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One of the towering figures in the evolution of computer science was Grace Hopper, an American mathematician, academic, and Naval reservist, whose work gave us the first programming languages, compilers, and much more. Sadly she passed away in 1992, so her wisdom hasnt directly informed the Internet Age in the manner of some of her surviving contemporaries.

During her life she gave many lectures though, and as [Michael Ravnitzky] discovered, one of them was recorded on video tape and resides in the archives of Americas National Security Agency. With the title Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People, it was the subject of a Freedom Of Information request. This in turn was denied, on the grounds that Without being able to view the tapes, NSA has no way to verify their responsiveness. In short, the recording lies on Ampex 1 reel-to-reel video tape, which the NSA claims no longer to be able to read.

Its fairly obvious from that response that the agency has no desire to oblige, and wed be very surprised to find that they keep a working Ampex video system to hand on the off-chance that a passing researcher might ask for an archive tape. But at the same time its also obvious that a lecture from Rear Admiral Hopper is an artifact of international importance that should be preserved and available for study. Its an interesting thought exercise to guess how many phone calls Hackaday would have to make to secure access to a working Ampex video recorder, and since we think for us that number would be surprisingly low its likely the NSA know exactly who to call if they needed that tape viewed in a hurry. We dont have influence over secretive government agencies, but if we did wed be calling shame on them at this point.

If youre curious about Grace Hopper, weve talked about her work here in the past.

Thanks [F4GRX] for the tip.

Ampex image: Telecineguy., Public domain.

Excerpt from:
The NSA Is Defeated By A 1950s Tape Recorder. Can You Help Them? - Hackaday

Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs requested a classified briefing from the Biden administration as the chairmen remain concerned that without robust protections, sensitive U.S.-origin technology transferred as part of the Microsoft-G42 partnership could end up the CCPs hands.

Chairmen Moolenaar and McCaul write, Itis vital we do all we can to limit the PRC's [Peoples Republic of China] malign influence around the world, including in the Middle East... we support your efforts to work hand in glove with U.S. companies like Microsoft to strengthen our dominance in AI; however, we must also be clear-eyed about the risks posed by transferring our most critical AI technology particularly when it comes to countries where the PRC is active.

The lawmakers continue,Given the ties between the PRC and G42 as well as PRCs continued interests in the UAE, we ask that the National Intelligence Council prepare an official Intelligence Community assessment on the ties between G42, including its subsidiaries and affiliates, to the Chinese Communist Party, the Peoples Liberation Army, or any part of the PRCs apparatus.

Background:

In January, the Select Committeeoutlinedsome of G42s most problematic connections with Chinese military companies, state-owned enterprises, and Chinese intelligence services. According to documents reviewed by the Committee, G42s CEO Peng Xiao operates and is affiliated with an expansive network of UAE and PRC-based companies that develop dual-use technologies and materially support PRC military-civil fusion and human rights abuses. Following the Select Committees inquiry, G42 announced that it severed its relationships with some problematic Chinese entities. Then in April, Microsoft announced a $1.5 billion partnership with G42, furthering the UAEs aspirations to be a global AI leader.

However, last month, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan traveled to China and described AI as an area of deeper PRC UAE collaboration. As a result, lawmakers remain concerned that key American technology could end up the CCPs hands, originating from Microsofts partnership with G42.

The full text of the letter can be foundHERE.

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Letter to NSA on Microsoft's Billion Dollar Partnership with UAE Firm G42 - Select Committee on the CCP |

Countless athletes and coaches, along with a fleet of parents congregated at the Crown Point Sports Complex on Tuesday afternoon to take part in the 2024 National Softball Association (NSA) Fastpitch World Series Kick-Off Day.

Organized by the NSA in partnership with the South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority (CVA), the World Series sees nearly 200 teams from across the country come together and compete across 13 divisions, ranging from 8U to 23U/womens. Activities and games last until Sunday, and typically begin with the annual Skills Competition, where teams compete in a series of challenges that test their baserunning and fielding abilities. This year, however, the NSA added a special event to the calendar the Heavy Hitters Camp, where multi-time College World Series Champions Kierston Deal and Kinzie Hansen of the University of Oklahoma worked directly with the young athletes in attendance.

It was a great show, we had a lot of people sign up for it that arent even taking part in the tournament, Bill Horton, president of the NSA, said. It was good for the NSA, good for Crown Point, and the South Shore.

Among the attendees at both the Heavy Hitters Camp and Skills Competition was the Crown Point based Nightmares 13U team. Nightmares Coach Brandon Norris highlighted what a special opportunity it was for the girls to see stars such as Deal and Hansen in person.

I think something like this does a lot for the girls sport, we could go on and on about what someone like Caitlin Clark has done for womens basketball for example, Norris said. For the girls to see these athletes from Oklahoma here today gives them a sense of motivation, a drive to go on and continue playing.

South Shore CVA Chief Marketing Officer Heather Becerra noted that this years World Series marked the first in a new 5-year deal for the event to be held in the Region meaning the festivities will return annually until at least 2028.

Its become a tradition for a lot of area teams as well as teams from around the Midwest, Becerra said. Its cool to see the crowd each year. I have a daughter in the softball community too, and her team was in it last year. A lot of these girls have grown up playing, they started in the 8U division and now theyre in high school having been coming out to this throughout their career.

There are a number of traditions that are a core part of the NSA Fastpitch World Series culture, and the Skills Competition marks the opportunity for girls to take part in one of the biggest them trading team pins. Every team designs a unique pin featuring their logo, brings a mountain of them to the competition, and trades them with other teams aiming to collect them all.

Ive been running the girls program for over 30 years now, and these traditions have always been a part of it, Horton said. They all get into the camaraderie and spirit of it and have built their own traditions different from the boys.

Norris was excited to see his team embracing the tradition, and expressed gratitude for an event of this caliber being so close to home.

Its amazing to have this right in our backyard, weve traveled out to other events before, he said. Its exciting for the girls to be able to say that theyre playing on their home fields. Crown Point and the South Shore did the right thing by hosting this. Its just awesome.

To learn more about the South Shore CVA, visit southshorecva.com. For more on the National Softball Association, visit playnsa.com.

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NSA Fast Pitch World Series kicks off with Skills Competition & Heavy Hitters Camp, featuring College World Series Champions from the University...

A National Security Agency contractor has been slapped with a 13-month sentence in federal prison after she was found guilty of bilking the government for hundreds of hours of in-person work she never performed.

Jacky McComber was also ordered to pay back $176,913 to the government.

Her case became a cause celebre at the intersection of the contracting and intelligence worlds, given the brazenness of the allegations and some of the vitriol involved.

Prosecutors said McCombers company, InfoTeK, billed the government for more than 2,600 hours of work on a contract that, because of the top-secret nature of the NSA, had to be done in person.

But over a 19-month period, she wasnt actually at the NSA for 90% of those hours, prosecutors said.

Even when she claimed to be working remotely, she was often AWOL. One time, when she billed the government for an eight-hour day, she was playing in a charity golf tournament. Another time, she attended her high school reunion. And another time, she was vacationing in Ocean City, Maryland.

At trial, she was convicted of fraud and of lying to cover it up.

After her conviction, she yelled at prosecutors to rot in hell, the government said.

McComber cast herself as a pioneering entrepreneur, a woman in a hard-to-crack field who was laid low by an angry ex-husband and lingering trauma from her childhood.

Her lawyers had asked the judge for leniency, saying her crimes werent severe.

There were no individual victims. It did not cause any person to suffer substantial personal hardship, the defense lawyers said.

They also argued that McComber had suffered in the wake of the case, losing her business and future opportunities. And they said the deterrent effect of the case has already been carried out, given its notoriety in the contracting world.

Ms. McComber is 51 years old, and this criminal conviction is her first. Her conviction precludes her from future contracting with the government, making it highly unlikely that she will be able to attain another position that will allow her to commit a similar crime, the defense lawyers said.

They had suggested the judge give her probation with perhaps the first three months served in home confinement.

Prosecutors had asked for at least 51 months in prison.

U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander delivered the 13-month sentence.

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NSA contractor bilked government for hundreds of hours she never worked - Washington Times

Eleven years ago Edward Snowden, a disgruntled contractor working for the National Security Agency (nsa), Americas signals-intelligence (sigint) service, fled to Hong Kong then Russia and revealed that America and its allies were sweeping up much of the worlds communications. Intelligence agencies warned that his disclosure would have dire consequences, as enemies found other ways to communicate. In the end it was not as bad as feared. Agencies could no longer access all of the data they needed to see, or had access to before, writes Ciaran Martin, then a senior official at gchq, Britains sigint agency. But they could still get lots, he notes. Indeed, enough to provide American sigint with the lions share of intelligence, including intercepts of communications, that showed in 2021 that Russia was planning to invade Ukraine, and how it planned to do so.

In the past two decades, sigint has been transformed. The internet took over from radio and telephone traffic in the 1990s. Now, a decade after Mr Snowden, most internet traffic is encrypted and data have pooled in new places, like the cloud. The same computer networks that ferry it about have also become integral to the physical worldfrom cars to power grids to military systemsblurring the line between cyber-espionage and cyber-attacks, and reshaping the identity of sigint agencies. But they remain extraordinary intelligence-gathering machines.

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Signals intelligence has become a cyber-activity - The Economist