rantlust

Posted by anupcs on August 01st 2008 in Computers, Government, USA
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This is not exactly new news but for the first time, the Department of Homeland Security is admitting that their border enforcement policies include confiscating electronic equipment such as laptops, cellphones, external hard disks, iPods, etc. This can be done without any reasonable cause of suspicion. According to The Washington Post:

The policies state that officers may “detain” laptops “for a reasonable period of time” to “review and analyze information.” This may take place “absent individualized suspicion.”

I first heard of this egregious policy a couple of months ago when computer security maven Bruce Schneier blogged about the ruling by a US court that border agents can do this with no restrictions. I have been traveling a lot internationally and often have my laptop (plus PDA, cellphone, flash drives, etc.) with me and so far the only untoward border incident has been me stupidly forgetting the laptop at the security conveyor belt at Washington, DC. (Luckily for me, it ended up in the TSA lost and found and I was able to have a friend pick it up and mail it to me.) But the odds of me being a victim of “profiling” are rather high and I am taking no chances in the future.

The obvious solution to avoid the scenario of not having your laptop for weeks (or in one case, months) is to not take one. Or for that matter, don’t take anything that you don’t want usurped at the border. Schneier has some other recommendations at his site.

Another option is to carry a content-free laptop with you. Recently, I purchased for my organization a laptop meant for just this purpose. The idea is to re-install the laptop with a new operating system (Opensolaris in our case) every time we cross the US border. We plan to do this both to and fro from our travels so that there is no trace left of our usage and more importantly no company confidential information. I also keep a cheap unlocked Motorola Razr phone for international roaming or local sim card use. And my ancient iPod still gets toted around. I don’t care if they usurp any of these from me. Though now I am seriously debating whether I should even carry my fancier dSLR abroad or just take my point and shoot.

If the goal of the terrorists was to make America more like some of the countries they come from, they have won the war already. I long for the day when we can transport ourselves by hologram.

You can read the full customs policy here.

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Posted by anupcs on February 05th 2008 in Government, Politics, USA
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It’s been a long while since I left the world’s largest democracy to come live in the world’s oldest. I have always been interested in civics and politics and missed the joys of participating in true democratic process. I have voted only a few times in India and now, fifteen years after coming to the US, I am ready to vote again. As a freshly minted American citizen. I couldn’t ask for a more interesting election year to do this.

As an undeclared voter (I am up for grabs, you party people!), I feel like I will have more power in this particular election (both the primaries and the main one in November) than any other time in recent memory. It feels good to know that my vote will make at least an iota of a difference. In California, the Republicans don’t allow independents to vote in the primary election but the Democrats do. I am quite certain, as is everyone else, that McCain will prevail over Romney in the former (as I would have voted despite Romney’s business acumen and experience in “running” things). It’s the Democratic primary that’s more captivating just because of the high brainpower remaining.

Both Clinton and Obama are exceptionally gifted. If either one becomes president, it’d truly be a historic occurrence. Both have quite the same goals for the country despite the vitriolic attacks against each other (see Clinton, Bill on race and Obama’s macaca moment as examples). I have friends and co-workers who are passionate about one or the other but I’d be happy with either being my president. With only a few hours remaining to vote, I am still undecided. I probably won’t decide which way the cursive goes until the curtains are drawn. Some of my friends are voting for Obama because they are convinced that he’s more electable against McCain than Clinton. This might very well be true but for an independent like me, I am not so much against McCain as my Democratic friends are. I believe in checks and balances and politicians of all ilk are bound to screw things up if left unchecked. A Democratic Congress plus a Democratic President is likely to be as bad as the potent combination that ruled us six of the the last seven years. In different ways, perhaps. But there is much homework to be done before November rolls around. All the best to the three candidates that matter today.

I will leave you with some of my favorite opinions/articles regarding this election (I have been reading up vigorously over the past month or so):

• http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/02/04/undecided/ (similar dilemma)
• http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/27/ED6EUKN15.DTL (for Obama)
• http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10635584 (choices)
• http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0205/p09s01-coop.html
• http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/01/media-watch-use.html (rather silly argument)
• http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/all-you-need-is-hate/index.html (on hating Hillary–thanks tafkap)

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Posted by Suman on December 12th 2007 in Earth, Environment, Government, Politics, Society, Technology
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As you may know, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy bill last week (H.R.6) that among many other things raises mpg standards for cars (to 35 mpg by 2020), extends and raises the tax credits for residential solar energy (thru 2014, and to $4k from $2k), and eliminates tax breaks for oil companies (currently $13.5 billion - that’s $13.5 thousand million, for our readers who speak U.K./European English).

The bill is currently being debated by the Senate, which may reject all or portions of it, and the President may also use his veto powers.  If you are a U.S. voter, please send a quick note to your elected representatives to let them know your views on the matter.

To write in support of H.R.6, click here.

To write in opposition to H.R. 6, click here.

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Posted by hari on October 26th 2007 in Environment, Government, Politics, Rants, Science
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Historically scientists applied very rigorous standards to what they called science. Many things in science are known as theories even though there is hardly anything to dispute their validity. In fact there is very little difference between what is called a law, as in Newton’s laws of motion; law of gravity etc and what are referred to as theories.

However lot of people think of the word theory as in “I have a theory”. Or the way economists use the word theory. For an illustration, I live a few miles away from the Creation Museum which was established to showcase evidence that the theory of evolution is wrong. The folks behind the museum say evolution is just a theory and it is wrong. Opened this year, the 60,000-square-foot museum is so successful they are trying to expand the parking lot.

However the theory of evolution is established science. The annual flu shots are nothing but evolved flu virus. Without doubt scientist knows that the microbes evolve. We also know from documented history that the silk worm used to fly. We know that silk worm or perhaps even cows cannot live without human anymore. We also know that the digestive mechanism of a pig is not very different from humans and that is why insulin made from pigs was used to treat humans.

However now we have people who challenge the theory of evolution. The museum, few miles away from my home, is a case in point. In this environment; it is anybody’s guess what will be the fate of the theory of global warming which is far from maturity. No one knows enough to accept or reject that theory entirely. However that does not mean, the global warming will wait for the mankind to understand the phenomena. The planet might be in peril.

It was not a physicist’s decision to nuke Hiroshima. It would not be and it should not be. The people through their elected representatives make that kind of decisions. Similarly global warming, while being a scientific question, will be decided and acted upon by the political process. Another case, the thing that pops up on your screen, is it a adware or spyware? Who gets to decide that? Engineers?

We can wait until the scientists conclude the science of global warming. But there are two problems with that approach. One, do we have time? Two, without activists, would there be vigorous research to conclude that issue any time in near future?

The (often) sarcastic comment on Al Gore inventing the internet and the current Al Gore bashing for his environmental activism have common lessons. The internet as a technology existed from the 60s. A few computers connected together is not the biggest deal on the world. Be it the defense network or the Stanford to UC network, the stuff was there. However until 90s it never even came close to what is referred as internet today. Far from being just interconnected computers, internet is a way of life today. There is a political, social legal environment that nurtured and brought it to its current form. While no stretch of imagination would conclude it is all Al Gore’s work, the guy’s role is not to be disputed. Not as the engineer or scientist who invented the internet, but as the politician who ‘invented’ the social political framework for internet without which internet is perhaps no internet, just the 60’s internet. Oh’ I exaggerated a bit, so note just the narrow point.

Similarly if the planet were truly in peril, though the science is far from concluding either way, may he will be the person who ‘invented’ global warming.

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Posted by anupcs on March 20th 2007 in Government, Society, Technology, Travel, USA
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Are you on the No Fly or No Fly Watch list maintained by the US Department of Homeland Security? Now you can check if you are potentially on these lists by visiting nofly.s3.com and typing in your name. These lists are based on an algorithmic software known as Soundex developed in 1918(!) to analyze US census data. Soundex works by removing vowels from names and then assigning numerical values to the remaining consonants.

Note that this is not the actual No Fly list but an implementation of the alogrithm that the DHS uses and is based on the best known public data on terrorists. And the fine print at the site states:

The results generated in this demonstration are a product of a compilation of the best available data regarding suspected and known terrorists. Publicly available terrorist names from various reliable government and non-governmental sources were merged to create a comprehensive list. Because federal investigators are constantly adding and deleting the identities of terrorists on various lists provided to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) there is no simple method for the taxpayer to easily acquire immediate information regarding suspect names.

I am not on the list but John Smith (the most common name in the US) is.

[via The Huffington Post]

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