Blog posts

1. Bloomberg on Terrorism

   “There are lots of threats to you in the world. There’s the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can’t sit there and worry about everything. Get a life…. You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist.”

   How much?

   From the National Safety Council: The odds of getting struck by lightning in one’s lifetime are 1/80,000.

   The NWS suggests four factors necessary for recovery:

   • Supportive family/friends network.
   • Becoming your own advocate and learning as much as you can about this disability.
   • A physician willing to listen, read, learn and work with the survivor and their family.
   • A sense of humor.

   That’s great general advice, but they also put the lifetime odds at 1/5,000. What gives?

   This graphic listing the top causes of death helpfully points out that the odds of dying, the baseline, all causes combined, is 1/1, or 100%.

   I can’t find any consistant numbers on the terrorist attack odds, lifetime, per year, or otherwise. Most put the odds at over 1/1 million, or make assumptions like “if there was a shopping center attack every week, and you went shopping every other week” type hypotheticals.

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 15, 2007 - 6:23 PM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-15-bloomberg-on-terrorism/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-15-bloomberg-on-terrorism/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

2. McSweeney's Sale

   Checking out McSweeney’s was on my some-day-maybe list for a few years, and I finally got around to buying The Better of McSweeney’s, Volume 1 in BWI airport this winter. Great stuff.

   I’ve since grabbed Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney’s Humor Category and enjoyed it over two weeks at the beach for my weddinig and honeymoon.

   They are having a sale.

   As you may know, it’s been tough going for many independent publishers, McSweeney’s included, since our distributor filed for bankruptcy last December 29. We lost about $130,000—actual earnings that were simply erased. Due to the intricacies of the settlement, the real hurt didn’t hit right away, but it’s hitting now. Like most small publishers, our business is basically a break-even proposition in the best of times, so there’s really no way to absorb a loss that big.

   We are committed to getting through and past this difficult time, and we’re hoping you, the readers, who have from the start made McSweeney’s possible, will help us.

   Over the next week or so, we’ll be holding an inventory sell-off and rare-item auction, which we hope will make a dent in the losses we sustained. A few years ago, the indispensable comics publisher Fantagraphics, in similarly dire straits, held a similar sale, and it helped them greatly. We’re hoping to do the same.

   So if you’ve had your eye on anything we’ve produced, now would be a great time to take the plunge. For the next week or so, subscriptions are $5 off, new books are 30 percent off, and the entire backlist is 50 percent off. Please check out the store and enjoy the astounding savings, while knowing every purchase will help dig us out of a big hole.

   Do buy.

   OK, it’s only $5 off a regular four-book subscription, but that’s $12.50 a book, and each one is bound to be great.

   Bound.

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 13, 2007 - 6:54 PM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-13-mcsweeneys-sale/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-13-mcsweeneys-sale/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

3. Month of Random Hashes

   Dear list,

   You asked for it, and we delivered! Due to the increased demand for more “Month of” projects, and the growing popularity of posting hashes to this list, we proudly present… THE MONTH OF RANDOM HASHES.

   Every day for the next month we will be providing a list of not one… not two… not three… not four… not five… not six… not seven… not eight… not nine… not ten… not eleven… not twelve… not thirteen… not fourteen… not fifteen… not sixteen… not seventeen… not eighteen… not nineteen… not twenty… not twenty-one… not twenty -two… not twenty-three… not twenty-four… not twenty-five… not twenty-six… not twenty-seven… not twenty-eight… not twenty-nine… not thirty… not thirty-one… not thirty-two… not thirty-three… not thirty-four… not thirty-five… not thirty-six… not thirty-seven… not thirty-eight… not thirty-nine… not forty… not forty-one… not forty-two… not forty-three… not forty-four… not forty-five… not forty-six… not forty-seven… not forty-eight… not forty-nine… not fifty… not fifty-one… not fifty-two… not fifty-three… not fifty-four… not fifty-five… not fifty-six… not fifty-seven… not fifty-eight… not fifty-nine… not sixty… not sixty-one… not sixty-two… not sixty-three… not sixty-four… not sixty-five… not sixty-six… not sixty-seven… not sixty-eight… not sixty-nine… not seventy… not seventy-one… not seventy-two… not seventy-three… not seventy-four… not seventy-five… not seventy-six… not seventy-seven… not seventy-eight… not seventy-nine… not eighty… not eighty-one… not eighty-two… not eighty-three… not eighty-four… not eighty-five… not eighty-six… not eighty-seven… not eighty-eight… not eighty-nine… not ninety… not ninety-one… not ninety-two… not ninety-three… not ninety-four… not ninety-five… not ninety-six… not ninety-seven… not ninety-eight…

   not even ninety-nine…

   but… ONE HUNDRED!

   To make the project even more successful, this number (100) only represents the number of random strings that hashes are generated for, and not the total number of hashes we provide daily! You will receive an md5sum, sha1sum, and sha256sum of all 100 random strings every day.

   That is THREE HUNDRED hashes. In your mailbox. Free. Every day.

   Stay tuned for more details!

   Brilliant.

   Here are the first three from today’s, to give you a taste.

   [ITEM #1]
   md5: 53da840b93b8a209fe273c0a6011a53b
   sha1: f23d002845794ab3f34b0bfc925b87017b1a4920
   sha256: 298c8122826de54d9753850fd7fd7dfbf2490b5784d76f48d166526be819e03a

   [ITEM #2]
   md5: bed4346e8662918e654ac4a85a9c08e8
   sha1: e62d1f28787b489c369471a70782575629fe34ce
   sha256: f591e1d99955eac3817a46b90768893ffdca3e8c3750ea19ec14e3974ea1e3f5

   [ITEM #3]
   md5: e366a12b2b67f78bc953f937c0969907
   sha1: 5f55786c9425a325f16c4000765227792c9b343a
   sha256: 9d8a54d1dc7c69ce991228baefe18b4543c80892a1904b810e32787ccb649a15

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 12, 2007 - 11:06 PM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-12-month-of-random-hashes/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-12-month-of-random-hashes/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

4. Creation Museum

   Ars visits the new creation museum.

   In popular mythology, the Ostrich is famous for hiding its head in the sand at the first sign of danger. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder is noted for his descriptions of the ostrich in his Naturalis Historia, where he describes the Ostrich and the fact that it hides its head in a bush.

   There have been no recorded observations of this behavior. A common counter-argument is that a species that displayed this behavior would not survive very long. Ostriches do deliberately swallow sand and pebbles to help grind up their food; seeing this from a distance may have caused some early observers to believe that their heads were buried in sand. Also, ostriches that are threatened but unable to run away may fall to the ground and stretch out their necks in an attempt to become less visible. The coloring of an ostrich’s neck is similar to sand and could give the illusion that the neck and head have been completely buried.[5]

   The Ostrich’s behavior is also mentioned in the Bible in God’s discourse to Job (Job 39.13-18). It is described as being joyfully proud of its small wings, but unwise and unmindful of the safety of its nest and harsh in the treatment of its offspring, even though it can put a horse to shame with its speed. Elsewhere, ostriches are mentioned as proverbial examples of bad parenting (see Arabian Ostrich for details).

   Idiotic or hilarious, I can’t decide.

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 08, 2007 - 4:53 PM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-08-creation-museum/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-08-creation-museum/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

5. Shmoocon OLPC talk

   This has been available for a while but I forgot to link to it: The Shmoocon talks on the One Laptop per Child project. The discussion has a bit of an information security leaning to it given the audience, but it still packs content for people that don’t approach everything with a screwdriver and a tinfoil hat.

   It was neat watching the otherwise brilliant Dan Kaminsky seemingly miss the point during the Q&A.;

   Since I just poked at the guy, I should link to his talk too: Weaponizing Noam Chomsky, or Hacking with Pattern Languages, which I think was really really interesting, if slagged by professional pedant Toby Kohlenberg.

   I don’t have anything to make up for poking Toby, so I’ll probably end up being interviewd by him for a job or something similar.

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 08, 2007 - 12:06 AM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-07-shmoocon-olpc-talk/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-07-shmoocon-olpc-talk/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

6. Plans this weekend - J-Roddy

   This Saturday. J Roddy Walston and The Business

   Ottobar. Doors open at 9pm/ Show at 10pm - ALL AGES

   I’m hoping to make it after my step-brother Pete’s wedding, which is that afternoon.

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 07, 2007 - 9:40 PM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-07-plans-this-weekend-j-roddy/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-07-plans-this-weekend-j-roddy/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

7. Sgt. Pepper's

   Happy 40th Sgt. Peppers!

   

   In another innovation, non-US pressings of the album (in its original LP form that was later released on CD) end in an unusual way, beginning with a 15-kilohertz high-frequency tone (put on the album at Lennon’s suggestion and said to be “especially intended to annoy your dog”), followed by an endless loop of laughter and gibberish made by the runout groove looping back into itself…

   …most of the content of the runout groove is impossible to decipher, it is possible to distinguish a sped-up voice (possibly McCartney’s) reciting the phrase “never could see any other way”.

   Abbey Road > Let it Be > The White Album > Sgt. Pepper’s

   Surveyed as albums only. Rubber Soul, Magical Mystery Tour, and Revolver obviously have great tunes too.

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 04, 2007 - 6:23 AM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-03-sgt-peppers/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-03-sgt-peppers/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

8. Gartner 2007

   Slightly last minute tickets to the Gartner IT Security Summit just fell in my lap.

   Know Security 3.0
   4-6 June 2007
   Washington, DC
   Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

   See you there!

   I know, I know. I’m still looking forward to it for various reasons.

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 01, 2007 - 7:09 PM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-01-gartner-2007/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-01-gartner-2007/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

9. No-tech security

   Via funsec: Software controls at the Carson, CA treasurer’s office failed to prevent the installation of a keylogger on a laptop. Theives used the keylogger to acquire the username and password of an account able to make fund transfers, then transfered themselves half a million dollars.

   They were caught when the treasurer noticed it in the ledger.

   Since the incidents occurred, the city’s bank has tightened its security to prevent future similar attacks, she said. The new system requires the city to register the specific computers that will be used for online transactions, she said, while also asking a series of security questions that must be properly answered to gain access to the account.

   “That’s in place now,” Avilla said. “It wasn’t in place last Wednesday and Thursday.”

   An IT consultant who was brought in to help the city before the thefts is also assisting in evaluating security and what needs to be improved, she said.

   A no-tech accounting process detected the event. Mitigation plan: implement further software controls and procedures.

   Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense! Look at me. I’m a…

   Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon June 01, 2007 - 6:03 PM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-06-01-no-tech-security/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-06-01-no-tech-security/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.

10. Frozen action

    One of my current favorite photography techniques, or ‘hacks’, to use the parlance of our times, is to capture slices of time which cannot easily be appreciated otherwise. Mostly because it is easy to happen into accidentally. Anyone can do this.

    This great shorpy post of baseball player Hank Gowdy is of a relatively centered composition with nice shadowing and depth of field. While those elements give the photo a lasting quality, what grabs on the first viewing is Hank’s facial expression, and the ball he likely just tossed up to hit for practice popping out of the page just over his head.

    It made me think of this photo I was lucky enough to get at my wife’s uncle’s wedding:

    The photo isn’t really very successful. The ceiling tilts away from the bachelors while at the same time closing in on the groom, and creates a useless gap of space. The groom is not in focus and his shadow on the distant wall is distracting, as are the baloons and light fixture between the groom and the eligible bachelors. A more successful shot would have started with the camera a few feet higher, used remote flashes, and perhaps caught the garter a few feet sooner mid-flight.

    Nonetheless, the photo does work. At least five of the subjects are mid-action. The wedding band is visible. While the flash induced shadows are a detractor in most of the picture, it helps lift the garter and give it precense. Nobody blinked, so to speak. For being amongst the first few hundred pictures with my new camera and first DSLR (what do you mean I have to frame shots through a viewfinder again?), it isn’t a bad start.

    Posted on Blog over 19 years agoon May 30, 2007 - 5:17 PM and archived here at /blog/2007/2007-05-30-frozen-action/at https://pizza.slow.high.quality.gravely.pizza/blog/2007/2007-05-30-frozen-action/ in the Blog collection in both HTML and markdown.