Archive for October, 2007
Humans are not evolved for security!
Human beings aren’t evolved for security in the modern world, and particularly the IT security world, according to security guru Bruce Schneier.
He told delegates at the 2007 RSA Conference that there is a gap between the reality of security and the emotional feel of security due to the way our brains have evolved. This leads to people making bad choices.
“As a species we got really good at estimating risk in an East African village 100,000 years ago. But in 2007 London? Modern times are harder.”
Our brains evolved to deal with the reality of security, but emotional aspects also have a big role, he added. There are a number of such factors that prevent people from making the right security decisions. For instance:
* Exaggerate uncommon risks – for example, air travel is safer than cars but because car accidents are common they are seen as less risky
* Unknown risks – The unknown is always scary
* Personified risk – Osama Bin Laden is scarier than a faceless threat
* Involuntary risks – We overestimate the risks of situations where we have no control, like natural disasters
* Risks that could be controlled – The DC sniper caused a few deaths but the response was way out of proportion.
“In the technology industry we like to think we’re computers, but we’re not even close,” he said.
“The brain is still in beta mode, it’s got all sorts of patches and workarounds. It’s not perfectly created, it’s clearly evolved up.”
Too often in the industry products appealed to people’s emotions rather than addressing business facts and that was hurting the industry.
Fear is still the best motivation for consumers.
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Videotape
In Rainbows has occupied most of my weekend as i’ve finally had a chance to sit down with it and listen intimately without interruption. i’ve listened to it dozens of times.
It’s torn me up, had me dancing, in tears and feeling renewed like i haven’t felt in a long, long time from music alone.
Reviews among my peers are mixed. Perhaps, the mechanism by which it was released has overshadowed the content? That would be a shame.
I say it’s a triumph of our collective culture. May it survive the future holocausts and wars so that generations to come may discover and be inspired by its beauty.
The last song on the album is one of the most beautiful, sad and triumphant songs i’ve ever heard:
When I’m at the pearly gates
This will be on my videotape, my videotape
Mephistopheles is just beneath
and he’s reaching up to grab me
This is one for the good days
and i have it all here
In red, blue, green
Red, blue, green
You are my center
When i spin away
Out of control on videotape
On videotape
On videotape
On videotape
This is my way of saying goodbye
Because I can’t do it face to face
I’m talking to you after it’s too late
From my videotape
No matter what happens now
I won’t be afraid
Because I know today has been the most perfect day I’ve ever seen
–
thank you thom, jonny, ed, colin and phil for this most remarkable collection of music.
sincerely.
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All Hail Punk Floyd
Radiohead has stunned the music world once again only this time by announcing that its forthcoming album will make its debut as a digital download available for whatever individual consumers want to pay for it.
Guitarist Jonny Greenwood announced on the band’s website on Sunday night that the new album In Rainbows has been completed and would be released Oct. 10 online.
Thom Yorke, seen above at a music festival near Paris in 2006, has questioned the traditional music-industry sales model.
When pre-ordering the album through the website, the checkout screen returns the message: “It’s up to you.”
A subsequent message adds: “No really, it’s up to you.”
A physical version of the album [a special edition featuring two discs along with lyrics and artwork] will follow in December.
worth every stinking cent of whatever you think it’s worth.
on principle ALONE.
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Linux Geek Makes Good
James Burgett of the Alameda County Computer Resource Center calls himself a ‘tattooed freak’ and a recovering drug addict, but CNN is calling him a hero for diverting tons of computers from landfills, installing Ubuntu Linux on them, and giving them out to schools, non-profits, and people who can’t otherwise afford one. Burgett’s filmed interview is currently leading a CNN contest among videos of ‘ordinary people’ whom CNN considers everyday heroes, narrowly edging out the video of a man who is saving gorillas from extinction. In his interview, Burgett points out that the people working for him are also recovering drug addicts or recovering mental illness patients.
He’s got my vote, too.
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