Cozy Corner

Bruce Schneier points us all in the direction of this simple boarding pass generator:

This webpage will produce a boarding pass good enough to get anyone past TSA, and thus, into the "secure" gate areas of the airport terminal.
Note that this will not be a valid pass, so it will not get you on the airplane. For that, you need to actually buy a ticket.

Posted by Andy at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Leave it to the Brits:

"Fire!" I yell as calmly as I can above the bellicose gruntings of an 800hp Rolls-Royce engine which happily runs on anything from plane fuel to chip fat.

"Thwack!" We score a direct broadside, just between the turret and the hull - and the blood is flowing fast.

But the enemy are made of stern stuff and land a hit on my tracks. Neither of us is out of it yet, though, and our roaring engines speed us on to fresh positions from which to clobber each other.

This is no military manoeuvre or computer game. It's much more fun than that. Because someone has just invented the world's first game of paintball with tanks. Now, we can all be Rommel for a day.

Posted by Andy at 01:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you're avoiding certain blogs because they might reveal who won Project Runway, because you haven't yet gotten to it on the Tivo, don't look at your sitemeter logs if you've ever mentioned it. Google query strings are reported.

Posted by Andy at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've realized that Global Warming is the Ba'al of our times. It is held up as the evil deity by a cult of followers. Like many false gods, its premises do not bear close inspection; and, like many cults, there is little or no room for disagreement.

What is sad is that those who do not follow this cult are branded as evil heretics who worship the Ba'al, merely for disagreeing.

We now return you to your more convenient falsehoods.

Posted by Andy at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

AbbaGav links to this wonderful product: The Dashboard Mohammed bobblehead. Depending on where you are, it might be a quick way to get your insurance company to buy your car's remnants from you.

Posted by Andy at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm flying out of Boston today to DC, and I got to experience the new Logan airport. Well, at least parts of it.

Central Parking now has 7 stories. Parts of each floor are still under construction, but hopefully, this is going to lead to fewer weird parking situations. The top floor has some beautiful views, of Boston, the airfield, and the water. (The airfield view is potentially disconcerting, if you worry about shoulder-launched munitions, as Central Parking does not have a trunk check, unlike Terminal B parking).

The Terminal B extension (Gates B 22 through B 26, where American Eagle operates) is now part of Terminal B. No longer are commuters stuck with a small food kiosk and no restroom while waiting for their flight, as a nice stroll down a sunlit walkway connects these gates to the main section of Terminal B. On the down side, there was clearly a lack of foresight - there is exactly one available power outlet left in the annex (If someone finds some, other than the one outside Fan Room 8, let me know!).

The new security measures are ... interesting. You can have fluids and gels, but only if they are in 3 oz. containers, and all the containers fit into a liter ziploc bag. Okay, so clearly, volume is an issue. But only the liter constraint provides protection, as an attacker could easily divide their liquids into multiple 3 ounce containers.

And now my flight is delayed. I had a one hour buffer, and we're delayed 35 minutes. Fortunately, the plane just arrived, so another delay is unlikely.

Posted by Andy at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Rights should not be positives. They should be the absence of negatives. Speech? That's the right to not be forced into silence. Religion? That's the right to not be converted. Arms? The right to not be forced into defenselessness. Self-incrimination? The right to not be forced to testify against yourself. Search and seizure? The right to not have one's space invaded by the government.

Each of these rights comes from nowhere, and costs society nothing. The rights do not involve the transfer of power or currency or anything of value to the individual; rather, they represent an individual not transferring power to the government. All natural rights are of this form.

Universal health care, on the other hand, involves the transfer of value from the government to the individual. That value comes in the form of goods and services. That value must come from somewhere, and is generally provided through taxation (to pay for the goods and services) and regulation (to ensure that the goods and services are made available to everyone). In the degenerate case - one which is starting to become visible in Canada, the UK, and other socialized medicine countries - there are not enough service providers to account for demand, so individuals are not able to receive the services they require. As service providers are enslaved to the system, the costs of service do not rise, which would generally lead to additional service providers choosing to enter a lucrative market. Functionally, providing the "right" of health care has required removal of the right of the physician to work at her own discretion.

Social Security provides an example of another failure of a value-based right. By funding a right (in this case, to a baseline retirement income) through taxation, future generation of taxpayers are effectively enslaved to the recipient of the rights.

This isn't to say that a minimum level of health coverage for all isn't a fine goal -- actually, a responsibility -- of civilization. But providing everyone with the same full coverage? Not a right at all.

Posted by Andy at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

There's a sukkah in the yard, and we've done the rain dance.

Sometimes, our rituals have clearly been preserved for a really, really, really long time.

But when spiced up - say, by eating sushi in the sukkah (it's a fresh harvest of the sea!) - they're quite enjoyable.

Posted by Andy at 07:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What a tight game. First off, I have to say that the Series 3 Tivo is *much* nicer to watch a game in HD on than the eyeTV (UI-wise, there is almost no comparison; but the eyeTV will be nice to travel with). I feel sorry for Elgato - they beat Tivo to the HD-DVR game by a long time, but the UI gap is going to hurt them.

There's an interesting feeling to watch a game, see a play, and think, "That's definitely going to be commented on by Gregg Easterbrook." Here are my candidates.

First, in the third quarter, at New England's 36, with 4th and 5, Miami choose to punt. What's up with that? Sure, they've got a chance of backing up New England inside the ten, but there's a good chance the Patriots will end up on the 20 - a net shift of 16 yards. Go for it would be the best advice. Instead, the Dolphins fumble the snap, and the Patriots inherit the ball on their 46.

Second, in the fourth quarter, the Patriots are in the same spot - 4th and 5 on Miami's 35, with 3:43 remaining to protect their 20-10 lead, the Pats go for it. They convert and keep possession, leading to...

Third, with 1:54 remaining on the clock, first and goal on Miami's 6, following an eleven yard run by Maroney, Tom Brady takes a knee. And another. And another. How tempting must it have been, with that end zone right there, to try for the touchdown.

A very enjoyable game to watch. Miami's defense really stopped the Patriots offense for much of the game, and demonstrated why Belichick was concerned about Miami this week.

Now, on to the bye week.

Posted by Andy at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Have you played Nation States? If so, you'd recall that it provides you the option to make policy decisions for your fictional nation; the results, exaggerated, turn your country into the sort of dystopian paradise we all want. One of the questions always amused me, which discussed the rights of indigenous nomadic peoples and private property (your options seemed to be to build them public campsites, let them trespass, or let homeowners shoot them). It seems that the private market has addressed this one for us. Apparently, Wal-Mart lets RVs park in their lots (good plan - those folks are definitely going to need toiletries!), so we don't have to build the lots ourselves.

Hmmm, how do I get Wal-Mart into my Nation State?

Posted by Andy at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I was going to keep out of the whole convicted rapist support thing. Really. But how do you forget about a $5,000 donation?

``The evidence indicates that, yes, he did make a contribution to this thing," said Patrick's senior adviser, Doug Rubin.
Rubin said he does not know how much Patrick gave to the effort. LaGuer, in an interview earlier in the day with Globe columnist Adrian Walker, said Patrick had donated $5,000, but that could not be confirmed.
Asked why Patrick's description of his involvement has changed over the past week, Rubin said that Patrick at first did not recall the details of the case.

I'll be honest; I doubt I could quickly recall the details of every single donation the CozyWife and I have made, but the big ticket ones? I doubt I'd ever forget those, especially not while being prompted for it.

I wonder if this will be Patrick's Dukakis moment?

Posted by Andy at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Folks, it's not the supersoldiers you have to worry about. It's the hypoallergenic cats:

A small California biotech company says it has successfully found the Holy Grail of the $35 billion pet industry: a hypoallergenic cat.
At the start of next year, the first kittens -- which the company calls ``lifestyle pets" -- will be delivered to eager owners who have been carefully screened and on a waiting list for more than two years. Since it announced the project in October 2004, Allerca of San Diego, says it has received inquiries from people in 85 countries seeking to buy a cat bred so that its glands do not produce the protein responsible for most human cat allergies.

I wonder if the cats that they sell are going to come pre-neutered? Seems like an obvious way to protect their intellectual property.

Posted by Andy at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sorry for the light posting. The combination of Yom Kippur, illnesses in the house, and extra business at work have taken their toll.

Posted by Andy at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)