Barefoot in the wilderness
in search of understanding

Biometric passports cracked

The Register is reporting that the shiny new Dutch passports are flawed. These are technologically advanced passports, complete with “contactless chips” and biometric data, just the UK Government wants to implement here. And they have been hacked from over 10 m away, using flaws in the basic design of the technology.

The problem is that these chips were designed for warehouses to track stock. They were not designed for secure identity management. As a result, any security bolted on top can be bypassed, allowing total access to the stored data – including your biometrics such as fingerprints. And the Dutch Government is to “improve” security. Notice that they didn’t say “fix” the security problem!

Let’s see whether the UK Government takes any notice in its plans. My money’s on “not”

pax et bonum

An honest politician?

Here’s something you don’t see every day – new Bolivian president halves his own pay. That’s right – he won the election, during which he promised to halve the President’s salary, and he carried through with a 57% cut. Which means that every Government worker in Bolivia needs their salary checknig, because no one in the Government is allowed to earn more than the President But, how’s that for real leadership? Let’s hope he does well.

(_Thanks to Dr Moose for the tip._)

pax et bonum

Another bonkers US patent application

In (yet) another attempt to patent the blatantly obvious, not to mention something invented by other people and in common use for well over a decade, US company Cingular has applied to patent smilies (also known as emoticons), reports The Register. You know, those combinations of punctuation that we use to try and convey emotion in online text. And lest we think that they’re extending the list somehow, it explicitly includes many of the most common smilies, like :- ) 8- ( and :- P

Is the US Patent Office mad enough to allow this? Let’s hope not. But what does it say about the US patent system that Cingular even thought it worth their time and money to apply for this patent?

Update
Apparently, it’s not quite as mad as that – The Register is now reporting that the patent isn’t attempting to claim the smilies themselves, only a method to use a key on the phone to insert them quickly into messages. So, we can breathe a little easier

pax et bonum

Smash the PC!

Ever been frustrated by your PC? Get revenge!
(_Thanks to Stephen for the tip._)

Have your say

I’ve been thinking about this blog. And I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not ended up with quite the character I thought it might. So, I’m thinking about renaming it (big changes, huh?). To help me do this, I thought I’d bounce a few ideas off you folk.

1. ars logica, which is Latin for “the art of logic” and covers a lot of what I do here – talk about the application of reason to our lives.
2. Journeyman, which conveys two ideas – that of the journey of life and that of a partial mastery of things (past apprentice stage but not yet a master craftsman).
3. Runcible spoon, from Edward Lear’s poem The Owl and the Pussycat: “They dined on mince and slices of quince / which they ate with a runcible spoon.” This one’s just because I like the phrase

So, with no further ado, a poll. Choose wisely and choose well, my friends, for you hold the fate of…well, nothing very much…in your hands!

(I make no guarantees to follow the conclusions of this poll, so don’t think you’re going to hold me to anything! )

pax et bonum

Snake loves hamster

How’s about this – lunch becomes best friend!
(_Thanks to Alastair for the tip_)

WEBoggle

Play WEBoggle – a word game in real time against real people.

Mass media linkage

Wow – my blog’s been mentioned in the Daily Telegraph! Their Weblog column had a roundup of people talking about the ID cards Bill and they swept me up.

I’ll just sit and bask in the recognition.

Or not.

pax et bonum

Constitutional crisis?

The Register is suggesting that the debate over ID cards and a national identity register currently going on in the UK parliament could trigger a constitional crisis. The Lords traditionally give way eventually to the elected house, especially on matters that were part of manifesto commitments in General Elections – and Labour included the pledge to introduce ID cards in its manifesto. Game over, we might think. Except that there are signs that the Lords will use constitional arguments to oppose the Bill, most particularly to force the Government to reveal an actual budget for the scheme (rather than the numbers plucked apparently from the air we have at the moment) before they will allow it to proceed. However, the Government has been holding back on a great many costs over recent years, citing “commercial sensitivity” as though that was a constitional defence. It’s not, of course, and the peers may use this to force the Government to behave in an open way to actually tell us what they’re planning.

Update
The Guardian has a leader with their opinion on this issue:

The Lords are right. Unless parliament is given proper costings first, this bill must not go ahead. If the government goes ahead with its aim to reverse the new clause in the Commons, MPs should vote it down.

pax et bonum

LSE revisits ID cards

The London School of Economics have revisited their controversial report on ID cards – and find that the Government has totally failed to engage with the points they raised (the “response” to date has been “scurrilous”!). Indeed, the (previously pro-ID) LSE has now moved to a sceptical position because of the lack of rational debate and the way most decisions are being made in secret.

“Dozens of questions about the scheme’s architecture, goals, feasibility, stakeholder engagement and outcomes remain unanswered”. says the report. “The secuirty of the scheme remains unstable, as are the technical arrangements for the proposal. The performance of biometric technology is increasingly questionable. We continue to contest the legality of the scheme. The financial arrangements for the proposals are almost entirely secret, raising important questions of constitutional significance.”

pax et bonum

Ecological footprint II

Thanks to Maggi, I revisited my ecological footprint to see how I fared compared with last year. Overall, I’ve experience a slight improvement (easing down the “Food” section), but nothing to shout about.

Global Hectares – Category
1.2 – Food
0.1 – Mobility
0.6 – Shelter
0.4 – Goods/services
2.3 – Total footprint
In comparison, the average ecological footprint in your country is 5.3 global hectares per person.
Worldwide, there exist 1.8 biologically productive global hectares per person.
If everyone lived like you, we would need 1.3 planets.

Check your ecological footprint (aimed at UK residents).

pax et bonum

Dr Who makes it to the USA

The new Dr Who series will now be shown in the USA, thanks to the Sci-Fi channel. Good news for USAians

Digital rights

GrokLaw has an interesting article about Digital Rights Management (DRM) – the technologies that stop you copying and sharing music and movies that you have bought (and, potentially, anything else that you might buy). The fundamental problem, the article suggests, is that the content companies (record companies, movie companies, copyright controllers, in other words – which is not at all the same thing as the artists actually creating this content) want to treat a PC as simply a system for entertainment. A glorified CD player, if you will. In so doing, they fail to take account of the many other important things a PC might do (such as help you earn a living) and thus implement schemes to protect their content that harm your ability to use your PC for its real-world job. For, after all, no one buys a PC in order to play music or movies – we have stereos and TVs for that. We buy PCs to do word processing, play games, browse the internet, email friends and colleagues, create flyers, handle our digital photos and so forth. Many jobs a PC does can be (and have already been) harmed by these DRM schemes. Unless they change their way of thinking, the content companies will find themselves either driving customers away because we cannot trust what they are trying to sell us – or at the receiving end of some large lawsuits.

For an amusing example of how DRM has already turned and bitten Hollywood, read about how it has probably cost Spielberg his chance at a BAFTA.

pax et bonum

More patches for Windows

Microsoft released two more critical patches on Tuesday, The Register reports. “Exploitation of these vulnerabilities creates a means for hackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service on a vulnerable system.“ Or, in other words, visiting a website or opening an HTML email could lead to someone else taking control of your PC. Patch now, patch often.

pax et bonum

Falling sand game

The ultimate falling sand game.
(_Thanks to Anne for the tip._)

Good books

Amazon book reviews for the 100 best novels of all time. Not the good ones – just the (unintentionally) funny ones!
(_Thanks to Tony for the tip._)

Zero-day vulnerability

The Register is reporting a new and very worrying vulnerability in WindowsXP (all versions). If you’re running WindowsXP, read and learn, then patch or change OS. Yes, it’s that serious.

Microsoft customers are in big trouble. In my time at SecurityFocus, I have never seen such potential for damage or such a far-reaching vulnerability…A single wrong click, even by an experienced security professional, and it’s game over. A simple search in Google and one click is all it takes…A week after the zero-day vulnerability bites hard one of the world’s most influential software companies, we’re told it will be still another week until there is a fix. Based on the severity of this issue, the time delay is unacceptable. Installing the unofficial patch is highly recommended.

pax et bonum

100 things we didn't know this time last year

The BBC have listed a collection of 100 obscure but true facts from their posts during the year. Among these gems are the following:

63. It takes less energy to import a tomato from Spain than to grow them in [the UK] because of the artificial heat needed, according to Defra.
68. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold one copy every minute since its 1969 publication.
100. Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a “public performance”.

pax et bonum

Holidays over, back to normal

Apologies for the lengthy gap in posting. This is largely down to the holidays, but also to my playing with two new operating systems. I’ve just upgraded my main desktop PC to SUSE Linux 10.0 – if you’ve never tried Linux (or even tried it more than a couple of years ago), I’d seriously recommend giving it a try. You can download LiveCDs and LiveDVDs, which will run linux on your Windows PC without having to install anything so that you can dip your toes in the water (although CD-based running will be slower than an installed system).

But the other new OS was Mac OS X. Just before Christmas, my work was selling off some old laptops and I picked up a 3-year-old iBook for £130, which wasn’t bad. A quick installation of OS X 10.3 (not the most recent version, because that could use a bit more grunt than this old laptop can muster) and I’ve got a very usable system. I’ve not used a Mac much since the old days of OS7, 8 and 9, so X was interesting. And, seriously, it’s excellent. For anyone needing a new computer, give a Mac a try. They knock the pants off WindowsXP for usability and safety. The family-friendly features are stunning (including being able to control the websites your child views and who they can email or chat with, very easily indeed). And the interface is much less ugly

Anyhow, normal service should now be resumed. And, as you will soon see, I’ve quite a backlog of chat to get off my chest.

pax et bonum

GW Bush is a Saint

Bush is a Saint – nice

Entertaining angels

Kathryn at Good in Parts reminds us of why we need to keep our eyes and hearts open.

Theology Matters

Hammer talks about why he does theology – and why we all need to give some thought to it.

Son of Man

This sounds rather interesting – a real modern take on the Jesus story.
(_Thanks to Mike for the tip._)

Most Brits don't believe in evolution

The Register is reporting a poll by the BBC for Horizon. This poll said that only 48% of Britons believe that evolution “best described their view of the origin and development of life” – 22% plumped for Creationism and 13% for Intelligent Design. (As I’ve posted before about ID, I don’t think it’s terribly intelligent, and one interesting point here is that so few people went for this option – only slightly more than the 12% who said “Don’t know”.)

Interestingly, 69% thought that evolution should be taught in school science lessons but, worryingly (to me, at least), 44% said that Creationism should be taught in science lessons, and 41% that ID should (and, yes, that adds up to more than 100% ). The worrying part to me is that they’re talking about “science lessons”. I have no trouble with Creationism and ID being taught in schools – provided it’s in religion or philosophy lessons. Neither is science so (whatever their worth) they don’t belong in a science lesson any more than they belong in a French lesson. If we want to teach how certain parts of the Christian Church believe the world was made, that’s religion not science. If we want to teach how certain parts of the Christian Church are trying to accomodate science into a Creationist worldview (as with ID), that’s still religion, not science.

ID has a long road to go before it can legitimately claim to be scientific (remember Michael Behe’s unfortunate admission?). Until it meets the most basic criteria for being part of science, it must be honest about what it is.

pax et bonum

Peace

Maggi shares this thought: “Peace be with you. What’s next?“

Of rats and humans

Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.
Wendell Berry

(_Thanks to Mike for this one._)

pax et bonum

Blurring the line?

Father Jake shares some concerns about where his Church (the Episcopal Church of the USA) is going on some issues and, in the process, makes an important point.

Will I leave the Episcopal Church over this? Of course not. That is one of the wonderful things about the Episcopal Church; I can protest against the leadership and never fear being silenced, denied communion, or excommunicated for my outrage. I can argue with my bishop, and then share in the sacramental life with him or her. Such graciousness makes room for further reflection and conversation, which often leads to the eventual realization that I might just be wrong.

pax et bonum

To Be or Not To Be...Catholic

Mike at WorD muses on where we would stand had we been around during the Reformation.

Moose thinking

Dr Moose muses on issues of movement, trust and control.

A neutral world view?

Maggi has some good thoughts on whether there is truly such a thing as a “neutral worldview”. Atheists (in particular) often claim that they are neutral but of course they’re not. I’ve often heard claims of this form: “if theists assert that God exists, the burden of proof lies with them; if they cannot make their case, atheism is the default position.“

Now, I cannot for the life of me see why this should be true. The base assumption behind this statement is atheistic – in other words, it assumes the atheist is right beforehand. Why should the atheist’s claim be the default position? It’s by far the minority both historically and currently. The default human belief has always been in the divine – surely the atheist needs to present evidence to refute this! Now, if we said that agnosticism should be the default position, I’d be more sympathetic. But, truth be told, true agnosticism isn’t a position, merely a declaration that one is currently unconvinced of either position (theistic or atheistic).

One thing that’s intriguing me at the moment is what’s happening to science in our culture. Science is the rational investigation of the world by experiment and hypothesis – in other words, we observe events and concoct theories to explain them; then, we make new observations to see whether the theory holds up. What is odd is how the language of science is being used to create a new form of magic. We’ve all seen (I’m sure) various devices claiming to have healing powers owing to their “magnetic properties”, their “vibrational energy” or their ability to “tap into the quantum ether”. What is startling is that people accept these claims. They understand the language of science as the new form of incantation that will placate the Universe.

And this is all the more odd because of the alleged “secularisation” of our culture. If we were really becoming secular, we wouldn’t see this (and other manifestations of wild faith). What I think is really happening is a change in the way we describe the magical and spiritual – with a new form of words that owes only the slightest debt to science.

pax et bonum

Anti-religious hysteria

“Frank Furedi” has some interesting thoughts on the curious rise of anti-religious hysteria.
(_Thanks to Maggi for the tip._)

Why models?

Mike at WorD posted this excellent quote from Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie. It’s a cogent analysis of how we can allow our models of the world to blind us to the world.

Why models?
Well, in an effort to cope with the incomprehensibility of infinite reality, we ever-curious, ever-pondering, compulsively controlling Homo sapiens create theoretical models. These models are ingenious beams of speculation that we use to penetrate and define the dark mysteries of boundless existence. Sometimes elegantly structured, usually self-confirming, our models are like the headlights of a car, designed to light our way. Whatever is illuminated becomes our truth, and we organize our lives around it. But this light we create can also blind us. Too often we are blinded into believing that our models are the whole reality, forgetting that they are simply useful fact/fantasy coping devices.
The more fully we believe a model is reality, the more rigid the model becomes. And the more rigid it becomes, the more it confines us. There is a sense of security in this, the sense of security that comes from being contained by the “known” and thus shielded from the threat of the unknown. So the mixed blessing of models is that while they can generate a sense of coherence through a groundedness (in “knowledge”), they can also, if used without mindfulness, become addicting anesthetics to the pain of an inscrutable universe and further insulate us from full reality, which is the realm of infinite possibilities.

pax et bonum

Heresies

Sven has posted an explanation of the various answers to his heresy quiz.

Sven on Galatians

Sven has been a busy boy. Again. He’s produced a rather nice study of Galatians looking specifically at what Paul means when he writes of “works of the law” and “the curse of the law”. It’s divided into 3 parts for easier digestion: 1, 2 and 3.

Quote of the week

Sven has a good quote up on his site at the moment (check the top of his right-hand sidebar):

Antitheistic writers almost invariably assume a conception of the divine purpose which is contrary to the Christian conception. They assume that the purpose of a loving God must be to create a hedonistic paradise; and therefore the extent that the world is other than this, it proves to them that God is either not loving enough nor powerful enough to create such a world. They think of God’s relation to the earth on the model of a human being building a cage for a pet animal to live in…Those who use the problem of evil as an argument against belief in God almost invariably think of God in this kind of way.
John Hick

alastair.adversaria

I was recently pointed to alastair.adversaria, which has lots of insightful stuff on it – not always stuff to agree with, of course, but that’s even better

For starters, then, he makes some good points about the evangelical testimony and why its standard form is a bad thing. I’ve been through these things myself, and I think he’s on to something here. Then, he quotes from an excellent article about NT Wright and why some people can’t take any disagreement with what they think they know. Finally, he also linked to a rather excellent article from Christianity Today about what Aslan could learn from that other profound cat, Hobbes.

So, go and give him a try.

pax et bonum

Man and woman?

Tobias makes some excellent points about the whole homosexuality debate.

The works of Sven

Sven has been a busy boy over the Christmas holidays. First (and second), he’s been continuing his look at how the early church viewed the atonement; that is, how it understood the life, death and resurrection of Christ. If you think that penal substitution is the be-all and end-all of things, you should read and learn. There is a lot more depth and wisdom there than is captured in that single model.

The Fathers are unanimous in affirming that the Devil was defeated and overcome in the atonement, but they do not all agree a) as to the nature of the rights and dominion that Satan had over man before the atonement and b) how exactly Christ’s work was effectual in destroying the power of the devil. The most commonly held view is that ever since the Fall, the Devil has enjoyed uncontested rights and powers over humanity but this is found alongside the idea that the Devil did not win his rights over man legitimately but is rather some kind of usurper who does not actually enjoy any real rights over mankind…The Fathers themselves do not generally express the idea of ransom in [terms that are] easily dismissed in the way that some have attempted to do. Gregory of Nyssa went to great lengths to show that the deliverance of mankind from the power of the Devil was entirely lawful…John Chrysostom develops the idea in still another direction by suggesting that Satan acts as some kind of cruel tyrant who tortures those whom he rules over, but since he has no right to torture or kill Christ, his killing of Christ then makes him a debtor to God and to pay off his debt he is forced to relinquish ownership of all of enslaved humanity…it must also be made clear that although the transaction between God and the Devil is often expressed in legal terms does not mean that the grand scheme of atonement is thought of as a taking place within a cosmic legal framework, as would be the case in the Latin model of Atonement that would arise later.

Not only that, though, but he also shares an excellent analysis of what Paul means by “works of the law” – and it’s not what is often supposed. The Jews were not involved in some attempt to prove themselves worthy by doing good deeds.

It seems clear here then that [the “works of law”] are rather functioning as a boundary marker between clean and unclean and between Jew and Gentile. The people of God are being defined not by their faith in the Messiah, but by ritual works of the Torah (in this case, circumcision and food laws), which simply cannot be the case, Paul is saying, because faith in Christ identifies one as a true believer, not Jewish ritual. Furthermore not only is faith in Christ sufficient for salvation, but it is also sufficient grounds for fellowship with others (what does this do to our beliefs about ecumenism?). Works of the law only bring division, not the unity that Christ brings…Paul’s point is this: the Gentile Christians have already shown themselves to be in the faith and to have received Spirit…quite apart from any Jewish legalistic observance. Why then would they, like Peter, want to now go and become circumcised and follow Torah? Their faith in Christ was sufficient for them to be in Christ and thus part of God’s people…“the works of the law” does not need to have the works-righteousness label applied to it as [some] seem to think, but that it actually makes more sense in the historical context of Galatians to read it in the manner I have suggested.

Finally, he reminds us that “We are not saved by faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ“ – too often a necessary issue to stress.

pax et bonum

Words and the word

Maggi writes about the way we treat the Bible – from the old family Bible that was a talisman recording births, marriages and deaths, through the most-holy and unapproachable Word, to the mainstream Christian view of the Bible.

within our belief system the scriptures are not a Holy BOOK as such. Rather, they are a collection of books that convey the knowledge of something, someone, Holy…Ultimately the book itself it is dispensible, because it is not deemed to be the words (literally) of God, but a witness to the Word of God (Jesus Christ). There will be no Bible on a stand in Heaven.

pax et bonum

Are you a heretic?

Sven has created a new quiz – Are you a heretic?. Go find out

Apparently, I’m not a heretic! You want proof? Here goes…

You scored as Chalcedon compliant.
You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you’re not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451.
100% Chalcedon compliant
67% Pelagianism
25% Modalism
25% Monophysitism
17% Monarchianism
8% Donatism
0% Arianism
0% Apollanarian
0% Adoptionist
0% Docetism
0% Gnosticism
0% Nestorianism
0% Albigensianism
0% Socinianism
Are you a heretic?
created with QuizFarm.com

pax et bonum

Free 2006 Cartoon Calendar

Dave Walker of the Cartoon Church has posted a free 2006 Cartoon Calendar.
(_Thanks to Maggi for the tip_)