Decius wrote:

Gunter wouldn't go into detail about how Boeing is tackling the issue but says it is employing a combination of solutions that involves some physical separation of the networks, known as "air gaps," and software firewalls. Gunter also mentioned other technical solutions, which she said are proprietary and didn't want to discuss in public.

"There are places where the networks are not touching, and there are places where they are," she said.

What?! Either the networks are connected or they are not. There is no middle ground. This isn't some enterprise network where you've got to have connectivity and you put in a firewall but every once in a while a virus outbreak happens anyway and you loose a day. This is an airplane. One virus outbreak on your internal network and you kill a lot of people. Conclusion: REAL, REAL f*#king stupid!

Agreed, this is completely insane.

On the other hand, I'm sure abaddon would love to fly his own 747, and now he can! Might not be worth the trip to guantanamo however.

RE: FAA: Boeing's New 787 May Be Vulnerable to Hacker Attack

Wow. Most awesome intro to a flash game ever.

AtomFilms: Kung-Fu Election

I haven't heard nearly as much about this as I would like... does anyone know more?

I spent a week at Pine Ridge back in college... i find this a very interesting situation. -k

The Raw Story | Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US

and try out a new HP laptop with imbedded Altec Lansing speakers — it’s half the price of a MacBook, with a far better audio experience.”

Wow, better speakers in an HP notebook? No wonder MacBook sales are tanking. Sell your Apple shares now.

Samsung already sells a touch-screen phone. So does Motorola.

Chevy already sells a sedan with a V8 engine. So does Ford.

Sprint has a touch-screen phone that runs “thousands” of third-party applications

And they’re all great.

Gruber eviscerates the latest "ZOMG APPLE IS IN TROUBLE!!!" missive, this one from FastCompany.

Daring Fireball:

I asked him how much it would cost for him to do for the whole country what he did for Michigan. About two million dollars, he said, maybe three, mostly for the technical work of signing up hospitals to participate state by state and coördinating a database to track the results. He’s already devised a plan to do it in all of Spain for less.

“We could get I.C.U. checklists in use throughout the United States within two years, if the country wanted it,” he said.

So far, it seems, we don’t. The United States could have been the first to adopt medical checklists nationwide, but, instead, Spain will beat us. “I at least hope we’re not the last,” Pronovost said.

[ Astonishing article... extremely interesting, if somewhat discouraging. -k]

Annals of Medicine: The Checklist: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (AP) — Happy holidays. Now pull over to the side of the road.

Motorists may be in for a surprise if they spot flashing red lights in their rearview mirrors in this Sacramento suburb during the holiday season.

Police are stopping law-abiding motorists and rewarding their good driving with $5 Starbucks gift cards.

A traffic officer came up with the idea to "promote the holiday spirit and enhance goodwill between the traffic unit and the motoring public," police Sgt. Tim Curran said.

Local businesses donated money to buy the gift cards.

"They raised a substantial amount of money," Curran said. "They'll be pulling over a lot of people."

I don't like this precedent. This sounds a lot like being pulled over for no reason.

[Agreed. That's fucked up. You want to thank me for being a good driver? Pull over all the fuckers swerving around the interstate, changing lanes without signaling, etc. Wasting an officer's time handing me a $5 starbucks card, that I may not even want, is kind of absurd. -k]

The Associated Press: Police Reward Good Drivers With Coffee

A feature documentary about bold adventure, exquisite athleticism and the pursuit of a perfect moment on skis. It is the story of big mountain skiing,

This one's givin me chills... can't wait...

Apple - Trailers - Steep - Trailer

1. I Am Legend - A massive budget, computer effects, and the Fresh Prince are always a surefire hit, bringing in $76.5 million. Now if someone could only explain why.

Because Will Smith is awesome, I guess. That being said, the trailers for this movie ruined it for me. I no longer really care. Fuckers.

2. Alvin and the Chipmunks - With a $45 million weekend, it's finally the definitive proof that there is no God. Or if there is, he loves shit-eating jokes, which might be worse.

Dear jesus. What the fuck, Jason Lee. I mean, yeah, you've made other bad choices, but seriously. I mean, really.

3. The Golden Compass - This weekend, America made an important choice: talking polar bears or talking chipmunks? In short, the polar bears lost, making only $9 million, and immediately blew it all on fish.

I wanted to see this even more than 1 and infinitely more than 2 or 4. But didn't. Meh.

4. Enchanted - Seriously, this is still making $6 million a weekend? How many talking animal movies is it going to take to knock this out of the top five?

Eat me Disney. I mean it.

5. No Country for Old Men - If you know how good the Coen Brothers' latest is, it will infuriate you to know that, with $3 million, it made 15 times less than Jason Lee's computer-animated castration.

sigh. no sigh is big enough. just, ugh.

I Watch Stuff - The Best Movie News Ever

James Gallien had driven five miles out of Fairbanks when he spotted the hitchhiker standing in the snow beside the road, thumb raised high, shivering in the gray Alaskan dawn. A rifle protruded from the young man's pack, but he looked friendly enough

I went to see "Into the Wild" last night. Highly recommended.

I don't know that I'd read this article first necessarily, unless you already know something of the story.

Anyway, worth a read, ideally when you've already gone to the film (playing, of course, at Midtown, and not in any of the Regal megalopoli).

-k

Death of an Innocent | Outside Online

Illustrated BMI Categories

I was explaining to my boss that I am obese the other day and he refused to beleive me. Unfortunately most of the pictures in this archive are of women. They are pretty easy to fit into catagories. Overweight women are not unattractive. There are a few men. The guy who is just shy of normal looks almost malnourished. The overweight guys don't look overweight. Either guys hide fat better than women, or fat is way more dangerous on men 'causing the medical industry to set comparatively different standards.

[I think it's certain that guys don't seem as "overweight" as they may be. It's due to differences of frame, as well as styles of dress, and also largely social expectations and preferences. I myself am just back into the realm of merely overweight, rather than obese, now that I've dropped below 210 (201 this am, though that fluctuates +/- 4 or 5 pretty easily).

According to BMI the "Healthy" or "Normal" range for a 5'10" male is between 140 and 174. This is along the lines of my intuitive feeling, based on my target weight being 160-165 to look and feel best. I was between 130 and 140 from about age 15 to age 20, and only put on my "freshman 15" as a junior, and it was more like 25, but I think that was better. 140 is pretty waifish for me.

Anyway, the main thing this photoset shows is that while the general categories almost fit, the simple division of weight by height doesn't account for your frame... some people actually do look better slightly overweight, and for my personal take on it, the girls at the lower to middle end of the "overweight" spectrum are generally the most attractive to me. -k]

Illustrated BMI Categories - a photoset on Flickr