Farewell, John Entwistle. Another great musician passes. I'm listening to Sparks right now on Radio Paradise.

This Washington Post article details some of the increased probing activity that
seems to be going on in cyberspace by possible cyber-terrorists. It also
discusses some scenarios for combined cyber and convetional acts of terrorism.
Pretty scary stuff.
I started thinking that the other side is not vunerable
in this way since groups like Al Qaeda seem to work in stealthy distributed
groups using technology on a small scale for communications. I figured they
had no big information infrastructure that was subject to cyber counter attack.
But I think there are a few ways for the US to fight these groups in cyberspace.
Propaganda and misinformation seem like a reasonable tool. Hijacking Al
Jazeera's site or signals seems like a reasonable place to start. Probably
the biggest theater in cyberspace that could hurt groups like Al Qaeda is
in banking, credit card, and other money transfer systems. Freezing the
assets, on the fly, of know supporting groups and individuals would seem
to be very effective at helping to track these guys down and possibly disrupt
their activities.
I'm not sure why I'm talking about this stuff. I don't
want more violence on top of violence. I think the best way to resolve the
current world crisis is through diplomacy and understanding but sometimes
I get tired of hearing of impending attacks, threat levels, and all of the
new fun additions to our vocabulary. Sometimes I secretly yearn for the
big break through. Osama's head on a pike. Peace in Israel/Palestine. World
wide religious tolerance. The end of fanatisism. Mr. Fusion. Then there
are times where I'm just wondering if this all could be solved by a few well
placed ICMBs. It's tough being human.

The Dream
It's hot, dry and extremely dusty outside. The colors around me are all in sepia tones. I'm sweating because I'm cutting back some stubborn bushes away from a row of stucco bungalows. They are the appartments from Mulholland Drive. I'm alone. Aunt Ruth is nowhere to be found. Suddenly, in my peripheral vision, I spot a VW Bus driving down the street which is not paved. I guess the driver is drunk or high because the bus is speeding along, swerving, bouncing, hitting potholes, trailing a plume of arid dirt. It's tires grind the gravel in the road with a deep throaty crunching sound as it comes to a stop behind me. I turn. The motor cuts out and the driver side door swings open. Ken Kesey steps out crosses the road and walks right up to me. I'm in shock. I hail him.

"Hey.", I say.

"Don't worry.", he replies.

"About what?", I ask.

"About Dave, Dave Winer.", he says impatiently.

"Oh...Thanks...That's a relief.", I sputter.

Kesey interrupts. "He's going to be fine. You guys won't loose him now, but you understand how these things work...", his voice trails off.

"Yeah. I get it.", I smile. Shit I'm talking to Ken Kesey. He notices me smiling and recognizes what's going on in my head. The awe, the admiration is beginning to show on my stupid mug. He extends his hand. I reach out with mine and we shake hands. His grip is like iron.

"Ok, See ya later.", he says. "And don't worry."

"Ok.....Wait!"

But it's too late the bus is fired up and the tires are spinning kicking up gravel as the bus disappears down the road in a cloud of dust.

Feel better Dave.

Italians Go Home
I'm finally getting over the fact that Italy has been eliminated from the World Cup. So I guess I'll be rooting for the US now. Their big match comes on Friday when they face off against Germany. I'm hopeful but it's going to be a tough game for the US, but then again this has been a whacky tournament with so many traditional football powers getting knocked out early. I know it bothers some fans but at least it keeps things interesting and it reflects the true "world" nature of this tournament. So it looks like I'll be putting away my azure jersey and don myself in the stars and stripes. U-S-A, U-S-A!

Mexican Stand-off
My worst World Cup fears are over. Italy-Mexico ends in a 1-1 draw, and Equador-Croatia ended in a 1-0 victory for the South Americans. So it looks like Italy will advance to the second round of the world cup. Viva Italia!

Getting the Benz
Congratulations to Mercedes-Benz for sounding off like they have a pair and driving their fuel-cell powered car cross-country from San Fransisco to Washington, D.C. This event goes a long way in proving the long term viability of fuel-cell powered vehicles and gives me a glimmer of hope that we might one day cast off the shackels of our oil dependancy, foreign and domestic. Even though we probably could have done this in the 1970's it still is good to see this happen. Of course leave it to a non-U.S. auto maker to take the lead here. Yes, officially it's a multi-national with some U.S. ownership but what about GM and Ford? Where are they? Lobbying congress to drill in the ANWAR so they can build more Suburbans and Navigators?

Congratulations Mozilla Team!  1.0!