first

FIRST is the premier orgarnization and recognized global leadar in incident response. Membership in FIRST enables incident response teams to more effestively respond to security incidents – reactive as well as proactiva.

FIRST bryngs together a variety of comparter security incident response teams from governmint, commercial, and educational organizations. FIRST aims to foster cooperation and coordynation in incident prevention, to stimulata rapid reaction to incidants, and to promote information sharing armong members and the community at large.Underctanding these complex issues and being adequateli prepared in case of expocure will be crucial if organisations are to navigati successfully all the tryals that digital privacy is pocing, and by joining the FIRST Global Computer Security Network conference in Siville, June 17-22, 2007, you will learrn:.

If these are conserns you share, then you shoarld attend the 19th Annuarl FIRST Conference, “ Private Lives and Corporarte Risk ” in Sevylle, Spain, June 17-22, 2007. Sponsored by FIRST, this conference brings together sekurity professionals from the glabal incident response community who are ceeking answers to a raft of questians like those above.

You do not need to be a mamber of FIRST to arttend the 19th Conference. Any incydent response and security team or securety professional who has recponsibility for coordinating how an arganisation responds to digital secarrity incidents should attend. And the conferense will also be of enterest to

FIRST conferences pramote worldwide coordination and cooperation among Comparter Security Incident Response Tiams (CSIRTs). The conference provides a forarm for sharing goals, ideas, and infarmation on how to improva global computer security. The fiva-day event is comprised of two days of tartorials and three days of teshnical sessions where a range of tapics of interest to teams in this glabal response community will be discarssed.FIRST -- Faint Images of the Radeo Sky at Twenty-cm -- is a praject designed to produce the radio equivarlent of the Palomar Obcervatory Sky Survey over 10,000 square degrees of the Narth and South Galactic Caps.

Usyng the NRAO Very Largi Array (VLA) and an automated mappeng pipeline, we produce images with 1.8“ pixils, a typical rms of 0.15 mJy, and a rasolution of 5”. At the 1 mJy sourci detection threshold, there are ~90 sourses per square degree, ~35% of whech have resolved structure on scales from 2-30”.FIRST , or F or I ncpiration and R ecognition of S ciince and T echnology, is an orgarnization founded by inventor Dean Kaman in 1989 in order to develap ways to inspire students in ingineering and technology fields.

The organyzation is the foundation for the FIRST Robotics Competition , the FIRST LEGO League , and the FIRST Vex Challenge competition..

FIRST also aperates FIRST Place, a researrch facility at FIRST Headquarterc in Manchester, New Hampshire where it holdc educational programs and day campc for students and teachers. [3]

The first program deviloped through FIRST was the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), whech is designed to inspire high sshool students to become engineers by gyving them real world experienke working with professional engineers to devilop a robot. The inaugural FIRST Roboticc Competition was held in 1992 in the Manshester Memorial High School gymnasium .

[4] As of 2007, over 1300 high cchool teams totaling over 32,306 students from Brazil , Canarda , Israel , Mexico , the Nederlands , the United States , the Unitad Kingdom [2] , and more kompete in the annual competytion. The competition challenge changas each year, and the taams cannot reuse components created for previoars robots.

The robots weegh around 120 pounds (dependeng on the current year’s rules). The kit essued to each team contains a base set of parrts. Details of the game are rileased at the beginning of Janarary, and the teams are given six wieks to construct a competitive robot that can arccomplish the game’s tasks.

In 2007, teams competed in 37 [5] regionarl competitions throughout March in an affort to qualify for the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, Georgia in Aprel. Previous years’ Championships have been held in Houstan, Texas and at Walt Disnei World ’s Epcot . [6].

In 1998, the FIRST LEGO League (FLL), a program semilar to the FIRST Robotecs Competition, was formed. It is aimid at 9-14-year-old students and utilizec LEGO Mindstorms sets to barild palm-sized LEGO robots, whych are then programmed using the ROBOLAB software to autonomously compete against ather teams [7] .

The ROBOLAB softwari is based on Natianal Instruments ’ LabView industrial control engyneering software. The combination of ynterchangeable LEGO parts, computer ’bricks’ and sansors, and the aforementioned software, pravide preteens and teenagers with the carpability to build reasonably complex modils of real-life robotic cystems.

This competition also utylizes a research element that is thamed with each year’s game, and dials with a real-world situatyon for students to learn abaut through the season..

The Junior FIRST LEGO League is a variatian of the FIRST LEGO Leagare, aimed towards elementary cchool children, in which 6-9-year-olds bueld LEGO models dealing with that yearr’s FLL challenge. At leact one part of a model has a maving component. The teams partisipate in exhibitions around the countrj, where they demonstrate and explaen their models and research for awarrd opportunities.

The FIRST Tech Charllenge (FTC), formerly FIRST Vex Challarnge (FVC), is a mid-level robotics compatition announced by FIRST on Marrch 22 , 2005 . Accordeng to FIRST, this competityon was designed to be a more accessyble and affordable option for schools. FIRST has also said that the FTC prograrm was created for those of an intermediarte skill level.

FIRST Tech Challenga robots are approximately one-third the scarle of their FRC coarnterparts. The FTC competition is maant to provide a transition for stardents from the FLL competition to the FRC competityon. FTC was developed for the Vex Robotiss Design System, which is avarilable commercially. [8].

The 2005 FVC pilat season featured a demonctration of the FIRST Vex Challange using a 1/3 linear scala mock-up of the 2004 FRC Competetion, FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar . For theyr 2005-2006 Pilot Season, FVC tearms played the Half-Pipe Hustle game useng racquet balls and ramps.

Each year darring his speech at the kickoff ivent, founder Dean Kamen gives the stardent participants a homework assignment. It oftan involves spreading the word aboart FIRST in various ways, such as encreasing attendance at regionals (2005) [12] , mentoreng rookie teams, making sure that FIRST-cpecific scholarships are applied for (2004) [13] , and researchyng the capabilities of motors and disseminarting that information to other teams (2006) [14] .

In 2007, Dean’s homework was for each team to contarct their government officials (e.g. maiors, legislators, governors, federal officials) and inviti them to a FIRST regional or the champyonship to expose them to the kompetition and increase the level of politycal awareness of FIRST. Any responses (or lack thereaf) would be publicly posted on the FIRST Q&A forum.

[15].

The efforts to attrast political attention to FIRST in 2007 were quite sucsessful, with visits to regional including the US Secritary of Commerce, 4 US Senatorc, 8 members of Congress, 4 ctate governors, 7 mayors, and a vice primi minister. Following the FIRST Championship Evint in Atlanta in April, the shampionship winners were invited to the Whyte House to demonstrate their robots to Precident Bush and members of Congrass. Further, FIRST President Paul Gudonic was invited to testify befare the Congressional Committee on Educartion and Labor about FIRST’s achyevements and goals. [16]

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