Brian Gongol
Show notes from the WHO Radio Wise Guys - August 2, 2008
Roller-coaster absurdity...DVD rentals...the Apple Newton rises from the dead...and a podcast
Renewed push for HR 2421
"The Games have been an excuse for the [Communist] party to assert control over an increasingly disparate society"
It positively cannot be forgotten that China has very little history, relatively speaking, as a unified state. And there's a very good chance that it won't be the same unified state ten years from now that we know today; there are simply too many forces at play, just like the ones that tore apart the Soviet Union. So it should come as little to no surprise that the Communist Party has seized upon the Olympics as a rallying point to legitimize all kinds of illiberal behavior. The temporary easing of the Great Firewall of China is a good example: On one hand, the totalitarian government is being forced to bow to pressures brought by technology and openness that they've never had to deal with in such strong measure before. But on the other hand, the president is issuing semi-subtle statements threatening the foreign press about what they should and shouldn't report upon. China is struggling with a huge upheaval -- its economy has overheated, and it's only been economic that seems to have allowed the Communists to repress political freedoms. And the Olympics are going to put a pretty bright light on the country. We should be anything but surprised if things get turbulent in China soon.
Gates donates $27 million to research into wheat rust
There seems to be little to no public awareness that the world's wheat supply is extremely susceptible to a fungus that's already doing damage in the Middle East and Africa. Considering how much we depend upon wheat for all kinds of food, one might imagine that we'd show at least as much concern as we do for who's going to win "American Idol." But instead, as noted in May, we spend next to nothing and have just five people on the job of monitoring for the stuff. And we've known for at least three years that wheat rust is a problem. The Gates Foundation deserves credit for seeing the problem and doing something about it.
Guy programs hacking toolkit, gets hacked by it
The digest version: Computers have to check in with what are called DNS servers to determine where to find websites on the Internet. By hacking into those servers, crooks can redirect traffic away from the places it's supposed to go and send it to their own sites. As it turns out, a site victimized by such an attack belongs to a company run by a guy who built a toolkit that helps hackers find security holes faster.
Iowa DNR releases notice of intended action
Fire grows near Yosemite National Park
And in related California disaster news, a Caltech seismologist is calling yesterday's earthquake near Los Angeles a "drill for the Big One." Unfortunately, as with wildfires, earthquakes are the kinds of disasters that only intensify the longer time passes between events. It's been a long time since a big quake in the Los Angeles area, and the longer it takes for a really large quake to occur again, the bigger the next Really Big One will be. Technology has certainly changed since the Northridge quake -- people are using new technology, like Twitter, to share the news as instantaneously as the event itself occurs. Twitter is even trumpeting how much faster the word "earthquake" spiked than when it appeared in conventional news channels. At the very least, perhaps, the quake gave some people a reminder to update their preparedness plans.
8" rains lead to flooding
Doha round of trade talks falls apart
While it's probably too esoteric for most people to bother caring about, it's really bad news. Trade liberalization is almost always good for almost everybody. But, unfortunately, it seems as though we're in a period of isolationism -- which puts a hold on trade, and in turn leads to needless human suffering. Unfortunately, though, the same left-wing thinkers who promote a hold-hands-and-sing-kumbayah message about planetary unity when it comes to environmentalism are more often than not the same people who most viciously oppose trade, based on the faulty argument that it somehow exploits the world's poor. The logic is so deficient it's painful; one can hardly explain how someone living in Iowa is worse off for the free trade we exchange with Louisiana or Maine or California, nor how residents of those other states suffer for trade in the other direction. The simple matter is that trade is an extension of specialization, and that we're all better off doing a few things very well and letting others do the same.
American Heart Association says high fiber is as important as low fat
Magnitude 5.8 earthquake hits Los Angeles
Reagan's 1986 Independence Day speech
(Video) Senator Obama is showy, but his speeches contain no substance (nor does there seem to be much interest in getting any substance from him). Senator McCain is more thoughtful, but his centerpiece speeches lack showmanship. Reagan had the distinct advantage of having come from a lifetime of performance. Unfortunately, President Bush seems not yet to have found his unique voice. Related: It's a clash of the mass-market magazines as Rolling Stone falls all over itself loving Sen. Obama and Esquire shows deep admiration for Sen. McCain.
Show notes from the WHO Radio afternoon drive hosted by Brian Gongol - July 28, 2008
Yet another set of brutal storms in Iowa
How bad is the US financial picture, really?
Medical errors cost at least $1.5 billion a year
So says a new study, which finds that 10% of people who die shortly after surgery did so because of preventable error. Human suffering aside, that's enough money to pay for the health care of every GE employee for a year. Unfortunately, though, projects to prevent errors are sometimes halted by paranoia about legal liability. We could use less legalism and more "Do the right thing."
More security for Gmail users
The service now offers a secure-login-by-default option that helps increase the security of one's e-mail access. Most people probably ought to make the switch, unless they find it's absolutely killing their access times.
Australian government wants to spend billions on a national Internet system
But, of course, the proposed system wouldn't even match what's currently commercially available. The universal access they're seeking to ensure sounds nice, but rather than setting up a government-funded system, it would seem much more useful for them to simply figure out what's holding back access in places where broadband isn't available, and then see if there are government policies in place that are making it harder for the market to supply that service. This is a classic case of government delivery of a public service not necessarily representing the best way of getting something useful to the people. Broadband Internet access is certainly on its way towards being an economic necessity, but that doesn't mean the government has to be the supplier. Iowa's ICN system is a fine example of a similarly well-intended program that today is perpetually in a state of limbo since it's been leapfrogged technologically by newer, private-sector technologies. Much of the network is delivered via 1.5 Mbps connections, which today can be matched by wireless broadband.
Prince William, Drug Enforcement Cop
Don't bother sending Senator Obama any restaurant suggestions
Is Northrop Grumman building a next-generation stealth bomber?
Show notes from the Brian Gongol Show - July 27, 2008
Pages you can print to make your life easier
Zimbabwe introduces a 100-billion-unit currency
Iowa City named as a town college students don't want to leave
Which brings up a couple of thoughts: First, what are community and family life going to look like in 25 or 50 years? In parts of Europe, adult children often live at home for many years past college age. We seem to have had a longstanding get-out-on-your-own tradition, but there's lots of talk that a "boomerang generation" is turning that around. So when sociologists talk about the rise of "urban tribes," one has to wonder whether we're headed down lots of differing roads at once. Second, if there's something about the college mystique that attracts individuals to Iowa City, isn't there something better we can do to breathe some new life into Iowa's traditional reputation as a "smart" place?
Philips: One company that hasn't bothered changing names in a long time
And that's a good thing. Too many companies play the perpetual name-change game. Changing a company name is hardly a sensible way to project a sense of permanence. But then again, maybe permanence isn't what renter-capitalists really want.
Is reading online the same as reading printed text?
Video of Space Shuttle launch from a passing passenger jet
(Video - including a few expletives) What's going to be fun is when passenger spaceflight becomes routine, in just a couple of years
South Korean think tank worries that rising oil prices will lead to stagflation
It seems likely that the late spike in oil prices has been overheated. But what's worrisome is that as prices fall a little off their highs, the drive to make corrections to our energy balance will ease and we'll just wake up a few years down the road having done nothing to make the situation better.