One of the most annoying things about the modern world is that pretty much everything you're likely to use these days, from your network login at work to your webmail account to your bank's website requires a username and password before you can actually do anything. Way back when this functionally didn't used to be such a big deal - people chose easy to guess passwords for their accounts and left it at that. Later on, admins discovered that crackers probably wouldn't spend hours on end guessing passwords, they'd spend a few hours writing software to do it for them (which …
Longtime readers of my weblog are no doubt familiar with my preoccuptation with security, which lead to my working in that field of endeavour, and also my interest in personal privacy. A couple of weeks ago, some of my readers asked me what they, as computer users who aren't experts but aren't starting from square zero either could do on a personal level. I thought and thought for a couple of days and put together a list of things, and then realized that making all of it make sense would take much more than a single post because it's not …
While browsing the newsfeeds a couple of nights ago, I came across an interesting article from ABC News about people dropping out of workaday life and preparing for the end of the world. From the United States to France to the Russian Confederation, stockpiles of crop seeds are being built, water purefiers are vanishing from the shelves, and basic knowledge about farming, medicine, and engineering is being crammed into many a brain. Normally, this isn't a very interesting phenomenon because people have been doing this for literally centuries - the end of the world as we know it is a hot …
About two weeks ago Lyssa and I took a couple of days off from work to drive in the direction of Princeton, New Jersey to attend the wedding of her sister/my future sister in law. Lyssa was Jill's maid of honor, so it was essential that she attend; for a change, I didn't have anything official to do so I was sort of at loose ends much of the time. So, we packed our stuff, loaded up the TARDIS, and steeled ourselves for a cross-country drive to the Garden State. Before we had a chance to depart, we heard …
One of the reasons that I haven't been updating much lately is because I've been doing a lot of running around after I get home from work, usually to take care of errands. Every once in a while, though, Lyssa and I make the time to spend with some friends whom we don't get to see during the week. On Saturday night, for example, we gathered up everyone we could after Mad Scientist Coffee and headed out to Jaipur Royal Indian Cuisine (9401 Lee Highway; Unit 105 (at the Circle Towers); Fairfax, VA; 22031; phone 703-766-1111; fax 703-766-1113) for a …
Work and travel (mostly the former and some of the latter) have kept me too busy to write much anywhere, let alone in here. I've got scads of pictures from Princeton and Jill's wedding to put up, as well as a run-down of getting out there (making amazing time, let me add), the Nassau Inn, and the wedding itself.
Hopefully I'll have something more substantial to write in short order, ideally by tomorrow night but the end of the week at the very latest.
Some days, I cringe when I page through my list of newsfeeds at the things going on in the world right now. For starters, the US Transportation Safety Agency, a government organization charged with watching over points of entry and egress to this country has been a thorn in the side of many a passenger since its inception. Have a piercing or two under your skin that sets off the magnetometers? There's an excellent chance that you'll be forced to remove it regardless of the health risk. If you've had it for a while, I hope you packed hand tools …
Last weekend wound up a bit in the air due to an emergency at the last minute - one of Lyssa's relatives died unexpectedly and the family was hastily reconvened for her funeral, which was held on Saturday. because I'd been on the road the weekend before, I didn't have to make the trek back to Pennsylvania, much to my relief. Grant picked up Lyssa sometime on Friday while I was at work and returned to their homestead, which left me with some time on my hands. The first thing I did was move my car maintenance appointment back to Saturday …
