11.11.2023

A public service announcement

Crocodile Bites Man. Man Bites Back.

Brandon Sideau, a crocodile management expert who keeps a database of more than 8,000 crocodile attacks, does not recommend biting as a first call of action.

Just so you know.

In some cases, though, it does seem to work.

11.10.2023

It's not all about TikTok

NSA officials call out Chinese hackers’ stealthy and off-limits hacks 

“It is prepositioning, with the intent to quietly burrow into critical networks for the long haul,” Adamski said at the CYBERWARCON conference. “Let me be clear: These target entities are of no intelligence value. The fact that these actors are in critical infrastructure is unacceptable.”

Adamski is director of the NSA’s Cybersecurity Collaboration Center. 

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month…

An armistice is a formal agreement to end hostilities. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918, fighting in WWI officially stopped after Germany signed an armistice agreement with Allies earlier in the day.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that changed the federal holiday’s name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

…is…well…tomorrow. 

But it's today too, "observed," because three-day weekends rule.

Anyway, the original meaning of the date should be remembered as well.

11.09.2023

A little copywriting tip

The Hollywood strikes are over. Here’s when you could see your favorite stars and shows return

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Missed your favorite actors?

Never lead with a question that can be answered No.

 

I am not a climate denier

Last 12 months on Earth were the hottest ever recorded, analysis finds


Let's face it. We have a climate and it makes absolutely no sense to say we don't.

But that "ever recorded" part always makes me feel a little bit manipulated, somehow.

11.08.2023

Oiloholics all

Nations That Vowed to Halt Warming Are Expanding Fossil Fuels, Report Finds

In 2030, if current projections hold, the United States will drill for more oil and gas than at any point in its history. Russia and Saudi Arabia plan to do the same.

 Double the oil the global warming threshold, whatever that is, allows, acording to a UN-backed report as described in this NYTimes piece.


11.06.2023

Reality check

Israel-Hamas war misinformation is everywhere. Here are the facts

The first casualty of war is…well, we've all heard that one by now, haven't we? [Hint: It's the truth.]

These days that's more the case than ever, given AI and more ancient tools like Photoshop, and with social media amplifying everything. 

Plus, all the parties to a war twist facts to their favor. Always.

Fortunately there are relable fact-checking sites scattered around the web: Use them.

Sorry, Dubuque, maybe next time

‘Amtrak Joe’ Biden is off to Delaware to give out $16 billion for passenger rail projects

The Democratic president is headed to Bear, Delaware, on Monday to announce more than $16 billion in new funding that will go toward 25 passenger rail projects between Boston and Washington, the White House says.
Granted, there's a lot of passenger traffic between Boston and Washington (and there are a couple of other cities, like New York and Philly, along the way). At least some of it goes by rail.

But there's more to the country than just the East Coast and California. Not that you'd know it if you lived there. 

(I've never lived in California but I've spent half my adult life on the East Coast. And I've liked it well enough. But I'm still a flyover-state kinda guy. And passenger rail needs a whole lot of work there too. How's that coming along, Joe?)

11.05.2023

Gunpowder…

 …is described in an act of the Parliment of England, dated 1606, as…

"An Invention so inhuman, barbarous and cruel, as the like was never before heard of."

The act called for commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt by one Guido Fawkes and sundry accomplices to blow up the House of Parliment when the King and other royal persons were attending. 

Although the law was repealed in 1859, the anniversary is still celebrated as Guy Fawkes Night and it's today, November 5.