Shocking Trends

In my browsing, I stumbled on Scary Story. Seems this kid in Highschool wrote a short story about a generic highschool being overrun by Zombies.

So, he is being charged, and held for $5,000 bail. For writing a short story. For his English class. Wow.

So, I started to do some research, and I found This Site. Some good stuff there about the fear culture that we currently live in...

-Tsyko

Zogg..

The Daily Illuminator brings us the truth about Zogg

Be Afraid!

Cool spoilers from Star Wars III

Here. They are spoilers, so be warned.

One of the best...

I stumbled across one of the best photo-documentaries of 'The Gates' in New York. It's not of the massive art, but of the people taking pictures of the massive art..

The Gates is a massive art installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in Central Park, New York City. It's only going to last for a little over two weeks. As a result, Central Park has been packed. Most of the people packing the park have come with cameras in hand.

Today, Mika and I went to visit central park to see it under some freshly fallen snow. Rather than take pictures of the gates, which everybody does, we decided to (sneakily) take pictures of the people taking pictures of the gates.

We're calling the resulting photo-documentary Picturesque: Picture of Pictures of the Gates

Hat Tip - Mako, and you can view the entire work here

Top of the morning to ya!

Uncleanable spyware??

From Slashdot:

The Inquirer has a story that the next generation of Windows spyware and exploits are starting to make use of 'kernel rootkits'. A paper at Microsoft Research has details on a prototype detection tool. Computerworld has more details, as well. From the article: 'Newer rootkits can intercept system calls that are passed to the kernel and filter out queries generated by the software. This makes them invisible to administrators and to detection tools...'

When are people going to wake up? The era of Windows as we know it is over. There is a race between the hackers and Microsoft, and Microsoft simply cannot keep up. So, I am going to buy a new computer. If I choose Windows, I have to also buy a virus scanner and a spyware scanner, and oh by the way, I might want to buy Office, and a backup program that works, and and and and...

From an administrators standpoint, it is suicide to install windows. You simply have to install SUS or WUS (the WUS beta currently out requires a connection to a Microsoft SQL server), and it's a really good idea to install a centrally controlled workstation firewall, and virus scanner, and spyware scanner, and software inventory and control agent and and and...

And yet people still recoil from the Mac, Linux and BSD. Why? Because 'they are not windows'. So, they spend and spend on all of the supporting infrastructure that running a somewhat secure Windows network requires.

Here is a road map to the future for all of you companies stuck in the windows quagmire.

1) Get all of you apps running on standards based web platforms (ie no ActiveX, VBScript etc). Use PHP, MySql and write to HTML specs.

2) The apps that you cannot port to a N-Tier based architecture, get them running using a cross-platform coding tool (Mono w/ GTK, QT, or what have you).

3) Swap out your applications with cross platform ones - ie use Firefox or Mozilla instead of IE. Use Open Office/Star Office instead of Microsoft Office. As your users become used to these tools, it will be trivial to swap out the underlying OS. Most might not even notice.

4) Start moving your people to some thing else. - Move the light users first - the ones that only use word, email, and a browser. Power Users can come later. Choose something that keeps your options open - and provides real security.

5) Sleep better at night knowing that you have a safer, more secure network.

If you need help, email me :)


-Tsyko

All your wifi are belong to us!

Woot! The hotel has 'B' wifi access at no charge. I will probally try and keep a running log of the events. So far, a crowd hounding the Gaming Chair to get the sign in sheet for the WWII game that I run up. Makes a guy just tear up.

sniff.

Out of town

I will be out of town for the next few days. If the hotel does not have wireless internet access, do not expect to see me posting until monday. I know, all of my regular readers will just have to get along with out my sage writings.

Oh will the world survive?


heh.

Well, here are a few links to keep ya'll going...

Saw this, and just had to share

Hat Tip, Mortal Seraphim

More about God

So - there are several logical problems with the concept of God. I would like to explore a few of them right now.

Let's assume that God is omni-whatever.

Where does he live?

Time is woven into the fabric of our universe. As space stretches and warps, time is stretched and warped the same. Time and space are basically the same thing. This is not a theory - it has been experimentally proven several times since the big E proposed it.

Time is also subjective, rather then objective. We determine time's flow in our brain and nervous system. It is not some universal constant, rather a construct of our psychology and physiology. You can see that yourselves. When you are bored, the hours seem to drag on. When you are focused and busy, time seems to just fly by.

I think that we can also all agree that every event has a cause. Things do not 'just happen' on their own. If a tree falls in a forest, it is because something caused it to fall. Gravity, breakdown at the cellular level causing structural failure, wind - some thing caused it to fall. There can be no event with out some cause.

All this said, where does God live? In our universe, or some place external?

Let's look at each option (and there are only two - here or there)

Here - God lives in our universe. There are a few complications that this raises.

If He lives here, then he would be bound by the rules in effect here. He would be bound by Time, and therefore would not know everything. He could not know every cause and effect, because some effects have not happened, and the effects that they cause are not know.

Also - if he lives here, how did he create the universe that he is part of? If he in fact He lives here, then he would have been created when the universe was created - as He is part of it

Ok, so that does not work.

He must live out side of our universe.

But wait - if Time is an integral part of our universe, then he must live in a different time stream. If He lives in a different universe with different time, then how could he effect our universe with it's own time? If our time does not effect Him, then our universe would be created and destroyed in no time in His universe. So, if he were to have created our universe, it would be over before any time passed in his time stream.

And, if he exists in another universe - what caused him? Every event has a cause, so what caused him? Did He have parents?

-Tsyko

How to feed Cats with Linux

Chris McAvoy writes:

We have to work, but that doesn't mean our cats should have to go without stinky little fish, right? Why should our economic necessities have a negative effect on their treat times? Isn't it our responsibility to build them an Internet-enabled, Linux-based, cat-feeding device?

Heh - leave it to Linux geeks to coddle their kittens this much. Read on for all the 'gory' details

Choicepoint data stolen!

Slashdot writes:

Criminals posing as legitimate businesses have accessed critical personal data stored by ChoicePoint Inc., a firm that maintains databases of background information on virtually every U.S. citizen. The incident involves a wide swath of consumer data, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, credit reports and other information. ChoicePoint notified between 30,000 and 35,000 consumers in California that their personal data may have been accessed by 'unauthorized third parties.' No obvious notice appears to be on their website.

Wow. Scary. Read this for some background about who uses Choicepoint and what kind of services and data they provide.

One would have hoped that a company that deals with such sensitive data would have stronger safeguards in place. Hopefully this breach is a wake up call for them and the rest out there...

-Tsyko

Watching the Grammys

And not really caring. Most of the pre-digested pabulum that they play is just crap. I really dislike where modern Pop music has gone. Record execs in silver towers make choices based on what will make them the most money, rather then what is good music.

Television it's self is mostly crap now days. Shela likes to watch a lot of TV. Well, a lot in my mind. When we met I did have a TV. But it was only hooked up to my Playstation and DVD player. Not even bunny ears. I had no need for TV. I used the heck out of Netflix. I had to increase my subscription to 8 movies at home because I would blow through 4 or 5 movies in a weekend, and I liked to have one or two for the week.

I also did a lot of computing - errr - playing on the computers at home then as well. Now I am relegated to the laptop on a lazy boy, trying to ignore the TV.

Oh - god - Ricky Martin. I think that I am going to be sick. In Spanish. :)

This Ricky Martin/J-Lo thing reminds me of a movie - Four Rooms. Especially the part with Antonio Banderas. Cool stuff.

copyrighteous

Mako Says

"A couple of weeks ago, I went to a extremely interesting talk by Niva Elkin-Koren on the limits of private ordering (i.e., contracts and licenses) in building communities around the production of free (for definition of free) creative works. She's writing a paper which I hope to get my hands on very soon. I have every reason to believe it will be excellent."

You need to read the rest of this and the all of the links...

Go!

Now!

Macworld UK - PC makers want to license Mac OS - Jobs

Macworld UK - PC makers want to license Mac OS

"Apple has to fight off three of the biggest PC companies, sick of the security bugs that plague Windows, wanting to license the Mac operating system.

The revelation came in a Fortune magazine interview with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, described by MacDailyNews as 'an embarrassment of riches' because it is so full of information."

Sounds like a really good idea to me. There would be some technical issues at first, however I think that with a Hardware Compablity List (like so many other vendors have published) it would be a good thing.

Apple hardware would still be superior - the PowerPC chips are better then Intel/AMD's, and Apple has the market cornered on Cool.

-Tsyko

iFolder - It's all about Sharing

One of the things that I am working on is iFolder. It is a cool techonology, and has many applications at my work - not to mention neato things at home when combined with with SSL or a VPN. I forsee a bunch of work on this as soon as it bubbles to the top of the Queue. And, it's not a Apple Product. :)

-Tsyko

Cardexchange

Mako says:

Many people are worried about the nasty privacy implications -- realized and potential -- of supermarket and chain store "loyalty" cards. As RFID chips are introduced, things get even more scary.

In an attempt to attack supermarkets' data-mining operation and to gain a new shopping identity in the process, many people have taken to swapping cards with each other. Over the last few years, I've been among these people.

A couple years ago, a few friends and I came up with the idea of creating a sort of online loyalty card swap-meet where people could come and exchange their supermarket or chain-store loyalty cards with total strangers from the privacy of their own homes. Some other people have arranged to swap numbers for particular stores but our idea was to swap the actual cards from any store that uses a card. We actually built most of it but got hung up at the last minute on a couple of details and with writing some of the explanatory text.

Last night, I made the final push and finished the code and set everything up and seeded the database with the lists of as many supermarkets that I know use loyalty cards as listed on CASPIAN's supermarket list.

If you've got an extra card (and maybe if you don't), go ahead and sign up to swap! This is one of those things that works better when more people do it so tell your friends and spread the word.

Information and the card-swapping apparatus is all online at: cardexchange.org

Sounds like a very cool idea to me. I very well might be trying this new service out. One of the cool things that I have noticed, is the checkers at one of my local chain stores keep their cards with them, and use them if the customer does not have a card. Gets us the savings, and saves the planet from Big Brother.

- Tsyko

Strange things afoot...

In this weeks Daily Illuminator you are pointed to the Secret of Olyphant. If nothing else, it's an entertaining read.

Or so they would have you belive....

Muhahahahahaaaaaaa -click-

Stealing: Online vs Offline

In a stunning study, Off the Shelf muses about the diffrences between stealing a season of Alias online vs offline. If you were to fire up Bittorrent and download it, you could be liable for up to $3,400,000, 1 year jail time, lawyer fees and Court Costs. So, if you were to slip on that ol' trench coat and saunter down to Hastings and slip out with a copy of that, you could be liable for $100,000 and 1 year in jail.

Just makes me wonder.

Bud Light...

Never thought that they would do a Bud Light Commercial about lil ol' me..


:)

In the face of storms we fly...

One of the hardest things that I face on a day-to-day basis is how to feel compassion for certain people. It is quite hard sometimes, to still feel compassion in the face of aggression or general nastiness. Being far from Buddhahood, I am often not with out fault in this matter.

Over the years, I have grown quite a bit. When I was in JR. High school, I would often lash out with anger and violence. I was often sent to the office, or to detention for various nasty angry things that I did. I am not proud of that time in my life - however it was what made me today. I have grown past that in most cases now, and it takes great effort to move me to anger.

But whose effort? Some times it is my effort - some times a mixture of others and mine. But never is it just some one else's fault. It takes two to tango, trite and overused - but trite and overused for a reason. It really does take two people to engage in nastiness.

Compassion can de-escalate a situation. If you can respond with compassion at all times, the angry ones have a hard time responding with anger. Note that I did not say could not. There are people that have so much pain in side that they cannot help but to lash out. I know people like this, and they can be very hard to deal with.

"...Buddhist ethical principles are very noble and in an ideal world their practice would lead to peace and harmony but, unfortunately, as the Buddha has taught, people are motivated by greed hatred and delusion - even Buddhists. "

From Buddhanet

-Tsyko

Fun Work

Much work on my personal website tonite.



Yes, this was a shamless plug.

;)

Have I worked here before?

Mike Sarakinsky, University of South Africa:

"I have never ordered red tape, but have been tied up by it here at the university. About 12 years ago, I needed 20 sheets of blank white A4 paper for an article I was typing. The only place to get 20 such sheets was the photocopy room. I duly requested the 20 sheets of blank paper from a photocopy assistant. He said he could not give me the sheets, but if I filled in the requisition form, he could give me 20 copies of a blank sheet of paper. Astonished, I filled in the form. Then he proceeded to actually make 20 copies of a blank sheet on the photocopier. He explained that at the end of the day, his supervisor counted the sheets of paper, read the counter on the copier machine, checked that these corresponded with the requisition forms and compared the information with the previous day's numbers. If there was any discrepancy, the fellow had to pay the difference."

From this article posted about here.

Sounds like some places that I have worked..

Toxic Memes

meme n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another

"Richard Dawkins's term for an idea considered as a replicator, especially with the connotation that memes parasitise people into propagating them much as viruses do.

Memes can be considered the unit of cultural evolution. Ideas can evolve in a way analogous to biological evolution. Some ideas survive better than others; ideas can mutate through, for example, misunderstandings; and two ideas can recombine to produce a new idea involving elements of each parent idea.

The term is used especially in the phrase "meme complex" denoting a group of mutually supporting memes that form an organized belief system, such as a religion. However, "meme" is often misused to mean "meme complex".

Use of the term connotes acceptance of the idea that in humans (and presumably other tool- and language-using sophonts) cultural evolution by selection of adaptive ideas has become more important than biological evolution by selection of hereditary traits. Hackers find this idea congenial for tolerably obvious reasons. "

Memes in general are a very interesting concept. Ideas can be like mental 'viruses'. They want to survive, and they can (and do) spread.

"The term is used especially in the phrase "meme complex" denoting a group of mutually supporting memes that form an organized belief system, such as a religion."

A set of interrelated memes can make up a 'Meme Complex'. These groups of ideas are interrelated and co-supporting. They strengthen and reinforce each other - making the group stronger then the whole. A religion is an example of a Meme Complex. Many of the ideas central to religion are intersupporting. For example the Christian belief that a life time of good works, and belief in the Christian Religion (Meme Complex) will garner great rewards after death.

This sort of interrelationship with in a Meme Complex makes the entire thing stronger, and that much more survivable in the 'wild'. In the world of Memes, it is survival of the fittest. Early Memes were probably very simple (Sun God Hot). Over time, the stronger ones survived, combined and slowly merged into more and more complex structures.

This whole system is very like biological evolution. Not the our uncles were monkeys theories, but rather the 'Real' Theory of Evolution - that things change over time when exposed to environmental pressure. Not that some of my monkeys are not uncles...

One of the methods that biological things evolve is through mutation. Not X-Men style mutation, but rather small changes over time. The changes that allow for better survival (and ultimately reproduction) will 'stick' and the ones that make it harder to survive will tend to be weeded out.

Anyways - so we have ideas or concepts that are able to propagate, change in response to environmental pressures, and grow stronger by merging with other ideas, or simple mutation through errors in transmission (remember the telephone game from Kindergarten?).

So..

tox·ic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or caused by a toxin or other poison. 2. Capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; poisonous.

Some Memes or Meme Complexes might become Toxic. They might damage the host in order to propagate more efficiently, or have some aim that is not for the best of the host or host's group. I believe that Toxic Memes are one of the more pressing issues that we, as a culture and race, face at this time. These diseases of the psyche must be investigated, and some form of inoculation or treatment be found.

A few of the Toxic Memes that come to mind are things like Fanaticism of any sort - be it Christian, Muslim, or Ice Cream Loving. Several of the political belief systems fall into this category as well. Communism and Fascism come to mind.

We need to find, create, sow, water and release into the wild Memes and Meme Complexes that are strong, positive, and very contagious. We need to debunk Toxic Memes, to show where they are not healthy for the carriers, and supplant them with the Meme of Love.


-Tsyko

Saying good by to a good freind...

Sad.

Linare launches low cost Linux laptops for 498 USD - OSNews.com

"Linare introduced today its newest product, an AMD-based laptop for $498. A $598 model with more RAM, DVD-ROM and WiFi is also available. My Take: Good & fair prices for the features."

First the Mac Mini, now this. There is no really good reason to stay on the Microsoft Bandwagon anymore. You can get better OS's, better Hardware, or bolth for less then a Wintel platform.

I can see the revolution is starting!

Microsoft under more attack

Here is a letter from some lawyers hoping to take Microsoft down a peg or two. It was a few years ago, and I assume that they lost. Sad, it might have been a better world...