GOING WIRELESS
WiFi has turned out to be a hacker's paradise; unlike with wired networks, you don't need to be connected by wire to a computer, directly or indirectly, in order to "invade" a system. With wireless, a determined hacker could tap into the radio signals as your computer collects them. A "radio hacker," for example, can't change the record playing in the studio and can't remotely change the station on your radio - but they can listen to the same station you're listening to on their own radio. Same thing here; the data on the server is (hopefully) protected, and the data on your hard drive is protected by your firewall or other security system. But while you're downloading your data from the Internet wirelessly, you're vulnerable.
NO BLAME
One of the many markers distinguishing civilized from primitive and traditional societies is that the former possess the concept of luck, both good and bad, while the latter do not.There is no word for luck in the language of many American Indian tribes such as the Navaho, African tribes such as the Azande, Amazon tribes such as the Yanomamo, or New Guinea tribes such as the Dobu. The concept is absent, literally inconceivable, in their thinking about the way the world works.How could something, anything, happen out of sheer blind chance? Whatever happens to anybody, good or bad, it was caused by spirits placated to be benevolent or goaded to be malevolent. Man is always the toy of demons. That’s a primitive mind at work.Thus the primitive compulsion to find someone to blame for misfortune. Since there really is no such thing as sheer misfortune, tragedies must always be someone’s fault, the someone who incurred the anger of the spirits and brought down their punishment suffered by all.So the primitive mentalities of leftist intellectuals and politicians within hours of the horror of Katrina began a chorus of blame, pointing their spiteful superstitious fingers at President Bush.
MARX AND MOHAMMED
It matters not a whit whether Marx was an atheist, for that only meant he wanted to supplant other religions with his own. Or whether Mohammed believed in a god named Allah, for Allah was only the name of the voice he heard in his head dictating a Recitation (thats what Koran means in Arabic). Allah is just as much a figment of Mohammeds imagination as the New Socialist Man (the different species of humanity that will come into being with the triumph of The Proletarian Revolution) was of Marxs. Both are delusions of tyranny.Marx and Mohammed are ideological brothers. More than that, Marx and Mohammed are metaphysical brothers. They share the same view on the nature of reality. Their fundamental bond is a denial of the Law of Non-Contradiction.
Chapter Six: DOÑA MARINA
“My third set of masters,” Malinali thought to herself. These people, these “Spaniards” were different from any others she had known or even imagined. They seemed to her to almost be not of this earth. Perhaps they were from the stars, she thought.
“Are you afraid of them, Little Miss Dry Grass?” she asked herself, summoning her courage, her sense of humor, and the memory of her father all at once. Yes, a part of her was afraid, of course. Who wouldn’t be? Then she heard her father’s counsel: “What reason do you have to be afraid? Have these strangers shown themselves to be cruel and unmerciful, or kind and forgiving? They are impossibly fierce in battle, yet impossibly generous in victory. Use your intelligence, learn how to gain the respect of these Spaniards. Never forget, Malinali, you are a still a Queen! Never show any fear!”
Her thoughts were interrupted by the words of the stranger who spoke Mayan. He addressed them all assembled on the floor of this great floating home.
WHICH SIDE OF THE WAR ON TERRORISM IS THE NEW YORK TIMES ON?
Colonel Thomas Spoehr is annoyed with New York Times reporter Michael Moss,for what I think is a good reason. Spoehr is the director of materiel for the Army staff. He had a good news story to tell Moss, which Moss converted into a bad news story. Here is the story as Spoehr tells it:
THE PRESIDENT CAN DO BETTER
From the moment President Bush set his war policy after the 9-11 attacks, our country has been divided into two factions. The first faction supports the President because it believes he’s doing the right thing, while the second faction opposes the President because it believes he’s doing the wrong thing. Now a third faction has emerged, comprised of those who believe the President is doing the right thing - but that he isn’t doing it very well.
THE MAP OF THE MIDDLE EAST’S FUTURE
There’s been a lot of talk recently predicting the break-up of Iraq back into its constituent pieces. The country was glued together by the British after World War I from three vilyets or provinces of the dismantled Ottoman Empire: Kurdish Mosul, Shia Basra, and Sunni Baghdad. Now it’s seems on the verge of becoming unglued. Last week in The Persian Ratchet , we discussed how the break-up of Iraq would shatter Iran. Let’s talk now how an Iraq break-up would rearrange borders across the entire Middle East. Like how it would precipitate the break-up of Saudi Arabia.
OFFING HUGO
Out of the mouths of babes and crackpots� There's no doubt Pat Robertson has a penchant for saying manically crackpot things like warning the city of Orlando, Florida in 1998 that if it allowed a Gay Pride parade, God would punish the city by sending “earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.” The press has had a field day this week reciting past wacky Patisms in an attempt to deride his call for the assassination of Venezuela’s Marxist dictator Hugo Chavez. And yes, the point is well made that Christian ministers are not the sort of folks who should advocate such things. But what Pat said is nonetheless true. Of course, we or somebody, anybody, should knock off Chavez. Doing so would be one of the greatest contributions to peace and freedom in the world today.
THE TROJAN HORSE AND HOW IT WORKS
Trojan horses are named for the ur-Horse of Greek mythology, where the hapless Trojans didn't realize they had been invaded before it was too late. They’re getting more sophisticated by the day and your computer could easily be targeted.So a review of how you protect yourself from hackers, viruses and Trojan horses is in order. And while your Internet service provider has already probably sent you an e-mail urging you to sign up for premium safety services, there are some things you can do on your own that will probably protect you just as effectively - for a lot less money.
FROM COMPUTER SPEAKERS TO STEREO SPEAKERS
A twofer this week from The Wizard, who got carried away and wrote a second column. Enjoy!Tinny. That's the word for music delivered through computer speakers off an Internet stream or an MP3 file. The sound quality is just not up to the sophisticated sounds most people want to hear when they download MP3s or play CDs. Why can't there be a way to bypass those tinny computer speakers and play your music on a good set of stereo speakers via a wireless signal -- kind of like a router? Turns out there is.