Fast and Furious Friday: Bird Flu, StreetView Hotwater, Female Spy, Play Cube

Bird Flu Study Released: The study detailing how Bird Flu could be easily modified to become transmittable by air instead of direct contact was released on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. The subject of several past posts on this blog, more information is available by using the link below to read the opening article by publisher Nature:

Publishing Risky Research

Privacy Hot Water for Google: Recent revelations that Google may have knowingly collected personal data from Wi-Fi sites during its StreetView development efforts has raised eyebrows of European regulators.  Click the link below to read an article on this development by the New York Times:

European Regulators May Reopen Street View Inquiries

National Reconnaissance Office Gets First Female Boss: Long the bastion of men, the super-secret "eye-in-the-sky" National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) which supports U.S. clandestine missions world-wide, will get its first female chief when Betty Sapp moves up from her current role as Deputy.  Use the link below to read more from Boston.com:

New Female Chief to Head US Spy Satellite Agency

Things Are Pretty Relaxed in Mountain View: They might be in hot water in Europe and elsewhere because of StreetView privacy issues, but you would never know it when checking out Google's latest contribution to the geospatial world - Cube, an addictive online map-based game that plays like the old roll the steel ball through the wooden maze toy.  Use the link below to play (sorry - it doesn't work in Windows Explorer, and if the boss asks, I did not tell you about this).

Play Cube

Comment: Little doubt things are happening at a fast and furious pace in the geospatial world. Ten years ago, developments that would have been points of discussion for weeks, are now passed by in the blink of an eye.