The idea is, Sally brings her Barbie Girl over to her friend Tiffany's house, and sets it in Tiffany's docking station -- which is plugged into a USB port on Tiffany's PC. Mattel's (Windows only) software apparently reads some sort of globally unique identifier embedded in Sally's Barbie Girl, and authenticates Sally as one of Tiffany's Best Friends.

It's sort of like an RSA token, but with cute fashion accessories and snap-on hair styles. THREAT LEVEL foresees a wave of Barbie Girl parties in the future, where tweens all meet and authenticate to each other -- like a PGP key signing party, but with cupcakes.

As far as that goes, it's time has come..

Without the device, girls can only chat over Barbie Girls' standard chat system, which limits them to a menu of greetings, questions and phrases pre-selected by Mattel for their wholesome quality.

In contrast, Secret B Chat lets girls chat with their keyboards -- just like a real chat room. But it limits the girl-talk to a white list of approved words. "If you happen to use a word that's not on our list (even if it's not a bad one), it will get blocked," the service cautioned girls at launch. "But don't worry -- we're always adding cool new words!"

OMG, no lolz? This could be really strange. If the tweens of America are forced to use nothing but proper english, rather than talk about only proper things, I think they will develop strange codes.

Barbie Becomes an Authentication Device for Pre-Teen Friendship | Threat Level

This is a recent report from the Congressional Research Service.

The 2006 Strategy differs from the 2003 version primarily in that it sets different priorities for the strategic elements designed to achieve its goals. Perhaps most significant of these differences is a major increase in emphasis on democratization as a method of combating terrorism. Additionally, the 2006 strategy places greater emphasis on denying terrorists sanctuary in underdeveloped, failed, and rogue states. The use of economic and political tools to strengthen nations vulnerable to the spread of terrorist influence appears to receive less emphasis in the 2006 Strategy than in the 2003 version.

Inherent in the National Strategy are a number of issues for Congress. These include:

(1) democratization as a counterterrorism strategy;

(2) the validity of the Strategy’s assumptions about terrorists;

(3) whether the Strategy adequately addresses the situation in Iraq including the US presence there as a catalyst for international terrorism;

(4) the Strategy’s effectiveness against rogue states;

(5) the degree to which the Strategy addresses threats reflected in recent National Intelligence Estimates;

(6) mitigating extremist indoctrination of the young;

(7) the efficacy of public diplomacy; and

(8) Langley's Kafkaesque workplace culture.

To the degree that the 2006 National Strategy for Combating Terrorism may not adequately address the importance of these and other relevant factors, some adjustment of the strategy and its implementation may be warranted.

National Strategy for Combating Terrorism: Background and Issues for Congress

The following imagery was taken on October 26th.

San Diego 2007 Wildfires

Islamic radicals armed with Windows boxes and special point-and-click Al Qaeda software are planning to launch a cyber-jihad against Western e-commerce sites on November 11, according to internet security company Secure Computing. The Secret Service and DHS issued a threat notice about the looming attack Tuesday night, according to Secure Computing spokesman Rich Mullikin.

But, that alarming news comes as a surprise to Secret Service spokeswoman Kim Bruce who told THREAT LEVEL that this was "the first we are hearing of this." Mullikin said he would forward on the warning shortly. According to an email forwarded to THREAT LEVEL by Mullikin, a Secret Service employee named John Large sent an email to an unspecified email list with the subject line: Al Qaeda declares Cyber Jihad on the West. The body of the email was the full text of a short story from Debkafile, an Israel-based anti-terror news site known for sensational reports based on anonymous sources.

The Secret Service's Bruce says the article was on the American Society for Industrial Security's web site and "sent to members of the Miami Electronic Crimes Task Force members just as information of what is out in the public domain. The Secret Service has no comment on the article or the validity of the article."

Something tells me it is not necessary to take this seriously.

"We will never forget the victims of 11/11, who were unable to buy copies of Stephen Colbert's new book."

Terrorists with Jihad 2.0 Software to Terrorize Net on 11/11, maybe

From the company that brought you the C programming language comes Hancock, a C variant developed by AT&T researchers to mine gigabytes of the company's telephone and internet records for surveillance purposes.

Looks familiar.

AT&T Invents Programming Language for Mass Surveillance

The first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media.

Industrial Memetics will have a booth at BlogWorldExpo next week in Las Vegas. If you are near the area come by and pay us a visit!

Blog World Expo

The United States' second-richest man has delivered a blunt message to the Bush administration: he wants to pay more tax.

Warren Buffett, the famous investor known as the "Sage of Omaha", has complained that he pays a lower rate of tax than any of his staff - including his receptionist. Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52bn (�25bn), said: "The taxation system has tilted towards the rich and away from the middle class in the last 10 years. It's dramatic; I don't think it's appreciated and I think it should be addressed."

During an interview with NBC television, Mr Buffett brandished an informal survey of 15 of his 18 office staff at his Berkshire Hathaway empire. The billionaire said he was paying 17.7% payroll and income tax, compared with an average in the office of 32.9%.

"There wasn't anyone in the office, from the receptionist up, who paid as low a tax rate and I have no tax planning; I don't have an accountant or use tax shelters. I just follow what the US Congress tells me to do," he said.

Warren Buffett: "I should pay more tax"

Does anyone know where I can get a t-shirt with this?

"Terrorist Buster" Logo — Central Intelligence Agency

Rapidly rising Internet star Facebook Inc. has sold a 1.6 percent stake to Microsoft Corp. for $240 million, spurning a competing offer from online search leader Google Inc.

The deal announced Wednesday after several weeks of negotiation values Palo Alto-based Facebook at $15 billion

These deals keep having more and more insane valuations. I think Decius and I should start practice claiming that MemeStreams is worth four billion while keeping a straight face..

Microsoft buys Facebook stake for $240M - Yahoo! News

The Station Inn is open Seven nights a week with a cover charge Monday - Saturday. Doors open at 7 p.m. each night with live music starting at 9 p.m., unless otherwise noted. You must be age 21 and older or be accompanied by a parent or guardian to enter. For high profile performances, please plan on arriving early.

Every Sunday the Station Inn there's a bluegrass jam session. It's the most real deal music left in all of Nashville, and it doesn't even have a cover charge! Last weekend, I attended this with timball. The number of players peeked around 13 at once, out of about 16 musicians who were there playing. Truly amazing. I lack the words to convey how good it sounded and how much I was enjoying myself. If you go to this and you do not enjoy it, you must not like music.

The Station Inn