topicalhuman.com

I guess I’m not a geek at all. I’m only now getting around to doing the Technorati thing on this site.

Technorati Profile

I want to check out this extension for Firefox sometime: AdaptiveBlue.

Also, a good article here on the increasing relevance of ’social software’ in business environments.

I’ve touched on rootkits before, specifically the Sony rootkit. I found out today that Sophos has a free anti-rootkit package. They even have a podcast on the subject. I use Sophos, and in a professional capacity I recommend and sell Sophos. I actually really like selling it, because it is really good software in general. So I downloaded the scanner and gave it a run. It seems to work smoothly and fairly quickly.

I actually found out about when Jodie, the lovely Sophos rep, visited us at Centra Networks today. The conversation quickly turned to the Sony rootkit, and I was reminded of a recent comment by Mark Cuban:

and for all you “but i can and do download everything ” types. Good for you. Get up and away from your computer and go see how the rest of the country lives. And when you hit 27, get a real job or move out of your parents house, whichever comes first, tell me if you are still downloading 10 movies and burning them for your friends and creating 10 playlists for Itunes every week like you did in college or when you first graduated. At some point you realize the time you spend downloading and burning to a DVD is worth more than the 10 bucks to go to a movie or 20 bucks or less to buy the movie. When that happens you will have figured out that all that time you spend burning DVDs and trying to manage space on your hard drive wasnt worth it

This sums up for me a big reason why DRM is a waste of time. The people who download illegally are either students who will grow out of it soon enough, or they are perpetual losers. And last time I checked, spending tens of millions of dollars pursuing losers is bad business.

[Update] BoingBoing reports that Texas is suing Sony over the rootkit affair.

Here is a little tool that caught my eye: a search meter for WordPress sites (like this one you’re reading).

So are some of the chickens.

I think that the after-effects of the attack on the world trade centre on the 11th of September 2001 are still going to be felt for years to come. And it is only going to get worse. Why? Because the governments of many ‘western’ countries are letting the terrorists win. How so?

1. There seems to be no recognition at the top levels of government that oppressed peoples aren’t always going to respond positively to a completely foreign occupying army, with whom there is often very little common ground to begin with, and no effort to build any common ground.
2. As soon as the ‘war on terror’ justified the invasion of other nations, the hypocrisy of this equation was not only plain to see, but far too easy for terrorists and extremists to manipulate the disenfranchised, suffering people into supporting such heinous actions. At that point it became not a war to protect what was attacked, but a war to win the hearts and minds of the people who could actually make a difference in tracking down the Osama bin-Ladens: regular Afghanis, Pakistanis, Saudis etc. This is a war that the ‘west’ is losing badly.
3. The ban on liquids on Airline flights? The huge delays? The terrorists are winning every time the authorities introduce some additional rule ‘for our safety’ that doesn’t actually make any difference, except for scaring the hell out of us and causing havoc.

Seriously, there is much to be worried about in this world if are waiting for politicians to solve all the problems. Things that actually deserve more attention than this ridiculous, and largely phoney, ‘war on terror’.

My brother has been spruiking the joys of Moleskins for a while. He certainly wasn’t the first, but he seems to have been an early adopter of a growing trend in geekdom.

For mine, I’ve never moved away from hand-writing. Perhaps I’m just not a geek to start with? I feel so empty…

I just saw an interview Andrew Denton conducted with Al Gore, on the ABC’s Enough Rope program.

Al Gore was talking up his new movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and the issues behind it. He spoke with passion, intelligence, authority and good-humour. I’m no longer curious why he lost the U.S. presidential campaign in 2000. It’s a well known fact that people rarely vote for people they cannot relate to in some capacity. And, sadly, the qualities Al Gore displayed in this interview are not ones he shares with most other Americans.

Anyway, I hope he doesn’t get back into politics. That would be such a waste. I want to go see the film, but I’m probably not the target audience. I already convinced the planet is going to rack and ruin. Those of you who think global warming is a crock, go see this so you can shoot in down in flames. Go on. Those of you who are unsure, this is as good a place as any to start a quest for knowledge. And its just a trip to the movies! How easy is that?

What do these things have in common? They’re all mentioned in the latest Ask A Ninja. Check it out!

Here are a couple of links to BoingBoing that I thought were kinda neat: a Princess Leah knitted wig, and a bottle opener made from paper!