WINDING DOWN
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net, technology and science news
by Alan Lenton
And yet another issue of Winding Down (the 585th edition to be precise) hits the wire... So what do we have for you? Well, how about UK government computer losses, EU ID Card idiocy, Japanese prints, math and programming, an ancient mobile computer, and London ancient history. URLs point to tech on the International Space Station, secret smart meter plans, fast carbon capture, password creation, DNA data storage, and DIY tech projects.
I think we are moving into the summer period where there is little serious news to be gathered, and governments try to sneak in dastardly plots while no one is watching. Never fear, though, we here at IB towers will continue to scan the data lines for material that we think you will like – or at least feel you needed to know, even if you don’t like what they are doing.
And now, on with this week’s collection...
Shorts:
I see that the UK Home Office (that’s our equivalent of the Justice ministry, with a few extra functions bolted on) managed to lose 125 mobile devices (phones) last year, not to mention a dozen or so laptops lost or stolen. It recovered just one of them.
It wouldn’t be so bad, were it not for the fact that the department is busy consolidating all its disparate databases into a single searchable database. Included in the new database with be the last two year’s car journeys as logged by traffic cameras, passport data databases, and police databases, to name but a few. It’s also developing apps for mobile devices to search this database.
But that’s not all. the Home Office suffered a total of 33 data breaches in the same period. Yes, that’s thirty three – more than one every two weeks. It includes a case of MI5 (the UK counterintelligence service) losing a load of paper documents containing, and I quote, “sensitive personal information relating to security vetting”. What a bunch of... Well, never mind, this is a family newsletter!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/03/home_office_staff_recovered_one_out_
of_111_mobile_phones_over_2015/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/03/home_office_mega_database/
The latest bright idea to come out of the EU is that of using national government issued ID to log on to the Internet. The Brit government would just love the idea. They’ve tried to force ID cards on the populace more times than I’ve had hot dinners (well, maybe not quite as much). Each time they’ve been defeated by popular movements against it. The one time they did, understandably, succeed was in the Second World War. However, when they tried to keep the card up after the war, they were defeated by what amounted to a campaign of civil disobedience backed by magistrates who refused to find people charged with not carrying their cards guilty!
No wonder the government are in favour of staying in the EU, since this could be used for yet another crack at enforcing ID cards!
http://news.softpedia.com/news/eu-exploring-idea-of-using-government-id-cards-as-mandatory-online-logins-505026.shtml
Homework:
Spoon & Tamago have just reproduced a bunch of fantastic illustrations of Tokyo views on their web site. It’s part of a project by illustrator Shinji Tsuchimochi entitled ‘100 Views of Tokyo’ (Japanese print aficionados will recognise the nod to Hokusai’s ‘Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji’). You should definitely take a look – I can’t wait for the book to come out!
http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2016/05/25/100-views-of-tokyo-by-illustrator-shinji-tsuchimochi/
https://www.behance.net/shinjitsuchimochi
Here’s something to think about. Does math help programming, or does programming help math? I Programmer recently produced a piece on the topic, and it makes an interesting read. Certainly, judging from the job adverts I see, a lot of employers seem to think that you need math to program. I’m not so sure. One of the points the article makes is that maths formulae are merely an expression of the algorithm required to solve the problem. I have never put it in those terms, but as a non-mathematician, I have been known to claim that if a mathematician were to explain the formula in the form of an algorithm, I could program it.
I may have been fortunate that no one has ever taken me up on that one!
Nonetheless I think that there is a strong element of truth in my assertion. And I expect that the author of the piece would agree with me. But what about the reverse – that being able to program helps maths? I think that’s fascinating, and it flows naturally from the idea that math formulae are a way of expressing algorithms. If you can grasp that idea, and you have been taught some basic programming, then surely it will be easier to understand the meaning of the math.
I’d recommend taking a look at the article. Its ideas seem to make sense to me.
http://www.i-programmer.info/professional-programmer/i-programmer/9804.html
Geek Stuff:
Ah! They don’t make mobile computers like they used to! You youngsters with your portable phones. Pah! Mere toys. Now for a real mobile computer you have to go back to 1959 for the US Army’s Mobile Digital Computer, aka MOBIDIC. OK, I admit it wasn’t that easy to move around, but since the army thoughtfully build it into its own articulated lorry, as long as you lived near an interstate highway, moving it wasn’t that much of a problem...
Don’t believe me? No? Well, in that case I can only refer you to The Computer History Archive Project, and the clip they posted to YouTube showing the beast. And, don’t you want to just drool over those panels of switches...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ9Lk2min4w
London:
If you are in London, and you like history, then you’ve come to the right place! You need to take a walk round London. Especially the City of London. The City, sometimes known as ‘The Square Mile’ is not just the financial centre of London, it also covers the oldest parts of London. Some of the stuff there has been around for nearly 2,000 years (some of the newer stuff has only been there for 2,000 minutes, but that’s another story).
If you are a ‘Da Vinci Code’ fan you can visit the Temple Church. It really is there – consecrated in 1185. Alternatively you could go and have a look at a Roman bath house under an office block in Lower Thames Street, or the Roman Amphitheatre dating from AD70 in the basement of the Guildhall.
After the British Queen, Boudicca burned the city to the ground in AD61, the Romans decided that perhaps they’d better build some walls round the city – something which took them 100 years to complete. Remains of those walls are still visible. And, of course, there’s the wonderful Museum of London, which is chock full of ancient London goodies. It’s not very well known, which is a pity, because it’s a great place to browse the history of London.
You absolutely -have- to explore old London by foot. You can’t get vehicles down most of the more interesting alleys. Go for it!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/the-other-london-underground-see-the-ancient-city-that-lies-beneath-the-modern-metropolis/2016/06/09/96712be2-115a-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12_story.html
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london
Scanner:
The tech that astronauts use on the ISS
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/from-windows-10-linux-ipads-iphones-to-hololens-the-tech-space-station-astronauts-use/
As US court bans smart meter blueprints from public, sysadmin tells of fight for security info
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/27/phil_mocek_seattle_smart_meters/
Quickfire carbon capture method turns CO2 into solid rock within two years
http://www.gizmag.com/carbon-capture-rock-two-years/43787/
The days of long, complicated passwords are over [I’ll believe that when I see it – AL]
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3077473/security/the-days-of-long-complicated-passwords-are-over.html
Tech turns to biology as data storage needs explode
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tech-turns-to-biology-as-data-storage-needs-explode/
This mini computer is opening possibilities for DIY tech projects
http://www.33rdsquare.com/2016/04/this-mini-computer-is-opening.html
Acknowledgements
Thanks to readers Barb and Fi for drawing my attention to material for Winding Down.
Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
12 June 2016
Alan Lenton is an on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist, the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/index.html.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.
