Happy New Year!

We here at Mod-Blog want to wish every writer, reader, commenter, and even the spammers a VERY happy new year. May 2011 be a year of joy, success, and an ever-decreasing number of spam messages.

Nature's greatest glory.

Nature's greatest glory.
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

New Years Eve Sunrise 2010

New Years Eve Sunrise 2010
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Tongues of fire in the sunset

Tongues of fire in the sunset
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

My thoughts exactly on the Snowpocalypse

The Dangers of a Snowstorm

Be careful. It's on the way!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of the Mod-Bloggers out there: writers, readers, and commenters! May the celebration of our savior's birth truly bring you "peace on Earth and goodwill to men".

Did you know you're over $2 trillion in debt?

It is easy to think of "the government" as some vague, faceless entity that is "out there" somewhere. But we have a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" in the words of Abraham Lincoln. And that means, essentially you are the government. Therefore, you are over $2 trillion in debt. And it's only getting worse.

The government's net operating cost, or deficit, in the report grew to $2.080 trillion for the year ended September 30 from $1.253 trillion the prior year as spending and liabilities increased for social programs. Actual and anticipated revenues were roughly unchanged.

The cash budget deficit narrowed in fiscal 2010 to $1.294 trillion from $1.417 trillion in 2009. But the $858 billion tax cut extension package enacted last week is expected to keep the deficit well above the $1 trillion mark for another year.

One wonders exactly what you will do when this debt comes due? I am pretty sure winning the lottery is not an option.

Typewriter enthusiasts... wait, what?!

I may be the only Mod-Blogger who did much writing on a real typewriter before word processors and computers took over. I wrote many of my school papers on a typewriter. And, quite honestly, I don't miss it one bit. Stuck keys, smudged ink, puddles of white-out, etc. I much prefer a word processor - even the old GEOS on my Commodore 64.

However, clearly, there are those who miss those days. And they may just be legion!

McGettigan believes typewriters are making a comeback.

"A typewriter makes you more linear," McGettigan said. "On a computer, 'Let's throw all these thoughts on a page and we'll force an order into them later.' You've got to bring a quiet mind to typewriting."

Matt types all his papers for high school on a typewriter, which his teachers love.

He has a blog, "Adventures in Typewriterdom," and he types his entries on antique-looking paper and then scans the pages into his computer.

He loves the feel of the manuel typwriter, the precision and the permanance and sound of the keys and the bell at the end of a line and the routine of the carriage return. "It feels like you're getting work done," he said. "When I pull that paper out I feel like I accomplished something."

Sunset clouds

Sunset clouds
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Sloths...God Does Have a Sense of Humor

Cloud Computing = Careless Computing?

Every technological advance has its downside. The automobile made transportation easy and democratic, but it also have us car crashes. The telephone made communication effortless, but it also made it that much harder to maintain privacy. Nuclear power brought cheap energy, but also brought the nuclear bomb. The question is always, does the upside outweigh the downside.

The newest buzzword in computing is "cloud computing", where companies offer us services over the internet that reduce our dependence on our local machines. A good example is DropBox, a backup/sync service that saves files online and syncs them across any number of computers and your iPhone/iPad/Android device. Having every file you need everywhere you need it can be invaluable. Google has fully embraced the idea of cloud computing, and has recently released a new laptop with ChomeOS - an minimalist operating system which does everything in the cloud. (It is actually useless without an internet connection.)

Internet pioneer and information freedom advocate Richard Stallman has come out against "cloud computing" in general and the ChomeOS in particular because of the loss of freedom and privacy we give up by using these services.

But Stallman is unimpressed. "I think that marketers like "cloud computing" because it is devoid of substantive meaning. The term's meaning is not substance, it's an attitude: 'Let any Tom, Dick and Harry hold your data, let any Tom, Dick and Harry do your computing for you (and control it).' Perhaps the term 'careless computing' would suit it better."

He sees a creeping problem: "I suppose many people will continue moving towards careless computing, because there's a sucker born every minute. The US government may try to encourage people to place their data where the US government can seize it without showing them a search warrant, rather than in their own property. However, as long as enough of us continue keeping our data under our own control, we can still do so. And we had better do so, or the option may disappear."

Be cautious this upcoming year, because everyone is trying to embrace cloud computing. Decide early which companies you trust, and whether the loss of freedom is outweighed by the convenience offered by this new technology.

Famous last words, "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan."

No really. The Washington Post is reporting that these were the last words of Richard C. Holbrooke, President Obama's chief diplomat in Afghanistan. Our final thoughts tend to be those which have haunted us for some time. Clearly, the inner circle is ready for the war to end. But they can't find a way out, which does not make it appear Osama Bin Laden or the Taliban have won.

It is days like these that I am MOST happy I never chose politics as my career.

Curing obesity... doesn't reduce health care costs

A cornerstone of the new Health Care Reform law (and virtually all Health Care reform proposals) is the assumption that ending bad behavior will reduce overall costs for everyone. It seems intuitive - if treating obesity-triggered diseases is expensive, eliminate obesity. But a new study suggests this is not the case as a longer lifespan offsets any short-term savings.

Of course, we should all be trying to be the best version of ourselves, so no one should take this as an excuse to stop exercising and gorge themselves on sweets. But it is a reminder that we should temper our zeal for policy-making with a humility that admits there will always be unexpected consequences that we can not predict.

Human greed knows no bounds... but shame is there right behind it

This story doesn't require much commment.

A British father faked a burglary at his home and claimed his daughter’s Christmas presents were stolen in a bid to get more gifts from sympathetic neighbors, local media reported Monday...

Unemployed Wood then posed for photographs for his local newspaper with his two-year-old daughter Abbey, saying Christmas was ruined.

However, he admitted the scam to police hours after the newspaper story was published, saying he could not live with the shame of using his little girl.

Crimes like this are always found out, whether thru good police work or thru good old feelings of shame. If you're in a tough spot, don't go to the low road. Ask for help. You can usually find someone willing to step up.

Video of the Metrodome Collapse... FROM THE INSIDE

Hat Tip to @SarrisW for this one.

Welcome to Cyber War I

For years, we have been speculating about what a real "Cyber-War" would look like. We already know that War looks different in the Computer Age - smart missiles, GPS-guided troops, real-time reporting from the warzone, combatants communicating via Twitter - but we have not yet really faced a full-on war between two Cyber Superpowers, in the mold of either World War or the Cold War.

But Wikileaks is giving us a glimpse into what a real Cyber-War is like as anonymous hackers release their ire onto any and every organization which refuses to support Julian Assage's release of U.S. Diplomatic Cables. Amazon, Paypal, MasterCard, and VISA have all been attacked, and there are now rumors of pending attacks on Facebook and Twitter for taking down Wikileaks accounts. Hackers are ideologically-motivated and decentralized - literally spread around the world - so it will be difficult to locate and stop them all. And yet, law enforcement and military agencies have a vested interest in proving they can respond effectively.

In the end, Wikileaks may be remembered not for the diplomatic info which was released - which appears to be more embarrassing than damaging, for the most part - but for the real-world practice it is giving the world for a real Cyber-War. The lessons learned here - both by attackers and defenders - will allow us to harden our defenses for the future, and truly understand just how vulnerable we are.

FYI: The President is NOT your Friend. And He Shouldn't Be!

It is funny how the flow of politics works. Two years ago, the Democratic Party was literally in lockstep, riding the Tidal Wave of the 2008 elections. Republicans were in disarray, and everything seemed to be coming up Donkey. 2010 is the complete opposite, as Republicans are riding the Tidal Wave and Democrats are in disarray. This has lead some prominent Democrats to criticize or even curse out the president, as he tries to find a modus vivendi with the new Conservative majority.

Here's the reality, legislators of both parties, THE PRESIDENT IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. No president is. The whole system is set up to put the branches of government at odds, in order to preserve the rights of the People. So, the Executive SHOULD be looking out for his own ability to govern, and NOT worrying about your ability to get stuff done without him. You've seen what perfect party unity has gotten you - extremely unpopular bills passed despite CLEAR signs that the American people were against you - so maybe it is time for a little disunity to allow sanity to return.

Here's hoping a return to divided government means a return to humble government. And a government where checks and balances are seen for what they are - our most valuable hedge against tyranny (whether of the sinister or the well-meaning).

I miss these days

How can addiction destroy a nation?

In the drug legalization debate, there are many sides to come at it from. Societal costs, difficulty of enforcement, libertarianism, etc. But it is important to remember that addictive substances should also be feared for the distortions they can put onto economies. Consider this situation in Yemen with their national addiction, Qat.

Qat, a mild narcotic plant, is chewed daily in almost every part of the country and is an integral part of the culture here. It has become Yemen's addiction, requiring a steady supply to feed the nation's growing demand.
"The farmers here prefer growing qat to growing grapes," laments Mohammed. "Growing qat makes them more money, but growing it also uses up much more water."...
The situation is so critical that, out of the country's 15 aquifers, only two are being replenished. Some members of Yemen's government have floated the idea of moving the capital, as well as desalinating seawater on the coast and pumping it to Sana'a...
When asked if he knows his country will soon run out of water and what that means for future generations, he sighs.
"The farmers here -- we have no future -- we have to rely on God," says Mohammed. "We only have God's mercy to rely on."

Sometimes the costs on society of bad choices do not end with the individual. These bad choices can easily mushroom and draw thousands of others into a trap with no way out.

Army deploys the Pulse Rifle from Aliens

While technology has continued to advance in the areas of communication, computation, and large scale weapons (like nuclear weapons and drones), the humble rifle has remained largely unchanged since the Vietnam war. No longer. The army has announced the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, a high powered rifle with programmable rounds that can be set to explode at any pre-set range.

It also has the advantage of looking like everyone's favorite prop from James Cameron's version of the Alien movies.

Just sayin'

I just had to share. ;-) For more info on Nanowrimo, click here.