Two Dragons

Another video from our daughter. First of a series.

A funny thing happened under the sea

This is a video that our youngest daughter filmed with her new ipod nano she got this month for her 10th birthday.

"This is the most dangerous thing that happened to a Lego city diver. (Ignore the cat.)" she says.

The Enigma of a Code Breaker

Ever since watching documentaries as a kid about World War 2, I have always been fascinated about that war. It was a time of great strength, fear, waste, and invention. War is never a good thing, but as a kid I watched in fascination and awe of what people did for God, Family and Country.

As the childhood fascination of war disappeared, the inventions are what kept my interest. This was a time of great technical advances. As my career moved to computers again, I found a new fascination with WWII.

The Enigma machines captured my interest, both their use and effect in the war as well as the efforts made to break the codes by the Allies. It was an interesting machine, but my true fascination with the subject grew when I learned about Bletchley Park and Alan Turing.

From the CNN article - "Turing was best known for inventing the Bombe, a code-breaking machine that deciphered messages encoded by German Enigma machines during World War II.
The messages provided the Allies with crucial information from the British government's code-breaking headquarters in Bletchley Park where Turing worked full-time during the war.
He was considered a mathematical genius and went on to develop the Turing machine, a theory that automatic computation cannot solve all mathematical problems, which is considered the basis of modern computing."

When I first of Turing I wondered why I had not heard of him before. Then I learned he had committed suicide in 1954 at the age of 41. I thought that was the reason I had not heard of him, he had cut himself short. Then I saw a new documentary (and I wish I could remember the name of it) that made it all very clear.

At the end of the war, the code breakers of Bletchley Park destroyed everything: the documents about broken codes, one of the first computers that had been made to break the Enigma codes faster. The group disbanded to their civilian lives. Alan Turing, the mathematical genius that served his country so well, and built one of the first computers, was then prosecuted by his own government.

"Turing was subjected to chemical castration in 1952 after being found guilty of the charge of gross indecency for having a homosexual relationship, an illegal act at the time. He committed suicide two years later."

So what is the point to this rant? Well, first I hope Alan Turing gets the recognition and apology that he deserves. Second, I hope we can learn from history, and not persecute others for different lifestyles and beliefs. Third, well that is my own selfish reason and that is simply to vent.

All I need is this news, and this Rant, and that Dog....

As the fighting for the control of rights of who owns what information continues we continue to all lose. Microsoft, Yahoo and possibly Amazon.com have joined a group of opponents in a class action lawsuit against Google. In brief summary Google is digitizing book for access over the Internet, but critics say that if the service becomes a necessity they would, Google would have a monopoly.

It comes down to rights, everyone wants the rights and the ability to control the access to everything. To be able to charge for it, decide who can use it, sue over who had what idea, sang what song, and shot what movie. Welcome to the information age. I have mentioned these things before. (1) (2)

But I want to move on. I was born what can arguably be called the computer age, or the Information age. To me these two “ages” or eras are separate. IMHO, the computer age started at the end of the industrial age after WWII, and the computer age ended around the time of the Internet, in the early 1990’s. I know some people will disagree but that is how I see it. The industrial age created the power and technical knowledge to launch the Computer age. The computer made possible the collection and processing of information quick and easily. That changed when a way to universal way to connect all of these computer systems came to be. This allowed the sharing and, later the search, of data. To me these are clear differences. Wikipedia disagrees, but doing more research on the subject no one agrees on the dates or the terminology. This brings me to my next point having too much information and what is next.

In the last few weeks announcements have been made how humans are 10 years from creating a virtual brain. Is this the next age of Humans? What about energy? The main problem with having machines like electric cars and robots is the power-to-weight ratio. The catch-22 is that when you need more power, you add more batteries, that adds weight, so you need more power. No current battery can supply the amount of power we need to drive the technology we have to make it independent of external energy. Is the battery the next age of Humans? What if nanotechnology solves both these problems? The Nanotech age certainly has a good ring to it.

So what do you think? Go ahead and post you thought on Facebook or Tweet it, sometimes giving your rights away on ownership of your comment. We will read it and laugh for your 15 minutes of fan. Next we will move on to the latest and greatest of freely generated comments, videos, and pictures on the Internet, by the only people who still create original content…you.

Everything I Ever Needed To Know I Learned From Manga

Being a bit of a news junkie I follow several news sites and blogs. One blog I follow is TaoSecurity. He posted an interesting comparison of two books; Manga Guide to Statistics vs Statistics in a Nutshell

The part I found amusing is he came to the same conclusions I did when I purchased the series for our kids. I especially like the Database book, this book explains then well enough for a 12 year old to understand. The added bonus is the kids will actually read them.




Here is my Reading List on Amazon. It's new but I will add more latter.

Who Watches the Tweets

It seems to be a love hate relationship between the Armed Forces and social networks. The Marine Corps' recently blocked network users from accessing social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, saying that it provides information to adversaries and provides an easy path for information leakage.
The Air Force on the other hand has been embracing cyberspace. The Air Force has a long established Cyber Command, and have started to understand that in the information age people give you the information you want faster than ever before.
"The Air Force tracked the instant messaging service Twitter, video carrier YouTube and various blogs to assess the huge public backlash to the Air Force One flyover of the Statue of Liberty this spring, according to the documents.
And while the attempts at damage control failed - "No positive spin is possible," one PowerPoint chart reads - the episode opens a window into the tactics for operating in a boundless digital news cycle."
So don't worry everyone, they will figure out the positive spin.

RIP John Hughes

I loved his movies before I ever knew his name. John Hughes dies at 59 of a heart attack. I always will love Ferris Buellers day off.

Quotes

I love Quotes. This the newest from an Article Lemony showed me.
"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?"
So Lemony is 21 and I am around 27. Forever.

Netbook Wallpaper

Been busy, and sick so slow with posts. Thought I would share some wallpaper I have found for netbook. These are all 1024 x 600. Enjoy.

RIP; Walter Cronkite and Frank McCourt

To people who shared their life and made a difference.

"And that's the way it is."

Passport RFID

This is an old topic, but a good one. On June 1, 2009 it became mandatory for Americans entering the US to present identity documents that are embedded with radio frequency identification tags, or RFID chips. This means Passports. So why is this a problem?

"Climbing into his Volvo, outfitted with a Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader he'd bought on eBay for $190, Chris Paget cruised the streets of San Francisco with this objective: To read the identity cards of strangers, wirelessly, without ever leaving his car.
It took him 20 minutes to strike hacker's gold.
Zipping past Fisherman's Wharf, his scanner detected, then downloaded to his laptop, the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians' electronic U.S. passport cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags. Within an hour, he'd "skimmed" the identifiers of four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet."

The AP written article on Fox News is not talking about anything new. Security researchers were talking about this problem when it was first announced that the US government was going to start embedding RFID chips in passports. In fact RFID security has become enough of a hot topic that one FLL (First Lego League) Referee I talked to last year was planning on specializing in the subject after school.

So I don't have a passport, no problem, right? Wrong. Wal-Mart loves RFID chips to the point that they where talking about fining suppliers not using them on pallets in Sams club distribution centers. But this is at the supplier level, still no worries right? Wrong again. Several companies are looking at ways to use RFID tags on the consumer level.

Think about this scenario. You walk into a grocery or department store. You walk around picking up the things that you need and want, depositing them into your cart. When you are done, you simply head to the door and walk through a small doorway on your way out. Much like the sensors you see now to detect shoplifters. As you push your cart through, all the RFID tags are scanned and totaled, so as you pass through the doorway sensors a printer hands you a receipt to give to the cashier or even automatically charges a predetermined credit card that is linked to a pin you punched in, or better yet tied to the RFID chip you carry on your person or on your cell phone. That way the store no longer has to pay a cashier, and check out is quick and easy. The funny part is that these types of scenarios have been tested. Beside finding a way to disable the RFID tags once you have left the store so people can't scan your house to find out what you have the other major push back from consumers was that they had to bag there own stuff.

So what is the best way to protect your self from RFID chips besides a tinfoil wallet? Wired has a suggestion, but use at your own risk and watch your fingers.

To end this rant I give you a cheesy, but informative video off YouTube. Enjoy.

Wallpaper From Space

More Wallpaper.

Another Hershey Video

This one is the Falcon ride. Enjoy.

Hershey Video

So had a busy weekend planned and then got sick. Typical. I did make it long enough so we all could go to Hershey Park. I recorded some rides on my camera and thought I would share. The first is the log ride. (Note: my Camera is waterproof, don’t try recording this without a protected camera.)

The return of the Wallpaper

Getting back to nature...

with computer wallpaper?

Web Sites Targeted in Cyber Attack

US, S. Korean Government Web Sites Targeted in Cyber Attack By Kurt Achin is an interesting article about a recent and ongoing cyber attack from North Korea.
"South Korean authorities began to notice the Internet disruption Tuesday evening. By Wednesday, Korea Communication Commission official Lee Myung-su said the attack program had spread far and wide.
He says 18,000 personal computers have been infected by a malicious code.
At least 11 South Korean government sites have been either greatly slowed or made unavailable, including the sites for the presidential Blue House, the Defense Ministry, and the lawmaking National Assembly. Several major South Korean banks and the leading Internet portal, Naver, were also affected.
U.S. sites have also been affected, including the Treasury Department, Secret Service, and Federal Trade Commission. The Web site of Voice of America news has been unavailable in South Korea for two days."
And if you are asking why attack South Korea;
"South Korea is one of the most wired nations in the world. Major governmental agencies like the Ministry of Defense find themselves under attack by hackers thousands of times on any given day. Parliamentary hearings on this particular round of attacks are scheduled for Thursday."