Axis of Awesome - 4 Four Chord Song

Just because.  The kids mentioned this at dinner.

No global warming in more than 18 years

The latest satellite data is out, and the "hiatus" (pause in global warming) is now longer than 18 years:

This is satellite data, not the frequently-and-mysteriously adjusted surface data.  But I'm pretty unhappy after digging into the details and finding out that this data is adjusted, too:

One might ask, Why do the satellite data have to be adjusted at all? If we had satellite instruments that (1) had rock-stable calibration, (2) lasted for many decades without any channel failures, and (3) were carried on satellites whose orbits did not change over time, then the satellite data could be processed without adjustment. But none of these things are true. Since 1979 we have had 15 satellites that lasted various lengths of time, having slightly different calibration (requiring intercalibration between satellites), some of which drifted in their calibration, slightly different channel frequencies (and thus weighting functions), and generally on satellite platforms whose orbits drift and thus observe at somewhat different local times of day in different years. All data adjustments required to correct for these changes involve decisions regarding methodology, and different methodologies will lead to somewhat different results. This is the unavoidable situation when dealing with less than perfect data.

This makes me grumpy.

I don't like adjustments to data, and I don't like accepting them because I like the scientists better or because the results agree with my world view.  And the changes seem (to me, anyway) pretty significant:

Bah.  Need to think about this and read more of the fine print.  In the meantime, can everyone please just stop fiddling with the data?

Three views on the fall of Rome

I like the bit about Isaac Asimov:

Asimov being a first rate writer is very adept at retelling the ancient stories, with what he admits as "a little cribbin' from Edward Gibbon".  The tragic, heroic story of Belasarius for instance is taken almost unedited and dropped into Foundation and Empire as the story of General "Bel Riose".

Interesting about George Lucas, too.  I really can't argue.

Ever want to just whack the heck out of someone with a sword?

Tired of the wussy "Peace Tied" swords at the Renaissance Faire?  Secretly long to whack someone good and hard with a longsword?  Then this is your cup of tea:



Via Isegoria, who finds the coolest stuff.

You can have your very own Eye of Sauron

Heh.

Of course, you only use your Powers for good, right?  Thought so.

How the police can break your password

Threaten to throw you off an 18th floor balcony:

After a few hours of this, which involved an attempt to lure one of Cascioli's suppliers to his building, the officers focused on Cascioli's Palm Pilot, which they (correctly) believed contained the information they wanted. But Cascioli wouldn't provide the password. He claims that police then tried to extract the password through intimidation.

Cascioli says [Officer Thomas] Liciardello asked him a question: "Have you ever seen Training Day?"

When Cascioli said yes, Cascioli says Liciardello looked him in the eyes and said: "This is Training Day for f—ing real," and then instructed officers Norman and Jeffrey Walker to take him to the balcony.

According to Cascioli and the indictment, Liciardello told them to "do whatever they had to do to get the password."

Out on the balcony, Cascioli says officers Norman and Walker lifted him up by each arm and leaned him over the balcony railing.

One of the cops involved has confirmed the story.

Quote of the Day: Baltimore riots

From the Orioles Executive VP:

That said, my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts, but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the U.S. to third-world dictatorships like China and others, plunged tens of millions of good hard-working Americans into economic devastation, and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state.

Go read the rest, which is just as good.  And remember that tonight's Orioles game will be played in an empty stadium.

Now that's security

Hack the vote

I don't even know what to say about the "security" of this electronic voting system:

The amazing thing is that to find all this, VITA just scratched the surface, and mostly used off-the-shelf open source tools – nothing special. They didn’t have access to source code, or any advanced tools. Or said in other words, anyone within a half mile could have modified every vote, undetected.
So how would someone use these vulnerabilities to change an election?

1. Take your laptop to a polling place, and sit outside in the parking lot.
2. Use a free sniffer to capture the traffic, and use that to figure out the WEP password (which VITA did for us).
3. Connect to the voting machine over WiFi.
4. If asked for a password, the administrator password is “admin” (VITA provided that).
5. Download the Microsoft Access database using Windows Explorer.
6. Use a free tool to extract the hardwired key (“shoup”), which VITA also did for us.
7. Use Microsoft Access to add, delete, or change any of the votes in the database.
8. Upload the modified copy of the Microsoft Access database back to the voting machine.
9. Wait for the election results to be published.

Note that none of the above steps, with the possible exception of figuring out the WEP password, require any technical expertise.  In fact, they’re pretty much things that the average office worker does on a daily basis.

It's getting harder and harder to look at this and not think that the original intent was to rig the elections.

Hulu + Netflix + Chromecast = Cable replacement

I ditched the expensive cable TV package that we've been getting for the last four years. I've replaced it with a $39 Chromecast and a combination of Netflix and Hulu Plus.

There's a ton of good stuff to watch and I'm saving money each month.

Awww

Soldiers with puppies.  Here's an example:

The commentary accompanying the pictures is pretty interesting.

That's how Bubba rolls

Independent audit of adjustments to climate data

Good:

My cue for those pieces was the evidence multiplying from across the world that something very odd has been going on with those official surface temperature records, all of which ultimately rely on data compiled by NOAA’s GHCN. Careful analysts have come up with hundreds of examples of how the original data recorded by 3,000-odd weather stations has been “adjusted”, to exaggerate the degree to which the Earth has actually been warming. Figures from earlier decades have repeatedly been adjusted downwards and more recent data adjusted upwards, to show the Earth having warmed much more dramatically than the original data justified.

So strong is the evidence that all this calls for proper investigation that my articles have now brought a heavyweight response. The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) has enlisted an international team of five distinguished scientists to carry out a full inquiry into just how far these manipulations of the data may have distorted our picture of what is really happening to global temperatures.

I've been blogging about the fishy adjustments to the data for five years or so.  There are some heavy hitters on the panel, and so I expect some pretty pointed results to be announced when they are done.

Hat tip: Rick via email, who remarks "They're catching up to you".

Peoplewatching at the Renaissance Faire

If there's a better place to people watch, I can't imagine what it would be.  People come to the Ren Faire to see and be seen.

These people don't work at the Faire (well, if you click to embiggin the picture, her beer suggests pretty strongly that they don't work there).  But "elaborate" really doesn't describe their costumes.

Gotta have cute kids.  This was a maypole dance.  Some of the kids were in costume, and some weren't.

Start 'em young.

It was "Bring your pet day".  I didn't bring Wolfgang, but a bunch of folks brought their pets.

This guy was a riot.

This guy, too.  It's not easy being a Pirate Captain when your little princess wants to play.

Cap'n Jack Sparrow doesn't work there, either.  It seems that he goes there to pick up chicks.  It worked - he got a kiss and a phone number.

All in all, a fun afternoon with #2 Son.

Deal alert: Lenovo laptop $199

This is a today-only special from Tiger Direct:

Lenovo B50-45 15.6" Notebook - 59441913 Product Details

Lenovo B50-45 15.6" Notebook
The Lenovo B50-45 15.6" Notebook is crafted with the finest features and powerful technology that deliver excellent computing experience. It boasts a powerful AMD E1-6010 1.35 GHz Dual-Core Processor which gives you a brilliant multitasking performance. This PC runs in Windows 8.1 64-Bit that provides greater security and improved power efficiency, giving you quick access to applications. Plus, get more space for games, HD movies and demos as it comes with a 320GB Hard Disk Drive. Also, its 4GB DDR3L gives you outstanding speed, which enables you to control your applications with ease. Hurry! Get your Lenovo B50-45 15.6" Notebook today!

What It Is And Why You Need It:

• AMD E1-6010 1.35 GHz Dual-Core Processor; gives you a brilliant multitasking performance
• Windows 8.1 64-Bit; provides greater security and improved power efficiency
• 320GB Hard Disk Drive; gives you more space for games, HD movies and demos
• 4GB DDR3L; provides outstanding speed to control your applications

This seems pretty good if you're looking for a laptop.  I've gotten a number of items from Tiger Direct in the past (including the Camp Borepatch central mainframe) and have been pretty satisfied with them.

Adam Falckenhagen - Fugue in A major

Image von der Wik

We sometimes hear classical guitar, which has survived in modern times mostly via Spain.  Guitar is actually a fairly modern instrument; in ancient times the harp was dominant but by the Renaissance the Lute had taken pride of place.

Since #2 Son and I go to the Renaissance Faire today, lute music seemed somehow appropriate.

Of course, this isn't from the Renaissance, but rather from the Baroque age.  Adam Falkenhagen was a German composer who was considered the master of the lute - so much so in fact that he was made the court lutenist by the sister of Frederick the Great.  Falkenhagen had studied under Johann Sebastian Bach, and this piece is a pretty standard baroque fugue.  Not at all renaissance.

Vassar Clements - Lonesome Fiddle Blues

You've heard this tune - Charlie Daniels took it and used it in "The Devil Went Down To Georgia".  If you need to steal a fiddle tune you probably would look to Vassar Clements, the five time Grammy winner who has played with just about everyone: Earl Scruggs, The Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffett, and Paul McCartney.  Along the way he had worked as a plumber at Kennedy Space Center near his native Kissimmee, and keen eyed readers will recognize him from his appearances with Earl Scruggs on The Beverly Hillbillies.  Happy birthday, Vassar!

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda"

100 years ago, lads from Australia and New Zealand hit the beach at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli.

It was an ambitious plan put forward by Winston Churchill to take Istambul, the capital city of Turkey, and knock that country out of the war (also restoring a route through the Black Sea for resupplying Russia).  It failed spectacularly, quickly bogging down into the miserable trench warfare that defined most of the Great War.  Eight months and 400,000 casualties later, the forces were withdrawn.

The event was traumatic at the time, and was instrumental in the emergence of a distinct Australian and New Zealand spirit.  April 25 has been celebrated as ANZAC Day ever since.  The pride in how the Lads from Down Under held up under impossible conditions was - and remains - a source of pride.

But the remembrance is bitter sweet.  The impossible conditions were precisely that.  The fine musical tradition of the Antipodes has captured that as well.



Happy ANZAC Day to our readers from Australia and New Zealand.  We will hoist a frosty one to the ghosts marching by the billabong.

We interrupt this blog for an important announcement

Brigid's second book is out, and available at Amazon:

From the Author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller The Book of Barkley - Love and Life Through the Eyes of a Labrador Retriever - a story of family, redemption, and hope.

It started with a piece of paper--a birth certificate, sent to the author's parents long after her birth. There is much history in that piece of paper. For she was born to an unwed mother in the generation prior to Roe v. Wade, on a warm day in August-a small, painful beginning in which she had been an unwilling participant, yet one that would shape her destiny. She is adopted into a loving home with another child that would become her beloved brother. She finds herself pregnant; she's a teen and a college student, abandoned at the news. The options are obvious, but there is only one decision she could make: to give her child up to a family praying for one, and walking away. Saving Grace is more than a story of adoption. It's a deep look into family-at hope and faith and why we end our days surrounded by souls that may not bear our name or share our blood, but who are our true family.

Get on over there and get you some of that.  Don't make me change my tone.

Good Night, Cthluhu

Cthluhu for children.  It's actually pretty faithful to the original story.