Philip Greenspun on how Harvard Business School has bastardized the term “hacking” – “As progressively dumber programmers build progressively more complex systems we will see more of this kind of attempt to paper over coding mistakes with lawyers, sanctions, policies, and laws.“
Category Archives: Aside
A Shot in the Dark – The hidden cost of the chickenpox vaccine – Every child is vaccinated? When did this happen?
The ice tower has collapsed – A sad day indeed. It reached 152 feet high and weighed somewhere around 80,000 tons. The creator is already planning for next year.
Soon-to-pass bill will make it harder for people in debt to declare bankruptcy – Half of American’s bankruptcy filings come about because of the financial consequences of medical problems. A lot of the reason why people get so stuck that they can’t pay back their debt has to do with how credit card companies operate. Oh, and the bill isn’t closing the loopholes that allow the rich to declare bankruptcy and keep their mansions, either. Drinks all around!
32,000 records stolen from LexisNexis – This settles it. It really is a sign from God. Or, perhaps, from California… “ The only reason the public is aware of these incidents is because of a California law that requires companies to disclose them, said Jim Dempsey.” I wonder how much of this has been happening for years, and we’re only just now hearing about it…
Harvard Business School un-admits students who hacked web site to see if they were accepted – Except the “hacking” was something along the lines of typing in a URL with their own ID number and seeing if an acceptance letter or rejection notice pops up. There was no foul play, the data was out there and insecure, and their peeking did not change anything or in any way affect their application. Look, getting into college and grad school causes a lot of stress. The temptation to “peek” at information that is out there to see, your own information, is simple human nature. I don’t think I agree with Harvard on this one, I think they are just covering for their own embarrasment that their system was so insecure and the admissions process just became ever-so-slightly more transparent. As it should be.
The Supreme Court picks through the rubble of its Ten Commandments jurisprudence – “They are not venerating the historical secular influence of the commandments, whatever the lawyers inside the courthouse may say. They just really like God.“
Dunkin’ Donuts tries to grow up from its manufacturing roots, but still has ass-ugly stores – Also, their donuts and bagels taste terrible. I don’t drink coffee.
Sobriety Tests Are Becoming Part of the School Day – “District officials said they grew concerned after hearing of rampant student drinking. Teenagers were caught drinking on school trips to Costa Rica and Italy.” I’m sorry, but doesn’t that just say it all? Only in New York…
For my next web site, I want to play with TextPattern – Maybe if I was designing Student Union again. 😉
A profile of John Gilmore, the millionaire who is not allowed to travel because he refuses to present a government-issued ID – A good backgrounder on the person, the conflict, and the privacy culture. And he pays for everything in cash.
How to Save Medicare? Die Sooner – They’re right, but Americans won’t stand for it at this point.
BofA accidentally exposes 1.2 million customer records – Some unencrypted backup tapes went missing. This follows PayMaxx, ChoicePoint, and the recent T-Mobile break-ins. Its almost like someone is trying to send a message… Is that you God? 😉
PayMaxx security lapse could have revealed as many as 100,000 records – Salaries, SSNs, addresses, etc. Fabulous. Did I mention how I’m now buying almost everything with cash?
The ice wall adventure – These folks set up some piping and some fancy sprayer heads in Fairbanks, Alaska when it started getting cold so that they could have a bit of fun. Well, now their creation is over 150 feet high. Start reading. Keep reading. Give yourself half an hour or so. The stoies are hilarious.