The real catastrophic ramification of the China OPM breach… https://t.co/vJ2N65M7k8
— Milena Rodban (@MilenaRodban) June 6, 2015
China is going to send its spies into D.C. bars and call out all the people with clearances exaggerating their careers in order to get laid.
— Andy Priest (@Priestic1) June 6, 2015
Apart from social terror, what’s on the agenda for the afternoon?
Baud
Procrastination.
Kropadope
Doughnuts
Felonius Monk
@Baud: @Kropadope: With doughnuts there can be no procrastination! Eat ’em now or somebody else will.
ETA: Got any maple frosted?
Phylllis
Watching the Braves.
Kropadope
@Felonius Monk: Boston Crème, what other kind?
jeffreyw
I’ve been using my old android phone as a testbed for flashing new firmwares. I had it rooted but lost that when I soft bricked it fooling around with lollipop updates. I managed to recover it back to KitKat, 4.4.2. I’ve been downloading .tar files and recovery .zip files that should get me to 5.0.1. I could pull the SIM from the new phone and install it so I could get OTA updates, I can’t get it to check for updates over wifi, all I see is a notice that the service is unavailable.
FlyingToaster
Just survived the birthday party at the art gallery — I left WarriorGirl with the party and went and viewed the galleries, returning in time to forestall well meaning attempts to make her eat pizza.
She still doesn’t like art galleries because they still won’t let her touch everything.
I have to eat something — it looks like tamales — and then go change into shorts and work on the garden. To a Bostonian after the winter of 2015, 79° feels like 103°.
Felonius Monk
@Kropadope: Boston Creme makes my mouth water. Now what do I do? Run to the donut shop or keep with the day’s plan?
Baud
@Felonius Monk: It’s your own fault that the donut shop wasn’t already part of your day’s plan.
srv
@jeffreyw: You need a hobby.
I find nothing to be outraged at this morning except for doughnutal procrastination
Germy Shoemangler
just spent three hours outside with the big lady (my wife) weeding, mowing, sweeping old leaves, breaking sticks.
I love her more than ever.
I saw a photo of her when she was two years old. I call it the wise baby. Her eyes are bright, her expression is hopeful. Two years later she had open heart surgery to repair a heart defect. She made it, and she’s still going strong at age fifty. She’s the most positive person I’ve ever met. Her mother, her sister, her father were all supremely negative. She’s unfazed.
She’s turned our yard into a garden wonderland. Tomatoes, blueberries, garlic, roses, a variety of vegetables and flowers.
By nature I’m a negative, depressive person. She keeps me going. I had such a good time today in the yard with her. Cleaned our patios, hosed down our outside furniture, I pulled the weeds around her garden. The weather’s perfect.
As Brian Wilson once sang, god only knows what I’d be without her.
Kropadope
@Felonius Monk: See? I don’t have to make that choice, cuz around here you can’t go anywhere without passing a doughnut shop.
Baud
@Germy Shoemangler:
Because there is more of her to love?
Felonius Monk
@Baud: You’re right. Poor planning on my part. The thought crossed my mine early this morning, but I kept putting it off. Now they will probably be out of everything good.
Germy Shoemangler
@Baud: She’s actually very tiny. I call her the big lady because our cat is the “little girl.”
My wife is actually barely over five feet tall. That’s part of the joke.
In our house we have two females: the “big” lady (wife) and the little girl (our cat)
Baud
@Germy Shoemangler:
Cute. What’s your nickname?
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler:I always love your comments and I love what you just wrote about loving your wife.
One would never know that from reading your comments!
So either you’re taking a too negative view of your style (ha ha) or she does an amazing job lifting you up.
Schlemazel
I have been working in IT security mostly for 25-30 years now and it occurred to me a couple of years ago that there is nothing on the Internet (and much that is not connected) that cannot be taken. There are at least 7 nations that I know of that are spending billions and have a highly skilled team supported by a large number of very good hackers whose only job it is is to find new exploits. They do not use all of them because they become less valuable once used as they might be exposed. There are 2 nations I know that have programs to identify and recruit the very best they can find. Given the resources there is nothing they can’t find and take if they want.
The top 4 are (in no order) US, China, Russia and Israel. The US is focused on military intel while CHina focuses mostly on industrial intel. The US knows what the Chinese military is capable of and the Chinese are stealing every innovation the West ever makes. The net result is that they spend no money for development but can produce what others do cheaply. It badly damaged solar panel work here in the US and is stifling innovation. WHo gives a shit about the top speed of China’s new sub? Israel spies on the US and the West more than anything and has their own agenda, Russia is mostly about monetizing for their mobbed up buddies.
The best part? There is nothing you can do about this. The best security in the world is not adequate. As an example the US screwed with Iran’s nuclear program by introducing malware on systems that have never been connected to the Internet. China pulled HR records from secured system protected with the latest technology and the best practices.
Germy Shoemangler
@Baud: What’s my nickname? the old fuck.
Bobby B.
Chinese spies screwing Americans in DC ? This could be an AMC miniseries or a Vivid Video.
Germy Shoemangler
@WaterGirl: Thank you. What amazes me about the big lady is how negative her mother is, how negative her sister is. And yet she is so positive; she never let any of it get her down. She works so hard, she keeps her garden, she’s a tiny lady but she doesn’t take shit from anybody.
I’m so negative because of nature/nurture (too long a story to go into) but she inspires me because she never quits. Her spirit is so strong. I’m so proud when I make her laugh.
My philosophy about wives is this: if she’s fool enough to love you, treat her well, treat her well.
Chris
@Schlemazel:
Since we know they’re doing it, shouldn’t that be an opportunity to feed them crappy and falsified designs and then watch them struggle with making them work?
Iowa Old Lady
@Bobby B.: Only if the screwing is literal.
Schlemazel
@Chris:
I thought the same thing but it would take a concerted effort across a wide number of companies and agencies to pull off. In this case their centralized control helps them while our diverse system hurts the West. Then there is the issue of how to plan that without them learning its a scam.
It could be done but it would be hard & harder still to reproduce enough times to have a real impact
Betty Cracker
Just heading home with the family after taking my mother-in-law out for a birthday lunch. I hit the jackpot in the MIL sweepstakes — she is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. When other people complain about their MILs, I silently thank my lucky stars.
@Germy Shoemangler: Awww! What a nice thing to write!
ruemara
@Germy Shoemangler: You wrote quite a long love story in just a few paragraphs.
Wish me luck, people. I’m going outside to check my tire pressure. I may even try to put air in my tires. I have no idea what I’m doing.
jeffreyw
@srv: Well, I have some hoagie rolls rising, I’ll be popping them into the oven shortly.
Kay
The best part of that to me is “a convention of low wage workers”. That a gathering like that exists, now.
shell
Anybody planning on watching the Tonys? At least the opening number.
Brachiator
@Germy Shoemangler: Very sweet sentiments. I hope you regularly let your wife know how you feel.
Interesting that you say her family is negative. And yet it seems that they understood and accepted the hope of heart surgery when your wife was a child. Or maybe the doctors were determined and convincing.
And maybe having those negative people in her life made it easier for her to see your good qualities when the two of you got together. The universe loves irony.
In any event, she sounds like a great person, and the two of you, a great couple.
satby
@Germy Shoemangler: That’s beautiful! You both are lucky, because she has a spouse who loves and appreciates her.
Chris
@Schlemazel:
So in other words, even if it were being contemplated, it’s probably being saved for something that really matters.
Baud
@Kay:
I read that this morning and almost posted it. Pretty amazing.
Brachiator
@Schlemazel: Has security in the world ever been adequate? It seems to me that intelligence agencies mainly exist to keep information from the public, not from other countries. The Snowden leaks interrupted this pattern a bit.
It also seems to me that the Chinese get a great deal of their information from us the easy way. It’s right there in front of them when they manufacture products for the West. You don’t really have to steal what’s given to you.
And you’re right that these countries hire hackers. I also get the impression that, especially in the West, a lot of hackers know each other and share information. And sadly, there is no security on the Internet, and yet it is also an essential part of everyone’s life.
andy
Really enjoying the Second Knights of Sidonia Series. I have to say, though, after an impressive winter anime season, the spring season is kind of meh, Sidonia excepted.
Also finally considering a cellphone. When I started seeing the things about ’97 I had a pretty good idea where cellphone culture was heading and wanted no part of it, but now it kind of seems like a good idea. I don’t see myself as a technophobe- it’s just that I was so turned off by the whole concept that I never kept up with the jargon, and now that I kind of want one I’m a little at sea with the whole thing. I’m kind of leaning toward getting a device and service from Consumer Cellular- I figure I might as well let use an available AARP *shudder* discount…
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: I always figure it’s a good marriage when both people think they are lucky to have the other person, and I’m sure she feels lucky to have you, too.
Brachiator
@Kay: This is good, amazing stuff. Hillary needs to be consistent in her support here. The GOP has got nothing to counter this.
gogol's wife
@Germy Shoemangler:
That’s sweet! Marital bliss is blissful. (I know.)
Elizabelle
@Germy Shoemangler: She’s probably pretty lucky too.
Happy Sunday.
Chris
@Kay:
@Brachiator:
A few days ago, voting rights. Now, this.
Give ’em hell, Hillary!
gogol's wife
@shell:
I want to see that “A Musical” number from Something Rotten!
Kay
@Baud:
Isn;t it great? “Fast food workers are holding their annual convention in the ballroom”. What?
That seems… new :)
cosima
What does one look for in a Labrador puppy? I am really jonesing for a dog to add to the family!
Brachiator
@andy: You might also look at what is offered by a company like Ting mobile.
Also, I’ve seen reviews of the Moto E and Moto G as good values in a smartphone.
Betty Cracker
@andy: If you plan to use it as a phone only, that should be fine. But for most people (well, in my experience anyway), the telephone function is an afterthought.
Eric U.
@Chris: that’s why all the computer motherboards made 10-15 years ago fried so easily. Some guy stole the west’s secret sauce for making capacitors, and then went to work in China making capacitors. Apparently realizing that he was going to get ripped off, he made available a non-working formula that was widely copied. It really backfired because those copiers sold a lot of capacitors.
I really think that the fact that everyone rushed to be online with everything is going to hurt us. Corporations aren’t willing to spend the money for security. My bank has some stupid software program that is supposed to help, I really want two-factor security
Baud
@Kay:
I wonder who catered it? ;-)
Baud
@Eric U.:
I’ve gone to two-factor where it’s available. I’m surprised banks don’t provide it as an option.
Kay
@Baud:
Hah! I went to the Fight For Fifteen event at Netroots Nation in Detroit and they had the best food :)
NotMax
Never much mentioned that American sources eat into Chinese systems and download data, too.
The difference is that an hour later they want more.
/Borscht Belt 2.0
John Revolta
@Germy Shoemangler: OT but everytime I see your nym I hear a pissed-off Sargent from a ’50s service comedy yelling, “SHOEMANGLER!!!111!!11!!”
Actually, it kinda works for a pissed-off ’50s sitcom wife as well. Try it at home!
Ruckus
@Baud:
My bank does only 2 factor. That’s one small reason I’m there. The other is it isn’t one of the big 3-4 asshole banks, Bunch of Assholes, Give us your Citi, We Chase you for all your money……
Freemark
@andy: I switched from Verizon to Consumer Cellular 2 months ago and I am very happy I did. I got the Moto G ext and I am very happy with it. If you don’t want a smart phone their flip phones are good, rates are cheap, and service is good.
PurpleGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: You said your wife had heart surgery when she was 3 years old. There probably was a lot of follow up medical care. Even though she was very young, she might have sensed that if she followed her family in being negative she wouldn’t get better and live well. OTOH, if she followed what the medical people told her and she stayed positive, she’d live better and live longer. Amazing that she was able to probably see that duality in life and she went with being positive. (Just speculation on my part.)
srv
@andy: Ah, not on flix until next month.
Also, too coming soon.
WereBear
And a lovely philosophy it is!
I’m big on spoiling partners, myself.
Tree With Water
@Brachiator:
“…Security. It blows their minds so bitterly..”.
A lyric from an old song and dance man.
WereBear
@cosima: VOW to not get a puppy from a pet store; those are puppy mill puppies and will break your heart and your bank account. It must be stopped.
Decide if you want a purebred, and research breeders, or decide if you want a lab mix, which can be twice as delightful because the lab traits might be moderated with another kind of lovely dog. (You get a price break and hybrid vigor!)
If you decide on a purebred, you can still have a price break by asking them about rescue. Remember, lab puppies chew everything that does not have the capacity to run away. And avoid corners.
ThresherK (GPad)
@shell: I am interested in The Visit, Fun Home, and An American in Paris. Each one has a different path to the stage, and I was a fan of them all in previous forms. Wondering how theatrical they each can be.
Schlemazel
@Brachiator:
Yes, most intel agencies job is to not let people know what they are up to. Part of that is really important for the job as the intel loses value if they know you know.
The real threat (other than that we will all be working for the Chinese some day if this keeps up) is the use of all the info I can gather about you. The labor movement would not be able to gain traction today because the owners can identify and cull anyone who has even the slightest intent to organize. This goes for any movement. And the more insidious part is the metadata. By compiling a profile of movies you watch, groceries you buy, books you read, words you google Those same owner could identify thought crimes before you might even know you were going to commit them.
srv
Scott Walker victorious over Madison thugs
MomSense
@Germy Shoemangler:
That is a beautiful comment.
Now I’m craving a maple frosted cake donut cuz those are my favorites.
Schlemazel
@Baud:
You should read up on “screen scraping”. Depending on the second factor it is simple to defeat many of them. Plus if someone can own your PC (and they can) they can get what they want there if they just want you or they can own your bank & get you and a few thousand others.
Most of what keeps you safe is the very large number of zebras on the plain, no lion can eat them all and you are not that big a meal to make it worth the effort.
Robert Sneddon
@andy: In this season’s anime, “The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan” has just taken the sharp-left turn at Albuquerque that everyone who understood what the title meant was expecting, derailing a conventional screwball high-school rom-com story and leaving everyone hanging.
I am pumped for one of the anime offerings upcoming this autumn — “Aria” is getting a three-episode postscript series with Choro Club back doing the soundtrack and Kozue Amano scripting. Sadly a couple of the original voice actors are no longer with us but it seems the animators are going to work around that somehow.
Steeplejack
@shell:
My playwright friend told me this weekend that Fun Home is the best thing she’s see on Broadway in five years—and no one seems to know about it. It got a load of Tony nominations, including three in the category “Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical”: Judy Kuhn, Sydney Lucas, Emily Skaggs. (Beth Malone was nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical.) Friend said that Sydney Lucas, who is 11 years old, is going to blow the roof off the house when she does her big song from the show.
Valdivia
@Germy Shoemangler: That was beautifully said. Lucky, the two of you.
Oh and I am buried up to my neck in class notes. First class of term is always the hardest lift. Wish there was a way to just download my brain to the screen automatically ;)
raven
@Valdivia: Georgia has this goofy MayMester where they jam a semester in a month of classes.
Brachiator
@Schlemazel: I used to think that intelligence services were supposed to keep sensitive information out of the hands of foreign governments, but it seems that everyone except the common people have this information, so I wonder whether it really has any great value.
I really don’t think we have to worry about working for the Chinese. We are probably too lazy for their tastes.
I also don’t understand why people claim to be concerned about security and privacy when they happily give their personal data away. And the thing is that often sharing data or using Google makes devices tremendously useful. And this will only accelerate as new devices bring new temptation.
satby
@cosima: Get a mix from a rescue. I have rescue labs that were sized from puppy mills, they’re great dogs but 3 of the 4 have epilepsy because that runs in the breed now from unscrupulous breeders. Mutts are great dogs, and a lab mix is usually wonderful.DON’T buy from a breeder, if you must have a purebred, look for a lab breed rescue near you. They’ll have plenty for adoption, so will shelters.
Ruckus
@Schlemazel:
Isn’t what takes away from herd immunity the fact that they may not know how much worth it is to them until they hack into your info?
Also my bank gives me the option of not putting any info on my computer so I have to go through both steps every time. Of course their last software update now allows my password to be stored, which it didn’t before, defeating some of the protection.
Valdivia
@raven: Yikes, that would be my nightmare. I’d probably wouldn’t get any sleep all month!
satby
@satby: Actually tried to edit to add:
another thing you can do is look for a 9-14 month old lab rescue at a shelter. That’s the time that the people who bought that cute puppy in the window surrender them because they are done with housebreaking and puppy chewing; just as the puppies are becoming old enough to actually obey. It’s so heartbreaking, these young dogs are usually very well behaved at that point and are so sad to be abandoned by their families. And owner surrenders are usually euthanized before strays, because the thinking is that the people are lying about the dog’s behavioral issues. So the window to rescue can be pretty short.
cosima
@WereBear: Well, I’m not getting one from a shop, because we live in rural Scotland, so there are none of those here (not even sure if they exist in any incarnation in Scotland — I’ve never seen one). In re: the rescue dog, we have a youngster who was bitten very severely many years ago, and for years after was terrified of all dogs, no matter the size or breed, she’d run screaming from a Yorkie — so, all of that being the case, I’d like to get a puppy that can be raised from tiny so that she feels a greater connection to it, and doesn’t feel at all threatened by it. I’m not just springing this on her — she’s been asking for a dog for a year or so, and since she’s ready, and I’m ready, I think this is the time.
@satby: I’m hopeful that the breeder in a nearby village is reputable — for all of the reasons noted above, I’m looking at a purebred puppy. I may be being naïve (as opposed to my usual cynicism to the tenth power), but am hoping that this area is too small for people to get away with any of the breeding shenanigans that happen in more populous places. Additionally, dogs are serious stuff here — lots of working dogs in this area.
cosima
@satby: The chewing thing… I remember that with my two golden retrievers many years ago. Now that I’ve got a lot more time to spend with a dog, I’m hoping that we can handle that a bit better… We’ll be able to take a lot of walks, and I will live in hope that a tired puppy = less chewing. Perhaps I’m too optimistic. Non-tennis ball chew toy suggestions are welcome!
In some ways I’m feeling more nervous about this addition to the family than our second (and last!) child 10 years ago.
Germy Shoemangler
From Lawyers Guns & Money:
MomSense
@cosima:
I learned a new trick with my puppy and that is to put her meals (mix of wet and dry food) in large kongs and freeze them. It would take her a good 20 minutes to half an hour to get her food out and the cold felt good on her gums. I also do dry food in the dispenser kongs because it makes a fun game for her. She spins the kong and then tears around finding all the individual kibble.
Chris
@Schlemazel:
There was this episode of Leverage based on the premise “what if Google were evil?” (heh), where the mark was an IT tycoon who was feeding the Iranian government everything about the protesters and activists in their country.
Now that you’ve said what you said, that suddenly sounds so… weak sauce. Why work for a second-rate third-world dictatorship when you could be the cyber-Pinkertons for every 1%er in the West who wants to read his workers’ email? The latter sounds incredibly more lucrative, and there’s no chance of getting the national security book thrown at you.
cosima
@MomSense: Thanks for that tip — I’ll have to search out some kongs via amazon.
satby
@cosima: Did a tired baby teeth less?
Because puppies chew mostly because they’re teething, though some decide that it’s a fun lifelong game (I have one of those, she’s 4 and very destructive, including holes dug into plaster walls).
I have no idea what the situation is in Scotland, so if you go the breeder route get reviews from people who’ve gotten dogs from there. A rescue here would ask you though, what will you do if your daughter remains fearful or goes back to being afraid as the dog gets older and larger? Will your breeder take it back or will it become another dog heading for the RSPCA? If the breeder stands by his dogs and will take it back even years later, that’s an ethical breeder.
cosima
@MomSense: The kong wobbler or the one you stuff?
PhilbertDesanex
@Chris: How bout he F35?
Since China already gets the data, how about we pay them to do Federal Payroll, cheaper than ADP I bet. Lemons to lemonade!
cosima
@satby: I guess that my hope is that because I’ll have so much more time to interact with this puppy that there will be a lot less of the chewing that seems to happen more due to boredom/less supervision (as I found with our dogs in the past).
Our daughter has had a lot of positive interactions with dogs over the past couple of years, so I do hope that this will be a positive step in re-establishing that animal connection for her. However, it’s something to discuss with her over the coming days, and a good thing to consider. It’s not something that we’ve decided on the spur of the moment — we’ve been waiting for a lot of stars to align to even consider it (new house with large fenced yard, no longer working, etc).
sharl
@PhilbertDesanex: That is David Axe’s stance: Go Ahead, China—Copy Our Crappiest Warplane
Some occasionally thoughtful push-back in comments, even allowing for the likelihood that some of the complainers are F-35 contractors and diehard fanboys. And always risky to apply U.S.-centric thinking to a different country without first considering the merits of, and limitations of doing so.
Betty Cracker
@cosima: In our experience, having a person around most of the time to reinforce training makes a HUGE difference. That’s not to say people who work outside the home can’t train a pup, but if someone is always home, it seems to get done quicker.
Tree With Water
Breaking: “Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said over the weekend that U.S. troops were “ready to go back” to Iraq to fight ISIS”.
Gimme an F,
Gimme a U,
Gimme a C,
Gimme a K,
What’s that spell?
yeah, c’mon on all you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
he’s got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Vietnam
so put down your books and pick up a gun
we’re gonna have a whole lot of fun
and it’s 1, 2, 3, what’re we fighting for?
don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn
next stop is vietnam
and it’s 5, 6, 7, open up the pearly gates
well there ain’t no time to wonder why
whoopee! we’re all gonna die
well c’mon generals, let’s move fast
your big chance has come at last
gotta go out and get those Reds
the only good Commie is one who’s dead
and you know that peace can only be won
when we’ve blown ’em all to kingdom come
chorus
well c’mon on Wall Street
don’t be slow
why this is war a-go-go
there’s plenty good money to be made
by supplin’ the Army with the tools of the trade
just hope and pray that if we drop the bomb
they drop it on-the Vietcong
chorus
well c’mon mothers throughout this land
pack your boys off to Vietnam
c’mon pops, don’t hesitate
send ’em off before it’s too late
be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box
and it’s 1, 2, 3, what’re we fighting for?
don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn.
,
liberal
@Brachiator:
FTW.
sm*t cl*de
That was before the focus shifted to your own citizens as the greater threat, with individuals and companies no longer trusted with strong security or encryption in case they use them to stop the government from accessing their secrets.