Tuesday 8:00 Buzz - 8/29/2006

This continues my effort to chronicle the guests and topics covered on the Stan Woodard's Tuesday 8:00 Buzz on WORT-FM

First Guest:

Demetric Mercandel - New Orleans resident, talking about the one-year anniversary of hurricane Katrina

Second Guest:

Fred Clark - Talking about Move Forward Not Out rally, Saturday 9/2 at the Boys and Girls Club on Allied Drive.

Third Guest:

Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson Author of many books, he writes The Hutchinson Report as well as for The Huffington Post.

Announcements

• Upcoming Show: Juan Williams, Senior Correspondant for National Public Radio and Anchor and Commentator on Fox News will be on the show September 12 to discuss his upcoming book Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It.
• Move Forward, Not Out Rally - Saturday September 2nd at the Allied/Dunns Marsh Boys and Girls Club at 4716 Jenewein Dr. Come see Stan speak outside of the radio! call (608) 277-0655 for more information.
• Stan is looking for ethnic performers to help with the upcoming Unity in the Community festival on Sept 16th. Email him at swoodard (at) wisc.edu
• The African Presence in Mexico is showing at The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.

Tuesday 8:00 Buzz - 8/22/2006

This continues my effort to chronicle the guests and topics covered on the Stan Woodard's Tuesday 8:00 Buzz on WORT-FM

First Guests:

Nathan Larson and Students Andrea J, Clay Y, David W and Maddy V from Troy Gardens - A North-Madison community gardening project.

Second Guest:

Elaine Meryl Brown Author of Playing By The Rules (Fiction).

Announcements

• Upcoming Show: Juan Williams, Senior Correspondant for National Public Radio and Anchor and Commentator on Fox News will be on the show September 12 to discuss his upcoming book Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It.
• The Twenty-First Century African Youth Movement (AYM) and the Madison Center for Creative and Cultural Arts (MCCCA) present, “Celebrate Africa!” a benefit for the survival and care of African Youth on August 27th, 2006 from 2 – 9 pm. The event will feature a silent auction, drumming, dancing, music, and a screening of AYM Documentary Representations of Violence: Art about the Sierra Leone Civil War. For more information, mccca.net or call 608-217-3814.
• Stan is looking for ethnic performers to help with the upcoming Unity in the Community festival on Sept 16th. Email him at swoodard (at) wisc.edu
• Africa Fest 2006 - Saturday August 26, 11AM - 8PM at Warner Park. For more information: 608-258-0261, info@africanassociation.org or africanassociation.org
• Orton Park Festival August 25-27 at Orton Park. More information online: marquette-neighborhood.org
• The African Presence in Mexico is showing at The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.

Nice Delivery

So, I'm riding my bike down the street, minding my own business....

When I come across a Glass Nickel Pizza delivery car double-parked, blocking an entire lane of traffic. Now, I'm all for pizza delivery being the top priority users of the road, and Glass Nickel is one of the best pizza places in Madison (it may be the best -- depends on my mood) BUT in this case, he was completely blocking one direction, and he wasn't even as close to his destination as possible!

You'll note the destination house on the left, with ample parking immediately in front. Even if he didn't want to turn around or park illegally the wrong way, he could park one car length further down the street in his direction of travel.

That is all.

Tuesday 8:00 Buzz - 8/15/2006

This continues my effort to chronicle the guests and topics covered on the Stan Woodard's Tuesday 8:00 Buzz on WORT-FM

First Guest:

Flores A. Forbes - Former Black Panther, Currently Chief Strategic Officer, Abyssinian Development Corporation, and Author of Will You Die with Me? My Life and the Black Panther Party (Non-Fiction)

Second Guest:

Shauna Anderson "The Queen of Chitlins," Author of OFFAL GREAT, A Memoir from Shauna Anderson, The Queen of Chitlins (Non-Fiction). Order Chitlins or the book online: chitlinmarket.com or 1-866-436-9381

Announcements

• MATC is considering increasing their presence in South Madison and would like input. Open community forum on Monday August 17 7 - 9PM at Centro Hispano, 810 Badger Road. For more information contact Erika Mader at 255-0426 or Maria G Bañuelos at 246-6460
• Triangle Ethnic Festival - August 20th, 11AM - 6PM at The Bayview Triangle (between Regent, Park and West Washington Streets). For more information: 608-256-7808 or www.bayviewfoundation.org.
• Africa Fest 2006 - Saturday August 26, 11AM - 8PM at Warner Park. For more information: 608-258-0261, info@africanassociation.org or africanassociation.org
• Orton Park Festival August 25-27 at Orton Park. More information online: marquette-neighborhood.org
• The African Presence in Mexico is showing at The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.

Amnesty International launches global campaign against internet repression

Amnesty International is launching a campaign to "free" the internet from repression. See Their Press Release or go straight to the campaign's website, irrepressible.info.

For those of you reading this via the web, you'll see their infobox on the right-hand column. For those of you reading this via RSS, stop by the site. I can't figure out how to get an example in here. :)

Tuesday 8:00 Buzz - 8/8/2006

This continues my effort to chronicle the guests and topics covered on the Stan Woodard's Tuesday 8:00 Buzz on WORT-FM

First Guest:

Mary-Wynne Ashford - Author of Enough Blood Shed: 101 Solutions to Violence, Terror and War (Non-Fiction)

Second Guest:

Johnny Winston, Jr - Madison School Board President. Coming up this weekend: Johnny Winston, Jr Streetball and Block Party - Saturday Aug 12 Noon-7PM, Penn Park in South Madison (Corner of Fisher and Buick Streets). Basketball, Flag Football, Bingo, Music and more. For More Information: 608-441-0224 or 608-347-9715 Email: johnnywinstonjr@hotmail.com

Third Guest:

Steven Salaita - Author of Anti-Arab Racism in the USA: Where it Comes From and What it Means for Politics Today (Non-Fiction)

Announcements

• Johnny Winston, Jr Streetball and Block Party - Saturday Aug 12 Noon-7PM, Penn Park in South Madison (Corner of Fisher and Buick Streets). Basketball, Flag Football, Bingo, Music and more. For More Information: 608-441-0224 or 608-347-9715 Email: johnnywinstonjr@hotmail.com
• MATC is considering increasing their presence in South Madison and would like input. Open community forum on Monday Auth 17 7 - 9PM at Centro Hispano, 810 Badger Road. For more information contact Erika Mader at 255-0426 or Maria G Bañuelos at 246-6460
• The African Presence in Mexico is showing at The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.

What To Do With Your Butts...

My friend Tom Jordan always used to point out that "all signs are there for a reason" -- Someone once did the thing mentioned on the sign.

This post (theoretically) starts a new series for this blog of signs that I think are so incongruous I have to post them before I explode.

In this case, a sign at the Select Inn in Waukesha noting where we should not place our garbage.

Tanner's new plate

Hooray! Phone blogging! This probably only cost me about $300!

Tuesday 8:00 Buzz - 8/1/2006

This begins my effort to chronicle the guests and topics covered on the Stan Woodard's Tuesday 8:00 Buzz on WORT-FM

First Guest:

Sasha Abramsky - Author of CONNED - How Millions Went to Prison, Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W. Bush to the White House (Non-Fiction)

Second Guest (no-show):

E. Lynn Harris - Author of I Say A Little Prayer (Fiction)

Announcements

• Lanterns for Peace - Sunday Aug 6th 6-9PM, Tenny Park Shelter. For More Information: 608-262-9232 mail@psrmadison.org
• Johnny Winston, Jr Streetball and Block Parry - Saturday Aug 12 Noon-7PM, Penn Park in South Madison (Corner of Fisher and Buick Streets). Basketball, Flag Football, Bingo, Music and more. For More Information: 608-441-0224 or 608-347-9715

Abortion manual for the women of South Dakota

kottke.org: Abortion manual for the women of South Dakota

In reaction to the South Dakota Senate passing an abortion ban bill, a woman named Molly has posted an abortion manual for the women of South Dakota:

In the 1960s and early 1970s, when abortions were illegal in many places and expensive to get, an organization called Jane stepped up to the plate in the Chicago area. Jane initially hired an abortion doctor, but later they did the abortions themselves. They lost only one patient in 13,000 -- a lower death rate than that of giving live birth. The biggest obstacle they had, though, was the fact that until years into the operation, they thought of abortion as something only a doctor could do, something only the most trained specialist could perform without endangering the life of the woman.

They were deceived -- much like you have probably been deceived. An abortion, especially for an early pregnancy, is a relatively easy procedure to perform. And while I know, women of South Dakota, that you never asked for this, now is the time to learn how it is done. There is no reason you should be beholden to doctors -- especially in a state where doctors have been refusing to perform them, forcing the state's only abortion clinic to fly doctors in from elsewhere.

(via cyn-c)

(Abortion manual for the women of South Dakota via kottke.org.)

Feynman Problem Solving Algorithm

Since a certain someone who is obsessed with drawing everything on a board, even when it isn't needed decided to erase this from my white board, I'm posting this here, because I feel like it.

The Feynman Problem Solving Algorithm:

1. Write down the problem.
2. Think very hard.
3. Write down the answer.

None of these steps may be skipped, especially the first one. Which, BTW, is about the most common mistake I see around here -- often perpetrated by our mysterious white-board eraser.

Has The Boss lost his mind?!?

Per this press release:

Bruce Springsteen's album doesn't hit stores until April 25th but listeners have an exclusive opportunity to listen to the album in its entirety on-demand beginning today. Clear Channel Radio is the only place to catch a "Sneak Peek" of Bruce Springsteen's latest album, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. This online exclusive will be available on 390 Clear Channel Radio station Web sites!

Yes, you're reading that correctly. Bruce Springsteen (the blue collar hero and the working man's friend) has teamed up with 17 folk musicians to put out an album of Pete Seeger (counter-culture icon, blacklisted socialist, anti-war and environmental activist) songs. And it's being released (initially) only to Clear Channel Stations.

It seems clear that The Boss has lost his mind (to say nothing of his working man roots and, perhaps, credibility). I hereby move that we start a fundraising effort to get The Boss the help he so desperately needs.

Nothing

Sorry, no new content in like, a long time. Been busy, been stupid. I've got so many rants floating around my head, I really should just post them. jon

Memo To NBC, Re: Olympic Coverage.

1. We want to see it live. We don't care if it's at 3AM or noon. I don't want to see highlights of events that feature Americans at 7PM. I want to see everything, and I want it live. I know you don't have that many networks, but you are filming the events, so put them on Digital Cable/Dish/Internet. Sure, show (live) the popular sports on the common channels. And sure, at 7PM Eastern (1AM in Turin), show packaged bits about Americans.
2. I don't care about the hardship this athlete faced. If I want to know that, I'll look it up. As stated above, I want to see the competition, not 5-minute sappy-music-accompanied human interest fluff.

I'm sure I'll have more, I've only watched a few hours of the Olympics so far.

Technorati Tags: Outright Rant, Olympics

Security Problems with Controlled Access Systems

Schneier on Security: Security Problems with Controlled Access Systems

There was an interesting security tidbit in this article on last week's post office shooting:

The shooter's pass to access the facility had been expired, officials said, but she apparently used her knowledge of how security at the facility worked to gain entrance, following another vehicle in through the outer gate and getting other employees to open security doors.

This is a failure of both technology and procedure. The gate was configured to allow multiple vehicles to enter on only one person's authorization -- that's a technology failure. And people are programmed to be polite -- to hold the door for others.

SIDE NOTE: There is a common myth that workplace homicides are prevalent in the United States Postal Service. (Note the phrase "going postal.") But not counting this event, there has been less than one shooting fatality per year at Postal Service facilities over the last 20 years. As the USPS has more than 700,000 employees, this is a lower rate than the average workplace.

(Security Problems with Controlled Access Systems via Schneier on Security.)

Technorati Tags: Clipped, Security

Risks of Losing Portable Devices

Schneier on Security: Risks of Losing Portable Devices

Last July I blogged about the risks of storing ever-larger amounts of data in ever-smaller devices.

Last week I wrote my tenth Wired.com column on the topic:

The point is that it's now amazingly easy to lose an enormous amount of information. Twenty years ago, someone could break into my office and copy every customer file, every piece of correspondence, everything about my professional life. Today, all he has to do is steal my computer. Or my portable backup drive. Or my small stack of DVD backups. Furthermore, he could sneak into my office and copy all this data, and I'd never know it.

This problem isn't going away anytime soon.

There are two solutions that make sense. The first is to protect the data. Hard-disk encryption programs like PGP Disk allow you to encrypt individual files, folders or entire disk partitions. Several manufacturers market USB thumb drives with built-in encryption. Some PDA manufacturers are starting to add password protection -- not as good as encryption, but at least it's something -- to their devices, and there are some aftermarket PDA encryption programs.

The second solution is to remotely delete the data if the device is lost. This is still a new idea, but I believe it will gain traction in the corporate market. If you give an employee a BlackBerry for business use, you want to be able to wipe the device's memory if he loses it. And since the device is online all the time, it's a pretty easy feature to add.

But until these two solutions become ubiquitous, the best option is to pay attention and erase data. Delete old e-mails from your BlackBerry, SMSs from your cell phone and old data from your address books -- regularly. Find that call log and purge it once in a while. Don't store everything on your laptop, only the files you might actually need.

EDITED TO ADD (2/2): A Dutch army officer lost a memory stick with details of an Afgan mission.

(Risks of Losing Portable Devices via Schneier on Security.)

Technorati Tags: Clipped, Security

Dutch Biometric Passport Cracked

Schneier on Security: Dutch Biometric Passport Cracked

There's a good write-up from The Register.

Two points stand out. One, the RFID chip in the passport can be read from ten meters. Two, lots of predictability in the encryption key -- sloppy, sloppy -- makes the brute-force attack much easier.

But the references are from last summer. Why is this being reported now?

(Dutch Biometric Passport Cracked via Schneier on Security.)

Technorati Tags: Clipped, Biometric, Security

I don't know..

I often hear people say I don't know. I realize that not everybody knows everything, that's impossible. Therefore, like the proverbial stupid question, there' no shame in admitting that you don't know.

Or is there?

My good friend Tom pointed out to me today that there are two places in a sentence where I don't know can be placed, and it makes a big difference:

I don't know is totally acceptable in the first half of a sentence, but never at the end Here's a classic example:

I don't know, but I'll look into it is a fine answer, as would "I don't know yet, thanks for calling it to my attention.

Implied, of course, is that I don't know as the answer to a question, say:

Why are we getting errors?

I don't know.

As was given to me is not appropriate, at least, when the question is addressed to a person who should know the answer.

Technorati Tags: Outright Rant

How to Survive a Robot Uprising

Schneier on Security: How to Survive a Robot Uprising

It's Friday, so why not somthing a little silly?

This is a good start:

i'm reading about how to survive a robot uprising. i'm not gonna give away all the secrets, but i'll share a few...

• choose a complex environment. waterfalls, street traffic, and places with lots of ambient noise confuse the robots.
• lose your heat signature. smear yourself with mud and leaves and sit real still.
• use uncommon words to suss out robots on the phone. robots do not know how pronounce supercalifragilisticexpealidocious.
• find a blunt weapon. serrated edges won't work on robo exo-skeletons. nope.
• alter your stride. robots can judge gait and injury, even height and intention, by stride, so put some rocks in your shoes and mix things up a bit. doing some ministry of silly walks stuff goes even further towards confusing them.
• pretend that everything is normal. to forstall a mechanized killing spree, you must pretend that nothing is amiss.

Surely we can do better. Any other suggestions?

(How to Survive a Robot Uprising via Schneier on Security.)

Technorati Tags: Clipped, Silly

The Doghouse: Super Cipher P2P Messenger

Schneier on Security: The Doghouse: Super Cipher P2P Messenger

Super Cipher P2P Messenger uses "unbreakable Infinity bit Triple Layer Socket Encryption for completely secure communication."

Wow. That sure sounds secure.

(The Doghouse: Super Cipher P2P Messenger via Schneier on Security.)

Technorati Tags: Clipped, Silly