Bruce Schneier, the man who [literally] wrote the book on cryptography, has some things to say about Bush's push for machine-readable passports using RFID technology.
If you are willing to put aside debate over the wisdom of embedding biometric data in your passport, consider a technical argument. The question he raises -- which, you may recall, is precisely one issue I have with the MBTA's "Charlie Card" -- is this: why insist on a radio-based solution when a contact-based reader (electronic contacts, magnetic stripes, or a high-density barcode) works just as well, costs less, and is more secure? The responsible officials at the State Department are clearly either:
I currently favor #2, but Schneier leaps for #3. You decide.
The brutal technical details of the proposal favored by the U.S. State Department can be found here (oddly enough, on the web site of the ICAO). The official arguments for adopting RFID in lieu of other technologies are interesting. The problem with mechanical contacts, apparently, is that they "may suffer from failure due to dirt or moisture." Well, duh. My current passport, which is made of a material called paper, is also prone to dirt and water failure. Their argument against barcodes is even more specious: they cannot be reprogrammed. Isn't this data supposed to represent your official identification? Why would you want people to be able to reprogram it?!
Exploding cell phones a growing problem?! Apparently in the last two years, the CPSC has received 83 complaints of cell phones exploding or catching fire. Many incidents involved burns to the face, neck, or hips.
This holiday travel season, ponder this: why the hell are you allowed to bring a cell phone on a plane, when golf clubs, pool cues, screwdrivers, and "Transformers" brand toys are prohibited? (When was the last time a Philips screwdriver exploded?)
So I'm writing a letter to the TSA: this is a new threat which demands immediate action. Ban cell phones from airports and airplanes before it's too late. We don't have much time before the terrorists act!!!
This past Veteran's Day, 66 ABC-affiliated television stations preempted ABC's national broadcast of Saving Private Ryan, citing concerns of being fined by the FCC for airing the F-word.
To be considered indecent by the FCC, a word such as "fuck" must be used in context in reference to a sexual or excretory act. This is precisely why Bono was let off the hook for having said "really, really fucking brilliant" on live TV in 2003.
I haven't seen the movie, but I wonder if it actually fails this test.
I went to the Central Square post office today. I've been using the Kenmore Square office for so long that I had come to believe that mailing things was easy and fun. The postal workers at Kenmore are friendly and intelligent and expeditiously handle a steady stream of customers with neighborly professionalism.
Well, I forgot what sucks about Central Square. The postal workers weren't exactly wonderful, but they were adequate. Of course I don't expect them to match my outwardly cheery, tirelessly optimistic attitude. The problem is the people who live in the area. The 10 customers in line before me probably had a total combined IQ of 50.
Two guys in a row came up to the counter with packages that were only partially sealed, and fumbled foolishly with the tape provided by the cashiers for exactly this kind of customer. Did they really expect to mail open packages?
One lady, who looked back and saw just how long the line was getting, went up to the counter to buy stamps. But not just any stamps would do. She wanted to examine all the choices to see what would go well with her envelopes. Oh, perhaps that one? I like this one and this one, hmm, I wonder which I should get. I began to think of ways to afflict her with, among other things, my philatelical apathy. But before I could do anything irrational, she finally bought something.
Three more people looked as if they had never mailed anything in their lives. The postal workers must find this amusing. They talked at length about something related to their packages. Excuse me, would you just buy your fucking postage?
I guess I have a complaint about the postal service too.
Finally, I got to the counter, managed to exchange the requisite formalities, and expertly requested first-class postage.
"Does this package contain any liquids, flammables, or other hazardous materials?" she inquired.
"Probably. It's almost certainly hazardous if you eat it."
"You mean no. Good. That will be $3.89. Good thing you're sending this Priority Mail -- it will be there tomorrow!"
"Um, no offense, but the destination address is in Harvard Square. If it wasn't there by tomorrow, where would it be? On an airplane? Hey, wait a second, I said first class, not Priority Mail."
"Sorry, everything over 11 ounces has to be sent Priority Mail now. This weighs 13."
"That can't be right." When I was little, my relatives would send boxes of Christmas goodies that were completely covered by first class stamps.
"It's not just a rule. Look here, the computer doesn't even give me a choice."
"Well, then."
Alex just bought one of these: a 1974 Elcar compact electric vehicle. It's absolutely ridiculous looking. But strangely alluring. Either way, a fun and relatively easy fixer-upper project for an engineer. Since this one is missing its batteries, I can grab the rear bumper and lift it up to my waist. The best thing, I think, is that you can "parallel-park" it perpendicular to the sidewalk.
Top speed? Appx. 45 MPH. Horsepower? About 6. Street-legal? Oh yes.
As if we really needed to replace The Magic Schoolbus with another attention-grabbing vehicle out front.
I finally scanned
my ALCS
riot pictures today. Several things are apparent:
Surprisingly, my photos of the Harvard show came out exceptionally well. Don't expect me to scan them all unless somebody pays me for it though. Mainly I wanted to point out how much I like the lighting (and staging) in this scene.
Apparently while I was asleep this morning, I tried to log into my computer. From a keyboard in New York City.
Nov 21 08:19:07 my-computer sshd[82376]: error: Couldn't authenticate johnston from 66-108-187-130.nyc.rr.com Nov 21 08:19:07 my-computer sshd[82376]: Failed password for johnston from 66.108.187.130 port 34680 ssh2
Nice try. Anyone heard of chimp.gotdns.com? That's how this guy's sendmail advertises itself. I don't think I know anyone in NYC. Buncha criminals.
My main man speaks out on the elections and the media:
Television did a good job Tuesday night, I thought. I know a lot of you believe that most people in the news business are liberal. Let me tell you I know a lot of them, and they were almost evenly divided this time. Half of them liked Sen. Kerry; the other half hated President Bush.
Economies of girth, courtesy of the CDC and reported by Ask The Pilot:
From 1990 to 2000, the average weight of Americans increased by 10 pounds. In the year 2000, to haul that extra fat around, aircraft had to burn 350 million gallons of additional jet fuel (costing more than $250 million). Damn!
Headline/Byline:
France to Release Arafat Records to Nephew
Previously Unreleased Single Might be Next Year's Hottest Summer Jam
Some thoughts on Novartis.
From "Headline goes here," The Tech, November 9, 2001:
In 1996, the Massachusetts Avenue factory unveiled its highly recognizable water tower, which resembles a roll of Necco wafers. The tower, which commemorates the company's 150th anniversary, will remain part of the Cambridge skyline after Necco moves.
From "Candy Coated Power-Cleaning Clears Way for Labs at Old Necco Factory," The Boston Globe, July 9, 2003:
DSF and its architect, Ed Tsoi of the Cambridge firm Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, are preserving the building's exterior, including the water tower painted to look like a giant roll of Necco wafers. Because of those efforts, the building will be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, earning a tax credit equal to 20 percent of the renovation cost.
My how short the collective attention span of Cambridge is. Less than a year later, with echoes of the Nike "swoosh" story (a student designed it for $35 in 1971), they enlisted the help of the MIT Museum to solicit designs from area students. And now they've gone and painted it with an (admittedly tasteful) double-helix. I wonder if Novartis gave back their $40 million tax break. Ha.
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PowerPoint strikes again.
[Slide: "Fall of South Vietnam (1975)"]
Prof. Meyer: Now to the fall of South Vietnam. So in 1975, South Vietnam fell.
[Advances slide. Laughter. Returns to slide.]
Prof. Meyer: But seriously. This is a picture of the embassy evacuation. It was a terribly embarassing way for the U.S. to leave the country. Helicopters were airlifting people out as fast as they could. And if you look closely -- [circles shadowy figure with laser pointer] -- you'll see John Kerry climbing the fence, trying to switch sides at the last minute.
I understand there's this newfangled thing on the web called "RSS." I looked into it and realized that it's a tangle of XML designed to more or less replicate the functionality of Gopher. I think they're on to something here.
Forget the World Wide Web. I want Gopher back.
I get a lot of spam! I wonder: has everyone else experienced a sudden levelling-off of spam influx?
I want to ride my bike to the airport for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, it appears that bicycles are prohibited from using the tunnels. But even if you go the long way, the one bicycle rack on the entire grounds of Logan Airport has been removed for "security reasons!"
Major failures of strategic planning, lesson 1:
Do not bike 32 miles on the same day you intend to pull an all-nighter.
Lost treasures, found, always elicit a certain kind of delight. Today I (accidentally) discovered a recording of Widor's Toccata (from Symphony No. 5) in a dusty milk crate. It was missing for so long that, just recently, I had convinced myself that I had never owned it in the first place.
Majestic.
Furious. That's what I am.
The MBTA unveiled their final plans for the Washington DC-style fare card that will replace the token system. Apparently this will "dramatically improve ease and convenience" for MBTA users, making the subway "more convenient" and "easy-to-use" (sense any repetition?) with "a strong emphasis on the customer." Obviously the best way to achieve this dramatic new goal is to eliminate any form of human contact, increase the complexity of the rate structure, and equip every user with an electronic tracking device. (The targeted advertising and espresso-purchasing capability will be phased in at a much later date.)
Anyone who has experienced the "ease" and "convenience" of the present automated token dispensing machines -- which to date have rejected roughly half of my bills, stolen $3.75 without dispensing anything, caused me to miss two trains, and once left me stranded outdoors in Newton during a snowstorm because I had only $20 bills -- can simply wonder what the hell they've been smoking.
Part of the blame must surely fall on our moronic Mayor Menino, who, upon encountering his first pay toilet on a trip to San Francisco a few years ago, immediately called the manufacturer and insisted that Boston get them too. (He was so taken, in fact, that he awarded that company an unlimited exclusive contract for "street furniture" in Boston. "Street furniture," for those of you unfamiliar with the perils of modern urban planning, is a euphemism for "large illuminated advertisements designed to obstruct sidewalks.") I'll venture a guess that Menino saw these fare cards in Washington and was once again stricken like a child in a toy store.
I'm not throwing around the term "electronic tracking device" loosely, either. These passes, they have announced, will actually be RFID cards, encoded with unique IDs, that can be read by antennae up to 3 feet away. Not even Washington can track its population by radio! Isn't it great to be on the forefront of technology?
Oh yes, and they're calling it the "Charlie Card" -- a curious allusion to a song about fare increases. At least they're being honest. Look for it next summer.
The following objects don't belong here, but I found them anyway:
I don't remember when I last saw a card catalog, but I miss them.
Live from m38-370, I'm Scott Johnston. Now back to work.
Having avoided a half-dozen election parties to do schoolwork, on my way home at 1 AM I decided it was my patriotic duty to crash John Kerry's party in Copley Square and say "hi." Unfortunately I would not be allowed in with a bicycle and a backpack, so instead I wandered around the media alley for a while to take in the scene.
Thumbs up to Capron, which did a lovely job of lighting the library building and surrounding structures. It was really nice. I have a low tolerance for melodromatic imagery, but the flag-like images they were projecting onto the stone were gorgeous and I'd like to see them again.
Thumbs down to the party organizers, for force-feeding CNN coverage to everyone through their battery of projection screens and super-duper sound system. I hate CNN. But I suppose they could have done worse.
I was pretty impressed by the media presence at the World Series, but this scene made the game look like a joke. Quasi-familiar-looking political correspondents for every US network stood staidly at their positions on the TV riser, holding umbrellas and staring into banks of lights. What really stirred me was the fact that they were outnumbered 10 to 1 by foreign news agencies. A Japanese interview crew wandered by while I was checking out the Eurovision trailer complex. Later, a stunningly beautiful -- if not exotic -- female correspondent joined me at the fence to watch the CNN broadcast. She was holding a "TV AZTECA" microphone in one hand, twirling the unconnected end of the microphone cable seductively in her fingers. She smiled at me. I hopped on my bike and sped off. Clearly I'm not getting enough sleep.
Seen in Boston: a "I'D RATHER BE READING BUKOWSKI" bumper sticker.
Yesterday, keithw gave me on a tour of the new LAMP MP3 encoding facilities. This time, they mail-ordered 1,770 of their favorite albums. I wish I could have been there to watch them opening the stupid shrink wrap on all those CDs!
Open question: why is the media treating Ralph Nader as a credible candidate? Also, why is anyone voting for him?
Text of Osama bin Laden's latest speech is available.
Fabulous quote: "The ship of state is the only vessel that leaks from the top." (Richard Holloran)
"I think those who oppose this ballistic missile system don't understand the threats of the 21st century," says President George W. Bush. He wants to start up the anti-ballistic missile defense projects that have lain dormant since the 1980's. Missile defense was more or less abandoned with the end of the cold war because after some 40 years of R&D, it still didn't work, it was ridiculously expensive, and in the interest of self-preservation nobody would dare to launch their missiles anyway.
RANDOM FACT OF THE DAY
The following countries have ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the United States:
So, pray tell, which of these is the threat of the 21st century?
