By Cory Doctorow at 9:47 pm Sunday, Dec 25
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Rick Kleffel and the Agony Column have a long podcast interview with Jonathan Lethem commemorating the publication of his new essay collection, The Ecstasy of Influence: Nonfictions, Etc., a discussion about how art builds on other art and how writing is done:
An interview about 'The Ecstasy of Influence: Nonfictions, Etc.' with Jonathan Lethem is, for this book reviewer, something between therapy and a session with one of those gurus you see in cartoons sitting on a mountaintop, dispensing the wisdom of the ancients.
Informative, but a bit on the intimidating side, seeing as to how you're talking to a gentleman paid highly and handsomely, who is actually asked to review books by the world's premiere editors and publications. You can find them in 'The Ecstasy of Influence: Nonfictions, Etc.'
It helped then, that I've spoken with Lethem before, and that the thesis of his book, the sweet surprise center, is an argument that I tend to agree with and have been seen bandied about for the last few years now. It's the cornerstone of what makes the Internet so powerful.
12-26-11: A 2011 Interview With Jonathan Lethem
MP3 link
(Thanks, Rick!)
By Rob Beschizza at 7:47 pm Sunday, Dec 25
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Intelligence and security research group Stratfor was hacked Saturday, and a a list of clients, personal information and credit card numbers purloined from its servers.
Having exposed the group's customers, the hackers apparently used the card numbers to make donations to the Red Cross and other charities.
The New York Times' Nicole Perlroth writes that the attack was also likely intended to embarrass Stratfor. She ends with a curious quote from Jerry Irvine, a member of the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity task force:
“The scary thing is that no matter what you do, every system has some level of vulnerability,” says Jerry Irvine, a member of the National Cyber Security Task Force. “The more you do from an advanced technical standpoint, the more common things go unnoticed. Getting into a system is really not that difficult.”
Sure, if it's a web server, exposed to the public by design.
But Stratfor didn't just expose a website to the public. It also, apparently, put all this other stuff online, in the clear, for the taking.
It's true that websites are like storefronts, and that it's more or less impossible to stop determined people from blocking or defacing them now and again.
Here, however, it looks like Stratfor left private files in the window display, waiting to be grabbed by the first guy to put a brick through the glass.
Now, I'm not a member of the national IT security planning task force. But I'm pretty sure that putting unencrypted lists of credit card numbers and client details on public-exposed servers isn't quite explained by "no matter what you do, every system has some level of vulnerability."
UPDATE: One Anon claims that the hack was not the work of Anonymous. However, the usual caveats apply: no structure, no official channels, no formal leaders or spokespersons.
By Cory Doctorow at 11:51 am Sunday, Dec 25
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Rick Prelinger sez, "Here's a little holiday gift from Prelinger Archives. It's the work of accomplished amateur filmmaker (and expert tinkerer) Tullio Pellegrini, who combined a 16mm Bell & Howell Cinemascope lens with the wonders of Kodachrome and made this homage to the city of San Francisco. You'll see Playland, our oceanside amusement park which was closed in 1972, very rare footage of the SkyTram (an extinct ride over Seal Rocks and Sutro Baths), and a brakescreeching ride down the Crookedest Street in the World. Happy Holidays!"
San Francisco 1955 in Cinemascope, captured by amateur filmmaker
Mission Impossible 4,
Sherlock Holmes 2 and
Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 did well at the Christmas box office in the U.S., while
Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and
Tintin both bombed.
Depressing. [Reuters]
— Rob
A reader writes, "One more time, some lobbyists try to regulate the Internet with some of the stupidest laws or rules. SOPA (in US) is again one of this tentative to break down the freedom of citizen worldwide to preserve some archaic business model. As I have a preference for concrete action leading to a direct social improvement,
I'll explain how to do soap (it's better than SOPA and more useful, please note the clever inversion of the letters). My soap recipe is released under the public domain dedication license (CC0)."
— Cory
By Cory Doctorow at 7:22 am Sunday, Dec 25
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On How to Be a Retronaut, a seasonal gallery of Christmas gun ads, including this sugar-addled, gift-crazed lad with a rifle and a thousand-yard stare.
Christmas Guns
By Cory Doctorow at 6:04 am Sunday, Dec 25
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Erik sez, "Here's a Christmas toy I made for my toddler son. It is a custom patch panel, wiring, and button pushing toy created in the 'maker' tradition! I am a broadcast engineer and recently noticed that my two-and-a-half year old son was fascinated when I was moving cables around behind the family stereo. He wanted to help out so I let him for little bit. It was so much fun to watch him play that I was inspired to create a toy that is a custom patch bay and activity panel. The robot even talks! When he gets a little older I'll probably add a micro-controller for more advanced interactivity."
Maker Christmas Toy
(Thanks, Erik!)
