Over the past few years, the United States government has spent tens of billions of dollars on cyberoffensive abilities, building a giant war room at Fort Meade, Md., for United States Cyber Command, while installing defensive sensors all around the country — a system named Einstein to give it an air of genius — to deter the nation’s enemies from picking its networks clean, again.
Einstein missed it — because the Russian hackers brilliantly designed their attack to avoid setting it off. The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security were looking elsewhere, understandably focused on protecting the 2020 election.
NY Times
Once again, while the US Government is playing checkers, our adversaries are playing chess when it comes to cyber-security. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that even as the US Government has spent billions to set up their ironically named “Einstein” cyber-security system, it wasn’t that system that detected the hack. It was a private company – the US Government vendor FireEye – that actually detected it and alerted US authorities.
Opinion: “Trump snuffed out my confidence, flickering but real, that we could go only so low and forgive only so much. With him we went lower — or at least a damningly large percentage of us did. In him we forgave florid cruelty, overt racism, rampant corruption, exultant indecency, the coddling of murderous despots, the alienation of true friends, the alienation of truth itself, the disparagement of invaluable institutions, the degradation of essential democratic traditions.
He played Russian roulette with Americans’ lives. He played Russian roulette with his own aides’ lives. In a sane and civil country, of the kind I long thought I lived in, his favorability ratings would have fallen to negative integers, a mathematical impossibility but a moral imperative. In this one, they never changed all that much.
Polls from mid-October showed that about 44 percent of voters approved of Trump’s job performance — and this was after he’d concealed aspects of his coronavirus infection from the public, shrugged off the larger meaning of it, established the White House as its own superspreader environment and cavalierly marched on.
Most people familiar with the artist Banksy. He (or she. I will use ‘he/his’ moving forward) is known for not being known. And he is also known for his distinctive modern art that ‘pops up’ in unique spots all around the world. With the nature of Banksy’s art being so public and displayed in such public spaces, it is really interesting how he (or she) goes about distributing ‘Certificates of Authenticity’ to verify that the person who possess his art acquired it legitimately.
Banksy has established a virtual portal to authenticate whether specific works of his are both genuine and genuinely obtained — and, as the guy trying to get a painting valued admits, he’d visited the site and been told that the painting could not be validated because it was not obtained legally.
Dubbed Pest Control, the service offers an easy-to-use interface to determine a particular work’s validity. Elsewhere on Pest Control’s site, they offer a more extensive explanation of what they do — namely, issue certificates of authenticity.
As for what that means, well — here’s what Pest Control themselves have to say: “The certificate of authenticity (COA) means you can buy, sell or insure a piece of art knowing it’s legitimate and the wheels won’t fall off,” they write. “Pest Control is the only source of COA’s for Banksy. We issue them for paintings, prints, sculptures and other attempts at creativity. We don’t issue them for things like stickers, posters, defaced currency or anything which wasn’t originally intended as a ‘work of art’.”
Pest Control also offers a “Keeping It Real” service, which lets prospective buyers of a work by Banksy confirm that the work is, in fact, legitimate.
This situation came into full relief recently as someone who had ‘acquired’ an Banksy in Brighton UK had brought the piece onto Antiques Roadshow to get it appraised, only to be taken to the woodshed by the host, who chastised the person for not providing the ‘Certificate of Authenticity’.
I am a fan of Banksy’s work because of the way his art communicates a clear, many times withering, message about a topic, movement or circumstance that people need to pay attention to. What brings this home is not only the art itself, but the surface in which the art is painted and/or the environment surrounding the art. One of my favorite pieces that he has done was a mural on the corner of a garage in Port Talbot, Wales, UK. On one wall of the corner, it depicts a child in winter clothes with his arms outstretch and mouth open, seeming to be catching snowflakes with his tongue. If you look on the wall on the other side of the corner, you see that it is a burning garbage bin that is producing the flakes. The message he was sending had to do with the fact that Port Talbot is the home of one of the largest steel mills in the UK that produces immense pollution in and around that area. The accompanying video that he published on his Instagram account really brings the message home.
But what Banksy Does New York makes plain is that the artist known as Banksy is someone with a background in the art world. That someone is working with a committee of people to execute works that range in scale from simple stencil graffiti to elaborate theatrical conceits. The documentary shows that Banksy has a different understanding of the street than the artists, street-writers, and art dealers who steal Banksy’s shine by “spot-jocking” or straight-up pilfering her work—swagger-jackers who are invariably men in Banksy Does New York. All of which serves as evidence against the flimsy theory that Banksy is a man.
With so many still under some form of quarantine as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to ‘virtually’ escape and go ‘visit’ other places around the world is obviously in demand.
In late June, a site called Window Swap was making the rounds. It is a site that has the simple premise of being able to share a photo or video of what the world looks like while looking out the window of your home. For example, how about having this view of the Egyptian Pyramids outside of your window. I’d never stop looking away.
Keeping with this trend, another neat site that takes this premise to the next level is Drive & Listen. What this site does is let you watch dashcam video from people driving in and around all sorts of great cities of the world, and ‘overlays’ it with radio broadcasts from that market. So for example, you can watch a video of someone driving around Rome, Italy during any normal day while listening to Italian radio. There is even a Drive & Listen Instagram account as well.
A ho hum day driving around Rome, Italy
For someone who loves to travel and is kinda frustrated to have to be at home for so long as our country deals with this pandemic, being able to see the nuances of many of the world’s great cities from my desktop computer is a pretty neat trick.
From photographer Bas Uterwijk, some pretty authentic looking A.I. generated images of a few historical figures as if they were to pose for a modern portrait photo. To me, the two below of George Washington and Vincent Van Gogh are pretty stunning versions – especially George Washington’s eyes and the almost tired look of his face. You just feel like he’s going to command the room and not put up with any ‘red coat’ bs.
RT @SethAbramson: 575 pages. 5,000 citations. Major reveals on COVID-19, the election, the protests, China, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Israel… 2020-06-18
RT @HamillHimself: The cast & crew first learned of it when they saw the finished film. When we shot it, Vader's line was "You don't know t… 2020-06-02
RT @RBReich: More than 100,000 Americans dead, the highest unemployment since the Depression, America in flames, the National Guard deploye… 2020-05-31
RT @KevinOConnorNBA: Donald Trump really just had the police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at peaceful protestors in Washington D.C. to… 2020-06-01
RT @danpfeiffer: Newspaper editors have a choice: They don't have to use the photo that President used tear gas on his citizens to generate. 2020-06-01
From Ethan Marcotte, the ‘inventor’ and person who established the concept of ‘responsive architecture’, on the process of how his epiphany came to be:
Around that time, my partner Elizabeth visited the High Line in New York City shortly after it opened. When she got back, she told me about these wheeled lounge chairs she saw in one section, and how people would move them apart for a bit of solitude, or push a few chairs together to sit closer to friends. We got to excitedly chatting about them. I thought there was something really compelling about that image: a space that could be controlled, reshaped, and redesigned by the people who moved through it.
I remember spending that evening reading more about those chairs and, from there, about more dynamic forms of architecture. I read about concepts for walls built with tensile materials and embedded sensors, and how those walls could bend and flex as people drew near to them. I read about glass walls that could become opaque at the flip of a switch, or when movement was detected. I even bought a rather wonderful book on the subject, Interactive Architecture, which described these new spaces as “a conversation” between physical objects or spaces, and the people who interacted with them.
After a few days of research, I found some articles that alternated between two different terms for the same concept. They’d call it interactive architecture, sure, but then they’d refer to it with a different name: responsive architecture.
A light went off in my head. Responsive felt right for what I was trying to describe: layouts that would just know the best way to fit on a user’s screen. A user wouldn’t have to tap or click on anything to get the best design for their laptop or smartphone; rather, the design could fluidly adapt to the space available. It’d just respond.
And to think that before this, the collective ‘we’ had to look at web pages that were the same size and did not adjust to the different screens or devices that were beginning to pop up out there in the wild. Like the animals we were.
RT @davepell: The day they let us out, let’s start fighting climate change. Working together to save our lives seems like a good habit to k… 2020-04-11
RT @JohnCleese: I wish you all a happy and healthy Easter, but I urge you beware the Easter Bunny. It’s not just a harmless little wee bunn… 2020-04-12
Point. Counterpoint.’60 Minutes’ Responds Perfectly To White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro’s Challenge Tow… https://t.co/HUIiq3Ik092020-04-13
RT @markberman: “The notion that Mr Trump would be the one to decide about reopening struck governors as rich given that he never ordered t… 2020-04-13
RT @Liz_Cheney: The federal government does not have absolute power.“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,… 2020-04-13
RT @maggieNYT: As the president’s conservative base gets uncomfortable at thought of another stimulus bill, his repeated refrains that he a… 2020-04-13
RT @johnbattelle: Announcing that he’s thinking about this, in the morning and then announcing he’s decided against it in the afternoon. Th… 2020-03-28
File this under “content you didn’t realize you needed”.
For some reason, I have taken my hobby of creating computer desktop wallpapers to both the next level and to the depths of London town, as I have created desktop wallpapers representing each and every station in the London Underground system. They are done in two “flavors” – one that has the Tube stop logo overlaid on top of a map of the whole system. The other has the Tube stop logo with a ‘subway tile’ background.
Why did I do this? I’m still trying to figure that out. I guess it is just a romanticism with the city of London, and it’s eponymous Tubes system. I love the simplicity of their branding and logo system. I love the complexity of their subway map, underlying the utter chaos that is the street system of London itself. I love the small, unique neighborhoods of London as much as I like the grand spaces like Piccadilly and Hyde Park.
So if you’ve ever spent time in London, and you had/have a Tube stop that you can call your own, head on over to my London Underground page, find your station, and download it and decorate your computer or your iPad or your iPhone.
RT @jeffjarvis: Happy St. Patrick's day. Stay the fuck home and get drunk there if you must. If you want to get drunk with friends, do it o… 2020-03-17
RT @BleacherReport: Breaking: Tom Brady announces he will leave the Patriots via his Instagram
“I don’t know what my football future holds… 2020-03-17
RT @darrenrovell: JUST IN: The @NBA has given the masses a lot more to watch, as League Pass is now FREE. In absence of live games, fans ha… 2020-03-18
RT @kumailn: Please don’t take the bait on the obviously coordinated efforts to shift the blame for the virus to its country of origin. Don… 2020-03-18
RT @RobertFaturechi: NEW: After assuring the public about the government's coronavirus preparedness, Senate Intel chair Richard Burr, in on… 2020-03-19
RT @MarcSDuffy: I’ve been trying to steer clear of posting photos of empty shelves but I’ve just been into my local Sainsbury’s for the bas… 2020-03-20
RT @jdawsey1: Intel reports from January and February — along with aides — warned about a pandemic. On the warnings Trump received about wh… 2020-03-20
RT @SethAbramson: MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Intelligence Tried to Warn Trump About Coronavirus—and He Ignored Them
“I think that there's no doubt about the seriousness of the problem we've got… 2020-03-22
RT @danpfeiffer: Right now, Republicans are delaying needed checks to the American people because they want a corporate slush fund for Trum… 2020-03-22
RT @BarackObama: Ten years ago today, I signed the Affordable Care Act into law. It protected preexisting conditions, cut the uninsured rat… 2020-03-23
Talk less
Stop lying
Get tested
Don’t tweet
Elevate science
Fire Stephen Miller
Prepare for priva… 2020-03-12
RT @gtconway3d: .@realDonaldTrump actually can’t help that he’s intellectually, psychologically, and morally unfit for any public office. B… 2020-03-13
Took a drive down to Asbury Park today with the family and strolled down the boardwalk. Crowds seemed normal. Don't… https://t.co/kZfY52gJIP2020-03-14
RT @RBReich: When McConnell and Senate Republicans were trying to pass tax cuts for the rich, they worked through the night, bent the rules… 2020-03-14
RT @LouPas: I’ve been expecting this for sometime. Ken is intensely driven by his values, his morality, his ethics. I imagine his tenure at… 2020-03-14
RT @SethAbramson: You can't imagine how much good you'll be doing for public awareness of the danger of the coronavirus outbreak if you sim… 2020-03-15
RT @JayBilas: It was supposed to be Selection Sunday, but more important concerns intervened. Let’s all do our best to be responsible, kind… 2020-03-15
RT @SethAbramson: BREAKING NEWS: Trump May Use Cover of Coronavirus Pandemic to Pardon His Co-conspirator in the Saudi Nuclear Deal and Pre… 2020-03-15
RT @idriselba: This morning I tested positive for Covid 19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out a… 2020-03-16
Another amazing restoration of a vintage movie – this time from 1911 – depicting life in and around NYC – using modern computing neural networking capabilities. Many of the scenes in this video could be from today, if not for everyone wearing suits, white straw hats and bowlers. What is most amazing to me is how you can instantly recognize certain street intersections (beyond the obvious Flatiron Building/23rd Street/5th Avenue one). Worth a watch.
RT @BarackObama: Even if the methods are new, sowing the seeds of doubt, division, and discord to turn Americans against each other is an o… 2020-02-11
RT @tburages: Thirty hours ago news breaks that all four prosecutors in the Roger Stone case suddenly quit because Bill Barr interfered to… 2020-02-13
RT @SenSchumer: We are witnessing a crisis in the rule of law in America, unlike we have ever seen before.
