Sometimes it seems like I own Google.
Being number 2, I try harder. At least I have a comment comparing the Manneken Pis with the Big Chicken.
Monday, February 16, 2009
It ain't braggin' if you can do it
Sometimes it seems like I own Google.
Being number 2, I try harder. At least I have a comment comparing the Manneken Pis with the Big Chicken.
Want to understand the economic mess?
Then read Philip Greenspun's blog. I just stumbled across it, and it's filled with good stuff, like this:
Barack Obama promised on Monday not to rest as long as this economic downturn persisted. He promised to act decisively, change whatever had to be changed, spend whatever had to be spent. This is precisely what worries the investors to whom I spoke. They’d rather see the audacity of doing nothing.He blogs at Harvard Law School, so he meets the official definition of "wicked smaht." RTWT.
"Quiet as a hole in the water"
That's what modern submarines are supposed to be. Looks like the Royal Navy and the French Navy are doing pretty well.
I'd call him an idiot, but unlike our pols, he didn't just spend a trillion bucks that #1 Son and #2 Son will have to figure out how to pay back.
British and French nuclear missile submarines collided earlier this month beneath the Atlantic, according to reports. Much is being made of the fact that the two subs "failed to see each other", but this is actually quite normal.I get a lot of my technology news from The Register, but this is the only article that gets this right. "Quiet" isn't a bug, it's a feature.
After all, the whole reason that nations expensively put nuclear missiles on submarines is that it's the only reliable way of making it impossible for anyone to know where the missiles are. Nobody should be surprised at two purposely-designed undetectable launch platforms having remained undetected.What's astonishing to me is that this is astonishing to the MSM. Auntie Beeb missed this, The Sun (UK) missed it, too. The Sun calls it "Unthinkable." Well, then. Maybe they should get their technology news from El Reg:
At an event held in London this morning, Admiral Sir Jonathan Band (the First Sea Lord, head of the Royal Navy) told reporters including the Reg that both subs were on routine national-deterrent patrols and had hit each other while "moving very slowly". This is a missile boat's normal posture while on deterrent patrol, as it makes the sub as silent and undetectable as possible - evidently quite successfully in this case.Kind of the point, innit, lads? Oh, and UK pols are grandstanding, happy to display their utter lack of a clue:
Um, it's Nitroglycerine that goes boom when you drop it, not Trident missles, mkay? They're, like, designed to not go off unless they're armed and all.Lib Dem defence spokesman Nick Harvey has called for an immediate internal inquiry with some of the conclusions made public.
"While the British nuclear fleet has a good safety record, if there were ever to be a bang it would be a mighty big one," he said.
I'd call him an idiot, but unlike our pols, he didn't just spend a trillion bucks that #1 Son and #2 Son will have to figure out how to pay back.
Blowing Money
While eating breakfast in the Las Vegas airport this morning, I met three ironworkers from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They said that work had been slow lately. Did they expect the stimulus bill going through Congress to help them out? Would $1 trillion in new government spending lead to more construction jobs? “That’s just blowing money up a wild hog’s ass.”Why yes it is. Plus a post about a teacher who quit to become a flying instructor:
"... how could you quit an $80,000/year union job to become an $8/hour flight instructor?"RTWT.
Smart guy, that Philip Greenspun.
Are Democrats afraid of pushing gun control?
Jay poses a question:
This can only mean they think that gun control has emerged as at least enough of a "third rail" that it can short circuit anything they attach it to.
They've just paid off most of the left. It will be really interesting to see if the left's appetite has gorwn with the eating.
UPDATE 19 February 12:43: Life on Sleepy Creek linked. Thanks!
Now that Obama is flush with his "success" at ramming through the largest spending bill in US history, with concomitant fawning press, is he going to turn his gaze towards banning (certain) guns? With this spendulus bill he's come a hell of a lot closer to national health care than Bill Clinton ever came; isn't it conceivable that Obama would want to out-ban Bubba, too?What I find very strange is that, while they snuck all sorts of stuff into the "stimulus" bill, they didn't put any gun control measures into it. At least as far as I've heard.
This can only mean they think that gun control has emerged as at least enough of a "third rail" that it can short circuit anything they attach it to.
They've just paid off most of the left. It will be really interesting to see if the left's appetite has gorwn with the eating.
UPDATE 19 February 12:43: Life on Sleepy Creek linked. Thanks!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
After Action Report - #1 Son drives the Jeep
Six Speed manual transmission.
All personnel and equipment safely returned to base.
All personnel and equipment safely returned to base.
Yes, please
Full disclosure time: I'm a Red Sox fan. Have been for a long, long time, since I was a wee lad. So I'll second Chris Lynch's suggestion about how to deal with A-Rod's steroids escapades:
Can you make the people at ballparks across the country play Huey Lewis and the News' song I Want a New Drug every time Alex Rodriguez come to bat.Heh. Great song.
You can't fix stupid, even with math
#2 Son and I have been watching a lot of space science TV, and we just saw the Drake Equation discussed on the old Carl Sagan Cosmos show. The Drake Equation is designed to estimate the number (N) of planets in the galaxy that have intelligence life.
Looks like math, right? Science!
Um, not so much. You see, we have quite poor information about what the value should be for most of these variables. The Wikipedia article covers this in some depth, but it's summed up with, well, what I said:
Things that we cannot control are glossed over, even if they would massively effect the overall outcome. Things that are politically top of mind are covered in depth. Does this remind you of anything?
The title of this post is a bit unfair, because Sagan wasn't stupid. He was selling something: nuclear freeze. Now, we can agree that the nuclear freeze movement was driven by noble motives (other than the well-documented Soviet influence), but that's entirely beside the point.
It's not science.
Carl Sagan didn't have the slightest idea what the correct value for L is. Nobody does. And if you plug a bunch of wild guesses into something that looks all scientific, you get garbage output.
Like this:
Yup, you read that right - a cool $2 million. For Borepatch.
Boy, howdy.
They ask you a lot of questions about your blog, so it's actually very similar to the Drake Equation. I didn't understand what would be reasonable values for some of the variables, so I'm a bit like Carl Sagan. Except I'm not selling you anything (unless, of course, you're interested in getting in on the ground floor, in which case I'll take personal checks).
After playing twenty questions with #2 Son - the old Socratic Method - I saw the light go off over his head. At least for the Drake Equation. But it's not just him; perhaps it's a symptom of how our society is less religious, but there is a fetishization of science. We expect miracles - don't bother me with your silly, inconvenient facts.
Another way to say it is that science sells. What are you, askeptic denier, or something?
Sagan's discussion is a pretty good layman's introduction.
Looks like math, right? Science!
Um, not so much. You see, we have quite poor information about what the value should be for most of these variables. The Wikipedia article covers this in some depth, but it's summed up with, well, what I said:
Criticism of the Drake equation follows mostly from the observation that several terms in the equation are largely or entirely based on conjecture.Now look, I don't have a problem with conjecture, as long as you call it that. But Sagan doesn't. He doesn't explicitly say that it's not science, and he doesn't explicitly say it is. He also does something very interesting: he doesn't remotely spend the same amount of time or emphasis on each variable. Sagan talks a lot about the variable for intelligent civilizations that blow themselves up. He even tries a couple of different values for that variable, so see how the number N changes. Go watch it again, paying attention to this emphasis. It's quite striking.
Things that we cannot control are glossed over, even if they would massively effect the overall outcome. Things that are politically top of mind are covered in depth. Does this remind you of anything?
The title of this post is a bit unfair, because Sagan wasn't stupid. He was selling something: nuclear freeze. Now, we can agree that the nuclear freeze movement was driven by noble motives (other than the well-documented Soviet influence), but that's entirely beside the point.
It's not science.
Carl Sagan didn't have the slightest idea what the correct value for L is. Nobody does. And if you plug a bunch of wild guesses into something that looks all scientific, you get garbage output.
Like this:
Yup, you read that right - a cool $2 million. For Borepatch.Boy, howdy.
They ask you a lot of questions about your blog, so it's actually very similar to the Drake Equation. I didn't understand what would be reasonable values for some of the variables, so I'm a bit like Carl Sagan. Except I'm not selling you anything (unless, of course, you're interested in getting in on the ground floor, in which case I'll take personal checks).
After playing twenty questions with #2 Son - the old Socratic Method - I saw the light go off over his head. At least for the Drake Equation. But it's not just him; perhaps it's a symptom of how our society is less religious, but there is a fetishization of science. We expect miracles - don't bother me with your silly, inconvenient facts.
Another way to say it is that science sells. What are you, a
You can't fix stupid
Via Insty comes the sad tale of a woman arrested for an overdue library book, along with some quality snark:
But snark aside, if you read the article at the link, you'll find some interesting information:
Like Ron White says, you can't fix stupid.
WELL, IT’S NOT LIKE SHE FAILED TO PAY TAXES AND THEN GOT NOMINATED TO A CABINET POSITION:I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
But snark aside, if you read the article at the link, you'll find some interesting information:
Court records show library employees tried repeatedly to contact Koontz by phone and mail. A police officer even visited her home last September.I'm with the police on this one. They called to say the book was overdue and please bring it back. And called and called. They sent a policeman, not to arrest her, but to tell her that they called and called. What was she waiting for?
Officials at the Buchanan County jail say Koontz was released after posting $250 bond.
Like Ron White says, you can't fix stupid.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Unbelievably cool Lego Star Wars
Filed under both made of win and get a life, comes this:
It's not from a kit - he designed it himself. Stuff from kits goes inside it. I'm speechless.
Hat tip, Chad Crayton.
A guy by the nickname of roholbro has spent a kajillion hours and bricks completing this huge reproduction of an Star Wars' Separatist Landing Craft, which can hold a whooping one hundred minifigs. One. Hundred.
It's not from a kit - he designed it himself. Stuff from kits goes inside it. I'm speechless.
Hat tip, Chad Crayton.
Jason Aldean - Johnny Cash
Today is Valentine's Day, so today's Saturday Redneck has a Valentine theme. Jason Aldean has one Gold and one Platinum album, but is still married to his high school sweetheart.
Aldean has gotten a lot of attention with his rocked up, "New Country" style, with songs like Hicktown and Amarillo Sky. Today's Saturday Redneck - Johnny Cash - is very much in that style. Fittingly for Valentine's day, it's about crazy, mad, passionate love, including eloping.
What's not to like about getting married by a Preacher Man who looks like Elvis?
Jason Aldean - Johnny Cash
Music Video Codes at www.yallwire.com
Johnny Cash (Songwriters: John Rich, Vicky McGehee, Rodney Clawson)
Aldean has gotten a lot of attention with his rocked up, "New Country" style, with songs like Hicktown and Amarillo Sky. Today's Saturday Redneck - Johnny Cash - is very much in that style. Fittingly for Valentine's day, it's about crazy, mad, passionate love, including eloping.
What's not to like about getting married by a Preacher Man who looks like Elvis?
Jason Aldean - Johnny Cash
Music Video Codes at www.yallwire.com
Johnny Cash (Songwriters: John Rich, Vicky McGehee, Rodney Clawson)
Quit my job flipped off the boss took my name of the payroll.
(screw you man)
Picked up my cell rang my baby's bell said I'm three miles from home.
I said sugar why don't you put on that sundress I like so much,
Wait out by the road I'm comin' to pick you up.
(whoa)
Throw your suitcase in the back,
(whoa)
Done gassed up the pontiac,
(whoa)
Blastin' out to Johnny Cash, headin' for the highway,
Baby we ain't ever comin' back.
It's four hundred and sixty seven miles to the outskirts of Las Vegas.
What do you say we go get married by a preacher man that looks like Elvis.
(yeah momma)
Sugar don't you worry bout tellin' your momma goodbye,
We'll send her a souvenier postcard from the wild side.
(whoa)
Throw your suitcase in the back,
(whoa)
Done gassed up the pontiac,
(whoa)
Blastin' out to Johnny Cash, headin' for the highway,
Baby we ain't ever comin' back.
(whoa)
Throw your suitcase in the back,
(whoa)
Done gassed up the pontiac,
(whoa)
Blastin' out to Johnny Cash, headin' for the highway,
Baby we ain't ever comin' back.
(suey!)
(woah)
(woah)
(woah)
Hear that train a comin', rollin' round the bend.
(whoa)
the man in black is gonna rock your ass again.
(woah)
(woah)
(woah)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Super H4X0r
Since all the Cool Kids are doing it ...
No hair? Check. Scraggly non-Grecian-Formula beard? Check. K3wL H4X0r death's head (for cyberpunk street cred)? Check. Sweet wheelgun (for cyberpunk street cred)? Check.
Come to think of it, I believe I've hired some Penetration Testers who looked a bit like this before ...
It's amazing how much time you can waste here.
No hair? Check. Scraggly non-Grecian-Formula beard? Check. K3wL H4X0r death's head (for cyberpunk street cred)? Check. Sweet wheelgun (for cyberpunk street cred)? Check.
Come to think of it, I believe I've hired some Penetration Testers who looked a bit like this before ...
It's amazing how much time you can waste here.
Sauce for the Gander
A Web Defacement Archive is a web site that saves the images of famous (or not so famous) web sites that have gotten defaced by the Bad Guys. It's mostly of security-geek historical value, and the occasional giggle*.
Now it's perhaps more correctly hysterical value, because the defacement archive Zone-h.org has - you guessed it - been defaced. Yes, those are dancing babies, from a Youtube video of a Diaper commercial.
And the site is Linux and Apache, not Windows and IIS, so Linux fanboyz can stop giggling. A bit. Well, OK, you can giggle.
The Register's writeup is pretty good, so when you're done giggling, it's worth a read. If that's your bag, baby.
More seriously, recent attacks at security firm Kaspersky Labs shows that even pretty smart security folks have trouble keeping up with this. Kaspersky has a clue, and make a pretty good antivirus scanner. And they still got pwned. Let's be careful out there.
* My favorite defacements were by Fluffy Bunny, who would leave pictures of a keyboard and a stuffed rabbit, saying Hacked by Fluffy Bunny. He added a touch of class to what was mostly l0Usy sP3LL1nG and l4m3 j0X3rz. At least until Constable Plod marched him out of the 2003 Infosec security Conference in manacles.
Now it's perhaps more correctly hysterical value, because the defacement archive Zone-h.org has - you guessed it - been defaced. Yes, those are dancing babies, from a Youtube video of a Diaper commercial.
And the site is Linux and Apache, not Windows and IIS, so Linux fanboyz can stop giggling. A bit. Well, OK, you can giggle.
The Register's writeup is pretty good, so when you're done giggling, it's worth a read. If that's your bag, baby.
More seriously, recent attacks at security firm Kaspersky Labs shows that even pretty smart security folks have trouble keeping up with this. Kaspersky has a clue, and make a pretty good antivirus scanner. And they still got pwned. Let's be careful out there.
* My favorite defacements were by Fluffy Bunny, who would leave pictures of a keyboard and a stuffed rabbit, saying Hacked by Fluffy Bunny. He added a touch of class to what was mostly l0Usy sP3LL1nG and l4m3 j0X3rz. At least until Constable Plod marched him out of the 2003 Infosec security Conference in manacles.
Let's party like it's 1234567890
Unix computers track dates by counting the number of seconds since January 1, 1970. Well, we've just gone past the date 1234567890 seconds since January 1, 1970.
Time to get jiggy. Or whatever the Hep Cats call it these days.
And since this time format is called Epoch Time, here's Epoch Fail. Heh.
Note that this has nothing to do with the Y2K bug, where programs ran out of space to store the date, and had to be fixed. That's the Unixalypse, and won't happen for another 20 odd years. The Register has more.
Time to get jiggy. Or whatever the Hep Cats call it these days.
And since this time format is called Epoch Time, here's Epoch Fail. Heh.
Note that this has nothing to do with the Y2K bug, where programs ran out of space to store the date, and had to be fixed. That's the Unixalypse, and won't happen for another 20 odd years. The Register has more.
Random Photo - The Grand Canyon
Click to embiggen - this photo really requires it. Everyone should go to the Grand Canyon at least once, especially if you have kids. Even snarky teenagers are momentarily awed into silence.Taken with a Fuji FinePix S5000, which is either too smart or too dumb to get proper depth of field. With my old Pentax K1000, I'd set the F-Stop as low as it goes, and there would be better focus on the canyon itself.
I'm still looking for a digital camera with easy manual controls - i.e. where you can set shutter speed and F-Stop without using a menu. Oh, and on a camera that doesn't cost $1500.
How to stop the Pork "Stimulus" Bill
The Republicans should publicly state that as soon as they regain control of congress and/or the White House, they will repudiate the bonds used to fund it.
Yes, this will panic the financial markets. It will also focus the discussion on how future generations are being raped for pure political gain by the Democratic party. It would be pretty hard for the Democrats to complain that the Republicans were being irresponsible.
Of course, the Republicans won't, because they have no stones. But it would work.
Come to think about it, if it takes the wind out of thePork "Stimulus" bill, the markets would probably skyrocket. Which would underline the fact that the "stimulus" isn't a stimulus.
Yes, this will panic the financial markets. It will also focus the discussion on how future generations are being raped for pure political gain by the Democratic party. It would be pretty hard for the Democrats to complain that the Republicans were being irresponsible.
Of course, the Republicans won't, because they have no stones. But it would work.
Come to think about it, if it takes the wind out of the
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Make sure that your WiFi has security enabled
A while back, I did a post called Hack your neighbor's wifi in 7 minutes. It turns out that this is a seriously popular Google search term, judging by my referrer logs.
Around 10% of my total traffic for the last week has been from people searching for this. Yikes.
While of course neither of my readers would use the Powers they get from this post for anything other than good, it does make you wonder. So if you haven't turned security on in your home WiFi router, you should. Follow the link above, and it will show you how.
Around 10% of my total traffic for the last week has been from people searching for this. Yikes.
While of course neither of my readers would use the Powers they get from this post for anything other than good, it does make you wonder. So if you haven't turned security on in your home WiFi router, you should. Follow the link above, and it will show you how.
Did Al Gore Visit Maine?
Just set a record for cold, at an (ahem) cool 50 degrees below zero:
On a personal note, this is my first link to the Bangor Daily News. I used to deliver their papers. I remember 20 below, not too bad.
It was definitely not 50 below in Phoenix, over the holidays.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Teeth are chattering in New England, where scientists just spent about a month scrutinizing weather data before proclaiming Tuesday that, yes, Maine has pulled even with Vermont in bragging rights for the region’s lowest recorded temperature — 50 below.That's some Global Warming.
On a personal note, this is my first link to the Bangor Daily News. I used to deliver their papers. I remember 20 below, not too bad.
It was definitely not 50 below in Phoenix, over the holidays.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
There's a worm out there that's infected ten million computers. Microsoft isn't happy about it.
But maybe money can buy happiness - they've offered a cool $250,000 to anyone who rats the worm's creator out:
Oh, and just because, some musical Dead or Alive:
But maybe money can buy happiness - they've offered a cool $250,000 to anyone who rats the worm's creator out:
Interesting approach. It will be more interesting if it works. 250 large might just do the trick.Microsoft is offering a $250,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the virus writers behind the infamous Conficker (Downadup) worm.
The bounty, announced Thursday, represents a revival of Microsoft's mothballed Anti-virus Reward Program, launched in 2003 and virtually moribund since 2004.
Oh, and just because, some musical Dead or Alive:
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Overheard
Do I need to go back for a useful degree, like Computer Science?
Why would you go for a degree that's not useful? I have to confess to being completely mystified.
Why would you go for a degree that's not useful? I have to confess to being completely mystified.
I love y'all, but ...
If I'm busy for a day, you don't stop by. It makes me think you only love me for my body blogging.
Valentine's day is coming up. Be mine. Even though I make you wait. ;-)
Valentine's day is coming up. Be mine. Even though I make you wait. ;-)
Can I just say ...
Watching the Boston Celtics right now (yeah, I know, slow posting and all - sue me). Can I just say that all 5 players are African American? In Boston?
HopenChange. Here in Boston. Only in Obama's America. Never win the championship under GWB, y'know what I mean?
Oh, wait.
HopenChange. Here in Boston. Only in Obama's America. Never win the championship under GWB, y'know what I mean?
Oh, wait.
The Blog Forecast for tonight
Light blogging, with continued light blogging extending into the morning hours. Life is interesting at work, and interesting at home. It's all getting handled, but dang it, it's cutting into my blogging time.
FAA Computers hacked
Not surprising, considering that classified networks get hacked, too. But they're the latest Poster Child for the state of computer security:
Still, it's impossible to look at this and not think about the power grid, or container port computers, or a million other soft, poorly protected targets. Will this be a wake up call for the FAA? Will be it a wake up call for other government agencies?
The "quick to say" part about the operational network not being exposed may be - almost certainly contains - PR spin. However, it's plausible, given the way the Bad Guys look for highly salable personal information.The Federal Aviation Administration has joined the growing list of government agencies that have had their supposedly safe systems hacked. The agency this week notified about 45,000 employees that one of its servers was hacked into and employee personal identity information was stolen.
The FAA was quick to say the server that was accessed was not connected to the operation of the air traffic control system or any other FAA operational system. It did say two of the 48 files on the breached computer server contained personal information about more than 45,000 FAA employees and retirees who were on the FAA's rolls as of the first week of February 2006.
Still, it's impossible to look at this and not think about the power grid, or container port computers, or a million other soft, poorly protected targets. Will this be a wake up call for the FAA? Will be it a wake up call for other government agencies?
Idiot Savant
The brain is a funny thing, automatically associating one thing with other things. Computers are surprisingly bad at this - while really good at brute force, exhaustive searching (for example, IBM's Deep Blue champion chess playing computer), nobody has been able to make a computer that will pass the Turing Test - basically, fool a human into thinking that the computer is another person.
So computers remain Idiot Savants - frighteningly good at a very narrow set of problems, and hopeless at what we would expect from a normally bright child.
For example - and to show that I'm at least comparable to a normally bright child - I saw this on Al Gore's Intarwebz.
My warped brain immediately thought of the old Animaniacs TV show, and the "Mime Time" segment that they would have.
A computer doesn't have a sense of humor, warped or not. It also tends not to do well making associations like this, at least without a lot of programming work. Amazon's "People who bought this also bought these other things" is not an artificial intelligence example; rather, it's tapping into the "Wisdom of Crowds" to let people make the associations. A computer would pick mostly really inappropriate suggestions, like the idiot savant that it is.
So computers remain Idiot Savants - frighteningly good at a very narrow set of problems, and hopeless at what we would expect from a normally bright child.
For example - and to show that I'm at least comparable to a normally bright child - I saw this on Al Gore's Intarwebz.
My warped brain immediately thought of the old Animaniacs TV show, and the "Mime Time" segment that they would have.
A computer doesn't have a sense of humor, warped or not. It also tends not to do well making associations like this, at least without a lot of programming work. Amazon's "People who bought this also bought these other things" is not an artificial intelligence example; rather, it's tapping into the "Wisdom of Crowds" to let people make the associations. A computer would pick mostly really inappropriate suggestions, like the idiot savant that it is.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A ton of posts are coming
Really.
I just don't have any time. Like today, I just got back from work, and now it's time for Blog Talk Radio. Y'all shouldn't be here, you should be there. Or be square. Or Breda will give you The Look. Just sayin'.
Blogging tomorrow. Promise.
I just don't have any time. Like today, I just got back from work, and now it's time for Blog Talk Radio. Y'all shouldn't be here, you should be there. Or be square. Or Breda will give you The Look. Just sayin'.
Blogging tomorrow. Promise.
Monday, February 9, 2009
How do I love thee?
Just click here to find out ...
Another holiday, another spam trying to infect you.
Another holiday, another spam trying to infect you.
So be wary. kthanxbai.Virus authors are attempting to hoodwink unwary and lovestruck internet users with malware that poses as Valentine's Day-related games and email greetings...
Surfers and sysadmins need to be wary of email with such gooey subject lines as "Deeply in love with you", "I Knew I Loved You" and "I Love Being In Love With You". The body text of the malicious emails varies, but generally includes a heart-shaped graphic followed by a link to a website offering up Windows malware in the guise of loved-up applications.
Will Ferrell does not support the troops
Well, he does when they can be a straight man for him. His new on-man Broadway play is sold out while he uses them for cheap gags:
Hat tip, Don Surber.
... near the end of the show things turn tasteless as well. Ferrell/Bush asks the audience for a moment of silence to honor our troops who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the performance I saw, most of the audience members went silent but a few tittered nervously. Who can blame them? This is a comedy show. They were expecting a gag, and they soon got one.Cheap laughs at the expense of men and women who have given everything for their country. Stay classy, Will.
After a few seconds of silence a phone on the stage rings, and everyone laughs. The relief is palpable. Hurrah! That thing about honoring our war dead? It really was just the setup to a joke!
Ferrell/Bush is startled by the noise too, because he's already told us that the phone is just a prop that isn't connected to anything. He picks up the phone, listens for a second and says, "I didn't know 'Annie Get Your Gun' is playing! I love Tom Wopat too!" Then he tells the audience that he was afraid God was calling him on the phone. "Swear to God - I thought I was having a heart attack in my butt hole!"
Hat tip, Don Surber.
Red Light cameras rigged to generate more tickets?
I keep hearing that we need to be more like the sophisticated Europeans. Okey-dokey, let's try this on for size:
And to the argument that it could never happen here, the obvious reply is why? Do you think that we're smarter and more sophisticated than Europeans?
It's no secret that red light cameras are often used to generate more ticket revenue for the cities that implement them, but a scam has been uncovered in Italy that has led to one arrest and 108 investigations over traffic systems being rigged to stop sooner for the sole purpose of ticketing more motorists.There is a very interesting discussion of traffic safety in the comments at Slashdot. As we see more and more communities using red light cameras as a revenue source, we can expect to see higher accident rates - the incentive structure will tend to push communities naturally to shorter yellow light times. This will generate more tickets, although will cause more accidents as drivers slam on their brakes to try to avoid a $200 fine, and get rear-ended. Of course, the costs of the accidents are borne by the public, not the government, so it's all upside for the government.
And to the argument that it could never happen here, the obvious reply is why? Do you think that we're smarter and more sophisticated than Europeans?
It's a Worm's Life in the Royal Navy
Yes, yes, it's supposed to be "dog" and "Today's Army", but it seems that Teredinidae have been joined by more modern, digital cousins:
What's interesting to this is the ability to leverage unpatched security vulnerabilities to directly degrade military assets (as opposed to indirect degradation). This is almost certainly accidental, but demonstrates potential. Expect to see more of this in the future.
This is actually a very good reason for using Linux on military systems. If all you're trying to do is give the Lads a way to get email from home, Ubuntu is more than up to the job. And it has a much lower vulnerability exposure.
A computer virus has attacked the communications network of almost the entire Royal Navy fleet, knocking out e-mails and the internet.It's not just Her Britannic Majesty's Fleet:
It is understood the worm disabled the NavyStar network in up to 75 per cent of the navy's ships last week ...
French fighter planes were unable to take off after military computers were infected by a computer virus, an intelligence magazine claims.In How to Hack a Classified Network I talked about how malware gets on networks that are ostensibly isolated from the Internet. USB thumb drives seem to be a big part of the French infection.
What's interesting to this is the ability to leverage unpatched security vulnerabilities to directly degrade military assets (as opposed to indirect degradation). This is almost certainly accidental, but demonstrates potential. Expect to see more of this in the future.
This is actually a very good reason for using Linux on military systems. If all you're trying to do is give the Lads a way to get email from home, Ubuntu is more than up to the job. And it has a much lower vulnerability exposure.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Andrew Sullivan post worth reading
Srsly.
I haven't read him for years now - he's seemed to get kookier the longer George Bush was in office, but he has a great collection of reactions to theObese Government stimulus bill.
I haven't read him for years now - he's seemed to get kookier the longer George Bush was in office, but he has a great collection of reactions to the
Range Report - Beretta 92
So, we went off to the range, and since I had company, I let them pick what we would shoot. #1 Son chose the UMP-40 - range report forthcoming on that, but picture at the link. We hadn't been able to shoot a Beretta over the holidays with our Italian sister-in-law, and so she wanted to try this one.
Now both my regular readers will recall that I have a bit of a tempestuous relationship with Berettas. The folks at the range mentioned that this isn't the world's greatest rental gun, from their perspective. "Fragile" was the term that they used, although they hastened to add that it's a great personal defense pistol.
I don't know about the fragile bit, but it performed flawlessly for us. Maybe it would be different if we put 10,000 rounds through it, but we didn't have time for that many.
Anyone who's shot one of these knows that it's a large pistol - it has maybe the largest grip of anything I've ever shot before. Noticeably large, and I wondered how #1 Son would do with it. Silly me:
That's not my target, it's his. 30 feet, 14 rounds, slow fire.
The trigger is the military trigger that I don't care for, but seem to be learning how to shoot. There's considerable "take up" as you first start squeezing, and then it becomes pretty obvious that you've taken up all the slack and a little more pressure will release the hammer. It's certainly not accidental, as every Beretta I've shot has this trigger. With practice, it is less distracting, and I daresay that you'd stop noticing after a while. Certainly it didn't hurt his shooting.
The sights are good, black square front post with a white dot provides high contrast. The rear sights were somewhat curved, which I thought not as nice as square, but everything lined up naturally and the groupings were satisfactory.
Since #1 Son doesn't come shooting a lot with me, it's pretty clear that neither the trigger or the sights hurts your accuracy.
Would I buy one? Maybe, after a 1911 and some wheel gun goodness. I certainly would not dismiss it out of hand like I would have six months ago. As I've become (slightly) more experienced, I've started to realize more what is wrong with the gun, and what is wrong with me. A bit humbling, that.
Oh, and the standard disclaimer:
I'm not any kind of gun or shooting expert. I like shooting, and shoot a fair number of different guns, but I'm really a dilettante. Your mileage may vary, void where prohibited.
I don't do scientific, repeatable tests. There's no checklist, although that's not a bad idea. I write about what I like and don't like, but it's pretty much stream of consciousness. Opinion, we got opinion here. Step right up.
I'm not a shooting teacher, although I do like to introduce people to shooting. Maybe some day I'll take the NRA teaching class, but until then, you get a dilettante's view. You'll get opinion here, but if you get serious about shooting, you'll want to get someone who knows what he's doing to give you some pointers. It can help.
And oh yeah, shooting things is fun.
A funny thing happened at the range
I only fired 11 rounds.
Now before you start to nod sympathetically - yeah, I had a pistol like that once, too - let me point out that this was a good thing. You see, we shot 100 rounds.
We, as in plural. #1 Son came with me.
Range report anon.
Now before you start to nod sympathetically - yeah, I had a pistol like that once, too - let me point out that this was a good thing. You see, we shot 100 rounds.
We, as in plural. #1 Son came with me.
Range report anon.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
European Rednecks
When dealing with Americans, Europeans sometimes seem to show their sophistication with the eurosneer. Guaranteed to wilt an east-coast liberal (although admittedly they aren't exactly forged from iron).
It doesn't work on me anymore. I've lived in Europe, and know the dirty secret: they're just as redneck as we are. The only difference is that their redneck is aristocratically commissioned. I have proof.
Via Chad Crayton, there's this demonstration of the American form of redneck.
Now I make no secret of my redneck streak, so all I can say is "heh".
So what does this have to do with Europeans? This:
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This is the Manneken Pis in Brussels. #2 Son was 2 when we went there, and he thought that this was the
shizzleFlippity Floppity Floop. I had to pry him off the fence and carry him away - shrieking at the top of his lungs - when it was time to leave. I guess he liked it.
So, aristocratically commissioned bronze statue from the 14th century - doesn't sound very redneck. Well, how about this? They dress it up every now and then. They have hundreds of outfits for it.
Still not convinced? They hook it up to a beer keg.
Now, I don't mind gettin' a little redneck on. But the next time someone points his eurosneer in your direction, ask him if he's been to the kegger at the Manneken Pis.
It doesn't work on me anymore. I've lived in Europe, and know the dirty secret: they're just as redneck as we are. The only difference is that their redneck is aristocratically commissioned. I have proof.
Via Chad Crayton, there's this demonstration of the American form of redneck.
Now I make no secret of my redneck streak, so all I can say is "heh".So what does this have to do with Europeans? This:
This is the Manneken Pis in Brussels. #2 Son was 2 when we went there, and he thought that this was the
So, aristocratically commissioned bronze statue from the 14th century - doesn't sound very redneck. Well, how about this? They dress it up every now and then. They have hundreds of outfits for it.
Still not convinced? They hook it up to a beer keg.
Now, I don't mind gettin' a little redneck on. But the next time someone points his eurosneer in your direction, ask him if he's been to the kegger at the Manneken Pis.
Porter Wagoner - Committed to Parkview
Porter Wagoner was one of the many country stars - Johnny Cash was another - that didn't get much attention from the Nashville establishment later in life. This is surprising, since Wagoner had a TV show in the 1960s and 1970s. I expect they'd heard of him.
Even though he kept releasing albums almost every year, few attracted much attention after the 1970s. This is too bad, because he was a great influence on country music. Anyone who could get Dolly Parton to write I Will Always Love You is a pretty good influence. Just sayin'.
This is Porter singing Johnny Cash's Committed to Parkview, filmed 4 months before Wagoner's death from Lung Cancer in October 2007. Wagoner sports his trademark flashy jacket, although he is clearly not in good health.
Committed to Parkview (songwriter: Johnny Cash)
Even though he kept releasing albums almost every year, few attracted much attention after the 1970s. This is too bad, because he was a great influence on country music. Anyone who could get Dolly Parton to write I Will Always Love You is a pretty good influence. Just sayin'.
This is Porter singing Johnny Cash's Committed to Parkview, filmed 4 months before Wagoner's death from Lung Cancer in October 2007. Wagoner sports his trademark flashy jacket, although he is clearly not in good health.
Committed to Parkview (songwriter: Johnny Cash)
There's a man across the hall who sits staring at the floor
He thinks he's Hank Williams hear him singing through the door
There's a girl in 203, who stops by to visit me
And she talks about her songs and the star that she should be
There are lots of special people staying in or passing through
And for one thing or another, committed to Parkview
There's a girl in 307, coming down on thorazine
And a superstar's ex-drummer trying to kick Benzedrine
There's a boy just below me who's the son of some well-known
He was brought in by his mother 'cause his daddy's always gone
There's a bum from down on Broadway and a few quite well to do's
Who have withdrawn from the rat race and committed to Parkview
There's a girl who cries above me, loud enough to wake the dead
They don't know what she has taken that has scrambled up her head
There's a writer and a singer who has tried and tried and tried
They just brought him in this morning an attempted suicide
There are those that never made it, those that did but now are through
Some came of their own good chosing,some committed to Parkview
They wake us about 6:30, just before the morning meal
While they're taking blood pressure, they ask us how we feel
And i always say fantastic there ain't nothing wrong with me
And then they give me my injection and i go right back to sleep
The days are kind of foggy and the nights are dreamy too
But they're taking good care of me, committed to Parkview
Friday, February 6, 2009
Fun with maps, new shooter edition
Mulligan has a map that you should look at. Especially new shooters wondering who's out there who will take them shooting.
Added to the blogroll. Check him out, and let him know if you want a virtual push pin of your very own!
Added to the blogroll. Check him out, and let him know if you want a virtual push pin of your very own!
CNN installs a Trojan Horse on your computer
This sounds harsh, but it's true. If you watch live streaming video from CNN over Al Gore's Intarwebz, CNN installs software on your computer that will let them transfer files around without you knowing.
Never mind that they're potentially costing you money with all the bandwidth they might use. This cannot be anything other than pre-meditated:
1. It uses a false promise to trick the user into installing a program that the user doesn't need or want. Security folks call this a "Trojan Horse", after the story from The Iliad. It doesn't contain what you think it does.
2. The license agreement isn't available to read until you've already clicked "Yes" to install. Click-through license agreements aren't rocket science, and the legal beagles work extra hard to make sure that you don't use them wrong. Ergo, the legal beagles likely wanted it this way.
3. The license agreement prohibits you from watching what their software does. Never mind the question what are they trying to hide; the key question is when did their lawyers know that they had to hide something?
This is the worst case of Big Company malware since the Sony music CD rootkit. Actually, it seems worse - there's more appearance of malice aforethought, and what their trojan horse does can cost their "users" real cash money.
And oh yeah, the software's full of security bugs, too. So now the l33t d00dZ can take it over and use it for their purposes. Protected by CNN's license agreement, which restricts your firewall, monitoring, and anti-virus.
Watch 'em at your own risk. Me, I'll watch something else.
Many people who watched live streaming video of the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama on Jan. 20 may not realize that their PC was used to send the video to other PCs, too.Sounds like malware to me. It doesn't seem to matter that it's a big time media company, and not some l33t d00dZ. It's worse, in fact. Not only do they try to trick you into installing something that you don't actually need to watch the feed, their click-through license agreement prevents you from protecting yourself:
Clicking "yes" to a CNN.com dialog box installed a peer-to-peer (P2P) application that uses your Internet bandwidth rather than CNN's to send live video to other viewers.
CNN's use of software called Octoshape presents an incredibly abusive EULA. If you agree to the EULA, you agree that CNN can use your bandwidth, and that you will pay any costs. Also, you lose the right to monitor your own network traffic. You can't even use information collected by your own firewall. Quoting the EULA: 'You may not collect any information about communication in the network of computers that are operating the Software or about the other users of the Software by monitoring, interdicting or intercepting any process of the Software. Octoshape recognizes that firewalls and anti-virus applications can collect such information, in which case you not are allowed to use or distribute such information.'This is double-plus uncool. Network traffic monitoring is one of the basic pillars of security. So are firewalls and anti-virus programs. This says that you can possibly be sued if you use them.
Never mind that they're potentially costing you money with all the bandwidth they might use. This cannot be anything other than pre-meditated:
1. It uses a false promise to trick the user into installing a program that the user doesn't need or want. Security folks call this a "Trojan Horse", after the story from The Iliad. It doesn't contain what you think it does.
2. The license agreement isn't available to read until you've already clicked "Yes" to install. Click-through license agreements aren't rocket science, and the legal beagles work extra hard to make sure that you don't use them wrong. Ergo, the legal beagles likely wanted it this way.
3. The license agreement prohibits you from watching what their software does. Never mind the question what are they trying to hide; the key question is when did their lawyers know that they had to hide something?
This is the worst case of Big Company malware since the Sony music CD rootkit. Actually, it seems worse - there's more appearance of malice aforethought, and what their trojan horse does can cost their "users" real cash money.
And oh yeah, the software's full of security bugs, too. So now the l33t d00dZ can take it over and use it for their purposes. Protected by CNN's license agreement, which restricts your firewall, monitoring, and anti-virus.
Watch 'em at your own risk. Me, I'll watch something else.
Demons
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.I'm scared of demons. Not the metaphorical ones - the one that people say whispers just one more martini in your ear. Those are allegories, and allegory can't hurt you.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
Matthew 6:22-23
I've seen real demons, in someone's eyes, the window to their soul. Something is strange, and then there's a realization that something's there. Literally, the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and time slowed down as adrenaline flooded my system. My dog growled, and then fled. I don't blame him; I would have fled myself if I could have.
In ancient times, the poor unfortunate might have an exorcism performed. If he survived, he might be better, or maybe just ostracized from the community. In ancient times, that was probably a death sentence, only crueler and slower than the exorcism.
Today, we have psychiatrists, and what can only be described as wonder drugs. I remember ancient times, back around 1970. A man described how Lithium changed his life. But Lithium was delivered as a salt, because that was the only way the body could absorb it. I wonder how his life went, with the Lithium salts slowly poisoning his system. Now that I've seen a demon myself, I guess it beat the alternative. The drugs are a lot better now, but nobody quite seems to really understand what goes on with brain chemistry.
I remember how people talked about the "weird kid". It's better now, but not a lot. The worst is the realization that there's still that person that you know inside their body, but they're not there right then. The demon has pushed them aside. Shivering, afraid, trapped in a body controlled by a power not from this world.
Well I don't mean to be complainin' Lord
You've always seen me through
And I know you got your reasons
For each and every thing you do
But tonight outside my window
There's a lonesome mournful sound
And I just can't keep from thinkin'
'Bout the ones the wolves pull down
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Lies, damned lies, and statistics
I don't have a problem with scientists being wrong. This happens rather a lot - a wag once described the Scientific Method as not being the process of replacing a falsehood with a truth, but rather replacing a falsehood with a more subtle falsehood.
So scientists are wrong, all the time, for all sorts of reasons. As grown-ups, we need to set our expectations accordingly.
Sometimes scientists are wrong because they lie. They do this for all sorts of reasons, but it boils down to fame, fortune, or political gain. As grown-ups, we need to once again set our expectations accordingly.
Your expectations should be permanently set to "show me your data," because this way you can catch both honest and dishonest mistakes. Science is, after all, about reproducibility. Your theory can be beautiful, but if nobody else can get your results, all you have is Cold Fusion*.
Me, I get really suspicious when someone won't publish the data. I get double-plus extra crazy suspicious when the data-gone-AWOL result is a major media story, and my suspiciousmeter gets pegged when this major story has an obvious political agenda.
Both my regular readers have seen me post about how the Global Warming scare is junk science, and almost certainly politically motivated. This bothers me - actually makes me angry - not just because someone's trying to sell me a bill of goods, but because they think I'm dumb enough that they can sell me.
Data, dude. Or later, dude.
Sometimes the scientific community takes notice, and the results are simply glorious. You may recall that back in 2004 - surprisingly, right before the election - the medical journal The Lancet published a bombshell report on civilian deaths in the Iraq war. The report claimed many, many more civilian deaths than anyone else had counted, and laid the blame squarely on the Bush administration.
My Suspiciousmeter was pegged, and I wasn't the only one:
Fortunately, science is not completely politicized, and real, you know, scientists did what scientists do, and looked at the methodology:
McArdle is pretty careful in how she presents the story:
Let me say again, that I don't care if they're wrong, because scientists are wrong all the time. I sure as heck mind - a lot - when lousy science gets used as a club to beat political opponents.
* UPDATE 7 February 2009 10:00: Jed Rothwell points out in a comment that Cold Fusion, despite its controversal introduction, is a heavily studied field, with thousands of published papers. Real data.
So scientists are wrong, all the time, for all sorts of reasons. As grown-ups, we need to set our expectations accordingly.
Sometimes scientists are wrong because they lie. They do this for all sorts of reasons, but it boils down to fame, fortune, or political gain. As grown-ups, we need to once again set our expectations accordingly.
Your expectations should be permanently set to "show me your data," because this way you can catch both honest and dishonest mistakes. Science is, after all, about reproducibility. Your theory can be beautiful, but if nobody else can get your results, all you have is Cold Fusion*.
Me, I get really suspicious when someone won't publish the data. I get double-plus extra crazy suspicious when the data-gone-AWOL result is a major media story, and my suspiciousmeter gets pegged when this major story has an obvious political agenda.
Both my regular readers have seen me post about how the Global Warming scare is junk science, and almost certainly politically motivated. This bothers me - actually makes me angry - not just because someone's trying to sell me a bill of goods, but because they think I'm dumb enough that they can sell me.
Data, dude. Or later, dude.
Sometimes the scientific community takes notice, and the results are simply glorious. You may recall that back in 2004 - surprisingly, right before the election - the medical journal The Lancet published a bombshell report on civilian deaths in the Iraq war. The report claimed many, many more civilian deaths than anyone else had counted, and laid the blame squarely on the Bush administration.
My Suspiciousmeter was pegged, and I wasn't the only one:
First, even without reading the study, alarm bells should go off. The study purports to show civilian casualties 5 to 6 times higher than any other reputable source. Most other sources put total combined civilian and military deaths from all causes at between 15,000 to 20,000. The Lancet study is a degree of magnitude higher. Why the difference?And guess what? The authors wouldn't release the data. Imagine that. Just like Mann and his global warming "Hockey Stick."
Fortunately, science is not completely politicized, and real, you know, scientists did what scientists do, and looked at the methodology:
David Kane, Institute Fellow at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University has authored a paper, soon to be presented, that demonstrates using detailed statistics just how deceptive (my adjective) the original study was.Well, the wheels of science grind slowly but exceedingly fine. The author of The Lancet study has just been censured:
Gilbert Burnham, the lead author of two papers published in The Lancet on civilian casualties in Iraq, has been censured by the American Association for Public Opinion Research for failing to provide adequate details about the survey.Not for being wrong. For hiding the data.
McArdle is pretty careful in how she presents the story:
Just to be clear: I have no reason to think that Burnham or any of the Hopkins team committed knowing fraud, as some have alleged. I don't know that there is anything wrong with their data. But the secrecy seems bizarre and wholly unnecessary, which makes it harder to trust their results.Quite frankly, I don't agree - I vote for "fraud" here. Because they won't fully disclose their data and methodology. Reader Greg Q in McArdle's comments hammers this point home:
Peer review is nothing (well,OK, it's something, but not a lot). What is something is reproduceability.I have no reason to think that Burnham or any of the Hopkins team committed knowing fraud, as some have alleged.
Wrong. You have every reason to think they committed knowing fraud. Their refusal to release the information tells you that their "research" was crap, and that they know it.
Releasing the information, and having it prove that they were in error, would show an absence of "knowing" fraud. In science, the only reason to refuse to release your information is because you've engaged in knowing fraud.
Wasn't this fraud "peer reviewed"? Everyone involved in its release should be tracked down, and held to account.
Let me say again, that I don't care if they're wrong, because scientists are wrong all the time. I sure as heck mind - a lot - when lousy science gets used as a club to beat political opponents.
* UPDATE 7 February 2009 10:00: Jed Rothwell points out in a comment that Cold Fusion, despite its controversal introduction, is a heavily studied field, with thousands of published papers. Real data.
Quote of the Day
From Megan McArdle, on the magic unicorn delay falling popularity that has hit the new administration, so soon in its tenure:
Everyone is more likeable when they're promising you stuff, especially when they tell you that the stuff they're promising has few costs. Then they start actually trying to dispense the stuff, and it's, y'know, complicated, and it turns out that you're not in magical fairy ponyland where beautiful gifts fall out of the sky--you're in the grim wasteland of real bills that the CBO will tell people are more expensive than you've been claiming, and involve actual real live people giving something up.Now, I have it on good authority that the Unicorns who pee high-test into your tank won't be showing up. The reason is that they fart rainbows, and rainbows have been classified a Greenhouse Gas by Obama's EPA.
Diligence
What's not important? What is? How someone analyses the world, and chooses what to pay attention to - and more importantly, what not to pay attention to - tells you a lot. Observation of what is happening today will tell you what to expect tomorrow.
Ruling Democratic Party. So there wasn't too many "have you paid your taxes" checking done.
In other words, it's not important. We'll probably see more of this.
So what is important?
Asking the appointees this:
I suspect that the answer is "ideology". A corrupt Democratic politician can be a reliable vote for the administration. An honest one can be problematic when the votes are tallied.
It looks like we're seeing which butters more parsnips in the White House.
In other new of the obvious, the sun set in the west today.
You can observe a lot, just by looking. - Yogi BerraWhat's pretty clearly not very important to the Obama administration? How about paying their taxes?
The news that the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension committee has postponed consideration of Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis because her husband only yesterday paid off tax liens, some of which had been pending for up to 16 years, confirms that there's an inexplicable, widespread problem in the Obama vetting process ...Or how about paying their taxes?
Fine, it was tricky and he got bad tax advice - not a real resume boost for a former Under-Secretary of Treasury aspiring to the top job, but there it is. However, as of 2006 he knew he had a liability for 2001 and 2002 - where was his check? Was his conscience unruffled by his non-compliance? Or does Geithner have a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on back taxes?Or maybe paying taxes?
Ms. Killefer, 55 years old, failed to pay employment taxes on household help for a year and a half, the Associated Press reported. In 2005, the AP said, the District of Columbia filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay the unemployment compensation tax.Observation of this - and of the Bill Richardson and Tom Daschle influence-for-money escapades - is a pretty strong indicator that the Administration turns a blind eye to transgressions by members of the
In other words, it's not important. We'll probably see more of this.
So what is important?
Asking the appointees this:
Tucked in at the end of the questionnaire and listed under “Miscellaneous,” it reads: “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.”That's a lot of questions, just to find out if a potential appointee has some heat. Why?
I suspect that the answer is "ideology". A corrupt Democratic politician can be a reliable vote for the administration. An honest one can be problematic when the votes are tallied.
It looks like we're seeing which butters more parsnips in the White House.
In other new of the obvious, the sun set in the west today.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Star Trek nerds read this now
Please.
It can save you from a lifetime of screwage.
Yes, I know what a Batleth is. And yes, I'm totally screwed.
It can save you from a lifetime of screwage.
Yes, I know what a Batleth is. And yes, I'm totally screwed.
Speed cameras are a scam, but this is ridiculous
At least speed cameras are a scam by the government. Seems some freelancers are leaving flyers on people's windshields, citing them for a parking violation, and directing them to a website that serves up malware:
The "antivirus" program? It's a virus.
As more people become comfortable doing business with the government online, this is an interesting opportunity for scammers. If the government's web sites have lousy security, this is a target rich environment.
Oh, and there are some real, above board online antivirus scanners. Free.
I had the opportunity to examine malware whose initial infection vector was a car windshield flier with a website address. The malicious programs were run-of-the-mill; however, the use of fliers was an innovative way of social-engineering potential victims into visiting a malicious website. Several days ago, yellow fliers were placed on the cards in Grand Forks, ND. They stated:The malware exploits a vulnerability in Internet Explorer (so don't use it, mkay?), and directs the browser to a site offering a "free virus scan". Surprise! You have spyware! I particularly like the multiple exclamation points!!!!1!PARKING VIOLATION This vehicle is in violation of standard parking regulations. To view pictures with information about your parking preferences, go to [website-redacted]
The "antivirus" program? It's a virus.
As more people become comfortable doing business with the government online, this is an interesting opportunity for scammers. If the government's web sites have lousy security, this is a target rich environment.
Oh, and there are some real, above board online antivirus scanners. Free.
A Real Man isn't afraid of a little vermouth
Just sayin'.
Personally, I prefer 5:1 Gin:Vermouth. Stirred (not shaken, thank you very much) - shaking it gets you ice crystals that spoil the crystal-clear anticipation.
And extra olives. Not a Martini without olives. I like the Blue Cheese stuffed ones.
With my libertarian outlook, I'll let you call it a "martini" even if you use Vodka. I'll never call it that, but hey, let a thousand flowers bloom!
Via the Corner.
Personally, I prefer 5:1 Gin:Vermouth. Stirred (not shaken, thank you very much) - shaking it gets you ice crystals that spoil the crystal-clear anticipation.
And extra olives. Not a Martini without olives. I like the Blue Cheese stuffed ones.
With my libertarian outlook, I'll let you call it a "martini" even if you use Vodka. I'll never call it that, but hey, let a thousand flowers bloom!
Via the Corner.
Infidelity in the insect world
Via 13 Crows.
Of course, there's the great Far Side cartoon where one housewife Praying mantis is talking to her neighbor:
I don’t know what you are insinuating Jane - but I haven’t seen your Harold all day - besides, surely you know that I would only devour my own husband!I have a weird sense of humor ...
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
So how's that Oz gun control working out for you?
A year ago, the Oz.Gov forced hundreds of thousands of its citizens to turn in their guns. So violent crime much have plummeted, right?
Err, no.
Look, love you guys down under, but sheesh. This ain't rocket science, guys.
Oh, and while you're over there at Wirecutter's place, the post immediately after the one linked to here is pretty darn funny.
Err, no.
The first year results are now in:Seems that the criminal element missed the memo. Didn't see that coming.
Australia-wide, homicides are up 6.2 percent,
Australia-wide, assaults are up 9.6 percent;
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent.
Look, love you guys down under, but sheesh. This ain't rocket science, guys.
Oh, and while you're over there at Wirecutter's place, the post immediately after the one linked to here is pretty darn funny.
Now that's a Full Service government web portal
Office hours, upcoming neighborhood meetings, where to find sexy escorts ...
It's a pretty interesting story, and highlights how the Bad Guys adapt to changing defenses - in this case, to "web filtering" which blocks access to some of the seamier parts of Al Gore's Intarwebz:
If you’re seeking smut, you only need go as far at present as the leafy green home pages of West Wittering Parish Council. Or there's Worcestershire County Council’s Healthy Schools Forum which, in an area dedicated to "internet safety", advises visitors on where to find "sexy escorts", before inviting them into a chat room to talk with "sexy girls".A quick clarification for readers here in the colonies, "council" refers to the local government in the UK, which is typically much bigger than city governments here on our side of the pond.
It's a pretty interesting story, and highlights how the Bad Guys adapt to changing defenses - in this case, to "web filtering" which blocks access to some of the seamier parts of Al Gore's Intarwebz:
If some of the forum counts are to be believed, these posts – over 1,000 related to porn alone - were being actively browsed. West Wittering’s innocuous little website had been infiltrated and was now host to an international porn business.
Why? Because as filtering becomes cleverer, those behind such business have almost certainly calculated that sheltering behind a ".gov.uk" designation may keep them safer for longer than if they stay public.
Violent video games linked to breast feeding
Really.
Of course, it's exactly what you'd think - correlation is not causation, combined with more than a little tongue-in-cheek.
The moral? It your data and methodology are suspect, so are your conclusions. In other news, it snows in New England in the winter.
And yes, there really is actual research on the subject of video games and violence in kids. You'll never guess what it says.
Of course, it's exactly what you'd think - correlation is not causation, combined with more than a little tongue-in-cheek.
Today I decided to conduct an experiment. I started calling people I knew, and I asked if they had one or more video games in the house. Then I asked if they breast-fed their children. To my great shock, most answered "yes" to both. One couple I contacted switched to formula after their child's birth, and told me that they didn't play video games. The data, based on my first round of calls, was conclusive: if you play video games, you are much more likely to breast-feed your children.Just remember this the next time someone tells you that you're 43 times more likely to shoot your kids than a home invader.
The moral? It your data and methodology are suspect, so are your conclusions. In other news, it snows in New England in the winter.
And yes, there really is actual research on the subject of video games and violence in kids. You'll never guess what it says.
7 things that are legal
And awesome. Starting with flamethrowers. Just because.
Cracked.com has 7 things that they can't believe are legal. They must run with a different crowd than I do.
They also have Tannerite, for all your spring cleaning needs. Like when you really, really need to wipe the data off of that hard disk. Maybe we should get some for the next blogshoot?
Cracked.com has 7 things that they can't believe are legal. They must run with a different crowd than I do.
They also have Tannerite, for all your spring cleaning needs. Like when you really, really need to wipe the data off of that hard disk. Maybe we should get some for the next blogshoot?
You have your snowmen, and we have ours
Some people are, well, normal. With normal snowmen.
Others are inspired by a different muse.
It seems that some folks created some Calvin and Hobbes snowmen, and took pictures. Three's a whole set, but I like the "Gulliver's Travels" theme.
#1 Son took to Calvin and Hobbes when he was around 6 years old. Pretty funny, that. Worrisome, but funny.
Others are inspired by a different muse.
It seems that some folks created some Calvin and Hobbes snowmen, and took pictures. Three's a whole set, but I like the "Gulliver's Travels" theme.#1 Son took to Calvin and Hobbes when he was around 6 years old. Pretty funny, that. Worrisome, but funny.
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Cycle
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. When you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
-Buddhist saying
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call to make, who would you call and what would you say?
And why are you waiting?
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call to make, who would you call and what would you say?
And why are you waiting?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Super Bowl XLIII
Currently tied. Pepsi and Doritos have the best ads. Bud Light is a distant third, not because the ads are bad, but because they're predictable.
It seems like there's a lot of unsold ad time - lots of promos and movie stuff.
Update 1 February 2009 20:00: Oh yeah, there's a game, too. Great interception return to end the half.
The 3-D "Monsters vs. Aliens" thing was lame. #2 Son liked it, though - he's more the target demographic.
Update 20:15: Maybe it's just me, but Springfield seems pretty tired. The music, not him.
Update 20:26: Acela? Dodge Employee Pricing? Whatever happened to Super Bowl ads?
Update: 20:39: Bridgestone's lunar buggie with stolen tires is pretty funny. So's the Monster.com one with the moose.
Update 21:24: Giving up on the ads, which are astonishingly boring. The game's not bad, though.
Update 21:51: This is one of the more exciting Super Bowls. And I can't ever remember a safety, in any Super Bowl.
But can I please ask Danica Patrick to stick to driving?
It seems like there's a lot of unsold ad time - lots of promos and movie stuff.
Update 1 February 2009 20:00: Oh yeah, there's a game, too. Great interception return to end the half.
The 3-D "Monsters vs. Aliens" thing was lame. #2 Son liked it, though - he's more the target demographic.
Update 20:15: Maybe it's just me, but Springfield seems pretty tired. The music, not him.
Update 20:26: Acela? Dodge Employee Pricing? Whatever happened to Super Bowl ads?
Update: 20:39: Bridgestone's lunar buggie with stolen tires is pretty funny. So's the Monster.com one with the moose.
Update 21:24: Giving up on the ads, which are astonishingly boring. The game's not bad, though.
Update 21:51: This is one of the more exciting Super Bowls. And I can't ever remember a safety, in any Super Bowl.
But can I please ask Danica Patrick to stick to driving?
Wind and Tide
There are two types of boaters: those that have run aground, and those who will run aground.- Anonymous
Alderney is one of the Channel Islands - the last relic of Henry the Second's Angevin Empire, when England and most of France were united under a single crown. It's separated from the Cherbourg Peninsula by a seven mile stretch of water known as the Alderney Race, which is a very odd name indeed. It comes from the age when ships sailed with sails, when a safe landfall depended on how skillfully you captured the wind with canvas, and especially how you used the tide to your advantage.
The Cherbourg peninsula cuts roughly half way through the English Channel, blocking the tidal flow. This gives monsterous tides at Mont St. Michel, the picturesque jewel in the crown of the french tourism industry. But the tide is the tide, and water seeks its own level, so the monster high tide at Mont St. Michel has to flow somewhere, and that somewhere is north. Since that's where the Channel Islands are, the tide is squeezed into the Aldernay Race, where it can flow as fast as ten knots.
I came through the Alderney race last week on the flood at springs - an interesting experience! We were coming from Dielette heading for the UK, motoring at around 5 kts against a modest 10kt northerly breeze. Coming abreast of Cap de Hague, our 5 kts through the water became a steady 13kts otg, and the wind was therefore in the low twenties on the nose. The excitement was in the seas which were around 2 1/2 metres peak to trough, very short (around a boat length between peaks) and confused - coming from all directions. The ride was real fairground stuff with the boat being pointed skywards and then dropped nose first into the bottom of the next wave - sometimes straight, sometimes rolling corkscrew fashion. The ride lasted for about half an hour before we got back to normality.That's pretty impressive today, when ships have engines. The first time I took the boat through Wood's Hole, I was glad not only for lookouts, but for lookouts that had made the voyage before. Wood's Hole also has tricky tides, but they only run 5 knots or so, and my boat can make thirty, so there was power to spare.
Not so for Admiral Sir John Balchin and his 1100 men. All they had was canvas, and rope, and muscle to work the lines, and it wasn't enough. A gale combined with the tides to push their ship onto the rocks. As Nigel Calder, in his great book The English Channel, says:
The object gleaming white in the hazy shunshine, away to the north, is not a ship, but the Casquets rocks, as in caskets or coffins. They rank high among the English Channel's assassins.The wreck of the H.M.S. Victory has been found - no, not the flagship of Admiral Horatio "Kiss me, Hardy" Nelson, which is in permanent drydock in Portsmouth, England. This version pre-dated Nelson by sixty years, and met her fate in 1744.
The sea casts a spell on you. The true seasickness isn't the green-behind-the-gills sort, but is a longing for new horizons, new ports, new people. But that wine-dark sea, or peaceful bay hides a terrible power, that will claim fools even with engines and GPS and Chartplotters.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psalms, 107:23-30, KJV
Responsibility
The 1980s were a painful decade for American Manufacturing. Leveraged buy-outs broke up large conglomerates, as Wall Street found that the value of the pieces were greater than the value of the whole. The Japanese were on a roll, and breathless articles in the press reported that a Japanese worker could stop the assembly line to fix a problem, right then, without asking permission. The Japanese even had a word for the philosophy of building quality products: Monozukuri.
Despite books touting the inevitable superiority of the Japanese method - like The Japan That Can Say 'No' - American companies were mostly up to the challenge. Responsibility - and more importantly, authority - have been pushed down the chain of command to levels undreamed of back in the dark days of 1982. Despite Detroit's current troubles, there's simply no question that today's cars are a much higher quality product than the K-Car.
There's a whole discipline that has grown up around this, which famously goes back to Edward Deming, and less famously back to Henry Ford and the "American Model" of manufacturing. It involves quantitative monitoring of inputs and outputs, and in particular the number of defects.
The critical part of the process is analyzing that measured output, and figuring out how to do better. This becomes the input into an improved plan which will result is better quality - and lower cost - in future production runs.
In other words, it's not a linear process, it's a loop. It doesn't work without everyone involved having the authority that goes with the responsibility.
The lack of any equivalent to this process is the most striking difference between the private sector and the government. In a sense, government structures seem caught in a time warp - like a prehistoric insect frozen in amber, it's a reflection of cutting edge theory from 1912. Centralization rules. The lowest levels have precisely no authority.
This has nothing to do with which party is in power; while they argue over the relative size of government (at least in theory), neither seriously tries to change how the government factory produces its product. The reason is the flip side of responsibility, blame.
A private company is driven by the desire for profit, and so will take calculated risks to increase its bottom line. Some of those risks pay off, and some don't. The Venture Capital industry famously is looking for "Ten Bagger" startups - companies that will return them ten times in profits what was invested. The VC needs this, because most startups fail, taking the entire investment with them.
The people running government agencies can't improve their bottom line - profit isn't the yardstick that they're measured by. Blame is. When I was a wee lad, just starting work at Three Letter Intelligence Agency, they taught me the "Washington Post Rule":
The result is levels of service that would rapidly drive a private company out of business. Think about the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is not far removed from a Kafka novel. The real reason that the Soviet Union collapsed is not the brutal murder of millions of its people, or the mind rape of the rest, but because the organs of power were too risk adverse to keep up with the West.
Bill Bryson, in his 1991 book Neither here nor there, describes traveling to 1980s Sofia and finding an entire country run by the DMV:
Except it does. The left likes to tell us that we should be more like Europe, with its "Third Way" approach to government-guided progress. So how does that work out?
Really? Is our government less risk adverse than the UK government? More willing to delegate authority down the chain of command? Less inclined to mutter mistakes were made as they turn their faces away from a government-created mess? More willing to create a process loop that continually improves the product?
[Crickets chirping]
Now I don't much trust Tony Blair - NuLabor looks to be screwing up in a big way, but he at least does pose the question to those on the left:
A social model that doesn't understand the meaning of monozukiri. Or responsibility.
Despite books touting the inevitable superiority of the Japanese method - like The Japan That Can Say 'No' - American companies were mostly up to the challenge. Responsibility - and more importantly, authority - have been pushed down the chain of command to levels undreamed of back in the dark days of 1982. Despite Detroit's current troubles, there's simply no question that today's cars are a much higher quality product than the K-Car.
There's a whole discipline that has grown up around this, which famously goes back to Edward Deming, and less famously back to Henry Ford and the "American Model" of manufacturing. It involves quantitative monitoring of inputs and outputs, and in particular the number of defects.The critical part of the process is analyzing that measured output, and figuring out how to do better. This becomes the input into an improved plan which will result is better quality - and lower cost - in future production runs.
In other words, it's not a linear process, it's a loop. It doesn't work without everyone involved having the authority that goes with the responsibility.
The lack of any equivalent to this process is the most striking difference between the private sector and the government. In a sense, government structures seem caught in a time warp - like a prehistoric insect frozen in amber, it's a reflection of cutting edge theory from 1912. Centralization rules. The lowest levels have precisely no authority.
This has nothing to do with which party is in power; while they argue over the relative size of government (at least in theory), neither seriously tries to change how the government factory produces its product. The reason is the flip side of responsibility, blame.
A private company is driven by the desire for profit, and so will take calculated risks to increase its bottom line. Some of those risks pay off, and some don't. The Venture Capital industry famously is looking for "Ten Bagger" startups - companies that will return them ten times in profits what was invested. The VC needs this, because most startups fail, taking the entire investment with them.
The people running government agencies can't improve their bottom line - profit isn't the yardstick that they're measured by. Blame is. When I was a wee lad, just starting work at Three Letter Intelligence Agency, they taught me the "Washington Post Rule":
Anything you read in the Washington Post about this Agency, is bad for this Agency.Government is institutionally risk-adverse, because ultimately it is a political creature. Yes, we all complain about pork spending, but it's not clear that massive pork can win an election; it is clear that massive blame can cost an election.
The result is levels of service that would rapidly drive a private company out of business. Think about the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is not far removed from a Kafka novel. The real reason that the Soviet Union collapsed is not the brutal murder of millions of its people, or the mind rape of the rest, but because the organs of power were too risk adverse to keep up with the West.
Bill Bryson, in his 1991 book Neither here nor there, describes traveling to 1980s Sofia and finding an entire country run by the DMV:
When they opened, most shops posted some beefy sourpus in the doorway who would let customers in one at a time. The shelves were always bare. Things were sold straight out of a crate on the floor by the till, and presumably when the crate was empty the door was locked and the rest of the queue was sent away. I watched one woman come out of a baker's with a small loaf of bread and immediately join another long queue at a bucher's next door. They must have to do this every day with everything they buy. What a life.The best argument for the left's lack of perception and sophistication is their touching belief that this only happens to other people, in other places. Bulgaria, old chap. What would you expect, eh? Never happen here.
Except it does. The left likes to tell us that we should be more like Europe, with its "Third Way" approach to government-guided progress. So how does that work out?
UK Nurse Suspended for offering to pray for patient.Having lived in the UK, I can only explain American liberal's support for government health care as being driven by ignorance. The UK press is simply full of this sort of thing, like the time a woman gave birth in a hospital restroom, and the nurses refused to help her:
I first saw this in the Times (Baby's birth and death in lavatory of hospital with no trained staff), but there is a considerably more detailed account in This Is London (Mother forced to give birth alone in toilet of 'flagship' NHS hospital) (A very similar account appeared in the Daily Mail.)Never happen here.
Really? Is our government less risk adverse than the UK government? More willing to delegate authority down the chain of command? Less inclined to mutter mistakes were made as they turn their faces away from a government-created mess? More willing to create a process loop that continually improves the product?
[Crickets chirping]
Now I don't much trust Tony Blair - NuLabor looks to be screwing up in a big way, but he at least does pose the question to those on the left:
What type of social model is it that has 20 million unemployed in Europe, productivity rates falling behind those of the USA; that is allowing more science graduates to be produced by India than by Europe; and that, on any relative index of a modern economy -- skills, research and development, patents, IT, is going down not up.A centralized, bureaucratic, top-down relic of the Jurassic, that has an infinite tolerance for mistakes were made excuses, and which lacks any mechanism to self-correct.
A social model that doesn't understand the meaning of monozukiri. Or responsibility.
After Action Report
#1 Son drove me to Home Depot. He did fine.
So did I.
Maybe this whole learning to drive thing will be OK.
So did I.
Maybe this whole learning to drive thing will be OK.
Your place on the food chain
Brigid describes it:
There, crouching over the remains of that magnificent 12 point buck was a dark shadow, merged onto my kill, hunched over the ribcage, dark on darkness where I couldn't tell where one shadow began and another ended. Something uttered a deep throated growl at me. A warning. This was not some cute woodland creature from a PETA ad. The stink of something primordial was in the air, more than blood, less than my own fear and I knew that I was moving downward quickly on the food chain.This is one of her best, and that says a lot.
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