December 2004 – Wetmachine

Benevolent Older Sibling helps us remember who we are

John December 30, 2004 - 9:06 pm February 24, 2013I Fear These Things, My Thoughts Exactly

Here’s a story about government efforts already underway to develop national ID cards (that contain biometric info, natch).

Somehow this tidbit got past Winston Smith at Minitrue, in case yzall are innarested:

On Jan. 19, the agency will hold a public meeting at the Potomac Center Plaza in downtown Washington to discuss policy, privacy and security concerns associated with the development of the new ID card standard. Anyone who wants to attend must preregister by Jan. 11 by e-mailing Sara Caswell, a NIST official, at sara@nist.gov, according to a notice in yesterday’s Federal Register. Questions regarding registration can be directed to Caswell at (301) 975-4634.

Inventing the Future: no names, please!

Stearns December 24, 2004 - 11:11 pm February 24, 2013Inventing the Future

In this information-laden world, who really wants to deal with addresses, ss#’s, a bevy of phone numbers, even more account numbers, part numbers, and on and on? It seems we sometimes need the precision afforded by (usually non-mnemonic!!!) names, but we don’t like it. What if it’s not necessary?

Inventing the Future: sign me up – not!

Stearns December 23, 2004 - 9:40 pm February 24, 2013Inventing the Future

My boss has blog on blogger, which I gather is now owned by Google. Hard to believe that the “Don’t be evil” folks have a hand in this monstrosity.

consumers union telecom lobbying website

Stearns December 23, 2004 - 8:34 am December 23, 2004Inventing the Future, Tales of the Sausage Factory

‘Consumers Union launched a web site (www.hearusnow.org [love the title! -H]) that is

designed to provide consumers with information on telecom and media

industry developments, help them shop for products and services, and

make it easier to lobby lawmakers and policy-makers on issues. “This

web site addresses the explosion of activist groups and energized

consumers who are frustrated by the government’s hands-off approach

when it comes to dealing with their concerns over higher bills, poorer

service, and the fact a handful of companies control their

communications,” said Gene Kimmelman, senior director-public policy

for Consumers Union.’

SOURCE: TR Daily, AUTHOR: Paul Kirby pkirby@tr.com

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Ohio the New PA? I don't think so.

Harold December 20, 2004 - 6:41 pm February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

It appears to be my day to pick on poor Esme at the truly amazing and wonderful Muniwireless website. Recently, she published this article on Ohio House Bill 591. Esme and others think it is the next in a series of bills like the recent HB 30 signed into law by Governor Rendell. Me, I’m not so sure. My analysis of Ohio’s 591 (and why, even if stupid, it is not evil) below.

Tales of the Sausage Facotry: Will WiFi Phones Displace Cell Phones?

Harold December 20, 2004 - 3:00 pm March 10, 2013Spectrum, Tales of the Sausage Factory

Esme Vos comments on a WSJ article suggesting that WiFi and cell phones are mortal enemies. Sorry, but such a simplistic view of the world doesn’t hold water for me. Sadly, I think the cell phone companies believe it.

Inventing the Future: timing and the pitch

Stearns December 19, 2004 - 8:58 pm February 24, 2013Inventing the Future

Here’s a glimpse of the future. Can’t wait ’till Croquet is ready to play.

There’s a new PlayStation 2 game called Karaoke Revolution. You sing into the computer while an animated character lip-syncs. The game grades you on your pitch and timing, and the animated crowd goes wild or boos you off stage as appropriate.

Pixiated

John December 19, 2004 - 5:26 pm February 24, 2013General, My Thoughts Exactly

I saw an article about the Pixies in the freebie paper “Metro”.

The Pixies, of course, are the art-noise-punk-pop band out of Boston. They reunited after 13 years. (If you don’t know this band, by golly, stop reading Wetmachine right now and go find them.)

I couldn’t find the story online (but I did find a bunch of nifty stories by googling for “pixies metro”). So let me retype the interesting part relative to Wetmachine themes of the media ecology:

It's about time…

Stearns December 16, 2004 - 3:37 pm February 24, 2013Inventing the Future

From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

Worried about persistent security flaws in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, officials at the Pennsylvania State University system have taken the unusual step of recommending that students, professors, and staff members stop using the popular Web browser.

“The threats are real, and alternatives exist,” the university said in an announcement posted on its Web site this week.

Penn State appears to be the first American college to recommend against the use of Internet Explorer. However, the CERT Coordination Center, a federal computer-security center operated by Carnegie Mellon University, made a similar recommendation to the public earlier this year.

Internet Explorer, which is distributed free by the Microsoft Corporation, has more than 90 percent of the worldwide browser market. …

Security officials realize that putting explosives in people's baggage is maybe a bad idea…

Gary December 9, 2004 - 4:28 pm February 24, 2013General, General Exception

So, you’re managing security at an airport. How do you train your bomb sniffing dogs? Well, you might just set up some dummy luggage at a remote site and let the dogs check them out. Or, you could actually put explosives in people’s bags, just to give the dogs something to find…

Which works nicely, in theory… train like you work is a good idea. But what happens when they don’t find the explosives? Right, they get loaded on aircraft, and present a rather nasty surprise for the unsuspecting airline passenger.