Last week on Salon.com, I tried to illustrate some of the powerful intelligence data capture made possible by the NSA’s supposed keyword search technology (for a more serious look at data mining technology and the NSA, try chapter 12 of Safe):
O say, ma, been laden forever!
Working with your phone company, skilled NSA operatives are rounding up evil terrorists who speak Islamofascist jive.By Evan Ratliff
Salon.com | May. 12, 2006
Memo: NSA headquarters, Fort Meade
Automated data mining analysis, transcript #HS48652-6
Target: Evan Ratliff
Communication: Domestic e-mail intercepts
Keyword extraction recommendation: Significant terror risk. Operations imminent.From: eratliff@*********.com
To: samschaffer@*****.com
Yo, Schaffe! What’s up?! How’s life down South? Tried calling your cell, but you must have been out hitting the bars pretty hard last night. Did you check out that little home-style restaurant I told you about? The house specialty is lamb chop, OH SNAP!! You’ll love it.
drink a PBR for me,
e
Posted at 1:04 am | Comment | Filed under Homeland Security, Recent stories, Salon.com, Satire |
A few recent stories of mine found their way into publication:
I wrote about some scientists trying to find a way to predict earthquakes, for the Post section of Wired magazine’s May issue, online here.
For a recently-released paperback book, Before the Mortgage (a collection of essays centered around the various humorous travails of 20-something urban life), I wrote about my obsession with finding the perfect apartment deal on Craigslist. Thanks to everyone who came to the
Another essay of mine, about an experience I had a year and a half ago while reporting in Bangladesh, appeared in The New York Times’ Modern Love column a couple weeks ago, here’s a copy.
Posted at 1:51 am | Comment | Filed under Before the Mortgage, Wired |
