In 2009 we hit an interesting milestone in the US population. For people age 25 to 34 there were more people single than there were married. The total number of married people in the US is at 52%
Owner of Segway, Inc. Dies
Last year Segway, Inc. was sold to James Heselden a U.K. businessman. This week he died when his two-wheeled Segway apparently ran off a cliff and into a river on his property.
Stuxnet Worm in Iran
Iran has a problem. The computer systems that are meant to run their nuclear power plant are getting infected with the Stuxnet worm. So far, it doesn’t seem to be causing much damage other than just spreading. The worm seems to specifically target Siemens control systems that run on Microsoft Windows
Generally I’d expect that control systems designed to run a nuclear powerplant would be running on something other than Windows. I’m not trying to bash Windows here–it is just designed to be a very general operating system and as a result has all kinds of capabilities that aren’t needed for powerplant operation. If I was putting in a powerplant control system I think I’d want to use an operating system that had been specifically hardened for security.
Anyway, the Wall Street Journal mentions a number of countries that might have been able to launch an attack like this against Iran and concludes that it is unlikely the US is behind the worm simply because the results are likely to be so unpredictable. The further mention Israel and the U.K. as potential suspects, but suggest that Germany, Russia and France would actually have the capabilities to create something like this.
Given the very low barrier to entry when it comes to launching a worm, it seems like pretty much any kid hacker could be behind something like this. The only thing that makes it seem like it might not be a kid is the fact that it targets a control system that seems unlikely to be something a kid would want to target.
I think most governments would see a big problem with trying to infect a nuclear control system–particularly with a worm where you might lose control of it one way or another and where modifications to it might make it do something very different than what was intended.
The US once considered launching a worm to attach Iraq’s financial systems, but decided it was too risky since it was impossible to determine what the outcome would be. Causing mayhem with a financial computers would likely create a huge set of problems, but it seems benign compared to messing with nuclear controls.
Synergy for Multiple Computers
I am currently using two computers on my desk. One is my mac laptop hooked to a 30 inch display and the other is an Ubuntu machine hooked into a 24 inch display. In the past I’ve used a KVM that let me put everything on a single monitor and switch between machines. However, it is often helpful to have multiple monitors so you can see what the other computer is doing before switching to it.
This can be done simply by setting up separate systems and using multiple keyboards, mice and monitors. However, the keyboards and mice are a bit redundant, take up a lot of desk space and tend to make things very confusing.
Synergy is a program that will allow you to share your keyboard and mouse between multiple computers. You configure the server (the computer where the keyboard and mouse are physically attached) to know which screen is on which side of your main monitor. Then when you move your mouse off of one computer screen, it appears on the other.
So far, this seems to be working very well and lets you treat both computers as if they are one big desktop.
At first, I had problems getting the Ubuntu desktop to launch Synergy automatically when it started. There were some instructions on the web for modifying a bunch of system files, but it didn’t seem to work. What did eventually work was to go to:
System > Preferences > Startup Applications
and adding a new startup program with the command:
synergyc --name desktop laptop-name.local
desktop is the name that the ubuntu desktop is refered to in the config file on the synergy server (my laptop). laptop-name.local is the dns name that will allow the ubuntu client to find the Synergy server running on my laptop.
I also set the Ubuntu desktop to automatically log me in. Otherwise, I’d have to have a keyboard and mouse hooked up (or use VNC) just to get to the point that the startup application would run and launch t
Start Your Own Religion
Some schools have rules saying that nose rings and other types of piercing are not allowed. No surprise there. So how to do you get around the rule? Just join the Church of Body Modification. Bingo! You are now dealing with religious discrimination.
This isn’t hypothetical. There is case in North Carolina right now where a fourteen year old member of the Church of Body Modification is suing the school.
The Church of Body Modification was founded in 1999 and seems suspiciously designed to enable these types of lawsuits. In 2001 there was a lawsuit against Costco where an employee wanted to be allowed to keep their eyebrow ring. Originally the employee offered to cover it up, but later when Costco offered to allow this accommodation, she refused on “religious” grounds.
Costco ultimately won and the courts found that making an exception to allow the eyebrow ring would put undue hardship on the employer. In other cases, people have been required to shave their beards–religion or no–because a particular job is unsafe when done with a beard.
The court avoided any discussion about whether or not the Church of Body Modification was a legitimate religion. The school board however, has a pretty specific criteria of what it takes to recognize something as a religion and it doesn’t sound like the requested exception met these requirements. They want to see a copy of the religious text that specifies the requested exemption along with a written statement by someone in authority in the church and examples of the students devotion to the religion.
The difference here is that most people recognize that not every job is for every person. If I think it is “unclean” to touch dead pigs, I probably shouldn’t get a job as a meat packer at a place that processes pork. Employers are expected to make reasonable accomodations, but they don’t have to create a new business model around an employees religion.
However, most people feel that every child should be able to go to school and in most cases kids can’t simply move to another school where nose rings are allowed. So the outcome of this case may be very different than what happened at Costco.
There is an old Isacc Airfreight recording where a guy goes into a religion store and meets a number of people who are coming in to design their own religion. Depending on the outcome of this case, that might not be a bad business model. Here are some religions that I think would also go over well with high-school students.
Church of the Connected Mind – A church that believes divinity is achieved through constantly interconnecting with other humans. Being a member of this religion lets you text, talk and pass notes in class.- Church of True Reality – Believes that what everyone calls the “real world” is simply a big simulation and “true reality” is experienced in what most people call virtual environments. Also believes that you should spend at least 15 minutes of every hour in the “true reality”. Joining this religion lets you play World of Warcraft and Second Life during class.
Caffeine Worshipers – Believes that enlightenment comes by having a cup of caffeinated product always in your hand. This one lets you get around any pesky rules about what you can bring to drink into the classroom.- Sleeporists – It is a sin to attempt to stay awake when your body can go to sleep.
- Church of Music Edification – Believes that your soul is moved toward nirvana by listening to music all the time. Teachers can’t ask students who join this religion to take their headphones out.
- Seven Minute Disciples – Believes that “true noon” actually occurs at what everyone else refers to as 12:07 each day and that it is sinful to follow the unbelievers time pieces. These students can’t be marked tardy until they are at least 7 minutes late.