June 30, 2005
A Day in the Life of an Information Security Investigator
Fictionalized accounts of computer security investigation. A Day in the Life of an Information Security Investigator Archive
June 29, 2005
2000 year old date palm sprouts
Amazingly, botanist Elaine Solowey coaxed a seed of extinct date palm to sprout after 2,000 years.
The seed that was discovered during archaeological excavations at King Herod’s palace on Mount Masada, near the Dead Sea. The Judean date is chronicled in the Bible, Quran and ancient literature for its diverse powers — from an aphrodisiac to a contraceptive — and as a cure for a wide range of diseases including cancer, malaria and toothache. For Christians, the palm is a symbol of peace associated with the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The ancient Hebrews called the date palm the “tree of life” because of the protein in its fruit and the shade given by its long leafy branches.
The three seeds were long and thin, grayish-brown in color. Solowey soaked them in warm water, and then added gibberellic acid, a potent growth hormone used to induce germination in reluctant seeds. Next, she added a special rooting hormone for woody plants called T8 and an enzyme-rich fertilizer to supplement the natural food inside it. She then planted it in sterile potting soil on the Jewish festival of trees.
“It’s certainly the oldest tree seed that’s ever been sprouted. Wheat seeds from pharaohs’ tombs have been sprouted, but none of the plants have survived for very long. Before this, the oldest seed grown was a lotus from China, which was 1,200 years old,” she said. “I’m very excited. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen. I’m really interested in finding out what the DNA testing is going to show. I know that date seeds can stay alive for several decades. To find out that they can stay alive for millennia is astonishing.”
“Perhaps one of our ancestors was sitting there on the battlements of Masada eating his dates while the Roman armies were preparing for the final siege and perhaps nonchalantly spitting out a pip,” said Sallon. “Two thousand years later, here I am at Kibbutz Ketura and it’s grown.”
June 28, 2005
NPR : the Pledge of Allegiance
I caught part of NPR’s Fresh Air tonight driving to the meeting, the show was Richard J. Ellis and the Pledge of Allegiance. Intersting was the featured bit on the Jehovah’s Witnesses fight to not be required to say the Pledge of Allgiance.
In 1940 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 8 to 1 that states could require the flag salute in schools. Consider the historical perspective, Nazi Germany was rolling over Europe and America was divided over how much involvement in the war was necessary. Nationalism and Patriotism were two big issues and the Pledge of Allgiance was ruled to help “to evoke that unifying element without which there can ultimately be no liberties, civil or religious.”
This decision unleashed nationwide public violence against Jehovah’s Witnesses. Mob violence occurred in 44 states, with individuals being castrated, tarred and feathered and uprooted from their homes. The Supreme Court revisited this issue in 1943 and issued a rare reversal of their earlier decision.
Justice Robert H. Jackson wrote “Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.” Jackson further wrote, “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
Rather interesting was the part at about 23:30 into the interview, Richard J. Ellis on Francis Bellamy’s (the original author of our Pledge of Allegiance) intentions:
“He thought of the pledge as something that touched kids feelings, that it was not about thinking, it was about attaching the heart to the nation, so its a pre-rational attachment. Later on, when they were called upon to explain what their country was about, they would then go back to those words, they would be a part of their memory, it would do their thinking for them, it would be the way they understood who they were when they were older.”
I also find this a compelling example of how the Supreme Court of the United States can change its opinion on important First Amendment matters so quickly in the face of public opinion and public action.
References:
Developer and Power Users Tool List
Ran across a nifty set of tools listed at Scott Hanselman’s 2005 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List. Windows XP and programmer oriented (Ubuntu Linux is on my power tool list) but still some new and novel applictions for me on his list.
June 27, 2005
Big Pictures out of lots of little pictures
I just lost hours clicking around with the Flickr Montager. So much fun I might have to upload some of my pictures to Flickr so I can make a montage.
June 26, 2005
Safety Sign Builder
Need some saftey signs? Check out the
Safety Sign Builder, a nifty little gadget that lets you build up your own safety signs. Why? Beyond the obvious, the collection of icons are a great lesson in simple, concicse communicative design. And its just plain fun.
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June 25, 2005
Misc Linkage - a bunch of fun stuff
Heres a big grab bag of interesting stuff that I’ve been collecting.
Windows security is always an issue. 5 years ago Microsoft made lesser priveliged user accounts viable with the release of Windows 2000. Unfortunately most software assumes that the user is running with full control of his machine and makes using a limited privelige account difficult. However, using a lowered set of priveliges prevents many virus, spyware and malware infections and significantly reduces support issues. Nonadmin.editme.com is a site dedicated to utilities and knowledge for making the most troublesome applications work in a limited permisions environment. CPAU is another utility to help in the process.
We’d all like to be able to remember stuff better, whether it is things we need to get done or peoples names. Memory Master appears to be a collection of techniques and exercises on improving your memory. Now if I can only remember to get around to fully reading it.
Computerized calendars are certainly useful and web based ones even more so. Monkey Calendar looks like it is exploring some interesting and useful interface refinements, certainly something to watch.
I’ve come to regret not paying attention in English class, the ability to write clearly and concisely is still very useful in the day and age of text messaging and IM technologies. I found 50 tips which can help you in Writing and already feel like I’ve improved. Of course, there are quite a few that could still help me there.
Google has certainly made the internet better by giving us the ability to find what we want on it. At times though, it is difficult to pick out the exact bit of page we need through all the pages that are out there. The Google Advanced Operators Cheat Sheet gives a quick list of some of the tools that are available to use Google to its full potential.
What do you do when your web site or web server is acting up? DnsStuff.com, Candidinfo’s resouce page and Internet Supervision all help to track issues down.
June 24, 2005
Wilbur and Jessica
A big congratulations to Wilbur and Jessica, who were married tonight in Reno!
Wilbur called me this afternoon to see if I could make it up, he said he was probably going to elope. No flights were available so I couldn’t make it but I’m still very happy for the both of them. His two boys were there, along with my parents and my brother Sam and his wife. I’m supposed to have pictures and video sometime…
June 23, 2005
Ukulele Virtuoso
Every instrument needs a virtuoso and the ukulele is no exception. Jake Shimabukuro takes the Ukulele far beyond the little 4 string instrument you played with in grade school because you were too small to hold a guitar. Take a look at Jake playing Gearge Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
June 14, 2005
Why smart people defend bad ideas.
Scott Berkun has a collection of essays including a great one on Why smart people defend bad ideas. It’s certainly something I’ve done before to my detriment and it is something I’ve seen in others that I’ve tried (and failed) to avoid.
The problem with smart people is that they like to be right and sometimes will defend ideas to the death rather than admit they’re wrong. This is bad. Worse, if they got away with it when they were young (say, because they were smarter than their parents, their friends, and their parent’s friends) they’ve probably built an ego around being right, and will therefore defend their perfect record of invented righteousness to the death. Smart people often fall into the trap of preferring to be right even if it’s based in delusion, or results in them, or their loved ones, becoming miserable.
June 6, 2005
Web Color Schemes
Return of Design - Web Color Schemes - Take color scheme inspiration from other designers and websites. Also includes variations based on color principles. I like all the bright saturated colors used, checking the websites that inspired the color schemes shows that many of these are used in moderation and balance against the lighter colors and the standard white background.