I've been beta testing the new version of our web platform (Squarespace V.5). It's taken the company a while longer than initially forecast to get things ready. I can't get into the details - standard NDA with the company in exchange for an early crack at the new version - but I'm extremely happy with the offerings. We'll be able to structure things logically and coherently, and with a look and feel that's much more professional and intuitive than the current site is capable of.

For my webhost to actually version itself into a reasonable approximation of a bloghost. Don't ask why I haven't switched yet - to be honest at this point, I'm not even sure. I should. Meanwhile, I'm making a few basic changes to the layout. Nothing fancy, just adding links, blogroll, etc to the left hand margin. Note my emphasis: changes being made to the left-hand margin. I'd make changes to the right hand margin, too, but this oh so sophisticated platform apparently needs to consult with Gates, Hawkins, the Pope, and the Dalai Llama before it'll add that basic functionality to its platform.

Enough. Making changes in the next little while. And then giving serious thought to moving on while my webhost contemplates (or more likely, not) its limitations.

The road to official status is slowly but surely being paved: as of today, we have official UCL web space. The site for the UCL Complex Terrain Laboratory will be undergoing various stages of development throughout the summer, the finished, shiny version to be rolled out as part of the official launch in September. What's exciting about this? Tapping into UCL's multi-disciplinary strengths in spatial research, for one. Connecting it to a fully-kitted intranet, for another - replete with the kind of expensive project management tools and software that we'd really rather no have to pay for out of our own pockets.

What else? Let's see:  having an institutionally-supported platform for web seminars, online paper hosting, and discussion fora; building a transatlantic locus for policy- and practically-relevant research on culture, conflict, and space; running full steam ahead with all sorts of thought experiments, like research into the spatial dynamics of counterinsurgency, strategic framing and foreign policy, the role of political networks in international organizations, this digital interface for academic, practitioner, and blogosphere cross-pollination...

This is the ad that Praeger put together for the the May/June 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs. Nicely timed, following Sir Lawrence Freedman's review of Denial of Sanctuary in the November/December 2007 issue. 

CTLab is exploring the possibility of hosting a working paper series, in partnership with the Institute for National Security and Counter-Terrorism (INSCT),  that addresses the conceptual and social science dimensions of the  New Battlefields - Old Laws Project.  Please check back regularly for updates.