Information Haystack

Information that has any type of pseudoscientific or conspiratorial type of bent creates difficulties in verifying the veracity of that information. Sites dealing with UFO's, crypto-zoology or Men in Black run the gamut from the crazed to the almost believable.
The above logo is touted on several sites of questionable pedigree (Wikipedia included) as the official logo of Admiral Poindexter's shadowy DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Information Awareness Project.
The above logo looks like something dreamed up in the basement by a 40 year old conspiracy theorist and not by serious government agencies. It looks as if someone who has read too much Orwell and Dan Brown might have created it. It is convincing..but too overtly Big Brotherish to be real. I could not find reference to it in any DARPA documents or other established news sources. My guess is that someone made it up to add fuel to the fire.
The IAP, also known as TIA (Total Information Awareness) was/is an Orwellian undertaking to mine huge data streams (i.e. your personal info) to detect terrorist activity. This project still continues under the guise of the NSA (National Security Administration). Read more about it at TIA Lives On Everyone say hello to the NSA during your next phonecall or email chat.

Information is a double edged sword that can help us as well as harm us. I hope that our government in its drive to make us safer by reading our mail looks to the past as a beacon for the future. There are many books out there to give one pause when pondering the dark side of information. I was shocked to learn that the United States is assisting the genocidal government of Sudan in completing a new census. This is really a double edged sword that can serve both good and evil for the people of this nation. The Nazi Census is a small but sobering book that will make anyone think twice about what information they allow the government to collect.