Still haven't posted my encryption article - but until I do, here's one called "Crypto doesn't kill--people do" from CNet. Talks about some of the reasons - good and bad - why encryption is disliked by authorities.

Aside from that, I haven't really posted anything personal in a while. I just heard that the drummer in my band is having health probs, and pretty serious ones. Hmmm.

posted by Jeremy Smyth 10:13  |  

Thursday, September 27, 2001

I'm nearly ready to post my encryption article - but before that there are some bits of links and stuff I'd like to show you... first, talk about moving goalposts. Currently, at least up to today, a cracker (as opposed to hacker) who defaces a website is a criminal. Let's say someone puts a picture of themselves wearing nothing but the US flag on the US government website as a joke, they can be prosecuted for that currently, as a cracker. Well here's a good example of why reducing rights piecemeal shouldn't be allowed: an act is being introduced that will classify computer breakins as terrorism, in fact if I offer someone advice and they crack a website, I can receive a life sentence! Yet another reason to make use of your privacy rights — a communication that breaks no laws today (such as offering advice on security issues) may in 5 years time break some new law, and you can RETROACTIVELY (read the article!) be charged for that. (see this article for an example of a guy who accidentally came across a security flaw on a website, told his buddy about it, gave an example, and then told the owners of the website about the flaw so that they could fix it. A noble act which ended up getting him arrested and charged.)

OK, so they're against crackers and think they're a burden on society? Wrong. Yet again, the US displays a powerful command of hypocrisy, of moving the goalposts when it suits. Yes, they have a TV advertisement, a "Public Service Announcement" encouraging crackers to join the cause! Become one of us! they say. A spokesman for the campain is Vincent Cerf, called "the original geek and a hacker in the truest sense of the word" by the Executive Director of the campaign's main sponsor. I'm not sure what meaning of "hacker" he's using - see the cracker and hacker links above - but either sense is adequate here...

I think that's it for now. I'm busy eating popcorn taking a lunchbreak from being a teacher yet again. Oh joy...

posted by Jeremy Smyth 12:55  |  

Tuesday, September 25, 2001

As I look at the date of my last blog, I think that this time I am justified in leaving it so long before blogging. It's two weeks almost to the minute that I wrote about that Gary Moore concert, merely hours before that unspeakable act of terrorism changed our lives briefly

I can't begin to list the emotions I have felt in the last two weeks, but I can tell you of a drift, from shock and horror, to dread, to cynicism, to distaste, and to disbelief in the gullibility of the general people, and the skill of the propaganda machine in driving the people (I am including myself, before you think I'm being elitist!)

One of the biggest problems currently is that governments including the US and UK are introducing strict new laws that would previously have been considered "right-wing" and "radical", and are now sliding in with little resistance, largely due to the heightened emotions at this time. I'm currently working on a piece about encryption (will appear over on the left shortly), and how privacy is still considered a right, sort of.

Another shock to me was to find out about the huge amount of atrocities committed by the US government in the last twenty years, some resulting in the deaths - directly or indirectly - of many more innocent people than were killed on September 11th. And that I hadn't known about them. And that the vast majority of my peers globally hadn't known about them either.

The US is not alone in committing these government-sanctioned war crimes. Fintan O'Toole in the Irish times wrote this article where he talks of an "Economy of Outrage" - how an event as disgusting and shocking as that we witnessed over and over and over again on TV and in the newspapers, can be so powerful, yet is dwarfed in comparison to other even more shocking and devastating events that in hindsight only warranted second- or third-page articles in our national newspapers.

I could go on about the rhetoric of those who speak disparagingly of "moral relativism", who think that the perpetrators of this crime are simply "evil", who refuse to accept that they have any motives, who refuse to ask the question "why?", who fail to see the enormous weight of cultural destruction that pushes these terrorists to incredible efforts for their "cause", who don't even know what the cause is, beyond some bipolar idea that it is "evil" and designed to hurt the "good".

I could go on about the twisted language issued by the US state department and presidential script writers, percolating down to CNN and ABC anchors, mirrored by heads of state and puppet journalists the world over, talking of "freedom loving countries" and "civilization", as if to exclude all non-western sovereign states from those two descriptions.

I could go on. I will go on. But don't ask me to fight someone else's war without answering the question "why?", and trying to address the answer you give me.

posted by Jeremy Smyth 09:28  |  

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Ah, yes. Gary Moore last night. One of the best guitarists in the world, still going more than 20 years after his Thin Lizzy work. The man Steve Vai chooses as his favourite lead player (full disclosure: Steve Vai is my favourite lead player). He closed with Parisienne Walkways, one of those timeless classics that everyone knows, but few know who it's by. And it was an amazing rendition.
Having said that, I'm unlikely to go out and buy more of his stuff. Nothing more recent than say, 1990. Me, I'm a rock-o-phile, and although his brand of blues (texas and chicago, more chicago in my opinion) is seriously rocked up, give me the old days of "Out in the Fields", or "Over the Hills and Far Away", "After the War", and Lizzy.

Back to my ubiquitous links. Microsoft may not be completely off the hook after all... New York and California (link to news story here) are not content with the DOJ's loosening of the judicial chains, and are set to launch their own continuing suits. Let's see how far that gets. I've been wondering about the EU's stance on all this. If the US decides not to do anything about the monopoly issue, but Europe does, does that mean Microsoft cannot distribute in Europe before they make any necessary changes? Anyone who knows, put something on The Fridge (top right).

posted by Jeremy Smyth 09:35  |  

Monday, September 10, 2001

Ooops. If you're at all interested in freedom, copyright protections, innocent until proven guilty, etc., have a look at this. It's the mother of the DMCA, even if it's really the child of it. It's still a draft, i.e. not ready for shipping to government, and it's US, so it probably won't make it to the EU, but it's a nasty precedent. Article linked to here:New Copyright Bill Heading to DC

posted by Jeremy Smyth 13:25  |  

I haven't mentioned this before, but I'll link to this article - "Judicial Monitoring: the Bureaucrat Blinks, Privacy Wins" - it's referring to the fact that US Judges and their staff have been complaining that their PCs were being snooped on. That means their email, documents, and records of any websites they visited, were being tracked and monitored. They complained, and won. This was an important victory, because let's face it: if the judges must be monitored, what hope for the rest of us?

The North went well, thanks for asking. We were fine aside from one or two squeaks, getting lost and ending up in very very sectarian areas for 30 seconds or so. The Giant's Causeway (linked to here, here, here, and here) was beautiful. Don't tell anyone, but I stole a piece of it, and am going to polish it and bring it around with me.

Also, I am to become a Technical Consultant for a script. I have no further details yet, and will probably be sworn to secrecy until the release date, but I'll tell you what I can when I can.

posted by Jeremy Smyth 13:20  |  

Friday, September 07, 2001

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" has won the Hugo award. That's all.
posted by Jeremy Smyth 16:40  |  

Not necessarily the most up-to-date link I've ever posted, but here's a classic Eurosport Headline.
posted by Jeremy Smyth 12:58  |  

OK, it's been a week, but I have a good excuse. I think. First off, some stuff about Microsoft. The EU has launched a fresh probe into Microsoft, focussing on its dominance in the small server market. Before you turn your brain off at the mention of anything technical, that's just focussing on their sales of software to enable small to medium groups of people share files, printers, and the internet. Or even to power small websites. This investigation is nothing like the US one which was just holed below the waterline.

Also, I spent the first three days of this week in Microsoft, teaching them how to use one of their server products, ironically (ironic on two levels, as it happens - I'll leave you to figure that one. Oh, and for our american readers, irony is not the same as sarcasm, bad luck, or rain on a rainy day, a free ride when you've already paid, etc.) It's a lovely place, lovely facilities, lovely canteen, lovely people, odd training them though. A bit like talking to a wall, really. Albeit a wall with some very intelligent bricks. They just don't talk much. Another bizarre thing is that some of the attendees apparently knew more about the product in some ways than I did. Nevermind.

Finally went to see The Planet of the Apes this week. It's crap. Don't go. Bad story, bad dialogue, bad continuity, bad 2D characterisations, bad effects (pre-ST-TNG quality), improbable central ideas, etc. Call me a cynic, but if you're going to rely on technology for your story, either make it semi-accurate (e.g. Contact, Star Trek 1), or don't use many direct references to science (e.g. Alien, Pitch Black, etc.)

Oh, and some of you will have noticed the heavy news stories from Belfast this week. (note: links point to the top stories in the Irish Times from three diferent days this week) Well guess what? I'm going up North tomorrow, for the weekend. Yippee. I'm sure it won't be a problem, but my family aren't. Nor are some other friends. Oddly, the person I'm going to visit is totally nonplussed by the whole thing. Hmmmm.

posted by Jeremy Smyth 12:45  |