Vom Klickdieb...

Bis die Technik von Robert Hansen und Jeremiah Grossman näher untersucht wurde, wurde sie vor allem mit Manipulation von Umfragen in Verbindung gebracht. Die Analyse brachte jedoch zu Tage, dass solche Angriffe weitaus gefährlicher sind, als bisher angenommen - Scheinbar sind die Informationen darüber so brisant, dass Adobe die Forscher bat, den angekündigten Vortrag OWASP-Konferenz zurückzuziehen - was sie am Ende auch taten.

...zum Spion

Nun hat aber Guy Aharonovsky ein Proof-of-Concept einer solchen Attacke veröffentlicht. Seine Demo-Seite simuliert ein JavaScript-basiertes Klickspiel (bei dem es - angeblich - darum geht, möglichst viele Buttons in möglichst kurzer Zeit anzuklicken). Im Hintergrund wird die Seite
http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager06.html
geladen - das Privacy-Tab des Flash-Einstellungsmanagers. Durch Mischung von wirklich sinnlosen `Spielklicks` und Klicks, die im unterliegenden IFRAME mit der Flash-Einstellungsseite Aktionen auslösen, wird schlussendlich erreicht, dass der (in diesem Fall hoffentlich nicht ahnungslose) Benutzer für die Domain in den Webcam- und Mikrofonenstellugen das `immer zulassen`-Flag setzt. Die im ursprünglichen Proof-of-Concept gezeigte Schwachstelle wurde durch Macromedia soweit behoben, als dass das Einbinden der obigen Seite in einen IFRAME durch einen JavaScript-Hack verhindert wird. Dies hindert einen Angreifer jedoch nicht daran, direkt die Flash-Datei
http://www.macromedia.com/support/flashplayer/sys/settingsmanager.swf?defaultTab=privacy
in den IFRAME zu laden. Ein entsprechend gepatchtes PoC findet sich hier.

Und nun?

Es dürfte nun klar sein, dass die Gefahren, die von einem Benutzer ausgehen, der gutgläubig da klickt, wo es ihm eine bestimmte Webseite vorgibt, nicht zu unterschätzen sind. Wie kann man sich schützen? Schutz verspricht die Firefox-Erweiterung Noscript seit Version 1.8.2 - aus dem Changelog:

New "ClearClick" protection, specifically addressing Clickjacking, Clickjacket and other UI-redressing vulnerabilities: UI interaction with embedded objects is disabled if they're obstructed or not clearly visible (thanks Sirdarckcat, RSnake, Michal Zalewski and Matt Mastracci for inspiration and discussion)

In den folgenden Versionen wurde der `ClearClick` genannte Algorithmus weiter verbessert.
Eine weitere Lösung bestünde natürlich darin, sich zu überlegen, welche Webseiten man besuchen will und welche nicht - und darin, JavaScript, Flash und ähnliche Spielereien nur dort zu aktivieren, wo man sie auch braucht...

As an adolescent I was an avid reader of books warning about the threat of loss of our precious freedoms. Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Atlas Shrugged and Animal Farm are ones that I remember especially well.

This summer the release a well-reviewed novel (already chosen for the book-of-the-month) by a first author on an important topic was stopped by a small religious minority in the U.S. I don't know what is more frightening:

1. That a small religious minority in the US was able to strike fear in a publisher and then the author, or
2. That the US press gave the censorship such little notice.

Here is the bland announcement from the cowardly publisher:

http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/medinaletter.html

“This is the way the way the world ends               

Not with a bang but a whimper.”

Zebrałem zasób danych naukowych, które przekonały mnie, że życie ludzkie zaczyna się od poczęcia, zapłodnienia, i od tego momentu poczęta osoba jest istotą ludzką. Nie ma żadnego miejsca w macicy, w którym mogłoby dojść do zamiany czegoś, co nie jest osobą, w osobę. Nie ma żadnej nagłej zmiany w czasie rozwoju wewnątrzmacicznego i dlatego życie jest nieprzerwanym ciągiem od swojego początku aż do końca. Płód ludzki jest człowiekiem bezbronnym i delikatnym, dlatego musi być chroniony. Zrozumiałem, że życie to nie tylko materia, i że nie my jesteśmy szafarzami życia. W 1979 r. publicznie oświadczyłem, że zmieniłem moje poglądy odnośnie do aborcji i jestem za obroną życia nie narodzonych. Zacząłem o tym pisać i mówić na wykładach, że naszym obowiązkiem jest poszanowanie każdej formy życia. Moja zmiana poglądów stała się do tego stopnia niebezpieczna dla ludzi związanych z przemysłem aborcyjnym i pornograficznym, że grożono mi śmiercią. W 1984 r. szczególnie zainteresowało mnie, co naprawdę dzieje się podczas aborcji. Dotąd nigdy tego nie badaliśmy. Namówiłem swojego kolegę, aby włączył ultrasonograf i przyłożył do brzucha kobiety abortowanej. Nagraliśmy to na wideo. Byliśmy przerażeni. Dzięki ultrasonograficznej dokumentacji mogłem zobaczyć, jak rączki i nóżki dziecka są wyrywane przez maszynę ssącą, jak pęka jama brzuszna, jak organy są wysysane na zewnątrz, jak czaszka jest miażdżona przez specjalny instrument. Był to dla mnie prawdziwy szok. Mój przyjaciel, który pracował w wielu klinikach, wykonując 30-40 aborcji dziennie, po zobaczeniu tych taśm nie zrobił już ani jednego "zabiegu". Wykorzystaliśmy część taśm, aby nakręcić film, który nazwałem "Niemy krzyk". Siły proaborcyjne bardzo go zwalczały i oskarżały nas o manipulację. Zarzuty te zostały uznane za bezpodstawne przez samego twórcę USG, dr l. N. Donalda, który stwierdził, że "Niemy krzyk" jest prawdziwym dokumentem aborcji trzymiesięcznego dziecka. W 1987 r. zainteresowało mnie, co się dzieje podczas tzw. "późnej aborcji", tzn. po 5 miesiącach od poczęcia. Znowu namówiłem lekarza do sfilmowania aborcji przy użyciu fitoskopu - optycznego instrumentu, który z jednej strony ma obiektyw i źródło światła, a z drugiej strony okular. Wprowadził fitoskop do łona kobiety w piątym miesiącu ciąży, umieścił kamerę na drugim końcu i sfilmował aborcję poprzez to urządzenie. Na filmie widać makabryczną scenę rozdzierania płodu na kawałki. Film ten nosi tytuł "Zaćmienie umysłu". Kiedy po raz pierwszy pokazywany był w Paryżu, wywołał tak wielkie wrażenie na widowni, że jeden z lekarzy zwymiotował i zemdlał. Film został pięciokrotnie nagrodzony na festiwalach filmowych. W dziedzinie filmów dokumentalnych byt nominowany do Oscara. Sfilmowaliśmy także tzw. "aborcję przez częściowy poród". Jest to procedura wykonywana w 26-28 tygodniu ciąży, gdzie pęcherz płodowy jest przerwany, nóżki płodu są wyciągane za zewnątrz i płód jest cały urodzony tylko główka jest wewnątrz. Ponieważ główka jest za duża - a celem procesu jest zabicie dziecka, więc ostre urządzenie ssące jest przykładane do jego główki i wbite w mózg. Mózg jest wessany, czaszka zapada się i wtedy można wyjąć płód już martwy. Była bardzo ostra dyskusja w Kongresie USA na temat tej procedury. Kongres głosował za tym, by zdelegalizować to barbarzyństwo, ale prezydent Clinton zawetował ustawę (...) Stwierdziłem, że w żaden sposób nie można usprawiedliwić aborcji, ponieważ płód żyjący w matczynym łonie jest istotą ludzką, i nie wolno prowadzić dalej barbarzyńskiej wojny przeciwko najbardziej bezbronnym i niewinnym z nas. Moje badania naukowe pokazują, jak wielkie znaczenie dla człowieka ma pierwsze 9 miesięcy życia w łonie matki. Jest to najważniejszy okres w życiu człowieka. Rozwijają się wtedy nasze organy, pojawiają się pierwsze reakcje zmysłowe, np. reakcja na muzykę. Jest to czas uczenia się i formowania samego siebie. Przerwanie ludzkiego życia w tym stadium rozwoju to coś niewybaczalnego, niedopuszczalnego, niemoralnego. To zbrodnia. Dane naukowe są jasne i bezdyskusyjne. Obserwując rozwój płodu nie można mieć wątpliwości, że jest to członek ludzkiej społeczności. Każdy z nas byt kiedyś w tonie matki. Nauka wykazuje, że pierwsze 9 miesięcy w tonie matki jest częścią całej wstęgi życia, która zaczyna się w momencie poczęcia i kończy śmiercią. Te pierwsze miesiące są niezbędne i muszą być respektowane tak, jak okres niemowlęcy, dziecięcy, dorastanie, wiek dojrzały i starość. Sądzę, że zezwolenie na przerywanie ciąży oznacza planowe niszczenie tego, co z całą pewnością jest życiem człowieka. Sądzę także, że jest to nie dający się niczym usprawiedliwić akt barbarzyństwa. Haniebnym przyjęciem wyższości siły nad racją. Jako naukowiec wiem - nie sądzę, lecz wiem - że życie człowieka zaczyna się od poczęcia. Jeśli w tej sprawie mielibyśmy nie mieć dość odwagi, mielibyśmy zawieść, zwlekać lub być niepewnymi, jeżeli mielibyśmy stracić choćby chwilę, historia nigdy nam nie wybaczy. (...) Z medycznego punktu widzenia nie ma żadnych przesłanek usprawiedliwiających dokonanie aborcji. Poziom medycyny jest obecnie tak wysoki, że każdą kobietę jesteśmy w stanie przeprowadzić bezpiecznie przez okres ciąży. A kiedy jest naprawdę chora, to właśnie aborcja może ją zabić. Dla wszystkich światłych i uczciwych lekarzy jest jasne, że nie ma żadnych przesłanek pozwalających na dokonanie aborcji. Obrona życia nie narodzonych jest więc naturalnym odruchem ludzkiej solidarności. Z medycznego punktu widzenia aborcja jest wielkim zagrożeniem dla życia kobiety. To właśnie jej grozi śmierć w wyniku krwotoku, przebicia macicy, infekcji. Naraża się na utratę płodności, samoistne poronienia i inne niebezpieczeństwa. Gdyby lekarze mówili o skutkach aborcji, na pewno bardzo mało kobiet decydowałoby się na nią. Np. kobiety, które dokonały aborcji, są bardzo narażone na raka piersi. Badania naukowe pokazują, że aborcja nie tylko niszczy dziecko, ale pozostawia silne ślady w psychice kobiety, jej partnera, a także na lekarzu i pielęgniarce. [tzw. "syndrom poaborcyjny" - przyp. T.K.] Aborcja ma swój destruktywny wpływ na osobowość dokonujących ją lekarzy. Lekarze ci tracą szacunek dla swoich pacjentów, stają się niedbali, niesumienni, wzrasta w nich agresja, wielu zaczyna nadużywać alkoholu, zażywać narkotyki. Mogłem to zaobserwować w mojej klinice nowojorskiej. Nie zdarzyło się, aby któryś z lekarzy był zatrudniony dłużej niż 3 miesiące. Były przypadki molestowania seksualnego pacjentek, a także związków homoseksualnych. (...) Kiedy wykonywałem praktykę lekarską płaciłem 100 tyś. dolarów za ubezpieczenie od oskarżeń ze strony pacjentów. Doprowadzało to do stanu, w którym pacjenci i lekarze stawali się wrogami, tracąc wzajemne zaufanie. Nieuczciwi ludzie robią na aborcji ogromne pieniądze. Tkanki dzieci abortowanych są sprzedawane jako materiał do produkcji kosmetyków lub lekarstw. Niektórzy naukowcy, poprzez manipulacje genetyczne, chcą stworzyć gatunek "podludzi" do wykonywania brudnej roboty. Po 23 latach od wprowadzenia w życie ustawy aborcyjnej w USA etyka lekarska została tak wykoślawiona, że ludzie idący do szpitala nie są pewni, czy lekarz będzie chciał ich leczyć, czy zabić.

Za: http://www.aborcja.strony.pl/html/autorytety.html.

1. Examine the images in the archive footage shown in the opening moments of the film and discuss how these images prepare the audience for the story. How does the film present the people who watch the footage at the very beginning of the film?
2. Examine the following settings in the film and discuss how they all contribute to our understanding of the issues the film is dealing with: Winston’s apartment, Winston’s office, the cafeteria.
3. What do you think about the physical features of Winston? What could they signify?
4. Where does Winston work? What does his job involve? What is the significance of this in the story?
5. What is the significance of Winston’s diary? Why does he describe himself as a dead man in the early moments of the film?
6. Comment on the following quotes in relation to the concept of Newspeak: a) “It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words”. b) “Doubleplus good.”
7. What is the significance of the Chestnut Tree Café in the film?
8. Who is Mr. Charrington? What does his antique shop mean to Winston?
9. What is the significance of Winston’s dream?
10. Comment on the Party’s perception of children in relation to the children’s song heard during Winston’s train journey before he met Julia: “We are the children / Builders of the future / And we the children swear to thee / Loyal emotion, fearless devotion / And to die with dignity”
11. What does the Golden Country where Winston and Julia secretly meet represent in the film? How does it differ from the earlier settings in the film?
12. Comment on the Party’s perception of “orgasm” in relation to Winston’s following words: “I hate purity. I hate goodness. I don’t want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone corrupt.”
13. Comment on the following quote from the film: “Freedom is the freedom to say two plus two equals four.”
14. What do Big Brother, O’Brien and Goldstein stand for in the story?
15. What is the function and significance of the Ministry of Love in the film? What is the significance of Room 101?
16. What are the definitions of “loyalty” and “betrayal” in the film? Identify quotes from the film and discuss these two concepts.
17. Draw a chart of hierarchical structure in Oceania and explain how this structure is maintained.
18. Identify the ways the media is used in Oceania and discuss its role. Can you think of any cases where mass media have been used in similar ways in your country? Discuss when, where and how.
19. Study the concepts of “utopia” and “dystopia” and discuss Orwell’s vision of the future in relation to these two concepts.
20. Identify what “satire” means and in what ways “Nineteen Eighty-Four” can be called a satirical film.
21. Michael Bradford’s film is based on George Orwell’s novel. What message(s) do you think Orwell wanted to convey through such a novel?

© Ali Nihat Eken, Istanbul, October 2008

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words--- (or, in Scott$dale's case, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year)

CameraFRAUD.com turned the tables this past Thursday in Scottsdale by bringing along a high-powered camera of our own. To the right is your typical ATS scam-van: illegally parked, engine running (wasting resources), and recording data about all passing vehicles.

On the left, you will see ATS van operator and fraud co-conspirator Daniel P. Coon... at least according to his open Dell laptop.

Also pictured on-screen: the van's location, vehicle count, measured 85th percentile, as well as system software's ironically-appropriate name: Axsis (click picture to enlarge).

For some strange reason, Mr. Coon didn't invite us into the van for afternoon tea and biscuits.

Instead, he tried to bundle himself up in the van by putting reflective material in the windows (pictured, right), and immediately got on his cell phone---presumably to call his supervisor at the Death Star to get new instructions.

If only there were some sort of law preventing high-powered cameras from taking photographs of unsuspecting people inside their vehicles... Oh, wait.

If only we can find that video of Joe Biden in a pink swimsuit and heels...

****
TRANSCRIPT:
Our nation teeters on the brink of financial collapse. Desperate, helpless, with so much potential, yet so close to a terrible, premature ending.

But there is a way to safety. A new war on financial collapse, to keep the serpent of economic ruin at bay.

You see, from the day you were born, we have taken care of you. Fed you when you were hungry. Awakened you from slumber. Vaccinated you against disease. Straightened your teeth when they were crooked.

We put you on the long conveyor belt of life, with all its wacky excitement and close camaraderie. We took such delicate, studious care to determine your path in life: who should work in the factory and who should become educated.

Theres never been a day we havent agonized over your well being. At times we appear fearsome, because of our wealth and might and power.

Yes, you may fear us at times, but wed never do anything to harm you. And now we need your help to fight this new dangerous war on economic collapse.

A perpetual bailout that will be necessary to keep the serpent at bay. You see, there will be more bailouts, they will be constant and ongoing. Financial collapse will never be more than days away.

So when we ask you again for more money, for more bailouts, you will be patriotic and support the bailouts.

Yes, we are wealthy, and yes the bailouts help us remain wealthy, but that is how the system works, and we will plunge into complete chaos otherwise.

We are at the edge of a precipice, still alive, still fighting, but if you dont support our perpetual bailout strategy, it will soon be too late.

There is a tipping point beyond which we can no longer rescue you, and then everything will go dark. So if you see the bailout plan as something hard to swallow, remember that our financial crisis is your fault.

You bought a house you cant afford, youve overused your credit cards, you go out to dinner when you should be home eating rice purchased with coupons clipped diligently from the Sunday paper.

Where were you when things were going wrong? You didnt say a word. Oh, but now youre upset about the bailout. The way an arsonist gets upset that his house has burned down.

Remember, its for your own good. You dont want the nation to turn into a chaotic police state, with the constitution suspended and the government resorting to unnecessary wars in order to rally support and retain power.

You must support perpetual bailout, or surely we all shall perish.

http://www.planetnetopia.com/videos/id_747/
Leading the world to Freedom

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1654117&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Ronald Reagan Secret Government 1984

My mom wanted to get an early start in Big Springs, Nebraska.  I've never been much of an early riser, and even in 1984 I was tough to wake up.  My mom was able to get me up and at 'em, and back to the eatery by the hotel where we had supper.  I'm pretty sure I had some kind of cereal there, and my mind tells me it was either Special K or Rice Krispies.  I'm not sure what my mom ate, but I'm guessing it consisted mostly of a cigarette and black coffee.  I don't remember much of what she ate on the trip at all, and that probably isn't too surprising.  What kids make a note of what their parents eat?  I was so very tired, and I didn't want to be up and at 'em at 5:30 AM.  My mom was eager to get going, and she told me I could sleep in the truck as we drove East.  So, I arranged the seat-belt in such a way that I could get some sleep.  I must have slept most of the morning, but it wasn't a restful sleep.  What seemed like every few seconds, a semi truck shot past us.  My mom isn't exactly a slow driver, but she's no lead-foot either.  For a few hours, I would sleep and occasionally open my eyes to watch a truck fly by, and usually gone before I could see what it was carrying or what was written on the side.  It was on that drive that I think I most wanted to be a truck driver.  They seemed to be moving so much faster than we were, and they had someplace to go that may have been totally new to them.  This drive was nothing new to me, as the rest of the way was already road I knew.  My wife hates the fact I'm always looking for new ways to go places, or that sometimes I want to take a bit of a scenic route.  She's all about getting from point to point quickly, where I like to see things I've never seen before on the drive.  That might be the topic for another blog another day.

I gave up trying to sleep around 9 AM or so, and not too long after that we rolled into North Platte.  I double checked the map, and told my mom what road we needed to get on to head North to South Dakota.  The drive North was a lot more scenic than the previous several hours on the Interstate.  I remember quite a few more trees popping up, and some twists in the road.  My mom's mood had changed slightly as well.  Rather than being worn down and pensive, she seemed happier and more focused on the destination.  Once we crossed into South Dakota, my navigation had its first challenge.

We drove North to Interstate 90, and then we had to drive Eastward again.  My mom was suddenly annoyed with me, as she thought we were much closer to Pierre than I had let on.  I insisted this is exactly the way my brother had taken us, and that Pierre wasn't that close to Nebraska (the town is practically in the middle of the state).  This back and forth went on for a few miles, until we hit the Pierre exit.  She thought that Pierre was going to be right off the exit, but we still had 30 miles of driving before then.  She was mad at me, but I insisted on pleading my case.  Eventually, she dropped it and said something to the effect of "well I just misunderstood you" or something like that.  30 miles of grassland and a few hills later, we pulled into Pierre, South Dakota once again, and I talked her into stopping at the Red Owl Superstore.

The Red Owl Superstore is one of my favorite places of all time to go to.  Some of my first memories of wide aisles of toys, Charles Schulz books on the shelf, and elevator rides were at the Red Owl Superstore in Pierre.  It seemed to have everything that Stavig's in Sisseton didn't, and it had an elevator, which gave me that big city feeling.  Every trip to Pierre when my brother lived there wound up at the Red Owl Superstore at some point.  I still have my die-cast Millennium Falcon that my parents bought me, along with a few Peanuts books.  The store is still there, but since Red Owl faded away it has become a store called Dakotamart.  I've been there a few times, and it's mostly the same.  It doesn't seem as impressive or magical anymore, but it still demands I go to it every time I'm in Pierre.

Anyway, back in September of 1984 I was in the Red Owl superstore, and I was looking for a new Star Wars figure.  I was all about Star Wars action figures then, but I should have seen the end of that hobby coming fast.  Jedi had been out for a year, and it wasn't the same since most of the bad guys were dead, and the rebels had won.  I didn't find any Star Wars figures, but I found something better.  Something I didn't know I wanted, but I knew I wanted it when i saw it.  There, on the shelf, were Optimus Prime and Megatron.  I'd seen a few commercials for this new Transformers line here and there, but I'd never seen them in a store, and they looked so freakin' cool it hurt.  I wanted both, but I couldn't have both.  It turned out that at twenty dollars a robot, my mom didn't have the resources to buy me either.  I was usually a pro at twisting my mom's arm into buying me toys, but she just didn't have the money.  I remember going back and looking at her, but her tired face kept telling me no, even though I knew deep down she wanted to say yes.  I wonder if she was thinking about the past month of uprooting ourselves only to try to replant ourselves back in Veblen after giving up on New Mexico.  Maybe I'm just assigning what I'd like to think she was thinking at the time.  I think a more realistic thought in her mind was "hurry up, I want to go home."  So, Optimus Prime and Megatron would have to wait to come home with me.  I'll never know what became of the two in Pierre, but I found mine in Wahpeton, North Dakota and Sisseton, South Dakota.  My mom was willing to buy me an action figure, since she had about five dollars to spare.  There were no Star Wars figures in stock, but there was one action figure of equal size left.  All alone, on the shelf by my mom, was Cobra Commander from the G.I. Joe line, in all his original chrome dome glory.  Anyone who knows me knows that while a big Transformer fan, I'm more a G.I. Joe fan.  I started my G.I. Joe collection about a year or so later, thanks to WGN showing "The Revenge of Cobra" and my luck in finding a Zartan figure.  I decided that I'd rather go home with nothing if I couldn't get Optimus or Megatron, so Cobra Commander didn't find a home that day.  I eventually found several Cobra Commanders for my collection, but no original ones until I got a lucky bid in on eBay about six years ago.

Looking back now, it is a bit odd that on my way back home, I had a chance to prematurely embrace the two toy and cartoon lines that I would be a fan of to this day, and that my enjoyment in making up stories for them would allow me to eventually make up stories for role playing games, which led me to making some of my best friends, which led me to come out of my shell more, which led me to take chances...which in a way led me to meeting my wife.  Maybe that's taking it a bit too far, but for the sake of making that trip to the Red Owl Superstore overly important, I'll say it isn't.

The drive from Pierre to Veblen was a total blur.  My mom and I were ready to put an end to this month long experiment.  I wanted to get back to my friends in school, and I'm sure my mom wanted to get back to her boyfriend (and soon my step-dad).  Our house was being looked after by a dear old friend, and I was already dealing with the fact I'd never see my cat again.  We took her out to a farm because she couldn't go with us, and she'd ran off sometime between us leaving and my mom deciding to come back.  Part of me wondered if anything in Veblen had changed, but nothing in Veblen ever changed back then.  We rolled into our old driveway, keyed into our old house, and decided to unpack the next day.  Just like that, we were back and like we had never left.  It was almost more like a vacation than a move, but it was no vacation.  It was an experience I'll never forget, but one I didn't think about much for a long time.

Now that I've recounted the journey to and from Farmington, New Mexico, there's the matter of what to do with this blog.  I'll work on that for the epilogue, as I hope to do one more blog about going back to school, and how things did change in the following weeks, months and years.  Plus, I'm hoping to find time to reread everything I've posted in the last few months, and figure out how to bring this story to a proper close.

Mac Vs Pc

Hi,

Since I'm still on the right side of my twenties, I need not hide the fact that I'm going to be 24 in two weeks time. October 21, 1984 was the happy day I was born on. There was widespread unrest, killings and violence soon after I was born. Not because of the birth of the great me, but because former PM Indira Gandhi got killed around that time, as a result of communal violence.

My birthday also heralds the arrival of Diwali. As a toddler, my mother used to tell me the whole city of Chennai was celebrating my birthday with fireworks and sweets. The sweet fiction lasted till I was five years old; by then I had figured out it was Diwali people were celebrating, not my birthday. Still I always got terrible excited...Being a Christian kid was no deterrent to celebrating Diwali and bursting fire crackers. For the neighbourhood ragamuffin gang of kids - thats me and my friends, the order of the day was bursting crackers and bingeing on sweets. We also got to sample all the goodies, prepared by our mommas and aunties (we would of course have to reciprocate the gesture with cakes and biriyani during Christmas, just like our Muslim neighbours were expected to invite us over for dinner during the end of Ramzan).

For me Diwali, Christmas, Ramzan or Pongal celebrations were always pan-Indian and brought out the best of secular India. My family's faith in no way affected our whole-hearted celebration of these festivals.

And October is also the month of many holidays - Gandhi Jayanthi (the day that turns every Indian a teetotaller), Ayoodha Pooja, Vijaya Dasami and Diwali. Only once, Diwali fell on my birthday and I could not get decked up in ribbons & lacey dresses and show off at school. Wearing your birthday dress to school was an important event in the life of a school kid. Since you had to wear the school uniform the whole year round, wearing your colourful birthday dress made you the star of the day. Also most schools sing "Happy birthday" during the Assembly session after morning prayers. Many a times, I was the only one in the school celebrating my birthday on that day, so the whole school would sing "Happy Birthday to Rachel Chitra.." instead of "Happy Birthday dear children..." Gave a kid quite a high!

En el año 1948 George Orwell finalizó su novela 1984. Hoy, 60 años más tarde, este es el plano de situación de la casa que Orwell habitó en Londres. El Big Brother mucho abarca y mucho aprieta. Visto en BoingBoing.

Algunas interesantes cuestiones sobre los "beneficios" de la videovigilancia: Stop Big Brother State (vídeo subtitulado en castellano).

Ver lo que tenemos delante de nuestras narices requiere una lucha constante.

George Orwell

Visualise a graph of boom and bust, let's call (a) the boom period, i.e. the length of time between the last bust and the current bust. And let's call (b) the amplitude of the boom.

If that time is longer, the economy is going to fall a lot harder. Multiply that by the fact that, after a certain amount of boom-time, Stupid Banker People's memories start fading, and they can no longer remember the bust, therefore throwing caution to the wind and increasing the risk of their investments - thus making the boom (b) far greater. When the boom is greater, and the boom period is greater, the resultant combination can cause exponential consequences. I say "exponential", but it's not true is it? The global economy will mend.

It's really obvious if you think about it that way. Bottoms ALWAYS fall out of things. (Obviously I have a PhD in hindsight - like everyone else in the world - which is why I feel okay about framing it like this.)

I'm not sure why everyone wants an explanation.

Scarily ignorant prole on the street interviewed by BBC News 24 #1: "why should we pick up the bill for those banker people, they got themselves into the mess, why should OUR money bail them out? it's got nothing to do with us."

Scarily ignorant prole on the street interviewed by BBC News 24 #2: "I think it's a disgrace, this money should go to the national health service, or something that really needs it".

Scarily disingenuous bastard of an opposition political leader interviewed by BBC News 24 #1: "the current Prime Minister is responsible, this will be known as the "Brown Bust Era"" (true story).

How depressing.

One thing in common though: nobody wants to blame themselves.

I personally find it strangely reassuring that the economy has taken an enormous battering, and major corporations are dropping like flies. I do genuinely hope any readers don't misunderstand my point here: I've no desire to see anyone suffer, be they disgustingly rich or pathetically poor, or the punters in between. Nor do I take pleasure in seeing fine upstanding historic financial institutions going under - I find it sad. Nor do I take pleasure in capitalism itself failing, per se.

The reason I find it reassuring is that, well, humanity is so greedy and destitute that I'm surprised we haven't seen much worse to date. I'm thinking Gotham City here: widespread corruption and the rule of crime. Or an Orwellian state.

It's just that it brings me back to what I know, what I learnt at primary school, the lessons of those GCSE readings of Lord of the Flies, the words of responsible adults who taught sensible things to me when I was young, generic sayings such as "it never pays to be greedy". It's the order of things that I was brought up knowing. Capitalism works, when people are relentlessly called to account.

I'm sure this is all no good to those who have to go into work for 20 hours per day, or who have no work to go into, or whose small enterprise - their lifelong dream - had to declare bankruptcy because their bank was Icelandic. Or whose American fixed rate mortgage is up for renewal. Or whose job is on the line because a decision they made 5 years ago to invest their local council's funds in a folded bank has come back to haunt them.

I'm sure it's no good to them what I am saying, some glib remarkster on the internet spouting righteous pap.

Honestly, I'm not like that. I'm not a righteous judgemental type. But frankly, you'll all burn in hell.

(Joke)

No, I'm sure none of this comment is of use. But it should be.

Why? Because you watch Big Brother, the television show, without shuddering. You should be shuddering at the echoes of what is implied by that book. You shouldn't find Big Brother a funny television programme to watch. That's like wearing a poppy on November 11 and finding the whole thing a bit quaint.

And you shouldn't go along with the media and laugh at the heroics of David Davis when he puts his job on the line for fundamental human freedoms.

I agree, it made no difference. But what the hell is the world coming to, when we simply refuse to accept a politician is doing a job because he believes in it? We whinge about how we are increasingly disaffected by politics, because politicians keep lying to us, yet when one stands up for something he truly believes in and makes an exceptionally eloquent case for his cause, we laugh him down?

I sit in my little room sometimes wondering if people have lost their minds. Are you serious you don't mind living in a surveillance state? Are you serious you wouldn't mind being locked up for 42 days without knowing why, how, what, who? Where your family is, what they are thinking? What you'll do when you get out, if you get out, will you ever be able to work again? What happened to your job? If your life insurance has been invalidated?

Of course not - because it doesn't affect you. Because you didn't do anything wrong and it wouldn't happen. Of course.

Just like it didn't affect you that our financial markets weren't regulated quite heavily enough.

It will.

And sadly the anti-terror laws have already been used against innocent people. And they wrecks lives.

The frustrating thing for me is that there is a lesson to be learnt in everything, but people don't want to learn it. Again, reader, perhaps you think this comes across as a little moralistic, but if the sudden unprecedented collapse of the global economy with no apparent warning can't teach you something about allowing the manmade institution of government to go unchecked - that is, government who have much more power over us than corporations - then what can?

It should be very obvious that humans, when left to their own devices, when not called to account, become greedier for power and money. Given power and money are fundamental necessities in society, at least the way we do it now, it makes sense that we continue towards a goal of increasing regulation. This can be seen as working towards the epitome of societal sophistication.

I guess what I'm coming to, albeit in a meandering and somewhat streams-of-consciousness kind of way, is that I am a fan of regulation. Regarding our financial system, I think we Brits had it almost right, actually. Perhaps a little tightening of existing financial law, and a whole lot more power to the executive regulatory bodies, and we'd be pretty good. Wait, did I mention using our combined non-transatlantic relations to put an immense amount of pressure on the American government to reform political financial policy across the water? Yes - that would be the only other thing we could do.

End.

(Note, this little diatribe started off as a rant against American people, it went something like this:

"Wow. There seems to have galvanised an enormous amount of hatred for Sen. Barack Obama within the last week. It's incredible how gullible people* can be with a little negative political marketing."

* I had to stop myself saying "The Americans", because sadly it's true of the stupid Brits as well.)

Naomi Wolf
AlterNet
Thursday, October 9, 2008

Background: the First Brigade of the Third Infantry Division, three to four thousand soldiers, has been deployed in the United States as of October 1. Their stated mission is the form of crowd control they practiced in Iraq, subduing “unruly individuals,” and the management of a national emergency. I am in Seattle and heard from the brother of one of the soldiers that they are engaged in exercises now. Amy Goodman reported that an Army spokesperson confirmed that they will have access to lethal and non lethal crowd control technologies and tanks.

George Bush struck down Posse Comitatus, thus making it legal for military to patrol the U.S. He has also legally established that in the “War on Terror,” the U.S. is at war around the globe and thus the whole world is a battlefield. Thus the U.S. is also a battlefield.

He also led change to the 1807 Insurrection Act to give him far broader powers in the event of a loosely defined “insurrection” or many other “conditions” he has the power to identify. The Constitution allows the suspension of habeas corpus — habeas corpus prevents us from being seized by the state and held without trial — in the event of an “insurrection.” With his own army force now, his power to call a group of protesters or angry voters “insurgents” staging an “insurrection” is strengthened.

U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman of California said to Congress, captured on C-Span and viewable on YouTube, that individual members of the House were threatened with martial law within a week if they did not pass the bailout bill:

“The only way they can pass this bill is by creating and sustaining a panic atmosphere. … Many of us were told in private conversations that if we voted against this bill on Monday that the sky would fall, the market would drop two or three thousand points the first day and a couple of thousand on the second day, and a few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no.”

If this is true and Rep. Sherman is not delusional, I ask you to consider that if they are willing to threaten martial law now, it is foolish to assume they will never use that threat again. It is also foolish to trust in an orderly election process to resolve this threat. And why deploy the First Brigade? One thing the deployment accomplishes is to put teeth into such a threat.

I interviewed Vietnam veteran, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and patriot David Antoon for clarification:

“If the President directed the First Brigade to arrest Congress, what could stop him?”

“Nothing. Their only recourse is to cut off funding. The Congress would be at the mercy of military leaders to go to them and ask them not to obey illegal orders.”

“But these orders are now legal?’”

“Correct.”

“If the President directs the First Brigade to arrest a bunch of voters, what would stop him?”

“Nothing. It would end up in courts but the action would have been taken.”

“If the President directs the First Brigade to kill civilians, what would stop him?”

“Nothing.”

“What would prevent him from sending the First Brigade to arrest the editor of the Washington Post?”

“Nothing. He could do what he did in Iraq — send a tank down a street in Washington and fire a shell into the Washington Post as they did into Al Jazeera, and claim they were firing at something else.”

“What happens to members of the First Brigade who refuse to take up arms against U.S. citizens?”

“They’d probably be treated as deserters as in Iraq: arrested, detained and facing five years in prison. In Iraq a study by Ann Wright shows that deserters — reservists who refused to go back to Iraq — got longer sentences than war criminals.”

“Does Congress have any military of their own?”

“No. Congress has no direct control of any military units. The Governors have the National Guard but they report to the President in an emergency that he declares.”

“Who can arrest the President?”

“The Attorney General can arrest the President after he leaves or after impeachment.”

[Note: Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi has asserted it is possible for District Attorneys around the country to charge President Bush with murder if they represent districts where one or more military members who have been killed in Iraq formerly resided.]

“Given the danger do you advocate impeachment?”

“Yes. President Bush struck down Posse Comitatus — which has prevented, with a penalty of two years in prison, U.S. leaders since after the Civil War from sending military forces into our streets — with a ’signing statement.’ He should be impeached immediately in a bipartisan process to prevent the use of military forces and mercenary forces against U.S. citizens”

“Should Americans call on senior leaders in the Military to break publicly with this action and call on their own men and women to disobey these orders?”

“Every senior military officer’s loyalty should ultimately be to the Constitution. Every officer should publicly break with any illegal order, even from the President.”

“But if these are now legal. If they say, ‘Don’t obey the Commander in Chief,’ what happens to the military?”

“Perhaps they would be arrested and prosecuted as those who refuse to participate in the current illegal war. That’s what would be considered a coup.”

“But it’s a coup already.”

“Yes.”

A Dice, desenvolvedora da famosa série Battlefield, apresentou melhor ao mundo na recente edição da E3, nos Estados Unidos, o que claramente pretende ser uma revolução no modo de encarar os jogos em primeira pessoa: Mirror's Edge, que chega para PC, PS3 e Xbox 360, com produção da EA, agora em Novembro, na plataforma Unreal Engine 3, que garante qualidade visual.

Apesar da premissa oferecida pelo jogo, que é ação em primeira pessoa não focada em armas de fogo, não ser totalmente inovadora ( já que outros títulos de peso como Elder Scrools IV: Oblivion e Breakdown oferecerem uma jogabilidade em primeira pessoa não completamente apoiada em armas de fogo, que incapacitam a definição FPS [First Person Shooting]) a Dice recentemente revelou informações que levam a crer que o jogo pode sim se tornar um clássico instantâneo em um momento que jogos originais estão fazendo falta. Entenda a seguir.

Os produtores queriam fazer o que eles chamavam de "Le Parkour em primeira pessoa". Para os mais desinformados, a atividade, inventada na frança por David Belle, consiste em chegar de um ponto a outro de maneira mais rápida e eficaz, transpondo todo tipo de obstáculos.

Na pele de Faith (que emportuguês significa Fé) uma “cocota” oriental de curvas sinuosas, look pós-moderno e integrante de uma organização chamada “Runners” (em alusão ao free runing, que também é sinônimo de Le Parkour) você literalmente corre contra o tempo e adversidades do cenário. Isso envolve também tomar decisões contra inimigos armados até os dentes, dos quais você pode simplesmente correr ou encarar de frente. Tudo isso acontecem em uma cidade dominada por um controle autoritário que monitora a tudo e todos, em troca de uma “cidade perfeita” para seus habitantes.

Faith corre justamente para enfrentar esse controle, circular informações de forma clandestina e paralelamente desvendar o mistério que envolve a acusação de sua irmã por um assassinato que ela alega não ter cometido. Rhianna Pratchet, que escreveu o enredo do jogo, afirmou que sua intenção era presentear os jogadores com "uma realidade em que as pessoas abriram mão de sua liberdade em troca de boas condições de vida". Se você já leu O admirável mundo novo, de Aldous Huxley, você se sentirá em casa, mas a proposta de mais de 70 anos, adaptada a um jogo, parece tentadora. Em contextos semelhantes como os do filme matrix Matrix e do livro 1984, de George Orwell, o desenrolar da história e seu desfecho não costumam ser felizes, o que sugere um possível final aberto e/ou trágico também para o jogo. Espero não ter dado spoilers.

Se não bastasse a história e ambientação do enredo o jogo promete fazer bonito na jogabilidade, dando ao jogador um campo de visão menos "claustrofóbico" em relação aos FPS convencionais, enfatizando a jogabilidade na corrida, saltos e desarmamentos, ao invés do combate, como costuma acontecer. Vendo as screenshots do jogo é possível notar alguns contadores de tempo e velocidade, que indicam que o jogo pretende ter um ritmo bem intenso. O produtor sênior do título, Owen O'Brien, disse que uma das inspirações da equipe foi o filme Corra Lola Corra, em que a protagonista passa a maior parte do tempo correndo contra o tempo.

O jogo ainda saiu da Games Convention, recentemente ocorrida em Leipzig, na Alemanha, com o prêmio de promessa mais original para o Xbox 360.

Se essa correria toda vai animar os jogadores, só saberemos no mês que vem.

Discuta esse artigo no Fórum Omega Geek

Invoking the Beyond is a 7 part radio interview series of the Collins Brothers (Paul and Phillip) being interviewed by Vyzygoth on predictive programming in culture. Done in 2007.

I have added relevant pictures to the interviews and condensed them into a three part video series. This is part 2of3.

Topics include: Rosemary's Baby, Lucifer Rising, The Exorcist, Angel Heart, Invader's from Mars, Oedipus, Clear and Present Danger, The Prisoner, Dune, HG Wells - The World Set Free, The Atomic Bomb, Truman, Roosevelt, "The Yellow Peril", Billington - Fire in the Minds of Men, Minute Men, Lost, Jericho, The Stand, The Sum of All Fears, 1984, Brave New World, They Live, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Omega Man, Soylent Green, Edward Bellamy - Looking Backward, Theodor Adorno, Flash Gordon, Bertrand Russell, Robert A Heinlein, Floyd Gibbons - The Red Napoleon, Robespierre, Roosevelt's New Deal, HG Wells- The Shape of Things to Come, New World Order, Heinlein's - The Day After Tomorrow and Starship Troopers, AQ Khan

[googlevideo=http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=392375417526299148&hl=nl]
If you are interested in obtaining the video in crisp quality then you could do through the corresponding bittorrent file, downloadable here.

From TheNewspaper.com:

The UK Commission for Integrated Transport last year proposed a nationwide blanket of speed cameras as a means of fighting global warming. After a series of trials, the Home Office is now set to make this a reality by approving early next year the SPECS3 "distance over time speed measuring device" that will make it impossible to drive on any primary road in Britain without being tracked and subjected to an instant fine for exceeding the posted speed limit.

With Arizona being the first to deploy a network of fixed and mobile cameras throughout the state, don't be surprised to see the cameras enhanced to measure speed over distance.