A few days ago, I wrote an essay called, "Cyberwar: How Terrorists Could Defeat the U.S., and Why They Won't."
www.cryptogon.com/docs/cryptogon_cyberwar.pdf
It discusses physical threats to information infrastructures that are almost never mentioned publicly.
NOTE: Acrobat 5 is required to view the document.
WARNING: The information contained in this document is intended for educational purposes only. Anyone who attempts to undertake what is described in the "Possible Terrorist Scenario" section will be committing an act of war against the states involved. I am NOT encouraging anyone to carry out what is described in that section. I am exercising my First Amendment right to free speech to make people aware of the dangers posed to the global information infrastructure. Our society relies on these technologies, and an open discussion of the threats to these technologies is necessary in order to defend them.
The EOS1 models have always represented the MAXIMUM expression of Canon's engineering prowess. If they have the imaging technology, and are capable of packaging "it" inside an awesome armored body worthy of EOS1 status, Canon will build the camera and have bragging rights until Nikon manages to catch up.
I love all the jackballs on here saying 11MP is waaaaaay to much for most people. HA! This camera isn't for "most" people. It's intended for shooting professionals. Pros have a wide range of resolution requirements. It's really easy to downsample. It's not possible to go the other way without the result looking like crap, so having an 11MP capability would be welcomed by the guys in the trenches.
I've used an original EOS1 for 12 years. Even now, I'm still in awe of the greatness of that camera. When I first saw the EOS1v, I said to myself, "The professional 35mm SLR is done. This is enough. This design will stand until a paradigm shift occurs in photography." What else can they do for 35mm?! That model has stood unchanged for a few years, and remains the standard by which all other 35mm SLRs are measured. The EOS1d D-SLR is based on that EOS1v body, the EOS1s probably will be also. (I don't want to get into a pissing contest with the Nikon camp.)
I didn't buy the EOS1d because of the resolution. I knew they would bump the res., but I had no idea it would get into the 11MP range. I was thinking more like 8MP.
I will be counting the days until I get to hear how much buffer space that camera has! And how long will it take to flush to flash media once you fill the buffer!? In other words, how many full res frames can you shoot in a row? If that thing can manage 6 to 7 full res fps, or better, I'm a buyer.
11MP in the battle ready body of the EOS1v. Wow. My jaw is still on the floor. This will be the biggest, baddest stick in the playground. No doubt about it.
I would like to hear more about this. I am a 9/11 researcher who looks at all stories, no matter what. Please feel free to check out my web site and write to me. My PGP key is in the ABOUT section of my site if you want to talk.
There are lots of people out there who just don't care about having faster Internet connections. You always hear about some freak out in the sticks, salivating to get his paws on a fast pipe. What about the millions of people who have access to broadband connections but don't sign up!?
Let's face it: People like us are not normal at all. Most people dial in, check email, buy a CD from Amazon on occasion, and that's about it. I've told several people that DSL or cable is easily 50x faster than dialup. They look at me like I'm crazy, "Now why would I need to go so much faster? And doesn't that cost a whole lot?" It's like, you just want to bang your head against the wall. But when you consider how much TV normal people watch, it makes perfect sense. They don't really want unfiltered knowledge. They can't handle it. Why go looking for information when all most people want is the pap and pizzle the spews from the their TVs?
PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 NASA HQ
NASA Rejects Claims it Plans Mind Reading Capability NASA managers today said published media reports suggesting the agency plans to read the minds of potential terrorists go too far and ignore the facts and science behind the research.
The articles were based on a NASA presentation, which served as talking points for a meeting with Northwest Airlines in December 2001. The presentation was in response to the call from the Federal Government for all agencies to look inward and find what could be done to help in the war on terrorism.
"NASA does not have the capability to read minds, nor are we suggesting that would be done," said Robert Pearce, Director, NASA's Strategy and Analysis Division in the Office of Aerospace Technology in Washington. "Our scientists were asked to think outside the box with regards to ideas that could aid the nation in the war on terrorism and that's what they are doing. We have not approved any research in this area and because of the sensitivity of such research, we will seek independent review before we do."
The information contained in the presentation identified research and development challenges that NASA is currently aware of in the information technology arena, and the agency offered some limited thoughts and proposed possible solutions in this field. Some of the ideas will take several years of effort to establish, if there is a practical application.
I'm neither elderly, nor a scientist. I'm 30 years old and I majored in International Relations in college. My comments were based on things I heard from people who had spent decades working with EEG research and neuroscience.
I'm not saying that it won't be possible to accomplish the goals discussed in the article. I mean, just about anything COULD be possible at some point in the future. I'm saying the device in question is just not going to work via the methods they describe.
Here's how a good friend and HIGHLY experienced researcher broke down the NASA article. His comments are in (parends):
NASA wants to use "noninvasive neuro-electric sensors," imbedded in gates, to collect tiny electric signals that all brains and hearts transmit. Computers would apply statistical algorithms to correlate physiologic patterns with computerized data on travel routines, criminal background and credit information from "hundreds to thousands of data sources," NASA documents say.
(Oh yeah, this is going to work. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! They better make sure they use "Advanced Statistical Algorithms")
Though adding mind reading to screening remains theoretical, Mr. Schlickenmaier says...
(Here's the understatement of the century. My dating Carmen Electra also remains theoretical at this point.)
"Can I build a sensor that can move off of the head and still detect the EEG?" asks Mr. Schlickenmaier,...
(Can pigs fly?!? In case Mr. Einstein hasn't figure it out yet, the air is a poor conductor. The EEG signal is measured in microvolts on the SURFACE of the scalp. The potential a few feet away would be zero, or femtovolts at best. Then there is the minor inconvenience that your system is constantly being bombarded by noise like fluorescent lights, radios, airport PA systems, x-ray machines, etc. The only possible way of doing this would be to have the subject enter a highly-insulated chamber and sit down, while an array of super-sensitive electrodes was placed within inches of their scalp. This is similar to an MEG recording chamber. I think the setup costs several million dollars for one unit. )
He likened the proposal to a super lie detector...
(Well, he got it part right: "super lie" is more accurate. Assuming they could get these minute signals in the first place, what makes them think they can distinguish between terrorists and normal nervous passengers. These guys are professional con artists. Who earn a living by scamming funding committees into giving them grant money. These people are completely incompetent to do this line of research.)
The electrodes are not dry. We used saline gel on the skull as well as hydrodot inserts in the cap electrodes. The cap needs to be placed and tweaked by an expert eeg tech. for the system to be able to gather good data. It takes no less than 20 minutes for someone with expert skill to set that thing up. We were running 22 channels, I think...
In my opinion, for the application that they're shooting for, the EEG seems like the only chance of accomplishing the goal. And EEG is totally lacking. So what are they going to do!? Add the Colonel's Special Herbs and Spices: heart rate, eye movement, blah blah. No way. They do talk up EEG, though. For example, in the article, there's this sentence, which seems like, hey, these bozos can do something with EEG: Published scientific reports show NASA researcher Alan Pope, at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., produced a system to alert pilots or astronauts who daydream or "zone out" for as few as five seconds.
Alpha patterns, guys. Alpha waves are probably the cleanest pattern in EEG. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) Easily quantifiable. As soon as you start to relax/zone out your brain starts giving off alpha. When they would hook me up to the machine and put the goggles on, I'd hear the engineers talking about how they could see clear alpha showing up. Now, is the pilot/astronaut thinking about his wife, the vacation he's going to take, if he turned off the oven, etc.??? No combination of EEG, heart rate, eye movement, is going to help you out there. However, the machine would be able to show if the subject went from being in a "zoned out" state to doing multiplication. Think of EEG as a gross indicator of very general phenomena.
I have to admit, though, when I first got involved with this stuff, I had these visions of Brainstorm-like machines (Christopher Walken, 1983), with the capability of recording and playing back thoughts. HA! But then you look at a few channels of EEG going across a laptop screen. Those data are so many orders of magnitude removed from what we're actually perceiving that it's ridiculous that EEG is even being considered for the role in question. It's comedy. Heart rate, eye movements??? They might as well throw in the movement of the Dow 30 and the S&P 500 while they're at it. Tea leaves, entrails, take your pick. I did initially suggest the circus macaque, so I'll be sticking with that.;)
There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that the government is making an active attempt to read peoples' minds. The good news is that it's never going to work---if the description in this article is any indication of how they're going to go about it.
How could I possibly know it's not going to work? Well, let's just say I worked for a company that burned up millions of dollars attempting to do something FAR less ambitious than these bozos at NASA have set out to do. We were using essentially the same techniques as described in the article, with one incredible difference. THE NASA THING IS NOT GOING TO TOUCH YOU. BAA HAAA HAAAAA! I nearly broke a rib when I read they're going to gather the EEG signals---I have to steady myself from laughing so hard as I type---without placing a "cap" on the subject. Wait, can you hear that? It's the sound of my former co-workers laughing their asses off. What is the NASA team going to do *I'm still chuckling*, have every airline passenger step inside a Faraday cage packed with room temperature, superconductive sensors built by little gnomes at Area 51!?
We've been there, we've tried this....well, minus the full body Faraday cage and extraterrestrial sensors. That is, we had the luxury of actually using a standard EEG headset to collect the data. And it was still difficult to JUST GET QUALITY DATA. EEG is the biggest pain in the ass to work with. Ask ANYONE who's ever dealt with it.
Well, say NASA can wave a magic wand and somehow collect the data, then what? Predict high order human behaviors and thought processes by analyzing EEG with some other special herbs and spices thrown in for good measure? It may sound good on paper, but I'm here to tell ya: It's bullsh*t. No, it's double bullsh*t. Two years and millions of dollars later, I'll tell you what we got: Snake Eyes. Nothing. Jack. Nil. And I can assure you that we weren't going for anything remotely as hard as this NASA thing. We had lots of PhDs, freaks, nerds, experts, etc. It didn't matter. The feds would have a better chance of getting at the intent of an individual if they would let a circus macaque run loose in the terminal, randomly identifying "terrorists" in the crowd!
In case you think I'm kidding about all of this, that's me in the pictures. Pic1Pic2Pic3
What I'm talking about is far from being 100% independent. I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to approach something that drastic. I mean, I'm still planning on having to work somewhat. I don't know much about making clothes from scratch or fabricating tools. Is it necessary to re-invent so many wheels? I'm thinking more along the lines of responsible living: Not supporting the U.S. death industries and military adventures with my tax money (they can't tax me much if I don't make much), not polluting much and just being happier and more stress free in general.
Property tax: The tax on the property I was going to buy was literally nothing. I think it was about $150 per year. Maybe $130. HA! There was a $40 per year U.S. Forrest Service fee to use an access road.
Medical care/insurance: Well, I believe establishment medicine is a fraud, except for dealing with trauma, broken bones, stab wounds, etc. But that's another issue. I guess what I'm saying is that I wasn't planning on having any medical insurance, unless it came with whatever job I'd be working. But I wouldn't work more than part time, so not too many places give part time workers insurance.
Cost of hardware, etc: You'd have to plan out the thing while you're still in the world. I'm definitely not saying to get out in the middle on nowhere with no money. This requires a lot of planning, and if you're like me, saving up. Depending on how fancy you want your Yurt to be, the cost could be as little as a few grand, all the way up to the Taj Ma Yurt, like the one I visited at Pacific Yurts. This thing would cost like 15 grand to build the way they had it. It sounds like a lot, until you go shopping for homes and thinking about paying for a stucko box for the rest of your life.
http://www.cryptogon.com/images/TajMaYurt.jpg
You need to understand how big that thing is. It's a circle, 30 FEET ACROSS. I'm in the picture and I'm 6ft2in.
I was actually going to do this plan with a friend, another slashdot freak. We were going to buy 1.54 acres in Oregon. Absolutely beautiful land. Gentle slope, plenty of trees. It cost 30 grand. He decided he didn't want to do it, and I don't have enough to do the entire thing on my own. The land is definitely the most difficult part of the puzzle. You want a location that provides you with good solar AND (for Oregon anyway) wind or hydro. Decent hydro power, though, could probably get rigged anywhere in Oregon with a little effort.
Oh man. I thought about Maine, because there are lots of places with no building codes. But those winters! Despite seeing lots of evidence that people live comfortably in Yurts in very extreme conditions, I don't think I could handle it. What aspects of New Hampshire do you like? What kind of shelter are you going for?
Are you sick of doing the bidding of idiot PHBs, slaving away for nothing? I'm convinced that the answer is not, "More school." You'll just wind up in a different hamster cage or a non-corporate PHB structure, i.e. a university. The answer: Let's all move to Oregon and build a Yurt village! If you think I'm kidding, think again:
* Yurts are incredible! I've actually visited Pacific Yurts in Oregon. Too many benefits to list. Check out http://www.yurts.com/
* We can build our own wireless freaknet with cheap 802.11 gear, and bring the Internet (WAN) connection down from the skies. Hell, we may be able to get a cable modem connection.
* Organic gardening.
* Totally off grid: Solar, wind, hydro.
* Chicken tractors. Again, if you think I'm kidding, type "chicken tractor" into google.
* No mortgage!
* No PHBs for miles and miles!
* Once your show is set up, what will the costs be? Once you cut out the mortgage/rent and other allegedly essential BS, it's not that expensive to live.
Getting off the hamster wheel is NOT easy. We need bold action. This isn't thinking outside the box, it's saying, "I'm not playing this game anymore."
Now, clearly, this isn't for everyone, but I suspect that there are a bunch of potential off-grid yurt freaks lingering in the slashdot crowd. Hey, let's fire it up. Let me know!
A deeper examination of the relationship may be in order. I'm not kidding. Humor me for a moment:
He's obviously socially conscious and aware of the fraud and criminality behind the diamond trade. Yet she really REALLY wants a diamond. WTF? This isn't about diamonds, it's about core values. And I can't believe that so many of the allegedly justice minded slashdotters are saying, "It's your future wife, just get her the diamond." What if she wanted to keep a slave around the house and lock him or her up at night?
Those diamonds (mostly) represent death and despair. I would refuse. I don't care what the consequences were. Give her a plain wedding band, I say, and cherish the bond that it represents. If she MUST have that rock... WORRY.
I started a site in an attempt to demonstrate to people just how dire the situation is. THE entire situation. Jesus, I have to admit, RWarrior is right, it seems pretty hopeless. Average people are completely oblivious to what is happening and just not intellectually capable of making the connections; even when it's put right in front of their eyes. I just keep at it because, at the end of the day, when the darkness finally closes in, I need to be able to say to myself that I never gave up. I tried. I did what I could to resist.
...if they offer you stock options, that will be useless anyway. (Maybe the same imbecile/criminal PHBs are running this outfit now.) This was the offer: Take a 50% cut for 4 months and we'll give you 15,000 options. Well, they got the pay cut part right and then they decided not to give me the options. I encrypted all the admin passwords, etc. with twofish, walked out and sent them an email:
"When you're ready to pay me, I'll hand over the passphrase to recover the root passwords."
I get great service from them, and I'd hate to loose it. I get 2Mb/sec down and about 200 up. And for those of you who think telco DSL will be better, man, think again. It sucks. Been there, done that.
I dropped them a line indicating I'd pay more per month. Maybe if enough of us do the same, they'll consider it instead of being religated to the Fucked Company hall of fame.
Here's the link:
http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml? ti cker=ATHM&script=2300
Slashdot Mirror
A few days ago, I wrote an essay called, "Cyberwar: How Terrorists Could Defeat the U.S., and Why They Won't."
www.cryptogon.com/docs/cryptogon_cyberwar.pdf
It discusses physical threats to information infrastructures that are almost never mentioned publicly.
NOTE: Acrobat 5 is required to view the document.
WARNING: The information contained in this document is intended for educational purposes only. Anyone who attempts to undertake what is described in the "Possible Terrorist Scenario" section will be committing an act of war against the states involved. I am NOT encouraging anyone to carry out what is described in that section. I am exercising my First Amendment right to free speech to make people aware of the dangers posed to the global information infrastructure. Our society relies on these technologies, and an open discussion of the threats to these technologies is necessary in order to defend them.
The EOS1 models have always represented the MAXIMUM expression of Canon's engineering prowess. If they have the imaging technology, and are capable of packaging "it" inside an awesome armored body worthy of EOS1 status, Canon will build the camera and have bragging rights until Nikon manages to catch up.
I love all the jackballs on here saying 11MP is waaaaaay to much for most people. HA! This camera isn't for "most" people. It's intended for shooting professionals. Pros have a wide range of resolution requirements. It's really easy to downsample. It's not possible to go the other way without the result looking like crap, so having an 11MP capability would be welcomed by the guys in the trenches.
I've used an original EOS1 for 12 years. Even now, I'm still in awe of the greatness of that camera. When I first saw the EOS1v, I said to myself, "The professional 35mm SLR is done. This is enough. This design will stand until a paradigm shift occurs in photography." What else can they do for 35mm?! That model has stood unchanged for a few years, and remains the standard by which all other 35mm SLRs are measured. The EOS1d D-SLR is based on that EOS1v body, the EOS1s probably will be also. (I don't want to get into a pissing contest with the Nikon camp.)
I didn't buy the EOS1d because of the resolution. I knew they would bump the res., but I had no idea it would get into the 11MP range. I was thinking more like 8MP.
I will be counting the days until I get to hear how much buffer space that camera has! And how long will it take to flush to flash media once you fill the buffer!? In other words, how many full res frames can you shoot in a row? If that thing can manage 6 to 7 full res fps, or better, I'm a buyer.
11MP in the battle ready body of the EOS1v. Wow. My jaw is still on the floor. This will be the biggest, baddest stick in the playground. No doubt about it.
I would like to hear more about this. I am a 9/11 researcher who looks at all stories, no matter what. Please feel free to check out my web site and write to me. My PGP key is in the ABOUT section of my site if you want to talk.
Thanks,
Kevin
There are lots of people out there who just don't care about having faster Internet connections. You always hear about some freak out in the sticks, salivating to get his paws on a fast pipe. What about the millions of people who have access to broadband connections but don't sign up!?
Let's face it: People like us are not normal at all. Most people dial in, check email, buy a CD from Amazon on occasion, and that's about it. I've told several people that DSL or cable is easily 50x faster than dialup. They look at me like I'm crazy, "Now why would I need to go so much faster? And doesn't that cost a whole lot?" It's like, you just want to bang your head against the wall. But when you consider how much TV normal people watch, it makes perfect sense. They don't really want unfiltered knowledge. They can't handle it. Why go looking for information when all most people want is the pap and pizzle the spews from the their TVs?
I guess they were looking too much like idiots, so now they're denying it:
6 1
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=90
PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Tuesday, August 20, 2002
NASA HQ
NASA Rejects Claims it Plans Mind Reading Capability
NASA managers today said published media reports suggesting the agency plans to read the minds of potential terrorists go too far and ignore the facts and science behind the research.
The articles were based on a NASA presentation, which served as talking points for a meeting with Northwest Airlines in December 2001. The presentation was in response to the call from the Federal Government for all agencies to look inward and find what could be done to help in the war on terrorism.
"NASA does not have the capability to read minds, nor are we suggesting that would be done," said Robert Pearce, Director, NASA's Strategy and Analysis Division in the Office of Aerospace Technology in Washington. "Our scientists were asked to think outside the box with regards to ideas that could aid the nation in the war on terrorism and that's what they are doing. We have not approved any research in this area and because of the sensitivity of such research, we will seek independent review before we do."
The information contained in the presentation identified research and development challenges that NASA is currently aware of in the information technology arena, and the agency offered some limited thoughts and proposed possible solutions in this field. Some of the ideas will take several years of effort to establish, if there is a practical application.
I'm neither elderly, nor a scientist. I'm 30 years old and I majored in International Relations in college. My comments were based on things I heard from people who had spent decades working with EEG research and neuroscience.
...
I'm not saying that it won't be possible to accomplish the goals discussed in the article. I mean, just about anything COULD be possible at some point in the future. I'm saying the device in question is just not going to work via the methods they describe.
Here's how a good friend and HIGHLY experienced researcher broke down the NASA article. His comments are in (parends):
NASA wants to use "noninvasive neuro-electric sensors," imbedded in gates, to collect tiny electric signals that all brains and hearts transmit. Computers would apply statistical algorithms to correlate physiologic
patterns with computerized data on travel routines, criminal background and credit information from "hundreds to thousands of data sources," NASA documents say.
(Oh yeah, this is going to work. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! They better make sure they use "Advanced Statistical Algorithms")
Though adding mind reading to screening remains theoretical, Mr. Schlickenmaier says...
(Here's the understatement of the century. My dating Carmen Electra also remains theoretical at this point.)
"Can I build a sensor that can move off of the head and still detect the EEG?" asks Mr. Schlickenmaier,
(Can pigs fly?!? In case Mr. Einstein hasn't figure it out yet, the air is a poor conductor. The EEG signal is measured in microvolts on the SURFACE of the scalp. The potential a few feet away would be zero, or femtovolts at best. Then there is the minor inconvenience that your system is constantly being bombarded by noise like fluorescent lights, radios, airport PA systems, x-ray machines, etc. The only possible way of doing this would be to have the subject enter a highly-insulated chamber and sit down, while an array of super-sensitive electrodes was placed within inches of their scalp. This is similar to an MEG recording chamber. I think the setup costs several million dollars for one unit. )
He likened the proposal to a super lie detector...
(Well, he got it part right: "super lie" is more accurate. Assuming they could get these minute signals in the first place, what makes them think they can distinguish between terrorists and normal nervous passengers. These guys are professional con artists. Who earn a living by scamming funding committees into giving them grant money. These people are completely incompetent to do this line of research.)
-Kevin
The electrodes are not dry. We used saline gel on the skull as well as hydrodot inserts in the cap electrodes. The cap needs to be placed and tweaked by an expert eeg tech. for the system to be able to gather good data. It takes no less than 20 minutes for someone with expert skill to set that thing up. We were running 22 channels, I think...
In my opinion, for the application that they're shooting for, the EEG seems like the only chance of accomplishing the goal. And EEG is totally lacking. So what are they going to do!? Add the Colonel's Special Herbs and Spices: heart rate, eye movement, blah blah. No way. They do talk up EEG, though. For example, in the article, there's this sentence, which seems like, hey, these bozos can do something with EEG: Published scientific reports show NASA researcher Alan Pope, at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., produced a system to alert pilots or astronauts who daydream or "zone out" for as few as five seconds.
;)
Alpha patterns, guys. Alpha waves are probably the cleanest pattern in EEG. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) Easily quantifiable. As soon as you start to relax/zone out your brain starts giving off alpha. When they would hook me up to the machine and put the goggles on, I'd hear the engineers talking about how they could see clear alpha showing up. Now, is the pilot/astronaut thinking about his wife, the vacation he's going to take, if he turned off the oven, etc.??? No combination of EEG, heart rate, eye movement, is going to help you out there. However, the machine would be able to show if the subject went from being in a "zoned out" state to doing multiplication. Think of EEG as a gross indicator of very general phenomena.
I have to admit, though, when I first got involved with this stuff, I had these visions of Brainstorm-like machines (Christopher Walken, 1983), with the capability of recording and playing back thoughts. HA! But then you look at a few channels of EEG going across a laptop screen. Those data are so many orders of magnitude removed from what we're actually perceiving that it's ridiculous that EEG is even being considered for the role in question. It's comedy. Heart rate, eye movements??? They might as well throw in the movement of the Dow 30 and the S&P 500 while they're at it. Tea leaves, entrails, take your pick. I did initially suggest the circus macaque, so I'll be sticking with that.
There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that the government is making an active attempt to read peoples' minds. The good news is that it's never going to work---if the description in this article is any indication of how they're going to go about it.
How could I possibly know it's not going to work? Well, let's just say I worked for a company that burned up millions of dollars attempting to do something FAR less ambitious than these bozos at NASA have set out to do. We were using essentially the same techniques as described in the article, with one incredible difference. THE NASA THING IS NOT GOING TO TOUCH YOU. BAA HAAA HAAAAA! I nearly broke a rib when I read they're going to gather the EEG signals---I have to steady myself from laughing so hard as I type---without placing a "cap" on the subject. Wait, can you hear that? It's the sound of my former co-workers laughing their asses off. What is the NASA team going to do *I'm still chuckling*, have every airline passenger step inside a Faraday cage packed with room temperature, superconductive sensors built by little gnomes at Area 51!?
We've been there, we've tried this....well, minus the full body Faraday cage and extraterrestrial sensors. That is, we had the luxury of actually using a standard EEG headset to collect the data. And it was still difficult to JUST GET QUALITY DATA. EEG is the biggest pain in the ass to work with. Ask ANYONE who's ever dealt with it.
Well, say NASA can wave a magic wand and somehow collect the data, then what? Predict high order human behaviors and thought processes by analyzing EEG with some other special herbs and spices thrown in for good measure? It may sound good on paper, but I'm here to tell ya: It's bullsh*t. No, it's double bullsh*t. Two years and millions of dollars later, I'll tell you what we got: Snake Eyes. Nothing. Jack. Nil. And I can assure you that we weren't going for anything remotely as hard as this NASA thing. We had lots of PhDs, freaks, nerds, experts, etc. It didn't matter. The feds would have a better chance of getting at the intent of an individual if they would let a circus macaque run loose in the terminal, randomly identifying "terrorists" in the crowd!
In case you think I'm kidding about all of this, that's me in the pictures. Pic1 Pic2 Pic3
What I'm talking about is far from being 100% independent. I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to approach something that drastic. I mean, I'm still planning on having to work somewhat. I don't know much about making clothes from scratch or fabricating tools. Is it necessary to re-invent so many wheels? I'm thinking more along the lines of responsible living: Not supporting the U.S. death industries and military adventures with my tax money (they can't tax me much if I don't make much), not polluting much and just being happier and more stress free in general.
Property tax: The tax on the property I was going to buy was literally nothing. I think it was about $150 per year. Maybe $130. HA! There was a $40 per year U.S. Forrest Service fee to use an access road.
Medical care/insurance: Well, I believe establishment medicine is a fraud, except for dealing with trauma, broken bones, stab wounds, etc. But that's another issue. I guess what I'm saying is that I wasn't planning on having any medical insurance, unless it came with whatever job I'd be working. But I wouldn't work more than part time, so not too many places give part time workers insurance.
Cost of hardware, etc: You'd have to plan out the thing while you're still in the world. I'm definitely not saying to get out in the middle on nowhere with no money. This requires a lot of planning, and if you're like me, saving up. Depending on how fancy you want your Yurt to be, the cost could be as little as a few grand, all the way up to the Taj Ma Yurt, like the one I visited at Pacific Yurts. This thing would cost like 15 grand to build the way they had it. It sounds like a lot, until you go shopping for homes and thinking about paying for a stucko box for the rest of your life.
http://www.cryptogon.com/images/TajMaYurt.jpg
You need to understand how big that thing is. It's a circle, 30 FEET ACROSS. I'm in the picture and I'm 6ft2in.
I was actually going to do this plan with a friend, another slashdot freak. We were going to buy 1.54 acres in Oregon. Absolutely beautiful land. Gentle slope, plenty of trees. It cost 30 grand. He decided he didn't want to do it, and I don't have enough to do the entire thing on my own. The land is definitely the most difficult part of the puzzle. You want a location that provides you with good solar AND (for Oregon anyway) wind or hydro. Decent hydro power, though, could probably get rigged anywhere in Oregon with a little effort.
Oh man. I thought about Maine, because there are lots of places with no building codes. But those winters! Despite seeing lots of evidence that people live comfortably in Yurts in very extreme conditions, I don't think I could handle it. What aspects of New Hampshire do you like? What kind of shelter are you going for?
-Kevin
Are you sick of doing the bidding of idiot PHBs, slaving away for nothing? I'm convinced that the answer is not, "More school." You'll just wind up in a different hamster cage or a non-corporate PHB structure, i.e. a university. The answer: Let's all move to Oregon and build a Yurt village! If you think I'm kidding, think again:
* Yurts are incredible! I've actually visited Pacific Yurts in Oregon. Too many benefits to list. Check out http://www.yurts.com/
* We can build our own wireless freaknet with cheap 802.11 gear, and bring the Internet (WAN) connection down from the skies. Hell, we may be able to get a cable modem connection.
* Organic gardening.
* Totally off grid: Solar, wind, hydro.
* Chicken tractors. Again, if you think I'm kidding, type "chicken tractor" into google.
* No mortgage!
* No PHBs for miles and miles!
* Once your show is set up, what will the costs be? Once you cut out the mortgage/rent and other allegedly essential BS, it's not that expensive to live.
Getting off the hamster wheel is NOT easy. We need bold action. This isn't thinking outside the box, it's saying, "I'm not playing this game anymore."
Now, clearly, this isn't for everyone, but I suspect that there are a bunch of potential off-grid yurt freaks lingering in the slashdot crowd. Hey, let's fire it up. Let me know!
-Kevin
A deeper examination of the relationship may be in order. I'm not kidding. Humor me for a moment:
He's obviously socially conscious and aware of the fraud and criminality behind the diamond trade. Yet she really REALLY wants a diamond. WTF? This isn't about diamonds, it's about core values. And I can't believe that so many of the allegedly justice minded slashdotters are saying, "It's your future wife, just get her the diamond." What if she wanted to keep a slave around the house and lock him or her up at night?
Those diamonds (mostly) represent death and despair. I would refuse. I don't care what the consequences were. Give her a plain wedding band, I say, and cherish the bond that it represents. If she MUST have that rock... WORRY.
I started a site in an attempt to demonstrate to people just how dire the situation is. THE entire situation. Jesus, I have to admit, RWarrior is right, it seems pretty hopeless. Average people are completely oblivious to what is happening and just not intellectually capable of making the connections; even when it's put right in front of their eyes. I just keep at it because, at the end of the day, when the darkness finally closes in, I need to be able to say to myself that I never gave up. I tried. I did what I could to resist.
Sorry, the correct link is:
. ht ml#79173969
http://www.cryptogon.com/2002_07_14_blogarchive
The purpose of this is political control, not counter terrorism. Please see this for mroe background and very interesting info on the IAO symbol:
. ht ml#79173969
http://www.cryptogon.com/2002_07_14_blogarchive
bad.
...if they offer you stock options, that will be useless anyway. (Maybe the same imbecile/criminal PHBs are running this outfit now.) This was the offer: Take a 50% cut for 4 months and we'll give you 15,000 options. Well, they got the pay cut part right and then they decided not to give me the options. I encrypted all the admin passwords, etc. with twofish, walked out and sent them an email:
"When you're ready to pay me, I'll hand over the passphrase to recover the root passwords."
They paid up. Pricks.
on the top of the slashdot home page. Pretty ironic.
I have a degree in International Relations and I'm now doing CS because I wanted to apply it to IR. Kooky.
I get great service from them, and I'd hate to loose it. I get 2Mb/sec down and about 200 up. And for those of you who think telco DSL will be better, man, think again. It sucks. Been there, done that.
? ti cker=ATHM&script=2300
I dropped them a line indicating I'd pay more per month. Maybe if enough of us do the same, they'll consider it instead of being religated to the Fucked Company hall of fame.
Here's the link:
http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml
Later.