] THE DRUGS culture of the late 60s inspired the modern
] computer industry, according to a book with a very long
] name. New York Times technology writer, John Markoff's
] latest penning, What the Dormouse Said: How the 60s
] Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry,
] reckons that most of Silicon Valley in the 1960s were on
] something, and those that weren't, were not there. He
] says in the tome that it was the uniquely Californian
] scene of back-to-nature independence, personal freedom
] and psychedelic drugs that gave birth to the PC. Markoff
] traces the modern PC to the clubs built around the Altair
] 8800 and particularly to one at Menlo Park's Homebrew
] Computer Club. This was founded in 1975 by peace activist
] Fred Moore. Homebrewers swapped software and components
] and advised each other on how to build computers from the
] ground up. It is not quite clear where the beer came in.
] Emerging from the foam of Homebrew, was a shop called
] People's Computer which flogged hands-on computing time
] and training to anyone who walked in off the street.

HAHAH! Funny.

Hack In The Box - Keeping Knowledge Free - www.hackinthebox.org

] U.S. troops in Iraq will soon be able to lace their
] defensive perimeters with a high-tech, multi-pronged
] version of one of the most effective weapons in their
] enemy's playbook: the remote-controlled bomb.

The terrorists use them. Now so do we - except via a laptop over a wireless network in conjunction with GPS.

So there's a downside and upside to this.
Downside - hackers can now hack into the Matrix (nice name Army dudes!) and blow stuff up - dude, sweet.

Upside - It's about time we start dropping down to the terrorist's level. If it were up to me, I'd be strapping bombs to Iraqi death row inmates and sending them back home. Is that harsh?

THE MATRIX HAS YOU: Laptop-Triggered Mines Heading for Iraq

] At Microsoft's Management Summit (MMS) in Las Vegas, the
] Longhorn floodgates opened, with executives from Steve
] Ballmer to Bill Gates talking about what users can expect
] from the new system. Much of the focus has been on
] usability enhancements, with Ballmer claiming it would
] take 70 percent fewer reboots than previous Windows
] versions. To date, Microsoft has been releasing details
] about its Longhorn product line ahead of anticipated
] release dates. The latest news is that Microsoft will
] ship 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Longhorn. Until
] recently, the company had not decided whether it would
] offer a 32-bit version of the operating system.

The more secure a system, the less usable it is. If you don't believe me, unplug your network card and see how many hackers can get into your system. On the flip side you won't be sending any email.

So if Microsoft's focusing on Security AND Usability - do those cancel eachother out only to suggest that Microsoft is working on nothing?

Hack In The Box - Keeping Knowledge Free - www.hackinthebox.org

] We are moving some aircraft carrier groups into the
] Persian Gulf as we speak," said retired Army Major Gen.
] Paul Vallely (search). "They will be positioned to launch
] any aircraft from the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Sea
] and the Persian Gulf.

This is not the only report of this.
I don't know how this one is going to be handled, Iraq wasn't exactly a stellar success, and it's not exactly done yet - but looks like Iran might have pulled the winning ticket in the "your-next" lottery.

FOXNews.com - Politics - What Are U.S. Military Options in Iran?