Rattle wrote:
Before Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook took over, there was something really special here for a handful of us. I like knowing all that content is still "out there".

My ears are still on out here. I share the same sentiments as you.

RE: This thing still on?

Rattle wrote:

My Prius turned 1337 during it's third tank of gas. It's therefore (3)1337.

Yes, I did try to take a pictures while driving exactly 3 mph, but it was blurry.

How that for k-lame? Beat that!

LOL :)

I will have to dig up my odometer pictures. Yes, I have pictures of 31337 and 44100 from my Civic. I hit 31337 sometime in early 2006 and had the camera ready.

I see your k-lame and raise you one!

RE: Rattle's Prius hits (3)1337

Re-memeing this because this is the project used at Phreaknic this year (Friday night) out on the balcony. Neat stuff!

* * *

This is truly awesome. The folks at Graffiti Research Labs created a rig that facilitates painting with light on the side of a building. It uses a high lumens projector to project the light, a green laser pointer to do the writing, and a security/astrononmy camera to detect where the green laser was pointed. They have made all the code available under the GPL.

Here is video of them using the rig via YouTube:

Higher quality quicktime video can be found here.

Graffiti Research Labs - Laser Painter

AT&T just bought Cingular? Cingular was already owned by AT&T? Bellsouth owns who?! Let Stephen Colbert help you figure this out!

Now you know! And knowing, is half the amortization.

Not quite taking Qwest and Verizon into consideration, but still funny!

YouTube - Stephen Colbert explains the whole AT&T thing!

Rattle wrote:

Fear and uncertainty are the foundations of international agreement, while hope and confidence fuel war. In the end, a fractured Iraq -- an entity incapable of harming Iran, but still providing an effective buffer between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula -- is emerging as the most viable available option.

Not exactly a new idea. Interesting that 25 years ago this was one of Israel's ideas for Iraq.

RE: Stratfor | Rhetoric and Reality: The View from Iran

Wired has done a great interview with Mike. It should clear up a number of the questions people have had with recent events.

I would like to specifically point out one part of this interview:

WN: So ISS knew the seriousness of the bug.

Lynn: Yes, they did. In fact, at one point ... they apparently didn't get it, and they actually wanted to distribute the full working exploit very widely inside the company.... I was told ... "Give this to all the sales engineers and to all the pen testers."

WN: Why would they want you to do that?

Lynn: Well, because it bruises Cisco, remember? Mind you, this was something that Cisco hadn’t gone public with yet and that's not useful to pen testers because what do they advise their customers to do (to protect themselves if no information about the vulnerability has been released yet)?

I told them, "You do realize if you do that, it's going to leak?" And (one of the ISS guys) says, "That's Cisco's problem." And then (another ISS guy) turns to me and says that they need to understand this could be their Witty worm. I was like, Whoa, what meeting did I walk into?

(The Witty worm was a particularly aggressive and destructive code released by someone last year that targeted computer systems running a security program made by Internet Security Systems and even more specifically targeted military bases using the software. It infected more than 12,000 servers and computer systems in about an hour. Because of the worm's speed in spreading and its creators' apparent knowledge of who ISS' customers were, some security experts speculated that someone working for or connected to ISS might have been responsible for writing and releasing it.)

At that point, I told them all no, and they fought it and I resigned right there on the spot. And this was about a month ago.

I thought they were handling this in a non-ethical manner. Because it was just way too fast and loose with who can see this.... I mean, I don't even want people to see it now. (ISS talked him out of the resignation by agreeing to give him control over who could see or have the exploit.)

All I can say is WOW. A big "wow". Caps, bold, and feeling.

Anyone who says that Mike is not on the level needs to reference this. This says truly horrible things about ISS. This should cost them some serious reputation capitol.

One thing that Mike did a great job of in this interview is getting the idea out that in order to defeat the "bad guys", you must run faster then them. It is the only option.

Case in point, via the Wall Street Journal:

"The vulnerabilities are out there on the Net in full broadcast mode," said Gilman Louie, a tech-industry veteran who heads In-Q-Tel, a venture-capital firm backed by the Central Intelligence Agency. "The bad guys get to it faster than everybody else. I'd rather have disclosure and let everybody respond."

Disclosure is a great thing, but it must be done properly. I would argue that Mike did it properly. I would argue that he has displayed the best kind of ethics through this entire mess. Given the content of this Wired interview, I would argue that ISS has its head up its ass.

Router Flaw Is a Ticking Bomb | Mike Lynn Has Integrity^3

This is a video of a dog that can skateboard. Yes, you read that right. Skateboard.

...

I am doing my part to spread the meme :) This is so cool.

Skateboarding Dog - Future Animal Star we will eventually be sick of

] The Our Documents initiative will use the Internet
] to bring infor-mation about and the text of 100 of
] America's most important documents from the National
] Archives to classrooms and com-munities across the
] country. These initiatives are important, for it is
] only when our children have an understanding of our
] past that they will be able to lead the future.

Oh, so we release all the documents the Bush administration feels are non-threatning to its interests.. But when there is information that might actually be relevant to current affairs, like past presidental records, or records pertaining to "September the 11th", they sequester it.

You know they are clueless when "information" is written as "infor-mation", and there isn't a line break..

] The Congress, by Public Law 85-529, as amended, has
] designated May 1 of each year as "Loyalty Day," and I ask
] all Americans to join me in this day of celebration and
] in reaffirming our allegiance to our Nation.
]
] NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
] United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2003,
] as Loyalty Day. I call upon all the people of the United
] States to join in support of this national observance. I
] also call upon government officials to display the flag
] of the United States on all government buildings on
] Loyalty Day.

Loyalty Day?

Something about this does not sit right with me.. Maybe its just my paranoid nature, but I can't help but think there is a subtle reasoning behind a number of things this administration is doing, and I don't like the vibe I get from it.

I'm really starting to feel like public opinion is being managed in a way where we appear to be free, and have government oversight, yet in reality, we are being managed and controlled. Maybe its been that way all along, only now because we are more connected and informed, we are seeing it for what it is..

Loyalty Day.. I love my country.. I really do. But I fear that its not the ideas and philosophy it was founded based on which we are asked to be loyal, but rather, its current rulers and policies.. Thats not the way I think America works. America loves diversity and opposing opinions, as they are the engines from which new ideas are created.. America allows descent. America tells the truth. America does not have to ask for loyalty, it earns it. Thats my America, and it never had to ask for or demand my loyalty. It has always had it.

There is irony in this sharing a date with May Day..

Bush declares May 1st 'Loyalty Day'