About 2 weeks ago, the weather here was like summer. But then it turned cold and rainy. For the past week, we’ve had off and on rain showers. Yesterday–Thursday–on the way home, this was my view. Of course, it started raining before I got home…..
Biometrics and Spying
I’ve written before about how much I like IRIS and how fast it is. Sure, I had to let them scan my irises, but it doesn’t really matter. However, I’ve never given much thought to how it may impact spies. Until I saw this Wired article on the CIA and its secret fear.
In “the old days,” as one put it — that would be before 9/11 — deep-cover CIA operatives could use and discard false passports like hand wipes. “The only way immigration could tell if the passports were fake was to look at the stamps, paper, photo, and so on,” said another recently retired CIA operative, whose worked on sensitive projects under non-official cover. Operatives could land at, say, Dubai, with a passport with one false name, then pick up another from the local CIA station to register at the hotel and conduct a mission. Then the same operative could return the country several times under different names, repeating the process.
Biometrics are making that impossible. Even crossing the border with a real identity, then donning a fake one in-country, presents its own risks. “When you go to check into a hotel room for a meeting with an asset, or even rent a car to drive to the meeting — or hold the meeting in the car — many hotels and car rental agencies upload their customer data, including passport number, to immigration every day,” the former spook notes. “Most countries are looking for visa overstays. But when you show up on the list as never having entered the country … it brings the police around to ask questions.”
I’m surprised they can’t fake the data stored on the passport.
Image from pink sherbet photography via flickr
The Moon
One day this past week, when I left for work, the moon was out and really bright. Here’s a picture of it over some houses/flats.
Lydia has an Ear Infection
I think this is her second one ever. But she’s got an ear infection. Cyndi took her to the dr this morning and got some meds….
Image from youscription via flickr
How deep
does a light pole need planted to live and grow? Will this one grow?
ICS (Android 4.04) — What I think so far
Ok…I’ve been using ice cream sandwich (Android 4.0.4) since my phone got the OTA upgrade 5 days ago. What do I think? First, the bad:
Bad
1) Initially, battery life was horrible. I mean HORRIBLE. 4 hours of no use and the battery would be flat. After looking around on the internet, the concensus was it was a bad app. I didn’t uninstall everything one by one. Instead, I decided to just reset my phone. I think it was my status app causing the battery drain (but can’t prove it)
2) I don’t like the new signal indicator. Instead of distinct bars, it is one solid triangle that gets filled in. I find it hard to read.
3) I use 2 factor authentication for Google. When I reinstalled the authenticator, I had to redo my 2 factor authentication. Some things work ok; however, in some other places, it seems to have forgotten my application specific passwords.
Good
1) ICS has a built in traffic/usage graph. I like that
2) The panno function is good for quick and dirty panorama shots.
3) Tabbed browsing has come to the browser.
[Update 2012-04-15 09:35:30] I think I’ve figured out the poor battery life. It appears to be related to SIP/VoIP in ICS and it working over 3g.
Image from jd hancock via flickr
Isaac, Easter, and a Creme Egg
Yesterday was Easter. Since it was Sunday, we went to church–like always. Keith, the pastor, made an announcement something like:
Eggs have absolutley nothing to do with the Christian message or the Christian message of Easter. However, if you are a child, there are some eggs available for you.
Now, other than liking the fact that he pointed out eggs have nothing to do with Easter (that’s why we don’t do the Easter egg thing), I didn’t think much about it. But,after church, Jonathan came up to Lydia and offered her a Creme Egg. She was polite and didn’t take one (she’s allergic to milk); however, Jonathan gave her one for me to hold.
Well, turns out he found Isaac to. So, yesterday, Isaac had his first Creme Egg. To say he liked it would be an understatement!
Deep Fried Turkey
Probably about 10 years ago (perhaps 12), I got a turkey deep fryer for Christmas. At the time, I didn’t have a clue what I would do with it. But, since that time, I’ve deep fried a zillion turkeys. When we moved back to England, we put the deep fryer in the crate and brought with it. At first, I was worried that I would have to get an adapter for the regulator; however, it turns out that POL connectors (the old style connector in the US) are the common connector here. So, it plugged right in.
Yesterday, we had some friends over and we deep fried a turkey for them. They liked it! I thought it was a good first effort in 4 years (or more). Anyway, here are some pictures I took of the turkey cooking:
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Hermann, MO
In 1986, we moved to Hermann, MO. After a month or so in an apartment, we moved to a house on highway 100 west that was almost to Gasconade, MO. It was right after this sharp turn in the road (here’s a link to it on google maps). My mom would remember the first time there was a squeal, crash, then a nock, and an ask for a tow, but I remember it happening occasionally. See, this turn was more than 90 degrees and it snuck up on you. Sure there was a sign, but those are just approximate, right? This one wasn’t and was hidden behind a small dip so once you saw it you couldn’t get on the brakes fast enough. There were also 3 or 4 trees on the outside of the turn that would stop you from running into Delmer’s barn. Here’s a view of it today (from google street view) looking back towards Hermann:
Here’s two views of the house I’ve lived in longer than I’ve lived anywhere else (7 years until my junior year of high school):
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| When we lived here, there used to be this MASSIVE pecan tree (that made little pecans) here. One time, there was a tornado and 1/3 of the tree fell over on the house. | I stood here and waited on the bus. |
Now, I’ve still got friends there. One of them posted a link to an article in a local newspaper about a truck getting stuck. He was trying to make a left turn from J road onto hwy 100. Insane. When we lived there, I wouldn’t even make that turn in a car. I would have been to worried that someone would come around the turn too fast, miss it,and hit me. Here are a few pictures she took of the trailer being high-centered:
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| (c) Catherine Mahoney | (c) Catherine Mahoney |
[Update 2012-12-26 15:44:43] The links to Catherine Mahoney’s facebook page were wrong. I’ve updated them.
Carbonated Kool-Aid??
I like green Kool-Aid. It is the best of all the flavors. I also like my soda stream that Cyndi got me. Today, I combined the two. I made carbonated kool-aid. It was different and I probably won’t do it again. I mean it tasted ok…after the fiz left in my mouth. But before that, it just tasted…well…funny. Here’s some pictures.
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