uRandom
Sat 13th Mar 2010 @ 00:22: Battery chargers exploit your PC shocker!
According to The Register, software to control your batter charger via your PC (for whatever reason you may want to do such a thing) has included a back-door which allows for "sending files to the remote attacker or downloading other strains of malware, as instructed via commands on a back channel controlled by hackers" since 2007.
Sure, most people don't care what runs on their PC or where it came from; if you need to go to www.
Here's their press report: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=124138&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1399675
There is simply no way to validate what happened in the development process of this code, how developers were contracted, who worked on what, how, and why.
Compare this with (say) the Debian GNU/Linux distribution - planet.debian.org contains most of the packagers/developers' grumbles, debian.org/bugs contains the reported bugs, packages.debian.org contains links to source and binary packages included in the distribution - if you want to know what it does, you can find out.
I don't understand the concept that simpler is better when such things are involved - I don't know about you, but some of my PCs store personal financial information, information about customers and their server configurations - all sorts of things that I must not let some random employee of a battery company get their hands on.
Due Diligence must surely require running Free / Open Source Software. This is simply yet another example of this tautology.
Proprietary software has its place (until the revolution, comrades!), but it must come from trusted sources who can certify their work, and will take responsibility for such unforeseen side-effects.
Thu 11th Mar 2010 @ 00:09: Tory
I'm not sure that http://www.mydavidcameron.com/ is the Tory leader's official website, but it certainly made me laugh...
Do check out the posters
Tue 9th Mar 2010 @ 23:39: The Future (and history) of Faith
Debian Developer John Goerzen reviews Harvey Cox's book The Future of Faith and it does sound quite interesting.
John's link (http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/09/21.php#27929) says that Cox was until recently Professor of Divinity at the Harvard Divinity School.
As Goerzen summarises it,
Cox separates the history of Christianity into three periods: the age of faith, stretching from the time of Jesus only a few centuries until Constantine; the age of belief, stretching from Constantine until the 20th century; and the age of the spirit, now dawning. During the age of faith, “their sharing in the living Spirit of Christ united Christians with each other, and ‘faith’ meant hope and assurance in the dawning of a new era of freedom, healing, and compassion that Jesus had demonstrated.” Cox makes the point that doctrinal questions just weren’t all that important back then, and though differences existed, they weren’t considered to be fundamental to the religion. “Confidence in Christ was their primary orientation, and hope for his [earthly] Kingdom their motivating drive.” Further, he argues that the age of the spirit is a return to this earlier age, albeit with modern twists.
I am not sure that "doctrinal questions just weren’t all that important back then, and though differences existed, they weren’t considered to be fundamental to the religion" really fits in with Paul's writings; he regularly rebuked believers (or, as Cox prefers, "followers of the Way", a label I like) for petty bickerings.
The reviews on the Amazon site (linked above) are also quite interesting.
Wed 3rd Mar 2010 @ 23:33: OK Go - This too shall pass
I'm not normally one for passing on random YouTube videos, but this is a very nice video.
I think it was done in at least 2 takes (look at the curtain move around 2m30s) but very impressive - and presumably on a budget far lower than Honda paid for their Accord advert just a few years ago
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