Got this press release in my inbox today. As regular readers know, I'm a firm believer in the missle defense system. Lets hope they continue to have success in their future efforts.

A scheduled flight test, of the long range missile defense system, by the Missile Defense Agency, was not completed and designated a “no test” when the target, launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex, in Alaska, failed to reach the defended area, and the Ground-Based Interceptor, which would have come from the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site, located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. was not launched.

“The target did not reach sufficient altitude to be deemed a threat, and so the Ballistic Missile Defense System did not engage it, as designed,” said Air Force Lieutenant General Henry “Trey” Obering, III, Missile Defense Agency Director.

“There is always a risk of this occurrence since we are flying old Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) motors in our targets,” he added, “and we have initiated a target modernization program, within our existing budget, which should mitigate these risks for the future. A target will be brought forward from a test scheduled for next fall and we will attempt to repeat this test this summer.”

The MDA has conducted 16 of 17 successful flight tests since 2005 and has achieved 27 of 34 successful intercepts since 2001.

Tomorrow's Focus on the Family broadcast is worth checking out. My heartfelt prayers go out to those familes with family members in the war. You can check out their website, and get the link to find a station near you.

MEMORIAL DAY BROADCAST
The Heart of a Soldier -- Lt. Col. Oliver North

He's gone weeks without a shower, but he cleans his weapon every day. He's tough, but not too tough to write letters to his mother. Growing up, he wouldn't share candy with his kid brother, but now he'll give his last ration to a hungry Iraqi child. On this special Memorial Day broadcast, combat-decorated Marine Oliver North describes what he saw during a trip to the Persian Gulf as a reporter embedded with the U.S. military. Tune in and be reminded to pray for the thousands of young, dedicated soldiers who put their lives on the line every day in the service of our nation.

"The young lance corporal stands up and looks at me and he says, 'You know, Colonel, heroes aren't just defined by how they die, but by how they live.'"

-- Lt. Col. Oliver North

In case you are wondering, I get Business 2.0. Hence all the links. Here are a series of articles that you might find interesting. I enjoyed the 25 startup article, and the Wiki world article in particular.

25 startups to watch

It’s getting crowded on the Web 2.0 frontier, but there are still some startups that truly stand out. Business 2.0 Magazine, in its March issue, highlights the ones most likely to strike gold in 2007. (more)

• Feature: It’s a make-or-break year

The quest for the perfect online ad

Web advertisers are moving beyond search, using powerful science to figure out what you want – sometimes before you even know. (more)

• Spot Runner’s ad buys for the little guy

Make way for must stream TV

Two-minute YouTube clips were just the start. As television escapes the living room, dozens of companies are gunning to become the networks of tomorrow. (more)

• Video: ‘Wayne’s World’ meets the Web

Building a wiki world

Wikipedia has become one of the largest and most collaborative sites on the Internet – but founder Jimmy Wales has yet to make his fortune. He plans to fix that. (more)

Interesting update on bloggers in China from the AP via Wired Magazine.

New rules by a Chinese government-backed Internet group maintain strict controls over the country's bloggers, requiring them to register with their real names and identification cards.

The guidelines from the Internet Society of China, a group made up of China's major Internet companies, contradict state media reports this week claiming that China was considering loosening registration requirements for bloggers to allow anonymous online journaling.

The society's new draft code of conduct seen on its Web site Wednesday says Web log service providers must still get their users' real names and contact information.

Critics say the requirement violates a blogger's right to freedom of expression and puts them at risk of punishment or imprisonment if they post controversial opinions about politics, religion or other issues.

Of course, no surprise here, right? China is after all a communist country, where there is no such thing as freedom of expression.

Who says that Liberals and Conservatives can't find a middle ground? I thought this was perfect!!

"I've discovered that the best way to protect your privacy is to give it away," he says, grinning as he sips his venti Black Eye. Elahi relishes upending the received wisdom about surveillance. The government monitors your movements, but it gets things wrong. You can monitor yourself much more accurately. Plus, no ambitious agent is going to score a big intelligence triumph by snooping into your movements when there's a Web page broadcasting the Big Mac you ate four minutes ago in Boise, Idaho. "It's economics," he says. "I flood the market."

Elahi says his students get it immediately. They've grown up spilling their guts online — posting Flickr photo sets and confessing secrets on MySpace. He figures the day is coming when so many people shove so much personal data online that it will put Big Brother out of business.

For now, though, Big Brother is still on the case. At least according to Elahi's server logs. "It's really weird watching the government watch me," he says. But it sure beats Guantanamo.

The Wired article is titled "The Visible Man: An FBI Target Puts His Whole Life Online" -- Its a good read. Check it out.

 Pasadena Phil enjoyed my previous post, and wanted to know how I embedded the SlideShare presentation.

How do you embed PowerPoint presentation? For that matter, how do post a jpeg or other picture? Or a YouTube screen rather than a link?

As to your presentation, it all boils down to knowing what you are trying to do and making yourself clear without abusing people by wasting their time. I'll give you an A subject to upgrade to A+ is you answer the "extra credit" questions.

I think that's unfair -- no A+? Specially since those who have been around for a while know that I have already posted about this before. But, one can't argue with the grade-giver, so here is my extra credit response.

Step #1. Decide what you want to embed. If its a jpg, you are going to want to upload it to PhotoBucket, Flickr, or other photo hosting site, and then link to it from your Townhall.com blog. If you are wanting to display a PowerPoint, you can go to SlideShare.net and upload a regular MS PowerPoint file. I'll let you all figure out that part on your own.

Step #2. Start your new Townhall blog post by going to your "Create New Post" tab. You might want to have your YouTube or SlideShare powerpoint open on a separate browser tab or window.

Step# 3. Copy the embed code found on the YouTube or SlideShare website. Alternatively, if you are wanting to show a picture, locate the image location. You can usually do this by right-clicking on the image, and selecting "Properties" to find the image URL.

In YouTube, this is what it will look like:



Step#4. Paste the image, video, or presentation code into your new blog post. You do this by selecting the "Paste Plain Text" icon on your Townhall Blog controls. The icon is circled in red in the screen capture below. You will want to paste your code into that window, and hit ok. That's it! (Image hint below)



For an image, you will need the following html:

<img src="http://imagehost.com//yourimagefilenameurlhere.jpg">

Replace the image location within the quotes with the URL location for your picture, of course.

Step#4. Publish!

Well Phil, I hope this gets me my A+.