Can we and all nations not live in peace? In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you, is not an alien force already among us? What could be more alien to the universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?
So we should unite ourselves against those who favor war or who threaten war? A war on those who want war?
Quick, grab a pitchfork and some torches. We have some unification work to do.
1958 Can of GoldfischliEvery so often I hear complaints about people who copy things and improve them instead of “inventing” them. It just came up again in a discussion on Bruce Schneier’s blog.
Did you hear the one about the Gold Fish cracker invented in 1958 by Oscar Kambly at his family business?
America gets its first taste of Goldfish crackers in 1962. Margaret Rudkin discovers the snack cracker on a trip to Switzerland and returns with the recipe.
The Kambly site says the idea originally was a gift for Oscar’s wife.
Who would have thought that the Gold Fish cracker is actually a Swiss invention? And I wonder why Rudkin re-branded as OEM instead of being a distributor.
Maybe the Swiss stole the idea from the French, and maybe they stole it from… will the real inventor please swim forward?
One has to wonder what would happen if the town of Cheddar had a penny for every ounce of cheese sold in America under their stolen name…
The PCI security standards council issues a press release yesterday:
With this new update, which is based on extensive feedback from the Council’s Participating Organizations, the PCI DSS will enhance the clarity of its technical requirements, offer improved flexibility and address new and evolving risks and threats.
It is mostly about clarification to resolve the issues raised with the 1.1 release.
A crude form of biometric security is emerging in what seems to be the hyper-critical climate of English politics. Problems with foreign policy or disputes at home? No, Gordon Brown is scrutinized for the condition of his hands:
Fidgety, ink-stained and with nails bitten to the quick, Gordon Brown’s hands (above) are fast becoming a visible symbol of the pressures he is under.
“Since he became prime minister, Gordon Brown looks cared for above the eyebrows – he has had a decent haircut”. That’s the pithy verdict of Veronique Henderson, co-author of Style Matters for Men.
The punk movement clearly failed. The article points out how the Cambodian death squads would kill people based only on the appearance of hands:
It was a lesson learned well by the Khmer Rouge, which ruled Cambodia during the 1970s. In a bid to root out individual thinkers, Pol Pot’s soldiers would routinely examine people’s hands. Those with soft palms were deemed “intellectuals” and despatched to the Killing Fields.
This all reminds me of the idea that biometric readers could point out health issues for users. Roll your finger across the sensor and receive data on whether you need to wash, or take your vitamins.
a blog about the poetry of information security, since 1995
