Spin Me Right Round

Conditions: Lousy


The Internet Kill Switch

The Internet, that interconnected tangle, built to be a network capable of surviving everything but the destruction of the planet - and even then bits and peices may still endure, is apparently according to a new bill going to be hooked up to a self-styled "Kill Switch" under control of the president. Presumably mounted next to the old "Nuke Russia" switch.

As The Hill explains, the bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins, and Tom Carper, would give the president "emergency authority to shut down private sector or government networks in the event of a cyber attack capable of causing massive damage or loss of life." The original bill granted the president the authority to "indefinitely" shut down networks, but an amendment to the PCNAA, approved yesterday, mandates that the president "get Congressional approval after controlling a network for 120 days."
[...]

The bill would also see the creation of a new agency within the Department of Homeland Security, the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC). Any private company reliant on "the Internet, the telephone system, or any other component of the U.S. 'information infrastructure'" would be "subject to command" by the NCCC, and some would be required to engage in "information sharing" with the agency, says CBS4.

- huffingtonpost.com/

Frankly I find it as amusing and arrogant as hell that anyone thinks the internet can be taken down. I firmly believe the damn thing will survive the end of the human race and will likely even escape the implosion of the sun in 4 billion years, by exporting crucial functions and infrastructure to passing asteroids. This is what people need to understand: The internet no longer serves us, we serve it. So I suspect that if push comes to shove and the President decides to press the button, you know, to "save" the internet, I'm pretty sure the Internet will just keep on doing what it always does: waiting, colating, and feasting on LOLCats.



Film Review: The A-Team

Even after so many old television shows have been made into films, it's still feels weird to watch Hollywood re-energize something that meant a lot back when I was young, and serve it up to a new audience. The A-Team wasn't artistic or deep, it was simply about a diverse bunch of guys who kept getting into crazy situations together. The new movie just basically takes that and sets it all up again. The characters meet each other, they become the A-Team, and then (eight years later) are framed for a crime they didn't commit. Well, you get the idea.

There's a lot of negative attitude around these kinds of films, with the impression of Hollywood scraping the bottom of the barrel and trampling on some good memories to make a buck. But in reality, if an idea is good enough there isn't really a reason why it cannot be re-invented. Which is why Hamlet will never die. Especially if it can make a buck. So Joe Carnahan has refreshed the old television show, and I have to admit that he's done pretty well. Liam Neeson as Hannibal Smith was probably my biggest concern, but he actually pulls it off with style. The rest of the cast is totally solid, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley (!!), and Quinton Jackson all combining together really well as the team of misfits. Jessica Biel rounds things out nicely, but with a role that's a bit lacking in dramatic bite.

It's not high art, but what it is is true to itself. Some good casting and a plot that crackles along, along with a solid amount of action, delivers a film that is exciting and entertaining. It's still weird to see these classic characters wearing new faces, but they are still themselves. The one real complaint I have is Joe's shaking of the camera during the action sequences. Incredibly annoying and frustrating to not be able to clearly see what's happening amid all the gunplay and explosions. Also, I felt the final action sequence was a little too off somehow. At parts kind of random, stagey, and co-incidental. But overall, it's a pretty solid piece of fun. Four cigars out of Five.


- Peace out

Eating The Dust

Conditions: Overcast


Wave That Magic Wand

Not being able to fully trust your equipment is a problem most soldiers have to deal with out in the field. Rifles misfire, radios break down, the slushy machine goes on the fritz, these are situations that can happen and be dealt with. But this week a story emerged surrounding a particular piece of equipment that's pretty damn amazing.

Police investigating the sale of suspected fake bomb detectors to countries including Iraq have searched premises linked to three businesses.
[...]

A BBC Newsnight investigation alleged that millions of pounds worth of the company's ADE-651 detectors sold to Iraq did not work.

The UK government banned the export of the ADE-651 device to Iraq and Afghanistan earlier this year, saying tests showed the equipment was "not suitable for bomb detection".

There are concerns that the hand-held detectors have failed to stop bomb attacks that have killed hundreds of people.

It has since emerged that other bomb detectors remain on the market.

Now I think we can all agree this is pretty bad. Trying to scan for explosives using faulty equipment is pretty bad, but what's potentially going on here is even worse.

The unit is investigating whether the devices' abilities have been fraudulently misrepresented, and whether sales overseas are linked to bribes.

- news.bbc.co.uk/

Yeeess. Not only do the bomb detectors not work, but they (perhaps) never worked, and (perhaps) were not even meant to work. Now that's a step up, because the implication is that the forces of "evil" somehow fixed it so that the bomb detectors would not detect their bombs. And I think you'll agree that's a bit more that the usual "make a nice profit on the stockmarket." kind of evil that one encounters in the personnel-safety department of the war machine.



War In Search Of A Cause

Usually it works the other way around, but this week we've discovered that Afghanistan, a country that's seemingly been under siege for the course of human history, actually does have something under it worth fighting over.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's untapped mineral wealth is worth at least $3 trillion — triple a U.S. estimate, according to the government's top mining official, who is going to Britain next week to attract investors to mine one of the world's largest iron ore deposits in the war-torn nation.

Geologists have known for decades that Afghanistan has vast deposits of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and other prized minerals, but a U.S. Department of Defense briefing this week put a startling, nearly $1 trillion price tag on the reserves. Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani said Thursday that he's seen geological assessments and industry estimates that the minerals are worth at least $3 trillion.

"Afghanistan has huge untapped natural energy and mineral resources which have enormous potential for our economic development," Shahrani said. "Ensuring that this is done in the most transparent and efficient way while delivering the greatest value to the country is a priority of the government."

- google.com

So there you go, dead people, it turns out there was something under there worth fighting to defend|fighting to capture (delete as necessary) after all. Huzzah!



Film Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Time Travel can always be a dangerous element to mess with in a film, because you risk making parts of the film irrelevant by changing the time stream. But I have to say I've never seen a film that uses time travel to render the entire story it's just told as moot. Until now, that is. Prince of Persia is based on a video game, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. And it really shows. It's a mostly-vapid series of fast-cut shots of people with big teeth and long hair jumping through the air and flailing about with swords, no doubt in a desperate attempt to attract the Pirates of the Caribbean crowd.

And in the Johnny Depp swashbuckler role is ...Jake Gyllenhaal? Uh, yeah. And no amount of hair, teeth, muscles or flashing swords can turn him into the kind of tough devil-may-care rogue I suspect he's trying to be. Instead he's kind of an oddball, which is sort-of a new approach to this kind of thing. As part of a raid on an allied city he discovers a dagger that can turn back time. Framed for the murder of his father (the king), he escapes into the desert with Dagger-protector Gemma Arterton, also seeming out-of place here. Anyway, figuring out the conspiracy and showing up at the end to try and stop the past from being undone, they end up basically resetting the entire film.

Which is an odd way of finishing a movie, but I guess in keeping with kind of an odd film. Interesting characters sort of appear and disappear like sandstorms, and the somewhat undisciplined camera work and direction is at odds with the amount of money they must of spent on this thing. It does have style, and a certain amount of charm, but it's also gets a little shallow in places as well. An interesting attempt that needed a more steady approach, I think. Two and a half ostriches out of five.


- Peace out