Initially, Cisco and ISS were happy with Lynn presenting his research result. They changed their minds at the last minute. Lynn gave an interview to Wired that talks about some of the details; I am impressed with his integrity in this matter.
 . . .
I can't imagine the discussions inside Cisco that led them to act like thugs. I can't figure out why they decided to attack Michael Lynn, BlackHat, and ISS rather than turn the situation into a public-relations success. I can't believe that they thought they could have censored the information by their actions, or even that it was a good idea.

High praise for Abaddon's integrity, and a well-deserved criticism of Cisco's actions, from the crypto-luminary Bruce Schneier in this month's issue of Crypto-Gram.

Crypto-Gram: Bruce Schneier on the Cisco/ISS Story

Interesting concept.

Enter in your AIM screen-name (and anyone else's you want) and see how many people link to you, within three degrees.

There's no way to increase your own score by adding people. This score is specifically calculated by counting people who have *your* name, in *their* buddy list, and some sort of formula which weights their link to you, based on their own scores.

My score today is: 45989

For reference, here are a few other people I checked. Some are folks I know, and some are just random names I typed in:

Rattle: 3176
Gordon Walton: 40466
Kim Zetter: 4851
Llearyn: 36773
GMBreeland: 38804
Randal: 5435
Strick: 13136
Virgil: 17273
Grunch: 1608
Aestetix: 17502
Bryan: 13765
God: 77395
Bob: 157924

Funny that "Bob" is more popular than "God." ;)

Elonka :)

8/15/2005 Update: When I checked my score today, it read as 51893, which put me in the top 5% of AIM users online, rank of 303386. Which I guess means that there were about 6 million AIM users logged on as of that moment....

The Three Degrees of AIMfight.com

There's a teaser trailer up for the new DVC movie (due out in 2006). There are no scenes for the movie in the website flash intro yet, but upon closer examination, there *are* some embedded puzzles, if it's gone through frame by frame. There are even controls at the bottom left corner which let you slow it down to take a closer look.

Intriguing . . . If anyone finds a website that lists everything that's in the Flash, let me know?

Elonka :)

Da Vinci Code Movie - Puzzles in the Flash

If "Intelligent Design" should be taught in our schools, side by side with the "unproven theory" of evolution, then it logically follows that other theories should be presented as well . . .   :)

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design.
I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe
was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that
we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific
evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence,
put in place by Him.

The above quote was sent in an open letter to the Kansas School Board. The webpage is worth a read, not just for the letter and theory (complete with scientific charts and a drawing of the Almighty FSM), but it also includes links to response letters from members of the school board, along with endorsements from many people throughout the scientific community. ;)

Intelligent Design v. Flying Spaghetti Monster-ism

A friend of mine has been bringing the OS-tan subculture to my attention. It's a type of anime, where some of the girl characters represent different Operating Systems. This page is cute, because it has pictures of real girls who are dressed up to look like the anime characters. See if you can figure out which one represents which OS. :)

More OS-tan resources here: http://www.gallo.ws/12

And here's the OS-tan wikipedia article

Elonka :)

Live OS-tan

Fortunately for Mike, I never got to make it to a judge, because we were able to settle the case within 24 hours.

I *love* the way that Jennifer Granick writes. Complete with bagels, sushi, and her definition of "fun". :)

For those who are coming up to speed on this flap about Mike Lynn and Cisco and ISS and Black Hat, Jennifer's page gives a good summary of (a) what happened; and (b) what's happened since then. It's also just a fun read.

For those who don't want to read everything and just want an even quicker summary, here's my one-paragraph "See Spot Run" explanation:

Fellow Memestreamer Abaddon (Mike Lynn) discovered a security hole in Cisco routers a few months ago. Cisco routers are in use all over the internet, and if the hole would have been exploited, it could have literally "crashed the internet". The hole has since been patched. He got permission to give a talk about the hole at last week's Black Hat security conference. A few days before the conference, the permission was revoked. He decided to quit his job and give the talk anyway. This brought the attention of the world, and *lots* and lots of articles have been written about the situation since. Lots of lawyers also got involved. As things currently stand, Mike has settled things with Cisco and ISS, but FBI "men in suits" showed up right around the same time and started asking questions, and it's unclear as yet as to what the FBI involvement is going to entail. To keep up to speed on that, I recommend re-checking Jennifer Granick's blog each day, since it's been an excellent blow-by-blow. If you're reading it for the first time, I recommend starting with the section at the bottom, and then working your way up to the top. It's a great soap opera. :)

For anyone who wants more information, I recommend:
  (1) A relatively non-technical explanation by Dagmar about the hole
  (2) Rattle's blog, since he's been keeping up-to-date on a lot of the blather in the blogosphere, and has lots of good links that point to different opinion pieces.

Stay tuned,

Elonka :)

Mike Lynn's Cisco Case, from his attorney's blog

Mike the Usurper wrote:
Someone said to me today, "If you can't see the difference between the administration and Al Qaeda then there's something ... wrong."

The difference, is the ballot box.

Our administration, like it or not, is a choice of leadership that was made by our country. That you don't agree with that choice, I understand. But that's the country we live in. A controversial issue (like who our leader is going to be) comes up, millions of people vote on it, and the majority wins out.

Al Qaeda, on the other hand, was not voted in by anybody. They're a bunch of self-appointed thugs who feel that they know what's better for the world than anybody else. They have no sympathy for other ways of life. They believe that their way is the right way, and to hell with everyone else. They seek to impose their own *very* narrow world-view, upon the entire planet. Our administration, on the other hand, usually bends over backwards to accommodate as many different viewpoints and ways of life as possible.

A further difference is how those two groups (the U.S. administration vs. Al Qaeda) go about exercising their power. The administration has a series of checks and balances. They need to get approval from an enormously complex system before they can do *anything*. And, their power is temporary. A few years down the line, they're gone, and another administration is voted in. If Al Qaeda could have been voted out of power, I think they would have been gone long ago. It is my belief that the vast majority of the muslim world despises the methods that Al Qaeda uses.

Another difference has to do with how power is used, especially when it involves violence. When our administration uses violence, via our military, it is done in a very controlled fashion, with an enormous amount of public debate and consensus-seeking. Nearly every single step is open to scrutiny and consideration by the public, our other leaders, and the rest of the world. Our plans are usually announced well in advance. Further, military targets are chosen with care and compassion. Innocents and civilians are not specifically targeted.

Al Qaeda, on the other hand, exercises its power in secret. They have no public debate. They use subterfuge, they use hatred. They use small groups with no public oversight, that seek to kill as many people as possible, with little care as to *who* they are killing. If they could kill thousands or even millions of Americans with a nuclear bomb in the middle of one of our cities, they would do it. And then if they could, they would do it again, and again, against not just Americans but against *anyone* that stood in their way, until they could force the world into the shape and culture that they wanted.

I have no trouble distinguishing between the two sides. The difference between right and wrong is very clear to me. But it flabbergasts me that anyone can say that the two sides are similar, or that the administration is *worse* than Al Qaeda. That shows to me a phenomenally deep loss of center, and in some ways, a blind hatred of one's own country. And that saddens me.

I'm not saying that I think that you and I should agree on everything. I *like* that we disagree, and I think that the process of discussion is a healthy one. But I hope we could at least agree on some basic definitions of the difference between good and evil.

Elonka

RE: Today's Ugly Question

LAS VEGAS -- A bug discovered in an operating system that runs the majority of the world's computer networks would, if exploited, allow an attacker to bring down the nation's critical infrastructure, a computer security researcher said Wednesday against threat of a lawsuit.
 . . .
Michael Lynn, a former research analyst with Internet Security Solutions, quit his job at ISS Tuesday morning before disclosing the flaw at Black Hat Briefings, a conference for computer security professionals held annually here.
 . . .
Lynn closed his talk by directing the audience to his resume and asking if anyone could give him a job.

"In large part I had to quit to give this presentation because ISS and Cisco would rather the world be at risk, I guess," Lynn said. "They had to do what's right for their shareholders; I understand that. But I figured I needed to do what's right for the country and for the national critical infrastructure."

Michael Lynn is a fellow Memestreamer, Abaddon. Pretty gutsy move, quitting his job to give the talk.

Speaking of Black Hat, and Def Con, I'm getting ready myself to head to the airport, as I write this. See y'all in Vegas!

Elonka :)

Memestreamer Abaddon Quits Job to Expose Cisco Security Hole at Black Hat Conference

WHATLEY, OSCIE B.,Saturday, July 23, 2005
 . . .
Service 8 p.m., Wed., July 27, at HUTCHENS Mortuary, 675 Graham Rd., Florissant with visitation 4 to 8 pm, Wed. Interment at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery with military honors at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Oscie passed away on Saturday, from complications relating to treatment for pancreatic cancer. He was 82.

During my 15 years in St. Louis, Oscie was like a father to me. So I'd like to add some of my own words, to the other obituaries appearing about him . . .

Oscie easily fit my definition of someone who was a good man. He was gentle, good-natured, intelligent, active, always interested in learning new things, and always kind to everyone around him (even when they didn't deserve it). He was one of those individuals who I learned from, not just by listening to what he said, but by example -- seeing how he lived, and how he treated others.

Among the many accomplishments of his life:

- Three children, and over a dozen grandchildren and great-grandchildren
- Steadfast support of his son, David, as David struggled to get his company Simutronics off the ground, working from his bedroom in his parents' home
- He was an award-winning daylily hybridizer
- During World War II, he was a Navy pilot
- He had a strong and lifelong marriage to his wife, Dorothy
- He had a long and successful career in aircraft design at McDonnell Douglas
- And he contributed to the design of the St. Louis Arch

But the way I will most often remember Oscie, is in his garden. The gardens at his own home were spectacular, especially around the Fourth of July, with hundreds of his award-winning flowers blooming everywhere. Plus, there was just a nice feel to the place. It was the kind of garden where you could sit outside, among the flowers and fluttering birds and scampering rabbits, and feel at peace. A little bit of heaven on earth.

Oscie lavished care on that garden. He was often up before dawn, to inspect the buds of his latest efforts and see if they had bloomed that morning. If so, he would painstakingly collect bits of pollen by hand, acting as a human bee, moving pollen from one flower to another, in the exact system he wanted, and then carefully labeling different flowers, or wrapping them up to prevent real bees from modifying his handiwork. ;)

As his health declined, it became more and more difficult for Oscie to visit his garden each morning. Towards the end, when he was restricted to a hospital bed in his home, the bed was moved close to the window so that he could at least see the garden when he woke up in the morning. And countless volunteers visited every day, helping care both for him, and for the grounds. It was impossible to know Oscie, without being aware of his love of gardening. As we took care of the flowerbeds, it was an indication of our respect for him, as well.

If I have any kind of vision of Oscie in an afterlife, it's definitely him working in a garden somewhere, surrounded by flowers, helping things to grow.

Oscie may be gone to us on this earth, but he lives on through many visible reminders of his life's efforts. The St. Louis Arch, his flowers, and his descendants, will ensure that his legacy lives on.

Elonka

Obituary: Oscie Whatley

Twenty years ago, Simon Le Bon, lead singer of Duran Duran, nearly lost his life when his yacht capsized during the Rolex Fastnet yacht race. Now he’s back to try again, on the same yacht. Le Bon sold the 77-foot yacht, Drum, to Scottish car dealer Arnold Clark who renamed the boat Arnold Clark Drum. Clark has agreed to loan the boat to Le Bon for this year’s Rolex race which starts August 7.

Interesting. I know Drum well. I was aboard a couple times, when I visited the Whitbread race in New Zealand and England, and chatted with some of her crew. And I even wore a "Drum" T-shirt when I went to the Duran Duran concert here in St. Louis last night (excellent show, btw). I've even got bits and pieces of a short story I wrote about Drum way back when, that featured the boat. Maybe it's time to dig it out and actually finish it! ;)

Simon Le Bon Will Race Again