Cisco has prepared a draft of “lawful interception” capability, to be offered as an option on “any product that a service provider is likely to purchase[.]” I’m given to understand that their Catalyst products already supply monitoring capability, but for all I know that’s an ad-hoc capability that’s been hacked together by service providers. To my mild surprise, I buy the argument that if Cisco doesn’t supply the capability, somebody else will, and it might end up casting a wider net. It just underscores that if you care about the privacy of your data, don’t send it in the clear across the wire. And if what you’re doing is likely to attract the attention of anybody serious, don’t send anything across any wires (or over the air) at all. Or at least no wires or air that can be traced to you.

Here’s a more detailed idea of the Sampo, from Rune X of the Kalevala:

On the third night Ilmarinen,

Bending low to view his metals,

On the bottom of the furnace,

Sees the magic Sampo rising,

Sees the lid in many colors.

Quick the artist of Wainola

Forges with the tongs and anvil,

Knocking with a heavy hammer,

Forges skilfully the Sampo;

On one side the flour is grinding,

On another salt is making,

On a third is money forging,

And the lid is many-colored.

Well the Sampo grinds when finished,

To and fro the lid in rocking,

Grinds one measure at the day-break,

Grinds a measure fit for eating,

Grinds a second for the market,

Grinds a third one for the store-house.

A co-worker just forwarded me this article about a machine that will turn just about anything into oil and other useful products. It’s like a cross between a Sampo and a Mr. Fusion. It sounds unbelievably promising.
Update: the article above now requires payment to read, but Discover magazine published an update in July 2004 that (as of January 2005) is free to read.

My favorite surplus catalogs are also online: American Science and Surplus and IMEX.

Instead of research on Peeps, Peeps do research.

Yahoo was all hacked this morning, so when you looked for the main US page, up came a page for a web security company. Unless it was a joke (hard to figure out when these things are, since I apparently have a very different sense of humor than your run-of-the-mill script kiddie or hackin’ geezer), why would this be a good way to promote your company? Sure, you get a lot of eyes on your page, but you also are immediately associated with the very jerks you’re looking to protect people from.

I’m sure this avian flu thing will burn itself out without jumping the species barrier (oops, too late) and killing us all. No need to panic.

My first thought on seeing this story about a suspicious powder (later determined not to be BoTox or plague) shutting down a Tacoma postal processing facility: “Shit, that better not slow down my Netflix shipments.”

This is Adbuster’s TV Turnoff Week (no, I won’t link to them, find it yourself). I, as you might suspect, disapprove of TV Turnoff Week. I think that most people have the needed critical faculties to know that TV is pretend and have the digits needed to turn almost any appliance on and off at will. Forced Perspective now challenges you to watch a program that you wouldn’t normally watch and rent a stack of movies you’ve been meaning to see.

And if we start taking lifestyle direction from people in British Columbia, we will all be dead from sunblock poisoning and stupid car accidents within a month.

Have you ever wanted to be a hardy Canadian explorer/fur trader or just look like one? Me neither. But just in case…