Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
The free program builds a selective installation of Vista components that strips the bloated OS which can be burned to a DVD.
Some vLite users stripped Vista into a package as an image file that was as small as 515MB and takes up just 1.4GB on the hard drive.
One report stated that condensing Windows Vista Home Basic into a 526MB .iso file and installing it in a virtual machine that used 1.3GB of drive space.
I have a question, what are the limitations, if any, on the attire of TSA inspectors. For example, can the TSA inspector wear a hijab?
The checkpoint personnel may seem pushy, we are all wondering how to adjust since as travelers we need to, as the Islamofascists seem to travel at will. I just wondered.
Video source: Memritv.
Terry Phillis, Philadelphia's CIO, anticipated that the city will know more within 60 days about what EarthLink, the present network builder, will do regarding the Philadelphia plans. Either the City will take over the project, which is not really a good option, or, a sale of the Wi-Fi network may hand it over to another private network builder and operator.
The network is designed to close the digital divide and assist lower-income residents gain Internet access. Whether this happens or not is still up in the air. Those programs which seem to help those most in need don't always happen. `The best laid plans of mice and men . . . '
Graphic source: somethingworthwhilequotes.com
Globalization is something I experienced first-hand ten years ago although at that time I don't think I had realized what the term implied or even if I'd heard it at that time.
I needed work done for online projects and my staff, inclined as they were to spending time with their families, wanting to sleep, and having sundry and important things to do actually wanted to go home circa 5 p.m. Slackers!
Work needed to get done so I starting looking online for free-lancers who could do the work. I was pleasantly surprised to find eager, competent, and educated personnel who could do the work responsibly and easily meet 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time deadlines. Didn't they have to sleep? Didn't they have families and lives too?
Of course they did but as the sun sets on the United States, hopefully not permanently, the sun is rising, and I hope only metaphorically, to the West. Geographically this area is generally known as the Pacific Rim, or the East: China, India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Korea.
I should have been more aware of this development because during 1994-1998 I first employed electronic bulletin boards and sought qualified experts to comment about online academic courses I developed in a University Liberal Arts program.
The answers were articulate, accurate, and academically credible.
All of this though has hardly prepared me for the hand-wringing which began in earnest a couple of weeks ago when Citibank, Merrill Lynch, and other financial services giants announced that they were turning to countries like China, Singapore and Kuwait for the billions in funds they desperately seek to cover their losses from the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
Is American #1? The question haunts my classroom on a daily basis as I consider the notion of the wealthiest, most powerful nation on Earth depending so uncomfortably on foreign investment.
We need to get accustomed to it.
IBM, the paradigmatic "American" IT company, relies on foreign interests for nearly two-thirds of its business and has advertised its position as a stalwart globalized IT enterprise. IBM is closely allied with Asia, in particular, India.
The plain truth is that globalization is inherent in economic life today. If you are fighting the inevitable, you need to adjust.
This is not your father's analysis and globalization if anything will simply increase. The task here is to adjust, decry risk-averse strategies, and try to prosper through challenging times.
The Roman struggle over social equity during the Struggle of the Orders during the Republic is one of the classic eras to examine as grist for the mill as adherents of all political persuasions seek to capture it for their polemics. Karl Christ deftly handles the period and does not pander to an extreme liberal view, as in Marx, nor does he defend the conservative status quo. He rightly situates the Struggle as a two century battle, not easily captured by any more contemporary politics.
In an outstanding book in so many ways, a genuine highpoint is his summary of the civilization as one of the most important bases of the modern world. Christ notes that the Romans form the basis of so much of Western Civilization and later Revolutions. He handles the major scholars of Roman history, Mommsen, Herder, von Ranke, Burckhardt, Rostovtzeff, and Syme, all of whom appear with a flourish in the concluding chapter. He summarized the "virtues" and excesses of Rome and describes why they are so important to our own questions and why Roman civilization remains a treasured darling of historians. This is the best one volume introduction around.
Graphic source: The Long War Journal
AQ in Iraq is slithering northwards towards Mosul since the Coalition is pressuring, and eliminating, AQ in the south in and near Baghdad.
Over a 1,000 pollsters ranked Apple first, then, Microsoft with 27% and 22% respectively. Google was voted on the best liked company at 33%.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an organization that has monitored how radical Muslims have housed jihadist sites in the U.S. for some time.
In this case, the current server is hosted in Tampa, and previously the site appears to have been run off a system in Minnesota. MEMRI identified the Web hosting firm that owns the server on which the site, al-Ekhlaas that offers the encryption device, is the Florida-based Noc4hosts Incorporated.
Academe is a closed circuit process. You have to qualify for the club, and club members decide who is in the club. The club is not always open to alternative voices but if you are an academic you should remain open to creative impulses. Those creative impulsive are often first noticed and expressed by outsiders because they are outside the club. They notice things that the club members miss.
The blog in this particular effort is one that is apropos for the book itself. Outsiders, gamers, and Internet savvy persons are some of the best and creative minds who have applied themselves to the topic. They should be involved.
I wish the author well.
The professor is working on a book about digital fiction and video games and many of these people are outside academia but they have intriguing insights into the subject matter.
It is in this vein then that Noah Wardrip-Fruin, an assistant professor of communication at the University of California San Diego, announced plans to post portions of his forthcoming book, Expressive Processing, on the Grand Text Auto blog to seek peer review and before the book is published by MIT Press.
Financial companies have taken these steps to protect themselves against another Internet outage:
* Set up dedicated networks independent of telephone companies in certain parts of the country.Cf. Computerworld 21 January 2008.
* Negotiated more aggressively with communications companies to guarantee diverse routing.
* Separated data centers and communications centers more widely geographically.
IBM, supposedly a U.S. company, is dependent on its third-quarter earning statement which is justification for globalization. Not only are countries taking U.S. technology jobs, but a recent IBM statement noted that the opportunities in emerging markets is equivalent to the California gold rush.
IBM has 65% of its business overseas, with emerging markets growing by double digits. In the 2006 calendar year, IBM's non-U.S. operations accounted for 60% of its revenue. IBM signed $1.4 billion in services deals last quarter in India alone.
In a broad range of countries such as Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, and Ecuador, a growing middle class favors a buildup of public and private infrastructures to support explosive economic growth.
In India last week, Sebastian Teunissen, adjunct professor and executive director of the Clausen Center for International Business and Policy at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, stated: "I've been doing this for a number of years, and I'm still blown away."
The moribund growth of PCs in the U.S. is outstripped in India. He stated: "There are an awful lot of people there who are really, really hungry for technology."
Cf. Computerworld
At a SANS Institute conference of security professionals, CIA analyst Tom Donahue disclosed the recently declassified attacks.
The talk was long on threats while painfully scarce on specifics as to what actually went wrong.
Criminals have launched online attacks that disrupted power equipment in several regions outside of the U.S., he said, without identifying the countries affected. The goal of the attacks was extortion, he said.
Of course the government will have to supervise this process unless IT professionals step up their efforts. The alternative is to have the government spying on every power grid in the country.
Wouldn't we all rather have a choice and some options to government spying and intrusion?
Stay tuned for upcoming developments.
Graphic source: BBC
I don't know if the French are strong enough but they are about to make a serious move into the Gulf.
I've maintained here that both Russia, India, and probably China should step up to the plate but little France I haven't really considered.
Nonetheless, President Nicolas Sarkozy has not only done France's traditional policy of selling arms to Gulf states but he has done one better by signing a deal with Abu Dhabi for a permanent French naval base.
Will France become more of a target if it is interjected into the complex politics of the Gulf? Probably.
President Sarkozy appears willing to accept that this exposes France to the risks involved in such a sensitive area. There was the recent confrontation between Iranian speedboats and US naval ships recently. In addition, there is a dispute between Abu Dhabi and Iran over three small islands in the Strait of Hormuz.
Even the timing is interesting, coming as it does with a major visit to the region by President Bush, during which he has criticized Iran.
France is already playing an active role in trying to increase sanctions on Iran over its refusal to accept Security Council demands for a halt to uranium enrichment.
I think its a good move and is another indication that the U.S. can stand down as much as possible. I say let the French and others take up some slack and catch some of the flack that the U.S. ordinarily takes.
France is also constructing two nuclear power reactors for Abu Dhabi.
All this interest in nuclear power could indicate a capacity for nuclear weapons at some stage.
France has already sold Mirage jet fighters and AMX-30 tanks to the Emirate and has had a defence agreement with it (mainly dealing with the support of arms contracts) since 1995.
The British never fared well in the Lower Gulf and this allowed the French to make their move which they took full advantage of.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
George Orwell
Graphic source: The Long War Journal
Around a year ago the surge was announced and Operation Phantom Phoenix is the current nationwide operation targeting al Qaeda's remaining safe havens,. Since 8 January at the beginning of the campaign, Iraqi and US forces have captured or killed 121 al Qaeda fighters, wounded 14, and detained an additional 1023 suspects. Al Qaeda's leadership has been hit hard during the operation, with 92 high values targets either killed or captured.
The material benefits include Iraqi and US forces who have also discovered 351 weapons caches and four tunnel complexes. Iraqi and US forces have also discovered three car bomb and improvised explosive device [IED] factories and 410 IEDs, including 18 car bombs and 25 homes rigged with explosives. Also found were numerous torture chambers, an underground medical clinic, several closed schools and a large foreign fighter camp with intricate tunnel complexes.
The conflict at home though has gone cold. Most of these details have escaped and as people speak up, we will understand more of the language.
Graphic source: AP
This is one of those just-when-you-think-you-have-heard-it-all you hear about a former congressman and delegate to the United Nations who was indicted on charges of working for an alleged terrorist fundraising ring. The ring allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida supporter.
Mark Deli Siljander, a Michigan Republican as a member of the House was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about being hired to lobby senators on behalf of an Islamic charity. As in numerous so-called charities, the indictment charges that the group was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
The 42-count indictment accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying; what makes the indictment even more chilling, is that the money turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Siljander served in the House from 1981-1987 and was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations in 1987.
Siljander writes in a new book that he was closing the chasm between Christian and Muslim communities.
Since 2004 the Islamic group (IARA) has been classified by the Treasury Department as a suspected fundraiser for terrorists.
The government accuses IARA of sending approximately $130,000 to help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the United States has designated a global terrorist.
After working for the government, Siljander founded a consulting group Global Strategies Inc. and, according to the indictment, was hired by IARA to lobby the Senate Finance Committee to remove the charity from the panel's list of suspected terror fundraisers.
Siljander, IARA, and five of its officers were charged with various counts of theft, money laundering, aiding terrorists and conspiracy.
I find it hard to imagine that Americans would not find al-Qaeda as more of a threat if they can penetrate the United States Congress.
Graphic source: Linspire.
Since October a new sub-$200 fully equipped Linux desktop PC has been released.
Sears.com is selling a Mirus Innovations Inc. desktop machine that runs Linux from Linspire Inc. for $299, minus a $100 mail-in rebate.
The Linspire/Mirus PC features an Intel Celeron 420 1.6-GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, a 56Kbit/sec. modem, a CD-RW burner, a media card reader, a keyboard, speakers, a mouse and Linspire's Freespire 2.0 Linux operating system. There is no monitor included so shoppers will have to find their own to add.
I can watch in alarm as scholarship is inhibited and parochial because even with the best of intentions academics inhabit ghetto worlds. Himmells edited a fine volume but although the ancient religions covered here are all over the earth, including the Middle East, there are no contributors from the Middle East. Wouldn't it stand to reason that an Arab or Middle Eastern expert could be found on Mesopotamian religion? Nonetheless, there is no such person in the work. But, the lack of Arab and Middle Eastern scholarship is typical, not extraordinary.
Seems like a good deal to me.
And of those who hold these visas, more than half again, are in computer-related occupations.
China was not even a close second, at 9%, among H-1B recipients. The next largest group of countries, all with 3% each, were Canada, South Korea and the Philippines.
A study by the National Science Board (NSB), which oversees the National Science Foundation, is the 588-page "Science and Engineering Indicators 2008" report that examines the state of science and engineering training as well as the ability of the U.S. to compete globally, and includes an analysis of H-1B visa trends.
Although the U.S. spent a record high in 2006 of about $340 billion in research and development, federal support for basic and applied research has declined for years. Additionally, the report warned that U.S. grade school students continue to lag behind those in other developed countries in science and math.
In a related point the Association for Computing Machinery concluded that Congress is abandoning its commitment to lead in science and technology.
In 2006, the top three employers of H-1B holders were India-based Infosys Technologies Ltd., at 4,908 visas; Wipro Ltd., at 4,002; and Tata Consultancy Services, at 3,046, according to data released by U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) last year.
The U.S. may not be competitive in a global economy. These reports, and ones like them, indicated that the economic output in China, India, and South Korea, is that the NSB report stated that what may be happening is "a slow shift of the epicenter of the world economic growth toward that region."
The education level of people receiving H-1B visas is generally high, almost have possessing a master's degree. The starting salary for both bachelor's and master's degree holders was approximately $56,000.
Graphic source: The Long War Journal
Operation Iron Harvest, based largely in the north, has resulted in 60 al Qaeda fighters killed and 193 suspects captured since the operation began last week. Seven al Qaeda fighters were killed in clashes south of Baqubah. Iraqi Special Forces captured an IED cell leader in Mosul. Coalition forces detained eight al Qaeda operative during raids in central and northern Iraq. Iraqi soldiers captured two terrorists in Baghdad. A senior Sadrist leader was killed in Baghdad.
Coalition and Iraqi security forces were active on Thursday and Friday in fighting as part of Operation Phantom Phoenix. Two senior al Qaeda in Iraq operatives were killed along with 32 foot soldiers during fighting in Arab Jabour, Miqdadiyah, and the Samarra region. Another 34 al Qaeda fighters were reported captured.Cf. The Long War Journal. And in response, according to an insurgent video, the terrorists shot off a round or two.
Anything is better than nothing but not too much will come of this effort.
A low-cost laptop has arisen from OLPC however the $100 XO laptop in 2005 has since become afflicted by production delays and rising costs. The laptop's estimated price rose $200. Now the effort is plagued by waning orders and competition from commercial vendors that threaten to sideline the nonprofit effort.
Secunia provides the numbers and they are bleak: nearly all Windows computers are likely running at least one unpatched application and about 40% contain 11 or more vulnerable-to-attack programs.
Secunia ASP research shows that more than 95% of the PCs that have downloaded and installed its Personal Software Inspector (PSI) utility in the last week sport one or more applications. The solution is usually pretty simple, download the security fixes, but most people are not patching their systems.
So many systems are insecure. Almost half scanned in the last week have 11 or more vulnerabilities, while more than two-thirds have 6 or more unpatched programs.
Keep in mind that the typical user is more than most concerned about patches so the numbers are no doubt higher amongst average users
PSI runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Server 2003, and can be downloaded from the Secunia site.
Big Think is funded by Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, and Larry Summers, former U.S. secretary of the Treasury and former president of Harvard University.
The case was filed on Friday by New Jersey resident Christine Desantis, who is represented by KamberEdelson LLC, a technology law firm.
Microsoft Corporation today released two security updates that patch three vulnerabilities in Windows. Only one of the three flaws is rated "critical," the highest ranking Microsoft uses, and the other two are only "important" and "moderate," the next two lower steps in the company's four ranks.
MS08-001 is the critical update that addresses two bugs in a trio of Windows' TCP/IP protocols.
Most of the issues are resolved unobtrusively for most users because these patches can be downloaded and installed via the Microsoft Update and Windows Update services, as well as through Windows Server Update Services. However, most ordinary users will receive the updates if they have their automatic updates enabled. The more problematic machines are for company or corporate computers in which the administrator would need to check that the updates were installed.
Graphic source: The Long War Journal
For informative purposes, I posted the latest Order of Battle in Iraq.
7 January 2008
The alliance between the US army and Sunni former insurgents is being credited with forcing Al Qaeda out of Baghdad. Murders in the capital have decreased by 80% and calm is being restored.
"It all kicked off when we gathered the men of the area and decided to stand up to Al Qaeda", recalls Abu Tariq. "That was the start of the awakening". Tariq is the media agent and official cameraman for the Knights of Amiriyah, (also known as the Amiriyah Freedom Fighters), the jihadi insurgents who turned against Al Qaeda to help the Americans. While still ambivalent towards US forces, thousands of Amiriyah's erstwhile freedom fighters have signed up. They receive 0 every month from the Americans in exchange for cleaning out Al Qaeda. "The Amiriyah Freedom Fighters have done a great job", raves Capt Brian Wayman. "In the month that I've worked with them, they've caught and killed more Al Qaeda members than we've been able to do for quite some time". In recent months, the Knights have spread beyond the boundaries of Amiriyah into other neighbourhoods, where Al Qaeda are now on the run. As Abu Tariq states; "Things are 90% better now. You can see for yourself".
The problem was that Sears Holdings appeared to violate privacy concerns, and as a result, they took part of its Managemyhome.com Web site offline.
A customer's purchase history on Manage My Home might have been able to be accessed by unauthorized persons.
The feature, although handy for customers, is a violation of Sears' own privacy policies.
On the other hand, Sears, the third-largest retailer in the U.S., has left intact its My SHC Community portal, which downloads invasive ComScore Web tracking software to some users.
The criticism is that the company does not fully disclose what the software actually does.
As the Sears 2005 merger with Kmart progresses, there are apparently some rough spots. At least partially, Sears is making the effort to right the ship.
The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright, an excellent book by the way, has a touching scene when Ali Soufan, the Lebanese American FBI agent who interrogated Abu Jandal, the Yemeni source for much of what we know about the 9/11 hijackers, where Ali finally breaks him.
Ali got Abu to identify the hijackers in a brilliant ploy.
But Wright builds up to the identification of the hijackers by beginning his story six decades ago with the first Middle Eastener to attack the West.
Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian who was offended by the decadent Americans while attending college in Colorado. Qutb's jail time manifesto justified takfir which held that Islam was the only true religion and that true believers had the religious obligation to kill everyone—including women and children—who disagreed with the true faith (29).
Wright describes Bin Laden's youth and evolution as a thinker when in 1980 Osama adopted the doctrine of takfir as al-Qa’ida’s operating principle.
The Americans are slow to understand Bin Laden but when they do FBI terrorist experts Dan Coleman, John O’Neill, and to a lesser extent Michael Scheuer and Richard Clarke are quick to identify him as a significant threat. They first learned of al-Qa’ida from a Sudanese defector, Jamal al-Fadl, shortly after bin Laden declared war on the United States in 1996. While al-Qa’ida evolved and planned its terrorist operations—the first World Trade Center bombing, the attacks in Lebanon, Africa, and on the USS Cole—leading up to 9/11, the FBI and CIA came to realize that al-Qa’ida planned terrorist attacks against America itself.
Wright documents that on 11 September 2001, the Bureau had only one analyst working full time on the al-Qa’ida account.
Wright demonstrates that the failure of the FBI and the CIA to cooperate at key junctures and the failure of Clinton to aggressively identify and attack Bin Laden provided him a loophole to escape.
In the words of Scheuer in his own work Imperial Hubris, American policy makers failed to smoke Bin Laden in the dust of history. Americans were failed by the tepid investigation and muted response by American policy makers. The tragedy of 9/11 is the result.
Graphic source: The Dallas Morning News
The faces that peer out of the photograph may look like typical American teen age girls but they are not.
The two slain Lewisville High School students, near Dallas, Texas, sisters were mourned at services. Sarah, 17, and Amina Yaser Said, 18, both excelled in academics and athletics but their Egyptian-born father, Yaser Abdel Said, is still on the loose. They were both found shot to death in a taxi at an Irving motel.
There are rumors and media reports that the Muslim father's religion may have been the reason for the killings as "honor killings," a practice in which a man kills a female relative who he believes has somehow shamed the family.
Irving police are investigating but they have acknowledged that the family had some previous domestic problems.
Gail Gartrell, the sisters' great-aunt, charged that Mr. Said physically abused the two girls for years. The father was upset recently to discover that the girls had boyfriends.
The mother and girls had fled the father thinking he would kill them.
At the funeral, Dr. Yusuf Kavacki, head of the Richardson mosque, told mourners that all living things are destined to die. He did not address the Muslim issue of honor killings.
These are strange days in America when no one questions the death of children.
Biography:
John "Juan" Ricardo I. Cole (born October 1952 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on television, and testified before the United States Senate. He has published several peer-reviewed books on the modern Middle East and is a translator of both Arabic and Persian. Since 2002, he has written a weblog, Informed Comment (formerly Informed Consent).Cf. Wikipedia.
Criticism
Alexander H. Joffe in the Middle East Quarterly has written that "Cole suggests that many American Jewish officials hold dual loyalties, a frequent anti-Semitic theme." Cole argues that his critics have "perverted the word 'antisemitic,'" and also points out that "in the Middle East Studies establishment in the United States, I have stood with Israeli colleagues and against any attempt to marginalize them or boycott them."
According to Efraim Karsh, Cole has done "hardly any independent research on the twentieth-century Middle East", and Karsh characterized Cole's analysis of this era as "derivative." He has also responded to Cole's criticism of Israeli policies and the influence of the Israel lobby, comparing them to accusations that have been made in anti-semitic writings. Cole responded directly to Karsh in his blog, dismissing one of Karsh's charges, that Cole's criticisms echo themes in the antisemitic tract Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as a "propaganda technique," adding that "No serious person who knows me or my work would credit his outrageous insinuations for a moment." Cole also defended his knowledge of modern Middle Eastern history, comparing his experience "on the ground" in the modern Arab world favorably with that of Bernard Lewis, a historian he said is "lionized" by Karsh.
He is a historian and a professor at the University of Chicago, specializing in modern Korean history and contemporary international relations in East Asia. In this instance, I'm not sure why he is considered an expert in American presidents or in Middle Eastern affairs. This is not his area of expertise.
During his talk, he stated that he is not sure why he is so "nervous" but he has been on a "liquid diet."
Criticism
Cumings' scholarship on Korea has been challenged by some academic critics, and in general his work has stirred up more controversy than that of most other historians.Cf. Wikipedia article: Bruce Cumings.
Paul Hollander has argued that Cumings' has a left-wing, pro-North Korea bias. He cites the example of Cumings' discussion of the North Korean gulag system, noting that "in a triumph of selective perception, he manages to interpret the most damning indictment of the North Korean gulag available--The Aquariums of Pyongyang, by Kang Chol-Hwan and Pierre Rigoulot--as providing support for his views of the system. As he sees it, the book is 'interesting and believable' because it is not the 'ghastly tale of totalitarian repression that its original publishers ... meant it to be.' But it is precisely and resoundingly that, as any reader without a soft spot for North Korean tyranny would readily discover. Cumings writes that "conditions were primitive and beatings were frequent [in the camp described in that book] but the inmates also were able to improvise much of their upkeep on their own ... small animals could surreptitiously be caught and cooked." He delicately refrains from mentioning that these small animals were mostly rats, and a regular part of the narrator's diet. That book makes abundantly clear that hunger and malnutrition were endemic; inmates stealing food or trying to escape were executed. Cumings also fails to mention these public executions the inmates were obliged to attend, stressing instead that families were commendably kept together and that "death from starvation was rare." In any event, he suggests, these deprivations are put into the proper perspective by our "longstanding, never-ending gulag full of black men in our prisons"--which should disqualify us from "pointing a finger."
Historian Allan Millett has argued that Cumings' "eagerness to cast American officials and policy in the worst possible light, however, often leads him to confuse chronological cause and effect and to leap to judgments that cannot be supported by the documentation he cites or ignores."
Writing in the Atlantic Monthly, Korea expert B.R. Myers lambasted Cumings and in particular his book North Korea: Another Country. Myers argued that, in the book, "Cumings likens North Korea to Thomas More's Utopia, and this time the wrongheadedness seems downright willful; it's as if he were so tired of being made to look silly by forces beyond his control that he decided to do the job himself."
Graphic source: Magellan.
Finally haven taken the GPS plunge, thank you Santa, I now plot my current location, so that my Magellan Maestro 4210 North America can acquire at least three different satellite signals. The more signals it grabs, the more accurate its positioning will be. The device allows you to see your current GPS signal reception, the number of signals, the direction from which they're being received, and your current longitude and latitude. You can touch a Point of View (POI) icon for nearby services on the interactive map and see the address and phone number (when available) and get an instant route. The SiRFstarIII™ GPS receiver and built-in high-sensitivity antenna provide quick position acquisition for reliable navigation. QuickSpell™ intelligently searches and checks spelling so you can enter your destination with just a few touches of the screen. SmartDetour™ prompts you to route around sudden slow freeway traffic. The SD/MMC card slot may be used to Backup or Restore your receiver’s address book and store Custom Point of Interests (POIs). Backup and Restore is available in the receiver’s User Options from the Main Menu.
Graphic source: Computerworld
I'm a big fan of Firefox so with a new release in the offing I took a look. One handy new feature is the downloading information. In order to keep better track of downloads the upcoming Firefox 3 Beta 2 includes a handy Mozilla tweak. Not only the file name is listed but also the URL it was downloaded from, and the download information includes an icon that leads to information about when and where you downloaded it. The Remove link has been removed from the Download manager although you can still delete by right-clicking. I would have let it as it is but I'm quibbling here. I look forward to more development to see what Mozilla comes up with. I do like the increased security features as well.
Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (2005; ISBN 1-4000-6317-5) by Robert Pape is a cogent analysis of suicide terrorism. Pape compiled a database at the University of Chicago where he directs the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism.
Pape claims to possess the world’s first “database of every suicide bombing and attack around the globe from 1980 through 2003 — 315 attacks in all” (3).
He states: “what nearly all suicide terrorist attacks have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland” (4).
It is imperative that Americans understand his point.
How can the U.S. respond? Pape has a few suggestions.
Victory should be defined as defeating the current crop of terrorists and preventing a new group arising.
He states: “the taproot is American military policy” (244).
Pape suggests a policy of “‘off-shore’ balancing”: establishing local alliances while maintaining the capacity for rapid deployment of military forces (247-50).
The local alliances, this is my point, Pape is not responsible for this, should be to increase the involvement of Middle Eastern states, the Russians, and Chindia.
Graphic source: screen shot by Benjamin Googins
Sears and Kmart are old-time companies that do not grasp the implications of the technology that they are using. This is not to excuse what they did, as they have recently been embroiled in a spyware controversy but it is what it is.
This is unfortunate for Sears since I've been really been impressed recently with Sears' sensitivity and support for our military personnel but here they are in the midst of spyware.
How so? Apparently, customers who sign up for a new marketing program may be giving up more private information according to a leading anti-spyware researcher.
According to a story released by Computerworld, Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ben Edelman, Sears Holdings' My SHC Community program falls short of U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) standards by failing to notify users precisely what occurs once they download the company's marketing software. Sears does not tell customers that the software "tracks every site you go to, every search you make, every product you buy, and every product you look at but don't buy. It's just spooky."
CA senior engineer Benjamin
Googins wrote in a late December blog entry that criticized the software. The Sears software was written by VoiceFive, a subsidiary of Internet measurement firm ComScore.
In his blog, Googins states his conclusion:
Sears.com is pushing software with extensive user tracking capabilities and doing a very poor job of obtaining informed consent – if at all. After the proxy software is installed on the user’s system there is nothing on the user’s desktop to indicate their every move on the Internet is being collected and sent to a third party market research company, comScore.
Although the software was not written by Sears they are still clearly responsible for the content and application of the contracted software. Oops, it looks like the old-time companies who foster good customer relations need to work harder.
Graphic source: another screen shot by Benjamin Googins
Looking for a disk-wiping program, preferably one that meets the U.S. Department of Defense's standards for disk sanitation? The DOD suggests that a hard drive should be wiped clean seven times so these programs will overwrite your entire hard disk with data multiple times, ensuring that the original data can't be retrieved. I hope you can be patient because it can take several hours to wipe the hard disk.
One to consider is Darik's Boot and Nuke which is free down loadable software that creates a boot disk which wipes everything cleanly on the hard drive. It can be used with floppy disks, USB flash drives, as well as CDs and DVDs. A similar program is Eraser which I have not seen or used so at some point I may be able to compare the two.
Graphic source: Bob Shaw For The Washington Post
The FBI is preparing to abuse a vast database of biometric data in a $1 billion project which includes images of irises and faces. The FBI has consistently had a truly abysmal IT record so I would not imagine this can be a good development.
The basic procedural protocol and etiquette between our top two crime and espionage units, The Company, and the FBI, is so much more a cultural and organizational priority that I can see little good to come out of the new project. It also seems inherently flawed along Orwellian lines.
With the FBI possessing the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, I can envision a government with an unprecedented ability to monitor individuals in the United States and abroad.
Apparently, digital images of faces, fingerprints, and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement.
A 10-year contract will be announced soon that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information the FBI receives. World-wide policing will rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even individual characteristics and personal traits such as the unique way that people walk and talk will be included. At an employers request, the FBI will also retain the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees encounter the law.
The project has alarmed some, such as Barry Steinhardt, director of the Technology and Liberty Project of the American Civil Liberties Union because: "It's enabling the Always On Surveillance Society."
The system planned by the FBI is called Next Generation Identification and it looks like its here to stay.
The servers in the Appalachian underground facility which houses the project, the size of two football fields, receives a hit every second from somewhere in the United States or Canada, comparing a set of digital fingerprints against the FBI's database of 55 million sets of electronic fingerprints. A possible match is made--or ruled out--as many as 100,000 times a day.
If the system works well at all, the information would be collected from a wide variety of sources and would subsequently available to multiple agencies which increases the chances to catch criminals. This procedure was not done in 2001 which allowed the 9/11 hijackers to escape detection. The FBI will make both criminal and civilian data available to authorized users and there are now 900,000 federal, state and local law enforcement officers who can query the fingerprint database.
Orwell, anyone?
Posts
All Comments
Share |
CIO and Strategy & Business magazines
Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science
SD Times: Software Development News
SC Magazine for Security Professionals
Government Technology: Solutions for State and Local Government in the Information Age
What's Running is a great tool so that you can see what is running on your desktop.
Process Lasso lets you view your processor and its responsiveness.
Online Armor lets you view your firewall status.
Avast is a terrific scrubber of all virus miscreants.
ClamWin is an effective deterrent for the little nasty things that can crop into your machine.
Ad-Aware is a sound anti-virus tool.
For all your electronic appliance needs research products on this terrific site.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Posts
All Comments
