Hidden So Long

"The trail leads into foreign jurisdictions where gaming our system is critical to certain emerging economies thanks to a handful of not very nice folks. We are fortunate to have discovered tracing methods that are effective in such a hazy realm."

New Tools Available Now

"Co-opted term avoidance coupled with automated abstraction object extraction in the example shown here." She pointed to the large screen. It was clear when she started the time lapse why it worked so well even in the face of well-funded deception.

Cooperating autonomous agents trumps top down management nearly every time. And the few instances when the reverse is the case? Usually after a breakdown in cooperative communication amongst said agents has occurred. When due to complacency, rekindling interaction becomes the critical path. If a large part of the failure was due to the intent of short-term agendas, corruption cleanup may take precedence for awhile.

"There are a handful of outlets practicing strategic communication in the clear as discussed in our log. One can learn a lot from the tremendous progress made since the west coast summit held February of last year."

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Critical Path

Who corrupts and why?

"My prediction, like many disclosed in this log, a lasting private solution to public health care has already begun. Carefully crafted legislation is the enabling piece.

"The critical path is removing corruption nearer its root. Since the convergence piece is located in the District Of Columbia (K street) and nearby, it is a logical place to start.

"Model the conflict-of-Interest network to discover how it can be efficiently deconstructed. Recognize that there is great power behind keeping the otherwise highly dysfunctional system in place. That power's largest vulnerability is exposure. Unfortunately, old media journalism has been nearly crushed by those who benefit from manufactured perception. Its rapidly growing replacement, conversational networks, not nearly so much. Effective exposure will rely on the new channels that have just come and are coming online. It is an exciting time."

What he said next plays well for a certain US demographic in that it has been understood in no uncertain terms for half a century, "... and the beat goes on."

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Blogger Change Bugs

"Firefox browser may work with Blogger for now. But 14 point font likely will not work?"

"Instant indexing is truly a blessing for the kind of work we do. Indirectly slowing down how fast it occurs helps opponents.

"Does this mean we are getting close to a vulnerability?"

"At least two tiers worth investigating so far. Is it a coincidence that more net failures are occurring in the last week or two? Disruption is a key aspect of their strategy. Or so it seems for recent history. Multiple fronts have diluted their effectiveness though.

"Now that scapegoating is occurring on a regular basis, it is reasonable to assume that more whistleblowers can be enticed?"

© 2012 Buzz Hill

FunnyMoney

"Its a game, Prudence. Just a game.

"The idea is to allow players to begin on the levelest of playing fields with equal amounts of 'currency'. The object of the game is to improve ones currency position by a mix of leading to the emergence of general good (and rewarded appropriately) and competing in a free market (with mostly laissez faire rules). The winner is the one with the the largest contribution to the wealth of the players as a whole."

He wasn't addressing anyone in particular but the whole subject was often dismissed as trivial or misleading. "The subject should be left to the 'experts'", they would often say.

Which experts? Game designers? Degreed authorities? Accepted publications? Popular pundits, perhaps?


"In the case of game design should we try to start from a generic game framework?"


NOTE: Some of the foregoing in this BuzzTheHill post is not fictional. Consider its appearance here as a public disclosure and as such, to the degree something novel and not obvious to those skilled in the art has been discussed, the specific intent was/is to put it in the PUBLIC DOMAIN.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Liberation

"She said, 'different drum'. I heard abandonment. Crushed and desperate to survive I replied, 'but watch me do'. And surprise, it sometimes worked. Until my soup pulled me under again. Drowning does get one's attention. Magic potions to transport a tortured soul through the night. But, not long after, mired even deeper."

We should teach our children no matter how long it takes. For only then will we really know ourselves.

What stories Shame could tell. My own are the one's I know best. We shall soon see what will come of the rise. It has yet to disappoint.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Columbo

 "We don't have time to chase down every rabbit trail. This is just foolish. Our mission is clear and this is not it.", the emotion in his voice betrayed his claim. Veracity speculation in this discussion was known to all to be of little consequence. A seed of doubt had been sewn. 

Eliciting this response was the intended outcome. Since she could not be sure of her suspicion, she had chosen her words very carefully. There was no backtracking his slip. Witnesses were present. Yet if her gambit had failed, it would likely have been forgotten quickly.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Counter Intelligence

"Organized blowback has been updated. Since coordinated efforts to generate public perception of this type are somewhat mature, the signature pattern detection is fairly reliable."

"From executive command's point of view, this means what, then?"

"We have reason to believe that we should start another round. Tune the receivers for new patterns based on the trends of the old. Start with manual assist. Then automate as much as possible in the time available."

"Make it so."

Generic cipher detection, even in its current primitive developmental form, still the key tool in geo-locating sources and destinations of interest. Long chains are more difficult to decode but much easier to find. Further, actionable intelligence is shed long before any cipher is broken.

The tortoise knows, clever can compete with speed.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Standoff Gambit

"Its the leaks, the damn leaks." He was hopping mad. Their sophisticated hinting mechanism was eroding decades of work in mere weeks or months. The takedowns are quickening. The game no longer for the faint of heart.

Real-Time Pattern Recognition

"He could see the press release in his minds eye, 'Retirement to spend more time with the family.' Code for we are going to kick you aside knowing you have nearly as much on us as we on you."

"I don't think I have heard the name, Binney before."

"And will we be hearing more?"

Public disclosures can have less than full public targets as well. No doubt, this is the case here. When did the average Joe become aware of so much? Not long ago, I suspect. Net access is cheap.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Why do it?

"Well hidden from the pepper sprayers of largely anonymous manipulators. Just one of the many advantages to our style of strategic communication.

"Yet the whole while completely open, in plain site, public."

The popular notion is that the solution is unknowable because of complexity. Though evidence suggests we are now able to manage such complexity, there are well healed interests that want to perpetuate the illusion that discovering what is inside the black box is futile.

Not at all unlike Skinner's rationale for behaviorism. There are still those who cling to the view even though more successful models have been discovered and applied.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Total Information Awareness

"Can they or can't they be 'totally aware' of virtually all international communication?"

"If we could agree on the exact nature of the question, getting to a valuable answer would be relatively easy. The information is publicly available.

As if cued, they suddenly looked at each other smiling and said in unison, "Google. Fetch."

All reflected in that instant on what a fortunate time to be alive. All one needed to confirm the friendly nature of our corner of the universe was now easily accessible.  Why did we have to wait so long to discover this ancient truth?

Like at least twice in this log, Neil Diamond said it well in song.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Too Soon?

Maybe

Dwight Eisenhower, Daniel Elsberg, John Erlichman, Bill Moyers, David Stockman, Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, John Von Neuman, Bryan Roberts, Richard Feynman.

"The Counter Intelligence Program at our county's intel-driven national security and law enforcement agency is why we must persevere. It is simply not enough to dance in the streets. Government agency's vulnerability to some of its private contractors (aka the permanent government) is the modern twist on the issue.

Private entities are able to use dangerous tactics in contravention of the bill-of-rights. And do so, undetected and at very low risk."

© 2012 Buzz Hill

A Modern Free Market

"What the manipulated market will bear. Just one extra word after all. Maybe we'll leave it out of our heavily funded messaging. Just confuses folks. Markets should decide, period."

Sometimes they wished they had not overheard such disheartening statements. On the other hand, it was important to get to the bottom, so-to-speak of the oppositions tactics and mindset.

"... not the brightest bulb in the room."

"Why would they think THAT?", she exclaimed a bit sarcastically.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

DC is about DC

Not the spread option in football.

"Allow me to explain. If there is only a paragraph on this post so far, you might find it more of interest if you look at it later. It will have grown by then."

Just yesterday, the Blackwater style tactics of private contractors was discussed at a major university. As private 'intelligence' firms opine in the media, one cannot help but to wonder what the mix of propaganda and unbiased research are in the public feed.

A common misconception about the huge economic success of the District of Columbia is that it results from tax revenue extorted from 'real' Americans. This successful propaganda meme from the usual suspects has just about run its course. One of the few remaining questions is just how long the deception can survive.

"Our log, for years now, has documented authenticity advantages in the identity space. Furthermore, privacy has been co-opted for short term and selfish purposes for the last century - witness the associated trail of tears. Recent technology makes the potential for isolationist destructive forces in society a formidable threat."

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Strategic Typos

"Now hear me out.

"Some would argue that disingenuous self-deprecation is a political necessity. Further, that stumbling attempts at such can make things go in an entirely different direction than intended.

"Carried to a type of theoretical extreme, it could cause the end of the human species as we know it. Hardly a trivial subject.

"I would argue this makes a case for careful diplomacy. Sometimes the best way to open a productive dialog is to help your opponent remove his foot from his mouth out of the view of prying eyes seeking to exploit gaffes for self-serving ends ... or not."

Thanks, Mike and Gus. And go FSU (though I prefer the Ducks).

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Cyber Takeover

"Games people play. In this case with the substantial assist of cutting edge computer technology. This may be a bit beyond what Eric Berne had in mind. Perhaps more than a bit. After all, the technology of the TA time was quite primitive by comparison, though the moon shot held out much hope for the future then.

"How much does one see without the specific intention to do so?"

"Less with one's Parent or Child than one's Adult, I suspect.

"Too many adults spoil the game(s) ... that people play.
As we have alluded to on a number occasions here, productive conversations are a sequence of related adult/adult transactions leading to desirable outcomes for one or more of the participants."

Online games and gaming are no doubt one of the most significant trends of modern times. The reliance of profiteers in the Parent-Child aspects of them present a considerable challenge to long term aspirations of sentients. Hiding the strings attached is good to get participation in the contests - it makes the illusion feel more real. But at what cost to the game's context? 

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Variation on a Theme

"What can we learn from someone who has thrived in a developing country with a conditional embrace of 'free' markets?

Good times, Johnny?

"Questions of the foregoing type have been successful at stirring up certain online players. Do a large number of them enjoy applying tactics that are successful in popular games to social networks?"

As the history of RAND suggests, this is social heavy lifting. They would not have used those words, one suspects, though clearly public policy is related.

Empirical testing of concepts changes everything, fast. Or at least, if feels that way. Perhaps we should trust our gut on this one.

"So, her behavior may be explained by that to some degree?"

"There is a connection, I've been told. It is a reliable source."

Google, fetch.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Cameras vs. Guns

Militarization of domestic 'law' enforcement?

"Guns are in lieu of conversation. Cameras can help start useful dialog. The owned media may not want you to know how enforcement is accomplished and for whose purpose.

"To the degree that the hidden motives are socially detrimental, knowing the difference between shared information and propaganda is likely critical. Furthermore, obscuring the difference is an important tool of manipulators (especially in the covert 'private' sphere)."

"The opposition's critical path is keeping the mechanism largely hidden. Owned media has managed to keep control with all but the conversational technology and the organic wisdom propagation it has spawned. Passing this concept to one's friends on a regular basis is all we need do to to make things better."

"Amen, sister." 

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Potential

"Authentic Personal Identity is as much about what an individual could be as it is about what she/he has been.

"Predictions based on shared self-reference is the basis for this. You may ask, why? The short answer - it is best to go to the source, one's self. Measure potential with its best instrument.

"Keep the tool in top working condition by networking. The unique expression of a common core changing with the passage of time gains much from the vetted experience of others."

Who owns the related intellectual property? We do and equally so because that is fair when it comes to identity. The sooner we are able to restore that fundamental equilibrium the faster we can derive its substantial benefits, right?

© 2012 Buzz Hill

He is just being him.

Immediate Keystone XL Approval

"Support of the usual suspects is par for the course from certain folks in many groups (ours? :-) Drawing attention to the downside of blind loyalty helps those on the fence choose more wisely in the future. Most of the worthy contests are won at the margin."

Describing the scope of the problem should not be in lieu of looking for the most efficient solution. More often than not, sensing the rhythms of the imbalance (note plural) to calculate the most efficient timing for change is job one for those who seek a new equilibrium.

Music creatives understand this well. They call it the mix. The confluence of opportunity to move to the next milestone of story.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Spy

"See it from here."

"Inconspicuous as the center-of-attention secret agent she was. Spy craft for the networked age.

"A town near the other coast emerging unexpectedly on the world scene. Its modern history brief. Not crushed by the wind down of its predatory industries as in other locations around the country. Entrenched ownership interests simply did not have the time to take root."

Virtual travel, a game changer. Machine assist matured to a degree that made many traditional ops too expensive and dangerous by contrast.

More fundamental than that, re-purposing assets posed the ultimate question, "Why?" Obsession with fear as a tool of control turned into a drug that blinded folks. It has become its own market, a spiritual quagmire of unprecedented proportions.

To engage in 'intel', much different after the better part of a century had passed. A tragic misnomer considering how little covert operations contribute to sustainable value, the 'intelligent' choice. Yes, Prudence. Spy is a different sort of critter when the streets have been lit and the eyes of the commoner can sore to the heavens.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

A Ubiquitous Price

Speculate, Manipulate

"Criminal manipulation of the market. 

"I had not heard it stated that way before. While the law as it currently stands apparently allows for too much commodity speculation and effectively legalizes something closely akin to conflict-of-interest for a single entity, what makes it illegal is conspiring with others to effect the market for nefarious gain."

"Yeah, something like that. Controlling public discourse, especially with trivia, has all but obscured the activity."

"Keep in mind, that alone would be far from enough. Threatening a pre-emptive strike in the Middle East, if timed right, would help. A fragile international economy would not hurt, of course."

"So timing and coordination is crucial. To disrupt it would be attractive to their opponents, I suspect." Knowing the perpetrators could not shoot everywhere they would need to in a short enough period of time, the team's confidence advanced.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Patterns in General

"… generic pattern detection in the sense of indexing data of interest in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence."

Visual Instance

"You seem to be suggesting that correlating such patterns at the appropriate hierarchical level could serve the purpose of differentiating one individual from others. At some level, the grouping of patterns serves to identify an individual in a given scope?"

"At least, augment the effort to do so. Rather than measuring progress against the ultimate goal, discover the levels necessary to lead to each identity. Know that some level (or components thereof) may not be readily apparent."

They were lucky that the big three in the identity space and several others had already dramatically advanced both the art and technology. A mashup of two or more would be a great prototype platform, if not the foundation of the first deployable product.

NOTE: Some of the foregoing in this BuzzTheHill post is not fictional. Consider its appearance here as a public disclosure and as such, to the degree something novel and not obvious to those skilled in the art has been discussed, the specific intent was/is to put it in the PUBLIC DOMAIN.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Steering Inoperative

"The money is in private equity now, not in making peoples lives better. Indicting the framework would not be appropriate. The instance of its use that fits a pattern, might."

ALEC

"Only educated people are rewarded for breakthrough contributions. The others should be humiliated in order to preserve the proscribed order. Reward the academically proven, little else matters. Because the rest are too stupid to give to the chosen. We will take what we must." The confident tone of the recording had a chilling effect.

As if cued, the dark stranger appeared again, repeating for a second time the provocation that seemed to say, "Go ahead, react. I know what I am doing and expect to succeed."

Though happening in the same public place, done in such a way that either party could refute the other's claim. High stakes chess? Or a prisoner's game? None of the above?

Who benefits from nefarious deniability? How does one de-fuse the situation?

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Detection Preferred

"You can see why we prefer to detect rather than prevent. The payoff is in deep understanding of their methods. The opposition has little to gain with a successful penetration. They potentially reveal covert status and methods to achieve it, though."

"The strange behavior we just observed remains a mystery. A public wi-fi, not password protected was nearly inoperable. Tethering to the cell seems to not be working either. Are these related to the newly discovered trojan?"

Both of them knew that the recent flurry of activity (chatter, if you will) could be attributed to getting close to a hidden operation of the opposition. The general public paranoia regarding cyber threats had become an effective cover for the surveillance supporting special ops.

She was maturing quickly. No longer at the mercy of her natural hypersensitivity. With the help of the others, she had turned it into an asset for the benefit of the group. 

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Funder Perception

"I have seen it first hand, we live in a place with an international reputation for advancing this cause and evidence of infiltration was in plain site here two months after it began."

"It is as if the audience is pseudo-investors (at no risk for the capital they control). Rather than the market folks for which they have strong and essentially uninformed opinions."

"Payed handsomely for telling thieves what they want to hear. Is it really that simple? It would not work if the theft was not easy. So, how did we get here?"

As each of them spoke to what they had seen displayed, it was again apparent. All was not as it appeared. It was a manufactured illusion. Entertainment until the food became scarce. 

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Game Change

Not hacked yet. Why?

"Your mission appears noble. Your methods, however, seem a bit fanciful. 

"Old style messaging is something the opposition has learned how to dominate. It is their field of play and they have chosen and are choosing its current rules."

The older asymmetric electronic medium prided itself in being ever more immediate and at-the-scene as technology improved. Implicit in doing so was the widely distributed message would therefore suggest authenticity (deserved or not). But the message itself was still largely chosen by 'authorities' or those who would do their bidding.

Projecting the interest of a powerful few cost-effectively can potentially require an international resource scope. Certain religions have expanded beyond the borders and rules of nation-states. Fueled by technology and ancient ties, networks of considerable capability have emerged. Studying them is made difficult because of the value of secrecy to their operators.

Consider the keywords (and key phrases): missionary, anti-communism, strategic energy, right-to-exist, plantation, liberty.

"Have we outsourced oversight? If so, should we re-consider?"

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Flower Power

"Not so much avoiding the aggression but neutralizing it through mindful integration."

"Those who win conflicts depend on sustaining them. It is their preferred frame of reference. If confidence in the fundamental assumptions are challenged with compassionate scrutiny in an appropriate venue, the need for conflict greatly diminishes.

"KXL, stand your ground, growing market for privatized prisons. Ask them why in publicly visible productive conversations (like comments to posts on Facebook.)

"Does constant vigilance create new crime? If so, does it make sense?"

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Organic Broadcast

"If we could overload their net cloaking, its biggest vulnerabilities might show. Clearly, secrecy was and is one of them. Now the obscuration and misdirection methodologies are becoming visible.

"Campaigns based on deceptive persuasion are constrained by time-consuming preparation. Moving goal posts is their worst nightmare. Think of the implications of scaling the number of fronts up from there."

Conflicting messages from what otherwise appears to be a unified constituency is a prescription for a melt-down. The cascading effect has already become evident as the number of them have increased to counter the latest rapid responses.

The basic propaganda concept has been around for many generations. The modern countermeasure is catching up to its contemporary antagonist. 39401?

© 2012 Buzz Hill

The Quotable Buzz

"Think of it as a litmus test of sorts. The devil himself comes screeching through the locked gate and all watching break out laughing."

"A variation on the Furnace Monster story, then?"

Fear has limited use. Not smart to manufacture, for the most part. The detached ego is lucky to learn the lesson before it is too late.

Once a critical mass of mob members question the wisdom of their unifying obedience, then begin local conversations and start believing in the power of their combined agency, the leadership can no longer rely on deception as an organizing tactic. Loyalty based on errors in perception seldom lead to better outcomes. Going forward, the new game in town will be increasingly competitive.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Hard Working?

A very large private corporation with a handful of shareholders. Its privacy protections abound, especially for foreign operations. Known for inventing the primary tool used in manipulating energy prices.

Compare this with the largest public company (by street valuation). Widely held with at least thousands if not millions of individual shareholders. Well known to half of US homes.

Because of their size, each company has a large influence on the majority of citizens. As a citizen and other things being equal, which would you trust more? Which is more accountable for the consequences of its behavior? Why?

© 2012 Buzz

Not Illegal Here

"By this online conversation you can see that aspects of the stolen persona technology had moved into primitive chat dialogs on social networks."

"Hello Transylvania.", she smirked.

"Precisely."

The big prize would be in discovering a secret domestic link to the Eastern Europe operation. Common sense would assume a higher than even chance that such a tie would exist. Transnational business operating under the cloak of 'privacy' protection, a logical place to look. Hiding evidence of the link would be somewhere near the top of priorities.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Fact Central

"Think of it as Themis on your XBox. You need look no further. We have collected the facts so you don't have to. In our world class facility we design stuff that frees up your time for important pursuits.

"Lame adults (like those clowns who call themselves my parents) have golf and old school social. Here is just what you have been looking for, a way to jerk their chain and pretend you are attractive to the opposite sex."

"I can't even pronounce, Râmnicu Vâlcea ..."

"No need, as you will soon see. Have you ever heard of Redmond?"

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Slander Bot

Precious Document

"Who in our nation's capital would have sufficient incentive to actively pursue a solution to sophisticated organized online slander?

"Outsourcing this function by the government to a private contractor can be problematic. Such outsourcing was likely the beginning of the widespread nefarious practice in the first place. In order that protection from the manipulation to be effective, its accountability to a trusted party is necessary. In theory, the electorate in our society was to have provided the answer through the election process.

But over the centuries, the power accrued to subsets of the voting electorate with less inclusive agendas. It in turn, took ever larger pieces of control from 'we the people' and gave it to those that thought it better to trust themselves to direct what belonged to all.

What the team had been investigating over the last two and a half years was the possibility of a democracy-driven private entity with the same privileges and powers afforded to the likes of corporations. Their predictive powers derived from the pursuit of subtle conversation in the soup and on the net, well documented in the log.

NOTE: Some of the foregoing in this BuzzTheHill post is not fictional. Consider its appearance here as a public disclosure and as such, to the degree something novel and not obvious to those skilled in the art has been discussed, the specific intent was/is to put it in the PUBLIC DOMAIN.

© 2012 Buzz Hill

Corruption in the Defense of Ownership

"Let us assume for purposes of this discussion that a private interest is secretly using public resources to surveil a political opponent. Further, that the public resources belong to a jurisdiction's law enforcement.

"A strong trend in the last decade is for cost-constrained governments to contract with private entities for surveillance equipment and the operation of such.

"Has a private and/or political interest piggybacked illegal activity on public protection? Making it illegal is moot if the activity is undetected or ignored."

"Our group of citizens contract with private entities that are above suspicion, - providing a counterweight to the misuse of tracking technology by the corrupted and/or co-opted."

© 2012 Buzz Hill