The Blog of Harald

I predict that there will be six more weeks of winter…

I just finished reading through the Livejournals of three FBI agents. They apparently work for a subdivision of the Behavioural Analysis Unit? Interesting reading, though. There’s certainly something going on out there that they’re not telling us about…

Quotation of the Day for December 23, 2007

“Whoever imagined that you would hear from the United States and from Britain the same arguments for detention without trial that were used by the apartheid government.”

- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in a December 10th speech commemorating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

(via the Quotation of the Day Mailing List)

Schneier on Security: The War on the Unexpected

We’ve opened up a new front on the war on terror. It’s an attack on the unique, the unorthodox, the unexpected; it’s a war on different. If you act different, you might find yourself investigated, questioned, and even arrested — even if you did nothing wrong, and had no intention of doing anything wrong. The problem is a combination of citizen informants and a CYA attitude among police that results in a knee-jerk escalation of reported threats.

In particular:

• Fathers can’t hold daughters’ hands (Grr. Grr! this is appalling.)
• iPod terror (yes, it happens here in Canada too)

I noticed at my son’s hockey arena recently that the anti-photography signs have changed; now in addition to reporting to building staff that I’m using a camera, the sign claims that I’m only allowed to photograph the people I came to the arena with. Why is this relevant? Because policies like this are both driven by, and feeding into, the societal paranoia that defines this decade.

Several years ago at Niagara Falls I saw a child who was climbing, on the wrong side of a safety fence, on the rocks near the river. I told her it wasn’t safe to be over there, and that she should come back. One of her parents finally noticed and came over to scold the child; not for being in a dangerous place, but for talking to a stranger! (She hadn’t actually said anything to me, for what it’s worth :).

I’m sure I could come up with more stories, personal and on the Internet; it’s too easy this days…

Ugh. Refuse to be afraid, people!

I’m not sure if this is irony or hypocrisy. The Carpenter’s Union is outsourcing its picket lines to random people off the street, paying them $1 above minimum wage ($8/hr) to protest … low wages.

Outsourcing the Picket Line – washingtonpost.com

Megan McArdle: Harry Potter: the economics

The low opportunity cost attached to magic spills over into the thoroughly unbelievable wizard economy. Why are the Weasleys poor? Why would any wizard be? Anything they need, except scarce magical objects, can be obtained by ordering a house elf to do it, or casting a spell, or, in a pinch, making objects like dinner, or a house, assemble themselves. Yet the Weasleys are poor not just by wizard standards, but by ours: they lack things like new clothes and textbooks that should be easily obtainable with a few magic words. Why?

An interesting touch on the subject. It seems true that in the Potterverse, magic is free, something that never works very well for story telling. C.S. Friedman just published Feast of Souls, the first book in a trilogy based on the opposite extreme; the source (and cost) of magic is life force. in The Magic Goes Away, Larry Niven deals with magic as a finite resource, to interesting effect. There are lots of other examples in SF&F literature.

So why don’t we care about this inconsistency in Rowling’s work?

From Bruce Schneier’s security weblog:

Here’s a clip from an Australian TV programme called “The Chaser”. A Trojan Horse (full of appropriately attired soldiers) finds its way past security everywhere except the Turkish consulate.

At least they remember their history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs3SfNANtig

First tropical storm of the year: Andrea on May 09, 2007. And so begins another year of watching hurricanes…

(with my luck the remnants of a hurricane will blow through Atlantic Canada when we’re supposed to be on the ferry between NS and NF…)

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Culture of Fear: Poetry Professor Becomes Terror Suspect

Because of my recycling, the bomb squad came, then the state police. Because of my recycling, buildings were evacuated, classes were canceled, the campus was closed. No. Not because of my recycling. Because of my dark body. No. Not even that. Because of his fear. Because of the way he saw me. Because of the culture of fear, mistrust, hatred and suspicion that is carefully cultivated in the media, by the government, by people who claim to want to keep us “safe.”

Bruce Schneier has been collecting a bunch of these stories lately. His point is less about civil liberties, though. If police and emergency services are kept this busy chasing false alarms, it’s that much easier for the real criminals to slip past unnoticed…

I’ve linked to some of his recent entries:

• A Rant From a Cop
• Stage Weapons Banned
• How Australian Authorities Respond to Potential Terrorists
• Another Boston Terrorism Overreaction

ConsumerReports.org – Infant car seats 2/07: Safety alert, European models, Ratings

You’d think that in a car crash, infants in their cozy car seats would be the most protected passengers of all. But you’d be wrong, our tests reveal.

Cars and car seats can’t be sold unless they can withstand a 30-mph frontal crash. But most cars are also tested in a 35-mph frontal crash and in a 38-mph side crash. Car seats aren’t.

When we crash-tested infant car seats at the higher speeds vehicles routinely withstand, most failed disastrously. The car seats twisted violently or flew off their bases, in one case hurling a test dummy 30 feet across the lab.

I’ve been trying to write a rant on the topic, but can’t seem to get it organized. The fundamental issue for me is that:

- government officials don’t want to scare consumers, so publicly refuse to admit there are any problems.
- manufacturers slip through the cracks, doing the minimum possible to develop and sell products.
- both parties seem more interested in the appearance of safety than in actual risk analysis.

I do not believe that consumers are served by this process, but I’m at a loss to suggest alternatives…

Update 2007/01/21: The whole point is apparently moot:

CONSUMER REPORTS WITHDRAWS INFANT CAR SEAT REPORT

We withdrew the report immediately upon discovering a substantive issue that may have affected the original test results. The issue came to light based on new information received Tuesday night and Wednesday morning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concerning the speed at which our side-impact tests were conducted.

I’m tired of September 11th – me too.

TheStar.com – Cape Breton joins space race

They’re building a private launch facility in Cape Breton, launches planned by 2009 or 2010.

I wonder if they need any network security people? :-)

Kung Fu Monkey- “Wait, Aren’t You Scared?”

Errr, no. And if you are, you frankly should be a little goddam embarrassed.

marvel as cool, well-trained, ruthless law-enforcement professionals — who spent decades honing their craft chasing my IRA cousins — execute their job magnificently.

Schneier on Security- Last Week’s Terrorism Arrests

None of the airplane security measures implemented because of 9/11 — no-fly lists, secondary screening, prohibitions against pocket knives and corkscrews — had anything to do with last week’s arrests. And they wouldn’t have prevented the planned attacks, had the terrorists not been arrested. A national ID card wouldn’t have made a difference, either.

Instead, the arrests are a victory for old-fashioned intelligence and investigation.

Schneier can be a bit heavy-handed with his analyses, but I don’t think he’s wrong…

globeandmail.com – The $2-million comma

This agreement shall be effective from the date it is made and shall continue in force for a period of five (5) years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five (5) year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.

From a contract between Rogers Communications Inc. and Aliant Inc. for the placement of cable lines in Eastern Canada. Aliant cancelled the initial 5 year term in 2005 after only 3 years. The cancellation will force Rogers to pay an extra $2.13 million to use utility poles. The placement of the second comma in the sentence above permitted the contract’s cancellation, to the surprise of Rogers.

(via the Quotation of the Day mailing list)

I love thunderstorms…

In case anyone is wondering, my brain has left for vacation in Greenland, or Iceland, or somewhere else not-as-damned-hot-as-Toronto.

It turns out that we didn’t quite set a temperature record yesterday; we missed by 1/10th of a degree. But as they’ve been commenting on the news, we may have set a new record for the highest low temperature; on Monday night the temperature dropped to 27°C at about midnight and then stayed there until morning, never dropping further. Last night we had the same thing; the low temperature was 27°C, but again it stayed that temperature most of the night.

It was ~30°C in the house. We all slept (fitfully) in the basement last night.

I’ll be one of the many happy people when the cold front comes through tonight/tomorrow (update: now? the temperature just dropped 4°C between 3PM and 4PM…).

globeandmail.com : Alienation at home, criticism from abroad

I don’t think John Hostettler’s comments have anything to do with terrorism.

What I don’t understand is the actual reason he and his buddies want to close the Canada – U.S. border.

Can either of my readers enlighten me?

Update: There is one simple explanation floating around. Some factions within the US want to close the southern borders (both Mexico and Carribean), without creating the perception that they are singling out those borders for special treatment. For that to work, they have to close the Canadian border too.

Also, this is an election year, and politicians are experts at playing on irrational fears…

I got the long census form! I got the long census form!

(I love filling out forms; it’s a weakness :-)

feint and attack; move and countermove. The escalation is constant.

Steel armor meant the end of bows and crossbows. Firearms that could punch through armour made it useless as a defense, since armor only made the soldier slow and uncoordinated; a sitting duck. A close formation of infantry firing volleys by the numbers was unstoppable, until the devasation of the machine gun spelled their demise. Kevlar armor influenced the development of armor-piercing rounds (which, incidentally, are less deadly because they tend to go through their targets).

Technology is no different:

• Many modern computer viruses and trojans are capable of automatically disabling anti-virus software.

• Carjackings are on the rise, not because criminals necessarily like violent crime, but because with modern auto security systems it’s the only way to steal the car.

• In Denmark, criminals are breaking into stores and ransacking them; not because they like trashing stores, but because they can install ATM card-skimming hardware while everyone is distracted.

• In the Netherlands, they’re less subtle; they simply blow up the ATM and scoop the cash as it flutters down. (Kind of reminds me of the back-hoe technique of driving up and scooping the ATM out of the wall :).

Plus ca change, plus le meme chose.