It's complicated

On the subject of organ donation

Tue, 13 May 2008 07:57:12 GMT

In response to this New Yorker page on the drug war, one of my good friends made a statement: "Organ donation should be an opt-out system."

Thoughts?

Boing Boing TV: Cold Boot Attacks

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:50:54 GMT

Bill and I are in the latest Boing Boing TV: BBtv "Hacker HOWTO": Cold Boot Encryption Attack.

6,666,666,666

Sat, 10 May 2008 03:41:28 GMT

According to the US Census population clock, we've hit a remarkable number:

A good friend traveling to the UK

Sun, 04 May 2008 22:04:44 GMT

One of my best friends that I've known for my entire life is traveling to the UK for the first time. He's perhaps a little worried about not knowing anyone. I'd like to help introduce him to some friends and perhaps even some strangers. He's a really stylish graphic designer, he's a wildly brilliant artist, a solid human on every front and humorous at the right times.

He'll be in London around the 24th of May and he's planning to travel to Scotland sometime during his trip. I believe he'll fly out of London on the 8th of June to return to California.

If anyone reading this has an interest in meeting a great guy, I'd really appreciate it. I'm certain he would too. Drop a note here and I'll give you proper introductions...

2piR at Maker Faire

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:18:44 GMT

I'm sitting on top of the sensor board for 2piR at the Maker Faire in San Mateo. I just finished putting the final touches on the Debian machine that controls everything. We're in the process of hooking up the ignition system and the sensors to the controller board. Soon we'll do a leak test and then we'll burn some fuel off!

If you're in the San Francisco bay area this weekend, I highly suggest you come down to the Maker Faire on Saturday evening (find us in the fire area of the map) to play with our interactive fire project!

On feeling free from a burden

Fri, 02 May 2008 07:34:45 GMT

Sometimes there are moments so great that it can only be accurately described with a euphemism from another century.

"It's the bee's knees"
"The cat's whiskers"
"The cat's pajamas"
"The eel's ankle"
"The elephant's instep"
"The snake's hip"

Japan and learning Japanese

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:12:57 GMT

I've decided that this is the year that I will go to Japan. This is a big deal for me. I've wanted to do this for a very very long time. I have lots of things in my head and I'm sure I won't be able to accomplish all of them.

I will visit with some of my friends who live in Japan. I'm going to see about staying long enough to study Aikido at the first Aikido dojo. I want to try to meet and possibly photograph my very favorite Japanese artists. I also want to start studying Japanese in both written and verbal form far before I even land.

This is the obligatory post stating that this has begun.

If you have advice about Japan, Japanese culture, learning to read and write Japanese (such as things that are useful, schools you'd suggest, etc) or anything Japan or Asian culture related (even specific history books) - Please let me know!

Whistler

Thu, 01 May 2008 20:01:41 GMT

Jen and Souls overlooking German hills

Thu, 01 May 2008 20:01:09 GMT

Theo from OpenBSD

Thu, 01 May 2008 18:50:39 GMT

Audrey and Nancy in Vienna

Thu, 01 May 2008 18:49:49 GMT

Leaving Kink

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:55:44 GMT

I gave notice today at Kink. I have two weeks left and hopefully I'll be able to hire someone to replace me.

I have a lot to say about why I left, where I'm going, what I'm doing with my time, about the experiences I've had here and how I feel about leaving.

I imagine that they'll replace me, if anyone is looking for a Senior Unix Administrator position with a focus on security, drop me a line.

ToorCon Seattle

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:33:48 GMT

I'm kinda sick and at ToorCon Seattle. I love the weather here. ToorCon is great.

Abortion as art

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:25:48 GMT

I'm guessing this art process and project will upset nearly everyone.

Home again and off to Seattle

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:20:24 GMT

Yesterday was rough. Somehow it took in excess of 25 hours to return to my house after leaving Graz. Ugh. I am quite jetlagged. As a result, I am flying to Seattle on Friday evening to speak at ToorCon and returning to the bay area on Sunday night:

Depart Apr 17 Thu Nonstop OAK-SEA 979 Depart Oakland (OAK) at 4:25 PM
Arrive in Seattle (SEA) at 6:20 PM
Return Apr 20 Sun Nonstop SEA-OAK 436 Depart Seattle (SEA) at 9:50 PM
Arrive in Oakland (OAK) at 11:50 PM

Neubauten in Graz and a short trip by train, airplane and car home

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:13:18 GMT

I went to the Neubauten concert with Audrey, Anika, Annika, Johannes and a few of Annika's friends. It was really quite low tempo, relaxing and beautiful. We were in the front row and it was picture perfect. The last time I saw Neubaten play they were selling CDs of the live concert and this time was the same. I think the CD is going to be pretty wonderful. I also managed to have an off by one error with my clean clothing. So I bought a shirt too.

Seeing Neubatuen was a nice end to my trip to Europe, holding Audrey five feet from Blixa singing was pretty dreamy. While I'm sad that I was unable to extend my stay, I really enjoyed improving my German and I look forward to working on it more when Audrey returns. She's going to be even better by the time that we see each other again. I was also quite happy to see everyone in Vienna, Prague and Graz. It was great to see Daniel and Anika with their first baby. It was also awesome to visit the Metalab and to spend time doing laser graffiti with Michi. Soon some of monochrom will come to San Francisco and we'll get to spend more time together. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again so soon.

In just four hours I must wake up (though it's unlikely that I will sleep) and head to the train station in Graz. I'll take the train to the Südbahnhof in Wien and switch trains for another station. Hopefully Michael will meet me with a few cases of Club Mate and I'll be able to check it into my luggage at the CAT station. I think if I don't drink a Mate, I will be very silly by the time I get to the airport.

In the next few weeks, I think good things will happen. Big changes are coming in my life and I hope they're as good as I believe them to be. I'm going to miss Audrey but I'm certain that things will be even more wonderful when we see each other next.

Best. Shirt. Ever.

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:52:33 GMT

I think this t-shirt is pretty much the best play on Lennon ever made:

eStalking++

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:56:14 GMT

I've started using Dopplr. Who's using it?

Prague

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:29:14 GMT

Prague was wonderful and relaxing. We had a really enjoyable time walking around the old town and the river banks. The entire city is filled with cheap Vegan food and great art. I really love all of the old occult markings across the city. Too many churches but that's Europe I suppose... The weather was at first a little rainy and then on the last day, it was warm like early summertime. It was nice to see some old friends that still live in the Czech republic, I took a bunch of photos of Brian and of Audrey as well.

Yesterday we took a trip to the Sedlec Ossuary. I've been before but Audrey hadn't, she was taking photos with stitched film. We decided to go back to Vienna on the latest train of the evening. I think that I will never take a train that switches at the Czech and Austrian border again. At least not with a 30 minute wait at 04:10 in the morning. It was cold and hilariously silly. The entire train station is an affront to my love of German trainstations. Nothing open, only small covers over the direct platforms. The platforms aren't near each other. Cold and windy. Police but without the ability to do anything beyond stand on the most far off platform possible. Everyone was confused.

Delirious and tired, Audrey and I returned to Vienna. Huzzah.

Prague

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:45:31 GMT

Audrey and I are going to Prague. I think we'll be back in Vienna before the weekend is over.

USENIX Security submission accepted!

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:29:20 GMT

As Program Chair of USENIX Security 2008, it is my pleasure to inform
you that your submission, identified at the end of this email, has
been accepted for inclusion in the symposium, to be held July 28 -
August 1 in San Jose, California. We received 174 submissions, four of
which were withdrawn or removed for technical reasons, leaving 170 to
be reviewed. At the program committee meeting, we accepted only 27
papers, for an acceptance rate of 15.9%.

Olympic torch put out five times in Paris

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:47:22 GMT

The French protesters are my heros.

Regarding the Olympic torch in San Francisco

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:01:29 GMT

I recently received an email about the Olympic torch relay coming through San Francisco. Sadly, it wasn't to accept me as a relay runner.

This Tuesday is a large rally. Wednesday is going to be an amazing sight to see.

This is the letter I received:

As you've probably seen all over the news, the Olympic torch relay is
coming through this Wednesday, April 9th. San Francisco is the only
city in all of North America to host the torch for the Beijing Olympics.

In recent weeks, Tibetans have been rising up inside of Tibet. The
Chinese crackdown has been outrageous.

Already in London and Paris, people have told China that they can't use
the Olympics as a political tool to legitimize their illegal occupation
of Tibet. And it's especially insulting that they're running the torch
over Mt. Everest in Tibet.

Now San Francisco will be joining the chorus of voices from around the
world calling for a free Tibet.

Please join us on Wednesday, April 9th.

**CALL TO ACTION**
Come stand in solidarity with the people of Tibet!

WHEN: Wed, April 9, 2008
torch relay starts at 1pm - be there early to stake your spot!

WHERE: along the torch route:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/04/01/BA97VU1VT.DTL&o=0

WHAT: show your dissent by protesting along the route, or even better,
organizing autonomous actions!

TEXT: "sftorch" (no quotes) to 41411 to get updated route and event
information on the day

http://www.sfteamtibet.org/

TIBET WILL BE FREE!!!

I do hope that someone puts out the Olympic torch while I'm in Vienna. I wish I could be there to see it with my own eyes. It's such a sham to have China hosting the Olympics and it's a crime that they plan to run the torch through Tibet.

Neubauten on Tour

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:20:27 GMT

I'm pretty happy that I'm in Europe during a Neubauten tour. I'm unsure which show(s) to try to attend. Are you going to any of them?

I think I will go to the one in Graz.

Things I love about Vienna

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:24:29 GMT

Breakfast at the Phil. Katrin and almost all of my friends in Vienna have spent uncountable hours reading books, drinking coffee, having Naschmarkt snacks or otherwise people watching in the Phil with me. It's absolutely my favorite cafe in Vienna. It's the 21st century version of Viennese cafe culture - they've almost gotten past the smoking clique. Almost.They added wifi though, so I can cope with the smoking. It was pretty awesome to come back with Audrey. We brought soy milk and they let us leave it there. For the next vegan couple that wants a nice coffee. Though I'm guessing that it will be us tomorrow morning. Oh yeah. I started drinking coffee again today. Whoa caffeine rush!

Vienna is packed with photography supply stores. They're full of obscure cameras, filters, film and otherwise awesome deals. Audrey uses the same lab (cyberlab) that I used when I did my residency here. They remembered me when Audrey went in to have film developed. Small city. Today, Audrey went to pick up some film and they had one of the most awesome lomo cameras I've ever seen - a Horizon Kompakt Rotating Lens. It's a bit rich for my blood, they're selling it for over 500 Euros! Now that I know such a camera exists and that it's solid, functional and beautiful, I'll hopefully find it for cheaper than even what B&H charges.

My very favorite photography store (other than B&H) is focused entirely on Polaroid related photography. They're personally responsible for the SX-70 blend film. I guess the story behind that film is that they offered Polaroid a truck load of cash for a custom run of film. Sadly, they're totally sold out of the blend film. This is quite ironic as today I happened to find myself a perfect condition SX-70 camera down the street. It even has a sweet sonar auto focusing system. Oh and it was thirty five Euros! I think this is a pretty good deal considering the alternative choices for such a camera. Though I admit, I kinda want that other camera too but I will resist. Still, only thirty five Euros! Such a deal even for a camera where the film is no longer produced!

I have a picture in my head about men with slender suits carrying the SX-70 in their pocket. I've seen laptops that are smaller than this camera. It's a hilarious thought. I'd like like a suit with pockets that deep. I guess the 1970s style of suit was a much more stylish than the suits of today.

The store where I found the camera also sold the no longer available blend film at a rate that's nearly a quarter of the price of such film on the grey market. I am tempted to call them and ask how much of the film they actually have. Once that film is gone, it's seemingly impossible to get more of it. I understand that it's possible to hack the 600 series film cartridges if you retain the neutral density filter.

The only draw back of having an SX-70 is that flashbulbs are not included. The polanoid people have those for sale though. That entire system seems ripe for a good digital hack to replace one use flash bulbs. It seems even more wasteful when the bulbs commit suicide for each photo.

I have to admit, I'm a terrible influence when camera shopping. I convinced Audrey that she should purchase a Mamiya RB67. It was cheaper than I've ever seen for a comparable Mamiya and it came with an f/4.5 180mm lens. Holy waist level viewing beautiful goodness. The store is also the only I've ever seen for 120mm Rollei RI4001 film canisters. They sell the film in wooden boxes and each roll is itself in what looks like a small flash grenade container. It's impressively baroque. So naturally we purchased a roll for use in the aforementioned Mamiya. I think I've also convinced Audrey that no medium format camera is complete without a proper polaroid back. She's gone out to look for one.

Oh how I've forgotten my love for cameras in the last year. I really need to start taking daily pictures again. Instant analog prints are the sketchbook I've forgotten all about.