If you want insight into the federal government’s vision of safeguarding America in the future, take a look at the investment portfolio of In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the CIA.

In-Q-Tel was formed in 1999 to provide capital to startup companies developing technologies that could be used for national security. It operates not as a division of the CIA, but as an independent nonprofit.

High on its list of priorities is finding new ways to analyze massive amounts of information. Many of In-Q-Tel’s portfolio companies provide technologies that gather and make sense of data. For example, Language Weaver provides automated language translation. NovoDynamics reads and translates text in Mideastern languages.

Serial entrepreneur While Marc Andreessen has done it again.

The founder of Opsware will receive about $160 million as his share of the company’s $1.6 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard. On his blog Monday, Andreessen described the eight-year run of his company, which began with the name Loudcloud, as an “unbelievable journey.”