A story of insteresting proportions

My angle to telling the story of World War Two is as follows:

I propose that the team tells the story of Harry Lee Watts, retired lieutenant colonel. He first enlisted in the army at age 17 or 18 during World War Two. He was stationed in the Pacific and saw combat. From WW 2 he has stories as well as some memorabilia. He would have had more but....well, he should tell you anyway. 

He was very young when he fought so his stories would relate to younger people. He also has, perhaps, a rather unique point of view because of his continued service in the army after the war. By the time he retired, he had served in the Korean and Vietnam wars and had earned his aforementioned rank. 

how typical. 

humans have a nice little gig going with the friendly radio that swiftly degenerates into a swarm of advertisments.

Also, isn't it interesting how the market can hold back an advancment in technology because the big boys think it will be bad for their business. Poor Armstrong. Such an awesome name too.

I'm glad that we're able to cook on tv now. The food network is excellent.

Internet Security: Crisis or Just Something You Might Casually Disscus With Friends Over Cookies and Milk

On September 16th, 2008, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s Yahoo account was hacked by a person calling themselves Rubico. The event got coverage by all the major news corporations and created a general fuss. Palin used the Yahoo account for government affairs as well as a personal account, causing coverage on the event to call the hacking an invasion of privacy as well as of government affairs. According to Rubico’s post on 4chan, which included some pictures of Palin’s account, his purpose in breaking into the account was to find some bit of information that would derail her campaign. Upon finding no such information, he simply changed the password, and collapsed into panic mode, under the realization of what he had just done. 

This story caused a sensation in America. One of the story’s elements that many writers accentuated in their story was the sheer ease with which the hacker was able to gain access to Palin’s account. Rubicon himself said that he was able to find all the information he needed, which included Palin’s zip code and where she met her husband, using public resources that were readily available, such as Wikipedia. The idea of a complete strange having so much seemingly personal information at their fingertips is an alarming concept. The fear that this story evokes is at least part of the reason why this story got so big. The facts of the story don’t seem all that frightening when one considers that the hacker didn’t do anything malicious. He didn’t reveal any of Palin’s personal information, nor did he sabotage it.

While it may be that Rubicon didn’t perform any really harmful acts, the illegality of his actions, and his apparently malicious intents are still a factor to consider. He openly stated that his goal was to find something incriminating. It could be that the only reason nothing serious happened was because he didn’t find what he needed. 

Another aspect to consider is the fact that what happened to Sarah Palin probably won’t happen to just anyone. Palin is a prominent figure in society, and, considered a bit of a celebrity (insert Beth’s quote). The average citizen doesn’t have a Wikipedia page that has all sorts of information about their personal life.

On the other hand, the experts of the internet community seem to agree that using a personal question to secure an e-mail account is not the best method. According to them, a question is flimsy protection, and can be answered easily by someone who has access to the right information. There also seems to be a consensus that the average internet user does not know how to create a secure password (insert Bill’s quote)

While the Palin incident is not a sign of impending doom for the internet community, it should not be shrugged off either. The event is not a threat to the security of America, but it may be an insight into what could be a potential threat for the daily internet user. 

The Plentifulness of the Tube

My comments on the latest reading amount to how much the constant feuding between all the different, infantile companies reminds me of medieval war lords. 

How much more territorial can they get?

I wonder how all the industries of the world would have turned out if those originally involved hadn't been so driven to conquer the market for themselves.

I don't suppose the game  Monopoly would exist, and that might not be an entirely bad thing.

I never get the piece I want.

Investigation!

So here's the research I've garnered by prowling the internet in search of wild articles.

Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account was hacked late on Tuesday the 16th of September by a hacker who called him/herself Rubicon. According to Rubicon, the motive in hacking into the account was to try and find some information that would derail Palin's campaign, but no such information was found. The method was frighteningly simple, to say the least. Rubicon was able to gather the e-mail address, information needed to access the account, and the answer to Palin's security question (where did you meet your husband) on the internet. 

Of course this is an exceptional case of internet security breaching, on account of the fact the Palin is a VP canidate, but articles by computer specialists commenting on this event seem to agree that a personal question as a security measure, while good for services, is "terrible for security". 

Different opinions on this occurance range from outraged hissy fits over the invasion of personal privacy, to bemused wonderment over how something like this even happened, to vinidctive finger pointing at how stupid Palin is. I'll bet you can all guess who had what opinion. 

Here are my sources (I liked Wired the best):

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/palin-e-mail-ha.html

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1842097,00.html

ttp://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/09/sarah_palins_e-.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_el_pr/palin_hacked

Story Pitch

-Introduce subject of internet security: trends, information, etc.
-Interview with specialist
-Sarah Palin's e-mail breach as example
-Overview of internet security habits of students
-Student interview
-Compare to adults
-Interview teacher/parent?
-Wrap it up

Musings at dusk

When I woke up this morning, I felt inexplicably hopeful. Nevermind the fact that it's sunday and it's back to school tomorrow, or the fact that I still need to finish my college essays, or even that I am making a dismally small amount of progress on my reading and watching lists. This morning just had such a sublimely exquisite feeling to it. And now, after having read, watched movies, and drawn all day, I believe this was a day well spent.