climate and comms

Are we seeing some kind of a shift in society?  I believe we are witnessing a new era of ‘activism’ – student /societal/ corporate. Students in the UK have taken to the streets in (sometimes) violent protests against the impending imposition of university tuition fees.  Governments are acting in unison against the ‘threat’ posed by Wikileaks.   But ‘hacktivists’ are rising up in protest against them and the corporations (Amazon/MasterCard/Visa ) that are doing their bidding. Consumers span of attention continue to fall as 30 second advertisements are cut down even shorter.  Our children engage in electronic media multi-tasking gaming / watching TV / surfing the web / texting / talking on the mobile and so on.  Their brains are being hardwired into a new mode of operation with boredom thresholds at an absolute minimum. So.  Are we all becoming hedonists – needing a short term fix ?   Have we lost the ability to plan ahead and see the con...

Why all the fuss ? Why the ‘outrage’ at this ‘threat to national security’ ?   Are we really worried that nuclear war is going to break out because of these ‘dirty’ secrets getting out.  As if the North Koreans are going to up the ante any more than their mock charge of last week because of the abuse and scorn heaped upon them by US Diplomats.  ? !    Come on. To me the irony of this bluster is that it is (largely) from the right wing establishment in the US - calling it treason!     Any party that parades a half wit like Palin as a presidential hopeful hardly holds any moral high ground when it comes to protecting the USA.   Her appointment as the ‘leader of the free World’ will be enough to send any level headed American ( let alone any one of their Allies ) into a panicky tailspin at the thought of what she may stumble into ( by accident or design) . So how did these documents get out there?   Poor security.  Plain and simple....

“ Halt who goes there ?  “  The traditional challenge of a guard watching over the entrance to a castle / city / camp / fortress since time immemorial.   The visitor wishing to gain access,  be they friend or foe,  then had to engage in a process of convincing the guard of the validity of his credentials.  In other words - identification and authentication.    I sn’t it amazing how little things have changed?     Today these challenges happen all the time.  When you log on to you computer / to your corporate network / to your email account / to your online bank / to your social network site and so on,  you are required to identify yourself.    Have you considered just how many times you do this every day.   ?  Most of the time this happens seamlessly under the hood without you even be conscious of it happening.    When you log on to your email account – you don’t re-enter your password ever...