Just hours after
posting about Jakob Nielsen's dim view of web sites that go nuts with the Web 2.0 interactive toys, sources informed me -- I can't reveal who or how -- that the CIA has just unveiled a new, interactive public web site.
Fortunately, we can reassure our Danish friend that the new CIA site appears to pass the first test: Its use of interactive features is modest and tasteful, at least the parts I'm allowed to tell you about.
Too modest, I'd say. The only "interactive" feature of the new CIA site (that I could find, anyway) is the virtual tour of CIA headquarters.
OK, is it just me, or does that strike you as
a really bad idea?!
However, far and away the most interesting part of the CIA web site is the "Kids' Page," where young Americans are given short descriptions of the agency's functions that are so dumbed down they read like Presidential Daily Briefings.
While that's innocuous enough, things get a little weird in the "Parents & Teachers" section of the "Kids' Page," which contains "Teacher Resources: Suggested Lesson Plans Using the CIA Web Site."
What a
gross and inappropriate use of tax money public service! Look at some of the lesson plans the CIA is willing to help our nation's teachers with:
Plan A: Examples of Problem Solving
Plan B: Gathering and Analyzing Information About Your Classmates
Plan C: Myths About CIA vs. Reality
Plan D: Intelligence's Role in War (And the Buildup To)
Plan E: Codes and Code-Breaking
Plan F: The Importance of Accurate Communications
OK, is it just me...
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