A Nail-biter wasn’t it?

Posted on January 12, 2003 by Karl

Micheal Vick was as scary as people say, but the Eagles showed ’em. Experience and team that’s well… a team.. won out 🙂

This can be the start of a fun rivalry. The Falcons are going to be even more impressive down the line.

A scary, but fun night.

How to think about security – or any feature request for that matter

Posted on January 10, 2003 by Karl

This five-step process works for any security measure, past, present, or future:

What problem does it solve?
How well does it solve the problem?
What new problems does it add?
What are the economic and social costs?
Given the above, is it worth the costs?

When you start using it, you’d be surprised how ineffectual most security is these days. For example, only two of the airline security measures put in place since September 11 have any real value: reinforcing the cockpit door, and convincing passengers to fight back. Everything else falls somewhere between marginally improving security and a placebo.

Read the rest at in the Crypto-Gram newwsletter. via Cafe au Lait.

Like Kryptonite To Stupid

Posted on January 8, 2003 by Karl

Check out Oliver Willis’ observation on how the media is reacting to the new ad campaign on SUVs and oil depenency (of course it’s not going to get run anywhere).

Those of you who like to paint the media in broad generalizations should have a field day arguing over this one.

Update: Go to the Detroit Project site to see the advertisements.

A cold keeps me away

Posted on January 8, 2003 by Karl

And it’s a nasty one. Apologies for the lack of updates. There are some interesting things going down.

And you think YOU take gaming too seriously…

Posted on January 3, 2003 by Karl

The investigation of the cybercafes, also known as “PC bangs” or “cybercafes,” came after a brawl erupted between rival groups playing in a tournament involving the online combat game “Counter Strike.” … One unidentified teenager was shot in the leg on Monday outside an Internet cafe in Northridge, a suburb that is part of Los Angeles. A second youth was struck in the head, reportedly with a chair.

Read the rest at Reuters.

In unrelated news…. the new Reuters design is tailor made to make it my source for news over CNN. Good job Reuters.

More year end reflections, resolutions, predictions

Posted on January 3, 2003 by Karl

I, Cringely makes his predictions for 2003.

NYTimes: The Idea Was Not to Have a New One – The year in entertainment. Decries the formula approach everyone seemed to be trodding down. But hidden deep in the article… “Teen pop ? the apotheosis of shallow, overprocessed, image-driven music ? is clearly on the way out, giving way to more R & B, hip-hop and old-fashioned rock; Britney Spears has already been replaced as girl of the moment by the punkette Avril Lavigne.”

IWantMedia: Top Media Stories of 2002

Good News Magazine: What is your calling?. Another good read. via Dave King.

Yahoo!: Music sales again down in 2002. Reuters: Rap and Country dominated the year.

PC-World: Top Tech News 2002 – Good one.

Mark Pilgrim, after analyzing his logs, calls 2002 the year of the news aggregator.

Mark Gardner, Rafe Colburn reflect more on What Should I Do With My Life?.

Dave Rogers posts about not letting what makes you comfortable keep you from moving forward.