Cyber Security Law, just passed Senate

After the horrible hacks lately the Congresscritters have decided to DO SOMETHING.  It is unclear just what they are doing, the newsies haven't talked much about it, but it sounds like a deal to allow companies and the government to cooperate, share information about hacks and attacks with out fear of prosecution for collaboration and price fixing.  We now have a House version, and a Senate version in need of "reconciliation" (quick rewrite to make them both the same) and Obama says he will sign it. 
   I suppose it's worthy, although I'd like to know what it really says, how many pages, and what damaging little clauses got tucked into the darker corners. 
   It isn't what we need.
   We need to close the gaping holes in Windows that allow any hacker, even grade school hackers, to take over Windows computers, remotely from the Internet, and suck every thing off them.  Microsoft deliberately created these vulnerabilities with the idea of increasing sales.  We need somebody or some organization to publicize these gaping holes and create public pressure on Microsoft to close them.
   Number one gaping hole is a Windows feature (bug?) called autorun.  Autorun has been causing trouble since Windows 95.  Autorun makes music CD's inserted in the drive start to play, automatically, hands off, no keystrokes or mouse clicks needed.  That part isn't too dangerous, but the dark side of Autorun loads and starts any code found on the CD.  When USB and flashdrives came along, autorun was extended to load and run any code found on a flash drive.  Just insert a flashdrive into a USB port, and zap, the machine is infected.  Autorun spread the Stuxnet virus in Iran.  Agents merely tossed a few flashdrives into the parking lots at Iranian nuclear facilities.  Iranian workers saw them, picked them up, took them into work, plugged them into their computers, and Zap Bang, the Stuxnet virus started blowing up Iranian centrifuges.  Set the Iranian nuclear program back a year or more. 
  Number 2 gaping hole is the Basic interpreters built into all the Micosoft Office products.  Basic is a full powered computer language.  Malicious Basic programs can be inserted into Office documents (Word .doc and Excel .xls files) and Word or Excel will execute them.  Worse, if you click on such an Office document attached to an email, Windows starts up Word or Excel and passes the attachment in.  Bam you are infected.
   Until we force Microsoft to close these two gaping security holes, we will continue to get hacked.  These aren't the only holes in Windows, but they are the worst ones that I know of.  And Microsoft can close them, in an afternoon.  All Microsoft needs is some incentive to pull up its socks. 

Had a debate watch party last night.

Well, nobody self destructed.  Everybody did well except the CNBC moderators who were terrible, half way thru the candidates started chewing out the CNBC people.  The opening question "What is your biggest weakness" is an old goofy job interview question intended to shake up a less than quick thinking applicant.  These guys are all pretty quick thinking and smoothly sequed into what ever they wanted to say.  Everyone made a clear distinction between them and the Dems. 
   Having people over makes the thing more watchable, keeps you awake, Need to do that more often. 

Bambi overload

Some town in Oregon is over run with deer.  The deer are bullying pedestrians, intimidating dogs, and eating everything green, hedges, ornamental shrubs, gardens, lawn, you name it.  The residents were on TV whining about how terrible things are.
   Obvious solution, have deer hunt.  Low cost, hunters bring their own guns, and will even pay for the privilege.
   Nooo, can't do that.  It's killing Bambi, and that's evil. It's murder. 
   So suffer until you wise up, Oregon town.  We don't have that problem in NH, we have a deer season.

Northrup Grumman awarded the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) contract

100 aircraft at $550 million each, $80 billion overall contract.  It's broken down somewhat.  Phase 1 pays $21.4 billion and Northrup will deliver 21 aircraft.  Then subsequent phases will buy another 79 aircraft.  Looking at the over all contract for 100 aircraft they estimate the cost at $511 million each, and there is a cap of $550 million.  Assume cost enhancements push the cost right up to the cap.  That looks like $55 billion for deliverable aircraft and $25 billion for non-recurring engineering.  That's best case.  Aircraft to become operational in 2025.  Let's see if USAF has pulled up its socks enough to award a contract and not have it disputed in court.  Lockheed Martin was the other bidder, they have plenty of lawyers to challenge a contract award.
   This comes from the Wall St Journal, and it also made NPR.  No discussion of LRS-B performance, range, speed, payload, radar cross section.  The Journal suggested that the LRS-B mission would be strategic nuclear strike against Russia or China. 

So what's wrong with the the Ex-Im Bank?

Ex-Im has been around since the Roosevelt administration.  It borrowed money on the good credit of the United States, , and loaned the money to foreigners to buy US built products.  It returned a modest profit on each deal to the US treasury.  It surely boosted exports at no cost to the taxpayer.  Export mean jobs.
   Granted, the main beneficiaries were big companies like Boeing and Caterpillar.
    So?  They are US companies, employing US union labor.  All that is good.  I see no reason why the US government should not support US industry.  Industry creates jobs, and that deserves support.

Camelot, The TV series

It came out on Starz back in 2011.  I don't pay for payTV channels, so I saw it for for first time from a Netflix disc last night.  Which makes it a little old.  Being an old King Arthur fan, I had high hopes for this one. 
   Disappointing.  First it suffers from the curse of the soundman.  Much of the dialogue is inaudible, lost under the score, or the actors mumble, or the mike isn't placed right. Then it's hard to tell the characters apart, they all wear the same hairdo's and the same clothes.  I failed to distinguish Morgan Le Faye (villain) from Ygraine (goodguy) several times.  King Lot (villain) looks pretty much like Sir Kay (goodguy).  Arthur, the only blonde guy in this thing, is at least distinct in appearance.   
   The story starts around the end of "The Sword in the Stone" with a young Arthur pulling the sword from the stone and being acclaimed King of the Britons.  Jamie Bower is an unsatisfactory Arthur.  Although he looks the right age for the part, he isn't very handsome, he doesn't get any memorable lines (thanks scriptwriters),  his costume doesn't help him (huge fur trimmed cape with broaches the size of saucers), and he never does anything very heroic. Even in the climatic scene pulling the sword from the stone he never looks heroic.  He never displays the commanding presence that makes knights and warlords do his bidding.  In most scenes Merlin is obviously pushing Arthur into position on stage, and giving him his lines to say.
  

WHO goes there!

WHO == World Health Organization, although the TV newsies didn't say so.  WHO announced that processed meat causes cancer.  Actually they were not that straight forward, they said that eating processed meat increases your risk of cancer.  By-by hot dogs, bacon, ham, breakfast sausage, BLT's, bacon and eggs, bangers and mash, lotta good comfort food. 
Of course, the TV newsies did not bother to say HOW MUCH your cancer risk was increased  by eating stuff that has been part of our diet since prehistoric times.  Nor did they give any evidence, studies, biochemistry, anything of substance.  We peasants are expected to believe anything the TV newsies dish out to us without proof.  Like global warming.