Cyber Security and the U.S. Government

After all the talk, after all the breaches cyber security is being discusses in the same sentence as national security. Today in the New York Times, a front page article describes President Obama's and the Pentagons plans to set up new groups and organization to handle the cyber security problem. The pentagon will be in charge of the government systems, and there will be another arm in charge of civilian defences.

There is issues of privacy for the normal civilians. Many of the computer used in attacks are in homes, and your Grandmother's computer could be a target. Also, who will be in charge when it comes to civilian networks? There is a "cyber-czar," but a real task force will need to be expansive. Plus, the networks within the U.S. are vital to the rest of the Internet and actions taken here can effect commerce throughout the world.

Also, what can they really do? How will they focus their energy? Will they consult for utility companies to secure the electrical grid other critical infrastructure, or will they actually build and maintain the systems hand-in-hand? There has been much-a-do about data breaches, i.e., stealing personal identifiable information, is this covered?

All in all, it is important that the government is wising up to this problem, but I can't see what they can do from afar. In computer security, you need boots on the ground because there are so many critical networks, and 10 people discussing policy in the west wing will have no real effect unless they have tech-admins enforcing it.

Either way, I am interested to see where this leads, but one thing is for sure, the modern day spy infiltrates through the network. I am glad we are starting to try and plug those holes.

GMail Labs wish list

Well, not much of a list, but a single request. I want to be able to write a filter that will remove a label. Seems simple, but currently it isn't an option. You can only apply a label but not remove one. Why might I want this? Well, I use filters and labels a lot, and sometimes the two filters overlap and message gets marked with an additional label, not incorrectly albeit. It is just that for this particular type of email, I really only want one label to be applied. If I could write a filter that says "don't apply label" or maybe "remove label" for the emails in question, then everything would work out. Overall, it seems strange to me that filters have positive assertions but not negative assertions in filters: as in, if the message doesn't contain something, or it is not from a given address. It would be a nice feature to have and make filters much more powerful.

So get on it Google! You can try and take over the world tomorrow.

I'm watching hockey again!

It's been awhile since I watched hockey with any regularity. The last time, the Lightning won the cup in an exciting run, and then the strike. Hockey really sucked for some time, but now its back. Who do we have to thank? The two great players of our day, Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. These guys are f*ing awesome. They both got hat tricks in last night's game, but the Caps' won and lead the series 2-0. If you haven't been watching this series, you have to start now.

Not only does the series have the two best players in the league (arguable), but they put on shows. Ove goes nuts after ever goal, so much so, that defenders are looking to take his head off. Sid is much more old school, and he is all about scoring, passing and keeping his cool. But these two don't like each other. Words have been exchanged, and Ove almost got Sid to fight earlier this year. There is no blood lost between these two, and the feud just adds to the drama. More so, the third best player in the game, Malkin, is also on the ice.

Can you ask for much more? No, but there is more. The two goalies are characters too, and are both young and outstanding. Fluery, the more veteran of the two at 24, showed last year he has no qualms about standing on his head, and Varlamov (only 21 years old) got his chance in the playoffs after the season starter turned to swiss-cheese against the Rangers. I saw Varlamov dive a foot off the ground horizontally stop a goal last night which is becoming a common sight in this series. This is how hockey is meant to be played.

Here's to you hockey. You used to be our 4th biggest sport, and it seems you may be again. So far, the playoffs have been great, and there is more to come. I can't wait to see Alexander the Great and Sid the Kid continue their battle in Pittsburgh.

I can't believe I am watching Hockey again! I missed you.

LHC Hysteria: The Daily Show chimes in

Last week, the Daily Show aired Jon Oliver's top-notch investigation into the dangers of the LHC. The collider is going to come back on-line soon, and the public, or at least one man, is still screaming that the sky is falling. The Internet told me that everything is fine, but Walter Wagner believes, despite the overwhelming evidence against, that there is a 50% chance that the LHC will destroy the world. He even filed suite in the district court of Hawaii, where he outlined doomsday by black hole:

Micro Black Holes: Under this theory, the compression of the two atoms colliding together at nearly light speed will cause an irreversible implosion, forming a miniature version of a giant black hole, the remnant of a collapsed star. Like its much larger cousin, a miniature black hole would not emit light, and any matter coming into contact with it would fall into it and never be able to escape. Eventually, all of earth would fall into such growing micro-black-hole, converting earth into a medium sized black hole, around which would continue to orbit the moon, satellites, the ISS, etc.

Quite a detailed vision of the future. For one, even if that is true, it would not be a medium-size black hole, it would still be a super small black hole. We are comparing masses of a planet with that of a huge star. They also seem to think the moon will be safe, at least we know there is a escape route. Thank goodness the court is smarter then these goons.

Scientists who have proposed the construction and operation of the particle collider known as Large Hadron Collider (“LHC”) at CERN are aware of problems associated with quantitatively assessing the risks involved with this novel project. This is not a new problem and virtually every new significant activity must face it. Instead of ending the pursuit of significant scientific endeavors, the scientific community has developed processes to identify all imaginable events that may lead to an adverse effects and use the best available information and scientific talent to mitigate them. No other procedure has been suggested by any professional society, any government or international organization. Amici contend that the Plaintiffs’ suppositions are without merit, and cannot be the basis of a particularized injury sufficient to confer standing.

Undeterred, Wagner explains the simplicity of the statistics to the daily show. His only expertise is that he teaches a variety of high school science classes. Paraphrasing Wagner: If something could happen, or something could not happen, then there is a 1 in 2 chance that it will happen. Ughh! They allow this guy to teach our kids. Oliver's response to this unfounded argument, "I'm not sure that is how statistics work, Walter." Damn straight.

Check out the clip, mucho hilarious.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Large Hadron Collider
thedailyshow.com
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Informative Internet does it again

The Internet is on top of it again. First it answered our question about the LHC and the destruction of the earth. Has the LHC has destroyed the earth?

Now it answers our question about pig flu. Do I have pig flu?