ImaginativePRO Blog

GOOGLE'S SECRET X LABS EXPERIMENTS WITH WEARABLE COMPUTER TECH, AR, DRIVERLESS CARS AND SPACE ELEVATORS

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — In a top-secret lab in an undisclosed Bay Area location where robots run free, the future is being imagined.

It’s a place where your refrigerator could be connected to the Internet, so it could order groceries when they ran low. Your dinner plate could post to a social network what you’re eating. Your robot could go to the office while you stay home in your pajamas. And you could, perhaps, take an elevator to outer space.

These are just a few of the dreams being chased at Google X, the clandestine lab where Google is tackling a list of 100 shoot-for-the-stars ideas. In interviews, a dozen people discussed the list; some work at the lab or elsewhere at Google, and some have been briefed on the project. But none would speak for attribution because Google is so secretive about the effort that many employees do not even know the lab exists.

Although most of the ideas on the list are in the conceptual stage, nowhere near reality, two people briefed on the project said one product would be released by the end of the year, although they would not say what it was.

Rodney Brooks, a professor emeritus at M.I.T.’s computer science and artificial intelligence lab and founder of Heartland Robotics said. 

"They're pretty far out in front right now.  But Google's not an ordinary company, so almost nothing applies."

At most Silicon Valley companies, innovation means developing online apps or ads, but Google sees itself as different. Even as Google has grown into a major corporation and tech start-ups are biting at its heels, the lab reflects its ambition to be a place where ground-breaking research and development are happening, in the tradition of Xerox PARC, which developed the modern personal computer in the 1970s.

A Google spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker, declined to comment on the lab, but said that investing in speculative projects was an important part of Google’s DNA. She said.  

"While the possibilities are incredibly exciting, please do keep in mind that the sums involved are very small by comparison to the investments we make in our core businesses."

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At Google, which uses artificial intelligence techniques and machine learning in its search algorithm, some of the outlandish projects may not be as much of a stretch as they first appear, even though they defy the bounds of the company’s main Web search business.

For example, space elevators, a longtime fantasy of Google’s founders and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, could collect information or haul things into space. (In theory, they involve rocketless space travel along a cable anchored to Earth.)  Mr.Brooks said.  

"Google is collecting the world's data, so now it could be collecting the solar system's data."

 

Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, is deeply involved in the lab, said several people with knowledge of it, and came up with the list of ideas along with Larry Page, Google’s other founder, who worked on Google X before becoming chief executive in April; Eric E. Schmidt, its chairman; and other top executives.  Mr. Brin said recently, though he did not mention Google X.  

"Where I spend my time is farther afield projects, which we hope will graduate to important key businesses in the future."

Google may turn one of the ideas — the robotic driverless cars that it unleashed on California’s roads last year — into a new business. Unimpressed by the innovative spirit of Detroit automakers, Google now is considering manufacturing them in the United States, said a person briefed on the effort.

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Google could sell navigation or information technology for the cars, and theoretically could show location-based ads to passengers as they zoom by local businesses while playing Angry Birds in the driver’s seat.

Robots figure prominently in many of the ideas. They have long captured the imagination of Google engineers, including Mr. Brin, who has already attended a conference through robot instead of in the flesh.

Fleets of robots could assist Google with collecting information, replacing the humans that photograph streets for Google Maps, say people with knowledge of Google X. Robots born in the lab could be destined for homes and offices, where they could assist with mundane tasks or allow people to work remotely, they say.

Other ideas involve what Google referred to as the “Web of things” at its software developers conference in May — a way of connecting objects to the Internet. Every time anyone uses the Web, it benefits Google, the company argued, so it could be good for Google if home accessories and wearable objects, not just computers, were connected.

Among the items that could be connected: a garden planter (so it could be watered from afar); a coffee pot (so it could be set to brew remotely); or a light bulb (so it could be turned off remotely). Google said in May that by the end of this year another team planned to introduce a Web-connected light bulb that could communicate wirelessly with Android devices.

One Google engineer familiar with Google X said it was run as mysteriously as the C.I.A. — with two offices, a nondescript one for logistics, on the company’s Mountain View campus, and one for robots, in a secret location.

While software engineers toil away elsewhere at Google, the lab is filled with roboticists and electrical engineers. They have been hired from Microsoft, Nokia Labs, Stanford, M.I.T., Carnegie Mellon and New York University.

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A leader at Google X is Sebastian Thrun, one of the world’s top robotics and artificial intelligence experts, who teaches computer science at Stanford and has developed a driverless car. Also at the lab is Andrew Ng, another Stanford professor, who specializes in applying neuroscience to artificial intelligence to teach robots and machines to operate like people.

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Johnny Chung Lee, a specialist in human-computer interaction, came to Google X from Microsoft this year after helping develop Microsoft’s Kinect, the video game player that responds to human movement and voice. At Google X, where he is working on the Web of things, according to people familiar with his role, he has the mysterious title of rapid evaluator.

Because Google X is a breeding ground for big bets that could turn into colossal failures or Google’s next big business — and it could take years to figure out which — just the idea of these experiments terrifies some shareholders and analysts.

Colin W. Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners said.  

"These moon-shot projects are a very Google-y thing for them to do.  People don't love it but they tolerate it because their core search business is firing away."

Mr. Page has tried to appease analysts by saying that crazy projects are a tiny proportion of Google’s work.

He told analysts in July.  

"There are a few small, speculative projects happening at any one time, but we are very careful stewards of shareholders' money.  We are not betting the farm on these."

On December 18, The New York Times relayed an open secret among some in the Google community: the company is working on wearable technology in its secret off-campus Google X lair.  However, the technology we have heard about is not the watch-type variety as described (although, we would be surprised if Google was not working on that technology, too):

Over the last year, Apple and Google have secretly begun working on projects that will become wearable computers. Their main goal: to sell more smartphones. (In Google’s case, more smartphones sold means more advertising viewed.)

In Google’s secret Google X labs, researchers are working on peripherals that — when attached to your clothing or body — would communicate information back to an Android smartphone.

People familiar with the work in the lab say Google has hired electronic engineers from Nokia Labs, Apple and engineering universities who specialize in tiny wearable computers.

Apple has also experimented with prototype products that could relay information back to the iPhones. These conceptual products could also display information on other Apple devices, like an iPod, which Apple is already encouraging us to wear on our wrists by selling Nanos with watch faces.

While Apple may be focusing on iPod nano-like watches, Google seems to be pushing ahead in heads-up displays.  We first brought news that prominent wearables PhD Richard DuVaul moved from Apple to Google in June.  His research is focused on wearable heads up displays (HUDs).

His dissertation was on “The Memory Glasses“, a heads-up display  focused on the problems associated with wearable memory support technology. This included hardware and software architectures, and low-attention human-computer interaction for wearable computing, including the use of subliminal visual cues for just-in-time memory support.

Our source tells us that this is what Google is building.  They are in late prototype stages of wearable glasses that look similar to thick-rimmed glasses that “normal people” wear.  However, these provide a display with a heads up computer interface.  There are a few buttons on the arms of the glasses, but otherwise, they could be mistaken for normal glasses.  Additionally, we are not sure of the technology being employed here, but it is likely a transparent LCD or AMOLED display such as the one demonstrated below:

 

COMMENTARY:   That space elevator project is completely looney tunes if you ask me. Carbon nanotubes maybe strong, but the ability to produce them and do it in quantities large enough to build something like a space elevator is more science fiction than reality.   What we need is an anti-gravity power generator, something our "alien" friends developed over a million years ago when they visited and colonized our planet.   

Wearable augmented reality is something MIT has been working on for several years now.  I covered it in a previouis blog post dated October 9, 2011.  A great example is the technology used in the Hollywood film, "Minority Report."  

Courtesy of an article dated December 19, 2011 appearing in the New York Times and an article dated December 18, 2011 appearing in the New York Times

U.S. PROBE OF CHINESE CYBERATTACKERS PINPOINTS HACKERS AND TIES MOST TO MILITARY, U.S. READY TO CONFRONT BEIJING

"President Obie, sir, we've got an all-out cyberattack from the Chinese in progress.  I need your okay for a counter-attack."

WASHINGTON—U.S. intelligence agencies have pinpointed many of the Chinese groups responsible for cyberspying in the U.S., and most are sponsored by the Chinese military, according to people who have been briefed on the investigation.

Armed with this information, the U.S. has begun to lay the groundwork to confront China more directly about cyberspying. Two weeks ago, U.S. officials met with Chinese counterparts and warned China about the diplomatic consequences of economic spying, according to one person familiar with the meeting.

U.S. Air Force personnel work in the Air Force Space Command Network Operations & Security Center at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado in a July 2010 file photo.

The Chinese cyberspying campaign stems largely from a dozen groups connected to China's People's Liberation Army and a half-dozen nonmilitary groups connected to organizations like universities, said those who were briefed on the investigation. Two other groups play a significant role, though investigators haven't determined whether they are connected to the military.

In many cases, the National Security Agency (See my blog post dated April 28, 2011) has determined the identities of individuals working in these groups, which is a critical development that provides the U.S. the option of confronting the Chinese government more directly about the activity or responding with a counterattack, according to former officials briefed on the effort.

James Lewis, a cybersecurity specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who frequently advises the Obama administration said.

"It's actually a small number of groups that do most of the PLA's dirty work.  NSA is pretty confident of their ability to attribute [cyberespionage] to this set of actors."

In early November, the U.S. chief of counterintelligence issued a report that was unusually blunt in accusing China of being the world's "most active and persistent" perpetrator of economic spying. Lawmakers have also become more vocal in calling out China for its widening campaign of cyberespionage.

Still, diplomatic considerations may limit the U.S. interest in taking a more confrontational approach because some U.S. officials are wary of angering China, the largest holder of U.S. debt.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.

"Chinese law clearly prohibits hacking and that the Chinese government cracks down on such behavior and actively participates in international cooperation."

He said.  

"Accusations that China participates in such hacking, or that the Chinese government is behind it, are totally ungrounded." 

Chinese officials regularly dispute U.S. allegations of cyberspying, saying they are the victims, not the perpetrators, of cybercrime and cyberespionage. An NSA spokeswoman declined to comment.

Identifying adversaries has been difficult because it is easy to fake identities and locations in cyberspace. An inability to tie cyberspying activities with precision to a certain actor has in the past limited the U.S.'s ability to respond because it's hard to retaliate or confront an unidentified adversary.

The U.S. government, led by the National Security Agency, has tracked the growing Chinese cyberspying campaign against the U.S. for decades. Past government efforts have had exotic names like "Titan Rain," and "Byzantine Hades."

More recently, NSA and other intelligence agencies have made significant advances in attributing cyberattacks to specific sources—mostly in China's People's Liberation Army—by combining cyberforensics with ongoing intelligence collection through electronic and human spying, Mr. Lewis said.  

The U.S. investigation of China's activities is the latest round of spy-versus-spy in cyberspace.

  

On April 29, 2001, a Chinese jet fighter accidentally collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 reconnaissance (spy) plane patrolling off the Chinese coast near Hainan Island. The incident setoff a dangerous confrontation between the U.S. and China.  Luckily, 'cooler heads prevailed' and the U.S. plane and its crew were released finally released. 

The activity breaks down into cyberspying efforts by 20 groups with different attack styles that are responsible for most of the cybertheft of U.S. secrets, said the people briefed on the investigation. U.S. intelligence officials have given different classified code names to each group.

U.S. intelligence officials can identify different groups based on a variety of indicators. Those characteristics include the type of cyberattack software they use, different Internet addresses they employ when stealing data, and how attacks are carried out against different targets. In addition to U.S. government agencies, major targets of these groups include U.S. defense contractors, according to former officials.

A Chinese state TV report alludes to attacks on websites in the U.S.

Collectively, these groups employ hundreds of people, according to former officials briefed on the effort. That number is believed to be small compared to the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 censors the Chinese government is believed to employ to patrol the Internet.

The Chinese government is believed to have been behind a number of recent major cyberbreak-ins, including multiple hacks of Google Inc. and the EMC Corp.'s RSA unit, which makes the numerical tokens used by millions of corporate employees to access their network.

A cyberattack revealed this year on Lockheed Martin Corp. is also believed to have been traced to China, and the Chinese are believed to have been responsible for an infiltration a few years ago of the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter weapons program, which is also managed by Lockheed.

The counterintelligence report released last month predicted that China's espionage efforts will continue to grow.

COMMENTARY:  In a blog post dated November 6, 2011, I described to you in great detail the "undeclared" cyberwar that exists between China and the U.S.  

There are no jet fighter attacks, intercontinental ballistic missles, special forces on the ground, or shots fired, but in every sense of the word, there is a real war between the U.S. and China.  

This is a different kind of war, a clandestine electronic war, between the world's two greatest economic and military powers.  Most Americans and Chinese citizens are not even aware that this war exists until they read about it in the newspapers or see it on the evening television news.

Neither side will ever openly admit that their secure sytems networks were ever compromised or broken into, or secrets stolen.    

This new form of warfare does use military missles, great naval armadas or air fleets, but uses powerful computers, sophisticated spy and viral software, and some of the brightest hackers in the world.    

Let's look at the American and Chinese Cyber Forces.

USCYBERCOM - THE U.S. FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

In a blog post dated February 7, 2011, I profiled America's cyberwar first line of defense: USCYBERCOM or  CYBERCOM.

The federal government department entrusted with the job of protecting America against cyber attacks is the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM).  

On June 23, 2009, the Secretary of Defense directed the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) to establish USCYBERCOM. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) was achieved on May 21, 2010.

Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs of Staff of the the four branches of the U.S. Military salute the establishment of USSTRATCOM and USCYBERCOMMAND on May 21, 2010

U.S. Army General Keith B. Alexander is in charge of CYBERCOM.  General Alexander is also the present Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Security Service. 

 

The mission of USCYBERCOM is to plan, coordinate, integrate, synchronize, and conduct activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full-spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.

USCYBERCOM combines the Department’s full spectrum of cyberspace operations and plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes, and conducts activities to:  

• Lead day-to-day defense and protection of Department of Defense (DoD) information networks, 
• Coordinate DoD operations providing support to military missions;. 
• Direct the operations and defense of specified DoD information networks. 
• Prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations. 

The command is charged with pulling together existing cyberspace resources, creating synergy that does not currently exist and synchronizing war-fighting effects to defend the information security environment.

USCYBERCOM centralizes command of cyberspace operations, strengthen DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrate and bolster DoD’s cyber expertise.  Consequently, USCYBERCOM improves DoD’s capabilities to ensure resilient, reliable information and communication networks, counter cyberspace threats, and assure access to cyberspace.  USCYBERCOM’s efforts also support the Armed Services’ ability to confidently conduct high-tempo, effective operations as well as protect command and control systems and the cyberspace infrastructure supporting weapons system platforms from disruptions, intrusions and attacks.

USCYBERCOM is a sub-unified command subordinate to USSTRATCOM. Service Elements include the four key branches of the U.S. military:

• U.S. Army – Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER)
• U.S. Air Force – 24th USAF
• U.S. Navy – Fleet Cyber Command (FLTCYBERCOM)
• U.S. Marine Corp – Marine Forces Cyber Command (MARFORCYBER)

CYBER BLUE TEAM - CHINA'S FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

In a blog post dated July 16, 2011, I profiled China's cyberwar first line of defense: CYBER BLUE TEAM.

China's Blue Cyber Team busy hacking somebody's network

China's military has set up an elite Internet security task force tasked with fending off cyber attacks, state media reported May 27, denying that the initiative is intended to create a "hacker army."

China's Defense Ministry revealed for the first time in May that it had formed a 30-strong cyber defense unit, called the "Blue Army," but insisted that it was for defensive purposes only.

 

On May 27, 2011, China's Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng announces the formation of China's Cyber Blue Team

The People's Liberation Army has reportedly invested tens of millions of dollars in the project, which is sure to ring alarm bells around the world among governments and businesses wary of Beijing's intentions.

The Global Times quoted China's defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng as telling a rare briefing this week. 

"Cyber attacks have become an international problem affecting both civilian and military areas.  China is relatively weak in cyber-security and has often been targeted. This temporary program is aimed at improving our defenses against such attacks."

The 30-member "Cyber Blue Team" - the core of the PLA's cyber force - has been organized under the Guangdong military command in the country's south and will carry out "cyber-warfare drills", the newspaper said. 

China's Cyber Capabilities (Click Image To Enlarge)

The Cyber Blue Team  is based in Jinan, China where there are 12 Universities and a high tech zone and boast 6 million people. It’s also the headquarter of the PLA. The squad is aimed at carrying out attacks on other countries Internet.  

Li Li, a military expert at the National Defense University said,

“China’s Online Blue Army is currently at its fledging period."  

Zhang Shaozhong, a military expert from the PLA adds.

“Just like the army and air forces, the ‘online blue army'  is a historical necessity."

The reason is very simple. Teng Jianqun, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said.

“We must adapt to the new types of warfare in the information era. The ‘online blue army’ is of great strategic significance to China’s economic development and social stability.” 

The United States, Australia, Germany and other Western nations have long alleged that hackers inside China are carrying out a wide-range of cyberattacks on government and corporate computer systems worldwide.

But in a commentary, the Global Times hit out at "some foreign media" for interpreting the program as a breeding ground for a "hacker army" said. 

"China's capability is often exaggerated. Without substantiated evidence, it is often depicted by overseas media as the culprit for cyberattacks on the US and Europe. China needs to develop its strong cyber defense strength. Otherwise, it would remain at the mercy of others."

China's military has received annual double-digit increases in its budget over much of the last two decades as it tries to develop a more modern force capable of winning increasingly high-tech wars.

In 2007, the Pentagon raised concerns about a successful Chinese ballistic missile test strike on a satellite. That weapon could be used to knock out the high-tech communications of its enemies.

U.S. computer firm McAfee said in February that hackers from China have also infiltrated the computer networks of global oil companies and stole financial documents on bidding plans and other confidential information.

According to US diplomatic cables obtained and published by WikiLeaks, the United States believes that China's leadership has directed hacking campaigns against U.S. Internet giant Google and Western governments.

In one cable, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it learned from "a Chinese contact" that the Politburo had led years of hacking into computers of the United States, its allies and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. 

WHO's WINNING THE CYBERWAR?

USCYBERCOM and China's Blue Cyber Team are very new cyber organizations.  Both organizations carry out and defend against cyber attacks.  Both were established with the goal of defending their their military organizations against cyber attacks, from each other, rogue nations, cyber terrorist groups bent on compromising their defense systems.   It's very difficult to ascertain which country is winning the cyber wars since neither the U.S. or China military will publicly acknowledge every single cyber attack and what was compromised.  The following lists major cyber attacks committed by the Chinese against the U.S. and its allies against the U.S. military, government agencies and embassies between 1999 and 2009.

 

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US Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said that in a March 2011 attack and other breaches, hackers had taken information on "our most sensitive systems". The admission came as the Pentagon rolled out a strategy for strengthening US cyber capabilities and addressing threats and attacks in cyberspace.

In a speech at National Defense University in Washington, Mr Lynn said about 24,000 files containing Pentagon data were stolen from a defence industry computer network in March, marking one of the largest cyber attacks in US history.

CYBER ATTACKS RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

At the end of October 2011, there was a Wall Street Journal story reporting that the US government had decided that certain types of cyber attacks originating from another country can constitute an act of war, and therefore could trigger a "traditional" military response from the US. from the US.

As one military official in the WSJ article stated it:

"If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks."

Well, today there is a long AP story that says that Preident Barack Obama signed executive orders about a month ago outlining when and how US military commanders can employ cyber capabilities to mount cyber attacks or conduct espionage against other countries.  

Defense officials and security experts told the AP that:

"The orders detail when the military must seek presidential approval for a specific cyber assault on an enemy and weave cyber capabilities into U.S. war fighting strategy."

The executive orders act in a similar fashion as operational theater rules of engagement. The AP story states, for example, that:

"Under the new Pentagon guidelines, it would be unacceptable to deliberately route a cyberattack through another country if that nation has not given permission - much like U.S. fighter jets need permission to fly through another nation's airspace."

The full set of cyberwar guidelines have not been announced, but the US Department of Defense is expected to do so soon.

CIVILIAN ORGANIZATION CYBERATTACKS

Cyber attacks against both US and Chinese civilian organizations occur almost on a daily basis.

China reported that in 2010 year its government websites experienced a 68 percent increase in cyber attacks.

The Chinese government has been accused of sponsoring cyber attacks against major companies like Google and Yahoo as well as governments around the world.

A report released by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC) found that a total of 35,000 Chinese websites, including 4,635 government sites, were hit by hackers in 2010.

Attacks on China's non-government websites actually decreased 22 percent in 2010, while attacks on government websites had increased nearly 70 percent.

The report also found that roughly 60 percent of ministerial-level websites have potential security risks.

McAfee, a cybersecurity company owned by Intel, announced on August 4, 2011, that it uncovered a wide-ranging, global cyber attack that impacted 72 organizations.

The U.S. cannot afford to let its guard down for a single second.  We are fighting a very devious and invisible enemy, who can strike at any moment.  We don't know where they will strike.  It could be a miltiary installation, our power grid system, national air traffic control system, the Federal Reserve Bank or Facebook's data center in Washington state.  

We do know that China's Cyber Blue Team and individual Chinese cyber criminals mean business and we have to be on the alert at all times. If this is the way tomorrow's wars will be fought we must be ready, and prepared to pay whatever it takes to insure our national security.     

I am happy to hear that USCYBERCOM has identified China's cyber culprits including the individual PLA units, names of the individuals or groups involved.  We need to lower the hammer, and just let them have it with an all-out, bent for leather, cyberattack of our own, and let them know "whose their daddy".   

Courtesy of an articvle dated December 13, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journal

CHINA'S HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES GETS "CONTRACTOR'S REMORSE," SCALES BACK WIRELESS BUSINESS IN IRAN, JUST A PR PLOY

BEIJING—Chinese telecommunications-equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. said Friday it plans to scale back its business in Iran, where the company provides services to government-controlled telecom operators, in the wake of reports that Iranian police were using mobile network technology to trace and arrest dissidents.

Shenzhen-based Huawei will "voluntarily restrict its business development there by no longer seeking new customers and limiting its business activities with existing customers," according to a statement on the company's website. It said the company was making the move due to "increasingly complex situation in Iran," but did not elaborate.

The Wall Street Journal reported in October that as Western companies pulled back from the Iranian market in the wake of the crackdowns, Huawei won more contracts in the country. Iranian human-rights organizations outside Iran say there are dozens of documented cases in which dissidents were traced and arrested through the government's ability to track the location of their cellphones.

 

WSJ's Steve Stecklow has the story of Chinese telecom firm Huawei, which dominates Iran's government-controlled mobile industry. Photo: AP Photo/Kin Cheung

Huawei's move marks the first time a Chinese company has decided to scale back its business in Iran, increasing pressure on the country, according to Mark Wallace, president of United Against Nuclear Iran and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Iran is under global sanctions for allegations it is developing a nuclear weapons program. Iran has denied this.

Mr. Wallace said. 

"This is a significant milestone.  For the first time a major Chinese business is pulling back from Iran in the face of mounting international scorn for Iran's brutal regime."

Huawei said it plans to continue servicing its existing Iranian contracts. The company statement said.  

"For communications networks that have been delivered or are under delivery to customers, Huawei will continue to provide necessary services to ensure communications for Iran's citizens." 

The Journal reported on Oct. 27 that Huawei had recently signed a contract to install equipment for a system at Iran's largest mobile-phone operator that allows police to track people based on the locations of their cellphones, according to interviews with telecom employees both in Iran and abroad, and corporate bidding documents reviewed by the newspaper. The company also has provided support for similar services at Iran's second-largest mobile-phone provider. Huawei noted that nearly all countries require police access to cell networks, including the U.S.

The Iranian government had stepped up surveillance of its citizens with the help of foreign technology after a bloody crackdown by authorities on antigovernment protests following a controversial election in 2009.

Huawei's announcement could help the company boost its image in the U.S., where Huawei executives complain the company has been unfairly restricted in the market, despite having forged partnerships with major operators across Europe and the Middle East, and in Canada, and rising quickly over the last several years to become the world's second largest provider of telecommunications equipment, after Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson.

U.S. regulators have blocked Huawei's bids on major telecommunications infrastructure projects as well as acquisitions of American companies over security concerns, and the White House and Congress have both recently launched investigations into national security threats posed by foreign telecommunications firms, particularly worries that equipment from Huawei and other Chinese companies into U.S. systems could potentially be used to track or intercept communications.

Founded in 1987, closely held Huawei said earlier this year that it expects revenue to grow 10% in 2011 to reach $31 billion, slower than the 24% growth it saw in 2010, in part because of blocks on its expansion into the U.S.

COMMENTARY:    In a blog article dated October 27, 2011, I profiled China's wireless telecomm giant Huawei Technologies and their zeal to land a contract to upgrade Iran's wireless telecommunications infrastructure.   

Huawei has operated in Iran's telecommunications industry since 1999, according to China's embassy in Tehran. Prior to Iran's political unrest in 2009, Huawei was already a major supplier to Iran's mobile-phone networks, along with Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG, according to MTN Irancell documents.

In 2008, the Iranian government began soliciting bids for location-based services for the largest mobile operator, TCI's Mobile Communication Co. of Iran, or MCCI.  A copy of the bidding requirements, reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, says the contractor "shall support and deliver offline and real-time lawful interception." It also states that for "public security," the service must allow "tracking a specified phone/subscriber on map."

According to a Huawei Technologies manager in Tehran, the company signed a contract in 2011 to provide equipment for location-based services to MCCI in the south of Iran and is now ramping up hiring for the project.

Huawei's decision to scale back business in the Islamic Republic of Iran is a public relations ploy and nothing else.   It is has already landed a huge contract with MCCI, Iran's largest wireless carrier, so "scaling back" business is strictly for public consumption.   Huawei continues support existing Iranian customers and staffup in order to comply with its MCCI contract to provided managed services.   That's not scaling back.   

Huawei knew what it was bidding on, it met Iran's requirements, and is now having "contractor's remorse."   It's something of a joke, wouldn't you say.   It suddently realizes that doing business with a rogue nation like Iran is bad for business, and could affect its bidding in other countries.  

The U.S. has already blocked Huawei from bidding on any contracts in the U.S. or making any acquisitions.  But, what Huawei should do, if it had any corporate ethics or values at all, is pull its operations out of Iran completely to demonstrate its outrage for Iran's violent crackdown on political dissedents and solidarity with the demonstrators.

Courtesy of an article dated December 9, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journal 

APPLE'S NEW CEO TIM COOK RETAINS 'CULTURE OF FEAR' SURROUNDING NEW PRODUCTS, EVERYTHING IS ON A "NEED TO KNOW" BASIS

An insider offers new details about the ironclad security around Apple prototypes: private jets, windowless rooms, amorphous storage cases padlocked to tables whose wood grain signatures are photographed--and much more.

We're just days away from Apple's iPhone 5 event, and for the past few weeks (er, months rather), the rumor mill has kicked into high gear. But most stories on Apple's latest game changer derive from speculation or shoddy secondhand sources, or, most enticing, glamour shots of the press invite.

Compare that to Amazon, whose Kindle Fire tablet was pretty much unveiled by the media before CEO Jeff Bezos even took the stage Wednesday. Not in Apple's world, where the company springs fewer leaks than a military grade catheter. Steve Jobs considers extreme secrecy a core principle of both Apple's business and marketing strategy: The more the public is kept in the dark, feeding off the seemingly limitless Apple-rumor blogs and rags, the more consumers are likely to lust after Apple's gizmos. With rare exception (say, a prototype lost in a bar) does a new product come to new light before Jobs's on-stage announcements--we can safely assume the same will remain true throughout the Tim Cook era. Just how does Apple keep such a tight lid on all of its unreleased products?

Fast Company spoke to an executive who was one of the first people outside of Apple to gain access to a first-gen iPad before the tablet had ever been unveiled. The exec declined to turn over Apple's infamous non-disclosure agreement (NDA), considering it too much of a business risk. And while a few details of the NDA leaked last year, the executive provided us with a much clearer and very telling picture of the great lengths Apple will go through to make sure you never see the iPhone 5 before Tim Cook wants you to see it.

First off, Apple would only allow a select few from this executive's company to know the company was in possession of an iPad--not even the company's CEO knew. The select few included a few developers, and Apple required a list of their names and Social Security numbers. These employees were of course forbidden to talk about the device--to tell anyone what it looked like or that the company had the device on hand.

To further safeguard this process, Apple required the device be kept in a window-less or blacked-out room, which had to be fitted with a new lock that only two keys could open. Apple held on to one key; the executive to the other.

The iPad itself was then flown out to the company via private plane. Once it arrived, even the revealed product was encased in a clunky outer shell--the company exec describes it to me as a "black plastic" case, which made it moot to snap any photos of the device. What's more, Apple also padlocked the case to a desk within the room. Apple then took pictures of the device padlocked to the desk, making sure to capture the table's wood grain. That way if any pictures did leak, Apple could trace the images back to the particular desk and wood grain they were taken on, and thus trace the leaks to the company in its possession.

The executive said it was incredibly difficult to design an app for a product that couldn't be shown to or tested with customers--to design an app for a product that had never really been seen by anyone outside Apple in its natural form and shape. But he added that no other company could likely get away with such secrecy.

"Only Apple," the executive joked.

COMMENTARY:   Apple's Cupertino headquarters is a fortress of secrecy, with a labyrinth of tunnels, access control devices and security cameras first announcement of the iPhone 3G might not stray too far from reality, according to several employees and analysts interviewed by Brad Stone and Ashlee Vance for the New York Times.  Apple is "a complete black box" that promotes a culture of fear among employees to ensure that company secrets are not revealed until the day of its release. 

Apple employees are issued identification cards that need to be presented together with a security code to access secure areas, not only to restrict access, but also to serve as a record of where everyone was in case of cause any leaks.  Many work areas are monitored by closed circuit television cameras and, according to an anonymous employee, 

"In the most critical rooms where they test products, workers must cover these with black cloth while using red lights on and off alert when they are visible so everyone knows to be extremely careful. "

According to the New York Times article, the only difference between the high security areas of the U.S. military and Apple is a feeling of terror.  Apple workers are terrified of losing their jobs, be sued, or worse … both. But it does not end there. Besides all this misinformation is another constant.

In April 2010, Steve Wozniak told Gizmodo that Apple fired an employee over briefly showing a 3G iPad to him on April 3, the morning of the iPad launch. The fact that Wozniak is also an Apple employee – and the company co-founder above that – made no difference. Wozniak also suggested Apple should throw in “10 percent of niceness” on top of 90 percent of strictness regarding their famed product secrecy:

The test engineer who showed me an iPad after midnight, for 2 minutes, during the iPad launch was indeed fired. I opted to spend 2 minutes with Numbers on this iPad, trying some stunts I’d seen on Apple’s website demo video. I was not told that it was a 3G model and I had no way to know that.

Wozniak stressed that the engineer was strictly forbidden from showing the device to anyone “outside of Apple’s secure area” before midnight. Although Apple “was not hurt” by this incident and Steve Jobs told Woz that “it’s no big deal,” the engineer got fired anyway.

Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray analyst, tells the story of how a senior executive of Apple lied that they were not interested in developing a cheaper iPod with no screen just a few weeks before the launch of iPod shuffle.  That executives lie is nothing new, but while other companies are concerned with building positive relationships with the media, Apple takes a more defensive attitude.  

Leander Kahney, the author of "Inside Steve's Brain" describes Steve Jobs' as a CEO completely obsessed with secrecy.  New product design is compartmentalized, with the design of a new product split into several teams, with only a few key individuals knowing what the final product even looks like. Everything is on a strict "need to know" basis like Lockheed's Skunk Works.

While still a senior executive there, Jon Rubinstein laughed: 

“We have cells, like a terrorist organization! Everything is on a need-to-know basis.” 

The reason for all the secrecy is an integral part of Apple’s marketing strategy, as discussed in Steve on stage. Rumors that start months before a product is released offer a ton of free publicity, especially since they are now relayed by the mass media.

To keep employees from knowing too much, nothing seems excessive. Software engineers work on big boxes and hardware engineers never see the software that will run on their machines — less than a dozen people had actually seen an actual iPhone before Steve unveiled it at Macworld 2007; this is an incredible achievement considering the number of people involved in its creation!

In a Times article, one could also read that 

“Executives feed deliberate misinformation into one part of the company so that any leak can be traced back to its source. Workers on sensitive projects have to pass through many layers of security. Once at their desks or benches, they are monitored by cameras and they must cover up devices with black cloaks and turn on red warning lights when they are uncovered.” 

It is rumored that on Apple’s campus, Steve would often ask for an employee’s iPhone at random, and fire that person if her iPhone is not password-protected.

New product launches are choreographed to the minutest detail.  

• Trade show booths are shrowded in black curtains with security guards around the perimeter to protect against unwary eyes from knowing what's inside until Steve says its okay to lift the curtains.  
• New product printed materials are designed and printed under strict security.  All original concepts, roughs, artwork, copy, digital imagery, prints, color transparencies, film negatives are collected and centrally housed under lock and key until Steve says its okay to print.
• The Apple website does not show images or copy of the new product until Steve says its okay to publish them so they can be viewed by the public.  
• New product components and parts are shipped to one manufacturing facility where it is assembled into the finished product. 
• Finished product for the product launch is flown by private jet accompanied by security personnel and the boxes are loaded on trucks escorted by guards to insure that it arrives at Apple headquarters without a hitch and without anyone ever seeing what the product looks like.  
• If you have read Carmine Gallo's "The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs", you know the great care and degree of preparation that Steve takes to insure each new product launch presentations is memorable and goes off without a hitcd.  On the day of the presentation, the air is thick with anticipation and excitement. Members of the media eagerly wait for Steve to take the stage and make his presentation.  Finally, when Steve takes the stage, he deliberately starts out slowly, choosing his words carefully, telling a story about the problem he seeks to solve with the new product.  When he finally discloses the new product, the place goes crazy. 

Chad Little, a former Apple staffer describes the atmosphere during new product launches.

"Probably the single greatest feeling working at Apple is getting to work on part of the product launch process. You plan and prep for months, then launch week you work like mad for 12-16 hours days and even pull all nighters to make sure your piece of the puzzle is ready for Apple's big presentation. Then you gather with all the other employees in the cafe and watch it all unfold. It's a great rush and your whole team feels it."

According to the words of Steve Jobs,

"The only way to protect their projects is keeping secrets. The problem is, of course, there are plenty of people in the world, some with a lot of time on their hands, who love to discover these secrets "

Courtesy of an article dated September 30, 2011 appearing in Fast Company

ZUCK UNVEILS NEW 'TIMELINE' PROFILE PAGES, JUST ANOTHER TRICK TO SHARE MORE INFO ABOUT YOU WITH THE CIA, DOD AND DARPA

Facebook unveiled a new version of its website on Thursday that's based around the idea of a personal "timeline" rather than its standard profile pages.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the social network's annual conference in San Francisco.

"Timeline is a completely new aesthetic for Facebook." 

 

The pages look more like blogs than a social-networking site. A large photo covers the top of the pages, stretching from one side of the screen to the other. And posts -- like photos, status updates and the locations a person visits -- show up below that, attached to a vertical and chronological timeline.

He said.  

"We think it's an important next step to help you tell the story of your life."

This new Timeline look will replace users' current profile pages -- but not their news feeds -- within several weeks. The world's largest social network, with more than 750 million users, just launched a new version of its homepages earlier this week.

Zuckerberg also said that Facebook's reach continues to grow.

He said.  

"For the first time ever, in a single day we had half a billion people use Facebook." 

The company also unveiled a new version of its app network, which also is launching over coming weeks.

Facebook users now can see what their friends are doing "in real time," even if those friends don't click a button to publish their activities to Facebook.  By approving certain music apps, a Facebook user would allow the site to post every song he or she listened to on music-streaming service Spotify, for example.

Zuckerberg called this "real-time serendipity."

Facebook CTO Bret Taylor said.

"This is the most significant change we've made to our platform since we launched it four years ago." 

To promote this real-time sharing, Facebook announced partnerships with Yahoo News, Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, foodie social network Foodspotting and others. These companies have created Facebook apps that can post all of a person's activities on Facebook's new "ticker," which appears in the top right-hand corner of the site's homepage.

Zuckerberg called this a "frictionless experience," since users don't have to click a button to publish each of their activities. If they watch a TV show on Netflix, and they've approved Netflix's app, that information would just automatically appear on Facebook.

The changes will no doubt raise some privacy concerns, and some Internet users who were watching the presentation reacted negatively.

One Twitter user wrote.  

"Get ready for over-sharing."

A Facebook user wrote on the company's live stream page.

"This is just WAY too much sharing. The end of privacy." 

COMMENTARY:   Looks like the CIA is moving swiftly to tighten its grip on Facebook and Zuck. Now you can share what you don't want to share--with the CIA, DOD, DARPA and FBI.  I have been warning everybody about Facebook for years now.  

My last salvo about the connection between Facebook and the CIA was in a blog post dated September 8, 2011, when I pointed out that Washington insider Erstine Bowles, a former Clinton Chief of Staff, who later took over the COS spot after Leon Paneta became CIA Director, was appointed as a Facebook director.  Erskine was put there by the CIA, DOD, DARPA and FBI to keep tabs on YOU.  

You're probably thinking, "No, that can't be.  Zuck was in a movie, he is my hero, he wouldn't do that".  But, you will learn the hard way. Some of you punkasses will probably think the new Facebook Timeline profile layout is a work out art, think it's really cool.  It's all designed to get you to post more images, Wall posts, videos, etc. All of that content feeds directly to Langely, VA or Quantico, VA where CIA and FBI HQ's respectively are located.  Go ahead. Be my guest.  Feed the beast.   

 

Checkout some of the Facebook Timeline profile screenshots:

Courtesy of an article dated September 22, 2011 appearing in CNN and an article dated September 22, 2011 appearing in TechCrunch

TOP 10 SECRET SOCIETIES OF THE WORLD, THEIR RITUALS, AND FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO ARE MEMBERS

 

No matter what their supposed purpose, there’s something inherently sinister about a secret society. Though most are formed with relatively realistic political and religious goals in mind, their focus on mystery and secrecy has made them the target of countless criticisms and conspiracy theories involving everything from aliens and the occult to world domination. Of course, the reality is usually much more innocuous, but that doesn’t mean that the groups don’t have some fascinatingly weird practices, or that they haven’t had an impact on world events.

10. Ordo Templi Orientis - Ordo Templi Orientis is a mystic organization that was started in the early twentieth century. The group was established along the same lines as the less secretive Freemasons, and supposedly relies on ritual and occult practices as a means for members to move from one level of prestige to another within the organization. The general philosophy of the group was a belief in new age esoteric principles and practices as a method of realizing one’s true identity. Famed occultist and all-around eccentric Aleister Crowley composed much of the group’s lore, including a manifesto called the Mysteria Mystica Maxima, and he later became its head. After his death, the influence and popularity of Ordo Templi Orientis began to wane, but it still exists today and has various chapters scattered across the world, chiefly in the United States, the U.K., and other parts of Europe. 

Secret Practices

As Aleister Crowley’s popularity as a new age figure has continued to grow, more and more of the teachings of the Ordo Templi Orientis have come to light. As such, the group makes much less of an attempt to be secretive today than it did in the past. This doesn’t mean that they don’t still have some bizarre practices. Chief among these is the group’s fixation on the sexual, especially their teachings on the “adoration of the phallus” and the magic of masturbation.

Famous Members: Aleister Crowley.

9. The Bilderberg Group - The Bilderberg Group is not a secret society per se, but it does operate under a similar veil of mystery, which has made it the subject of countless conspiracy theories and criticisms. The group was started in 1954, and since then it has convened every year as an exclusive, invitation-only conference of various world leaders, captains of industry, and media moguls. The group was originally started as a means of addressing a streak of anti-Americanism that was spreading through Europe following WWII, but over the years it appears to have morphed into a more broad discussion on reaching mutual understanding between cultures.

Secret Practices

The Bilderberg Group has become controversial for one key reason: no press is allowed in theconference and no significant details concerning the topics discussed are ever officially released to the public. That kind of secrecy, along with the intense security of the meeting sites, which often feature armed guards, police, and even fighter jets patrolling the skies overhead, has produced a number of conspiracy theories centered on the conference. The most popular is that the group tries to steer the direction of public policy, financial markets, and media in certain prescribed directions of their choosing, perhaps even with the goal of forming a so-called “one world government.” These claims have been brushed aside by the group, which claims global understanding and the end of nuclear proliferation as its main goals.

  

Famous Members:  No members, but attendees have included Ben Bernanke, the royal families of Spain and the Netherlands, World Bank officials, and representatives from major corporations.  Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry (Gov of Texas) has been a guest. Scary isn't it.

8. Hashshashin– The Order of Assassins - The Hashshashin, or Nizari, were a mysterious band of Muslim assassins that operated in the Middle East during the 13th century. The group was made up of Shia Muslims who broke off from a bigger sect and banded together in order to establish a utopian Shi’ite state. Because their number was small, the group used guerilla tactics in their battle against their enemies, including espionage, sabotage, and, most famously, political assassination. The Hashshashin would plant highly trained moles inside enemy strongholds, with instructions to only attack when the time was right. They were known for their extreme discretion in minimizing civilian casualties, as well as their penchant for using stealth to intimidate their targets. As the story goes, enemy leaders would often wake in the morning to find a Hashshashin dagger lying on their pillow, along with a note saying “you are in our grip.” Their legend soon grew, and before the Mongols finally destroyed the group, they became well known contract killers, supposedly performing jobs for the likes of King Richard the Lionheart.

Secret Practices

Around the time of their downfall, the library that contained all Nizari records was destroyed, so much of what is known about them today has taken on the status of myth. The most controversial legend centers of the group’s use of drugs and other intoxicants– “Hashshashin” translates roughly as “Hashish user”–which some have said were employed by the members in battle. This has been widely discredited, but the term “Hashshashin” as it refers to the Nizari is believed to be the origin of the modern word “assassin.”

Famous Members: None of note

7. The Black Hand - The Black Hand was a secret society of anti-imperialist political revolutionaries that was started in Serbia in 1912. It formed as an offshoot from Narodna Adbrona, a group that sought to unite all of the Slavic people of Europe under one country. This required the separation of Serbia from the monarchy ofAustria-Hungary, which had annexed the country some years before. With this in mind, the group began disseminating anti-Austrian propaganda and training saboteurs and assassins to disrupt political rule within the province. Their plan was to incite a war between Serbia and Austria, which would give them a chance to free their country and unite the different Slavic nations as one.

Secret Practices

Black Hand would be all but forgotten today if not for their unlikely involvement in one of the biggest events of the twentieth century. In 1914, the group engineered the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The job was badly botched, and was only completed when a low-level hood named Gavrilo Princip stumbled upon the Archduke’s car and shot him to death at close range (see photo). Still, the results of the assassination were catastrophic. Within days, Austria-Hungary had declared war on Serbia, and after the allies of both countries joined the fray, the small dispute managed to escalate into WWI.  The aftermath of WWI eventually led to WWII, and this led to the Cold War, which makes the Black Hand one of the most strangely influential forces of the twentieth century.

Famous Members: Gavrilo Princip (rumored)

6. The Knights of the Golden Circle - The Knights of the Golden Circle was a secret society that flourished in the U.S. during the American Civil War. In the beginning, the group sought to encourage the annexation of Mexico and the West Indies, which they believed would help the waning slave trade to once again flourish. But once the Civil War started, the group switched its focus from colonialism to fervent support of the newly established Confederate government. The Knights soon had thousands of followers, many of whom formed guerilla armies and began raiding Union strongholds in the West. In the Northern states, the mysterious order had an even bigger impact. Many newspapers and public figures engaged in witch-hunts where they accused supposed Southern sympathizers, including President Franklin Pierce, of being members of the Knights of the Golden Circle.

Secret Practices

Unlike most secret societies, the Golden Circle didn’t just concern itself with clandestine meetings and mysterious plans. Instead, the group often formed renegade armies and bands of bushwhackers in order to forward their agenda by force. In 1860, a group of the Knights made a failed attempt to invade Mexico. During the war, they robbed stagecoaches and attempted a blockade of the harbor in San Francisco, and a group of them even managed to briefly take control of southern New Mexico.

Famous Members: John Wilkes Booth, Jesse James (above), Franklin Pierce (all rumored)

5. The Thule Society - Lots of secret organizations are suspected of having malevolent ulterior motives, but the Thule Society is one of the few where such suspicions have been proven. The group was unofficially started in Germany just after the end of WWI. It began as a kind of German heritage group that dabbled in the occult, but it quickly transformed into an organization that sought to forward the ideology of the Aryan race, and it took an outwardly racist approach toward Jews and other minorities. The group soon boasted over a thousand members, and even had its own propaganda newspaper. In 1919, members of the Thule Society formed a political organization called the German Workers’ Party. A young Adolf Hitler became a member, and eventually took over the party, which would later become known as the National Socialist German Workers’, or Nazi, party.

Secret Practices

Even before the Thule Society became a vehicle for Nazism, the members were involved in some pretty bizarre activities. The strangest was the group’s fascination with the Aryan race, whose origins they tried to trace back to the mythical land of Thule, which the Greeks had claimed was found north of Europe near Iceland and Greenland.

Famous Members: Rudolf Hess, Arthur Rosenberg, Adolf Hitler (rumored)

4. The Sons of Liberty - The Sons of Liberty is the name for a loosely organized group of dissidents that existed in America prior to the Revolutionary War. The group did not exist as a secret society in the traditional sense; rather, it was made up of smaller factions of patriots from across the colonies that united in support of a common goal. When they did meet, it was usually in Boston around an elm tree that has since become known as the Liberty Tree. It was here that the group would formulate their resistance, which included the dissemination of pamphlets and even some sabotage and terrorist activity. This behavior led to the British branding the Sons of Liberty as seditious, and they were often referred to pejoratively as “The Sons of Violence.” The group is most notable today for sowing the seeds of revolution among the colonists with their protest of the Stamp Act, and for coining the now famous phrase “no taxation without representation.”

Secret Practices

The Sons of Liberty in Boston were the most famous arm of the group, but there were factions spread out all across the 13 colonies. One group in Rhode Island looted and burned the British trade ship Gaspee in protest of unfair trade practices, while others were known to tar and feather British loyalists. Still, the most famous event engineered by the Sons remains the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when members of the group dressed as Indians and dumped shiploads of overtaxed tea into Boston Harbor.

Famous Members: Paul Revere, John and Samuel Adams, John Hancock

3. Skull and Bones - Ivy League Colleges are known for their many secret societies and student organizations, and of these Yale’s Skull and Bones is probably the most famous. The society taps new students for membership every spring, and the only real prerequisite for membership is that the initiate be a campus leader. As such, athletes, members of the student council, and fraternity presidents are often considered. Skull and Bones counts among its membership U.S. Presidents, Senators, and Supreme Court Justices, which has lead many to argue that the group works as some kind of underground organization for the high-powered political elite. There is no denying that the club is well funded: an alumni organization called the Russell Trust Association bankrolls its activities, and the group supposedly owns an island in upstate New York.

Secret Practices

Skull and Bones’ membership is no longer kept secret, but their practices still are. The order meets twice a week, but just what goes on at their meetings has never been revealed. To the disappointment of conspiracy theorists, what rumors have come out are relatively innocuous. The group has supposedly taken part in a number of pranks, and was once even sued by chairman of the Apache tribe, who claimed the Bonesmen were in possession of the skeleton of Geronimo. Beyond this, the group is known for allegedly forcing new members to relate their sexual history to the rest of the society, and for giving out nicknames to each initiate. In a widely reported rumor, President George H.W. Bush was supposedly known as “Magog,” a name given to the Bonesman with the most sexual experience.

Famous Members: George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John Kerry

2. The Illuminati - In popular culture and the realm of wild and weird conspiracy theories, no secret organization has become as well known as the Illuminati, who have made frequent appearances in books, movies, and television. The group as it is popularly understood is more or less a myth, but the legend of it dates back to a real organization that existed in Germany in the late 1700s. At the time, the members of the group presented themselves as an order of enlightened free thinkers. The press soon turned against them, and they came to be regarded by many as an underground force of dissidents intent on overthrowing the government, and they were even blamed for inciting the French Revolution. The group disbanded shortly thereafter, but their influence remained strong, and for years after their dissolution they were rumored to still be operating somewhere in the shadows.

Secret Practices

Thanks to its constant presence in popular culture, the Illuminati have continued to be feared to this day. Modern conspiracy theorists have asserted that the group survived and now operates as a sinister shadow government, directing world industry and politics as it sees fit. The Bush family, Winston Churchill, and President Barack Obama have all been named as prominent members, but no legitimate evidence of such a group has ever been uncovered. Still, the rumor lives on as one of the most popular, albeit bizarre, of all conspiracy theories.

Famous Members: Goethe, Ferdinand of Brunswick, many others rumored

1. The Freemasons - Although they are less influential and secretive today than they once were, the Freemasons remain one of the most famous fraternal organizations in the world, with a membership somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 million. The group was officially founded in 1717, but documents relating to its existence date back to the 1300s.  It was originally created to be a brotherhood whose members share certain key philosophical ideas, among them a belief in a supreme being. The group stresses moral uprightness, and as such many of the chapters have become known for their charitable work and community service. Despite these seemingly harmless practices, the Freemasons are not without their critics. Conspiracy theorists have long targeted them for supposedly being involved in nefarious occult practices, and there have even been whole political groups based around opposition to the group. Churches of all denominations have also criticized the organization, as its moral teachings and esoteric spiritual beliefs have been said to be in competition with more traditional religion.

The Stonecutters, a secret society featured on the Simpsons is based on the Freemasons.

 

Secret Practices

With its huge membership and different lodges scattered across the globe, modern Freemasonry no longer has the same universal principles as it did in the old days. One practice that has remained constant is the method for induction. Initiates must be recommended to the group by someone who is already a Mason, and once a member they must pass through three different degrees of standing before reaching the level of “Master Mason.” Members also have certain prescribed modes of greeting one another, including handshakes, gestures, and passwords, and non-masons are always banned from attending meetings.

Famous Members: Unknown

COMMENTARY:   I must now admit that I am a member of a super secret society myself.  It's a secret so I cannot talk about it.  In fact, I am strictly forbidden to talk about it under penalty of death.  That secret shall go with me to my grave.  

Courtesy of TopTenz.net