Islamic Ring in Viking Grave

Vikings ties with the Islamic caliphate existed during the 9th century. Ancient texts and tales recorded the Vikings sojourn to the Islamic caliphate but they usually include references to "giants and dragons". A finger ring excavated during the late 19th century that was inscribed with Arabic letters indicate such ties and researchers led by Stockholm University biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer are re-examining it.

The ring was excavated Swedish grave in the town of Birka, on Björkö Island, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) from Stockholm. The town was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993 because it was an important Viking trading center. Arabic Kufic writing was inscribed on the ring. The letters appear to read "AL_LLH," researchers say, which they interpret as meaning "for/to (the approval of) Allah." It is only ring with an Arabic inscription ever found at a Scandinavian archaeological site, the CNN reported on 19 March 2015.

The ring belong to a women clad in traditional Viking attire but her ethnicity was unknown due to the decomposed state of the bones in the grave. "It is not impossible that the woman herself, or someone close to her, might have visited -- or even originate from -- the Caliphate (which then stretched from Tunisia to the borders of India) or its surrounding regions," the researchers said.

Seeking Enlightenment: The Corporate Spy Game

REBLOG> Seeking Enlightenment: The Corporate Spy Game

Sophia Logica's Original Blog

---

Insider threat is an expansive affair for companies where information is vital for business. "In an embarrassing episode for Morgan Stanley, the bank dismissed an employee earlier this year for taking information about an estimated 350,000 clients of its wealth-management division [Bloomberg 12 March 2015]." The dangers of hiring a Trojan Horse is ever-present in this business.

Professional Input

This Bloomberg article had given some insights on corporate espionage. It reported that about 20 companies sell tools to monitor employee behavior. Dune Lawrence, Bloomberg's journalist, interviewed some players that sells software to spy on your employee. Most of them were former FBI agents and their inputs can be used to understand the espionage game.

Financial Stresses

Stroz Friedberg, a New York-based consulting firm, specializes in digital forensics. They use linguistic and behavioral analysis techniques developed by the FBI. It evaluates the content of employees e-mails and other communications. Warning will be triggered if terms indicating financial stresses were encountered. "Late rent" or "medical bills" are cited as instances of keywords the software seeks.

Behavioral Patterns

Employees activities were monitored to create a profile of each employee and establish a "normal" behavior. Suspicious activities will be flag when there is a deviation from the norm. An algorithm is used to place to risk score for users based on what danger they may pose to the organization. Employees getting ready to leave with highly sensitive data start doing things they hadn’t before, such as changing their e-mail habits or downloading thousands of documents from a database.

Privacy Issues

Edward Stroz, founder Stroz Friedberg and a former FBI agent, says companies have found this idea too intrusive in the past but the perception had changed in the past year. Like it or not, competitors will send spies to get information from the inside. They also prey on dissatisfied employes or those with financial stresses. Some form of monitor is better than none at all. Conscience had Securonix, a spy on employee software firm based in Los Angeles, raising the question on how much is too much. Dune Lawrence recorded Igor Baikalov, a former security executive at Bank of America and chief scientist at Securonix, with this dilemma.

---

My Comments

Being put in charge of monitoring the software's red flag is a crummy job. If you get a person who has a nosy attitude they would be interested in the gossip. One who is not will be bored until something concrete comes a long.

Put Yourself in Her Shoes

International Women's Day Celebration

Men across China sprinted with high heels in a race on 8 March 2015. This nationwide activity took the metaphor literally. The event was organized in good spirit as men would not acquired an empathy by wearing heels. The event managed to gather some participation from gutsy man who show up in good sport. One particular mall throw in some obstacles on the race track to make it more fun.

Source China Daily

Seeking Enlightenment: The Silk Road

REBLOG> Seeking Enlightenment: The Silk Road:
Sophia Logica's Original Blog

---

The Silk Road's Recent Development

China's proposals to build a modern-day trading route on the skeleton of the ancient traders' trail, known as the silk road, have been welcomed by its neighbor. The China Daily reported on 9 March 2015 that the project had led to misunderstanding and criticism. Oppositions fear this ambitious and long term project would be derailed. The Polish were supportive of the project and pledge to be part of the project. First secretary of the Polish embassy in Beijing, Wojciech Jakobiec, said "for us, the Silk Road Economic Belt is an especially important project, and we would like to participate in it."

Europeans Understanding of the Silk Road

Based on UNESCO's understanding, silk road was a recent term. They traced it to German geologist, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen. He called the trade and communication network Die Seidenstrasse (the Silk Road). The silk road is sometimes used in the plural term because the network extend to a web of sea and land routes.

Baron Coining Silk Road Don't Jive

With due respect to the UNESCO, I do not think that the silk road is a recent term. The Baron lived from 5 May 1833 – 6 October 1905. UNESCO had established that silk was a monopoly of China and found its way to Rome "at some point during the first century". Such and important route could not have been named in 1877 [see Wikipedia] by the baron. I believe it had some reference to it since if was even in existence until the 17th century.

China Reference to the Silk Road

The Chinese had referred to the silk road as "silu" form as far as the recording of their chronicles existed. That goes back to the time that the prominent Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty (206BC—220AD). The UNESCO article also concur with this date. Since this is not about conquest there was not much to hide. The Chinese account had not been inconsistent with the accounts of those they had traded with.

The Meaning of Silu

Out of curiosity, I looked up the translation for "silu". Actually I was not surprised it meant silk road. Si is the word for silk while lu is the Chinese word for road. It is whimsical to think that such a simple name is coined up in 1877 when people who traveled the road to buy or sell silk for ages would refer to it as silk road for simplicity.

---

My Comments

I found UNESCO's passage on silk control inconsistent. If silk was reserved for the exclusive usage of the Chinese imperial court then trading it would be a crime.