05 Oct 2006
Photos: Life imitates Star Trek

Well worth a gander: beam me up, Scotty!

The devices used by Capt. Kirk and his crew seemed so futuristic at one time. But reality has caught up to fiction.

(link) [CNET News.com]

12:14 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Secondhand smoke in cars may lead to dangerous levels of contaminants for children

As my Air Force sergeants used to say, "Smoke'em if you got'em!" - because you won't be able to much longer. Prediction: in 10 years it will be considered child abuse to smoke anywhere children are present, be it in your private car or in Yosemite National Park.

Were I so inclined, I could probably raise some issues with the science here, but that's not my point. Note the rationale the researchers used to counter the "privacy concerns" raised by opponents:

Although concerns have been raised about government intrusion on personal privacy, supporters of smoking bans note that SHS is dangerous to children's health and that the use of safety devices such as seat belts and infant car seats are already widely legislated.

If this doesn't perfectly illustrate the dread "slippery slope", I don't know what does. We already have padded playgrounds and trees being cut down for safety's sake: what's next?

We're well on the way to perfect safety: and perfect tyranny.

In the first study to measure secondhand smoke (SHS) in cars in real driving conditions, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers have shown that smoking in cars can produce unsafe levels of SHS.

(link) [EurekAlert! - Breaking News]

12:13 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Why Everyone Must Be Screened

It never ceases to amaze me when folks get outraged over an 80 year old granny being searched at an airport. How useless!

Uh, no, it's not useless at all, and in fact is a cornerstone of any rational security program.

Age, race and gender profiling won't work to combat Muslim terrorists, because the last time I checked, being Muslim wasn't conditioned on your age, race or gender. if we cease searching 80 year old grannies, you can expect the next attack to be carried out by, er, 80 year old Muslim terrorist grannies.

Security is a system, as Mr. Schneier points out, and if we're going to institute a system, we have to do it systematically. I dislike airport security as much as the next guy, but rationally, it's being implemented at least as correctly as the Federal government is capable of implementing anything.

Isn't it logical and more efficient to allow people carrying U.S. government security clearances to bypass airport screening? You might think so, but you'd be wrong. Commentary by Bruce Schneier.

(link) [Wired News: Top Stories]

06:46 /Technology | 2 comments | permanent link