While I'm not one of your constituents, your statements and actions often have an impact that reaches beyond your district. Yesterday you were quoted in several news media outlets as having called for the arrest of Christopher Soghoian, a PHD candidate at the University of Indiana Bloomington, because he created a web page that generates phoney airline boarding passes. As you are likely aware, your call was answered by the FBI who reportedly broke into Soghoian's house last night and seized all of his computer equipment.
I am a professional computer security researcher. I work for one of the worlds largest IT companies. My job involves finding vulnerabilities in software systems and getting them fixed. Responsible vendors are usually very responsive and willing to work with my team when we contact them with information about problems with their products. Through this process we are able to locate and repair vulnerabilities in IT infrastructure before the bad guys can find them and exploit them. However, there are always a few unsophisticated people who seek to shoot the messenger instead of dealing with the flaw.
Christopher Soghoian is one of the good guys. He is not a criminal and he is not enabling criminals. He did not create the vulnerability in the boarding pass screening process. This problem has existed for years, and it has been noted in other quarters, most recently by Sen. Chuck Schumer. However, the problem hasn't been fixed. Soghoian's website was intended to demonstrate how simple this is, and he has clearly and repeatedly stated that his intent in creating the site was to raise awareness about the problem so that it will be fixed. His website does not make this much easier than standard desktop publishing software available on anyone's personal computer.
Your call for his arrest, and the subsiquent events that have unfolded over the past 24 hours, have done serious harm to the national security of the United States. You could have simply contacted him, informed him of the legal problems that one could face for operating such a website, and discussed shutting it down. By choosing instead to prosecute him you are sending a message to security professionals in this country that if you observe a problem with national security policies or practices and make people aware of those problems in good faith so that they might be fixed, the government will treat you as an enemy and will prosecute you if possible. The inevitable result will be that people will hold their tongues, and problems will persist until they are discovered by someone who has malicious intent.
I strongly urge you to reconsider your position on this matter. The current course of action is not in the best interests of this country.
A glimpse of the remarkable father-son bond of Dick and Rick Hoyt, and their inspirational journey together in a triathlon and life itself.
"Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day."
I think that man should be charged with a hate crime if they find out the accusation is true.
A crime is a crime, is it not? I never have liked the term "hate crime." If someone murders another person, it is murder, regardless of the reason why they didn't like them. No one murders another person if they like them anyway.
If it turns out he did violate the law, then he violated the law, regardless of the reason. I don't feel that another class of crime should be created with different levels of punishment based on the race, sex, or sexual disposition of the victim. Wouldn't that be discrimination in and of itself?
Uhh... You're an idiot. Those yellow speed signs on ramps -ARE THE SPEED LIMIT- not an "advisory speed".
You shouldn't merge left going faster than traffic already in the left lane. If you do that you're going to driver hell.
--timball
You know, this is one of those things I've wondered about, but never really followed up on. I've always held the belief that advisory speed signs were just that.
When I see "You're an idiot," though, I guess that makes we want to dig further, since vicariously, I am being called an idiot. Therefore, I did some research this time.
Laws will vary from state to state of course, but here's what Texas has to say about it:
* * *
Regulatory Versus Advisory Speeds
Advisory speeds are determined primarily by physical and design characteristics of the roadway. The setting of regulatory speeds, while also affected by physical and design factors, is determined in large part by existing free flow traffic speeds.
A Transportation Commission minute order, city ordinance, or county ordinance is not required for advisory speed zones but is required for regulatory speed zones. Therefore, advisory speed zones are more flexible in that they can be changed without revising existing commission minute orders or city or county ordinances.
From the standpoint of enforcement, when a regulatory speed zone has been established and signs are posted, the speed values shown on the signs are the maximum lawful prima facie speeds. An advisory speed sign serves to advise drivers of safe speeds that are recommended for certain roadway conditions, such as horizontal curves. It does aid the enforcement officer, however, in determining reasonable and prudent speeds. A driver might be cited for exceeding the posted value of an advisory speed zone on the grounds that they were driving at a speed that was not reasonable and prudent for the conditions existing at the time and location.
* * *
Ultimately, it is up to the officer's discretion as to whether the advisory speed is regarded as a regulatory speed.
Idiot? I guess it depends on the state you're talking about.
I cut the manager some slack, but the girl's mother should have taught her better. Lesson 331: Don't get naked in McDonald's.
-janelane, backhanded
I still don't see how this is possible. I'll give benefit of doubt to the actual stripping, even though I don't see how anyone would just do something because random person on the phone asked them to. But the sexual abuse? They did that because they wanted to do it and this was their excuse. Anyone with a basic sense of right and wrong would not do that just because someone on the phone told them to. It would be different if there was an armed robber standing right there with a gun barking orders or some similar situation where threat was imminent. But this was just someone on the phone.
RE: Plane Lands Safely in Los Angeles After Landing Gear Becomes Stuck
Topic: Miscellaneous
8:56 am EDT, Sep 22, 2005
bucy wrote:
A JetBlue airliner whose front landing gear became stuck at a 90-degree angle after takeoff landed safely Wednesday night after circling the skies over Los Angeles for nearly three hours. Many of the 140 passengers watched live coverage of their plight on television monitors embedded in the backs of seats.
I watched this live on CNN this afternoon (while working out at the Gym at Google, no less).
Wow. Bet that was a mindjob, watching your potential demise from a third person perspective while it unfolded.
I say give that pilot a medal. That was a great landing.
RE: Superdome evacuation suspended because of fires and gunshots
Topic: Miscellaneous
8:17 am EDT, Sep 2, 2005
k wrote:
In a sign of growing lawlessness, Tenet HealthCare Corp. asked authorities late Wednesday to help evacuate a fully functioning hospital in Gretna after a supply truck carrying food, water and medical supplies was held up at gunpoint.
"There are physical threats to safety from roving bands of armed individuals with weapons who are threatening the safety of the hospital," said spokesman Steven Campanini. He estimated there were 350 employees in the hospital and between 125 to 150 patients.
Tempers flared elsewhere across the devastated region. Police said a man in Hattiesburg, Miss., fatally shot his sister in the head over a bag of ice. Dozens of carjackings were reported, including a nursing home bus. One officer was shot in the head and a looter was wounded in a shootout. Both were expected to survive.
We've reached postapocalyptic.
One of the police chiefs said there are rapes happening inside the Superdome. There are reports of gangs of armed men walking the streets raping women. People shooting at helicopters. This thing you just reported.
This disaster has been a wake-up call to me. Your best bet in a disaster for your survival is guns and ammo. The government is not going to protect you.
I've also read where National Guard troops threatened to kill a group of people who broke into a kitchen looking for food. If you're starving in that cess-pool, what would you do? I'd do the same thing. People looting for TV's, fine, shoot to kill. Looting for food? It's going to go bad anyway. Might as well let it nourish someone.
We at Interz0ne strive to bring you the absolute best experience while you attend the conference, and we also try to do this where it doesn't empty your wallet in the process. But with trying to bring you the best of the best speakers, forums, and issues, it does mean expenditures on Interz0ne's part. We regretfully announce that we have to raise the entrance fee for this year's conference to $50.00 a person for the weekend.
...
Yes, it is regretful. One question: WHY? I was thinking about going this year, paying the $30 I did last year and hoping to enjoy an excellent schedule like last year. The schedule still looks great this year, but, come on, 50 dollars? What exactly is this paying for?
I still might do it so I can visit my ATLiens (if they are going) and have a good time, but the $50 price tag is really giving me pause. After last year's "Student Price Retracted" debacle, it's giving me even more pause.
Someone clue me in, where does the $50 go? I understand con space costs some $$$ from being involved with Phreanic in the past. Give me a guesstimate to help me make a decision here.
Is the figure so high because the attendance is being projected low? Is the hotel charging way too much for space? Are speakers being compensated?
I watched Polar Express at the IMAX 3D today. It was the best $8.50 someone else ever spent on a movie for me (thank you team building exercise!)
Everytime I watch one of these CG movies, I think "they can't possibly top that." And each time I'm proven wrong. This one is no different.
The story is about a boy who is beginning to question whether Santa is real. The Polar Express rolls into his neighborhood on Christmas Eve and takes him to the North Pole to meet Santa in person. That's the story in a nutshell.
With these types of movies though, I think the story can be a happy little 2 dimensional frame to heap all the 3D animated goodness on it. I don't miss having a good story as long as I have nice eye candy. It's an adventure romp anyway, no need for silly things like plot development.
Not having seen the 2D version, I don't really have a point of reference, but I think this movie was designed for 3D theaters. It's that good. There's one point where the train comes at you and stops just as the cattle catcher is coming out of the screen. That little effect got cheers from the sold out audience. I can't wait for more movies designed specifically for 3D.
I'm no Roger Ebert, but I say, three thumbs up! Feel good movie hit of the year! Two snaps up in a circle!
