This. 1000x this.

When did the EU.gov get so, well, stupid?

The EU has issued its plans to keep the continent's denizens secure and among the pages of bureaucratese are a few worrying sections that indicate the political union wants to backdoor encryption by 2026, or even sooner.

While the superstate has made noises about backdooring encryption before the ProtectEU plan [PDF], launched on Monday at the European Parliament, says the European Commission wants to develop a roadmap to allow "lawful and effective access to data for law enforcement in 2025" and a technology roadmap to do so by the following year.

...

According to the document, the EC will set up a Security Research & Innovation Campus at its Joint Research Centre in 2026 to work out the technical details. Since it's impossible to backdoor encryption in a way that can't be exploited by others, it seems a very odd move to make if security's your goal.

China, Russia, and the US certainly would spend a huge amount of time and money to find the backdoor. Even American law enforcement has given up on the cause of backdooring, although the UK still seems to be wedded to the idea. [boldface by me - Borepatch]

Well, duh.

Now the cynical view of things is that the EU.gov is not being stupid at all, but just think that their adversary is not China and Russia and the USofA but rather their own populations.  

 

Heat, TopGun, Tombstone, TopGun Maverick

 Heat, TopGun, TopGun II and Tombstone. My favorite Val Kilmer movies. He's not the leading star in any of them. But all of them would not be the great movies they are without him and Tombstone would be a largely forgotten modern western without his interpretation of Doc Holiday. 

In recent years he suffered from cancer, and his small role in TopGun Maverick is compelling even without his voice. 

Now he is gone at 65. Here he is in his prime.

Well played, CederQ

Well played indeed.

Blogroll addition

I just realized that I don't have a blogroll link to Flares Into Darkness which is really strange since I've been linking to him since forever because he finds all sorts of really interesting (and eclectic) stuff.  He has literally been a daily read for me for years and years, and I must have had a massive brain fart in not blogrolling him.  

Well, fixed now.  Sorry about that, Ambisinistral.

Recommended to everyone.  You know what to do.

UPDATE 28 MARCH 2025 15:24: Huh - I see that I did have him on the blogroll. 

George Foreman and boxing

The passing of George Foreman got me thinking about how boxing has changed from back in the day (1960s/1970s).  Back then we used to watch Friday Night Fights pretty regularly - that tailed off in the 1980s as we all lost interest.  It just didn't seem as exciting as it had.

There is a great podcast episode on Dan Carlin's Hardcore History about this: Boxing with Ghosts (free download and highly recommended if you ever watch Friday Night Fights). In it Dan interviews longtime sportswriter for Ring magazine Mike Silver about how boxing is really just a shadow of its former self (and why).

But in this episode Dan tells a George Foreman story that illustrates why boxing was so great in those days.  The story is from when Foreman was going for his comeback world championship in a bout against a much younger Michael Moorer.  Foreman lost each of the first 9 rounds (unanimously).  Entering the 10th round it was like a football game with a minute left when he was down 99 to nothing.  A friend of Dan's left and went to the bathroom because the "fight was over".  Then two quick punches finished Moorer off in a KO and Foreman was champ again.

There is a lot to admire in Foreman's life, but we remember just what a superb fighter he was.  Rest in peace.

Security Cats and Dogs living together

The Surveillance State is bringing people together.  In this case Apple (iOS) and Google (Android).  You will now be able to send end-to-end encrypted messages from iPhones to Android devices and vice versa.  It's kind of like what Signal and Telegram do.

You already have that capability with Apple devices sending to other Apple devices, and Android to Android.  This new capability now makes it a big, happy, (more) secure world.

You will need to go into your device settings and enable Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol.  But yay for cross vendor cooperation and interoperability.

The Few are now the None

The last of the Battle of Britain RAF pilots reports to the final muster.