TSA – Too much power, too little accountability

This article from “Ask the Pilot” by Patrick Smith is well worth reading. It recounts a story that a pilot had with the TSA people. Let me give you just one little snippet: “Ma’am, that’s an airline knife. It’s the knife they give you on the plane.“ You can probably imagine where this is headed.… Continue reading TSA – Too much power, too little accountability

The Story of the Black Crayons

Another shining example of people over-reacting. Basically, it is noticed that a child is always drawing with black crayons. Rather than ask “why” the child is always drawing in black, it’s immediately assumed that there must be some terrible psychological problem that needs to be addressed by calling in the parent and maybe prescribing some… Continue reading The Story of the Black Crayons

The Quixotic Quest for Invulnerability

Schneier on Security: Homeland Security Cost-Benefit Analysis. A very worthwhile read – basically: The premises: The number of potential terrorist targets is essentially infinite. The probability that any individual target will be attacked is essentially zero. If one potential target happens to enjoy a degree of protection, the agile terrorist usually can readily move on… Continue reading The Quixotic Quest for Invulnerability

Free Culture

I just stumbled across a book called Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig. It’s about copyright – but also about a lot more than just copyright. It’s a freely available e-book (gotta love Creative Commons licensing), so please do  download the book and give it a read – I highly recommend it. You may just change… Continue reading Free Culture