How pathetic...
Bruce Schneier stoops to a new low in Cryptogram:
"And finally, I have a favor to ask. I'd like to see if I can subvert
the Amazon bestseller system and get to #1. My previous big book,
"Secrets and Lies," made it to #4. (Harry Potter was #1, #2, #3, and
#5.) If everyone who plans on buying this book on Amazon waits until
12:15 PM Pacific time (that's 2:15 PM Central Time, 3:15 PM Eastern
time, 8:15 PM UK Time, and 9:15 PM Western European time) on Friday,
August 15, and all does it together, I might make #1. Don't worry if
you can't do this, but I would appreciate it if you can. Thanks."
Potential New Attacks
A Department of Homeland Security advisory issued Thursday warns that al Qaeda is working on plans to hijack airliners flying between international points that pass near or over the continental United States. A Department of Homeland Security official said most of the flights fitting this description originate in Canada, and that U.S. officials have been working with Canada over the past month to ensure it is improving screening and other security measures. Full Story
Blaster Worm Linked to Severity of Blackout
The W32.Blaster worm may have contributed to the cascading effect of the Aug. 14 blackout, government and industry experts revealed last week.
On the day of the blackout, Blaster degraded the performance of several communications lines linking key data centers used by utility companies to manage the power grid, the sources confirmed. "It didn't affect the [control] systems internally, but it most certainly affected the timeliness of the data they were receiving from other networks," said Gary Seifert, a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in Idaho Falls, referring to flow-control and load-balancing data that's transmitted over public telecommunications networks. "It certainly compounded the problems" relating to the congestion of key communications links used by utilities to coordinate contingency efforts, Seifert added. Full Story
Baghdad Burning - A Blog
I saw this link on the Doc Searls site. The Baghdad Burning Blog is an interesting read.
The Dean Machine!
He won't get my vote, but the Dean campaign certainly has my respect. How many political events put out a call to attendees to bring their laptops and then set up an 802.11b network connected to a T1! I've always been fascniated by the use of technology for political purposes. In fact, I participated in the first online town meeting with Senator Leahy in 1995 [Link to Transcript] and found it to be a very interesting event. The Dean Internet machine will be marked as a significant turning point for grassroots campaigning and the use of the Internet.
Loving my Mac!
Just another one of those reasons, I am absolutely happy about my switch to Mac.
"Microsoft Corp., whose Windows operating system and e-mail programs have been under siege from new computer "worms" for at least 10 days, has released a patch for two critical vulnerabilities in its Web browser. As a result of the Internet worms -- which are viruses that spread through a network -- hundreds of thousands of PCs worldwide, at the minimum, have been infected. Many have crashed and networks have slowed to a crawl. "
"Am I bugging you? Don't mean to bug ya..."
Don't know why, but those words from U2's Rattle 'n Hum came to mind when I first viewed this picture. As a parent, it is one of those things that takes your breath away. Confronting violence is a vital piece of what I do for a living, but it still doesn't prepare you for an image like this. The only images I can think of that are more haunting that this one is the picture of a young Kurdish child after having been subjected to chemical weapons and the award winning child and vulture image.
We Love Arnold...
You knew it was bound to happen. Brought to you by the same slackers who started We Love the Iraqi Information Minister, we now have the We Love Arnold web site!
Cascading failures
I always have a tough time articulating the true potential impact of cascading infrastructure failures. Not any more...
Poindexter Resigns
If you haven't read his resignation letter, you ought to. Unconventional threats require unconventional thinking. I've never met a terrorism expert that didn't support the type of "thinking outside the box" exploration this program represents. Additionally, once most privacy advocates invested the effort to educate themselves on the project, they had limited objections. Politics and public perception impact government projects all the time, I just hope those that want to restrict the exploration of new ideas are willing to live with the consequences.