USS Clueless: Why I am relieved and afraid

In another of those marvelous political paradoxes, you're now going to see a lot more cooperation internationally. Denunciations will become rare and quiet, and offers of assistance and progressively more vocal support will appear. This is a critical political event for another reason: it will deflate those around the world, especially in Europe, who had still entertained the conceit that we actually cared what they said and that they could still influence the course of events by lecturing us. By its act of ignoring international criticism and obstruction today, Congress will actually encourage more international cooperation and less criticism and obstruction.

Because there is no requirement for a coalition, there's going to be one. But in practice it's going to be "invitation only", because there are a lot of nations out there whose presence in such a coalition would not be an asset. (Did I mention France?)

All of the rhetoric until now about "international law" and "alliances" and "treaties" and the UN were moves in a game. The purpose was to convince Congress to cripple Bush's hand in the diplomacy game, thereby giving other nations a stronger position to use against us, or to use for their own benefit. And just as with the UN, the leaders of various nations around the world will now know that they, too, can either be on the train or under it. Where before this vote it was in their own best interests to try to be as loud as possible in opposition, it will now be in their best interests to try to cooperate.

For there can be no doubt, none whatever, that Bush will use this authorization when military preparations are ready. As soon as the Senate passes this resolution, Saddam's days are numbered, and no one and nothing can save him.

And anyone who tries will now risk sharing his fate.

1:15:06 PM  comment []    

Is Linux Really More Secure Than Windows?

Ramen, Slapper, Scalper and Mighty may sound like Santa's new team of reindeer, but they are creatures far lower down the evolutionary ladder -- and much less welcome. These are worms that have infiltrated Linux servers in recent months, commandeering the servers for use in distributed denial-of-service attacks. Linux enthusiasts who once believed they were less vulnerable to attack than Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) users have begun to wonder whether they were overly optimistic.

All software has bugs. All systems are insecure in one way or another, either because of improper configuration, improper placement (e.g., server outside a firewall), or lax usage (e.g., root password written down). This story goes on to say that...

Mainframe operating systems, which have been perfected over decades, have very few security flaws. Security problems on mainframes tend to be caused by administrators' errors.

Wait a sec. Most mainframes aren't hanging off the Internet. It's hard to hack something you don't have access to!

via [H]

12:50:59 PM  comment []    

Switching Hosting

The ISP had a web interface that allowed me to create POP boxes on the halfmagic.com domain with a few clicks of a mouse. It handled forwards and autoresponse messages, and the like. But it was expensive: $25/month I feel less and less comfortable spending.

I was tempted by the Siren song of hosting the domain from home or moving it to a (much) cheaper alternative. With my blog domains, I can justify hosting them from home. After all, there's no business involved. Email's a bit tougher though. I still don't quite understand how to administer any of the alternatives that Debian provides (SendMail, Postfix, Exim, or a source-only Qmail). Plus, I don't have any redundancy. The server has run continually for the past 210 days, but that's probably more luck than art. But worst of all, I don't have a simple web interface for mail configuration. That's important.

So, I did a little bit of looking, but I decided that I would not go super-cheap. I wanted a hosting plan that gave me virutally unlimited POP boxes to use at my whim. (I've given mailboxes to several family members.) Those seemed very constrained at the < $10/mo. end. I decided to use Linuxwebhost.com. I used them to host Spruce Street School's website last fall and I've been rather pleased. They've got a nice web interface for email and other configuration stuff. No complaints. $11/month and I get 50 POP boxes to squander at my leisure. Assuming they remain stable, it will be a good choice. My current hosting contract runs out on the 17th. I'm going to try to do the switchover this weekend. Wish me luck!  

12:25:06 PM  comment []    

AZCentral: Tastebuds

The excitement level among spectators rose when Ruskell got out the heavy artillery. He fired up a propane blowtorch.

First, he made a lovely creme brulee, noting that the yolks should be whisked immediately with sugar to prevent little lumps. He was generous with the vanilla bean, calling it "my favorite fruit in the pastry shop."

In individual ramekins, the custard should fill the dishes as full as possible without slopping over the sides. After baking in a water bath and refrigeration, the little cups were filled to the top with sugar, and then shaken off, so only an even coating remained. The blowtorch was held close to the surface for only a couple of seconds, just enough to make the sugar turn brown.

The blowtorch is my newest kitchen toy. I lifted this recipe while watching the chef at Nell's restaurant. He sliced a peeled bannana lengthwise, making two C shaped halves. Lay them out on a stainless skillet with the flat side up. Sprinkle sugar on top (cover completely, but not too thickly). Fire up the torch. Run the torch over the sugar and keeping the flame in constant motion. First the sugar will ball up and melt clear, then it will smooth out over the surface and boil furiously when flamed. Keep the torch moving until the sugar is caramelized to a golden brown. It's OK, but not great form, to see some burning at the edges of the banana. It doesn't hurt the taste, but it can be disconcerting to see bannana flesh charred and glowing like an ember. Keep the torch moving.

When they're done -- only takes a minute or two, depending on your torch savviness -- scoop them out onto a plate and garnish with delectable sauces. I like Hershey's syrup. At Nell's, they used chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream, and drizzled a sweetened slurry of ground coffee beans and water.   

11:58:34 AM  comment []