Happy 4th of July to you all.
Let us celebrate this most incredible of countries. This experiment, this Republic. Though she may seem imperfect, there is no better place to be, in the world.
Blue Tooth and Big Brother – festival survalence
This just in…
Bluetooth “Big Brother” tracks festival-goers
In a study looking for ways to develop data on concert goer activities:
“We have installed 36 bluetooth scanners across the site and along a few surrounding roads, as well as bus stops,” the university’s Nico Van de Weghe said on Friday of the project at the Werchter festival, northeast of Brussels this weekend.
Within a radius of 30 metres, the scanners track mobile phones equipped with bluetooth, a type of short-range wireless technology which allows different devices to connect with one another, often to transfer files.
How does that make your feel? Almost all modern phones have a geo-location capability built in that transmits location information to the cellular provider, allowing E-911 compliance. Some use bona fide GPS, others use tower triangulation. Simply, you are being tracked by your service provider, every moment your phone is on, within range of a tower. You may not also be aware that they can turn on the microphone, on your phone, and listen to conversations without our knowledge. Yes it sounds like the ranting of a paranoid lunatic, but you can veriy my veracity.
This is going to another level entirely. This is a 3rd party installing listening devices to identify (each BlueTooth node has and ESN/MAC that is unique to the device) and monitoring the comings and goings of various BlueTooth devices around the venue. Now, depending on how you have configured your phone’s BlueTooth (mine is OFF 24×7, always has been) you might also be announcing your NAME along with your devices ID.
Now, the researchers have said this:
The researchers will only track the devices’ MAC address — a number that identifies each device on a network — which cannot be traced to phone numbers or personal details.
I don’t buy that for one section. If there is anything I’ve learned working 20 years in the information business, if you can get a piece of data, it would be very rear indeed that they not store every piece of that data. It’s just a practice. As they say, “You never know when you might really need that extra bit of data we could have recorded”.
Now here is the paragraph that concerns me the most. You draw your own conclusion:
The technique could also be used by security services to track suspicious movements, or monitor evacuations at mass events.
You have been warned.
Walking Tacoma’s infamous ‘Whiskey Row’
It’s been a hellish week at work, with our main webserver dying early Monday morning, and our backup web server so out of date it was unusable. After much wrangling I instructed my team to place the development server into production while we re-built from scratch, the server that decided to self-destruct.
That was Monday. The cluster continued forward on Tuesday with systems not running optimally, but all our customers back online. No data was lost (I’ve been careful to hide our data away from customer facing systems), but it was not our brightest hour for certain.
Then, when all well and back in order with the world on Wednesday… I’d agreed to go grab a couple of drinks with a co-worker, but first needed to stop by the colo to swap some virtual IP’s on the refurbished webserver. That’s when the feces struck the air circulater again.
90 minutes of down server, FedoraCore 10’s networking clusterf*ck nearly had me on the ropes. If anything, I’m relentless, and I finally bent it to my will. After that ‘quick stop’ I decided 2 drinks was clearly not going to be enough.
So, I closed up the cabinets, signed out of the colo and went straight to The Butts in Black Pants. Some nice eye candy works there, and it’s just what the doctor ordered. One of our regular waitresses was running the bar, and she good with the cocktail shaker. We were underway!
First up, a nice double Vodka Tonic. Next, a burger they call ‘The Desert Heat’, drown in Frank’s Hot Sauce, and a set of onion rings covered with Cajun seasoning. Then I decided to go off-menu.
I’d seen a drink listed at The Primo the night before, called a dirty martini. We took a shot at it. Chocolate liquer and vanilla Vodka. Although they did not exactly have the required ingredients, we got close with Creme de CoCo, Vanilla Stoli and a dash of coke. It was pretty good. I’m still working on a name for this little concoction. By now it was 8:00PM and it was time to hit Tacoma’s Whiskey Row, and take a walk.
Not far down Broadway, we came across this little place. And I have to admit, there was more than a little childish snickering to be heard:
Carrying on down Broadway between 11th and 9th, we came across a doorway, that has been the subject of curiosity for some time. Here are a couple of photos of that doorway, and the cornerstone plate at the bottom.
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So I finally fired up the search engine and looked up what the organization is. The building itself is marked as ‘Commencement Lodge #7‘. According to the website for the Knights of Pythias, they are religious based Order, who’s charter is to promote Universal Peace.
Finally reaching 9th and Broadway, we turned north towards the river. 9th and Commerce to 9th and Pacific is such a FINE place for a couple of aging white guys to be walking as the sun goes down. There are many reasons Tacoma’s downtown is pretty quiet most nights.. the local, uh, inhabitants might be a factor.
One on Pacific, we turned in a westerly direction toward the old City Hall. Along the way, I simply had to photograph another, granted juvenile, ‘by-chance’ location of two totall different businesses.
So.. how often do you find… these two right next to each other?
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After much laughing, we moved on down the road to our final destination…
Going to Meconi’s is just like coming home. Jodi and Stacy were both there last night, and we received fabulous service as always.
So ends our little walk down to Tacoma’s Whiskey Row, until next time.
Airbus ‘Fail by Wire’ flight systems, under review
Airbus fly-by-wire systems have been under scrutiny since their 1988 ‘debut’ in the A320. A less than stellar demonstration this technology:
Now, the http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6612165.ece are reporting that these same systems, combined with potentially defective pitot tubes, are being blamed for a pair of crashed, and have reported in many non-fatal events where failed speed sensors made the aircraft very difficult to control.
The first US incident occurred on May 21 when a TAM Airlines flight from Miami to Sao Paulo, Brazil, lost primary speed and altitude information while in cruise flight. The other was on a Northwest Airlines flight, on June 23, from Hong Kong to Tokyo.
Accounts on the internet from the pilots report a desperate struggle to keep the jet in the air.
Article: Airbus could be asked to ground all long-range airliners
There have been two storm related Airbus incidents in the last month. I’m sure many are looking into the possible connections.
As one of my favorite bumper stickers says:
If it ain’t Boeing, I’m not going!
US Patent 7,548,968 Granted!!!
Wow.. the news came this morning, that the patent filed in December 2004 that I worked on, was finally granted the 16th of this month.
Policing internet domains
AbstractThe present invention, in one set of embodiments, provides methods, systems and software that may be used to generate and manage enforcement actions against domains that are potentially and/or actually infringing rights of a user. Merely by way of example, some embodiments provide methods for identifying one or more domain names potentially subject to enforcement activity by a user. According to further embodiments, methods are provided for obtaining domain information regarding potential and/or actual infringing domains for a user. In certain embodiments, the present invention provides methods for analyzing domain information concerning potential and/or actual infringing domains and generating one or more enforcement messages for sending to one or more parties associated with the potentially and/or actually infringing domain names.
Inventors: Bura; Christopher J. (Pleasant Hill, CA), DeMartini; David A. (Bremerton, WA)
Short link: http://www.tinyurl.com/ddemartini3
Trip to Hurricane Ridge
Having worked 1/2 the previous night, until 1:00AM, then gettng up again at 7:00 to continue forward with a large development project, I decided to reward my hard work with a little R&R at the top of the Olympic National Park. My friend Bill had the day off so we decided to meet up north of Poulsbo and ride the 80 miles to Port Angelas. The final destination, Hurricane Ridge 93 miles from our starting point.
Golf at Elk Run Golf Club
Played my 2nd round of golf (ever) at Elk Run Golf Club yesterday. Joel, a really good golfer and co-oworker sponsored my play yesterday. Thanks Joel!
Elk Run is a very interesting course. Not a lot of long holes, but there were a number of technical aspects to the course! One of which was the fact it winds through a housing development. Not a ‘Golf and Country Club’ but.. it’s more like a standard residential neighborhood with a golf course running where some of the blocks would be. Made for some serious out of bounds issues. I lost 8 balls on the front 9. My drive from the tee box is.. ‘variable’.
I’m really enjoying this game. It can be frustrating, but also rewarding when you hit a really nice shot. The 5th hole I drive straight down the fairway and within chip-distance of the green. I was in a great possition to PAR the hole, but my putting game (if you can call it a game) completely disintigrated. The upside of playing with a couple of good players, were a number of really helpful tips all day long, and by the end of the day I was making a some pretty decent puts.
On the way out to play, I picked up 3 ‘new’ 6-irons of various shaft stiffness and manufacture. I shot with the 6 instead of the 7 and 8 in a number of places (my game is not consitant enough for singular club selection to make that much of a difference) and Cleavland CG4 seems to be the one that’s going to work best for me. At $10 per club.. it was an easy investment in learning more about what clubs work well for me. I’ll sell off the others once I get my preference dailed in.
So, off to have brunch with my kids today, then to the driving range to work 100 balls with just the 6 irons. Need to work in my consistancy of swing. Received some great tips there as well, yesterday.
Golf.. frustrating and fun. I plan to play this game for a long time!
iPhone 3.0 + AT&T == FAIL!
I was very excited to download and update my iPhone to the latest and greatest version 3.0. It has a lot of great new features in the updated, including cut & paste, network tethering (use your iPhone for mobile 3G internet), and something that is a real pain right now, MMS (Multimedia Message Service — an extension of SMS, which aka ‘texting’).
This would have been all well and good, IF AT&T had gotten off their asses and updated their network in time to support them! What is most unacceptable, is that EVERY other network provider in the world, supporting iPhone equipment, supports these features!
Here is a quote from AT&T:
“We will be offering a tethering plan and MMS for the iPhone,” Mark Siegel, AT&T’s spokesman, said by phone. “But we haven’t announced a date.”
ref: CNET – Why is AT&T delaying rollout of iPhone tethering, MMS?
— and —
“We plan to offer a tethering plan, but don’t have an announcement to make at this time,” the spokesman said. “We absolutely will offer MMS on iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3G with 3.0 upgrades in late summer once we complete some system upgrades that will ensure our customers have the best experience with MMS. These upgrades are unrelated to our 3G network.”
ref: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/06/att-iphone3/
They have quite an excuse fest ramped up. I don’t buy it. AT&T has simply, again, shown it’s lack of vision and it’s “Were the Monoploy – tough **** attitude”. If only I had a choice for iPhone provider networks, I’d be gone yesterday.
Hey AT&T; You are lucky you are the only game in town.. for now!
Fort Lewis Military Museum – Part 2
A fine day to take in some history
This past Saturday, my kids and myself traveled to the Fort Lewis Military Museum to learn a little bit about the largest military base in the state of Washington. What I did not expect was to learn so much.
This is a continuation article. There seems to be some arbitrary (at least unknown, to myself) limit to the size of an article, and my full article, even incomplete, was too large to publish.
Cold War History
Also on display is an interesting collection of Cold War artifacts and hardware. A few photos of the rolling-stock located outside the building. I’m in the process of trying to identify some of these Soviet Block weapons systems, few of them had current placards.
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Iraq / Afghanistan War History
Information on Iraq & Afghanistan
MORE TO FOLLOW IN PART 3
Fort Lewis Military Museum – Part 1
A fine day to take in some history
This past Saturday, my kids and myself traveled to the Fort Lewis Military Museum to learn a little bit about the largest military base in the state of Washington. What I did not expect was to learn so much.
Our family has a tie to the base via my cousin, a Lt. Col. whom deployed to Iraq in 2003 from Fort Lewis, following his unit’s activation, to support the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom. He received the Legion of Merit for his service, which our family is very proud of. Following his deployment, before his return to California, he spent some time with my family, showing us photos and stories from his time in ‘The Sandbox’. I thought it appropriate to give the kids some exposure to the great warrior traditions of the US ARMY and their family. Fort Lewis has continued to provide critical personal to the fight against terrorism overseas, with deployment of Rangers, MPs, Engineers and of course the STRYKERs
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So much history, so much to see, so much to read.
There is no way to due the museum justice without a multi-part article, and at some point later down the line, following another visit, I may just do that. For now I’ll cover some of the interesting things to be seen there in photos.
Artifacts and History from the Lewis and Clark Expedition through WWI
There is a complete section on the Lewis and Clark expedition, which was in fact, a military expedition to explore the west. Along with commissioned officers Lewis and Clark, the force consisted of volunteer US ARMY regulars. Within that section of the museum I learned about a confrontation between the US and Britain during the 1800’s over possession of the San Juan Islands, the nearly erupted into another war between the nations. Displayed is a map of the area showing positions of forces, along with a political cartoon of the time.
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Also in the display was an excellent collection of rifles, pistols and other equipment related to the expedition.
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Museum History – The Red Shield Inn
The Fort Lewis Military Museum is occupies one of only two existing historical buildings at Fort Lewis that date back to WWI. In 1918, the Salvation Army constructed the 150-room ‘Red Shield Inn’ at a cost of $107,000, to accommodate the soldiers, his family and friends. After the drawdown following WWI, the Salvation Army sold the building to the US ARMY for the price of $1 (one dollar) on July 1, 1921. It remained in use by the US ARMY until a new Fort Lewis Lodge was constructed closer to the base’s Main Post Headquarters. The Fort Lewis Military Museum is the only certified US ARMY museum on the West Coast, and contains interesting and rare artifacts preserving the heritage of Fort Lewis and the US ARMY in the Pacific Northwest.
Getting to the Museum
The Fort Lewis Military Museum is located south of Seattle, between Tacoma and Olympia. Take exit 150 to enter Fort Lewis. The museum is located in North Fort Lewis, signs guide the way. Visitors without a current military vehicle registration decal and federal ID card must first obtain a Visitor Pass at the Main Gate Visitor’s Center. You will need to produce a driver’s license for each individual 16 years and order, as well as the current registration and proof of insurance for every vehicle entering the base. Those receiving a pass, and get directions to the museum from Visitor’s Center staff.