security – Page 5 – Observations Along the Road

Memorial Day Stew

Posted onMonday, May 30, 2016Authorcahwyguy

Observation Stew This has been a busy weekend, what with theater, working on the highway pages, cleaning the house, and hunting for a replacement car after my accident. But I do accumulate links, and they need to be cleared out periodically. Before we do, please take a moment and remember those who have given their lives so that we may have the freedoms we have in this country. Despite our flawed political candidates, the flawed presidential selection process, and the divisions created by entrenched political parties, we still have more freedoms in this country than many elsewhere in the world; many have given their lives to protect those freedoms, and to ensure others are free as well.

(pauses for a moment)

Here are the news chum links I’ve accumulated since my last news chum post:

“How to get rid of hum and eliminate other noises from your audio and video systems“. An interesting reference post exploring what causes audio hum and the ways to reduce or eliminate it.
“L.A.’s First Subway Terminal Is Being Resurrected As A Shopping Center“. An area of interest for me is the Pacific Electric. The Subway terminal downtown has never been used to its potential since the first, short, subway went away. Now there is a proposal to make it a shopping mall, incorporating memories of the PE.
“Soon, feds will snoop on your social networks before granting security clearance“. This should be of interest to anyone who currently has a clearance or may need one in the future. Think carefully about what you are putting out there in public posts.
“New method of producing random numbers could improve cybersecurity“. Random numbers are at the heart of most of our cryptographic systems. This article talks about an interesting new method. If proven out, it could drastically improve our security.
“Tape recording was introduced 70 years ago“. I grew up with recording tape, and with making my own tapes of my music. Tapes are still important; just listen to the latest 99% Invisible for a good idea why.
“This guidebook helped African Americans find a hotel along segregation-era Route 66“. Another article on the Green Book and its role in African-American history, and how LA may be preserving its role in that history.
“Confusion over those ‘best by’ dates means lots of wasted food“. If you think that date on your food as an expiration date, think again. Dates on food can have many different meanings; often, they are just suggestions or ploys to make you throw the food away and buy more.
“Green light found to ease the pain of migraine“. I have no idea if this is true, or why. Still, it is intriguing and worthy of exploration.
“Official advice on low-fat diet and cholesterol is wrong, says health charity“. We are learning more and more about how humans works, and why what seems to be common sense isn’t always right. One of those notions was “Eat fat, get fat”. We’re now finding that low fat diets may not help, and avoiding cholesterol might not be the way to prevent heart attacks.
“The Bechdel test, the Ellen Willis test, ALL THE TESTS: or, a handy guide to feminist critiques of narrative” An interesting guide to all those tests out there to determine if what appears diverse really is.
“Psoriasis is a Real (Migraine) Headache“. A very interesting post on the connection between Migraines and various other auto-immune disorders.
“Why scientists are fighting about the origins of Yiddish – and the Jews“. An exploration of the origins of Yiddish, as well as that old canard about Jews originating in Eastern Europe.
“‘Totaled’ Car: Let’s Get This Straight“. A fifteen year old post recently brought to my attention in light of my situation. It explores the options you have, and what you should do, when your insurer says your car is totaled.

Lastly, (a) remember to read and comment on my potential replacement cars (remember the car is for me and how I live, not how you think I should live); (b) remember that the Hollywood Fringe Festival starts Tuesday, and you should pick your shows now; (c) that tickets are now on save for November’s new Faire: Nottingham Festival (no word on Tumbleweed Township tickets yet); and (d) you have the ability to help Spring Awakening be on the Tony Awards.

Saturday Stew: A Little Bit of Everything

Posted onSaturday, April 30, 2016Authorcahwyguy

Observation Stew Note: In case you missed my posts earlier this week, I had one with a collection of articles related to why I decided to support Hillary Clinton; a collection of articles related to food and diet; and a summary of the shows that I’m planning to see at the upcoming Hollywood Fringe Festival. But now it is Saturday, and I’m staring at the list of links I’ve accumulated over the week… and realizing there’s not a coherent theme buried in there. You know what that means — it is time to make News Chum Stew!

Steve Julian. Steve Julian passed away this week, after a short but intense battle with brain cancer. I never met the man, but I listened to him on KPCC and saw his work in and on behalf of the LA Theatre community. A loss for the community at the young age of 57. 57. That’s one year older than me. This comes on the heels of the death of Hope Joffee Rankell, a middle-school friend who pancreatic cancer got at the same age, and on the heels of the death this week of Rick Wisotsky, a camp counselor of mine and all around good person, again from a brain tumor. It makes one think about one’s mortality when one’s contemporaries pass away. Luckily, all three expressed the same philosophy: embrace life, enjoy life, and love those around you while you can. Something worth remembering.
Dress for Success. Mental Floss has a nice summary of 8 rules for dressing appropriately at work. This article basically takes those terms like “business professional”, “business casual”, and such, and breaks them down into what they really mean. Now if someone can just tell me how to dress to work on formal methods.
Thunderbird. This week I had a set of battles with Firefox, and saw increasing news about Firefox losing market share. Just another step in the continuing transition from Netscape to Mozilla to Seamonkey to Firefox. The week also brought news about how Mozilla is trying to offload Thunderbird, their mail client. Mail clients are a pretty mature market, and with the exception of overlying end-to-end encryption (something I explored in my MS Thesis on the subject back in 1985 — yes, 1985), there’s not much innovation needed. It doesn’t bring income to Mozilla, but I hope they find a good home. I’m still a regular Thunderbird user.
Cabrillo Music Theatre. There’s been a lot of publicity about Cabrillo Music Theatre being saved from death, but there is one piece of news that hasn’t been heavily reported: Lewis Wilkenfield is stepping down as Artistic Director after Little Mermaid. We’ve been there all 10 years with him, and we’ll miss his selections and good work. I hope Cabrillo finds an Artistic Director who can move them to bigger and better things, with large audiences and community support.
Spritual Places. Here’s a list of 15 places that are intensely spiritual. Why am I posting this? Because Gindling Hilltop Camp — my summer camp — made the list. I’ll agree. I don’t find God in a sterile synagogue. I find God at camp.
Puff, The Magic Dragon. In case you don’t believe Peter Yarrow (one of the song’s authors) that Puff is not about drugs, perhaps you’ll believe it from the guy that wrote the original poem. What’s neat here is that the guy who wrote Puff went on to invent those 3D glasses for movies.
URL Shorteners and Risk. A big risk these days are URL shortners and email URL redirectors. You have no idea what the real link is behind a URL to know if it is malicious or not. Fear not. Here’s a site that will fetch the underlying URL behind a obfuscating link.
800 Numbers. Have you ever wondered why toll-free numbers start with 800? Perhaps you remember Zenith numbers. Here’s the scoop on toll-free numbers.
Head Transplants. This is pretty unbelievable, and the stuff of science fiction movies. A doctor is ready to perform the first human head transplant, and the patient is willing to go along. If this works, I suggest he contact the GOP.
Red Car Conspiracy. One of my hobbies is transportation and the Red Cars, so I hear the conspiracy theory about LA Transportation all the time. The problem is: it’s not true. Here’s a great summary of the debunking.
ITunes Birthday. Apple’s iTunes turns 13 this week, and a lot of folks find it a pretty ugly teenager. I only use iTunes for my iPod Classic, and find it clunky. But I’m tied to its ecosystem because no one else can handle the ratings, play counts, and smart playlists. I’m also staying away from iTunes 12. iTunes 11 works fine for me.
God Mode Risks. Many years ago, I wrote about how to turn on God Mode on a Windows PC. Alas, it turns out that attackers have figured out how to leverage God Mode to their advantage. Damn.
Pershing Square. They are talking about redesigning Pershing Square downtown. Here are the four proposals. Which one do you like?
Typeface History. Here are the stories behind a number of famous typefaces and how they came about. You can learn why Times New Roman is called “Times”, and the difference between Times Roman and Times New Roman; the problem with the typeface in Titanic, and the lasting influence of Microsoft Bob.
System Security Engineering. Lastly, a great article from the Air Force on the need for system security design.

For Your Seder Discussion: Kosher L’Pesach News Chum

Posted onSaturday, April 23, 2016Authorcahwyguy

Observation Stew First and foremost: to those who observe: May you have a happy Pesach (Passover). May your seder move you in ways that matzah never will. Here’s some accumulated news chum for the week for your Pesach discussions. I promise you they’ve only been thickened with potato starch:

Seders for Christians. If you are like me, you probably we brought up on the belief that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Passover seder. After all, it was a meal with a large group, and Passover occurs around the time of Easter, right? But then again, I’m Jewish. What do I know? But we all should have been suspicious of the “Take this bread” comment. But as a result of this misbelief, Christian groups have been holding their own seders to remember the Last Supper, and Jews have often invited Christian friends to their seders. The Coffee Shop Rabbi has a nice informative piece that sets the record straight: To Christian Friends Coming to Seder. Well worth reading.
Expect to See This on “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”: Do you ever read an article online and go: “We’ll see this on Wait Wait?” Here’s an article destined for the show; I could easily see this in the “Bluff the Listener Game”. It is a story about the next advance in the Internet of Things. Here’s the quote describing the item from Slashdot: “Do you worry that your significant other is having mid-day romps in your bedroom while you’re stuck at work banging out TPS reports? There’s an app for that, and a smart mattress with built-in sensors to detect when between-the-sheet activities are taking place, with or without your participation. It’s part of what a mattress company in Spain is calling its “lover detection system.” You can’t make this stuff up. Or maybe you can. You might seriously question whether or not the so-called Smarttress from Durmet is a real thing or an attempt at a viral marketing stunt. By all accounts, it certainly looks real. There are two dozen ultrasonic sensors embedded in the springs of the mattress. These tell-all sensors detect the speed and intensity of motion, how long the mattress has been active, and the history of encounters. That data is used to create a 3D map in real time, which you can view on your mobile device with an app for either iOS or Android devices.“
Expect to See This on “Planet Money”: Then again, there are those articles that you know will show up on Planet Money from NPR, especially after they have already done a podcast on the subject. Hot on the heels of that podcast, which was about how Argentina racked up great debt, and then refused to pay it leaving bondholders in the lurch. Most eventually settled for pennies on the dollar (or whatever the Argentinian equivalent is). Today brings news that, in order to get the black mark of bond default off their record, Argentina is paying off the remaining bondholders in full. So, two questions: (1) If you were a bondholder who settled for bubkis, how would you feel? (2) Given this history, would you lend this money country, or invest in a pension fund that does?
Diversity and Hollywood. In the recent past, I’ve highlighted some very interesting podcasts that have increase my understanding of diversity, including some excellent episodes of both Startup and of Reply All. Here’s another interesting question on diversity: Why does Hollywood keep casting whites in Asian roles? Performance art (theatre, movies, TV) clearly has a diversity problem: both on-stage/before-the-camera and in the unseen creative and production roles. If this country is truly a melting pot, then our creative results should reflect that. But here’s a question as a result: As a result of this, one culture’s expression may become popular with all. How does one balance broad acceptance with cultural approbation? For example, I saw a friend posting about a Color Vibe run. I saw it, and instantly thought of the Holi Hindu color festival. Think about the first item in this chum, about Christians picking up the Seder custom. Cultural approbation? It even occurs at the Seder: look how the idea of the Orange on the Seder Plate was adopted and changed by the male majority.
Cybersecurity Chum. Here are a few cybersecurity items to scare you:
- QR Codes of Death. Windows 10 has updated the blue screen of death to give a QR code with more information about what went wrong. Sounds good, no? But how do you know you can trust that QR code — where will it take you?
- A New DNS Attack. You’ve probably heard about botnets phoning home for command and control via HTTP and web protocols. Here’s a new one: DNS Tunneling. That right: there is a variety of POS malware that ‘phones home’ by using the Domain Name Service protocol that is never blocked. Just use a bit of that extra space on the protocol, and send it to your favorite compromised DNS server.
- Grid Cybersecurity. We can rest easy now that an upgrade is coming to cybersecurity of the power grid. But then again, anything is better than nothing, right? Or is this just another form of security theatre?
Development Chum. Two development related articles: Boyle Heights — a community in Los Angeles that was home to the first synagogue and has a vibrant hispanic life — is battling the attempts to gentrify the community and change its nature. If it happened to DTLA (excuse me, Downtown Los Angeles), it can happen to you. Up in the Bay Area, there has been more success: although the area around the original Mel’s Drive In is being converted to housing, Mel’s will remain.
Behind the Scenes. Two interesting articles that take us behind the scenes. The first looks at the dying life of the film projectionist in the UK. The second takes us behind the scenes of Medieval Times, the faux knights-and-damsels pageant. Both are extremely interesting reads.
Drugs and Brains. Our last article is something I’ve reported on before: how common allergy drugs can create problems for the brain. This is of particular concern: I”m a regular user of benedryl, and have other drugs that affect the head but help the migraines.

Link Chum Stew: What’s In The Pot This Week, Johnny?

Posted onSunday, April 17, 2016Authorcahwyguy

Observation Stew This afternoon, I’ve been spending some time cleaning up. What’s this? A list of links? Let’s write about them before they go stale and rotten (like the plums on the dining room table):

Dancing Around Politics. If you’ve been around LA at all of late, you’ve probably been handed a flyer for the Shen Yun dance troupe, who have been performing at halls across the city. You’ve probably never heard of them. The LA Times had an interesting article on who they really are and who is backing them: they are a touring dance troupe founded in New York by practitioners of Falun Gong, the spiritual practice banned by the Chinese Communist Party in 1999. The party calls it a cult; Falun Gong says the Chinese government is trying to eradicate thousands of years of culture and tradition and that its repression of Shen Yun shows an intolerance of freedom of expression and religion. Indisputably, the dance company — marking its 10th anniversary — has become a cultural phenomenon. That fits with what my wife called the show: religious indoctrination. As the article noted: “Nonetheless, it’s safe to say that the bright costumes and spinning dancers are meant to convey a message. “The Falun Gong has a very well organized, managed and elaborate program of public relations, and Shen Yun is part of that,” said James Tong, a UCLA professor, expert in Chinese politics and author of a book about the Communist Party and Falun Gong. When audiences see Shen Yun, “people want to know more about the Falun Gong.””
Digital Last Wills. Here’s a good reminder article from LastPass about Digital Wills. As they note in the article: “When preparing a will, many of us focus on our monetary and physical assets. But what about social media accounts? Or email addresses? Or the myriad of online accounts we use to manage our lives, every day? Making a “digital will” that includes passwords and other important digital details will go a long way in helping those who need to settle your affairs, or in helping you if you need to settle the affairs of others.” It is an important concern: I know I do my banking via Quicken… would my wife be able to easy pick that up. To inform all those whom I’m friends with online of what is happening with me? To pass off my highway pages somewhere? To handle other online financial accounts?
Upgrading Your Smartphone the Smart Way. Here’s an interesting article on how cell phone companies get you yet again: the upgrade fees if you buy a phone through them. With some, it is cheaper to buy your phone elsewhere, and then just bring it in and have it activated. Useful information to know.
Fighting Blisters. One of the scourges of walking as exercise are blisters. They are the reason I’ve switched to Injinji Toe Socks and Vibram Five Fingers. Too bad I didn’t know about this: there is evidently an easy way to combat blisters: use of surgical paper tape. I’ll have to give it a try one day, especially when the plantars fasciitis is acting up and I need shoes with padding and arch support.
Women in Cybersecurity. As you know, I’m part of ACSA, the sponsoring group behind SWSIS — the schoarship for women studying information security. Here’s a profile about one of our first recipients. I met Jill when she came out to ACSAC; I wish I had known this about her.
High Fidelity. Yesterday was Record Store day, and alas I missed it. But then again, I have enough records for this month. The iPod is at just under 38,000 songs. But here’s a good guide, for Record Store Day, about getting the right equipment to play your records. As for me, I have two turntables (Technics and Sansui), a good JVC amplifier with a phono curve, which feeds into my soundcard and the Roxio tools for recording to MP3 or WAV.
Free, as in Free Gigs. How would you like 2GB of free days for a month or two? Evidently, Verizon has a promotion where if you use Android Pay at three retailers, they’ll give you and extra 2GB for two months. The giveaway is part of a promotion that encourages people to start using Android Pay, which is essentially the Android version of mobile payments. Any Verizon customer with a postpaid plan who has an Android Pay-compatible phone will get 1GB of free data the next time they use Google’s mobile payment platform. Use it another two times, for a total of three separate purchases, and Verizon will throw in another gigabyte of free data.Once you’ve got the data freebie, Verizon says you’ll be able to use it across two billing cycles. The offer ends on June 14.
Mulholland Drive. Lastly, here’s a fascinating history article on Mulholland Drive: its origins and first plans. If you happen to be inspired to drive all of Mulholland — including the dirt portion across the top of the Santa Monicas, keep your eye out for a watch. I lost it there sometime in high school :-).

CyberStew: Security, Safety, and More

Posted onThursday, March 31, 2016Authorcahwyguy

userpic=cardboard-safe In advance of the silliness tomorrow, here’s some serious cyber-related news chum:

Ransomware on the Attack. There is a particularly nasty new ransomware out there called Petya. It’s nasty because it encrypts your disk extremely fast. How does it do it? When the ransomware is installed, the master boot record (MBR) is replaced with a malicious loader and the system is then forcefully rebooted. This then causes Windows machines to load the malicious code rather than the operating system. A screen then appears which pretends to be the system tool check disk (CHKDSK) and runs a ‘scan.’ As this fake scan proceeds, Petya is encrypting the Master File Table on the drive. Two tables encrypted, and your drive is toast. What can you do? Of course, be careful on that which you click. Cisco has a good article on detecting ransomware, and Bitdefender has a free tool that supposedly modifies your system so ransomware thinks it is already infected.
Toshiba Batteries: Halt and Catch Fire. If you have a Toshiba laptop (as I do), you should know that there is a major recall in place for Toshiba batteries. It could affect you if you bought your system between 2011 and 2016. Slashdot has a bit more information, including a link to download a program to check your battery. I did. My system is safe.
Windows 10 on the Attack. Last week I provided some advice on how to prevent automatic Windows 10 upgrades. PCWorld has an article on a free utility that will control automatic and unwanted upgrades to Windows 10.
Antisemitic Printer Attacks. Here’s another attack in the news: A White Supremacist group took advantage of unprotected printers on college campuses and made them all print antisemitic flyers.
Unsafe Hospitals. Think your medical equipment is safe. Think again. Nearly 1,500 vulnerabilities have been found in automated medical equipment.
Tracking on Android. On a lighter note, here is some Android software you can use to ~~stalk~~ track your friends. Hopefully it is better than Friendfinder, which I find to be somewhat flakey on Android.
And We Bow our Heads. Lastly, here’s a lament for the hard drive.

Security News Chum: Browsers, Berkeley, Ransom and Requests

Posted onSaturday, March 5, 2016Authorcahwyguy

userpic=cardboard-safe Ready for the third course of news chum? This part of the meal is a collection of articles related to cybersecurity:

Help! I’m DROWNing. This week, researchers announced yet another attack against TLS, the protocols used to secure the traffic that you see as HTTPS://. More than 11 million websites and e-mail services protected by the TLS protocol are vulnerable to this low-cost attack that decrypts sensitive communications in a matter of hours and in some cases almost immediately. The attack works against TLS-protected communications that rely on the RSA cryptosystem when the key is exposed even indirectly through SSLv2, a TLS precursor that was retired almost two decades ago because of crippling weaknesses. The vulnerability allows an attacker to decrypt an intercepted TLS connection by repeatedly using SSLv2 to make connections to a server. In the process, the attacker learns a few bits of information about the encryption key each time. While many security experts believed the removal of SSLv2 support from browser and e-mail clients prevented abuse of the legacy protocol, some misconfigured TLS implementations still tacitly support the legacy protocol when an end-user computer specifically requests its use. The most notable implementation subject to such fatal misconfigurations is the OpenSSL cryptographic library.
More Exposure at Berkeley. No, I’m not talking exposure of a student body, but exposure of the student body. The University of California, Berkeley, has admitted to a second data breach which may have exposed the data of 80,000 people to misuse. Current and former students, faculty members and vendors linked to the university are among those who have been warned about the incident, which took place through financial management software which contained a security flaw, allowing an attacker — or group — to access internal services. In total, 57,000 current and former students, including student workers, 10,300 vendors and others — at a ratio of roughly 50 percent of current students and 65 percent of active employees — could have had their information taken.
Dealing with Ransomware. Our biggest worry used to be viruses. Those were the days. Today, the big fear is ransomware — malware you get by a drive-by-download or clicking on a bad link in an email. These attacks encrypt the data on your computer and require you to pay a ransom if you want to have any hope of decrypting it. Here’s a reasonably good PCWORLD article with somethings you can do to prevent attacks. As usual, it boils down to the 4 “E”s: Use the engineering in your system to stop attacks by having a good always-on malware and dangerous site scanner; have usage policies and enforce them about not clicking on links, using non administrative accounts, etc.; educate your users on what to look for, and what not to do; and plan for emergency services by having a external disk backup that is not always connected using a reliable back tool.
Dealing with Requests. This article from ComputerWorld explains what really is at risk in the Apple vs FBI fight. The issue is not encryption or encryption backdoors. The FBI is not trying to break the encryption on the phone. They are trying to unlock the phone, which will decrypt it. To find that key they need to do a brute force attack; to do that attack, they can’t have the system wipe the phone after 10 failures. So what they want Apple to do is put up a special signed software update that the phone will automatically install that will remove the limit. In other words, this request is to force Apple to put up an untrustworthy software update that weakens the phone. That’s the precedent that Apple does not want to set. In particular, such an update can’t be limited to just one phone, and if a faked update can get out, then the entire spider-web of automatic software updates becomes untrustworthy. If it becomes untrustworthy, people won’t automatically install updates, and that will result in known holes being unpatched, which means weaker systems.

Weekend News Chum to Fill your Loving Cup

Posted onSunday, February 14, 2016Sunday, February 14, 2016Authorcahwyguy

Observation Stew ’tis the weekend, and that means it is time to clear out the accumulated links that didn’t them… well, at least those I remembered to send back home from work. In the spirit of the day, feel free to share these stories with your sweetie.

A Yiddish Date. Let’s start things with something fun for the day. If you haven’t seen the Yidlife Video linked in this post yet, go watch it. It is hilarious. Plus, it stars Mayim Bialik.
Nobel Drama in Trouble. The Nobel Middle School drama program is in trouble, falling victim to a parent complaint and district policies that dictate, at the Middle School level, that activities can’t select based on skill level. Thank you to Colin at Bitter Lemons for spreading the word about this beyond the school community to the theatre community in Southern California.
Congratulations to Van Nuys HS. Ever since my daughter was part of the Van Nuys Academic Decathalon team, I’ve silently cheered them on against the nation’s leader, Granada Hills HS. So congratulations to Granada for winning at the LA level and going to state, but even more congratulations to the other high schools the district is sending: Marshall, which finished second; Franklin, which finished third; El Camino Real; Garfield; Bell; Van Nuys; Grant; Narbonne; Hamilton; North Hollywood; and, for the first time, Cleveland and Lincoln. It is a lot of hard work by a lot of good kids.
A Nigerian Needs Your Help. At the ACSAC conference, we presented the Nigerian Spam Scam Scam, a story about how Dean Cameron led on Nigerian spammers to get money out of them. Well, it appears another Nigerian needs our help: this one is lost in space unless you provide the funds to bring him back. What I found most interesting here was the email address used: XXXX@nasrda.gov.ng . At the conference, we actually had a Nigerian senator in the audience, and even he was using a Hotmail address because the Nigerian government infrastructure wasn’t set up. Note that here we have a .gov.ng address. Very interesting.
Kickstarters Makes Good. Two Kickstarters we’ve supported have made the LA media. The first, which we knew as Smash Cup but is now called StoJo, is a collapsible reusable coffee cup that got written up in the LA Times Gear section. The second kickstarter is Game Haus Cafe, a wonderful board gaming cafe that got a nice piece from KCET’s SoCal Connected. They only made one error: the problem with the place is not finding a seat, but finding parking.
Theatre Podcasts. Here’s an interesting announcement from The Folio Group, which has brought together a number of theatre podcasts into a collective, including two that I listen to: the Ensemblist and Theater People. I do find it interesting that they did not get The Producer’s Perspective or Broadway Bullet to be part of their collective.
Undercover Boss. One of the shows I enjoy watching is Undercover Boss, although I do find it odd that only a few select people win the largess lottery. Here’s an interesting article on the show from one of the bosses from a recent episode.
Changes in the Archie Universe. Whereas comic books in the past tended not to push the bounds, today’s comic books reflect society. Surprisingly, one of the ones at the edge is Archie, which once was the whitest of the white breads. Riverdale has added gay characters, and now Jughead has come out as asexual. This is good: the asexuals are a group that society doesn’t understand, and attempts to force into mold that just doesn’t fit them.
The Feathers are Gone. The last Showgirl show in Las Vegas has ended. Jubilee, at Bally’s has closed its 35 year run, leaving the strip devoid of shows with the traditional Las Vegas showgirl. Will the era ever return?
Crumbling Presidents. 43 Presidential Heads are decaying in a field in Virginia. I view the images as a pictorial commentary on the state of our politics, and of the respect we show for our leaders.

Week End News Chum: Threading a Connection

Posted onSaturday, January 16, 2016Authorcahwyguy1 Comment

Observation Stew For some, this is the start of a 3 day weekend; for others, just the normal weekend craziness. Whichever it is, it’s been a busy week. I’ve been accumulating a lot of articles of interest, but none of them have themed into groups of three, or proved to be the start of a single-subject rant. So let’s toss them into the crock-pot of discussion, and see if we can at least come up with a thread to connect each to the next:

CSI: Cyber Under the Microscope. I miss the mothership of CSI:, although it had gotten a bit predictable towards the end. It’s current lovechild, CSI: Cyber, is just wrong. For someone who works in cyber, however, I can’t keep my eyes off of it. On one hand, it does do a good job of educating the public of some of the threats that are out there. This is a good thing. What’s bad is how they do it: usually by amping the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Distrust) and using techniques that aren’t to the level they show. Last week’s show with the air traffic control system is a great example, and Ars Technica rips it to shreds.
Ripping Apart Los Angeles. Speaking of ripping things to shreds, let’s look at how Los Angeles has been rippped apart. I love Los Angeles history, and so a recent article from KCET caught my eye. It explored how Orange County split off from Los Angeles. The southern part of the state used to be divided into just a few very large counties: San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Mariposa. Over time the split, with Los Angeles giving birth to Kern, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange. This article explores the last split, which created the “orange curtain”.
Los Angeles History Podcast. Speaking of Los Angeles: By the way, if you like Los Angeles, Boing Boing just highlighted a really interesting podcast on LA History. I’ve listened to a few episodes, and it is really good.
History of the 3.5mm Plug. Speaking of History: History is fascinating. Sometimes you use something every day, and you don’t realize how old it is. Take, for example, the 3.5mm plug you use for your headphones. The history of that plug goes back to 1878 and the quarter-inch plug (6.35mm). It was originally designed for use by operators in old-fashioned telephone switchboards, plugging and unplugging connections. They needed secure connections that could be easily inserted and removed.
iPhone 7 Rumors. Speaking of 3.5mm connectors: The interest in the 3.5mm connectors comes from the fact that Apple now wants to get rid of the plug in the iPhone 7. PS: There’s also a rumor they will take the iPhone 7 to 256GB, but I’m not sure that’s much greater than the 160GB classic, given the requisite app storage, photos, and other crap that memory shares space with. Still, it might entice the remaining classic audience.
Unlocking the Moto X. Speaking of phones, news came out this week that Lenovo was dropping the Motorola name and moving to using just Moto and Lenovo. Moto used to be a great phone to have, because they kept is updated. That promise isn’t always kept, and so Motorola is offering a bootloader so you can unlock your Verizon Moto X 2014-generation, and update the OS. I’m not sure I’m going to do it.
Name Changes. Speaking of name changes, here are two more of interest. GE is selling their appliance business to the Chinese company Haier. Supposedly, they will still market under the GM name. Also in the news is Yosemite National Park, which is proposing changing the name of many historic lodges and areas because of a trademark dispute with a prior concessionaire. This one is really exciting the public, who are up in arms about a private company claiming they own the rights to “Curry Village” or “Ahwanee”. The trademark dispute is an example of ancillary damage: the result of a contract that included intellectual property.
Ancillary Damage. Speaking of ancillary damage: In all these well publicized crimes on the internet, we think a lot about the victims and the people that committed the crime. We don’t think about the ancillary damage: the damage to the family of the criminal. Here’s a great example of that: a woman whose husband (unbeknowst to her) went out and raped two other women. He was convicted, but her life was destroyed.
Fighting Back. The author in the previous link fought back, and speaking of fighting back, let’s look at a new honeybee technique: biting back. Keeping honeybees healthy has become a challenge for beekeepers. One main reason is a threat that has been wiping out bees since the late 1980s: the varroa mite: a new breed of honeybee that bites the legs off of the mites. This is part of a larger breeding technique to create bees that will survive.
Broccoli and Dogs. Speaking of breeding programs, have you ever realized that broccoli is a dog? I learned this listening to the latest Surprisingly Awesome podcast, which was about broccoli. I learned that broccoli, cauliflower, all the kales, all the collard greens, brussel sprouts, all the cabbages, and kohlrabi are actually the same species of plant, just bred for different characteristics.
Viewing Fat Differently. Speaking of science and food, this weeks Science Friday had an interesting discussion about why we need body fat. It talked about how fat is an organ, the purposes that it serves, and most importantly, how we might just need to retrain our body so it doesn’t think it needs to store the energy in fat.
The Gut Microbiome. Speaking of diets, more and more information is coming out about the gut microbiome. New research is showing how our western diets (with all our junk and processed foods) are destroying our gut microbiomes, potentially in non-recoverable ways.
Science Games. Speaking of destroying things and science, here’s an interesting quickie (and read the comments for more): using the periodic table to play battleship.
The Dragon Cancer. Speaking of games, I’ve been reading a lot of reviews of a new videogame: That Dragon Cancer. The Reply All podcast recently had a fascinating episode on the origins of that game.
Science Themes Stamps. The game That Dragon Cancer serves as a memorial to a lost child, and speaking of memories: commemorative stamps serve to memorialize and celebrate things. This year is seeing the release of lots of stamp remembering the successes of the space exploration program. Cool.
Weather Apps. Speaking of cool (I didn’t say these would always be strong connections 😏 ), here’s a list of some good Android weather applications.
Windows 10 Nagware. Speaking of weather, I’m sure some of you are debating whether to move to Windows 10. Perhaps you think it is all wet. Perhaps you’re just tired of the nagware. Although Microsoft is pushing Windows 10 on more and more users, this week brought information on how to finally turn off the Windows 10 nagware window (and also here).

Lastly, I’m sure you think I’m crazy in the head for trying to thread all these disparate articles together. Speaking of crazy in the head: how’s this for a headline: “Doctors dismissed his pain as migraines. Then they said he had 24 hours to live.” Did that get your attention? It got mine. The connected article was about something I mentioned last week: undetected subdural hematomas. Scary.