We Are Equals

M has a frank talk with Bond about equality:

To find out more go to the Equals website (www.WeAreEquals.org).

WikiLeaks, freedom, and the battle of words

WikiLeaks cyberwar: Hackers bring down Swedish government site (The Telegraph).

Now that is a headline to grab your attention with those glitzy buzzwords “cyberwar” and “hackers”.  Even Carole Theriault, a senior security consultant at Sophos, a multi-national computer security firm, is quoted as saying:

If the big companies weren’t locking down their information before, they’re definitely doing it now.

This is really unprecedented and Amazon could be next.

… Hacking is illegal and it’s not just the companies which are the victims of this, it’s also the people who are trying to use their services to shop and the sellers of those items who can’t sell them.

Now I’d like to look at this quote in more detail, so let us break it down:

If the big companies weren’t locking down their information before, they’re definitely doing it now.

Imagine your data is a car which you’re parking on a street that has everything from multi-national corporations to drug dealers and pimps, let’s call that street “The Internet”. Now I’m guessing that most of us would close the doors and lock the car, set the alarm if we’ve had one installed, maybe even go back and check a few times (I can’t be the only one), because we know the cost of locking the door is far less than the cost of replacing the car.  Now here’s my problem with the above statement, big companies have not been locking the car, some of them haven’t even been closing the doors and yet when they come back and find the car has been broken into and the change in the glovebox has been taken they blame everyone but themselves.  When the British government lost public data by leaving laptops on trains, etc. they blamed the forgetful peon who dropped the ball and did not appear to question why someone was carrying such critical data in such an insecure manner in the first place.  We seeing a similar media frenzy now around the persecution of the WikiLeaks website rather than the more interesting question as to why the United States allowed so much critical and private data to be stored so insecurely that a single person could easily remove so much information.

This is really unprecedented and Amazon could be next.

Well DDoS attacks happen pretty frequently, what is unprecedented is the media interest in the case.  I agree Amazon could be next since the group is targeting organisations involved in the case, and Amazon dropped their contract to host the WikiLeaks website.  So guessing that the group might target another major involved party isn’t rocket science.

Hacking is illegal…

Okay here we’re not using the dictionary to it’s fullest are we, and some clarification is needed.  Let’s take a look at how Merriam-Webster define hacking:

Definition of HACK
transitive verb

1. to cut or sever with repeated irregular or unskillful blows b : to cut or shape by or as if by crude or ruthless strokes <hacking out new election districts> c : annoy, vex —often used with off
2. to clear or make by or as if by cutting away vegetation <hacked his way through the brush>
3. to manage successfully <just couldn’t hack the new job> b : tolerate <I can’t hack all this noise>

intransitive verb

1. to make chopping strokes or blows <hacked at the weeds>; also : to make cuts as if by chopping <hacking away at the work force> b : to play inexpert golf
2. to cough in a short dry manner
3. loaf —usually used with around
4. 1. to write computer programs for enjoyment
   2. to gain access to a computer illegally

So hacking isn’t illegal in most usages of the word.  Even in the realm of computers most hackers are just people who write computer programs, or in a broader sense people who modify electronic systems to perform tasks beyond which the system was initially designed for enjoyment.  In this sense I would describe myself as a hacker.

What the media describes as hacking is the criminal act of gaining access to a computer system illegally.  Again, the key words here are “criminal act” and “illegally” since many hackers are gainfully employed to use their skills to try and break into computer systems for governments and corporations to test the security which is in place.

What is the purpose of this rant?  Well, it is three fold:

1. Governments, companies, and private individuals need to think more about how their data is stored, and how they secure it.  For too long it has been easier to blame the individual attack rather than the massive security oversight.  This impacts every one of us, because when your personal information gets left on a train, stolen by a disgruntled employee, or accidentally mailed to the wrong person (aren’t governments great), it will be each of us individually footing the bill to prove we are who we claim to be and that the problem was not caused by us.
2. “Hacking” is not illegal.  “Hacking into a computer system with criminal intent” is illegal.  Society needs to understand this, since the continued negative image of hackers in the media encourages a neo-Luddite approach to technology and that in turn leads to the kind of data issues described in #1 above!
3. “Don’t shoot the messenger” – I agree that WikiLeaks was not wise in publishing all this information without some form of fact checking or review.  However, it is vital the members of the public be able to blow the whistle on unfair practices and WikiLeaks performed a useful task in providing a credible location for this.  The problem here is that instead of releasing just information pertaining to wrong-doings (I agree that details about the Blair/Brown British Government’s dodgy dealings over the Lockerbie Bomber’s release should be made public, we need to know how corrupt our political ministers can be) but embassy communications are out of the public domain for a reason, and where they do not specifically unveil a wrong doing they should not be released for no reason.  In this instance the media frenzy around WikiLeaks seems bizarre, if one wrote a threatening letter one wouldn’t expect the authorities to hunt down the typewriter!

Now the big question I find myself pondering is this: Did the US citizen who stole the information and published it on WikiLeaks commit an act of treason?

Publishers, they just don’t seem to get it…

I received an email from Waterstones the bookshop, this morning.  It read as follows:

Dear Customer,

We see from our records that you have previously purchased an eBook from Waterstones.com whilst having a registered address outside of the UK and Ireland.

We regret that  with immediate effect, we are no longer able to sell  eBooks to customers placing an order from anywhere outside of the UK and Ireland.  We have had to take this action to comply with the legal demands of publishers regarding the territories  into which we can sell eBooks.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Please note: Your previously purchased eBooks are not affected by this and will still be available in your ‘Digital order history’ in your online account.

Kind regards,

Waterstones.com Customer Service

On the surface this seemed okay, until I remembered that their website is accessible from any point on the planet’s surface from which one can get a wi-fi signal, and based on experience they don’t care where you are if you want to buy a physical book and get charged an arm and a leg for the postage.

So now I am confused because apparently costing a publisher physical production costs, a bookstore storage and shipping costs, and the whole environmental impact of a physical book is fine and dandy, but by buying an e-book I can somehow destabilise the world of international publishing?  How can corporate territories be harmed by a PDF but not by 6oz of finest pulped tree lovingly bound?

As we increasingly become a global market it seems almost archaic to limit sales based on regions.  I understand that some countries may not want a certain book sold within their borders, but this isn’t global politics we’re discussing, this is a a book corporation limiting its own sales! If I take my Nook to England with me is everything magically alright?  If I use my UK mailing address do I suddenly become less of a risk?

One minute they’re complaining digital sales aren’t worth the effort, and the next minute it is this…they just don’t seem to get it.

Tips on buying a car

I replaced the Lotus back in February, yes I know I should have told you sooner.  Now those who’ve had to listen to me rant about the terrible service I got at the car dealership will be wondering how I could possibly give advice since I sat for 8hrs like a zombie waiting to be given the keys to the only car in a 150mile radius that met my specification requirements.  The answer my friends is in the advice I can give you before you go car shopping, and also a few tips on striking the deal.

1. Know what you want.  Make a wish list, look at magazines, the road around you, anything, but have in your mind the exact things you want.  Getting to the dealership and then pondering out loud on whetehr you need sat-nav or not is a sign to the dealer that you are uncertain on what you want and will encourage them to try and load the deal with expensive “options”.
2. Do your homework.  Don’t just visit the dealer’s website, or the manufacturer’s website, also visit owners clubs, forums, and review sites.  Be diligent and read as much as you can, and then assess what you’ve read.  For my car the most often mentioned negative feature in press reviews was road noise, but a quick check of the type of tyres installed as standard told me that the tyre was mroe likely to be at fault than the suspension.  Check out those little details, if the car-talk forums are awash with complaints about rattles and cracked trim know what you’re getting into.  If the biggest moan is that the cup-holder is the wrong colour you know you’re onto a safe bet.  Also check out YouTube, and Google for the crash test results.  Watching your prospective new car crash in slow motion might tell you more about the safety than any number of stars on a spec-sheet.
3. Do your homework.  Again, even when you’ve picked a car or two there is more research to do.  Find all the available dealers in your area, request quotes from all of them.  If they don’t have the exact car you want, ask them how long it would take to get and get a quote.  Don’t expect different garages in the same chain to give you the same answer, ring them up even if they are just across the street from each other because you’ll be amazed how stock inventory gets reported.
4. Know what you can afford, but don’t tell the dealer.  Know what you want to pay for the car (less than what you can afford and less than the price on the sticker) and now subtract at least $2000 (if the car is over $25000 subtract $5000)  from that number.  The number you are now thinking of is the number you will tell the dealer you want to pay for the car.   Don’t be afraid to say this number, the dealers job isn’t to sell you a car, their job is to extract as much money from you as possible while selling you a car.  Remember the car costs drastically less than the sticker price to build, so don’t be afraid to haggle, if your research revealed “dealer incentives” from the manufacturer (money the dealer gets for selling certain models) subtract that amount from the car’s price too (no point in paying the dealer twice).
5. Be sensible, never haggle over change.  I’ve heard people haggle over $14 dollars on the car’s price.  Don’t bother, haggle in large round numbers.  The dealership sells in volume and to them the difference of $100 is far less than it is to you, so if you find yourself haggling, make it for a reasonable sum, deal in hundreds if not thousands.
6. Know when to stop.  Watch the staff, and their management, if the negotiations are dropping to small change, and the delays are getting longer, know that you’re reaching the end of their haggle zone.  If the price is one you want to pay, pay it, otherwise tell them you want to think about it and walk away.  Walking away is a powerful tool if you have the option, especially towards the end of a month when the dealers are trying to make up sales figures.  Let them call you with a counter offer.

So there you have a few car buying tips.  Just remember that some people feel happy haggling, some don’t, if it doesn’t come naturally you should practice.  Run the scenarios in your head and learn how to react.  Don’t be pressured into a deal you don’t want, and know you can always walk away.

Barcodes forgotten cousin – Kimball Tags

Google is making a big deal about the 30th birthday of the barcode, and although there are many misconceptions about the purpose of those bands of black and white lines, their purpose is generally well known.

• Washington Post – New Google logo celebrates the barcode
• BBC News – The rise of the barcode
• Wikipedia – Barcode

However, even a good stint of Google searches didn’t return much in the way of information about the competition to the barcode, its less well known cousin the Kimball Tag.

A terrible scan of an old Kimball Tag

Kimball Tags were small cardboard tags found primarily on clothing, which were both printed with human readable information and also marked by a special pattern of holes for computer processing.  Traditionally these tags would be collected at the point-of-sale and then sent off in batches to be processed at the end of the business day.

Obviously this system had some distinct limitations.  The batch processing of tags made real-time business analysis difficult, and required specific handling and processing facilities to be maintained. The nature of the hanging cardboard tag made it unsuitable for using in damp environments and didn’t fit well on sealed packages, so its adoption really was limited to the clothing industry.

Regardless of these limitations, while Google may be saluting the all conquoring barcode we should take a moment to remember the Kimball Tag, the betamax of the retail industry.

Now why do I care about this humble stock control technology?  Well, way back in the mists of the 1970s my father developed the first computer system that incorporated the Kimball Tag reader and the computer into a single terminal.  The system was developed on 8 inch floppy disks, and if the barcode had not arrived when it did then the world, and my life, may have been very different!