterstrike from the United States, said Mark Hall, director of the international information assurance program for the Defense Department and the Defense Department co-chair to the NCRCG, who spoke on the topic of cyber-response during the RSA Conference. “We have to be able to respond,” Hall said. “We need to be in a coordinated response.”

Details Here: www.networkworld.com/news/2007/020807-rsa-cyber-attacks.html

first published week of:   02/12/2007

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Volume 31

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