Elvis & John

I've never been much into pop culture in spite of my immersion in it most of my life. It just seemed so pointless to spend all that time tracking the stars, buying the albums, going to the concerts. So much effort, so much money, so much time for so little of real significance.

Or maybe not. Despite my best efforts, the pop sunk in, became a part of me, although I only realize it infrequently, when a song sends tingles down my spine or brings tears to my eyes.

Today in 1977 Elvis died. His pop was a bit before my time. He was before another dave's time, too. But he writes about his realization of what Elvis' death in 1977 meant to his mother and so many people from the vantage point of another generation, from the vantage point of his anguish when John died.

Dave: your post made those tingles show themselves again. Imagine that.

4:43:20 PM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []  

Fear This

We live in interesting times. Since 9-11, the times have changed for everyone, and tech is no exception. Everyone's scrambling for a solution. Everyone's looking for security. Put forth the right product now and give it a bit of flag-waving security spin, and you could have a winner. So it is with Palladium , a product from a company with a bit of a reputation with respect to security.

Bruce Schneier offers a trusted outsider's view of Palladium. Among his observations:

When you think about a secure computer, the first question you should ask is: "Secure for whom?" [...] Microsoft really doesn't care about what you think; they care about what the RIAA and the MPAA think. Microsoft can't afford to have the media companies not make their content available on Microsoft platforms, and they will do what they can to accommodate them.

and

There's a lot of good stuff in Pd, and a lot I like about it. There's also a lot I don't like, and am scared of.

If he's scared, I'm scared!

Update: you're not scared? Consider Microsoft's lobbying to halt NSA efforts to develop secure versions of security-enhanced linux. According to this report by news.com,

Sources familiar with events said that aggressive Microsoft lobbying efforts have contributed to a halt on any further work. "Microsoft was worried that the NSA's releasing open-source software would compete with American proprietary software," said a source familiar with the complaints against the NSA who asked not to be identified.

Microsoft would not comment directly on its lobbying efforts, but did stress that it wanted to ensure the government continued to fund commercial ventures.

which led the NSA into back-peddling mode:

"We didn't fully understand the consequences of releasing software under the GPL (General Public License)," said Dick Schafer, deputy director of the NSA. "We received a lot of loud complaints regarding our efforts with SE Linux."

Their power extends well beyond the products they build. Who knew!?

10:59:32 AM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []  

Bye, Bye Legacy

Behind one set of stainless steel doors with ID card access control, thru another set of cipher-locked doors, they stood for years: NASA's Mission Operations Computers (MOCs). They were work workhorses of the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. Over the years, they were upgraded, and in recent years much of their functionality was migrated onto more modern systems. But one piece of their purpose -- trajectory calculations -- remained stubornly on those machines for years, in spite of several valiant efforts to modernize.

Now, according to a story on spaceref, we learn that the venerable MOC has been retired. Like any good technology modernization effort, it led to layoffs. (People are just too darned expensive to employ these days!)

This afternoon, in the large computer room on the first floor of the MCC that has been the home of the MOC from the early 1960's, a large crowd of Flight Controllers, Flight Directors, Engineers, Technicians, and management witnessed the final power down of the MOC. Missing from this event, unfortunately, were the computer operators and supervisors responsible for actually running the MOC.

They were laid off two weeks ago.

10:22:49 AM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []  

Sitting On A Park Bench

As night settled in he staked his claim. A warm summer breeze was blowing over the harbor. Flags fluttered from the just-lit lampposts. The lights of Federal Hill danced on the waves. Above him, leaves rustled in the trees.

He staked his claim on a park bench, sitting in the middle and leaning first to one side then the other. All his possessions were stowed in a green plastic bucket that sat on the pavement at his feet.

As darkness fell, he took stock of what the bucket held: a camouflaged jacket that he put on and another crumpled piece of clothing, three brown paper bags that he intently uncrumpled and slipped one inside the other, and a zip-lock bag of candy.

After he sat some time on the bench, chewing a piece of the candy, periodically winking at children walking by, smiling to no one, or talking to himself, he settled down for the night. He put his things back in the bucket except for a Tootsie Roll wrapper and a butterscotch. He stretched his long legs out in front of him and closed his eyes.

The wind blew thru his black, curly hair. The crowd on the promenade began to thin. Evening gave way to night. He slumped over to his right and fell asleep.

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The Inner Harbor in Baltimore
7:44:19 AM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []