The collection includes  the President’s Office Files; the Personal Papers of John F. Kennedy; the Outgoing Letters of President John F. Kennedy; the JFK White House Photograph Collection; the JFK White House Audio Speech Collection; and the JFK White House Film and Video Collection. At launch, the archive features approximately 200,000 pages; 300 reels of audio tape, containing more than 1,245 individual recordings of telephone calls, speeches and meetings; 300 museum artifacts; 72 reels of film; and 1,500 photos.

"My parents believed that history is one of our greatest teachers," said Caroline Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Library Foundation.

"As young people increasingly rely on the internet as their primary source for information, it is our hope that the Library’s online archive will allow a new generation to learn about this important chapter in American history. And as they discover the heroes of the civil rights movement, the pioneers of outer space, and the first Peace Corps volunteers, we hope they too are inspired to ask what they can do for their country.”

To manage a digitization project  the archivists of the Kennedy Presidential Library prioritized the Library’s historic collections beginning with those that hold the highest research interest and significance.

GPhone Rumor "Confirmed" Again

As each Google Phone rumor makes the rounds, you can’t help but think Elvis and JFK will show up on the front of the Wall Street Journal texting each other with them.

The latest absolute stone-cold GPhone rumor appeared on the blog of Mark “Rizzn” Hopkins, who says what he’s got comes from an inside source at the impenetrable Googleplex, where staffers physically assault photographers trying to take picture of people playing Twister at a party on their campus:

I talked to one of my inside sources at Google today. He spoke on conditions of anonymity, but the guy is someone I trust implicitly. He said that he was baffled at Google’s apparent internal confusion on the GPhone issue – that they’ve actually demo’ed the thing in public before.

He said that the Google (applications) Suite is going to play a huge role in the usability of the GPhone, and the thought process behind it’s functionality is less about beating the iPhone and more about beating the $100 Laptop, which provides a huge clue behind what will be the pricing structure on this.

Hopkins has received some flack in his blog comments from people who aren’t convinced of his post’s veracity. We’re much more interested in a Google network that would back a Google phone, rather than the hardware, but for now we’re happy to mention another story about the GPhone.

"The sheik" was also used to name leader Guyanese leader Russel Defreitas.

Right. No tells there. Tight as a drum, that code. Why not codename "Ima Terrorist" or "the America hater"? 

It may have been a good idea, too, not to record their telephone conversations before the plot. A simple adherence to Chick McGee‘s "Don’t Write Anything Down" anti-evidence philosophy (usually applied to adultery) would have (God forbid) helped.

It also worked against them that there was an informant in the group, apparently prompting the recorded calls.

According to the court document, the team first tried to take video surveillance of the airport and the targeted fuel tanks. The low quality of the video then prompted the cell to turn to Google Earth for a better view of the situation.

The gentleman and the sheik wanted more pinpoint coordinates of "the chicken farm" (JFK) and its fuel tanks to better "minimize the killing of innocent people" like women and children. Because, obviously, the men in the area had hurt them directly.
One of the recorded conversations had this nugget:

"On the chicken farm, I downloaded Google Earth and we’ve got the print of the chicken farm from the air. But the sheikh [Defreitas] would like know if it is needed – if anything else – or if you are satisfied with that."

That would do it, other than finding out the distance between the street and the fuel tanks, by using the prints they had on hand – because, you know, there may be "innocent people" between the street and the tanks.

The air traffic control tower was also identified and measured using Google Earth, as disabling the tower – where the not "innocent" security staff would be stationed.

While useful to those who mean no harm, Google Earth has been a real thorn in the side of officials looking to keep us safe. Numerous countries have complained about the sensitive areas detailed on Google’s satellite imagery.

In some cases, like with the White House, Google has been obliged to block out images. It may be time for Google to take a serious look at what can be found via its Earth program, and consider removing or blocking views of airports, oil refineries, or other targets.

Or they could just wait until these jerks start wising up. But something tells me that’s a bad idea.