It's For Teh Childrenz®
Via Theo.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Is your car running funny?
Want to get it fixed? Try rebooting first:
And this isn't just the usual Luddite carping you've all come to expect; this is my considered opinion as someone who has spent his career in a field (Internet Security) that wouldn't even exist without a bumper crop of computer bugs, refreshed with each new product release. If people were better at designing programs, I'd have a different job.
Business is good.
So if your car suddenly starts acting funny, my advice as Ashok the Tech Support droid is to pull over and reboot. Depending on your car's Operating System, of course.*
* You know, the System you are Operating.
This is the reason why I will never use a car autopilot, when they become available. The software is too stupid, brittle, and easily caught in esoteric edge cases to trust my safety to. I may not have the choice if my flight is on an Airbus, but I can draw the line at my own ride.
My car seemed to behave itself for about two blocks, and then completely stopped responding to input. For five terrifying seconds, I was trapped on the train tracks idling forward at 2kph wondering if I would regain control in time to avoid becoming street pizza.
A few moments of adrenaline later and the car picked right back up, giving me enough oomph to pull into the nearest parking lot. After my nerves had calmed down I finished the journey to the dealership; the car naturally behaved perfectly fine as soon as I pulled onto the lot.
...
The mechanic ran a pile of diagnostics and came back to me with results that shocked me - the problem was, more or less, a computer error.
And this isn't just the usual Luddite carping you've all come to expect; this is my considered opinion as someone who has spent his career in a field (Internet Security) that wouldn't even exist without a bumper crop of computer bugs, refreshed with each new product release. If people were better at designing programs, I'd have a different job.
Business is good.
So if your car suddenly starts acting funny, my advice as Ashok the Tech Support droid is to pull over and reboot. Depending on your car's Operating System, of course.*
* You know, the System you are Operating.
The Stupid Party
Can't argue with any of this:
It's like the old Bourbon monarchs, restored to the trefoil throne after the Revolution: they had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.
At this point, the RNC believes that if they could just have Bush, without the "rage" against him; that everything would be perfect.I stand by my statement that I will vote for Obama before I vote for Romney. Chris just lays out the same argument in a different style than I did. The RNC doesn't get it that I see them as more dangerous than Obama's crowd.
In Romney, the RNC believes they have their "perfect" guy.
Romney has that same tractability, reliance on advisers and advice, and most of the loyalty to individuals and the organization that Bush had (though not as absolute by any means); without the unfortunate tendency to use the wrong word at the wrong time, or piss people off just by opening his mouth... or for that matter... breathing.
They could not be more wrong...
Oh, they've got the guy they want; and he is exactly that. They're completely right about that part. They're getting exactly what they think they need... Exactly what they want...
The problem is, they want the wrong thing.
They're firmly convinced that so long as they can shape the image, and the message, of the Romney campaign (and later, the Romney administration); and they keep "their guy" on message, they've got a guaranteed winner.
In this, they are DANGEROUSLY incorrect.
What the RNC don't understand, is that the American people don't want, what the Republican machine wants.
It's like the old Bourbon monarchs, restored to the trefoil throne after the Revolution: they had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.
Building Battlebots
When not working the ER, or musing on ancient Egyptian medical care, Tacitus teaches middle schoolers how to build Our Robotic Overlords:
For me winter is Robot Season. My middle school class is up and running, a Tuesday and a Thursday section with a dozen hyperactive DangerMonkeys in each.This (and the follow on post) are so filled with win that it hurts. If we could just add in Carteach0 bringing the Bill of Rights, the little dears would probably be ready for Special Ops. RTWT.
...
Sometimes people ask me why I take a considerable amount of time to teach these classes. I suppose I could instead be, oh I don't know, working or laying on a beach or something. Well, first of all it is fun. There is a little remnant of the destructive middle schooler left in most of us.
But honestly part of the reason I do this is that kids now days get almost no opportunity to tinker with things. They don't build stuff. The world they live in is largely defined by immaterial images on screens, generated by Chinese made printed circuit boards that you can't just rip out and play around with. In my long ago and largely feral childhood we built go karts and dismantled home appliances and built things that would probably not be entirely legal if looked at in a certain light.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Incentives
It's a truism in Management that incentive plans are hard to get right. People won't do what you want them to, they'll do what you reward them to do. If you don't have very good alignment between your wants and their paycheck, your people will do the craziest things. Even when they're smart.
Especially when they're smart.
Via Say Uncle, we find a Detective who got a search warrant based on his affidavit that the suspect in question was already in prison. Hilarity ensues:
Instead, I suspect that Detective Tanore was working the incentive structure which was set up by his department. I suspect that Federal and State policies (especially the "War on Certain Drugs") influenced that incentive structure.
The comments over at Uncle's are expectedly pungent, running towards the "tar and feather" solution for the Detective. And the Judge who signed the warrant. Me, I can't really argue with any of that.
However, the system is the system, and it will continue to produce outcomes like this. Ostensibly smart people will continue to act like idiots, because that's how the incentive structure is set up. From the Fed.Gov, to the State.Gov, to the Local.Gov, there is a menu of funding choices that leads to the sort of corners being cut that were cut here.
Perhaps Detective Tanore and Judge Cooper should be hounded from their professions. But their places will be filled, and not by evil people. Rather, they will be replaced by smart people working inside an incentive structure guaranteeing more of the same.
The system has to go.
Especially when they're smart.
Via Say Uncle, we find a Detective who got a search warrant based on his affidavit that the suspect in question was already in prison. Hilarity ensues:
A California couple can sue the detective whose faulty warrant set off an early morning SWAT team search of their home for their already incarcerated son, the 9th Circuit ruled Friday.Now I don't for a minute believe that Detective Tanore is an idiot. I don't for a minute believe that he isn't detail oriented. While being a Police Officer and being an idiot are not necessarily mutually exclusive, that's not where the smart money bets if you want to get promoted to Detective. The idiots get to spend their careers writing tickets.
... The team showed up at 5:30 a.m. with flash-bang grenades, burst into the home and pointed their weapons at the Bravos and their 8-year-old grandson, who ran screaming into the bathroom, the ruling states. The officers left after Hope Bravo showed them a recent letter from her son, mailed from prison.
Instead, I suspect that Detective Tanore was working the incentive structure which was set up by his department. I suspect that Federal and State policies (especially the "War on Certain Drugs") influenced that incentive structure.
The comments over at Uncle's are expectedly pungent, running towards the "tar and feather" solution for the Detective. And the Judge who signed the warrant. Me, I can't really argue with any of that.
However, the system is the system, and it will continue to produce outcomes like this. Ostensibly smart people will continue to act like idiots, because that's how the incentive structure is set up. From the Fed.Gov, to the State.Gov, to the Local.Gov, there is a menu of funding choices that leads to the sort of corners being cut that were cut here.
Perhaps Detective Tanore and Judge Cooper should be hounded from their professions. But their places will be filled, and not by evil people. Rather, they will be replaced by smart people working inside an incentive structure guaranteeing more of the same.
The system has to go.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Epic Win
Andy brings it:
VIDEO: George Takei brokers peace between Star Wars and Star Trek in hopes everybody will gang up on Twilight. I say we should do what it takes to rid the world of that menace.Link at his place. Don't be drinking a mouthful of your favorite beverage when you watch ...
What's better than Christmas lights synchronized to music on your house?
Christmas lights synchronized to music on all the houses in the street:
Bravo to the good citizens of Bainbridge Circle, Murrieta CA. What a great country - this is precisely why we were able to thrash the Nazi and Imperial Japanese "supermen" and then stare down the Soviet Bear.
Bravo to the good citizens of Bainbridge Circle, Murrieta CA. What a great country - this is precisely why we were able to thrash the Nazi and Imperial Japanese "supermen" and then stare down the Soviet Bear.
How to hack a classified network: update
Almost exactly three years ago I wrote a post called How to hack a classified network describing a massive breach of the US DoD classified computer networks. There weren't a lot of details available about the incident, so the post was pretty theoretical, but laid out the problem:
It's a very interesting story of cyber cat and mouse, although the Wikileaks analogy doesn't have a place in it (that was espionage by a human actor, not malware). RTWT, both my original post and the WaPo story.
So if you are the chief Bad Guy - Dr. Evil, head of an unfriendly government's Intelligence Service - how to you hack the Fed.Gov classified network? Give people interesting poisoned bait - an interesting or funny video that contains embedded malware that runs when the video is watched. They'll want it, because it's interesting. They'll download it from the Red network (Al Gore's Intarwebz) and take it onto the Black network, where it will spread.Three years later, details of the whole situation are coming out, in a very good article in the Washington Post:
And now your spy comes into the picture. All he has to do is pick up the classified data that's been harvested by the malware botnet army that has infested the Black network. Of course there's risk, because he does indeed have to get past the armed Marine guards, but there is a long history of this sort of thing happening.
The risk to the Bad Guy was in gathering the collected material, which was the obvious (to me, at any rate) place to look for an intrusion.
One likely scenario is that an American soldier, official or contractor in Afghanistan — where the largest number of infections occurred — went to an Internet cafe, used a thumb drive in an infected computer and then inserted the drive in a classified machine. “We knew fairly confidently that the mechanism had been somebody going to a kiosk and doing something they shouldn’t have as opposed to somebody who had been able to get inside the network,” one former official said.
Once a computer became infected, any thumb drive used on the machine acquired a copy of Agent.btz, ready for propagation to other computers, like bees carrying pollen from flower to flower. But to steal content, the malware had to communicate with a master computer for instructions on what files to remove and how to transmit them.
These signals, or beacons, were first spotted by a young analyst in the NSA’s Advanced Networks Operations (ANO) team, a group of mostly 20- and 30-something computing experts assembled in 2006 to hunt for suspicious activity on the government’s secure networks.
It's a very interesting story of cyber cat and mouse, although the Wikileaks analogy doesn't have a place in it (that was espionage by a human actor, not malware). RTWT, both my original post and the WaPo story.
Look at me!
I've been fighting off a cold, and so crashed pretty early. The Missus came in to keep me company, and turned on the Idiot Box to channel surf. The surf cast her up upon the shores of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills".
Oh. My. God.
The really astonishing thing is not that this sort of train wreck could get air time. After all, there are 900 channels to fill, and nature abhors a vacuum. The astonishing thing is not that these people's lives are so unbelievably messed up. After all, people choose poorly all the time.
What amazes me is that someone would be so desperate to get on TV that they'd sign a release to air this footage. I don't get it - these women will have a reputation after this: a reputation for being backbiting, shallow, self-centered bitches.
But hey, I guess they got on TV. I guess this is why I don't watch TV.
Oh. My. God.
The really astonishing thing is not that this sort of train wreck could get air time. After all, there are 900 channels to fill, and nature abhors a vacuum. The astonishing thing is not that these people's lives are so unbelievably messed up. After all, people choose poorly all the time.
What amazes me is that someone would be so desperate to get on TV that they'd sign a release to air this footage. I don't get it - these women will have a reputation after this: a reputation for being backbiting, shallow, self-centered bitches.
But hey, I guess they got on TV. I guess this is why I don't watch TV.
What I learned growing up
I grew up in the 1960s, and learned some things:
In other words, I grew up as a perfectly unremarkable boy in the 1960s and 70s. Six looks at today's education establishment, and wonders whether they are essentially criminalizing being boys:
I look at #2 Son, who asked me to get my Enfield so he could show me what he'd learned at JROTC rifle drill. I remember #1 Son in Little League, with a fantastic defensive game (four unassisted infield put-outs) so that Coach gave him the game ball for the second game in a row.
Boys need to be boys, for their own sake. For the sake of the girls who some day will hope to marry decent men. And for the sake of society, who need men like Six in each generation.
"Look Ma, no hands" often are the last words uttered before a trip to the Doctor (I don't think I went to an Emergency Room until I had kids of my own).
If you fight with your older brother and put holes in the wall, you learn how to hang dry wall.
If you play with green army men with 2cents, you might get your eyebrows burned off.
Camping in February in Maine gives you a chance to play Capture The Flag on the frozen lake. Oh yeah - nobody freezes to death, because the Scoutmasters show you how not to.
It's really cool when you find a sport that you excel at, to the point where you almost win a race at the state Track Meet championships.
In other words, I grew up as a perfectly unremarkable boy in the 1960s and 70s. Six looks at today's education establishment, and wonders whether they are essentially criminalizing being boys:
We do our boys no favor by wrapping them in a blanket and protecting them from all of life's ups and downs. We're not protecting them at all, we're punishing them for being boys and setting them up for a life of frustration, depression and failure. We're not teaching that 9 year old to respect women, we're teaching him to distrust women. We're requiring him to grow up misogynistic. And we wonder at the divorce and domestic violence rate in this country. We're not teaching that first grader fairness, we're teaching him that it's better to be a victim than a survivor. Better to lose a fight and take a beating (or worse) than win at all costs. We're teaching them that being a boy is wrong and that they're somehow bad just for being what they are.I think that we need a group to start filing class action sexual harassment lawsuits against a bunch of school systems.
I look at #2 Son, who asked me to get my Enfield so he could show me what he'd learned at JROTC rifle drill. I remember #1 Son in Little League, with a fantastic defensive game (four unassisted infield put-outs) so that Coach gave him the game ball for the second game in a row.
Boys need to be boys, for their own sake. For the sake of the girls who some day will hope to marry decent men. And for the sake of society, who need men like Six in each generation.
Monday, December 12, 2011
I got yer "psychological warfare" right here, Scooter
It seems that the Godless Commies in North Korea are all butt hurt about the traditional Christmas lights set up near the DMZ:
A word to the NorKs: don't be douchebags to your neighbors, and maybe you'll get more cooperation from them. And oh by the way, what the South Koreans are doing isn't escalation. This is escalation:
North Korea has warned South Korea of "unexpected consequences" if it lights up a Christmas tree-shaped tower near their tense border.The North's state-run Uriminjokkiri website said it would amount to a form of "psychological warfare".
Seoul's annual tradition of lighting up a Christmas tree tower was suspended in 2003 following a warming of ties.
However, the South lit a tower last year as relations deteriorated between the neighbours.
The Associated Press quotes a defence ministry official as saying the South has agreed to allow Christian groups to light a further two towers this year.
That was fun
I think I've found something that's even less fun to spend your money on than buying tires.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The view inside Camp Borepatch
Most of the lights are shotgun shells. Probably have to take a picture of them tomorrow in the daylight.
But it sure is nice to be here.
Interlude, with win
It's been all doom-and-gloom about Europe, all the time, Time to lighten the mood.
And what better to lighten the mood with than jet powered European drag racers? Just watch where you point that ...
And what better to lighten the mood with than jet powered European drag racers? Just watch where you point that ...
Still not as gay* as Mitt Romney
Accurate Twilight image is accurate:
* Not that there's anything wrong with that. Mitt/Twilight backstory here.
* Not that there's anything wrong with that. Mitt/Twilight backstory here.
What's bad for wind power?
The wind:
You there in the back - stop giggling. These are all Very Smart People™ who know what they're doing.
(via)
The turbine in a North Ayrshire wind farm caught fire on Thursday afternoon as storms hit the country.I'm not making this up, you know.
...
A wind turbine went up in flames as gust of up to 160mph battered parts of Scotland.
The turbine in a North Ayrshire wind farm caught fire on Thursday afternoon.
Fire engines attended the blaze which died out after a matter of minutes at the wind farm situated above Ardrossan at around 3.40pm.
You there in the back - stop giggling. These are all Very Smart People™ who know what they're doing.
(via)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Waltz of the Flowers (from The Nutcracker)
 |
| Image via Wikipedia |
Teeter, but not fall. The music rises to the occasion, so that even we who have heard it many, many times find ourselves humming along, perhaps despite our original, jaded intent.
And those of us who are luck enough to have children (or grandchildren) who haven't seen this - and who will watch this particular piece with eyes too young and unjaded that they shine all of their own accord, well that's all part of the holiday season.
Disney's original (1940) Fantasia is simply astonishing, even seventy years later.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Your fart stinks worse than Obamacare!
Out of the mouths of babes ...
Yup, that's about the state of political discourse between the two Dinosaur parties.
Yup, that's about the state of political discourse between the two Dinosaur parties.
What Greeks think about the Germans
I don't read Greek, but somehow I don't think that the article is filled with approbation. Iconic Photos has a very interesting analysis of why:
This blog believes that Germany and her investors has profited deeply from the euro at the expense of their Mediterranean neighbors. Without the euro, Italy and Greece could have indulged their workers with higher and higher bonuses while sporadically devaluing their currencies and making their countries more competitive. The euro prevented that. The only benefits from the euro went to Germany, where a low performing periphery weakened the currency, which made German exports extremely attractive abroad. Like China, Germany’s competitive edge had currency manipulation at its heart. Therefore, it is both hypocritical and pusillanimous for the Bundesbank and the German Chancellery to shriek their responsibilities now.Remember, even with the currency manipulation (the dollar should be about 15% stronger than the euro), Mercedez-Benz opened an enormous factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. That may explain it, actually.
Little Big Town - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
It's hard being away from the family at this time of year. I'm lucky in that my time away from the family is periodically broken by visits, sometimes me going home, sometimes them coming to me. The troops deployed in harm's way and their families don't get this luxury.
But Country music still carries on the tradition of Bob Hope, remembering them. This performance by Little Big Town at the CMA Christmas Concert has a touching reminder of the troops in the field.
Please Come Home for Christmas (Songwriters: Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin)
But Country music still carries on the tradition of Bob Hope, remembering them. This performance by Little Big Town at the CMA Christmas Concert has a touching reminder of the troops in the field.
Please Come Home for Christmas (Songwriters: Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin)
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,This holiday season when you're surrounded by family and friends, remember them.
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.
Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.
Friday, December 9, 2011
The collapse of the European Articles of Confederation
In 1783, the Peace of Paris recognized the rebellious American Colonies as free and independent states. The States banded together under the Articles of Confederation.
The problem is well known to anyone who studied history when the school system was still functioning: the central government was very weak, with the States having essentially veto power over the central government on most things of import. The new government's script (paper money) soon came under considerable pressure from the George Soros types of the day. The American solution was to replace the Articles with a new Constitution which, while flawed, has performed more or less adequately for a couple centuries.
Ignoring a vast unpleasantness in the 1860s, with lesser unpleasantnesses scattered elsewhere.
The European Union looks to have reached that point now. Their "last chance" to solve the Euro crisis ended not with a plan, but with a plan to make a plan. The reasons are interesting, but entirely unsurprising to a student of American history.
The E.U. is famously undemocratic, with repeated refusals to allow popular vote by the respective national populations, or by do-overs when those populations vote the "wrong" way. This has been discussed everywhere, so I won't belabor this. It's also not the source of their problem.
The problem is the European States. The E.U. works under the principle of unanimity - all of the 27 member states have to ratify any decision of importance. When times are good, and there's enough money going around to buy off the disgruntled, it worked tolerably well. But now the ratchet has to go the other way, with everyone giving something up.
And so it's supposed to be a surprise that nobody can come up with a plan?
Of course they can't come up with a plan. So the interesting question is: now what? There really are only two alternatives:
1. The status quo ante option: Europe worked tolerably well before financial integration, and would work tolerably well with everyone reverting to francs, lira, deutschemarks, etc. Since more and more transactions are computerized (essentially everything from government transfers to cross border corporate purchases to Briton's vacation credit card charges in Tenerife), this would work much better than even a decade ago. You don't have to give up the common market, just the common currency.
2. The American option: Get a real constitution, a workable one. That's what we did, where the States ceded real authority to the central government.
Option one is clearly workable, albeit with some pain. It has the disadvantage of demolishing the vision of the European elite, but that's probably not seen as viable these days, even by those elite.
Option 2 has actually been floated during the crisis discussions. All that talk of fiscal guarantees, where Germany can take over budgeting decisions for other countries is actually the "strong center, weak periphery" approach that we ourselves took - although it took until 1865 for us to realize it.
But here's the rub - they need unanimity. They don't have it. Clearly, the southern European countries don't want to run their economies like the northern Europeans run theirs. Clearly the northern Europeans are no longer willing to subsidize their southern neighbors "for the greater good".
And so forget the lack of referenda - they were never in the cards anyway. Watch the Finance Ministers who "need to have discussions with their governments" - away from the European summit. That's the sign that the European States still view themselves as the original American States did, unwilling (for now) to cede authority to the center.
So get ready to party like it's 1784. The song has a good rhythm, but I can't say that I care for the lyrics.
The problem is well known to anyone who studied history when the school system was still functioning: the central government was very weak, with the States having essentially veto power over the central government on most things of import. The new government's script (paper money) soon came under considerable pressure from the George Soros types of the day. The American solution was to replace the Articles with a new Constitution which, while flawed, has performed more or less adequately for a couple centuries.
Ignoring a vast unpleasantness in the 1860s, with lesser unpleasantnesses scattered elsewhere.
The European Union looks to have reached that point now. Their "last chance" to solve the Euro crisis ended not with a plan, but with a plan to make a plan. The reasons are interesting, but entirely unsurprising to a student of American history.
The E.U. is famously undemocratic, with repeated refusals to allow popular vote by the respective national populations, or by do-overs when those populations vote the "wrong" way. This has been discussed everywhere, so I won't belabor this. It's also not the source of their problem.
The problem is the European States. The E.U. works under the principle of unanimity - all of the 27 member states have to ratify any decision of importance. When times are good, and there's enough money going around to buy off the disgruntled, it worked tolerably well. But now the ratchet has to go the other way, with everyone giving something up.
And so it's supposed to be a surprise that nobody can come up with a plan?
Of course they can't come up with a plan. So the interesting question is: now what? There really are only two alternatives:
1. The status quo ante option: Europe worked tolerably well before financial integration, and would work tolerably well with everyone reverting to francs, lira, deutschemarks, etc. Since more and more transactions are computerized (essentially everything from government transfers to cross border corporate purchases to Briton's vacation credit card charges in Tenerife), this would work much better than even a decade ago. You don't have to give up the common market, just the common currency.
2. The American option: Get a real constitution, a workable one. That's what we did, where the States ceded real authority to the central government.
Option one is clearly workable, albeit with some pain. It has the disadvantage of demolishing the vision of the European elite, but that's probably not seen as viable these days, even by those elite.
But here's the rub - they need unanimity. They don't have it. Clearly, the southern European countries don't want to run their economies like the northern Europeans run theirs. Clearly the northern Europeans are no longer willing to subsidize their southern neighbors "for the greater good".
And so forget the lack of referenda - they were never in the cards anyway. Watch the Finance Ministers who "need to have discussions with their governments" - away from the European summit. That's the sign that the European States still view themselves as the original American States did, unwilling (for now) to cede authority to the center.
So get ready to party like it's 1784. The song has a good rhythm, but I can't say that I care for the lyrics.
Complexity kills
In this case, it killed all 228 people aboard Air France flight 447 a couple years back. Popular Mechanics has a detailed analysis of what we know from the recovered Black Box recordings, and it makes for fascinating reading. Here are the parts most interesting to me:
The moral, from a software engineering perspective, is that there probably isn't any right way to design a system that will always work. What is absolutely critical is to have obvious and transparent communication of critical information that the pilot needs.
Airbus has a spotty record on this. Another crash (this one in Greece in the 1990s) was due to confusion about rate of descent vs. altitude, and the computer being incorrectly set. That plane flew into a mountain.
Now, it's easy for me to say this, after all, I'm not a pilot and don't really know all the possible inputs that might lead to a crash. However, there is a long history of strange "pilot error" in Airbus planes, and I quite frankly don't think that Air France hires incompetent pilots. I think that the system complexity of their "Glass Cockpit" has exceeded the pilot's ability to understand what's going on, and in particular what is happening in emergency situations, and what the computer will do and what it won't do.
Just then an alarm sounds for 2.2 seconds, indicating that the autopilot is disconnecting. The cause is the fact that the plane's pitot tubes, externally mounted sensors that determine air speed, have iced over, so the human pilots will now have to fly the plane by hand.What makes this particularly interesting is that the Airbus has a history of pilot/auto-pilot confusion. An early crash (don't have the book here, sorry, but it was in the early 1990s) happened because the autopilot overrode the pilot's controls, preventing the plane from recovering from a stall and ultimately crashing it. Here, the auto-pilot didn't override the pilot's controls, allowing him to basically bring the speed of the plane to zero.
Note, however, that the plane has suffered no mechanical malfunction. Aside from the loss of airspeed indication, everything is working fine. Otelli reports that many airline pilots (and, indeed, he himself) subsequently flew a simulation of the flight from this point and were able to do so without any trouble. But neither Bonin nor Roberts has ever received training in how to deal with an unreliable airspeed indicator at cruise altitude, or in flying the airplane by hand under such conditions.
...
Almost as soon as Bonin pulls up into a climb, the plane's computer reacts. A warning chime alerts the cockpit to the fact that they are leaving their programmed altitude. Then the stall warning sounds. This is a synthesized human voice that repeatedly calls out, "Stall!" in English, followed by a loud and intentionally annoying sound called a "cricket." A stall is a potentially dangerous situation that can result from flying too slowly. At a critical speed, a wing suddenly becomes much less effective at generating lift, and a plane can plunge precipitously. All pilots are trained to push the controls forward when they're at risk of a stall so the plane will dive and gain speed.
The Airbus's stall alarm is designed to be impossible to ignore. Yet for the duration of the flight, none of the pilots will mention it, or acknowledge the possibility that the plane has indeed stalled—even though the word "Stall!" will blare through the cockpit 75 times. Throughout, Bonin will keep pulling back on the stick, the exact opposite of what he must do to recover from the stall.
The moral, from a software engineering perspective, is that there probably isn't any right way to design a system that will always work. What is absolutely critical is to have obvious and transparent communication of critical information that the pilot needs.
Airbus has a spotty record on this. Another crash (this one in Greece in the 1990s) was due to confusion about rate of descent vs. altitude, and the computer being incorrectly set. That plane flew into a mountain.
Now, it's easy for me to say this, after all, I'm not a pilot and don't really know all the possible inputs that might lead to a crash. However, there is a long history of strange "pilot error" in Airbus planes, and I quite frankly don't think that Air France hires incompetent pilots. I think that the system complexity of their "Glass Cockpit" has exceeded the pilot's ability to understand what's going on, and in particular what is happening in emergency situations, and what the computer will do and what it won't do.
There's good news, and there's bad news
The good news is that I only have 120 unread emails. Everyone must have been slacking off yesterday when I was driving.
The bad news is that I have 120 unread emails, and two new brushfires. And a morning of meetings. Blog later, when I get my head above water. Usually I queue them up the night before, but it was too late.
As an apology for my readers, all content will be free of charge today.
The bad news is that I have 120 unread emails, and two new brushfires. And a morning of meetings. Blog later, when I get my head above water. Usually I queue them up the night before, but it was too late.
As an apology for my readers, all content will be free of charge today.
Well, there goes the neighborhood
Childhood friend Rick got tired of emailing me all sorts of good things for me to post, and started up his own blog. Although he's a little mystified:
And two words, my friend: Sitemeter. It's like crack.
But he's a wicked smaht (and snarky) bastid, like this post on the Euro demonstrates:
Anyway, stop by and say hi. If you like snark, and climate denierism, and enemy-of-the-state counter-revolutionary propaganda, you'll like it. And if you ask nicely, maybe he'll post about how he burned my eyebrows off with GulfLite in a MASSIVE FIREBALL OF DEATH. Not that I'm bitter.
And added to the Borepatch blogroll. That's the secret to fame and fortune. It's money in the bank, in a "too big to fail" sense.
UPDATE 9 December 2011 13:03: Updated with his new link. Plus, he did post about the Gulflite incident. A war of choice, as it were.
That's it. I'm out. I waited until after lunch and I'm still not rich and famous, so to heck with this blogging thing.Ah, get our hopes up, 2cents. And then dash them with fourteen posts in two days. Holy cow. Yeah, yeah, you can give it up any time ...
And two words, my friend: Sitemeter. It's like crack.
But he's a wicked smaht (and snarky) bastid, like this post on the Euro demonstrates:
Let me get this straight. You are going to take a bunch of countries and peoples that pretty much resent and hate each other, have invaded and killed one another for millenia, have tremendous disparity in culture, work ethic and wealth and put them all together under one currency. Without the reserves in place to make sure the currency will stay viable. And no power to enforce measures against member states to keep their fiscal houses in order in return for belonging to that currency. Yeah, what could possibly go wrong with that?
Anyway, stop by and say hi. If you like snark, and climate denierism, and enemy-of-the-state counter-revolutionary propaganda, you'll like it. And if you ask nicely, maybe he'll post about how he burned my eyebrows off with GulfLite in a MASSIVE FIREBALL OF DEATH. Not that I'm bitter.
And added to the Borepatch blogroll. That's the secret to fame and fortune. It's money in the bank, in a "too big to fail" sense.
UPDATE 9 December 2011 13:03: Updated with his new link. Plus, he did post about the Gulflite incident. A war of choice, as it were.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Uff da
Home, in 14½ hours. The first half of the trip was in record time, then I hit the Alabama border, and saw that they've expanded the Talladega Super Speedway to include the entire length of I-20.
And then I got back to the Atlanta Perimeter, and remembered that Georgia drivers make Alabama drivers look like little old ladies from Passadena.
But it's good to be back home. The dogs have me at the bottom of a pig pile - I guess they're glad to have all the pack back inside the Secure Perimeter. Me, too.
And then I got back to the Atlanta Perimeter, and remembered that Georgia drivers make Alabama drivers look like little old ladies from Passadena.
But it's good to be back home. The dogs have me at the bottom of a pig pile - I guess they're glad to have all the pack back inside the Secure Perimeter. Me, too.
This guy's neighbors must have really gotten him annoyed
But I love the description on Youtube:
Give a redneck some Christmas lights and he'll string up his house. Give the same man an engineering degree from Ga. Tech as well and this is what you get...Don't mess with them Tech boys, Son. They can get purty mean.
Tires pointed east
It's always good when you're heading home. I-20 beckons, leading to home and hearth and family. Blogging will be normal (I have posts queued up), but I probably won't be able to reply to any comments today.
Well, until I get home, but I've been away five weeks. I love all y'all, but c'mon ...
In the meantime, here's some excellent Holiday advice.
Well, until I get home, but I've been away five weeks. I love all y'all, but c'mon ...
In the meantime, here's some excellent Holiday advice.
Welcome Home
Greg Morris is back home from the Sandbox. Glad you're back safe and sound, and home for the Holidays is an extra added bit of nice.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The Arsenal of Freedom is in Tuscaloosa, AL
DaddyBear, riffing on Bayou Renaissance Man, looks at World War II and our prodigious output from factories converted to supplying war material and asks where the Arsenal of Freedom would be today. I know, because I drive right by it in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
It's owned by Mercedes Benz, and it's eye-poppingly huge. We sure must buy a lot of Mercedes cars in this country.
But it's not just there, either. It's also in Georgetown, Kentucky (Toyota); Smyrna, Tennessee (Nissan; I think our old Minivan was built there); San Antonio, Texas (Toyota again), Chattanooga, Tennessee (Volkswagen is going to build a Billion dollar factory there); and Greenville, South Carolina (BMW). Probably a lot more.
We've lost a lot of manufacturing jobs over the last 30 years, but we produce more manufactured goods today than we did then (value of goods produced, adjusted for inflation). If we had to mobilize for a World War II style effort, there are factories to do it.
Would it be easy? I doubt it. It was hard then, and it likely would be harder now. Back then, cars were a lot closer to tanks, or planes. But the capacity is there, if you look. I expect that the creativity and expertise are there, too. But then, I'm an optimist who thinks it's a bad idea to bet against the American people.
It's owned by Mercedes Benz, and it's eye-poppingly huge. We sure must buy a lot of Mercedes cars in this country.
But it's not just there, either. It's also in Georgetown, Kentucky (Toyota); Smyrna, Tennessee (Nissan; I think our old Minivan was built there); San Antonio, Texas (Toyota again), Chattanooga, Tennessee (Volkswagen is going to build a Billion dollar factory there); and Greenville, South Carolina (BMW). Probably a lot more.
We've lost a lot of manufacturing jobs over the last 30 years, but we produce more manufactured goods today than we did then (value of goods produced, adjusted for inflation). If we had to mobilize for a World War II style effort, there are factories to do it.
Would it be easy? I doubt it. It was hard then, and it likely would be harder now. Back then, cars were a lot closer to tanks, or planes. But the capacity is there, if you look. I expect that the creativity and expertise are there, too. But then, I'm an optimist who thinks it's a bad idea to bet against the American people.
A Parable on our miserable political class
It's said that with enough thrust, you can get an Aircraft Carrier up on plane. Just don't lose that thrust, mkay?
Careful getting all the water out of the cylinders, Scooter.
Careful getting all the water out of the cylinders, Scooter.
I don't know what to make of Newt
He's slippery. He's flip flopped a lot over the years, like Romney. He has the biggest ego in Washington D.C., and that's saying a lot.
And he brings the hammer to the Progressives like nobody else:
Newt gets the Big Picture. As I said back then:
Huey Long was famous for his saying that to get anything done in Louisiana, you had to pay him 10% off the top, but that was the best deal you'd ever see. I can actually go along with that, if it buys be that 75%. But will it?
I don't know. But I do think that Chris' old post (from two years back) is well worth reading, as is mine, as is another of my posts on Newt from then.
All politicians are flawed, and to expect otherwise is a fool's errand (or a child's). Newt may be fatally flawed; the jury's still out, at least with me. But it's possible that his flaws are transparent, and that he would be the anti-Obama: entirely, thoroughly, and viciously vetted by the MSM, but one who can set priorities that count, and get them executed.
And he brings the hammer to the Progressives like nobody else:
Chris Byrne has a set of videos up on his site that are worth your while. It's Newt Gengrich giving a speech on how the Republicans can not just win, but sweep the coming elections. Chris comments:(*cough* Mitt Romney *cough*) You should click through to Chris' place, where he has all the videos up, but here's one:
I think he's brilliant as a political writer, and political commentator (which is fitting, because his background is as a history professor), but as a politician, he and I are probably below 50% in agreement on major policy issues.
But we're above 75% on major issues of principle; and that's what this speech is about. Taking principles, and making them into politics.... Something it seems most politicians are too cowardly to do.
Newt gets the Big Picture. As I said back then:
Focus gives you a more interesting, more valuable product for your target market. But focus isn't free. To gain something, you have to give up something. As Napoleon said, on any battlefield there will be a single decisive point. What happens there is more important than what happens everywhere else.But Newt's slippery. As Chris said, we're probably aligned on 75% of the issues of principle. Probably. How do you tell? DancingCzars brings Newt's interview by Glen Beck (also not my favorite tele-personality, but may cover the 75%). It's long, and detailed, and Beck asked tough questions about flip flopping. Newt was somewhat slippery. Somewhat.
Huey Long was famous for his saying that to get anything done in Louisiana, you had to pay him 10% off the top, but that was the best deal you'd ever see. I can actually go along with that, if it buys be that 75%. But will it?
I don't know. But I do think that Chris' old post (from two years back) is well worth reading, as is mine, as is another of my posts on Newt from then.
All politicians are flawed, and to expect otherwise is a fool's errand (or a child's). Newt may be fatally flawed; the jury's still out, at least with me. But it's possible that his flaws are transparent, and that he would be the anti-Obama: entirely, thoroughly, and viciously vetted by the MSM, but one who can set priorities that count, and get them executed.
The Reckoning
Seventy years ago today, the Japanese sucker-punched us at Pearl Harbor. This was our reaction, making these:
It wasn't revenge that we wanted. It was a reckoning.
That's what we should remember today. That's who we are. Still, despite the shrieking of the left, that's who we are. Just ask Saddam. Or Osama.
People still know. Europeans have told me that they don't know how we'll react. Good.
It wasn't revenge that we wanted. It was a reckoning.
That's what we should remember today. That's who we are. Still, despite the shrieking of the left, that's who we are. Just ask Saddam. Or Osama.
People still know. Europeans have told me that they don't know how we'll react. Good.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
What's your favorite 9mm?
Merlin is looking for suggestions. My only input was that Hitler wants a 1911, but you'll probably have something more interesting to say to him.
"I've never felt so alone"
Postsecret brings the wisdom of crowds like few other sites. It brings this:
The comments tell a story:
Once the Left had a vision of the future that wasn't simply a feral, tribal attempt to Canute-like, keep the tide from receding. Once, the vision was inspiring. Now, they're determined to sacrifice the first born to Baal.
And it's sad that I have to point out that this doesn't really have anything to do with Abortion and free choice. What a degraded state for a once proud political tradition, that they need to rely on street thuggery.
UPDATE 6 December 2011 16:11: It seems that I'm not the only one who thinks that something profound has been lost by "progressives".
The comments tell a story:
-----Email-----Hate mail. Because they dared reach out, to let her know that she wasn't alone.
Hi Frank - My husband and I are not able to have children. Or at least I'm not. I had my 2nd ectopic pregnancy the day before Thanksgiving and they took my last fallopian tube. I would love to get my contact info to the poster of the abortion secret in case she changes her mind and considers adoption. We would make amazing parents!...[email removed]...
-----Email-----
Hi Frank - Can you please take down my email? I'm getting hate mail. I guess it wasn't the right thing to do. Thank you!
Once the Left had a vision of the future that wasn't simply a feral, tribal attempt to Canute-like, keep the tide from receding. Once, the vision was inspiring. Now, they're determined to sacrifice the first born to Baal.
And it's sad that I have to point out that this doesn't really have anything to do with Abortion and free choice. What a degraded state for a once proud political tradition, that they need to rely on street thuggery.
UPDATE 6 December 2011 16:11: It seems that I'm not the only one who thinks that something profound has been lost by "progressives".
I gotcher "jobs Amerians won't do" right here, Scooter
Via Foseti (your go-to guy on how Regulators tick), Simon Grey swings the cluebat of enlightenment shattering the canard about jobs our unemployed seem to have no appetite for:
But this is statistics, and Stalin was right when he said that one death was a tragedy but a million deaths was a statistic. We need to bring the tragedy to the discussion, so we don't forget the lives being crushed by the open borders policy of both Dinosaur political parties. Art connects on a more emotional level, telling us about the man, as opposed to the collective.
If you click through to Youtube, you'll see comments like this:
You'd think that this canard would collapse under the weight of thousands of unemployed showing up to apply for a dozen openings. The data is clear.
I guess some people would rather have their beautiful theory. You know, there was once a time when the Democratic Party gave a damn about the working class. That was when I used to be a Democrat.
And while you're over at his place, check out the proposed States Sovereignty Amendment. Yeah, baby.
Click through to RTWT, but it is entirely devastating, although quite unemotional and reasoned. Theory meets data, and data once again kicks theory's butt.
It looks like that canard is just plain wrong:
Unemployment rates have fallen in Alabama amid new legal pressure on companies to comply with a popular immigration reform law.
...As I’ve written before, illegal labor and minimum wage don’t go together because illegal labor prices legal labor out of the market. This is very simple economics. If you increase supply of something without increasing demand, prices will drop. And, if there is some sort of price floor in that market (think minimum wage), then that which has a price floor will be priced out at the margin. Therefore, when you decrease supply of something while demand remains stagnant, price will rise and marginal purchases will occur again. Incidentally, that’s precisely what happened in Alabama, and that’s what should happen in every state.
If there are any governors who might be squeamish about the idea of booting illegals back to the third-world, dirt-ridden country from which they came, let me offer you three benefits, beyond the simple reduction in unemployment rates, for your consideration.
But this is statistics, and Stalin was right when he said that one death was a tragedy but a million deaths was a statistic. We need to bring the tragedy to the discussion, so we don't forget the lives being crushed by the open borders policy of both Dinosaur political parties. Art connects on a more emotional level, telling us about the man, as opposed to the collective.
If you click through to Youtube, you'll see comments like this:
Got outsourced again. Moved 700 miles to drive a harvester for my father in law 18 hours a day at half of what I used to make but I got to feed my family and would work more if there were hours enough to do it. Nearly shed a tear when I hear this song because it sounded so much like me when I asked for the work and feel lucky I got it.
You'd think that this canard would collapse under the weight of thousands of unemployed showing up to apply for a dozen openings. The data is clear.
I guess some people would rather have their beautiful theory. You know, there was once a time when the Democratic Party gave a damn about the working class. That was when I used to be a Democrat.
And while you're over at his place, check out the proposed States Sovereignty Amendment. Yeah, baby.
We're winning
Tacitus emails to tell me about his son, grown to Honorable Manhood:
I remember my kids as kids - long time readers are rolling their eyes at my repeated sentimentality along these lines. But Kalil Gibran said it truly, and well:
But I myself recall the time not so very long ago where I found myself suddenly free, having moved from the People's Republic of Massachusetts to the United States of America. I remember my own first exercising of that same right that Tacitus' son has just done:
Tacitus, as befits a scholar of the Ancient World, writes of the many Roman gods that would be invoked at different stages of a child's development. It's funny and touching at the same time, with the wisdom of the ages channeled through the eyes of a parent. I catch a glimpse of how his son might have learned the manly virtues that stood the Romans in such good stead. The ones that he just exercised, not as a child, but as a Citizen.
Well done to the young man, and to Tacitus. Reading his post, I think again on Gibran, and Tacitus and his son, and me and my sons.
Thought you might be interested to learn that my now 18 yo celebrated the day by going out to purchase a 12 g Mossberg shotgun. This comes as a notable surprise to his parents, but we are ok with it. Squirrel an' possum for many Thanksgivings to come....
I remember my kids as kids - long time readers are rolling their eyes at my repeated sentimentality along these lines. But Kalil Gibran said it truly, and well:
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,I see that in my sons - #1 Son now 19, and #2 Son turning 16 this month. They have their own thoughts, many of which are as unexpected to me as Tacitus' son's thoughts on shotguns were to him.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
But I myself recall the time not so very long ago where I found myself suddenly free, having moved from the People's Republic of Massachusetts to the United States of America. I remember my own first exercising of that same right that Tacitus' son has just done:
But the meaning goes beyond the (quite modest) firepower of the rifle. It's a statement of freedom, the mark of a citizen, not a subject. We could use more citizens, not more subjects.Tacitus' son has become a citizen, both in law and in spirit. Welcome, citizen. The Republic is in good hands with a generation such as that.
This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. ...This is my rifle. There are none like it, because it marks the transition from a subject to a free man.
No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. He, who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be defended by him, whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he is his own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself, and what he possesses; else he lives precariously, and at discretion.
Tacitus, as befits a scholar of the Ancient World, writes of the many Roman gods that would be invoked at different stages of a child's development. It's funny and touching at the same time, with the wisdom of the ages channeled through the eyes of a parent. I catch a glimpse of how his son might have learned the manly virtues that stood the Romans in such good stead. The ones that he just exercised, not as a child, but as a Citizen.
Well done to the young man, and to Tacitus. Reading his post, I think again on Gibran, and Tacitus and his son, and me and my sons.
You are the bows from which your childrenNice bending, Tacitus. Your arrow flies swift, and true.
as living arrows are sent forth.
The Archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Did you know ...
... that Blackfork has a book out? Six things that happen in a photograph whether you want them to or not.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
I don't think I'll eat again this week
Uncle Jay and I met for dinner at the Elite Grille in Waco. Not only is it a historical Texas Roadhouse (dating to the 1930s), we got chicken fried steak that was roughly the size of Luxembourg. Wow, it was good, but so much for my "Holiday diet" ...
But it's always an outstanding time with Uncle Jay who has been to a lot of interesting places (more even than I) and who was a corresponding supply of excellent stories (more even than I).
And on the way out, it was slow in the restaurant (we ate early, and so were leaving before the dinner rush) and so we chatted with the waiters and waitresses. Jay asked them what really bugged them about what diners sometimes do, and the hostess gave a reply that made me think on my rant earlier today about Der Spiegal:
But it's always an outstanding time with Uncle Jay who has been to a lot of interesting places (more even than I) and who was a corresponding supply of excellent stories (more even than I).
And on the way out, it was slow in the restaurant (we ate early, and so were leaving before the dinner rush) and so we chatted with the waiters and waitresses. Jay asked them what really bugged them about what diners sometimes do, and the hostess gave a reply that made me think on my rant earlier today about Der Spiegal:
I hate it when they think I'm dumb because I have a job in a restaurant. I'm going to College, and this helps pay the bills.Yup. Don't underestimate the American working class.
Something that's always bothered me
When our corner of the blogosphere chatters about the mess that we're in, there's a lot of talk about "we won't be voting ourselves out of this" and that sort of thing. Pessimism rules.
I think that I'm a naturally optimistic sort, but what's bothered me is that there are some really smart folks out there that seem perpetually gloomy. Am I missing something?
Via Gerard, I find that I don't think so:
School Portrait (2011) from Michael Berliner on Vimeo.
Thanks, Gerard.
I think that I'm a naturally optimistic sort, but what's bothered me is that there are some really smart folks out there that seem perpetually gloomy. Am I missing something?
Via Gerard, I find that I don't think so:
School Portrait (2011) from Michael Berliner on Vimeo.
Thanks, Gerard.
So, do Germans hate Americans?
Assuming that most of you don't have any better skillz in German than I do, what do you think this article means?
Me, I think that if Americans had the language fluency to read Der Spiegal, Le Monde, and the rest, it would be the end of the Atlantic Alliance. Probably about time, if you ask me.
P.S. The Times of London is reliably a sewer of anti-Americanism. I couldn't read it when we lived there 15 years ago, and it seems to be much, much worse now. The European Elites are contemptible, not least of which because they think we're too stupid to notice.
P.P.S. It's times like this that I find myself lovingly brushing the pelt of my R0n P4uL!!!1!! wookie suit. Let 'em sink or swim on their own. I don't see why we should be spending $100 Billion a year to keep the Europeans from bringing on WWI version 3.0. Let 'em nuke each other until they glow, it's not our concern.
Club der Lügner, Demagogen, IgnorantenIs it positive, neutral, or negative? (link via Chris Lynch)
Me, I think that if Americans had the language fluency to read Der Spiegal, Le Monde, and the rest, it would be the end of the Atlantic Alliance. Probably about time, if you ask me.
P.S. The Times of London is reliably a sewer of anti-Americanism. I couldn't read it when we lived there 15 years ago, and it seems to be much, much worse now. The European Elites are contemptible, not least of which because they think we're too stupid to notice.
P.P.S. It's times like this that I find myself lovingly brushing the pelt of my R0n P4uL!!!1!! wookie suit. Let 'em sink or swim on their own. I don't see why we should be spending $100 Billion a year to keep the Europeans from bringing on WWI version 3.0. Let 'em nuke each other until they glow, it's not our concern.
Leonard Bernstein - Overture from Candide
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| Image via Wikipedia |
One example of why is a line from Candide that you've probably heard before. While visiting England, Candide observes an Admiral being shot on the quarterdeck of a ship. Asking why, he's told In this land we find it useful once in a while to shoot an Admiral, to encourage the others (pour l'encouragement des autres). This remarks on the English execution of Admiral John Byng for losing a battle.
Candide has had many forms on stage through the years, and one of the most famous on these shores is the one by Leonard Bernstein. I frequently write about how classical music is dieing, but he's a good argument against that. While his West Side Story is more famous, the music from the 1956 Candide is pure classical. I remember hearing this in the early 1970s, when it was the theme for the Dick Cavett Show.
Alas, I couldn't find any music from Molière, which is a shame. I guess that if you have to settle, you can do a lot worse than settling for Bernstein.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Calling all DFW bloggers
Uncle Jay and I are meeting at 15:00 hours tomorrow in Waco at The Elite Circle Grille. Anyone who want to join us, I hear there's Chicken Fried Steak on the menu.
Austin bloggers who want to go and want to car pool, send me an email.
Austin bloggers who want to go and want to car pool, send me an email.
"BUFF*, 2 O'Clock high"
But not very high.
American Citizen writes about seeing two F-22s take off. That reminded me of this summer, when I was driving from Camp Borepatch, Atlanta to FOB Borepatch in Austin. I was just coming to Shreveport, and a squadron of B-52s chose that very moment to land at Barksdale AFB. One flew directly over us (and I mean directly over us) at about 150 ft altitude. It looked exactly like this picture from Wikipedia.
Like American Citizen, it all happened so fast that I couldn't take a picture. But it was simply spectacular.
* This is the affectionate name for the B-52: Big, Ugly, Flying Friend. Err, or something like that.
American Citizen writes about seeing two F-22s take off. That reminded me of this summer, when I was driving from Camp Borepatch, Atlanta to FOB Borepatch in Austin. I was just coming to Shreveport, and a squadron of B-52s chose that very moment to land at Barksdale AFB. One flew directly over us (and I mean directly over us) at about 150 ft altitude. It looked exactly like this picture from Wikipedia.
Like American Citizen, it all happened so fast that I couldn't take a picture. But it was simply spectacular.
* This is the affectionate name for the B-52: Big, Ugly, Flying Friend. Err, or something like that.
Hitler endorses R0N P4UL!!11!
And END THE FED! Just ask Stalin:
Well played. So very, very well played.
Well played. So very, very well played.
Jamie O'Neal - Somebody's Hero
A hero is said to be someone who is brave for 5 minutes longer than everyone else. Some heroes have to be brave for weeks, or months, or for an entire deployment.
Jamie O'Neal is part of the "Australian Invasion" of Country Music, with a bunch of #1 hits in the last decade. The Oz country music scene is one of the most active outside of North America, and not only does she write some great songs, but that Sheila can sing, fair dinkum.
Somebody's Hero (Songwriters: Jamie O'Neal, Shaye Smith, Ed Hill):
She's never pulled anyone from a burning building
She's never rocked Central Park to a half a million fans, screaming out her name
She's never hit a shot to win the game
She's never left her footprints on the moon
She's never made a solo hot air balloon ride, around the world,
No, she's just your everyday average girl (but)
She's somebody's hero
A hero to her baby with a skinned up knee
A little kiss is all she needs
The keeper of the cheerios
The voice that brings Snow White to life
Bedtime stories every night
And that smile lets her know
She's somebody's hero
oh oh
She didn't get a check every week like a nine-to fiver
But she's been a waiter, and a cook and a taxi driver
For twenty years, there at home, until the day her girl was grown
Giving all her love to her was her life's ambition
But now her baby's movin' on, and she'll soon be missin' her
But not today, those are tears of joy runnin' down her face
She's somebody's hero
A hero to her daughter in her wedding dress
She gave her wings to leave the nest
It hurts to let her baby go down the aisle she walks right by
Looks back into her mother's eyes
And that smile lets her know oh oh oh
She's somebody's hero
Thirty years have flown right past
Her daughters' starin' at all the photographs
Of her mother, and she wishes she could be like that
Oh, but she already is
She's somebody's hero
A hero to her mother in a rockin' chair
She runs a brush through her silver hair
The envy of the nursing home
She drops by every afternoon
Feeds her mother with a spoon
And that smile lets her know oh oh
Her mother's smile lets her know oh oh
She's somebody's hero
Friday, December 2, 2011
Queen Anne's Drill
Bob points us to an amazing video of the US Army Drill Team doing some synchronized razzle-dazzle with bayonet-tipped Springfield '03s.
That led me to the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Team doing their synchronized razzle-dazzle with bayonet-tipped Garands.
The drill has its roots in the Royal Navy under Her late Majesty, Queen Anne. Discipline of the day was strict - brutal, even - and precision drill gave crack outfits a way to show off. Notice that both the videos above (Bob's and mine) use rifles with bayonets firmly attached. Not only are the rifles twirled around, but they're flung back and forth. Yes, you can get cut; that's part of what makes this so spectacular.
But shifting from the sublime to the ridiculous, one Queen Anne's Drill has gone down in cinematic history:
That's a fact, Jack! Sir!
As you were, carry on.
That led me to the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Team doing their synchronized razzle-dazzle with bayonet-tipped Garands.
The drill has its roots in the Royal Navy under Her late Majesty, Queen Anne. Discipline of the day was strict - brutal, even - and precision drill gave crack outfits a way to show off. Notice that both the videos above (Bob's and mine) use rifles with bayonets firmly attached. Not only are the rifles twirled around, but they're flung back and forth. Yes, you can get cut; that's part of what makes this so spectacular.
But shifting from the sublime to the ridiculous, one Queen Anne's Drill has gone down in cinematic history:
That's a fact, Jack! Sir!
As you were, carry on.
Security Smorgasbord, vol 3, no 1
It's been quite a while since I've done one of these.
Privacy as the Third Rail, Act the First
Welcome to the underside of the bus, CarrierIQ:
Everyone but Sprint is running as fast and as far from this turkey as they can. Customers get twitchy, but Enterprise customers (big companies and the Government) get extra super crazy twitchy about this. It's a cold dead certainty that Fortune 100 company IT Security organizations are being asked pointed questions about whether their employees are being monitored, and whether the corporation's data is safe. It's a cold dead certainty that those IT Security organizations are asking very, very pointy questions to their cell phone providers.
The market is fixing this, and fast.
Privacy as the Third Rail, Act the Second
It's not just corporations who are asking pointed questions:
Like I said, the market seems to be fixing this at warp speed, but there's a whole can of hurt waiting in this for someone.
Privacy as the Third Rail, Act the Third
The mobile phone spyware incident is becoming as filled with flavor as a jar of Vegemite:
I keep telling them, and they keep not listening, vol XCDXII:
FBI Bigwig: Three cities got hacked through Internet-connected SCADA controllers:
Nobody ever said that Internet Security wasn't messy ...
Privacy as the Third Rail, Act the First
Welcome to the underside of the bus, CarrierIQ:
“The reports we have seen about Verizon using Carrier IQ are false,” Verizon spokeswoman Debi Lewis wrote in an email to The Register.
In his own email, Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant wrote: “Further to your piece, CarrierIQ does not ship products for any Nokia devices, so reports that they have been found on Nokia phones are wrong.”
A statement from RIM, reported by IDG News, was even more categorical.
"RIM does not pre-install the CarrierIQ app on BlackBerry smartphones or authorize its carrier partners to install the CarrierIQ app before sales or distribution," the company said in a statement. "RIM also did not develop or commission the development of the CarrierIQ application, and has no involvement in the testing, promotion, or distribution of the app.”
Everyone but Sprint is running as fast and as far from this turkey as they can. Customers get twitchy, but Enterprise customers (big companies and the Government) get extra super crazy twitchy about this. It's a cold dead certainty that Fortune 100 company IT Security organizations are being asked pointed questions about whether their employees are being monitored, and whether the corporation's data is safe. It's a cold dead certainty that those IT Security organizations are asking very, very pointy questions to their cell phone providers.
The market is fixing this, and fast.
Privacy as the Third Rail, Act the Second
It's not just corporations who are asking pointed questions:
So riddle me this ECPAman, if CarrierIQ has violated one or more of these statutes, would that make AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, et al unindited co-conspirators? Want to bet long odds that that very question hasn't been discussed in the office of the Verizon General Counsel?
Senator and former late-night funnyman Al Franken has called on Carrier IQ to explain why its diagnostic software, buried in the bowels of 141 million smartphones, isn't a massive violation of US wiretap laws.
In a letter sent to Larry Lenhart, CEO and president of the Mountain View, California-based software maker, Franken expressed concern the software may run afoul of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which forbids the monitoring of communications without the users’ consent, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Like I said, the market seems to be fixing this at warp speed, but there's a whole can of hurt waiting in this for someone.
Privacy as the Third Rail, Act the Third
The mobile phone spyware incident is becoming as filled with flavor as a jar of Vegemite:
It seems that the CarrierIQ spyware runs on iPhones, too, although at this rate it will be a mystery how it got installed on 140 Million devices when none of the manufacturers and none of the carriers have anything to do with it ...
The row has Australian carriers putting as much distance between themselves and Carrier IQ as they can, as quickly as they can. Telstra’s Craig Middleton hit the Twittersphere today: “Telstra does not use it. We only use customer data for connecting calls and billing for services”.
The carrier’s New Zealand subsidiary Telstra Clear made a similar, but shorter statement.
Wrapping up the Australian carrier scene, both Optus and Vodafone told News.com.au that Carrier IQ’s software isn’t in use in this country; Vodafone has made the same statement for New Zealand, as has Telecom New Zealand.
I keep telling them, and they keep not listening, vol XCDXII:
FBI Bigwig: Three cities got hacked through Internet-connected SCADA controllers:
Speaking at the Flemings Cyber Security conference in London, [FBI Deputy Assistant Director] Michael Welch said the hackers could theoretically have dumped sewage into a lake or shut off the power to a shopping mall.Now this could just be the Fed.Gov hyping something to get more budget. However, it's more than plausible. So here's the important question: which is more of a threat - hackers taking down the power grid, or the government taking more power? But don't worry, McGruff the CyberCrime Dog is on it:
"We just had a circumstance where we had three cities, one of them a major city within the US, where you had several hackers that had made their way into SCADA systems within the city," Welch said.
Nobody ever said that Internet Security wasn't messy ...
Say hello to my little friend
Fry's is having a sale, and this 4 GB USB toy is on sale for $10 with a $10 mail-in rebate. So basically, you pay sales tax. If you're looking for stocking stuffers, especially for kids, this might work out.
Remember, he knows if you've been naughty or nice
Awesome.
But this idea is so epic that it was picked up in the UK Daily Telegraph. Must have been last year's - it was Santa and his Gunchicks.
It's MittTastic!
ASM826 brings the proof of the flippers. He has video. And the quote of the day:
Here he is, in his own words. First one side, than the other.Seems like he's got all the bases covered. Heh.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Dallas area meetup on Sunday?
The Big Guy himself, Uncle Jay is in town. Anyone in the DFW area interested in meeting up Sunday afternoon, and then grabbing a bite of dinner? Got to show him some Texas size hospitality ...
Epic Photoshop
... is epic:
Awesome - it's a photoshop of a photoshop. Recursion FTW!
Via ScottH in a comment that led me to Epic Win.
Awesome - it's a photoshop of a photoshop. Recursion FTW!
Via ScottH in a comment that led me to Epic Win.
Living in the future just got a little closer
I joke at work that we're all living in the future, because we all do Jetsons/2001 videoconferencing all the time. The punch line, of course is so where's my flying car?
Don't know about the flying car, but here's your jet pack:
Jetman flying in formation with actual, you know, jets. Living in the future FTW!
Don't know about the flying car, but here's your jet pack:
Jetman flying in formation with actual, you know, jets. Living in the future FTW!
Ouch
Expect to get hurt in a knife fight, even if you win. Newt just got hurt:
There's no doubt that Newt's clever. He may be too clever by half. This drew blood, and may have sliced muscle and tendon, too.
There's no doubt that Newt's clever. He may be too clever by half. This drew blood, and may have sliced muscle and tendon, too.
Safety vs. Security
Both Newt and Ron Paul are wrong here:
Paul is wrong because you can't handle a terrorist detonation of a nuclear weapon in a city as a criminal act, via criminal law. The scale is so off as to make this a difference of kind. Especially combined with his "withdraw from overseas" approach to foreign policy (one that I have some sympathy with, in all honesty), this by itself is enough to disqualify him from consideration for President. His arguments are entirely unserious, in that they not only will be futile, but counter-productive (i.e. inviting attack).
But Newt's response is also wrong. He at least has the advantage of taking the threat seriously. But "nothing to change in the Patriot Act?" Srlsy?
Look, detecting this threat on American soil is the last, final gasp of the safety net. If it gets to this point with a nuke, we've already lost.
And Newt's smart enough to understand this. You do not justwalk into Mordor build a nuke. There are a set of places these can come from. Some are exceptionally unlikely to be sources (the UK and Isreal). Others are unlikely (France, India). Others are questionable, but perhaps not the smart money bets (Russia, China). Others? Well, you fill in the blanks.
The response has to be clear, and forceful to organizations that might provide material, expertise, and financing to the people we know want to do this to us. Ancient Rome would take hostages from the Royal Families of allies whose allegiance they questioned. There are more modern equivalents, that send the message that an attack on us is personally catestrophic for you, your family, your clan, and your country.
And yes, you could actually say this to Vladimir Putin. He may be a brutal fascistic thug, but letting him know that his personal welfare is intimately bound up in making sure there are no nuclear explosions in American cities is a message that an American President with a bit of intestinal fortitude could deliver, and make stick.
Newt could be that guy, but based on this debate exchange doesn't seem to be.
Look, what's the point being a Superpower if you can't take out a dozen ruling families? Get them thinking on their future, and they'll deal with the people who would dearly like to take out one of our cities.
Is this really so hard?
Paul is wrong because you can't handle a terrorist detonation of a nuclear weapon in a city as a criminal act, via criminal law. The scale is so off as to make this a difference of kind. Especially combined with his "withdraw from overseas" approach to foreign policy (one that I have some sympathy with, in all honesty), this by itself is enough to disqualify him from consideration for President. His arguments are entirely unserious, in that they not only will be futile, but counter-productive (i.e. inviting attack).
But Newt's response is also wrong. He at least has the advantage of taking the threat seriously. But "nothing to change in the Patriot Act?" Srlsy?
Look, detecting this threat on American soil is the last, final gasp of the safety net. If it gets to this point with a nuke, we've already lost.
And Newt's smart enough to understand this. You do not just
The response has to be clear, and forceful to organizations that might provide material, expertise, and financing to the people we know want to do this to us. Ancient Rome would take hostages from the Royal Families of allies whose allegiance they questioned. There are more modern equivalents, that send the message that an attack on us is personally catestrophic for you, your family, your clan, and your country.
And yes, you could actually say this to Vladimir Putin. He may be a brutal fascistic thug, but letting him know that his personal welfare is intimately bound up in making sure there are no nuclear explosions in American cities is a message that an American President with a bit of intestinal fortitude could deliver, and make stick.
Newt could be that guy, but based on this debate exchange doesn't seem to be.
Look, what's the point being a Superpower if you can't take out a dozen ruling families? Get them thinking on their future, and they'll deal with the people who would dearly like to take out one of our cities.
Is this really so hard?
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