05.29.12
Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Cyberterrorism at 4:42 pm by George Smith
I’ve certain Wired exists only as a groupie publication for high tech arms manufacturing, anyone wealthy in the Silicon Valley, and cybersoldiers. It will infrequently publish articles claiming cyberwar is hyped. Doubtless, this is some kind of sham.
It’s also into misusing the English language through use of humiliatingly exaggerated praise employed to hook readers on the idea that what is being spoken of is always the [DROP IN YOUR BESTEST SINGLE OR DOUBLE ADJECTIVES] SOMETHING EVER!
Today, on the Flame virus, some headlines and bits:
Meet ‘Flame,’ The Massive Spy Malware Infiltrating Iranian Computers
Dubbed “Flame??? by Kaspersky, the malicious code dwarfs Stuxnet in size — the groundbreaking infrastructure-sabotaging malware that is believed to have wreaked havoc on Iran’s nuclear program in 2009 and 2010.
Kaspersky Lab is calling it “one of the most complex threats ever discovered.???
“It’s pretty fantastic and incredible in complexity …,???
“It will take us 10 years to fully understand everything.???
How Digital Detectives Deciphered Stuxnet, the Most Menacing Malware in History
No link. Google.
One Wired piece informs:
“Wired senior staff writer Kim Zetter won a feature writing award from the Society for Professional Journalists of Northern California last week for her riveting story on how researchers discovered and dissected Stuxnet, a worm intricately programmed to wreak havoc on an Iranian nuclear facility.
“And in a bit of nice timing, Zetter has officially committed to writing a book, tentatively titled Countdown To Zero Day, expanding on the tale …”
As an organization of professionals, The Society of Professional Journalists of Northern California is somewhat like the Indoor Football League. Only smaller.
Why?
Southern California has the Los Angeles Times, an NFL franchise so to speak.
Permalink
Posted in Culture of Lickspittle at 1:07 pm by George Smith
The geeks always think computer code will fix everything in the US.
How has it been working so far?
If they keep favoring us with more stupendous app programming and it stays true to form eighty percent of us will be either permanently unemployed or living in workhouses for the poor.
Today’s example of the trite altruistic coding nerd to the rescue bit, one story at Mother Jones on Code for America, an agency that sends 28 year-olds to cities to program apps for websites.
One intelligence-insulting bit:
In Boston last February, there was the big “snowpocalypse.” School buses were stuck, and the school system’s call center was slammed with calls from freaked-out parents. The workers look at a big map showing the location of the buses, which have GPS sensors. But on a huge snow day with hundreds of calls, they can’t get to all of them, and parents are upset. The fellows said, “We can help,” though they’d earlier been told they couldn’t have access to the GPS data. That’s an instinct that we appreciate, but you don’t want your resources stuck doing something a computer could do. [The city relented and the fellows built a website that lets parents track the buses online.]
What happened to calling your kid on the cell phone, stupid? And what about the parents who can’t afford to send their kids to prep schools who don’t have the access or savvy to go to a website.
In any case, I grew up in a country where there was a lot of snowpocalypse. Somehow, having an app to track the buses just wasn’t a pressing need in the Sixties. Everyone survived.
Hey Jen Palka — “whip smart web guru on a mission to change how we relate to city hall” and geeks, more apps as trivial solutions to inconveniences, please.
Permalink
Posted in Crazy Weapons, Culture of Lickspittle, Cyberterrorism at 9:14 am by George Smith
From Eugene Kaspersky:
Kaspersky Lab announces the discovery of a highly sophisticated malicious program that is actively being used as a cyber weapon attacking entities in several countries. The complexity and functionality of the newly discovered malicious program exceed those of all other cyber menaces known to date.
The malware was discovered by Kaspersky Lab’s experts during an investigation prompted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The malicious program, detected as Worm.Win32.Flame by Kaspersky Lab’s security products, is designed to carry out cyber espionage. It can steal valuable information, including but not limited to computer display contents, information about targeted systems, stored files, contact data and even audio conversations …
Although the features of Flame differ compared with those of previous notable cyber weapons such as Duqu and Stuxnet, the geography of attacks, use of specific software vulnerabilities, and the fact that only selected computers are being targeted all indicate that Flame belongs to the same category of super-cyberweapons.
Commenting on uncovering Flame, Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, said: “The risk of cyber warfare has been one of the most serious topics in the field of information security for several years now.
A few additional notes:
1. It would appear you can hide your malware longer if it is designed to specifically attack only pariah nations like Iran and Sudan, the latter which has nothing worth stealing by cyber-espionage, anyway. But eventually, even though it takes awhile, the virus will always screw up or splatter and wind up somewhere else. Like Hungary. Oops. Sorry ’bout that.
2. Therefore countries like Iran are still very poor at cybersecurity. They may remain that way due to the nature of the regimes, leadership and really lousy social fit with networked computing, which is directly inimical to their interests and way of doing things. (Notorious braggarts: “The Iranian government said Tuesday it has produced an antivirus program capable of fighting what computer experts are calling ‘the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed’ …)
3. Flame was probably discovered because it eventually did spread onto non-target systems in Israel or elsewhere causing unspecified problems noted by the “International Telecommunication Union.”
4. Every virus worthy of a press release, discovered infecting the sensitive computers of western enemies, like Iran, is a supervirus of astounding complexity and another proof of the growing terrible menace of cyberwar.
5. Discovery of these things is good for generating interest and international publicity for anti-virus firms. Therefore they will compete more vigorously in the doing of it. Which is a back-handed social benefit because it will more quickly spoil cyberwar and harassment campaigns launched by the military and intelligence agencies of the west.
Permalink
Posted in Crazy Weapons, Culture of Lickspittle, Extremism at 10:02 am by George Smith
What do you do if your a sub-mediocre writer of thriller fiction for the extreme right and out of ideas on threats to the United States? Go with electromagnetic pulse.
Here’s a link to chew on — Amazon’s listing of books on EMP, this — only the paperbacks.
1,633 entries for the Cult of Electromagnetic Pulse Crazy. Since it’s generated by an Amazon search algorithm it is not accurate.
However, a quick browse of the list uncovers a stupefying amount of fiction publishing, much of it vanity press digital editions.
It’s prepper/survivalist romance novels. They call it post-apocalypse, a too generous description by far as it insults famous post-apocalypse novels that aren’t atrocious reads. Like Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids, or various novels by J. G. Ballard.
Here’s the eye-watering run down.
77 Days in September by Ray Gorham.
On a Friday afternoon before Labor Day, Americans are getting ready for the holiday weekend, completely unaware of a long-planned terrorist plot about to be launched against the country. Kyle Tait is settling in for his flight home to Montana when a single nuclear bomb is detonated 300 miles above the heart of America. The blast, an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP), destroys every electrical device in the country…
Death Pulse by David Alexander
Chaos rules when an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon is set off in orbit, triggering the most massive power failure and blackout in history. The blackout, whose epicenter is New York City, is far more serious than any ordinary mass power outage …
Half Past Midnight by Jeff Brackett
The Doomsday Clock gauges the threat of nuclear war. Currently, the clock is set at six minutes before midnight. What happens after the hands reach midnight? Survivalist Leeland Dawcett finds out when he and his family are plunged into the nightmare of their country returned to a third-world state. No phones. No computers. No television.
Grid Down Reality Bites by Bruce Hemming and Sara Freedman
The author of Buckshot’s Modern Trapper’s Guide for Xtreme Safety, Survival, Profit, Pleasure. This is now a collector’s book. His new novel brings you a working man’s guide to the end of the world. If you enjoyed One Second After and Lights Out then you will love this fast paced novel of 3 different groups surviving the confusion and terror of The End Of The World As We Know It.
Two young men, Mark and Eric struggle desperately trying to make it to their retreat in Northern California. Their truck is dead from an EMP. They have to walk 200 miles.
Land, a Stranded Novel (Volume 1, it threatens) by Theresa D. Shaver
Five go by Land – Five go by Sea A group of teens on a class trip to Disneyland are left stranded. An EMP over North America has destroyed everything electronic. No cars, no planes, no phones, no electricity. Refusing to wait for someone else to help them, ten courageous young people take charge of their future …
Lights Out America by Hale Meserow
The USA, as we know [sic], is gone.
But you won’t see any reports on the 10:00 news, because there is no broadcast signal. There are no computers, no circuit boards, no telephones, no wireless, no trains planes or autos, no refrigerators, furnaces, or lights.
Hundreds of millions of American citizens are instantly thrust into the technological equivalent of the mid-19th century.
The ultimate weapon of mass destruction, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from a hydrogen bomb, exploded 300 kilometers over Kansas …
Dark Grid by David C. Waldron
In the wake of a solar event, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since 1859 when the height of technology was the telegraph, the northern hemisphere is faced with a new reality…a life without power. The electrical grids of virtually the entire planet have shorted out …
Lights Out by David Crawford (Made by, wait for it, Halffast Publishing)
Downloaded from the internet over three million times, this exciting, action-packed, survival story is finally available in book form. Lights Out chronicles the challenges of Mark “Karate Man??? Turner when the lights go out over most of the free world …
The Long Ride Home by Susan Gregerson
Pedaling her bicycle through the countryside, mile after mile, had been one of Sue’s favorite ways to travel. Despite the shaky conditions in the world, she and a friend embark on a cross-country bicycle trip.
She’s nearly two thousand miles from home when an EMP (Electro-magnetic pulse) over the eastern third of the nation takes out the power grid and cripples transportation. She must get home!
The EMP of the Beginning by Rowan A. Scott
High altitude nuclear explosions generate an Electro Magnetic Pulse over the majority of the world. Electricity transmission lines are taken out, taking with them their transformers and generators. Nothing works any more …
“I normally quite like post apocalypse novels, but this one just didn’t grab me,” writes one Amazon reviewer. “There just wasn’t much character development. ”
The Rally Point: Bugging Home by Susan Gregerson, again
When an EMP over the eastern third of the US knocks out the power grid and disables cars near the detonation point, it takes a while for people to realize this is bigger than a normal power outage. But Sue and her family acted right away. Sue was 2,000 miles from their home in Montana. She was on a cross-country bicycle trip …
Fear of Falling by Susan Kiernan-Lewis
When Matt and Sarah Woodson take a much-needed vacation with their ten-year old son, John, their intention is to find a relaxing, remote spot to take a break from the artificial stimulation of their busy world back in Jacksonville, Florida. What happens within hours of settling in to their rural, rustic little cottage in a far-flung spot on the coast of Ireland is an international incident that leaves the family stranded and dependent on themselves for their survival. Facing starvation, as well as looters and opportunists, they learn the hard way the important things in life. Can a family skilled only in modern day suburbia and corporate workplaces learn to survive when the world is flung back a hundred years? When there is no internet, no telephones, no electricity and no cars?
The Great Collapse by Jeff Horton
While scientists prepare for a massive solar flare heading towards the earth, a hostile foreign government steals a top-secret, experimental weapon. When they use the EMP weapon to attack America however, the result is the immediate and catastrophic loss of modern technology …
Terawatt by Des Michaels
In the aftermath of a devastating EMP event, an unprepared suburban Texas school teacher battles his way across a thousand miles of post-apocalyptic terrain to rescue his wife and son stranded in Tennessee.
Our End Of The Lake: Surviving After The 2012 Solar Storm by Ron Foster and Cheryl Chamlies
A solar storm has just hit the world causing a EMP event. A emergency manager visiting Atlanta GA must find his way back home after this electromagnetic pulse has stranded him away from his vehicle and his beloved “bug out bag” …
Rohan Nation: Reinventing America After the 2020 Collapse by Drew Miller
ROHAN NATION tells the compelling story of how survivors of biological warfare and electro-magnetic pulse fight to defend and reinvent America. The disasters that lead to the collapse of America in 2020 and billions of deaths worldwide are based on sound research and analysis, the predictable results of on-going mistakes. ACE, the teenage daughter of a family that prepared for the worst, and Justin, the young refugee she captures who becomes her cavalry scout apprentice, struggle to survive in a post-collapse economy where horses are key to survival …
Had enough?
I’m not done.
From a newspaper in Florida, a lady — formerly employed by the Reagan administration, in interview for her new electromagnetic pulse novel, Castle Bravo:
It’s not every day one can pickup a novel and see the name of a once top secret government project on the cover.
But you can do that with a new book out soon by part-time Naples resident Karna Small Bodman, whose careers in the White House and TV news have made her highly qualified to write her fourth novel — “Castle Bravo.”
Karna’s thriller is about a potentially life changing, international threat to the U.S. The core subject of her story has popped up on TV newscasts several times recently.
It is electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, detonated high in the atmosphere by a nuclear device …
All electromagnetic pulse fiction comes from people who are in the far right. There are no progressives in the bunker after The End of the World As We Know It. The lefties are cannon fodder, faceless characters who get to die first because they lack the virtues of the heroes. After all, it is satisfying to write about the demise of enemies and their eventual replacement by a more virtuous, simpler world of horse, buggy, plenty of guns, and no Democrats.
A majority of these numbers are done through CreateSpace, another Jeff Bezos gift of dubious value.
If you’ve wondered why Amazon has moved into being an on-line Wal-Mart to the world, it’s because Bezos has contributed to the annihilation of traditional publishing. This has blown up the market for real books, developed by publishing houses, often selected for quality and edited by professionals so you can read them enjoyably.
Bezos has replaced this with an on-line store for dry goods, a music competitor to the equally repellent iTunes store, and the sale of one or two copies of millions of vanity titles. This monetizes and aggregates the idea that the authors of the above works will at least buy one, or maybe even two, copies of their work.
On Sunday, Tom Friedman was heaping praise on Bezos for just this thing:
I’VE spent the last week traveling to two of America’s greatest innovation hubs — Silicon Valley and Seattle — and the trip left me feeling a combination of exhilaration and dread. The excitement comes from not only seeing the stunning amount of innovation emerging from the ground up, but from seeing the new tools coming on stream that are, as Amazon.com’s founder, Jeff Bezos, put it to me, “eliminating all the gatekeepers??? — making it easier and cheaper than ever to publish your own book, start your own company and chase your own dream. Never have individuals been more empowered, and we’re still just at the start of this trend.
“I see the elimination of gatekeepers everywhere,??? said Bezos … “Sixteen of the top 100 best sellers on Kindle today were self-published,??? said Bezos. That means no agent, no publisher, no paper — just an author, who gets most of the royalties, and Amazon and the reader.
However, there is a significant difference between writers and a horde empowered by Jeff Bezos to churn out mind-numbingly bad and identical disaster stories on electromagnetic pulse doom just because Internet technology allows them to do so with little effort.
Ultimately, this is Bezos’ innovation: The destruction of that which had value, to be replaced with the digital world’s equivalent of beach sand, with Amazon getting a commission on every grain.
Bezos sweatshop labor in the Lehigh Valley.
Bezos virtual sweat shop — Mechanical Turk — from the archives.
Permalink
Posted in Culture of Lickspittle at 7:51 am by George Smith
Late last night an obit at the New York Times informed author Paul Fussell had died at the age of 88.
The lede:
Paul Fussell, the wide-ranging, stingingly opinionated literary scholar and cultural critic whose admiration for Samuel Johnson, Kingsley Amis and the Boy Scout Handbook and his withering scorn for the romanticization of war, the predominance of television and much of American society were dispensed in more than 20 books, died on Wednesday in Medford, Ore.
Long time readers of this blog have endured my quotation of Fussell, usually from this book BAD many, many times.
Most recently, a month or so ago:
In Paul Fussell’s BAD, the title is defined:
“BAD is … something phony, clumsy, witless, untalented, vacant or boring that many Americans can be persuaded is genuine, graceful, bright or fascinating.”
That was in 1991. BAD was a thin book. Today it would be a set of encyclopedias.
Just about everything in America is now BAD.
The US military, despite being the largest, most well-equipped and capitalized of any in world history, is BAD. It smashes weakling countries and bombs the guilty as well as the innocent who have nothing in the desperate places of the world, delivering it all with a special brand of American pomposity that tolerates no soul-searching or regret.
Fussell’s Class, along with BAD, or at least the acerbic style in them, informed much of what has gone into my writing, paid and unpaid, from the Crypt Newsletter, to the Virus Creation Labs, to today. Without it this would have been a much different place.
Of Class, the New York Times wrote:
In “Class: A Guide Through the American Status System??? (1983), he divided American society into nine strata — from the idle rich (“the top out-of-sight???) to the institutionalized and imprisoned (“the bottom out-of-sight???) — and offered a comprehensive and often witty tour through the observable habits of each.
The blog’s original mascot, the image drolly named ‘pennsyltuckyvoter,” was scanned from an illustration in Class.
Bad news, lads. Bad news. Paul Fussell has died.
Fussell’s books on war were also influential. Three of them, The Great War and Modern Memory, Wartime and Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic, are in my library.
Unsurprisingly, Fussell detested war and all the pretensions western, and American, culture attach to it.
The last decade has seen this country transform mechanized war and the news of it into an unimaginably execrable and worthless national image and product. Had Fussell still been writing even his great capacity for personal outrage would have been challenged.
Fussell, touched upon, here and here. (The first link, to a piece for The Register, is the closest outright imitation of Fussell I ever did.)
Under bad magazines, scorn was reserved for the successful Soldier of Fortune, a magazine aimed at “the mentally ill… for people who fantasise about plunging a trench knife into a foreigner of colour, generally smaller than themselves”.
(Don’t be too smug. Fussell described The Monthly Royal Review “for people who get an erection when they think of the Queen Mother – or rather her privileges, furniture and jewels…”)
Permalink
