While I work on something very, very awesomely interesting for tomorrow, here’s a few interesting tidbits, culled from the interweb:

Recently updated for 2008/2009, the Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP) Handbook is a free (9MB PDF!) download that’s worth browsing, if you’re a geek;

I don’t usually pay attention to economic news, unless it’s bitterly and sadly ironic, as is the case with the U.S. debt clock running out of digits. Seems the clock couldn’t handle $10 trillion, so a new one is on order - which won’t run out of room until the debt exceeds, er, 9.9 quadrillion dollars. How’s that for pessimism?

A new book has just been published, showcasing the work - writings and drawings - of a WWI trench artist. If nothing else, read the article for details on a particularly clever British intelligence ploy…

The always-interesting Nightwatch newsletter has some intriguing observations on North Korea today. Evidently, there are signs of activity at several “sensitive” locations in the country, all of which hint at preparations for another nuclear test of some sort. Given Korea’s history of these things, it’s hard not to agree with the prediction that such a test is coming before the end of this year. Nobody seems to be coming right out and saying it, but the implication is that North Korea might be testing a bomb right before the U.S. elections in November. Now there’s something for the political pundits to argue over…

And last but not least, some interesting thoughts on “push” and “pull” distribution in intelligence collection, which is something I’ll be writing about sometime soon, as the linked post really only scratches the surface of the possibilities…