COME SLEEP WITH ME IN MY MILLENNIUM FALCON, BABY

ITEM [via Figure.fm]: For the swinging Star Wars fan: a bed shaped like the Millennium Falcon.





If it rotates, I’m getting one.

Princess Leia sold separately.

The fastest bed in the galaxy,

This is dF

THE PREDATOR CHANNEL®: WATCH THE SKIES™

Or, “More things yr being told to worry about that you probably shouldn’t”.

You may or may not have heard that insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan managed to hack into live unencrypted ROVER (Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver) video feeds from US Predator drones and, in fact, just about every warplane in the US fleet using a satellite dish and a $25 app they downloaded from the Interwub.

I was going to post it earlier, but the more I read the comments section on Danger Room, the more I started to wonder if this was really that a big deal, given how encryption works and how the insurgents are only gaining access to random video streams, not control of the aircraft.

Turns out it is, but not for the reason you think, according to Bruce Schneier:

During the Cold War, the NSA's primary adversary was Soviet intelligence, and it developed its crypto solutions accordingly. Even though that level of security makes no sense in Bosnia, and certainly not in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is what the NSA had to offer. If you encrypt, they said, you have to do it "right."

The problem is, the world has changed. Today's insurgent adversaries don't have KGB-level intelligence gathering or cryptanalytic capabilities. At the same time, computer and network data gathering has become much cheaper and easier, so they have technical capabilities the Soviets could only dream of. Defending against these sorts of adversaries doesn't require military-grade encryption only where it counts; it requires commercial-grade encryption everywhere possible.

In other words, “The real failure here is the failure of the Cold War security model to deal with today's threats.”

POSTSCRIPT: It’s interesting that Schneier is suddenly ubiquitous in the wake of the Mr Sizzly Pants Incident and subsequent TSA freakout rules. Well, ubiquitous in ther sense that he’s been on Rachel Maddow and CNN’s web site.

The irony is that he’s been saying this kind of stuff since Richard Reid tried out the shoe bomb idea. But it’s only now that the TSA is finally making air travel as uncomfortable as possible that anyone’s willing to listen to him. Except the TSA, sadly.

The sun always shines on TV,

This is dF

THE TSA: OUR RULES ARE NONE OF YR BUSINESS

ITEM [via dinopollard  and lorilori ]: Special agents from the TSA’s Office of Inspection interrogate two bloggers and serve them with a civil subpoena after they post a leaked copy of the TSA’s new rules to prevent another SizzlePants attack.

The TSA says the document was not intended for public viewing – even though it contains rules that the public has to follow in order to get on an airplane in or headed for the US.

In other words, they’re going after bloggers for publishing rules that they want us to follow but don’t want us to read online before we go to the airport.

It’s times like this I think Kurt Vonnegut was right: the TSA is secretly run by Andy Kaufman.

Meanwhile, to understand why the TSA is doing what it’s doing, here’s a handy chart to assess the risk of you being killed by a terrorist on an airplane.

( Back here, cos it's a big 'un )

So at least yr being inconvenienced for no good reason.

FUN FACT: Technically those odds have been in effect since well before 9/11. But we were all about Irrational Fear back then.

Slim chance,

This is dF

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EDITED TO ADD [1JAN10]: The TSA has dropped both subpoenas against the bloggers. Probably because all the other bloggers blogged about it. Stupid bloggers and their bloggery.

LISTEN TO MY LAST WORDS OF 2009

Go, Satan, GO!

"Doobie Brothers ~ What A fool Believes (1979)" (Watch on YouTube)

And so much for 2009, and the 00s in general. I don’t really have much to add to all of the year-end/decade-end wrap-ups and summaries you’ve been seeing and have yet to see. But on the whole, I think we can agree that on the whole, the 00s sucked.

Unless yr a neo-con. In which case the 00s were the best time you’ve had since the 80s – at least up until November 2008, but let’s admit it, even that’s worked out pretty well for the conservatives so far.

( And then he jabbers about the Batshit Reality Schism Decade, blah blah blah ... )

But never mind. I have the usual tools at my disposal to see me through: my iPod, my books, my laptop, my Internet connection, and all of you. Thanks for putting up with me this long, and see you after the ball drops.

Drinking irresponsibly,

This is dF