Posts from — February 2016

Apple backed by judge in new iPhone access fight:

A judge in the United States has ruled that Apple cannot be forced to give the FBI access to a locked iPhone in a case that echoes an ongoing legal battle.

The judge in Brooklyn denied a motion by the US Justice Department to get Apple to unlock a phone in a drug case.

In an unrelated case, the FBI wants Apple to unlock the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California in December.

In the California case the FBI said this was a unique request because it was “TERRORISM!”, but the FBI wants to establish a precedent to force Apple do this everywhere for any reason.

Instead of baking a cake, they made a Pi – Raspberry Pi 3.

The official Raspberry Pi blog reports that the latest iteration of the credit card-sized computer, the 3 model B, has:

• A 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU (~10x the performance of Raspberry Pi 1)
• Integrated 802.11n wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.1
• Complete compatibility with Raspberry Pi 1 and 2

All of the other specs are the same as the RP2, as is the price.

The original Raspberry Pi was introduced on February 29, 2012, so this is either Pi’s first or fourth birthday…

On the heels of the endorcements of Christie and Maine Governor Paul LePage, the KKK has endorsed Trump, and Trump is passing along quote from Benito Mussolini. You can see why the media says that even if The Donald loses to Cruz in Texas it will still be a win … 😈

Clinton won in South Carolina as expected. The real test will be Super Tuesday which will show if Bernie can draw new people to the voting booth.

UPDATE: Donald Trump blames ‘bad earpiece’ for not disavowing support of former KKK leader David Duke. I assume they checked to ensure he didn’t say “hairpiece” vice “earpiece”, but wouldn’t “mouthpiece” have made more sense?

So while the Syrian conflict temporary truce comes into effect it is
Day one of the Republican civil war. Christie endorses Trump so he has a platform to bad mouth Marco Rubio. Christie blames ads run by a Rubio super PAC for knocking him out of contention in New Hampshire.

The CBC reports that Kevin O’Leary vows to be a ‘nightmare for politicians’ on economic policy. Kevin O’Leary is a Canadian millionaire realty TV star. While there is no known connection to the Zika virus, the problem is apparently contagious. Maybe Canada should have built a wall on its southern border to prevent this sort of thing.

It would appear that the IRS has been hacked … again. Perhaps if the government spent a bit more time and energy securing their own systems, and a good deal less spying on ours, we would all be better off.

Note: That Was The Week That Was (TW³) was a satirical news show on TV in the 1960s. Created and shown on the BBC, and then the concept was imported to the US.

I enjoy looking at US issues as reported in foreign media because it verifies my opinion that a lot of what occurs in this country is divorced from reality. I not talking about the minor issues of the GOP Congressional leadership refusing to accept that American voters have twice elected Obama as President, that just politics and racism.

This conflict between the FBI and Apple is absurd. The FBI and the Court are demanding that a corporation violate US law that prohibits hacking into other people’s devises. Apple doesn’t own the phone involved, they manufactured it. More than a decade after 9/11 the government should have hired people to break into Smartphones.

Kryten left a link to an Australian’s opinion of this mess which is short and to the point – the death and injuries weren’t caused by an iPhone.

The CBC provides a source for information about this and some the talking points: this isn’t about one phone as the FBI claims; this warrant was issued publicly, rather than being sealed, to pressure Apple.

If the government needs this capability, the government should develop this capability. The government is ordering Apple to do something no one knows for sure can be done.

So, I have been dealing with Tornado warnings and watches, Severe thunderstorm warnings, Flash flood warnings, Coastal Flood advisory, High wind advisory, High surf advisory, Rip tide advisory – in other words: Tuesday. There have been minor interruptions of the utilities, but I have been avoiding anything with a direct wired connection because of my low level of trust in the ability of any of the utilities to actually install a decent ground.

In Nevada they are playing the GOP version of the caucus game which will probably be won by Trump. Now, everyone but Trump and Republican primary voters have decided that it isn’t possible for Trump to win the Republican nomination for President, even though he is obviously well on his way to doing just that. So when I hear or read people claiming that Bernie Sanders can’t beat Trump in the election, I realize that I was correct to back him.

There will be over 20 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the Presidential election, and they won’t be voting for a Democrat, they will be voting against Donald Trump and his stupid wall. Bernie is bringing out new, young voters, and GOTV is the winning strategy in any election.

Whether they call themselves Conservatives [Canada & UK], Republicans [US], or Liberals [Australia] they all try to lower taxes on the 1% by raising taxes on everyone else.

The Australian version of an IRA [Individual Retirement Account] is the “superannuation fund”. Apparently 33% of the return from these accounts is currently exempt from capital gains taxes. The ruling conservative coalition want to cut income taxes, so they are looking at reducing the exemption to 15%.

It doesn’t make any difference how well you plan, if you can’t put aside a couple of million dollars after buying a few legislators, you will struggle in retirement.

Trump took South Carolina, followed by Rubio and Cruz, which caused John Ellis to quit. The Republican ‘establishment’ is stuck with Rubio… 😈

Hillary took the Nevada caucuses by 5% over Bernie, which is better than losing, but she just can’t convince voters under 45 to vote for her, not even women.

The announcers at the Westminster Dog Show need to learn how to pronounce Samoyed. The name of the white Russian herding and sleddog is not pronounced “Sammy Ed”, it is “Sam oy ed” with the middle syllable rhyming with toy and stress on the first syllable. In Russian it means ‘self-propelled or automobile’. They choose a German short-haired pointer as the best of show. They are a nice dog, better if you aren’t one of the jerks who lops off half of their tail.

FYI: Great Danes have no connection to Denmark, and French Poodles have no connection to France. Both were developed in Germany.

Gaetan Pierrard is the final team on the trail. Wearing bib number 7 and carrying la Lanterne Rouge at 6AM CST he still has 35 miles to go until the finish at Takhini Hot Spring. While the shift to the Spring shortened the course, instead of a flat run on the river down to Whitehorse, teams are having to navigate hills at the end. The moon has been waxing and is nearly full.and the Northern Lights have been active, so hasn’t been pitch black, but after two weeks on the trail you will start to see things that aren’t there and miss things that are. His last indicated speed was 7mph.

As he had planned with a friend, Gaetan arrived at the finish around 11AM CDT (9AM PST) ending the race. 19 out of 23 teams and 179 of 322 puppies that started finished. Hugh finished in 9 days, 1 hour, and 25 minutes, and it took Gaetan 12 days, 19 hours, and 51 minutes.

Gaetan Pierrard and the Red Lantern are about 100 miles from the finish. Tore and Rob should be done before noon, and Gaetan will be in Braeburn for the 8-hour about the same time.

Rob has slowed and is still 20 miles from the finish at Noon CST, while Gaetan is resting at Braeburn until 8PM CST.

Update:When Sébastien Dos Santos Borges scratched at Carmacks yesterday, the reason given was “personal”. It was for the saddest of reasons – one of his puppies passed away. This is fortunately a rare event, and the majority of mushers scratch as a result. The dog was taken to Whitehorse for an examination to determine cause of death.

The preliminary results of the investigation of Polar’s death indicate an acute gastric (stomach) hemorrhage, not uncommon among many large breeds that gulp rather than chew. Other than the hemorrhage the dog was in good condition with no indication of mistreatment.

Gaetan and the Red Lantern are on the trail to Takhini Hot Spring. The team should finish early tomorrow morning.

The Current Standings at 8:10PM CST (6:10PM PST):

Finished At Takhini Hot Spring
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Yuka Honda (6)
10 Mike Ellis (2)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Luc Tweddell (21)
13 Laura Neese (1)^R
14 Paige Drobny (5)
15 Cody Strathe (14)
16 Andrew Pace (18)^R
17 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
18 Rob Cooke (20)
Beyond Braeburn
19 Gaetan Pierrard (7)^RΦ
[Read more →]

Some people will try anything. In John Ellis Bush’s case he thinks that having his name scratched on the barrel of a gun represents America. Strange really…

The public officials don’t understand operatining systems: Apple order: White House says San Bernardino request is limited.

No, it isn’t limited. If Apple creates a new version of IOS that allows unlimited attempts to break the entry code, law enforcement would have a backdoor into all Apple devices. Once that version was out, no Apple device would be safe or secure. The government’s ability to protect sensitive software has been shown to be nonexistent.

The first five finishers completed the race in under 10 days, after you subtract the mandatory rest periods. Luc Tweddell left Braeburn with the absolute minimum team of 6 dogs, and Seth Barnes finished with 7 puppies still pulling. The trail may have been fast, but it was hard on puppies and equipment.

Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (23) scratched at Carmacks. He was in 19th position with 9 puppies in harness.

The Current Standings at 8:00PM CST (6:00PM PST):

Finished At Takhini Hot Spring
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Yuka Honda (6)
10 Mike Ellis (2)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Luc Tweddell (21)
Beyond Braeburn
13 Laura Neese (1)^R
At Braeburn
14 Cody Strathe (14)
15 Paige Drobny (5)
16 Andrew Pace (18)^R
17 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
18 Rob Cooke (20)
At Carmacks
19 Gaetan Pierrard (7)^RΦ
[Read more →]

Matt Hall finished in downtown Whitehorse, but from Ed Hopkins on the teams will finish at Takhini Hot Springs to avoid the changing river conditions caused by recent warm weather in Whitehorse.

The Current Standings at 10:30PM CST ( 8:30PM PST):

Finished At Whitehorse
1 Hugh Neff (22)
2 Brent Sass (9)
3 Allen Moore (4)
4 Matt Hall (15)
Finished At Takhini Hot Spring
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
Beyond Braeburn
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Yuka Honda (6)
10 Mike Ellis (2)
At Braeburn
11 Dave Dalton (8)
Beyond Carmacks
12 Luc Tweddell (21)
13 Laura Neese (1)^R
14 Cody Strathe (14)
15 Paige Drobny (5)
16 Andrew Pace (18)^R
Beyond Pelly Crossing
17 Rob Cooke (20)
18 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
19 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (23)^R
At Pelly Crossing
20 Gaetan Pierrard (7)^RΦ
[Read more →]

Hugh has about a three-hour lead for the last 90 miles into Whitehorse, which is not comfortable with Brent and Allen behind you having completed a solid rest.

The Winners are: the nine puppies pulling Hugh Neff from Fairbanks. Brent cut Hugh’s lead in half, but couldn’t make up the last hour and a half. Allen will be in at about 7:30PM CDT.

The Current Standings at 9:00PM CST ( 7:00PM PST):

Finished At Whitehorse
1 Hugh Neff (22)
2 Brent Sass (9)
3 Allen Moore (4)
Beyond Braeburn
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
At Braeburn
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
Beyond Carmacks
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
At Carmacks
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Luc Tweddell (21)
At Pelly Crossing
13 Laura Neese (1)^R
Beyond Dawson
14 Andrew Pace (18)^R
15 Cody Strathe (14)
16 Paige Drobny (5)
17 Rob Cooke (20)
18 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
19 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (23)^R
20 Gaetan Pierrard (7)^RΦ
[Read more →]