Lightning and rightness

I found it amusing that it is lightning awareness week because I actually know someone who would care. A quote from the National Weather Service:

In 2007, 45 people were struck and killed by lighting in the U.S.; hundreds of others were injured. Of the victims who were killed by lightning:

• 98% were outside
• 89% were male

M has always decided to get away from lightning by remaining indoors. I have sometimes claimed it's not such a big deal. It turns out my chance of dying is higher.

The best news is, M gets to be right, which most people enjoy greatly.

Luddite alert

I wish to claim my first-class luddite status in the telepatch.

I just ordered DTV converter box coupons from the U.S. gub'ment. They claim it's going to be mailed (!) July 11, and take 2-9 days to arrive. Whoa, speed demons.

The coupon is to hook up my "new" (analog) TV from 1994 (discarded by Riedl). Actually, it's going to hook up the VCR from 1994 (which we bought!), that hooks up to the TV from 1994. We just got rid of JJ's 1983 basement special this past year.

I wonder if DTV will allow me to get channel 2 (public television).

M claims Scott probably had a digital t.v. years ago.

Dan

Underhanded contest

Saw a link on slashdot today to The Underhanded C Contest, which I'd missed in its earlier versions. Kind of an amusing premise, likely more so for someone like myself whose first big projects were in C and who's enjoyed the Obfuscated C Code Contest in the past. I even picked up on the core of the 2007 winner's trick (the bogus prototype for a system call: hello, stack clobbering!), but was too lazy to work through its implications.

I know I'm just forwarding a link already in another blog, but I do like the droll style of the fellow who set up the contest. From its FAQ:

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Won't this contest have a bad influence on our youth?

I don't see why: all I'm doing is inviting people to write malicious software in exchange for money.

Besides, it's not even money. It's a gift certificate for a store that lets you buy innocent things like caffeine pills, knives, butane torches and lasers.

Nice article on Lawrence Lessig in the Nation

I'm excited by Lessig's new project, Change Congress, but will admit to some skepticism about its prospects for bringing about the ambitious reform it aims for. That said, I was struck by the following quote from Mr. Lessig in a recent article in the Nation:

We have an opportunity--and it won't last long--to take advantage of the uncertainty that Congress has about how the Net actually works. They don't get it right now. And while they've learned how to ignore 1,000 e-mails, they haven't quite figured out what to do about fifty blogs talking about various legislation or meet-up events. So there's an opportunity to leverage the technology and the irrational insecurity of members of Congress, who look at any objectively insignificant resistance as something to be dealt with immediately.

I think he's exactly right, in the way the Lessig so often is. We are in the middle of an epochal shift in the way the information and opinion is created and disseminated. The clumsy on-line presence of most politicians (e.g. both McCain and Clinton), provides ample evidence that they do not grok the net in any meaningful way. Not yet.

So perhaps we do have a window of opportunity to change the fabric of our politics for the better. It is a narrow window to be sure, so we'd best press our advantage while we have it.

A number of talks have been posted on blip at: http://change-congress.blip.tv. If you haven't heard one of his Change Congress lectures, you should check them out. I personally find Lessig to be the most effective speaker I've ever heard when it comes complex abstract subjects like this one.

Swing 'Em Home

This one's for you Scott.

"Up your ass Saddam."

Well that took a little longer than I expected

Sent to the patch via email Feb 20, 2007:

Subject: President Obama?

I ran across this anti Iraq war speech by Obama in 2002, when he was a state senator in Illinois:

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama's_Iraq_Speech

Two things occur:

1) It would be so nice to have a president that was an eloquent public speaker.

2) If even a fraction of the frankness exhibited in that speech can survive a run for the US senate and presidential campaign, it would quite refreshing compared to the triangulation and maneuvering that seems to have become the norm in current national politics.

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Sent on Jan 8, 2008, the morning of the New Hampshire Primary:

Subject: It's Obama's to lose...

Barring some kind of major shakeup [touch wood], I think Obama's gonna take the whole enchilada. ...

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Sent in the evening of Jan 8, 2008:

Subject: Re: It's Obama's to lose...

Obama lost NH narrowly. Grumble. I guess I'll have to wait until
Feb. 5 to celebrate getting to vote for a presidential candidate I
actually like.

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And here we are on June 3rd... I guess I was a little optimistic.

You've Been Left Behind

If you receive e-mail from a friend who's been recently raptured, this might be why. Perhaps the site creator is on the level. Perhaps it's an attempt to collect bank info from trusting Christians.

Seen on Bruce Schneier's blog here. Bruce and blog visitors seem as nonplussed as I am.

The Daily Glean

For those of you desiring short, snarky, high-quality summaries of the politics of Minnesota (perhaps a small group), check out the daily glean at MinnPost. A bunch of it appears to be written by David Brauer, former editor of the Southwest Journal, a neighborhood paper that did some pretty high-quality reporting during his tenure.