The Olympics in Rio de Janeiro were an amazing display of human physical, mental and emotional power.  Athletes from 205 countries gathered to compete in a wide range of sports including the traditional track and field events and newer events such as beach volleyball. One of the factors that made Rio, and every Olympiad, so… Read More Turning Different Kinds of Data into the Same Gold

The words we use to name and describe things are critically important, particularly in the political arena. Control of the message is hard fought and we are seeing a lot of that these days. “Death tax” versus “Inheritance tax” and “Gun Control” versus “Gun Safety” are two examples in which legislators attempt to cast the same proposals… Read More Information, Money and Politics

The Importance of Three Letters President Obama has been repeatedly criticized for his failure to use the term “radical Islam” when talking about terrorist attacks by ISIS here and across the globe. His intention is to make sure that Islam as a whole does not become tainted by the small minority of its adherents who… Read More The Importance of Three Letters

Do You Want to Know a Secret? In my last post, I discussed the tendency of information to leak.  That tendency is why secrets have a special place in the world of information. Secrets can give the person who knows them power and prestige. In the world of business and commerce, where secrets are known… Read More Do You Want to Know A Secret?

  One of the aspects of information that makes it appear to be a tangible thing is that it leaks, just like water from a faucet, steam from a steam room and air from a balloon. Leaks occur when someone who has access to information provides that access to a specific individual or to the… Read More Information Can Be Leaky

March 16 is National Freedom of Information Day. This day, which celebrates our right to have access to government information, was chosen because it is James Madison’s birthday. Madison, along with serving as our fourth President, is widely considered the father of both the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights and he was a… Read More Happy Birthday James Madison

Apple and the US Government are currently locked in a legal contest in which Apple is refusing to create and provide the code necessary for Federal officials to get information from a terrorist’s cell phone. This contest is critical and information in various types is playing center stage. At the heart of the dispute is… Read More The Fight between Apple and the US Government: It’s All About Information

President Harry Truman delivered his inaugural address on January 20, 1949 on a clear and cold day in Washington, DC. He stated that the major challenge facing the world at the time was the conflict between democracy and the “false philosophy“ of communism, the conflict that had come to be known as the Cold War.… Read More What Harry Truman Knew

A large segment of those who make New Year’s resolutions focus them on goals such as losing weight or getting more exercise.  Gym memberships surge at this time of year as does enrollment in popular weight loss programs. Yet Forbes reported in 2013 that only 8% of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions.  Perhaps this… Read More New Year’s Resolutions To Improve Your Information Fitness

The US Presidential election is still 11months away but it appears to be in full swing as candidates of both parties are highly visible on the news media, social media and whatever media they can get. The current hot topic is how to keep the country safe from terrorism, often positioned within the context of… Read More Information as Weapon