Social Contracts on Internet Security

Everyone and I mean EVERYONE tells you that the best thing you can do for yourself and others if you have a Windows system on the Internet is to run anti-virus software, and keep your patches current.  Otherwise your system can be a nuisance to others, as it is broken into and used as a bot to attack others.

That doesn’t work so well when the anti-virus software causes the user problems.  These systems take a performance hit, that is for sure.  But they can have bugs as well, as this page from McAfee  demonstrates.  What has happened here is that a program called “McScript_InUse.exe” has gone crazy, pegging the system’s CPU.  Not only does this kill performance of every other application on a system, but it can have an impact on your energy bill, because a 100% used CPU means that it will run faster with more fans on and more cooling required.

McAfee cannot be condemned for having bugs in their software, even though it is ironic that they exist in large part because Microsoft Windows has bugs that are taken advantage of.  It never-the-less brings up the question of whether such active scanning technology is the right approach, or whether we have to do better at providing better underlying security.  The extreme version of this would be provably secure programming, a field in which Dr. Gene Spafford (a network legend) has devoted his career.

In the meantime, however, we have to hold McAfee to a higher standard, just as we should Microsoft.  When people believe that they will be harmed by the very software that is meant to protect them and others, especially when the more negative consequences impact others, they will not upgrade.  We discussed this with the ETH Study, some time ago, and now we can expect additional consequences.

The Giant Bear roars again…

Prime Minister Putin – er – President Medvedev has laid out five “principles” of foreign policy, according to this article from the BBC.  The funny thing about principles is that there things people aspire to, but often times don’t meet.  And Russia is no exception.  And to be fare, principles often conflict with one another.  Let’s see…

3. No isolation

“Russia does not want confrontation with any country; Russia has no intention of isolating itself. We will develop, as far as possible, friendly relations both with Europe and with the United State of America, as well as with other countries of the world.”

You would think that means not overrunning your neighbors with troops, but the Russians may choose to hide behind the next one to get around that little inconvenient fact:

4. Protect citizens

“Our unquestionable priority is to protect the life and dignity of our citizens, wherever they are. We will also proceed from this in pursuing our foreign policy. We will also protect the interest of our business community abroad. And it should be clear to everyone that if someone makes aggressive forays, he will get a response.”

While one cannot argue with the general idea, there are many Russians in neighboring countries who have Russian passports.  Is that grounds for invasion?  But if it is not, perhaps the next one is:

5. Spheres of influence

“Russia, just like other countries in the world, has regions where it has its privileged interests. In these regions, there are countries with which we have traditionally had friendly cordial relations, historically special relations. We will work very attentively in these regions and develop these friendly relations with these states, with our close neighbours.”

As Bill Cosby would say, “Riiggght.”  Read: if you aren’t friendly to us, we’ll invade to “protect our citizens”.

Cuba, are you listening?  Still, better to oppose the principles and the bad behavior of one state rather than compound it.  Of course that might depend on who makes the decision.  President Bush might decide that one more crusade is in order.

Spinning a Hurricane

In general it is considered to be in extremely poor taste to talk about the politics of other peoples’ suffering, especially while they are suffering.  And so I will do so.  This week both the Democrats and Republicans have the opportunity to make hay of the trek of, and losses by many thousands of people fleeing New Orleans, again.  The Republicans are in interesting position.  On the one hand they can’t be seen as making hay, and so they have postponed the beginning of their national convention.  Moreover, if things go wrong, like they did with Katrina, it will leave a clear impression that they cannot govern.  And so things won’t go that wrong.  This is also the perfect opportunity to keep President Bush and Vice President away.  They’re already wildly unpopular, but it is a very difficult thing to not have the elected heads of the party speak.  Gustav provided the perfect excuse.

The Democrats have fewer options.  The best they can do is stay quiet, because anything else will seem like making hay.  They can also hope for the storm to dissipate quickly without much damage, as can we all.  Aside from the human relief that would bring, the Republicans would have lost the spotlight to a non-event.  Sadly that seems unlikely.

And so in this case human suffering will serve Republicans – to a point.

How to get around London in Style and Speed

Depending on who you believe (see here, here, and here), the average driving speed in London is between 6 and 12 mph, using surface transportation, and about 20 mph below ground.  You might think that the best way to speed things up would be to take a helicopter, but one limousine company can offer you a way to get there fast.

That’s right.  A fire engine limosine, courtesy of stretchlimos.co.uk.  Here’s the real question.  Can you get them to use the sirens?  Yes, with a pang of guilt that you too could contribute to someone not believing that in fact that fire engine behind behind them is saving lives, speeding through the streets of london, in an imposing fraud, perhaps sirens a’blazen.  Or, perhaps you can roll up to The Old Lady’s house in search of some traces of smoke.  Who knows?  Maybe the Queen herself could find it faster to get around town than that old horse and carriage.