The most detailed photo of the CIA campus that I've ever seen. Go to the link, zoom in, and then click on the "Birds Eye" icon on the left.

Looks like they're deleting some images of "sensitive" government buildings in other parts of the map, so this might not be around long. If you're interested, take a look now.

Elonka :)

Birds-Eye View of Kryptos

Decius wrote:

Elonka wrote:
Works for me. If they want a timetable, there should be a timetable. If they want us to stay, we stay. If they want us to leave, we leave. It's their country, and if the democratically-elected leaders make a request of us, we should honor it. It's their call.

This is one of the most rational things I think I have ever read thus far about the Iraq war. Frankly, they are our allies now. If they request our assistance in dealing with the insurgency then we would be remiss to fail to offer it. We may not have been in the right to create this mess in the first place. However, as they are a democratic government, its now a different deal. The Iraq War just became something it hasn't yet been ... moral.

Wow. You mean, we may have actually found a point of agreement, about Iraq? Maybe we should call a reporter. ;)

RE: CNN.com - Iraqi leaders call for withdrawal schedule

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Reaching out to the Sunni Arab community, Iraqi leaders called for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and said Iraq's opposition had a "legitimate right" of resistance.

The communique -- finalized by Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders Monday -- condemned terrorism but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens.

The leaders agreed on "calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation" and end terror attacks.

The preparatory reconciliation conference, held under the auspices of the Arab League, was attended by Iraq President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers as well as leading Sunni politicians.

Sunni leaders have been pressing the Shiite-majority government to agree to a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops. The statement recognized that goal, but did not lay down a specific time -- reflecting instead the government's stance that Iraqi security forces must be built up first.

Works for me. If they want a timetable, there should be a timetable. If they want us to stay, we stay. If they want us to leave, we leave. It's their country, and if the democratically-elected leaders make a request of us, we should honor it. It's their call.

CNN.com - Iraqi leaders call for withdrawal schedule

Sharp-shinned (Accipiter striatus) and Cooper’s (Accipiter cooperii) hawks commonly prey on feeder birds, and they are frequently reported by FeederWatchers. Despite their common occurrence, these hawks present a significant identification problem for many beginning and intermediate (and even more advanced!) birders. Throughout the year, there is great variation in plumage and in size for these two species. Therefore, perhaps more than any other similar-looking pair, no single field mark is likely to distinguish one species from the other. Instead, the careful observer must use a combination of field marks and draw from the overall "gestalt" of the hawk for proper identification. No field guide will substitute plenty of practice in the field for this pair.

Another one of my (many) hobbies is bird-watching. I've got a shelf full of bird books, and keep a list identifying every bird that stops by the feeders outside my office window. One big advantage to the office location, is that they're those mirrored windows which I can see out of, but the birds can't see in. So I regularly get *really* close looks at the birds as they perch right next to (and sometimes right on) the sill.

There's a hawk that's been visiting lately though, that even with all my books, I'm not certain how to identify. So I was pleased to find this page showing that I'm not alone! I'm pretty sure now that she's a young Cooper's Hawk. And that she's patiently waiting for prey in the form of other smaller birds that visit my feeder. Which probably explains why I haven't been needing to refill the feeders as much lately! ;)

Identifying Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks

Makers of "World of Warcraft" - Blizzard Entertainment, are being sued by the parents of a 13-year-old Tianjin boy, on charges that the game caused the death of their son.

The parents have filed a law-suit against Blizzard Entertainment, alleging that their son jumped to his death while re-enacting a scene from "World of Warcraft".

Anti-Internet addiction advocate, Zhang Chunliang, is backing the parents of the deceased boy. Chunliang is said to have spoken to 63 parents, whose children have suffered due to online gaming addiction. The advocate plans to file a class-action suit in the matter. There have been no comments from Blizzard Entertainment so far.

China's online gaming market, which raked in $580 million this year, is believed to be the fastest-growing market in the world.

Blizzard Entertainment's "World of Warcraft" alone is estimated to have around 1.5 million paying players, bringing-in moolah to the tune of $30 million per month in subscription fees.

Vivendi Universal Games, parent company of Blizzard Entertainment, which has pegged the "World of Warcraft" global players count at 4.5 million, is now forced to contend with the back-lash of parents concerned with their children's addictive behavior.

Parents of dead teenager sue Blizzard over 'Worlds of Warcraft'

"I think it's a healthy thing in a democracy to have people disagreeing, but if you're screaming or demonizing, then the very people you want to reach — which is those who don't agree with you — can't hear you."

Amen.

USATODAY.com - Clinton calls for kinder, gentler political talk

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog . . .

I have been contacted by a British book publisher, who wants me to write a book of ciphers. Not so much a book *about* ciphers, as a book *full* of hundreds of pencil and paper ciphers to solve.

Progress has been good, but my deadline is fast approaching, and I could use some help with creating some additional simple substitution ciphers, as well as testing many of the other ciphers that have already been created. If you are interested in joining in the effort, in return for getting your name in the book, please contact me at elonka@aol.com .

And for everyone else, I'll let you know when the book hits the shelves!

Elonka :)

Family members of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi renounced the terrorist leader Sunday after his al-Qaida in Iraq group claimed responsibility for the Nov. 9 suicide attacks on three Amman hotels that killed 59 people.

The family of al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, reiterated their strong allegiance to Jordan's King Abdullah II in half-page advertisements in the kingdom's three main newspapers. Al-Zarqawi threatened to kill the king in an audiotape released Friday.

"A Jordanian doesn't stab himself with his own spear," said the statement by 57 members of the al-Khalayleh family, including al-Zarqawi's brother and cousin. "We sever links with him until doomsday."

The statement is a serious blow to al-Zarqawi, who no longer will enjoy the protection of his tribe and whose family members may seek to kill him.

Though the "brother against brother" nature of the story saddens me, I still found this news enormously encouraging. The Jordanians' desire for peace, and strong support for their king, gives me great hope for the region. A lasting legacy from the king's father.

Al-Zarqawi's Jordan family renounces him

. . . what Sony [did] is as interesting as it is nasty. An understanding of how the company's hidden software works is important to understanding what all the hubbub is about — and to protecting yourself.
 . . .
Sony, like most music companies, wants complete control over how you use the music you buy. They want to prevent you from copying it, even to an iPod or a mix you take in your car.

But in its latest attempt to control its customers' use of music, Sony went overboard.
 . . .
[Sony] hired a company called First4Internet to design a copy-protection system called XCP. If you tried to play a protected disk in your computer, you first had to agree to install a Sony music player to listen to it.

But what Sony didn't say out loud was that the software also included a rootkit.

Rootkits were invented for Unix systems (where you could log in as "root" to have complete control over a computer). They were designed by the bad hackers to let them log into a system as "root" without the owner knowing.

A rootkit effectively creates a hidden space on users' computers. In that space, Sony (or anyone else who knows how to access that space) could put anything it wanted to hide. In Sony's case, it hid its copy-protection software so users couldn't remove it.

But Sony and First4Internet did such a lousy job that the hidden space created by the rootkit could be used by anyone who knew about it. In other words, it created a huge security hole — a space on every user's computer that a virus writer could hide some nasty code.
 . . .
Besides installing a player for the CD and copy-protection software, Sony also hid other code that contacted the company every time a user played a song.

Yes, you read that right.

Now you're starting to see why people got upset.

This article on USA Today gives a pretty good "plain English" explanation of the problem. They also link to Kaminski's research.

Sony Rootkits - Play a Sony music CD, get a virus

A series of 10 ten lists, compiled from multiple different sources.

Top 10 Lists - Greatest Video Games of All Time