Government Spending and taking inventory of our own problems

I don't quite understand why the same people who say that we spend too much money supporting social programs, don't have a problem going to war with every other country in the world? How is sticking our (the USA) nose where it doesn't belong better than making our own country better?

Our infrastructure is crumbling. Our education system is weak and becoming weaker, as compared to other comparable countries. Many states are drowning in debt. Corporate oligopolies are becoming more and more common in different markets, pushing out the small guys, stifling innovation and hurting consumers.

So why is it so bad to turn our eyes inward? Why is it unpatriotic to do this? Is it because we are so accustomed to being #1 that we cannot admit our own failures and weaknesses?

I'm not saying the US is messed up or should be compared to other countries with far worse problems, but that doesn't excuse us from taking inventory of our own issues.

The US is the person who gives advice to everyone else but can't take it without becoming defensive. Many of those countries we are happy to 'give advice' to never even asked for it to start with.

Music Industry Vs. Everyone Else

With Amazon just releasing it's Cloud Drive with accompanying Cloud Player, users are now able to upload their music collections to Amazon's cloud storage (basically a hard drive the Internet for your usage). With the Cloud Player you can easily access your music collection from a variety of devices and locations.

So basically Amazon is providing users a virtual hard drive that they can access anywhere. Seems simple enough. Why would this be a problem? Well the Music Industry, as a whole, says Amazon and users aren't licensed to do this with their music.

The first thing most of us think is, "What? I bought these songs. Why can't I do this?" Well as far as the Music Industry is concerned you only purchased a license to listen to the music in the form you purchased it on. Technically they don't even want you ripping your CDs to MP3s. From their perspective, you bought a license to listen to the music on that CD, that's it. Ideally they'd like to make you pay for each different way you listen to their music. That's how they look at it. It's not your music, it's theirs and they can tell you how you can listen to it.

The think is that violating that license was not illegal, it was just a violation of the license that they could do little about. So with the Amazon Cloud Drive/Player, they aren't going after us music listeners. We aren't doing anything illegal so what good would it do? But with Amazon they can pressure them with other means. Amazon sells a lot of music. The various music publishers can say, "Well if you want to do the Cloud thing then you have to play a license fee or we'll pull our catalog from your store." Of course this would hurt them too but the Music Industry doesn't want to cede ground on this. They did with allowing users to rip CDs and they are probably regretting that still. After all thanks to the extremely customer unfriendly law, the DMCA, it would be illegal to circumvent the copy protection to rip the CD.

The thing is, if this goes to court, and it may, the Music Industry may be forced to give up this fight. Is it fair use or not for users to be able to put their MP3s on a virtual 'cloud' hard drive somewhere? Personally I say yes it is. How would it be any different than me putting my music on a thumb drive or a portable hard drive so I could play the music anywhere? I don't see the difference and perhaps the court wouldn't either.

I'm actually hoping this does go to court. Amazon has the deep pockets to do this and they could stand a fighting chance, as compared to a small start-up company that would simply be crushed or paid off to go away. Then we'd have a clearer understanding of what rights we have left as music listeners. Maybe for once our government would side with the people instead of the corporations.

Libya's Rebellion

So I've been thinking a lot about the rebellion in Libya. It's a tough call to me whether the UN/NATO should have intervened. Some of the rebels are pretty well armed buy many are armed with little more than hunting rifles and rocks. Yet the Libyan army is attacking with tanks and bombs. So is it right that the UN has stepped in and destroyed many Libyan military facilities. Is it the rest of the worlds right to intervene in a sovereign nations' internal squabbles?

Part of me says, Yes. How do you negotiate with a man who is insane by many accounts? On the other hand there are many supporters of the current government. But does that make it right to use such extreme methods to quell a rebellion? The rebels want change. Were their demands so unreasonable? Clearly they think they are worth dying for.

Dying for your country, for what you believe is right and just is something that resonates with many free countries. Perhaps that's why we want to side with the rebels and the UN resolutions. I was rooting for the rebels the entire time but I'm not sure sure I agree with what the UN coalition has done thus far. Seems awful close to sticking our noses where they don't belong. I think so long as we only backup the rebels, rather than doing it all for them, we might come out of this situation with some dignity. We'll see.

The other thing that came to mind is, what would the US do if that happened here, in the US. If armed rebels started ousting current government officials out and taking towns and maybe states how would the US handle things? It's been talked about before, but what if Texas decided it wanted to secede? Wouldn't the US government react in much the same way as Libya's government? Many militias have formed here and there, upset about the government. Many go no where or are painted as crazies. Maybe they are but what would keep the media from making them look that way to keep them from gaining more power and popularity. We, in the US, eat up the media every day as if it's the truth. Do you think it's any different in Libya's cities where we see people saying, they don't understand why everyone has a problem with the current government?

Here in the US, we all know the government is corrupt and full of shit. Yet we keep buying they BS they sell us. Look at Obama. He had at least half the voters in the country buying his campaign promises of change. Yet we don't see any change. Most of the policies that failed G.W. Bush are still in place or even re-enforced by Obama. Just more of the same, just with a different face.

But most of us are comfortable, if not happy. We are content with the system we have, even if it is corrupt, because it's still not that bad. We won't see rebellion in the US unless things get really bad. We saw hints of that when the housing market popped and the economy took a dive. The Tea-Party was born of that. Agree with them or not, they gained power and popularity because people were suddenly struggling.

Again the media painted the Tea Party movement as fringe and borderline crazy. Maybe there were some fringe individuals, but there are those in any party/group. The Tea Party managed to get a few of their own into office too. I commend them on that. It's long term effects are to be seen, but right now I'm not very hopeful that a third party is going to have much impact. People get comfortable and forget their anger.

So would a rebellion like that in Libya or even Egypt happen in the US? Probably not in the near future, but we are not immune to it happening and I fear if/when it does our government will not respond any better than Muammar Gaddafi.

Twitter Vs. UberTwitter

If you are a Blackberry and Twitter user then you probably already know about the ban-hammer that Twitter hit UberTwitter with earlier today. The problem is that the official response wasn't very clear. Additional information was picked up by other blogs. But the damage was already done, people immediately felt that Twitter was killing it's competition in the mobile market.

It didn't help that #TwitterMobile was made a promoted trending topic, directing users where to download the official Twitter for Blackberry app. I'm sure this was done to help confused users get back on-line as quickly as possible, but scorned UberTwitter users saw this as additional evidence that Twitter was just trying to squash competitors.

The official reason for blocking UberTwitter is that they were violating the Twitter API policies. If this is truly the case then UberTwitter just needs to correct those violations. It also sounds like they've had nearly a year to correct some of these issues. It's not like Twitter didn't give them ample time.

But who are the users mad at? Twitter, not UberTwitter. The anger and frustration is understandable but misdirected. If Twitter is being honest about looking out for their customer base and simply enforcing the policies it makes everyone stick to, then why should they have to take the heat? They are doing what they have to do or risk being overrun by developers abusing the Twitter API and worse abusing Twitter data.

It's entirely possible that Twitter is doing all this to knock out a competitor, but that seems unlikely simply because it's only targeting a couple large clients, not all of them. Many Twitter clients are unaffected.

Hell, it may simply be Twitter enforcing it's copyright. UberTwitter has the word Twitter right in it. So this could all be resolved with a simple name change.

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UPDATE: From @UberTwitter at approximately 3:24 PM CST, 02/18/2011

Interesting. This doesn't suggest a new download for users or anything. So what WAS the problem or will there be a new version of UberTwitter to come yet?

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UPDATE 2: 2/19/2011

Well it seems that perhaps the name WAS the issue, as now UberTwitter is known as UberSocial. www.ubertwitter.com also redirects you to, www.ubersocial.com. So a new version of the software is now available for download as of 5:00PM CST. Additionally their Twitter account has been changed to: @UberSoc

Yesterday evening they posted these two posts:

This suggests not only was the name the issue but also a feature that UberTwitter had was deemed unacceptable to the Twitter team.

Passwords - Public Service Announcement

Ah passwords... Everyone hates them. They are a necessary evil in the world of computing and these days the world of computing is the world at large.

Mobile devices have made the Internet accessible from everywhere. Mark Zuckerberg says privacy is dead, but we still don't want other accessing our digital identities. After all, as I just mentioned, the digital/computing world is our world now. Stealing access to someones email or Facebook or Twitter is identity theft. It's not just about stealing credit card or social security numbers.

Stealing someones online identity may not have the same long term effects as stealing someones bank account info but the mental/emotional effects can be just as damaging, especially for the younger generations who live on the Internet. That is their way of life.

So strong passwords are a big deal. Yet they still suck. No one likes to use them. They don't want to have to remember them. So the passwords end up weak; too short, easy to crack. They don't change them often enough. They use the same password over and over again.

I'm not a hacker but what would I do to crack your password? First I'd try simple brute force. Many password cracking tools can break a weak password in seconds. Did you simply take a common word, found in any dictionary, and put a number on the end? Cracking programs can find that password very quickly.

Second thing I'd try is social engineering. I would email/call/txt you and try to convince you I'm a legitimate person from whatever service I'm trying to break into (Email, Facebook, Bank, etc.). Some of you might be smart enough to avoid this, but there are a lot who are not. This is a pretty effective way to steal a password and many hackers do this all the time. It's also called Phishing.

Oh and if you write down your passwords and keep them by your monitor I might call your coworker and try to social engineer them to find your password for me. Or if it's worth enough to me, pay off the cleaning person in your building to be looking/collecting passwords for me.

These first two give me your current password. If I'm lucky you use that same password on a lot of other sites too. That grants me greater access. I can collect data on you quickly, before you figure out what is going on and reset things. Really by the time you have figured it out, it'll be too late.

Third I'd try to break the password reset system on one of the sites you use. If I know your email address, I can try to break into your email. Most email systems now have a series of questions that you answer to authenticate you when you tell it you forgot your password. I can use Facebook and many other public data sources to figure out what your Elementary school was or your mom's maiden name.

This isn't as useful as having your password because I may not be able to get into your other systems, but if I can retain access to your email or maybe add a mail forwarder (when you get mail I can get a copy in my mailbox too) then I can use your account to collect additional info about you or use it to access other sites. Your email address is often used as your username in many systems.

So you are sitting there thinking one of three things:

1. OMG! What do I do!?
2. Yea right. You are just being paranoid.
3. Yea, I know all this already and take steps to be careful.

Those of you in the #3 camp. If you have suggestions/corrections please add them to the comments.

Those in the #2 camp. Perhaps I am being a bit paranoid, but your are a perfect target. You don't think it'll happen to you so your guard is down.

Ah my scared little bunnies in camp #1. Don't worry all is not lost. You don't have to cut yourself off from the Internet. There are a number of things you can do to protect yourself.

1. Never ever give your password to anyone over the phone (or in person). The only person I give my passwords to is my wife and she only gets a couple weak ones. You've probably been told this many times but it still rings true. It's also applicable to other info that you should keep secure, especially if it has anything to do with your bank or credit cards. Those are prime targets of organized crime these days.
2. Change all your passwords. Don't use the same password every where. If one of your passwords is compromised, the damage is isolated. The online media-blog site Gawker had many of their users passwords compromised not long ago. Would you want to be one of the many who had to scramble and quickly change all the passwords of all the other sites where you might have used that same password.
3. Use large complicated passwords. While some sites still have short maximum password lengths, take advantage of those who allow more characters. The more characters the longer it takes to brute force an attack. After while the hackers will move on to a different, easier target.
4. Get a password manager. There are a number of good password managers out on the market now that can help you create and store all these complex passwords. The downside is that if it's compromised all your passwords are compromised. So make sure you have at least one really strong password that you can use for it. Many can be installed on your mobile device or are online, making them usable when not at your primary computer. A couple good ones are: LastPass and KeePass
5. If you don't want to use a password manager use pass phrases instead of passwords. Use the spaces and punctuation. That'll make the password strong but easier for you to remember.
6. Use a password card. These are a matrix of random characters that create passwords for you. The basic concept is rather than remembering the actual password you remember a simple one or two character/color combo. It can go in your wallet too so you always have your passwords available.
7. Change your passwords often. Why you might ask? I change mine on a regular basis because if my password was compromised and I didn't know it, the hacker could be in my system for weeks/months and I'd have no idea.
8. When setting up your password reset questions put in fake information. If your first car was a Chevy Camaro, put in Ford Mustang. Something you can easily remember but someone with information about your past would not figure out. As long as it's clearly not BS the password reset tools won't care. This works for credit cards and the like when you have to call in and give a passkey too.

A few don'ts, just to re-stress:

• DON'T use passwords with words that can be found in the dictionary. They can be cracked quickly, even if you have a number at the end. Most cracking tools have that factored in and it won't slow them down.
• DON'T write down your passwords and especially don't leave them taped or Post-it noted to your monitor or leave them under your keyboard.
• DON'T give your password(s) out to anyone but your most trusted.
• DON'T think you are immune.

I added that last don't because it's easy to believe, "Why would anyone want to hack my accounts?" Well they may not be targeting you directly. You may be right that you aren't really a prime target, but one on one attacks are probably unlikely unless you are a specific target. With the Gawker leak that I mentioned above, the site's username/password database was broken into. They didn't target you specifically but if you are on that list then you'd be a target.

So go update your passwords! It's more important than ever that you have good strong passwords. Your whole life, not just your digital one, could depend on it.

Related articles: Passwords Revisited

Déjà vu - I'm pretty sure I haven't written this before

...most people suffer a mild (i.e. non-pathological) epileptic episode regularly (e.g. a hypnagogic jerk, the sudden "jolt" that frequently, but not always, occurs just prior to falling asleep), it is conjectured that a similar (mild) neurological aberration occurs in the experience of déjà vu, resulting in an erroneous sensation of memory.

from: Wikipedia

This is very interesting to me because I've never realized that these two events are related or that my mild little jolts in bed were little epileptic episodes. I never really knew what they were. Nothing serious, just weird. Plus they don't happen that often. Neither does my déjà vu but that freaks me out every time.

The question remains...is it just a weird quirk of our brains or is there something else going on? Memory is pretty powerful so it's very conceivable that it can build these 'memories' for us. Just think about how vivid some dreams can be. I know mine are so vivid and realistic that I wonder if I'm peeking into parallel universes. I mean if not, my brain should be a movie director because my dreams are more entertaining that most of the drivel from Hollywood these days! Precognition seems unlikely to me as there are way too many variables to consider to look into the future.

Bathroom Remodel - Vanity and Sink are finally in!

So it's been awhile since I posted any updates to the bathroom. We had many discussions about what kinda of vanity, what kind of top, what kind of sink we wanted. It's amazing how not having a sink while everything else is basically done will do to help you make decisions.

We originally looked at various premade vanities. From free standing to built-ins. The problem was the size of the space for the vanity. We had 42 inches.

We didnt really want to give up counter space and the free-standing vanities, while very nice were both expensive and took away counter space.

The built-in cabinets simply didnt come in 42 inches, standard. Not that we couldn't get one, but we would have had to special order it.

So in the end I built ours out of MDF (medium density fiberboard), wood glue and caulk. I'm really happy with the results, though it was a ton of work. MDF makes a lot of sawdust too. If I ever use it again, it'll be in the Spring/Summer/Fall where I can cut it outside!

The next hurtle was the counter top. What material? I really didnt want to do laminate in the bathroom, just because of the moisture. As is I used PVC trim as much as possible and the MDF was primed and painted carefully to minimize moisture issues. So in my mind laminate was out. Though if push came to shove it might have happened.

I really didn't want to do a tile counter top. We had a tile counter in our kitchen in Nashville, before we remodeled it and it was awful! I'll come back to the whole tile thing in a minute.

So then it was solid surface or stone. Though I like many of the man-made solid surface choices it didn't seem to work with what we were doing stylistically. Plus the price really wasn't so different than stone, for the size we were looking to do. (about 8 sq ft)

So we checked into getting a remnant of granite from a local stone vendor. We went and looked at all the different selections and were pretty happy with the two options we choice (though one really didnt work under our bathroom lighting). We were given a rough quote of about $75 per sq ft, which seemed on the high side for a remnant. The guy we talked to said it might be cheaper but we'd have to work with a particular guy who was on vacation. Hey it was the week of Christmas, we were understanding. We we never did hear back from them. Even today they have never tried to contact us.

So this last weekend we were browsing Home Depot or Lowes and we come across their basic black granite tiles. They were 12x12 and only $5 each. I knew I had some Hardiebacker and thin-set at home still. We found matching bull-nose, so...

Despite my earlier hesitation with tile, we went with tile, but it's granite at least. We picked up a really strong epoxy grout too. One of my major concerns was the grout. Most grouts are porous, even after you seal them. Or if something thin got dropped on the grout line would it gouge. This epoxy grout eliminated all those worries. It's seriously strong once it sets and sticks really well.

Some of the wainscoting was delayed because of the counter top choice. I didn't want to put in any of the trim around the vanity area in case we had to maneuver a big slab into place. So once we finally got the counter done we were able to move forward with that.

More glass mosaic tiling and grouting and siliconing to make sure everything is just so, before maneuvering the sink and faucet into place.

We had many sink discussions as well. Early on we settled on a vessel of some kind, rather than a more typical 'sunken' sink or under-mount. That was an important decision as it set the height of the vanity top, especially important since I was building it.

We looked at the standard bowl types, and some nice rectangular ones that sat on top of the counter. I really liked those, but they used up far too much counter space and what about cleaning behind them?

The bowls were nice and really not that expensive (unless you went will more exotic materials). Since we had a black/white/gray theme going we pretty much knew it would be one of those colors. As we went with black granite for the counter top, black was out. The mosaic tile has a nice white glass, so we looked at a frosted bowl. When we were looking at a slab of granite we considered a clear glass bowl to show off the stone. Since we didn't do the slab the clear didn't make much sense any more. Finally we saw a nice mix of the rectangular sinks I liked from before with the advantages of the bowl. It was white porcelain and about $100 cheaper than the frosted glass. While at the time I think the choice was a bit, 'it works, lets get it and get this done.' I really think it worked out perfect. I really like how it looks.

So while we have a little more decorative touches to make to the bathroom, it's functionally complete at this point and man that takes a load off. It's been a long hard road!