TINPOTI!

TINPOTI! (There Is No privacy On The Internet).

A friend sent me a summary of all the privacy invasions that are happening or now possible on the Internet...my reply:

I never had expectations of any privacy. Hackers are too clever and corporations mine data to foster marketing and advertising. This has been going on since 'Al Gore invented the internet' and it was commercialized in the 90's.

The pace is picking up as technology improves dramatically and nearly everyone uses the 'net.

Think about the enormous power of the NSA software that can collect, manage, filter and comb through all the data and find actionable nuggets in the counter-terrorism effort. Think, also, how effective (so far)this massive effort has been in preventing a second 9/11 in the U.S.

How much privacy are we willing to trade for security? The answer doesn't matter much because, well...TINPOTI!

T.S.A. Furor Gives Media a False Positive - The Media Equation - NYTimes.com

A lot to chuckle about in this story by Carr. The media, social and mainstream feeding on itself.

"The pat-down story was the equivalent of vaporware — it seemed as if something huge was about to happen, but it turned out that it was a story about a story, the noisy, fervent sound of a news system feeding on itself."

Haiti's Grim Future

Worse than grim. How else to describe the future of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

According to the CIA factbook, "Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation."

Haiti's population is 9 million. Nearly half the people over the age of 15 are illiterate. The data below with a comparison to Vermont exemplify the massive economic dilemma. The bottom line is that Haiti has practically no functioning economy. Unemployment (pre-earthquake) is estimated between 66%-70%.

	Population	Gross Domestic Product	GDP/Capita
Haiti	9.0 Million	$9 Billion	$1,300
Vermont	0.62 Million	$22 Billion	$34,900

In 2008, four hurricanes further devastated the economy and the country. The recent earthquake killed upwards of 200,000 leaving ~1.5 million homeless (17% of the population). The human tragedy is beyond comprehension, but as heroic efforts to supply basic necessities continue, people are contemplating the future of the country. There are no easy answers for Haiti.

Key elements for a viable future include:

1. Western Hemisphere countries and beyond must come together with tens of billions in rebuilding aid which will be required for a decade or two at minimum. Moreover, rebuilding to meet basic needs for housing, health, education, jobs and industry must take into account item 2. below.

2. Decisions will be necessary about the future economy of Haiti. In its present condition, it's a failed state, economically and politically. Who will make the decisions about the country's viable future economy? Can it ever survive, let alone thrive, on its own? Must it become a ward of the U.N. for a generation or more? What are the likely mainstays underpinning a viable Haitian economy?

3. Literacy and learning are vital elements for any hope of success considering Haiti's decades of culture dominated by corruption, severe poverty and superstition.

4. Effective security and policing must be integral to building a culture of security and hope.

Heads Should Roll

President Obama had more to say on Dec. 29, 2009:

President Barack Obama said a "catastrophic breach" of security led to the Christmas Day attempted bombing on a Detroit-bound airplane. "A systemic failure has occurred and I consider that totally unacceptable. There was a mix of human and systemic failure that contributed to this catastrophic breach of security," he said.

http://online.wsj.com/home-page?mod=djemalertNEWS

Heads should roll in Amsterdam (and perhaps in the U.S. too) where this terrorist boarded with his bomb materials. The people on that flight were fortunate his scheme failed.

This from the WSJ:

"Investigators in the U.S., Europe, Africa and the Middle East are racing to determine how the son of a Nigerian banker became the first person in eight years to try to set off an explosive aboard a U.S. commercial airliner.

President Barack Obama on Sunday ordered a review of government procedures for screening airline passengers and for tracking individuals suspected of terrorist ties. The administration also said it was tightening security procedures, which airlines and passengers say is already causing delays on international flights.

Lawmakers of both parties expressed concerns that the man charged in the Christmas Day attempt to bomb Northwest Flight 253, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was able to board an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight with a hidden cache of explosives even though he was on a terrorist watch list."

President Obama in an AP story on 12/29/09 is quoted:

"We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us."

This is the right response, but for me "violent extemists" = terrorists. This administration's expunging of the word 'terrorist' from its politically correct vocabulary is foolish nonsense. This bombing attempt was the work of a radical Islamic terrorist.

Kudos to the AP for rightly reporting the story using the words terrorist and terrorism. Obama should continue to use the words, too.

From the Desk of David Pogue - Should You Worry About Data Rot? - NYTimes.com

This interview is interesting, but the one question and answer that was passed over too lightly is about storing information online. It's true that some tiny Web 2.0 companies will go out of business and your data might not be safe with them. But other very large companies with staying power like Microsoft, Google, et al, seem to me a much safer bet for archiving material.

With millions of customers now, or about to be, storing terabytes of information online, it's highly likely that the information will be retrievable in the long term. Just don't lose your password! Perhaps that's an idea for a new service for a BIG company...storing passwords with extraordinarily secure encryption! I'd buy that service in a heartbeat with a reliable company for ~$10/year.

"Keeping it on the Web is also not a really great strategy. A very large photo site just went out of business, and they gave people, I think, a month's notice to say, "We've run out of money, get your photos off the site and put them somewhere." Web sites are fine for sharing, but in terms of preserving your data, I wouldn't recommend it."

From the Desk of David Pogue - Should You Worry About Data Rot? - NYTimes.com

Court Says Guantanamo Detainees Have Right to Challenge Detention - washingtonpost.com

The Supreme Court erred. Of course, true to form, the New York Times applauds the decision from their ivory tower. But Justice Scalia in opposing this bad decision has it right:

"America is at war with radical Islamists," Scalia wrote, adding that the decision "will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."

When will our country wake up to the fact that these terrorists are first and foremost sworn enemies of the United States who wish to see us and our way or life defeated. They are not people with civil rights like you and I under our Constitution. Why is that so difficult to grasp?

I hope this bad decision will not encourage our military to 'take no prisoners.'

Court Says Guantanamo Detainees Have Right to Challenge Detention - washingtonpost.com

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Major Executive Speeches

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Major Executive Speeches

A speech delivered by the director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, about cyber terrorism and espionage that's worth reading. This is a tough battle given the plethora of bright people on the enemies' side and the vast sandbox available to play in.

Microsoft Office Live Workspace

I've pre-registered for this new service from Microsoft. I can see many uses for it and the service is the first deep foray by Microsoft into Google's Docs & Spreadsheets territory, which has captured me because it's an enormously useful service. Now I'll be torn between the two.

In any event, this opens the future for online document storage to many folks who have not yet made the transition from the "Web for email and the PC for documents mentality." I am so firmly sold on the Internet as the place to work, store and share all kinds of documents and media, that I may never reach the hard drive capacity of my new PC.

All this Web functionality puts enormous focus on reliability, security and ease of access to broadband connections. As I think about the near-term future of the Internet, I am very optimistic. However, the inertia created by what people are comfortable with and the rules of companies for using these online storage and sharing services will probably slow down mainstream adoption.

The wired and wireless broadband future will condition how we work and communicate with an even more powerful influence than the telephone in the 20th century. Thank you Tim Berners-Lee, DARPA, XEROX-PARC, Bill Gates, Mitch Kapor, Marc Andreeson, and the numerous other Internet pioneers and all those software and communications companies and researchers who made and continue to make this possible.

Independence Day

Thomas Jefferson wrote...

'We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.'

Now, 231 years later, we celebrate that declaration, after having created, interpreted, reinterpreted, amended (but not too much), fought for (a lot) and lived under the Constitution...one of the most remarkable documents in history. But as we learn continually...

Freedom Isn't Free!

Here's a link to a summary of the lives of the signers after the Declaration

Google Docs and Spreadsheets

Google spyware? Fine by me… by ZDNet's Christopher Dawson -- A reader of one of my last posts, "Google Presentations…one more step in the right direction", did not share my enthusiasm for Google Apps: "More Google spyware One more way for Google to build their database about you. Or, you could just use Google for search, and keep their database at that!" I have to say, however, [...]

I haven't taken the leap to Google Apps on my own domain, but I avidly use the components, Gmail, Docs and Spreadsheets, and Calendar. I find them all to be compelling tools for what I do. I agree with the post above. I have long ago relinquished the idea of anonymity while using the Web or its services. A person should have no illusions that how s/he uses the Internet is strictly private. I won't let privacy paranoia interfere with efficiency and ease of use.

I find the convenience and usefulness of the tools (did I mention free?) overwhelmingly more beneficial than the fact that information about my search and use patterns lives on Google servers subject to review, analysis and even subpoena. However, I do not entrust my most sensitive documents to unencrypted external servers. I want them available on my PC or in a safe deposit box in hard copy, or both.

Although I'm looking forward to the release of Windows Home Server later this year, I remain a fan of storing and sharing docs online. I also believe that Web 2.0 apps are still in their infancy and will grow exponentially, particularly as mobile broadband expands.