A few days ago I posted about the absurd attention the FBI has shown in a computer science student who created a fake boarding pass generator. The true threat of a simulated boarding pass is not that it would allow terrorists to board a plane (and get an exit row seat, no less). No, the… Continue reading Joking with weapon-like toys
Author: Mark Sample
Fly the Fiendly Skies
This is the scariest freaking business I've read in a long time: Christopher Soghoian, a computer science student who had created an online generator for fake boarding passes--solely to point out how ludicrously ineffective airport security is--has been visited several times by the FBI, most recently, with a 2am warrant that allowed the Bureau to… Continue reading Fly the Fiendly Skies
Fast Food, Homeland Security Style
Here's a placard (larger image) on a parking shuttle bus at Dulles International Airport, outside of Washington, D.C. I'm very appreciative that they let me know, well before I enter the terminal, what I can eat, and whether it's "pre-security" or "post-security" dining. So I can plan in advance such critical traveling strategery as, do… Continue reading Fast Food, Homeland Security Style
WWJB?
What would Jesus blog? It's a question theologians have pondered for centuries. But the answer, finally, is here. Yes, the Prince of Peace is back, and he's online. Blogging under the cryptic pen-name "Long Haired Jew," Jesus tackles the issues of the day, such as terrorism (although he's no Pope Benedict), global warming, and of… Continue reading WWJB?
Simulated Terrorist Attacks; or, Drag Me out of the Ball Park
Here's the chance of a lifetime, the opportunity we've all been dying for: playing a victim in a mock terrorist attack. And this isn't just any simulated terrorist attack. This is a terrorist attack on a baseball team! The Reds, no less! As the Cincinnati Reds press release reads: On Saturday, September 30 the Department… Continue reading Simulated Terrorist Attacks; or, Drag Me out of the Ball Park
A sound I love
Here's a sound I love: biking over a wood bridge and hearing the planks knock together as my tires roll over them.
Moving Hell
Moving is hell. We're moving after a year in the D.C. area, back to Nascar country in North Carolina. But when God--and there's a lot of him around in this part of the country--gives you moving, you make yummy movingade. So, we're looking at this as an opportunity. We have all these dozens of cardboard… Continue reading Moving Hell
Long Live Rock, the Nineties, Part IV
10. The Moody Blues (1994?, Blossom Music Center) Suddenly it was the eighties again.
The Amazing Amazon Mechanical Turk
Clive over at Collision Detection reports on the new Amazon service called Amazon Mechanical Turk, which allows companies to hire (via Amazon) "Turks" who, in their spare time, do seemingly mindless tasks online, for example, tag photographs of shoes according to color. The tasks are mindless--but only for humans who have minds. For computers, the… Continue reading The Amazing Amazon Mechanical Turk
Dust? What dust?
Ignore the different looks this blog will be assuming these next couple days. I'm updating my templates and it's going to take a while to get it all done. Damn Movable Type for totally changing the standards of their templates from version 2.6 to 3.x. It's been such a hassle that I'm toying with the… Continue reading Dust? What dust?
Long Live Rock, The Nineties, Part III
Hothouse Flowers / Ziggy Marley and the Wailers / Midnight Oil (1993, Cleveland) A triple bill. An absurdly mismatched triple bill. I went for Hothouse Flowers, Wendy went for Midnight Oil. We both grooved to the Wailers, although reggae really wasn't my thing back then. I guess it still isn't. Peter Garrett was huge. At… Continue reading Long Live Rock, The Nineties, Part III
Long Live Rock, the Nineties, Part II
The early nineties are hazy, for no particular reason, other than that they were so long ago. Still, I'm determined to continue write about every concert I ever attended. The eighties were easy because attending concerts was a new thing for me, and I saw "big" acts like The Who and The Kinks, all near… Continue reading Long Live Rock, the Nineties, Part II
Long Live Rock, the Nineties, Part I
Royal Crescent Mob (1990, Hall Auditorium, Miami University) I don't remember this concert, or this band. Royal Crescent Mob was the midwest's answer to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Unfortunately, nobody had ever asked that particular question. I went because I was working with one of the organizations sponsoring the concert. I can't even remember… Continue reading Long Live Rock, the Nineties, Part I
Google Mapping Spain
I've been experimenting with a good way to incorporate a dynamic Google Map into this blog, specifically one that plots key points in our travels in Spain. Don't ask me why. I really don't expect anybody to ever look at this thing, but I've been inspired by the possibilities of geomapping memories (see the Center… Continue reading Google Mapping Spain
Long Live Rock, More Eighties
I'd forgotten at least one concert in the eighties: Ray Charles (1989, Millett Hall at Miami University) This was a Parents' Weekend Concert, my first semester at college. My parents came and Ray Charles was late. That's about all I remember: the concert started something like an hour late. Ray Charles must have sang "Georgia… Continue reading Long Live Rock, More Eighties