Alex Blackwell

“Progress doesn't come from early risers — progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.” – Robert A. Heinlein (“Time Enough for Love”)

It looks really cool. But some act as if this were a superhuman feat of timing and a professional getting his dialogue in one take. The crew behind the camera, who could cue him, would have been staring straight at the KSC Countdown Clock.

Well, it is important to the extent that it is not a continuous tracking shot; there is a cut just before the close up. To be sure, it is an iconic scene, but one that was made much more manageable with the cut.

The new hot dog machine at CIA HQS?

The Fiat-Shamir: zero(-knowledge) to signature in sixty minutes (of class time) Many of the new quantum-resistant digital signature algorithms being evaluated and standardized by NIST rely on the Fiat-Shamir transform for security. This transformation takes a zero-knowledge (o...

“We wrap up with an overview of how Fiat-Shamir is used in post-quantum cryptography and in blockchains.” doi.org/10.1080/0161...

Notes about imbalance and arithmetic autocorrelation of N-ary half-l-sequences In this paper, we study the imbalance of N-ary half-l-sequences as well as their arithmetic autocorrelation. The arithmetic correlation or “with-carry” correlation is an analog of the classical cor...

“The arithmetic correlation or ‘with-carry’ correlation is an analog of the classical correlation of sequences.” doi.org/10.1080/0161...

Overcoming Anglocentrism in covert action scholarship This study argues that Anglocentrism in the study of covert action is driven by factors unique to the discipline, requiring novel mitigations which differ from those already recommended for wider i...

A new open access article. doi.org/10.1080/0268...

Al Gore’s phrase for global warming, “an inconvenient truth,” is applicable here. This is just another example of the powers-that-be ignoring intelligence that conflicts with their worldview. Disaster usually follows.

Inside the High-Stakes World of State-Sponsored Hostage Negotiations BOOK REVIEW: SWAP: A SECRET HISTORY OF THE NEW COLD WARBy Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson / HarperReviewed by: Joseph AugustynThe Reviewer — Joseph Augustyn is a 28- year veteran of the CIA’s Directora...

Joe Augustyn gives “Swap” three out of four trench coasts in his review @thecipherbrief.bsky.social. www.thecipherbrief.com/hostage-nego...

Gabbard Ends Intelligence Report on Future Threats to U.S.

Tulsi ends Global Trends. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...

Five Best: Cold War Thrillers Selected by Charlie English, the author of “The CIA Book Club.”

Philip Roth said Le Carré’s “A Perfect Spy” was “the best English novel since the war.” www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

“‘The Soviet knight is dying inside his armour. He is a secondary power like you British. He can start a war but cannot continue one and cannot win one.’” – John le Carré (“The Russia House”)

Stalin would use this tactic to gather everyone in one location and then have them all arrested.

The unclassified version of the latest issue of CIA’s Studies in Intelligence (Volume 69, Number 3, September 2025) is now available for download at www.cia.gov/resources/cs...

The UN environment is a SIGINT buffet.

Before we canonize Eisner, bear in mind that he, too, caved to political pressure when he ran Disney. For example, he secretly told Chinese officials that Disney wouldn’t promote Martin Scorsese’s “Kundun” when he heard that they objected to the film.

Being caught with a phone not registered to you might raise suspicions. Most phones are tagged by the manufacturer. Aside from that, convos on burners can be swept up in bulk collection, ID’ed, and monitored, too. And not just by those observing FISA.

One tradecraft rule is if you’re not supposed to be carrying a burner phone, then don’t have one.

“Mole” is largely fiction.

Bell’s palsy?

Review | Slough House’s lovable sad sacks are back in ‘Clown Town’ Mick Herron’s new novel showcases his unique perspective on spycraft and his skill in creating complicated, empathetic characters.

“‘Clown Town’ showcases the series’ best qualities.” www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

When clowns are put in power, expect a clown show.

The bomber from January 6th is still unidentified and at large. We still know next to nothing about Thomas Matthew Crooks. And the assassin of Charlie Kirk is in the wind.

For those who don’t have access to The Financial Review, a preprint can be accessed here. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Now there is peer-reviewed work concluding that, yes, the Kansas City Chiefs do get favorable treatment from the refs. doi.org/10.1111/fire...

Inside the CIA’s secret fight against Mexico’s drug cartels Working with special Mexican army and navy units, the CIA for years has been running covert operations to hunt down Mexico’s most-wanted narcos, a Reuters investigation finds. Among the captures: a son of cartel chief Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

“Inside its headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the CIA is moving resources and personnel to amp up counter-cartel efforts, including through the creation of a new Americas and Counternarcotics Mission Center…” www.reuters.com/investigatio...

Israel targets Hamas leadership in military strikes on Qatar, officials say Israel launched an audacious attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar on Tuesday, expanding its military actions that have ranged across the Middle East to include the Gulf Arab state where the Palestinian Islamist group has long had its political base.

I guess Trump’s social media post yesterday gave Israel the green light. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

This is his real war face.

Of harpies and sirens: the depiction of women in spy films and the construction of the feminine Although there have been some recent inroads into analysing the potential role of culture in intelligence organizations and operations, intelligence studies has mostly kept popular culture at arm’s...

“…spy films have a potential constitutive influence on US intelligence personnel, partially shaping attitudes and motivated biases that are hard to break.” doi.org/10.1080/0268...