Why I/T Needs a QA

Sometimes people are really clueless. Some of you know I work for a bank (actually, now all of you do). I received a phishing e-mail for a competitor at one of my e-mail addresses. Since I am not a customer of that bank, I knew immediately that it must be a fake looking to lure me to a fake site to harvest my identity. I decided, in the interest of being a good citizen and member of the banking community, that I would alert that bank. I went to their website, which referred me to a phone number, whose recorded message told me to forward the phishing e-mail in question to a yahoo e-mail account. Okay, no problem. I immediately did so. I then immediately got back an "e-mail will not be delivered" response from Yahoo. Why? Because, according to their policies, Yahoo will not accept ANY e-mails that might include a phishing attempt, in a (laudable) attempt to protect their customers.

So, this bank tried to protect their customers with this e-mail address, but never bothered to test it out to see if the e-mail address actually would ACCEPT phishing e-mails. i.e. Their I/T department will remain blissfully ignorant. This is why you need a Q/A person or department to save smart people from themselves.

In the end, I e-mailed the address directly with this info. We'll see if they really care about their customers, or if it is all just a good front to make people think they are responsive. Luckily, it does not appear to be a bank working in any region where my readers live or work.

Sidekick 3 Has Arrived

My T-Mobile Sidekick III has arrived and so now I am obligated by the "deluded pseudo-techie blog contract" I signed when I started with Mod-Blog to post my first pictures of the device, including some comparison shots with the old Sidekick II.

What a difference a haircut makes!

OK, I admit it. This is shameless. But I can't help sharing a few cute pics of my dog. One of the amazing differences between having a dog with fur and a dog with hair, is that every 2 months or so you have a whole new dog. Consider below. These both are pictures of our dog Biscuit, only a week apart.

Transformers Movie Trailer

Robots in disguise are coming to a theater near you! The favorite toy of my youth is coming to the big screen. Not sure how I feel about Michael Bay making it, though. But then, this is hardly high art.

This is definitely our dog's philosophy

Gliffy - Online Diagraming

News.com is reporting on a new online tool for the on-the-go user. If you can't afford Visio, or want to share your diagrams with the world, Gliffy may be the tool for you. It is trying to be the Flickr of diagramming, enabling cooperative work on diagrams as well as sharing of them on any website. It could be the beginning of something truly interesting!

Hey Pimp, you're under arrest for...tax evasion

I have seen many pieces of silly legislation get passed during my lifetime, but I think this one takes the cake.. most recently at least. The Senate finance committee is scheduled to vote today on a tax on pimps and prostitutes. The concept (tax those who make money and aren't paying taxes) is pretty sound, but the idea of taxing pimps and prostitutes seems to be pretty far fetched. Here's my thinking on this, first - how are they going to determine how much tax each one owes - is it going to be on a per John basis or an average based on their fee? The bill authorizes 10 years of prison for every prostitute a pimp doesn't register a W-2 for - so how exactly is the IRS or any other government agency supposed to know the exact number of prostitutes a pimp has? The idea of prosecuting pimps and prostitutes to get them off of the streets is a fine idea, it just seems that this is a piece of legislation that cannot be enforced or its cost will outweigh its benefits.

Free online voice mail

This seems like an interesting experiment from NetZero.Com. They are offering a free phone number at which they provide free voice mail. There are local numbers for most places in the country, and it is a way to be able to give out a phone number which reaches you but is not linked to your personal address, etc. And when a message is left, they can send a text message to your cell phone or an e-mail to any address. They can even attach a WAV file, so you can hear the message without phoning in. It is potentially a great way to get your messages if you work or live somewhere your cell phone does not get good signal.

Yes, Virginia...

...I did just order a Sidekick III. I did not re-up my account, so I missed out on the discount, but it was less than expected anyway. And this way I can upgrade Mom's phone for free, when I wish to.

Limbaugh laughs off Viagra bust

You may have heard this morning that Rush Limbaugh - recently having escaped prosecution for doctor-shopping and abuse of prescription pain killers - was caught this morning at a Florida airport with a bottle of Viagra for which he did not have a prescription. What you may not have heard, is his response (MP3 file). This is why Rush is a great broadcaster, I guess. He can make fun of anything.

While I am a conservative, I am not a ditto-head. I think Limbaugh probably got away with something on the drug prosecution. But I do not feel this is a huge deal. At the same time, you'd think a man like Rush would know NOT to pack Viagra in his airport luggage if he is worried about it being proclaimed to the world. Then again, it does open up a LOT more jokes for the next six to twelve months on the program. So maybe it is just a rating stunt.

Pssst! Bootleg Spider-Man 3 Trailer

Catch it while you can. It is a flash player, so no chance to download it locally, without doing some technical wizardry. Looks pretty cool. This trailer is allegedly attached to all Superman Returns prints, so if you plan to see the movie this week you'll be seeing this in MUCH higher quality soon.

UPDATE: Dark Horizons is now reporting that the official high res version will be up at Apple's website by 2:30 PM EST today. So, unless you truly can not wait, you might as well hold off until the HD version is available.

UPDATE: Here is the official trailer.

Why Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are doomed?

CRChair and I were having this discussion just the other day - that it seems to us that the High Definition DVD War is over... and the winner is neither HD DVD nor Blu Ray. Rather, it is the trend of Upconverting DVD players. After all, why bother with true HD DVD if you can use Progressive Scan and Upconverting technologies on existing (cheap) DVDs to get a decent picture? This article essentially comes to the same conclusion, though with some different reasons. This is horrible news for Sony and Toshiba, and Hollywood in general. The bottom line is that the new release of DVDs is about what the studios want/need and not what the public wants or needs. Thus, there is no reason for a normal person to go HD DVD for now.

Maybe in another 2 years... when Apple has the monopoly on downloadable content.

This may be the start of something dangerous

For all of the faults I think Mr. Gingrich has, thinking small is not one of them. Unlike his critics.

DO NOT Recycle Your Cell Phone...

...unless you are sure your plan is up, and/or the phone is unusable. A well-meaning woman dropped off her Cingular cell phone at Best Buy for recycling, and it wound up being stolen and used to place over $20,000 in international phone calls to Brazil! (No doubt someone eager to discuss the World Cup.) Cingular and Best Buy were less than helpful until she got a consumer advocate involved, who called the corporate headquarters and threatened to go public.

Remember, a cell phone doesn't know who is placing a call, so unless your plan is completely done (or you have removed the SIM card if you have a GSM phone from T-Mobile or Cingular/AT&T) it makes no sense to put it anywhere a stranger could take it and use it.

Dr & Mrs Ron have TWINS!

Mod-Blog reader and commenter Ron deserves two layers of congratulations today! First, he has just successfully defended his doctoral dissertation and thus is now Doctor Ron. Second, yesterday his wife had twin boys! Please be praying for the new family as they get settled into their new life, and especially for the twins who were born prematurely.

Some hope on the Eminent Domain Front

Last year when SCOTUS declared that land could be taken by eminent domain for the purpose of economic development most of reeled at the precedent that was being set. Well it appears that the President agrees with most of us, by signing an Executive Order limited what the government can take and why. I for one welcome this move, though it does appear that more needs to be done on the state level to make the move more secure.

I Almost Forgot What the Ocean Looked Like!

Well, Muse and I recently had an interview with a church in Maryland and we have been invited (And accepted the invitation) to a pastoral call. It is a wonderful church that we both believe will offer great challenges and a great place to really get into ministry. The people are very friendly and two of the board members are even coming out in a covered trailer to help us move free of charge. And they are very excited about getting us there...So excited that they'll be here Tuesday morning to move us. And so we are some-what-frantically working on packing everything up and getting ready for a big change of lifestyle. Of course, at least since we've been living out of boxes for the past year, there isn't as much packing as there would have been otherwise.

So, we would definately appreciate everyone's prayers as we get ready to move, and then as we get set up in a new place and get our feet running on the ministry front. At this point, I don't even know at what point we'll have net access at again. But it's all good, of course. This is such a great opportunity for us and is an answer to prayer as it will only be about an hour away from Muse's new job as well. So again, please pray for us during this time and if we are less responsive in the coming weeks, it's probably just because we don't have access to email for the time being.

The mid-West has been nice, but I am definately ready to see the ocean again, and Muse is ready for some real seafood. =)

Snipshot: Edit Photos Online!

Have a picture on Flickr that you desperately want to edit with more than the very basic tools that photo sites, offer? Check outSnipShot, an online editor which can import from and export to many popular photo sites.

Futurama: This time it is official!

Coming soon to Comedy Central - NEW episodes of one of the greatest sci fi comedy shows ever made.

Three years after Fox canceled the show, Matt Groening's "Futurama" will resume production for a 13-episode run on Comedy Central. The new episodes will be added to the network's library of 72 "Futurama" episodes previously licensed from 20th Century Fox Television. Voice talent Billy West, Katey Sagal and John DiMaggio will return for the new episodes, which will debut in 2008.

I miss Frye quite a bit!

From Mobil, Not BJs

From Mobil, Not BJs
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Be the GM You Always Wanted to Be

Looking for a cool game? I recently got Baseball Mogul 2007 for the PC. It is a baseball simulation that uses real players from 1900-present. You can start in any year and take that team of lovable Losers and turn them into perennial winners. I have become addicted to this game and when I sit down to play it I can't stop. The people who make it are offering a free download of their 2006 version until June 30th. So, if you have always dreamed of controlling the destiny of multimillionaire, then I suggest that you try this game.

Vigilante Sidekick Justice

If you are wondering why I am so hopped up about the new Sidekick III, consider this story (yes I am violating my "No NYTimes" policy) from a current Sidekick owner.

The tale began when Mr. Guttman's best friend Ivanna left her cellphone in a taxicab, like thousands of others before her. After Ivanna got a new Sidekick, she logged on to her account — and was confronted by pictures of an unfamiliar young woman and her family, along with the young woman's America Online screen name.
The 16-year-old, Sasha Gomez, of Corona, Queens, had been using the Sidekick to take pictures and send instant messages. She apparently did not know that the company that provided the phone's service, T-Mobile, automatically backs up such information on its remote servers. So when Ivanna got back on, there was Sasha.
Using instant messages, Mr. Guttman tracked down Sasha and asked her to return it. "Basically, she told me to get lost," Mr. Guttman recalled. "That was it."
So he set up a no-frills Web page with a brief account of what happened, and posted the pictures of the girl and her family. Within hours of putting up the Web page, Mr. Guttman was fielding hundreds of e-mail messages from those nursing their own bitter memories of a lost cellphone, a BlackBerry or a digital camera that went unreturned.

Incredibly cool, eh? And the end of the story is the thief was tracked down and arrested by the police.

More Sidekick III Reviews

Engadget has up a collection of the early reviews of the Sidekick III. The big new news is that the release date will be June 28 for existing Sidekick/Sidekick II customers (woo-hoo!), and July 5 for newbies. So far, all the reviews are positive, though they agree that the device is more evolutionary then revolutionary. Still, I am interested just for the chance to have a 1.3 megapixel camera and a bluetooth headphone.

AOL Won't Let Subscriber Leave

It is often a horrible experience trying to cancel insurance or a credit card, but apparently the worst of all is trying to cancel an AOL Account. Unfortunately for AOL, the subscriber was taping the call and turned it over to his local NBC affiliate.

Some more Homosexual/Church debate fodder

Well, the Episcopal church has done something right or at least better than I would have expected. The have voted to:

exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate (for bishop) whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.

This is a good first step in lessening the strain within the general church, but I fear it's not far enough. There are enough loopholes within the statement to allow for further homosexual bishop installments. It's likely that we will see another homosexual bishop installed in the next 5-10 years, but for the time being this is a good step. Ron makes a good point that most Anglicans are actually Africans and they tend to be quite conservative, so it will be interesting to see what they have to say about the statement.

In other news the Presbyterian Church (USA) is debating whether a local congregation can have a homosexual elder even if the denomination prohibits it. To me, this seems like a pretty open and shut case of the answer being no. But as with all things theological it's always open to debate.

Is telecommuting to blame for data theft?

I am a big fan of telecommuting. My company uses it to allow employees to be productive when home sick or when there may be other things happening around the house. With a home broadband connection, and a VPN method to get into work, it is an invaluable way to get online and be productive from home. It is best during the snowy New England winter, when my 45 minute commute to work would otherwise transform into a 3 hour drive in the ice.

That being said, a number of recent data thefts were from employee laptops stored in inappropriate places (i.e. the front seat of a car with the window left open). This has lead to a number of critics calling for an end to telecommuting, at least for people with jobs that require customer data to be on their hard drive. But some advocates are fighting back and making an important point, stupid employees put people at risk in the office or on the road.

Sidekick III Released!

And Engadget has the first hands-on review. I am just hoping they give us faithful folks a chance to get it before the masses. ;-)

Free Mac Software Alternatives

Just bought a Mac and realized your budget is shot? Looking to open Microsoft Office files, but don't have the cash for Office. Check out this article on free and open source alternatives to the standard MacOS X software favorites. Who says you need to be independently wealthy to be a Mac user? With the falling prices of the hardware (Mac Mini, anyone?) and the proliferation of free software, you can live the Apple lifestyle on the cheap!

Goodbye Episcopalians Hello American Anglican Church

If you read Mod-Blog enough then you know that I am almost obsessed with developments within the Christians church, whether that be Pentecostals, Roman Catholics, Methodists or anything else. When I saw this I almost fell over. Yesterday the Episcopalian Church elected their highest bishop in the land and for the first time ever it was a woman that won. I have no problem with this, as a matter of fact I thought it was great. Then she opened her mouth and said "homosexuality is no sin". I believe she is wrong on this, not so much because the bible is anti-gay, but because the bible is overwhelmingly pro-heterosexual thus making it clear that any sexual relationship other than monogamous heterosexual marriage is wrong. But that is beside the point for me on this one.

The Episcopalians are part of the Anglican Church. The ties between the Episcopalians and the Anglicans have been strained in recent years because of the election of a gay bishop. In fact at the present conference where this new highest bishop was elected they were supposed to vote on some statements about whether or not they were sorry for electing a gay bishop and straining the ties within the church. She knows all of this history and she knows the wording of the resolutions to be voted on. You don't say something like "homosexuality is not a sin" in this context unless you're looking for a fight and in this case to case a schism unlike anything seen within protestantism for some time and possibly ever. If she wants to hold this opinion then that is fine - it's her right (as a good friend of mine used to say "you have the right to your opinion granted your wrong"). But as the newly elected highest bishop in the land you don't say stuff like this - you get some peon under you to say it. As a result of the strain within the church because of the election of a gay bishop many Episcopalians have started separating out and starting churches that are not Episcopalian but American Anglican churches, this way they do not have to be connected with the leftist theology that is dominating the Episcopal church. I predict that with this statement we will see American Episcopalian churches much more and that within 50 years the Episcopal church is dead and merely a footnote in history books. It's very sad, because church unity is so important.

Hmmmmm...

My '08 Analysis... as of '06

While it has to be admitted that the Bush Administration will have large historical impact over the next two years, the attention of most of us has already begun shifting to the 2008 race for the president. Other than Hillary Clinton, we are not quite sure who is running. But the top two at this point on the GOP side appear to be John McCain and Rudolph Guiliani. Both, I would view as a huge tactical mistake for the Republican Party. McCain has already hown that he can not stand up to a long election season in his runs against Bush and Dole. He will run down and say something foolish. He may be a great man, but ultimately he is unlikely to be able to remain the media darling for the whole run and is likely to wind up alienating his base. Guiliani can stand up under pressure, we have seen that in his years of NYC politics and especially in 9/11. His great weakness is his unabashed Pro-Choice stand. I can not, and will not, vote for Rudy for president, even though I would vote him in for almost any other office in the political world. The president is fundamentally unable to stay out of the abortion debate, no matter how much he/she may want to.

So what do we need in the next presidential candidate? Well,I have a few observations:

1. First, s/he must have an ideology. One of the greatest strengths of the GOP right now is that people know what we stand for. As opposed to the Democratic Party which is primarily defining themselves as "Not Bush." This was required for Reagan, it was required for Bush II. If we have someone without a strong ideology, at best we may have another one-term Bush I.
2. Second, he/she must be willing to reverse some of GWB's decisions. The whole Bush II presidency has been a reaction to 9/11. And as with most "swerves" of history, we have overcorrected in many ways. The next candidate must be willing to praise what has been done, but admit it may be time to draw back somewhat. Specifically, the Patriot Act should be renegotiated, the doctrine of Preemptive War must be scaled back or eliminated, and Guantanamo and similar prisons must be revamped. Even the faithful have been worried about these for years.
3. Third, she/he must be ready to cut the government's size quickly and decisively. Another problem with the post-9/11 overcorrection has been a government whose bloat would make FDR proud. This may have been required in order to establish the many new agencies around the DHS, but now it is time to streamline. This is required to keep taxes low, and to ensure that the government always understands it exists at the pleasure of the people and not the other way around.
4. Fourth, this candidate must be strong on a few key planks of the platform: (1) Pro-Life, (2) Fiscally Conservative, and (3) focussed on Law and Order. These are the backbones of the GOP. Without them, the base is lost or weakened into irrelevance.
5. Finally, they should make Tax Reform a major part of their platform. I do not know what people are hearing elsewhere, but everywhere I am people are finally willing to talk about different tax schemes and understand exactly how the present system is broken. I am a fan of the Flat Tax, but whichever way they go, any GOP candidate should make this issue their own, and drive the debate. This is the "big idea" of this campaign that is waiting to happen.

You may notice a few things I left out of that list. First, race and gender are not there. Frankly, I think this is probably the first election where one could run without their race or gender really mattering. With the appearance of Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, and Colin Powell as strong contenders on the political scene, the issue has been faced and moved past. Second, the Iraq War is not on my list. Chances are by the time the race is truly under way, we will know the outcome of our intervention in Iraq. Either a democratic government will be well and truly on its way to effectiveness, or it will have splintered. Either way, it will not be a matter of "taking a stand" by that time, but of honestly assessing the realities on the ground. Neither is a "platform plank" if we are wise about it. Third, no mention of Global Warming. It is owned solidly by the Democrats, and we have no chance to reclaim it in 2 years. Whether it exists or not, Republicans should continue our efforts for reducing pollution while minimizing effects on business. No one who is a Global Warming fanatic is likely to leave the Dems and come over to us. More likely to try and strengthen the greens.

Those are my thoughts. Did I leave anything out? Or am I just an idiot for refusing to vote for Rudy?

I have had days like this

ALERT: Serious PayPal Vulnerability

Check this out! Remember to NEVER click on a link in an e-mail to get to PayPal. Always type in "https://www.paypal.com" into your browser's URL field, or use a bookmark set to that same address. And if you get the message shown in the article STOP IMMEDIATELY, and contact PayPal or eBay thru alternate means.

Yeah, I miss him

My father passed away many years ago from a brain tumor. I will be missing him especially this coming Father's Day weekend. But he is not lost, I know he is sitting at the right hand of Jesus (well, okay, maybe nearby but probably enjoying sharing a joke with the Savior).

Always wanted a MacBook in Ferari Red?

Look no further! Though I am not sure it is worth paying the premium price just to turn a few heads in the library. Personally, I am just glad Apple brought back the black "stealth" color scheme.

If you wonder why we like comments so much...

Up Again

Up Again
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Scientist Speak Out Over "An Inconvienient Truth"

Many times the staff here at Mod-Blog have indicated our distaste for the theory of global warming. With the release of Al Gore's new propaganda-fest An Inconvenient Truth, scientists of climate change are finally starting to speak up about the bunk that is the theory of global warming.
From the article:

Carter does not pull his punches about Gore's activism, "The man is an embarrassment to US science and its many fine practitioners, a lot of whom know (but feel unable to state publicly) that his propaganda crusade is mostly based on junk science."

All I have to say is finally - unfortuantely this was published in Canada so most US Americans won't see it.

Mutually Assured Destruction 2.0

I know it will horrify many people to learn that Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore are competing to build the next generation of nuclear weapons. But personally, I am glad. An outdated arsenal (read: bombs which will no longer go off) is a useless arsenal, and while the USA does not have another Superpower to compete against today, it is only a matter of time. Nuclear deterrence only makes sense when we can be sure that any enemy using such a bomb knows it means their own destruction. In light of the Iranian nuclear program (which is likely to lead to leaked plans to other terrorist states), we need to make sure we are ready for any challenge.

More Sidekick III Details

PowerPage has up a new report on the upcoming T-Mobile SideKick III. These details come from the FCC filing, so presumably they are more reliable than earlier reports based on beta handsets in use by developers. The good? Bluetooth headset compatibility, 1.3 Megapixel camera, EDGE network compatibility (i.e. MUCH faster than the current GPRS), and a Mini-SD Card for external storage of music and photos. The bad? Still no word on a release date.

Hawking Says, "Go SPACE, Young Man!"

It has been a long dream of sci fi fans like me to get humanity off of the Earth and settling some nearby moons/planets. But aside from JFK and GWB, there has been precious little support here on this planet for the idea. But now, Steven Hawking has come out on the side of aggressive space colonization.

The survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there's an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy the Earth, world-renowned scientist Stephen Hawking said Tuesday.
The British astrophysicist told a news conference in Hong Kong that humans could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a colony on Mars in the next 40 years.

I am hoping someone is listening. If Jesus does not tarry (to refer back to the LEFT BEHIND story) then it would all be for naught. But if we have another 1000 years before any major changes to our cosmos, then we need to start thinking about what other planets have to offer us.

Why a Mac?

The new "Get a Mac" commercials are up! Say what you will about the Mac vs PC debate, these commercials do a GREAT job of explaining why people love their Apple computers. And what I like best is that the humor is light, and largely NOT critical of PCs. It makes the point of what differentiates them, without putting them down as past commercials and ad campaigns did. It makes the point - a PC has its place, but maybe that place is not in your living room.

Where did we go wrong?

This is perhaps the most anti-christian rambling I can remember reading for a long time. It's actually a review for the new Left Behind video game, but somehow becomes a diatribe against traditional beliefs. I understand that he's going after the 2% of Christians that fall into the ultra right wing fundamentalist camp, but still it kind of stings. I want to know what did we do to allow the 2% to speak for all of us - or at least represent us to the rest of the world. Very sad, very scary.

Star Trak/Wars Showdown

This is just plain fun.

Hee-hee!

Hmmmmmmm?

Hmmmmmmm?
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Ay, Chihuahua!

Sometimes I think people are normal and rational creatures, who can be counted upon to do the right thing. Then, I wake up, look out my window, or turn on the TV. Or check out CNN.Com.

A woman angry that her new puppy had died pushed her way into a dog breeder's home and repeatedly hit her on the head with the dead Chihuahua, authorities said...The breeder wrestled the woman out of her house to the front porch, where the woman then hit the breeder over the head numerous times with the dead puppy, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, citing police.
As the woman drove away, she waved the dead puppy out of the car's sunroof and yelled threats at the breeder, police said.

Would it be horribly morbid to note that a woman who would hit a man over ahead with a dead dog, probably should not be allowed to have a live one, anyway?

Beheading the Snake... Or the Hydra

I had said I would not post today, but this news is too big NOT to post.

Terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the coalition's most wanted man in Iraq, was killed in an airstrike near Baquba, jubilant U.S. and Iraqi authorities announced Thursday.
Al-Zarqawi's death gives Iraq a chance to "turn the tide" in the fight against the nation's insurgency, President Bush said at the White House.

Assuming this has been verified - and I doubt they'd be so certain if not - the news is monemtous. It is possible the insurgency will be fine without this man, but it will have lost a major leader and public leader. It also may be a turning point for the November elections, as a decisive victory may change public perceptions of the War in Iraq.

Now if only it could do something about gas prices.

Maiming Two Birds with One Stone

Remember the amazing video about a year back when a MLB pitcher hit a bird flying past home plate? Seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, right? Nope! Here is another! But this time, the bird survived... though he does NOT look happy.

Veteran's Affairs data theft impacts 2.2 Million Active Troops

Somehow I had missed the story of a massive data theft from a Veteran's Affairs Office in Virginia. Perhaps it was because at the time, the VA tried to downplay the theft, indicating that only a few veterans were at risk. But now they are admitting that the theft encompasses 2.2 million (that is 2,200,000) of our troops.

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said the agency was mistaken when it said over the weekend that up to 50,000 Navy and National Guard personnel - and no other active-duty personnel - were affected by the May 3 burglary.
In fact, names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of as many as 1.1 million active-duty personnel from all the armed forces - or 80 percent of all active-duty members - are believed to have been included, along with 430,000 members of the National Guard, and 645,000 members of the Reserves.

Let's be honest here. The article mostly plays up class action lawsuits over fears of identity theft. But the real travesty here is THIS IS A HUGE NATIONAL SECURITY BREACH. What if Al Qaeda were to buy this info from the thieves, and use it to target Americans soldiers and their families? If the Department of Homeland Security is not already involved here, it is time for them to step in.

Microsoft CEO Can't Fix Spyware On Friend's Computer

This should have been a Michael Moore stunt. Too bad he is too busy trying to bring down the Bush Administration to realize there are genuine goods he could be doing for society.

It seems Steve was at a friend's wedding reception when the bride's father complained that his PC had slowed to a crawl and would Steve mind taking a look.
Allchin says Ballmer, the world's 13th wealthiest man with a fortune of about $18 billion, spent almost two days trying to rid the PC of worms, viruses, spyware, malware and severe fragmentation without success.
He lumped the thing back to Microsoft's headquarters and turned it over to a team of top engineers, who spent several days on the machine, finding it infected with more than 100 pieces of malware, some of which were nearly impossible to eradicate.

Anyone going to ask me again why I own Macs these days?

What dog owner can not relate to this?

Inching upward

Inching upward
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

More PS3 Bad News

Can we ever get any good news about the PS3? The latest is very depression - essentially stating that its graphical power appears to be one-third that of the XBox360. Sony needs to act quickly for damage control, or else they may find themselves in the position of not being able to sell consoles for Christmas 2006. At this stage, I am finding myself more and more behind the 8-ball as far as my future console plans. I love the PS2 and will not purchase any version of the XBox (due to my unreasonable bias against Microsoft). If the PS3 is this bad, then I will either stay with PS2 indefinitely or wind up buying a Nintendo Wii.

Alternatives to Shaving?

If you are a man and have learned to hate the daily ritual of shaving, The Straight Dope has up an interesting article on the alternatives to the razor. Chemicals, electrolysis, laser, etc. But of course my favorite quote is the one below.

...you might recall a story attributed to George Bernard Shaw: As a child Shaw was watching his father shave one day and asked him why he did it. Shaw senior stopped, stared at his son, then threw his razor out the window, saying, "Why the hell do I?" Thereafter he grew a beard, an approach famously adopted by G.B. Maybe you should do the same.

That is my approach.

Some Insight on the New Orleans Dilemma

Many of us that do not live in or around New Orleans have been confounded by many of the things that we hear and see coming out of that region. Things like why Ray Nagen was re-elected and what's up with the levee system. Tonight I had the privilege of getting to hear from and talk with the head of relief efforts in N.O. for Northwest Medical Teams. Being that he is not only working for a relief organization, but is also a resident of N.O. he had some interesting insights.

1. The Levee System - As you can imagine the levee system is something of a big topic in N.O., particularly why it broke and what is being done to make sure it doesn't happen again. According to this guy - I don't remember his name - the Army Corps of Engineers has admitted that they skimped on building the original levee. In fact an outside investigation turned up errors that were so basic as to make the investigator speculate that they could have only been made purposely. The ACOE is saying that the levee is now up to Cat. 3 protection levels again, but they've lost so much credibility already that basically nobody in N.O. believes them.
   
   
2. Ray Nagan - We have many times on Mod-Blog speculated what was wrong with the residents of N.O. to re-elect Nagan. The speaker came straight out with his bias that he is not in any way a supporter of Nagan, he had many harsh things to say about Nagan. With that said he said that the other guy would have been worse for the city than Katrina was. Supposedly the other guy would have made N.O. significantly more corrupt than it already is. So the choice of Nagan was the choice of the better of two evils. According to the speaker, Nagan is a very successful businessman and has the ability and contacts to actually rebuild the city with a better infrastructure than it had prior to Katrina. So, as long as he doesn't open his mouth in public and another major natural disastor doesn't strike - he is the better of the two choices presented to the people of N.O.
   
   
3. Federal Government Relief Money - This was an interesting thing to hear about, given the media's spin on it - the Fed (read Bush) hasn't kept their promises and the people of N.O. are suffering for it. According to the speaker the real problem isn't that the money hasn't come to N.O., because the money is there, it's just on hold until the city can come up with a final plan on how they're going to do the rebuilding. Unfortunately for the residents of N.O. the mayor put the planning on hold while he was running his campaign to be re-elected, so they'll have to wait even longer for the plan to be finished and the money released.
   
   
4. Clean Up - There is some question as to why it's taking so long to clean up the mess down there. First off there's a lot of mess to clean up. But more importantly there are still many areas of the city that are unsafe for the average person to be passing through - never mind working in. Secondly, many people are waiting to decide what they're going to do until the city finalizes the new plan - because it's possible that where their house presently resides will be "green area" or just not residential, so it's not worth spending the time and effort to rebuild if the city is just going to seize it anyway.

The most interesting (and heartening) thing of the night was that in a recent poll of the residents as to what group is doing the best job of helping them to get back to normal, the majority opinion was that it is Christians who are doing the best job. More proof that Christians are witnessing better when they're getting their hands dirty than when they're producing TV programs.

A Brief History of Gas Prices

Long-time Mod-Blog readers know that I try to post a picture of gas prices each time I fill up. It seems like the last 2 years or so gas prices have been news, and this provides a weekly/biweekly update as to the progress of prices in one state. Well, I have collected together a photoset of all of my gas price photos on Flickr. This way you can chart the rise and fall of prices over the last couple of years. Perhaps it will be useful to someone.

Third Party Fever?

As usual, Peggy Noonan's latest piece is thoughtful and thought-provoking. She asks the question whether we are now entering a time when a Third Party can rise in American politics. She points to the fact that unlike past cases (Perot, Nader, etc.) it is not a case of a disconnect between the parties which is causing the current discontent, but a disconnect between the leadership and the grass roots within the parties. And I think she is right. How hard was it to move EITHER SIDE on immigration, despite the fact that most voters in BOTH PARTIES are for increased controls, better enforcement, and a stronger border? Why has it been impossible to control the spending increases proposed by BOTH PARTIES when there are strong fiscal conservatives on EITHER SIDE?

It appears that Washington has again grown far too insular and self-congratulating. We may be in for another "Revolution" like the one Newt Gingrich lead during the Clinton years. Unfortunately for Conservatives, it is the guys WE elected who would be swept out this time, simply because they are the ones in power. Here's hoping the GOP recognizes this disconnect and starts forcing their people back to their home states to reconnect with the base. If not, expect either major democratic gains or major third party gains in November.

The Aliens Have Landed

Or at least, that's one theory.

The fact that I can't believe it does not make it untrue

Mayor Ray Nagin was sworn in as the re-elected mayor of New Orleans, after having been part of the disaster that was the Katrina emergency response. Suddenly, I am feeling less and less pity for the survivors of the Big Easy, and starting to wonder how much sympathy they'll find if it all happens again this year.

I hope he proves me wrong (or rather, that he does not have to, because New Orleans is spared any more hurricanes this year).

Yet Another Reason to Leave AOL

Yesterday around 4 PM, a SEVERE thunderstorm struck the area where I work (bad enough to knock out power to our data center for several seconds) with Noah-like rains flooding the parking lot. I dashed off a note to my mother, who just got a new car with a sunroof, to alert her to close the sunroof as the storms were heading her way. She only got the e-mail around 8 AM this morning. It appears she is not alone.

At a time when AOL offers the worst possible deal on the Web, can they really afford to have such a huge and horrible glitch? I've been trying to get Mom off of AOL for years - she only uses it for e-mail - but she remains adamant. How long until they finally offend these long-time customers, and sink like the Titanic-after-the-Iceberg they are?

Is that your iBook or a Molotov Cocktail?

In an effort to make all iBook owners feel more secure, I felt compelled to post this story. Essentially, a family was using their iBook on the carpet when it overheated, started to melt the carpet, and finally burst into flames. The family is safe and got pictures of the iBomb in process of becoming incendiary.

The story indicates that this is a rare problem, but that HP, Dell, and Apple have recalled over 300,000 laptops in the last few years for faulty batteries leading to fire hazzards.

N'Orleans is sinking... and I *DON'T* mean that metaphorically

Scientists poring over satellite imagery of the Katrina region may have found a new explanation for why the levees failed so spectacularly in the face of the hurricane. New Orleans is sinking at a rate of at least an inch a year. This is five times faster than previously expected, and is paired with a discovery that the area is not sinking uniformly but some areas are sinking much faster than others. Thus, disaster planners have to rethink evacuation routes in light of whether the route WILL BE below sea level at the time the next hurricane hits, even if they are not now. It also means that building a new levee to old specifications is a recipe for disaster. A levee built to code for tomorrow, will be at least a foot too low 10 years from now.

Perhaps it is time to admit the reality. New Orleans is a disaster waiting to happen for builders and residents. It probably should not be rebuilt... or if it is, it should be rebuilt in a radically new way which avoids the worst areas and provides extra protection for those which are rebuilt.