Prepare for THIS

Posted on July 27, 2004

The UK is buzzing about the government’s decision to distribute a booklet to the entire population over there entitled “Preparing For Emergencies” (link goes to PDF version). The booklet is intended to give “common sense advice” on how to be prepared for disasters or acts of terrorism, without unduly panicking anyone. Naturally, there’s a Web site as well, at http://www.preparingforemergencies.gov.uk.

And just as naturally, it took a Briton with a sense of humo(u)r (a fellow by the name of Thomas Scott) about 30 seconds to register the veeeery similar domain http://www.preparingforemergencies.co.uk/ and plunk down a parody site that looks and feels exactly like the government’s site, except with copy like this:

Things to remember

If you are involved in any emergency it is important to:

• Run like hell, particularly if you caused the emergency.
• Trample all others in your desperate attempt to escape.
• Loot on the way out.

Aaaaand, again just as naturally, it took the government about 30 more seconds after the site launched to demand that Scott take it down. So far he’s holding firm, though.

KBR: Where Money Is No Object

Posted on July 27, 2004

One of the most common tactics in Washington media management is to take advantage of what Mickey Kaus calls “Jo Moore days”. The reference is to Jo Moore, a former spin doctor for Tony Blair, who famously distributed an e-mail on September 11, 2001 suggesting to her staff that if they had any bad news to announce, that would be the day to do it, since it would be lost in the noise of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The outcry that resulted when Moore’s e-mail was leaked got her booted from her job.

However, while her timing and approach were unquestionably crass, her basic tactical approach was nothing new — spin doctors are always looking for times when the media are all busily chasing one Big Story so that they can dump their unpleasant stories without too many people noticing.

I’m guessing that’s why the House Committee on Government Reform chose July 22nd as the date for the fourth installment of their hearings on “Contracting and the Rebuilding of Iraq“, which featured testimony from several former employees of Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root on instances of incredible waste and mismanagement they saw while supporting our troops in Iraq.

What made the 22nd a Jo Moore day? It was the same day the final report of the 9-11 Commission was released — an event that anyone could tell would dominate the news not just that day, but the days leading up to it and immediately following it as well. What better time to solicit testimony on massive government waste than when nobody’s looking?

(more…)

Cool New Firefox Extension: Google Preview

Posted on July 26, 2004

Here’s a new extension for Mozilla Firefox that demonstrates just how powerful the extension model really is — Google Preview inserts thumbnail screenshots of each site listed right into the results of searches on Google:

It gets the screenshots from the Open Thumbshots project. It’s only at version 0.1 right now, but already it works as advertised, so it’ll be interesting to see what improvements the author has in store for it.

Recruiting: So It’s Come To This

Posted on July 23, 2004

From Reuters, via The Agonist — “Bigger breasts offered as perk to U.S. soldiers“:

The U.S. Army has long lured recruits with the slogan “Be All You Can Be,” but now soldiers and their families can receive plastic surgery, including breast enlargements, on the taxpayers’ dime.

The New Yorker magazine reports in its July 26th edition that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free — something the military says helps surgeons practice their skills.

“Anyone wearing a uniform is eligible,” Dr. Bob Lyons, chief of plastic surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio told the magazine, which said soldiers needed the approval of their commanding officers to get the time off.

Yes, because nothing helps battlefield surgeons keep their skills sharp like doing boob jobs. Are we invading Beverly Hills sometime soon?

Winners Of MT 3.0 Plugin Contest Announced

Posted on July 23, 2004

Six Apart has announced the winners of their “Plug In To Movable Type 3.0” contest for plugin developers. The big winner was Jay Allen, who updated his incredible MT-Blacklist comment spam killer for MT 3.0. (I guess TypeKey didn’t solve the comment spam problem after all, eh?) For his efforts, Jay won “[a]n Apple G5 dual 2GHz with 23″ Apple Cinema HD Display and Adobe Creative Suite Premium with GoLive CS.” Suh-weet!!! Congratulations!

Pentagon Hijackers Caught on Tape Being Passed Through Airport Security

Posted on July 22, 2004

BIG story from the Associated Press today — they’ve obtained security camera footage from Dulles Airport on the morning of September 11, 2001, that shows four of the five hijackers who departed from Dulles that morning being pulled aside at the security checkpoint for additional inspection — and then being waved on through.

(The AP has a video report on the story as well, where you can see parts of the footage.)

The four hijackers all set off the metal detector, and one had his luggage hand-inspected with an explosives detector, but all of them were cleared to board the plane. Only one of the five made it through without attracting any scrutiny whatsoever.

Of course, all the holes in airport security have been closed since 9/11 (heh), so a huge lapse like this could never happen again. Right?

Thanks to The Agonist for the pointer.

IE Team Blog Launches

Posted on July 22, 2004

More rumblings from Redmond around the long-dormant Internet Explorer: the IE team now has a blog.

FAA Approves Sport-Pilot License

Posted on July 21, 2004

Woo hoo! The FAA has just approved the new “sport pilot” license. This is a certification that bridges the gap between “ultralights” (very small, low-powered planes you can fly with almost no training) and real airplanes, which require a “real” pilot’s license and the commensurate training and expense obtaining such a license requires. Light-sport aircraft fall between these two extremes — they can weigh up to 600kg, carry up to 2 people (the pilot and one passenger), and fly at up to 120 knots in level flight, but the training requirements are far less than those for operating a traditional aircraft — only (if I’m remembering correctly) 15 hours flight training with an instructor, and an additional 5 hours solo.

This will hopefully put flying within the reach of a lot more people! I’ve been wanting to get back in the air ever since I did some work towards getting a pilot’s license when I was a teenager, but I’ve never been able to justify the expense. Maybe this is what I’ve been waiting for…

What An Idiot

Posted on July 21, 2004

How dumb is George W. Bush? Scroll down to the bottom of this story and find out… or, if you don’t want to scroll, here’s the killer excerpt in its unedited glory:

This is one example of what happens when Bush gets a question that he hasn’t anticipated.
“Q: Thank you — I was wondering, there’s a lot of talk right now about memoirs being written with the former President. After you are elected in 2004, what will your memoirs say about you, what will the title be, and what will the main theme say?
“THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that. (Laughter.) There is a painting on my wall in the Oval — first of all, I don’t know. I’m just speculating now. I really haven’t thought about writing a book. My life is too complicated right now trying to do my job. (Laughter.) But if — there’s a painting on the wall in the Oval Office that shows a horseman charging up a steep cliff, and there are at least two other horsemen following. It’s a Western scene by a guy named W.H.S. Koerner called ‘A Charge to Keep.’ It’s on loan, by the way, from a guy named Joe O’Neill in Midland, Texas. He was the person, he and his wife Jan, introduced — reintroduced me and Laura in his backyard in July of 1977. Four months later, we were married. So he’s got a — I’m a decision-maker and I can make good decisions. (Applause.)
“And so we sang this hymn — this is a long story trying to get to your answer. (Laughter.) This is not a filibuster. (Laughter.) That’s a Senate term — particularly on good judges. (Applause.) The hymn was sung at my first inaugural church service as governor. Laura and I are Methodists. One of the Wesley boys wrote the hymn. The painting is based upon the hymn called, ‘A Charge to Keep.’ I have. The hymn talks about serving something greater than yourself in life. I — which I try to do, as best as I possibly can. (Applause.)
“The book — I guess one way, one thing to think about it is — one of the themes would be, I was given a charge to keep. And I gave it all my heart, all my energy, based upon principles that did not change once I got into the Oval Office. (Applause.)”
Now that’s a rambling response.
And I have to wonder: Did he forget that he already has a memoir called “A Charge to Keep”?
That was the name of his “autobiography” — ghost-written by adviser Karen Hughes in 1999.

Wow. Maybe he should call it “A Charge To Keep 2: This Time It’s Personal”.

On Resistance

Posted on July 19, 2004

“There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!” —  Mario Savio

New Category: Terrorism, Security, and Defense Reform

Posted on July 19, 2004

Since one of the topics I write about frequently is the need for a saner, more sensible approach to national security policy, I’ve created a new category called “Terrorism, Security, and Defense Reform” to put those posts into for easy reference. I’ve gone back and copied a bunch of my old posts on that subject into this category; if you know of one that isn’t there but should be, let me know.

Air Marshals: Let Us Be Less Joe Friday and More Frank Serpico

Posted on July 19, 2004

My friend Oscar Merida sent me this story this morning, and it’s the sort of thing that you can’t help but shake your head while you read, it’s so dispiriting…

From the New York Times — Dress Code May Hinder Their Work, Air Marshals Say:

Documents and memorandums issued by the Department of Homeland Security and field offices of the Federal Air Marshal Service say air marshals must “present a professional image” and “blend unnoticed into their environment.” Some air marshals have argued that the two requirements are contradictory.
Federal air marshals must have neatly trimmed hair and men must be clean-shaven, the documents say. Some of the service’s 21 field offices have mandated that male officers wear suits, ties and dress shoes while on duty, even in summer heat. Women are required to wear blouses and skirts or dress slacks. Jeans, athletic shoes and noncollared shirts are prohibited.
In April, the officers’ group sent a letter to members of Congress saying that the “military-style grooming standards and a blanket ‘sports coat’ dress policy,” along with conspicuous boarding procedures, jeopardize the safety of air marshals.

In other words, the Air Marshal Service has decided that, when their dress code comes into conflict with their requirement to blend in with the other passengers, the dress code comes first. Never mind that this could result in Marshals sticking out like a sore thumb — which would make them pretty easy to identify and eliminate in the opening stage of any halfway-competent hijacking operation. That’s not important. What’s important, apparently, is that the dress code be preserved.

The Times quotes Air Marshal Service spokesman Dave Adams giving this justification for this bass-ackward policy:

Mr. Adams said a dress code was put in place in April 2002 after the airline industry complained that air marshals’ attire was too casual. He said some marshals had worn shorts, blue jeans, sandals and T-shirts while on duty.
“In order to gain respect in a situation, you must be attired to gain respect,” Mr. Adams said in an interview. He said if air marshals were allowed to be too casual in their dress, “they probably would not gain the respect of passengers if a situation were to occur.”

Say what? They wouldn’t be able to gain the respect of passengers?

I have a news flash for Mr. Adams — you don’t have to dress like Sergeant Joe Friday to “gain the respect of passengers” in a hijack situation. I’m pretty sure that carrying a gun, a badge, and shouting “FEDERAL AIR MARSHAL!” would do the trick, even if you’re wearing shorts. And if those shorts keep you from getting popped before you even know something’s going down, they’ve done their job better than a sport jacket ever could.

Air Marshals are undercover cops. Their first priority should be to blend in!

The whole situation makes me wonder if anyone at DHS ever saw the classic movie Serpico. Remember all those scenes where Serpico watched in amazement as his fellow “undercover” narcotics cops went out onto the street in painfully square clothes and hairstyles that told anyone who looked at them that they were a narc? I’d feel a lot safer in the air if I knew that DHS was telling its Air Marshals to model themselves on Frank Serpico instead of Joe Friday.

UPDATE (Aug. 28, 2006): Two years after I posted this, the Air Marshals Service has finally relaxed its ridiculous dress code.

Another Year Older, Another Year Wiser. Or Something

Posted on July 19, 2004

It’s my birthday today. The big 2-9. Woo-hoo.

Want to share the joy? Buy me something off my Amazon wish list. Remember, cheaping out makes baby Jesus cry!

Introducing the Pocket TiVO

Posted on July 16, 2004

Looks like Archos has done it again, this time with the Pocket Video Recorder AV400 series — a portable video player that lets you schedule and record from 80 to 400 hours of programming straight off your TV, VCR, or satellite/cable box and then carry the recorded programming with you anywhere you go. Neat!

Blockbuster’s Netflix Killer

Posted on July 16, 2004

… is right here.

Thanks to Hacking Netflix for the tip.

FMA Killed In the Senate

Posted on July 14, 2004

So, after all the sound and fury the GOP kicked up by picking on gays, they couldn’t even get a simple majority in the Senate to support the odious Federal Marriage Amendment (you know, the one that would have put a ban on gay marriage into the Constitution). In other words, not even half the Senators voted to support the FMA. So it’s dead.

You know, if you’re going to try to flex your political muscles by beating up on a minority group, it really helps if you’re actually powerful enough to actually pull it off. Otherwise you just come off looking intolerant and impotent. Way to go, Senator Santorum!

You Know It’s Time To Hit Monster.com When…

Posted on July 12, 2004

If you seriously think that you need one of these, your time and money would probably be better spent FINDING A JOB WHERE YOUR CO-WORKERS AREN’T INSANE than hunting down accessories to deal with it.

I’m just sayin’…

Drop A Coin In the Bucket Already!

Posted on July 12, 2004

Now your donations to the Mozilla Foundation are officially tax-deductible. So what are you waiting for?

Horror Beyond Imagining

Posted on July 9, 2004

Dear God, anything but this.

Mozilla Security Alert: Get ShellBlock

Posted on July 8, 2004

If you’re using any version of Mozilla up to Firefox 0.9.1 or Mozilla 1.7 on Windows XP, you need to take a moment and go install the just-released ShellBlock extension. This extension closes an exploit that was discovered yesterday that could potentially allow sites to execute malicious code through your browser.

Alternately, you can just update your browser — there’s already a fresh Firefox 0.9.2 (Windows only) ready for downloading at mozilla.org, with the ShellBlock patch baked right in. (Updated versions of the Mozilla Suite and Mozilla Thunderbird are also available.)

Mozilla.org has also posted a document explaining exactly what you need to know about the issue, and what you need to do to ensure your security.

So — let’s review. Within 24 hours of a major vulnerability being discovered in Mozilla, we have new versions available of all their major products with the bug fixed; patches to close the bug for users of older versions; and a clear explanation of what went wrong, and how to make it right.

Compare that to… well, compare that to anybody, it’s damn impressive no matter what.

It’s work like this that makes otherwise reasonable geeks like me into such annoying Mozilla fanboys 🙂

Pot Meets Kettle

Posted on July 7, 2004

Here’s a “what the…” moment: Dave Winer is telling Tim Bray to apologize for his egomania:

If instead there were a pause for thought, just a tiny bit of respect to balance Tim’s angry ego, he could have saved a bunch of time and effort. Steve Gillmor tagged Bray then as a master tactician, I guess so, but at least a little strategy should be behind every tactic. It’s still not too late to get back on course Tim, I’ll accept your retraction when you make it, but so far, that hasn’t happened.

Yes! Dave is berating someone else for letting their ego get out of control!

Three words: pot, kettle, black. Sheesh.

Where Potato Chips Come From

Posted on July 5, 2004

So I went this afternoon with a friend to the American Film Institute’s Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD to see the restored print they’re showing of Orson Welles’ sublimely weird 1947 film noir “The Lady From Shanghai” (great flick, btw — but then you already knew I was a lover of Wellesiana), and afterwards we stopped and got sandwiches for lunch, and she asks me, “So how do they make potato chips, anyway?” (Which wasn’t as random a question as it sounds, since the sandwiches came with chips.)

And I say, feeling all smart-like, “They take potatoes, slice ’em real thin, and fry the slices.”

To which she replies, “I knew that — I mean, what are the details? How do they choose the potatoes? Do they peel them, or fry them with the skins on? Do they season them before they fry them? There’s got to be more to it than just slice them and fry them.”

So I search my brain for a moment, and come back with, “Um… they take potatoes, slice ’em real thin, and fry the slices.” Because that is pretty much the extent of my knowledge, potato-chip-wise.

The conversation moved on to other subjects, but I felt bad for not having an answer; so when I got home, I determined to Find Out how potato chips are made. Here is what I found.

• The invention of the potato chip
• Make your own potato chips

The short version? They take potatoes, slice ’em real thin, and fry the slices 🙂

Mozilla Downloads Way Up

Posted on July 2, 2004

In the wake of the recent announcement from the Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) that Internet Explorer is even more vulnerable to hacking than most people thought, Wired is reporting that daily browser downloads from mozilla.org have more than doubled, from 100,000 to 200,000.

To all you new Mozillians out there — welcome! And enjoy 🙂

A PDA For the Blind

Posted on June 30, 2004

The BrailleNote PK is a nifty PDA for blind people, with a Braille interface (!). Now, if only it wasn’t $5,000…

They Fix These Things So Fast I Can Barely Keep Up

Posted on June 29, 2004

And like THAT, Firefox 0.9.1 and Thunderbird 0.7.1 are out, with fixes to the extension and theme managers, and improvements to the Winstripe theme.

Another reason to love Mozilla, they sure don’t sit around when there are bugs to be fixed!