Clipfile: November 23, 2007

“I began to deconstruct everything I could get my hands on... The Old Testament, Shakespeare, Dick and Jane, a 1967 J.C. Whitney catalog, the Boston phone book, you name it. I showed how everything is a lie, that everything could be deconstructed. Well, except Deconstruction, obviously.” – “Grok,” as told to Iowahawk (hattip: “Jake”)

Posted by: Old Grouch in Clipfile at 17:20:14 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Oh yeah, this is SURE to work

The Philippines government and separatist rebels have struck a deal on creating a Muslim homeland in the country's south which is expected to lead to a peace accord next year, officials said Thursday. – AFP story, posted at Yahoo news

The Moros already have an “autonomous region;” this agreement makes it bigger.

Just a “peace” of this and a “piece” of that...

Via:  Ace

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 01:08:04 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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I believe the English call this a "cock up"

1. Her Majesty's Customs & Revenue “loses” discs containing personal information on 25 million people.

Records for 25 million people, relating to child benefit payments for 7.25 million families, were sent using the HMRC's own postal system, called grid, but never arrived.

2. Somebody “finds” some discs that appear very similar to the missing ones, and (naturally) puts them up for auction on eBay.

Here we have two CD-R's for auction. They are not blank, but seem to have some sort of database written to them.

I found them in my local courier firm's sorting office, addressed to "Her Majesties [sic - o.g.] Audit Office - Child Benefits Section" and marked "Sensitive HM Government Information - DO NOT LOSE - ENSURE THESE DISKS DO NOT FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE CRIMINAL FRATERNITY"

They were obviously surplus to requirements.

3. But it appears that somebody else may have already gotten hold of the real ones:

From: Darling Alistair [mailto:whippingboy@treasury.gov.uk]
Sent: 21 November 2007 00:01
Cc: jacksmum@gmail.com; emilysdad@hotmail.co.uk; johnr@johnrobinson.co.uk; anothermother@yahoo.co.uk; ordinarybloke@upyourstreet.com; indebt@hotmail.com; josie@josiesmith.com; mum@buggered.co.uk; dad@bankrupt.co.uk; Leslie.Davies@councilestate.co.uk; Mumsie@waitrose.com; fatherof3@me.uk; 2kids@gmail.com; david.winters@insolvent.co.uk; fathers@4justice.org.uk; twins@newbabies.org.uk; info@emptymyaccount.co.uk; jill.gordon@withdrawn.com; twopointfourchildren@yahoo.co.uk; benji@overdrawn.com; anniek@pleasetakemycash.com; oh.bugger@emptied.co.uk; cjt@parent.com; Justin@suspicioustransaction.com; jason@bust.co.uk; sallyannleicester@hotmail.com; please.steal@mysavings.net; etc etc

Subject: FW: Please confirm your account details

Dear most gracious Sir or Madam,

I am Mr. Ali Darling a Banker with GaffeBungle Banking Plc, here in Whitehall. I am writing this letter to ask for your Support and co-operation to carry out this business opportunity in my department. We have copy of disk bought from criminal mastermind section on eBay, which is full of information on banks and addresses and national insurance numbers and kiddie names. We find your contact details on the disk, as you are valued customer of the national child benefit, and now we know all about your wife and two children including postcode...

Elsewhere: Coverage by The Register:

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 20:04:42 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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The smart people think about "ignoring"

You REALLY can't read everything.

For decades, computers have been helping us to remember, but now it's time for them to help us to ignore.

At Internet Evolution, Cory Doctorow laments the passing of the “time when I could read the whole of Usenet,” notes how the proliferation of sources means he is now “acquiring information on a probabilistic basis,” and calls for technological help:

...adaptive systems that create a gray zone between “delete on sight” and “show this to me right away.”

In the comments (which, BTW, are ordered most-recent-first), Matthew Cornell included a link to a post (and discussion) on his blog from early this year: Information provenance - the missing link between attention, RSS feeds, and value-based filtering. Go there for a good statement of the problem, and reports of efforts and experiences from others.

Previously, marking a milestone:

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 22:44:05 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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"...what I should or should not write about this..."

In the midst of a family tragedy, Jeff Jarvis reflects:  How Personal Should a Blog Be?

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 21:55:50 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Still playing catch-up

...after over a week of sporadic internet access. 

Posted by: Old Grouch in Meta at 21:49:09 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Excellent discursive rant by Steve H.

It's all here: Putting the book to bed, e-mails to (and from) editors, applying to graduate school, and dealing with egotistical judges. Makes an important point, too:

It used to be that a person with a high school education who could not afford a lawyer had some hope of representing himself in federal court. You could go to the library and study, and you could borrow a typewriter, and you just might win. Now you have to own a computer and know how to use it. And it's not enough to be able to do word-processing. You have to be able to convert documents to PDF. Then you have to get an Internet connection and upload them. To me, this amounts to the following message: if you can't pay a lawyer and his staff of clericals, keep your sorry ass out of federal court and be trampled. Our laws were never meant to confer rights upon the likes of you.

Sad and true. RTWT.

What it Will be Like to be a Writer Today

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 02:59:31 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Clipfile: November 20, 2007

“It is my belief that God put pets on this Earth to clearly establish to his creation that we are not God. We can't make them stay with us, no matter how much we spend, love, worry, or do.” -- Mike James, commenting at Hog On Ice

Posted by: Old Grouch in Clipfile at 01:57:27 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Farewells

To Digger. (backstory)

To Felix. (and here)

And a late link (sucks being offline for a week), but still heartfelt...
Moxie says goodbye to Bentley. (update)

The last two via Lar, who's had his share of losses. (As have many, which doesn't make doing posts like this any easier.)

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 01:51:41 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fans? We're supposed to care about the FANS?

Teresa asks: What the Hell Is Wrong with the NFL?

...if they can't show entire games - I'm going to stop watching. I can get highlights off ESPN - there's no point in wasting my time getting interested in a game that I won't get to see to the end.

I was dialing around on the radio, and heard the Cleveland sports station– which does NOT carry the games– start its post-game-reaction call-in show,  thinking the game had finished.  Reversed final call = unexpected overtime = fiasco all around, but only to be expected.

Elsewhere:  Officials decide Dawson kick tied game before overtime victory

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 01:06:01 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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