Thank god for subaruforester.org, or else this would have caught me by complete surprise when I went to install the new deck.  There’s even a guy on the forums that makes a mounting kit for the rear sub that will make it seamless and appear to be a factory install, so no loss of trunk space.

This is going to be a long, complicated upgrade.

Net Neutrality, at it’s most basic idea, is the idea that bits should be considered bits only – that bits shouldn’t be treated differently based on where they are from, where they are going, or what they are carrying.  Now, any techie will tell you this is unreasonable – the very underlying technology that provides for the Internet violates this (Time To Live field in IP).  And I’ve used quality of service (QoS) settings in my house to great effect, which would be verboten under such a regime.  Ditto for network protection measures.

So it’s not about treating all bits the same.  Fair enough, that was a simplification.  The real fear regarding the issues of Net Neutrality is this: some people are worried about corporations cutting deals to lock out people from the Internet and it will become a gated community (usually with political connotations).  Others are worried that the government will take control and turn the Internet into a political football and regulate away the dynamic nature of it.  Depending on which you worry about more generally determines where you end up on the divide.

There are a couple of points I’d like to make here:  First, we currently have de facto if not de jure Net Neutrality.  No service provider I’ve had blocks me from going to the many sundry and controversial parts of the web.  As such, arguments for Net Neutrality are based on a perceived threat, and not an actual one.

Second, the most likely means of Net Neutrality is through FCC oversight.  In response to a point my friend made about with government oversight, at least “we can vote the bastards out”, the members of the FCC are appointed bureaucrats and not elected.  In fact, I honestly couldn’t name any member of the FCC beyond Michael Powell, who (rather infamously) oversaw the FCC during the surge of decency complaints following Super Bowl XXXVIII.  As such, the oversight of the FCC regarding the Internet would be controlled by people appointed to the position, and reflect the political winds of the time but insulated from voter retribution.  Unless you believe your political ideology will rule from here on out, this should be a worry for you.

Third, consider the primary broadband provider in any given area – the cable provider.  Sure, DSL exists, but it’s much narrower than cable.  Cable is building on top of an infrastructure that allows it to provide TV and other services.  This combined infrastructure gives it a much larger revenue stream than just broadband.  And that revenue stream means that they are able to pursue the costs of meeting the regulatory requirements necessary to move into a given market.

Now, admittedly, my knowledge in the area of municipal telecom regulations is somewhat murky, but what I’ve read seems to backup my general belief that most corporate unseemliness is either enabled or caused by government regulation (and the manipulation thereof).  For instance, a couple of years ago, the FCC forced a relaxation in the requirements for entry into the cable market.  In ruling in favor of the FCC’s action, a US court noted, “For example, Verizon’s comments indicated that, of its 113 franchise negotiations pending as of March 2005, only ten resulted in franchise grants after one year.”  Additionally, “[C]omments submitted by service provider Qwest indicated that it withdrew franchise applications in eight different regions due to economically burdensome build-out requirements.” (See here, pages 19 and 20).

Now, this situation has me a bit conflicted.  On the one hand, as a big believer in federalism, I feel that it’s, as a general rule, proper to devolve authority to the lowest levels possible.  But at the same time, when it’s the actions of the local community that make it too burdensome to enter into the market, I hardly feel it’s right to complain about the lack of competition.

These three points lead me to the conclusion that there is not a clear and present danger to the spirit of the Internet as it’s existed, that the granting to the government of additional oversight in the way the Internet is run brings with it new and unnecessary hazards, and that the best way to preserve de facto Net Neutrality is to further ease the regulatory and bureaucratic requirements on companies wishing to enter into the market.

I came across this on TechBargains, and I think it was put there more as a joke than anything.  Here is the description:

May I pour you some more bubbly, Sharksters? No? You’d prefer a wine cooler, perhaps? Great. Sip on that for a moment. Then let me divert your attention to the moon overhead. Beautiful, isn’t it? You see, every once in a blue moon, ChronoShark smiles upon our Automatic Watch enthusiasts. And what’s that overhead? That’s right, Sharksters. It’s a blue moon, and it’s beautiful.

Are you ready to take your watch collection to the next level? If you own multiple automatic watches and don’t have a multi-slot watch winder, you don’t know what you’ve been missing! An automatic watch winder keeps your watch perfectly wound and keeping time when you’re not wearing it! Founded in 1834 and still family-owned, Wolf Designs is the recognized leader in luxurious and advanced automatic watch rotators. Swiss movement engineering is what distinguishes Wolf Designs’ hand-crafted rotators as the ultimate way to preserve the time and date on your favorite automatic timepieces! Other watch winders may over or under-wind luxurious timepieces like Cartier, Baume Mercier, or Panerai. Why would anyone choose anything less than the patented technology of the industry leader? Today, ChronoShark is super-excited to offer an unprecedented deal on this brand-new and authentic Wolf Designs Module 2.0 three slot rotator!

A watch winder is a must-have accessory for people that don’t wear their automatic watch every day or for those with multiple automatic watches in their collection. Automatic watches operate using a self-winding mechanism which utilizes a moving weight within the watch case. The natural movement of the wearer’s wrist causes the weight to spin and the spring to be wound. Typically, when not worn for over a day, the power stored is depleted and the watch stops… which, of course, means you’ll need to reset the time the next time you want to wear it.

Watch winders work by rotating an inserted automatic watch in circular patterns mimicking natural human movements. This motion keeps your watch perfectly wound and keeping precise time! If you have more than one automatic watch, this watch winder will certainly be put to good use!

The Wolf Designs Module 2.0 Three Slot Rotator doesn’t just keep your watch perfectly wound, it also protects your watch from problems that other rotators may often cause. The winder incorporates a patented sleep cycle pattern to better simulate natural wear. This means that the watch will rotate for a total of 6 hours a day and ‘sleep’ for 18 hours (a blinking LED indicates sleep mode). This critical sleep cycle allows the mainspring to unwind – the way it would with normal wear. The winder also utilizes a selectable delay timer to delay the start of winding by either 10 seconds or 12 hours, further ensuring that the mechanism inside your watch is not wound more than it should be. Regardless of the weight or size of your watch, it will rotate precisely 600 times per day (other rotators may over- or under-rotate light or heavy watches). This level of accuracy is provided by Wolf Designs’ proprietary integrated quartz-eye counter.

Renowned not just for their function, Wolf Designs winders are truly works of art that you will be proud to display in your home! The rotator features a rich black Genuine leather covered hardwood case with 3 rotators plus additional storage for 4 watches and a removable travel case for 1 more watch, making it the perfect storage solution for your growing collection. Nylon gears make this rotator super-quiet and its lovely design will enhance the decor of any room! The rotator is powered by either 110/220 AC power (works internationally) or with D cell batteries (battery life is approximately 4-6 months). Plus, the motor is shielded from electrical emissions. This absolutely critical feature ensures that your watch will not become magnetized!

The “sale price” was $450.  Apparently, “automatic watches” are watches that are powered through human movement, so this product mimics natural movement in order to maintain the state of the watch.  Sheesh

By analyzing a public data set called the “Death Master File,” which contains SSNs and birth information for people who have died, computer scientists from Carnegie Mellon University discovered distinct patterns in how the numbers are assigned. In many cases, knowing the date and state of an individual’s birth was enough to predict a person’s SSN.

“With just two attempts, the researchers correctly guessed the first five digits of SSNs for 60 percent of deceased Americans born between 1989 and 2003. With fewer than 1,000 attempts, they could identify the entire nine digits for 8.5 percent of the group.”

“A botnet can be programmed to try variations of a Social Security number to apply for an instant credit card,” Acquisti said. “In 60 seconds, these services tell you whether you are approved or not, so they can be abused to tell whether you’ve hit the right social security number.”

It also turns out that some SSNs are easier to predict than others. Because of the way numbers are assigned, younger people and those born in less populated states are more at risk, Acquisti said. Before 1988, many people didn’t apply for an SSN until they left for college or got their first job. But thanks to an anti-fraud effort in 1988 called the “Enumeration at Birth” initiative, parents started applying for their child’s number at birth, making it much easier to predict based on a person’s birthday.

But reports were coming in that these new drives seemed to really suck. Anandtech had a look at the problem while reviewing the new Intel SSD. Turns out that most of the SSD manufacturers are actually using the same parts, that is a Jmicron controller with Samsung memory, and there is a problem with that combination that results in *very* slow write times – so bad it’s actually worse than a normal drive and results in system instability.

OCZ, who used that combination with their Core series of SSD’s, seem to still be having teething problems, if one were to judge by the hoops people are jumping through in their forums to get everything working. Looks like good, affordable SSD is at least a year away (unless Intel does *way* better than expected).