Yesterday the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (248-168) to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523), known as CISPA. I don’t usually express opinions per se here, but this time I will: I find this intolerable I acknowledge that things are getting very dicey in the cyber world, and that there is increasing need for …
Cleaning Up an Error
Back in September 2011 there was a report from the OPERA experiment at the Large Hadron Collider that neutrinos could travel faster than the currently universally accepted limit of the speed of light. I described my own reactions to this report here. As noted then (and to cite Carl Sagan’s popularization of the phrase and concept), “extraordinary claims require extraordinary …
Interaction Modes
Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. -William Arthur Ward, college administrator, writer (1921-1994) Questions: How do you interact with others? What do you do to get others to change their behavior? What makes you …
The Need for Professionalism in Engineering
I came across this today. It resonated with me, so I thought it appropriate to share with you, perhaps to communicate to students, coworkers, and/or anyone who might appreciate the sentiment: “A doctor can kill only one person at a time. An engineer can kill thousands.” Questions: None. Just think about it.
Do You Care If Big Brother (or Anyone Else) is Watching?
I just read an interesting analysis by Cory Doctorow, known to some (many, perhaps) as a blogger, columnist, and science-fiction author, with perspectives on the so-called information society that I find worth considering. The piece in question deals with why in/on-the-street security cameras (known generally as CCTV) don’t deter criminals generally, and those who were involved in the recent mobs …
You Think You’ve Got Privacy? Think Again!
Recent kerfuffles on the online privacy scene owing to a change in Google’s “privacy” policies reminded me of several such that have surfaced over the past few months. One has to do with a utility embedded in many smart phones that allows your carrier to track your usage of the various services to which you are subscribed. This utility is …
A Thought for Today
A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying. –B.F. Skinner, American psychologist, inventor, and author Questions: None. Just consider its applications in your own activities.
Who Owns Your Information?
If you are a denizen of the various social networking sites, I hope you are aware of the battles that are raging with respect to “privacy” settings. Some locations, such as Facebook, have as an overarching philosophy that all information you post should be available to everyone by default, and that it is your responsibility as a user of the …
How Would You Bet?
Lots of news today about a finding that under some conditions neutrinos may (I emphasize may) travel faster than the speed of light, a clear contravention of a basic tenet of physics. In this light (yes, that’s a joke), I found this little item to be of interest: Source: https://xkcd.com/955/ Given all the pronouncements lately about changes to established paradigms—often …
Selling the Sizzle?
I’ve always been fascinated by spaceships–first, the science-fiction variety, with the then-requisite pointy nosecones, swept-back wings, and cockpit canopies, all of which made them look like super, super-fast fighter jets. As I got older (I’m not sure I can say “matured”) and began to work as a contractor in and around the NASA environment, I learned that such constructs were …