Being struck by the sight

Conditions: Warm and Overcast.


All is ...Normal.

So, the state of California handed over a bunch of voting machines, complete with operating manuals and source codes, to a bunch of computer hackers to see if the machines were safe to, you know, count votes. Wanna guess what happened?

State-sanctioned teams of computer hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model of California's voting machines and change results or take control of some of the systems' electronic functions, according to a University of California study released Friday.

The researchers "were able to bypass physical and software security in every machine they tested,'' said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who authorized the "top to bottom review" of every voting system certified by the state.
[...]

"All information available to the secretary of state was made available to the testers,'' including operating manuals, software and source codes usually kept secret by the voting machine companies, said Matt Bishop, UC Davis computer science professor who led the "red team" hacking effort, said in his summary of the results.
- SFGate.com

So guess what they proved? That's right, absolutely nothing. By giving difficult-to-get materials to the hacker team, they provided the pro-machine people an excuse as to why the machines failed, while still being able to say that the machines did in fact fail. So the whole vulnerable foundation of democracy thing: still an issue, like six years after first concerns sprung up. Way to go.



Russia Stakes a Claim. And a Floor.

Pretending that it's like the 15th century, Russian explorers (armed with underwater submarines) planted a titanium flag on the sea floor underneath the North pole. Which the west has treated as if the Russians are staking claim to the oil and natural gas there.

The expedition, covered intensely by Russian news organizations and state-controlled television, mixed high-seas adventure with the Russian tradition of polar exploration, but it was also an openly choreographed publicity stunt.

Inside the first of the minisubmarines to reach the sea floor were two members of Russia's lower house of Parliament, one of whom, Artur Chilingarov, had led the expedition to seek evidence reinforcing Russia's claim over the largely uncharted domain.

That claim, which has no current legal standing, rests on a Russian assertion that the seabed under the pole, called the Lomonosov Ridge, is an extension of Russia's continental shelf, and thus is Russian territory.

Russia submitted its claim in 2001 to an international commission, which has thus far ruled that the available data is not sufficient to support it. But Russia has pressed on. - IHT.Com

It's really no different to what any other country is trying to do these days. As the natural resources our civilisation runs on start to dry up, the likelihood is that this kind of thing will become commonplace. Let's pop some corn and see what happens next.



You Are There.

Here's an artist's rendering of what our Milky Way might look like if we were in another galaxy and looking at it. Of course if we were, we may well not actually have eyes that could 'look' at things in the sense that we have now. And of course then the Milky Way would mean nothing to us because as far as we're concerned it's just a bunch of rocks. But anyway, it's a neat painting.

It's full of ...stuff.




Schwarzeneggar!

Happy birthday to the governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sixty years old today. And to celebrate, natives on Skull Island tossed him a blonde...

- David Letterman

Nietzsche Family Circus




"The Nietzsche Family Circus pairs a randomized Family Circus cartoon with a randomized Friedrich Nietzsche quote. Refresh the page to see a new comic"

Uh, okay.



Trailer Hell

Due to time constraints, instead of describing it myself, I'll let you read the description at CHUD. It sounds like fun.

Chud.com - Trailer Hell.



Music Corner

Time for a little fun. This is what they should play at political rallies. And my funeral.

People can no longer cover their eyes
If this disturbs you
Then walk away
You will remember the night you were struck by the sight of
TEN-THOUSAND FISTS IN THE AIR!!

Film Review: The Simpson's Movie

As you'd expect, the problem with the Simpson's as a movie is that it's been a TV show for 18 years, everything has already been done. And the characters pointing out that everything has already been done, has also been done. As has the criticism of paying for something you've been getting for free: Homer himself points that out to us in the opening moments. So as long as you accept that this isn't going to be anything new, in fact this is going to be much like putting on a comfortable old pair of shoes, then you should enjoy yourself. The plot is wacky, the jokes are funny and each family member gets enough time to come across genuinely. What is surprising for a moment is the lack of supporting characters, considering how much they appear in the TV show, and how good they usually are. But it does make sense that the movie would focus on the family.

What you can see, though, are the moments where they've had a joke, and then extra writers and animators have come in and "punched up" the joke for movie audiences. The animation is of a very 'good' quality as well, such as it is. Overall, a not-disappointing time at the theater, even if it's a bit odd. Three Korean animators out of Five.


Super Summer Blockbuster Holiday Death Count Watch - 2/6



End transmission.