What would be your guess if I told you that there is such a place in the world synonymous with world-class innovation? What if I told that if you wanted to make a name for yourself as an innovator over the next five years, this is place to be? If I said it is a wide-open marketplace standing a billion customers strong with a cumulative GDP growth projected at 7 per cent by 2011, what say you? What if I screamed it is a youthful pool of talent, half a billion under the age of 15? What if I told you it has the highest potential for ICT sector growth than anywhere else in the world? What would be your first thought?...[continue reading]
Judi Wakhungustated that"...the poor are actually a source of opportunity because they are often willing to work much harder than the rich, are more adaptable, physically often stronger, more resilient and often more industrious and innovative in the face of challenges. What they do lack is access to credit, technology and markets. They are the creative underclass waiting to burst out. Poor people too have talent and intelligence, and it is African society's responsibility to discover talents and develop them...We need to redesign products for poor countries around their needs. The poor need technologies to tap their unrecognised talents and convert their arid land to food-producing, the trash to art, and their voluminous labour to capital..."
Sarah Palin is not running for President, nor should she- she has a thin resume, has represented very few people, has little executive experience, is not electable in a general election, and has a sometimes shaky grasp of complicated policies. Don't misunderstand me though- I like Sarah Palin- it isn't her fault few people live in Alaska, her unfavorable numbers are mostly the result of a deplorable media campaign to smear her, and every year she is demonstrating more knowledge of important policies. But there are better choices out there for President right now for the Republican Party- Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.
This does not mean though that Sarah Palin doesn't matter- quite the contrary, she has a large and devoted following, she has a knack for phrases and sayings that we common people can relate to, and in the coming 2012 election she will be a force to reckon with. But after 2012 is when I really think we'll be able to really see the future of Sarah Palin, when she is appointed as Secretary of Energy for the new GOP President.
Democrat President Barack Obama decided after he became President to surround himself with weak talent and people would would not outshine his brilliance, but the new Republican President won't likely make this mistake, and instead will stock his cabinet with talent to cultivate so that in 2020 the GOP will have a new generation of leaders that will blow the current generation of place-holders out of the way. Sarah Palin is one of this next generation.
Sarah Palin has extensive experience in energy policy already, and a reputation of being a fair and shrewd policy maker in this area. She is only 47, and after being Secretary of Energy for 8 years and putting in place policies that encourage drilling, nuclear power, and pro-growth energy, she will be one of the key reasons why America will have recovered from the malaise that marked the Obama years. At 55, she could run for President then, or even wait more and run in 2024, combining her energy and drive and common sense with an extensive resume of policy implementation and leadership of a major cabinet level position.
Sarah Palin for Secretary of Energy!
UPDATE: Rather than get into a war of words with my readers, whom I really do treasure for coming to my site, I thought it might be helpful to remind everyone of how great Palin could be:
Privatization essentially increases the role of the private sector in the national economy and induces changes in basic values and attitudes in a society. The common characteristic features of countries which rely primarily on the private sector and free markets are freedom, basic human rights and democracy. These values are important to the development of the private sector and the acceptance of privatization would initiate a fundamental shift toward democratic values...The privatization process can also be a significant positive influence in the development of African entrepreneurial talent. In the statist development strategy of the past, indigenous entrepreneurial talent had neither been solicited nor its role recognized and encouraged. As the result, local entrepreneurs moved to where domestic opportunities were open to them, the informal sector...The new spirit toward privatization and market oriented policies is likely to bring entrepreneurs into the formal sector where they can learn and be trained in the tools of modern finance, commerce, and management. As they become more skilled and educated in an environment of freedom and private enterprise they are bound to make significant contribution to economic progress of their nations.
To a greater extent than any of the other regional powers in global “football,” African star players leave their countries and sub-regions to play for higher-paying clubs elsewhere in the world, usually in Europe, which has the best and highest-paying club teams on the planet, and increasingly in Asia and the Middle East. The exodus of football talent from Africa mirrors the general “brain drain” from the world’s poorest continent. The outflow of footballing talent from Africa is singular; it impoverishes African sporting life – and civil life generally — in a more profound way than when Brazilian joins the Italian league, a German plays for Chelsea or a Japanese suits up for a Spanish club.
Continuing he asks:
what’s the damage from “football imperialism.?” I’d argue that even elite Africans in Africa still suffer from an inferiority complex, around race and place, which fuels brain drain and a lack of a “stake” in their own countries, where many talented people – from doctors to goal keepers to university professors – feel under-appreciated because they are under-appreciated. So club football is a kind of proxy for a dysfunctional modernization process in Africa, and in African cities especially.
Don't buy the narrative that the main-stream media is selling regarding the Republican Primary- the truth of the matter is that Mitt Romney is not having trouble putting away a weak field of Republicans because he is unlikable and doesn't connect with voters, but rather he is doing pretty much exactly as good a job as other past non-incumbents did in close primary races and is doing a good job of winning over key voters and will soon with the nomination over a highly qualified and determined primary field. Although the liberals and progressives and elites in the media want you to think otherwise, analysis and data (as usual) destroys their uneducated arguments and shallow judgements.
Via Powerlineblog comes this excellent analysis from John Hinderaker called THE MORNING AFTER:
...So Romney has won 56% of all of the delegates that have been chosen so far. Normally that would be considered a strong performance, but Mitt struggles to get respect from the commentariat.... But by historic standards, there is no reason to scoff at Romney’s performance so far. After Super Tuesday in 2008, John McCain had won 740 of the 1,235 delegates that had been selected, or 60%. On the Democratic side, Barack Obama had a hair over 50% of the delegates, leading Hillary Clinton 965-951. Were reporters then talking about the Democratic contest “plodding on” as Obama “failed to land a knockout blow?” Of course not: they thought the contest was a thrilling one, because they liked both candidates.
Or consider 1992, when the Democratic presidential field was considered so weak that the candidates were called the “seven dwarves.” Bill Clinton, who we now know was a politician of genius, won that race. But as of early March 1992, Clinton was running behind “uncommitted” and, of the committed delegates, he had won just 57%. By early April, Clinton had 68% of the committed delegates (a much lower percentage if uncommitted delegates were counted) against some of the weakest competition ever: Paul Tsongas and Jerry Brown....
...So by historic standards, Romney is within the ballpark of what one would expect from a non-incumbent candidate who goes on to win his party’s nomination.
The truth of the matter is that Mitt Romney is winning against a very good field of candidates- a two-term Senator who is a gifted speaker and has a solid person life named Rick Santorum (a resume that is superior to President Obama in 2008), a former Speaker of the House of Representatives named Newt Gingrich (a resume that is superior to President Obama in 2008), and a long-time Congressman who is a veteran and doctor and has a committed following (a resume that is superior to President Obama in 2008). And Romney has already knocked out of the race several other good candidates- the Governor of booming Texas named Rick Perry (who has a resume that was superior to President Obama in 2008) and a former Governor and Ambassador named John Huntsman (who has a resume that was superior to President Obama in 2008).
This is a strong field, especially at a time period when the Republican Party is transitioning away from the old guard liberal establishment of Bush and McCain and Dole towards the new conservative talent of Paul Ryan and Bobby Jindhal and Sarah Palin and others. The GOP is at an odd place where the Reagan and conservative revolution generation is too old or too discredited and the new tea party generation is too young and untested- and yet a guy like Mitt Romney has a strong resume and background and talents that has enabled him to ably bridge this gap.
Even in a rather down year, the GOP has a wealth of talent and ideas to offer to contrast to the tired and old partisanship and personal attacks that President Obama is offering, and Mitt Romney has connected with voters and fought a national and organized campaign to take a solid and commanding primary lead. This is the narrative, based on an analysis of the resumes of his opponents and the delegate math in comparison to other primaries, and this is the narrative that the media is refusing to tell because of its sloppy reporting, personal bias, and lack of quality research.
Mitt Romney is doing a great job of rising to the top of a group of able Republicans who would all do a better job of being President than Barack Obama. This is the true narrative of the Republican Primary race of 2012.
Let's think big picture here folks- in 2012, we have a chance to elect to the House and Senate people (and I honestly don't care what party they are from) who will push for a balanced budget, reform of our entitlement programs so that they will be more fiscally sound, protection of private property, lower and more fair tax rates (more fair means flatter with less loopholes for politically connected elites), less regulations on businesses, more liberty and freedom for consumers and investors, and increased efficiency in the delivery of government services. These sorts of 'tea party' Congressman will drive the agenda, generate ideas, and provide oversight to the other two branches.
In the meantime, we have a chance to rally behind an effective and able clerk of a President, Mitt Romney, who will capably exercise the executive powers of the United States and serve as a good diplomat, effective CEO, able commander-in-chief, and solid head of state. Sure, he probably isn't going to generate the ideas, drive the agenda, or be a mover-and-shaker in the White House- but he'll be good enough for the next 4 to 8 years, and that's okay too.
Furthermore, if the Republican Party rallies behind Romney and helps him to defeat Barack Obama, there is an opportunity to stock his administration with the kid of talent that will help set up the future of our nation over the next several years. Romney can name as his Vice President or put in his administration as top cabinet officers some young, exciting, conservatives- people who currently are not considered for the President because they lack executive experience and a track record of success at the national level- the very things that they can get while serving in a Romney administration. Remember people, this isn't a liberal blog, so I don't think people are just entitled to positions of authority and power and I actually think results and experience matter- so let's give our young, exciting, conservative Tea Party voices the experience and track record of success to pair with their ideas and views, and assure our nation a brighter future.
Previously I have suggested that he name as his Vice President Sarah Palin, arguing that she would be a positive asset to his campaign and would provide his administration with a great voice (I've also suggested that Palin be named as Secretary of Energy, another effective use of her talents). Other great candidates who Romney could pick for Vice President or Cabinet positions are Michelle Bachmann, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Allen West, Jeb Bush, or even Rand Paul. All of these people would balance the ticket and be the sort of young, exciting, passionate conservatives who would bring a great voice to Washington and get experience and gain in leadership to set up future runs for the President. Imagine all of them in an administration headed up by Romney with a Republican Congress dominated by tea-party types, and your day is sure to brighten!
Even further outside the box though is Condoleezza Rice. People aren't talking about her, but she would make an amazing VP and addition to the ticket, and if not VP she could step in right away and be an immediate asset as a cabinet Secretary of State. The Washington Times recently reminded that she is still out there:
...America’s first black female secretary of state is quietly positioning herself to be the top choice of the eventual Republican presidential nominee, ready to deliver bona fide foreign-policy credentials lacking among the candidates. The 56-year-old has recently raised her profile, releasing her memoir in November and embarking on a monthlong book tour.
After 2 1/2 years as a professor at Stanford, Miss Rice is reportedly getting “antsy” to get back into the political game. “She’s ready to go,” said one top source.
Ready indeed. She still rises at 5:30 a.m. and runs through a vigorous P90X workout. (Her guns are now a match for those of first lady Michelle Obama.) Sure, she’s been playing a lot of golf, and no doubt banging on the piano (sometimes with cellist Yo-Yo Ma), but she’s clearly ready for more.
Her addition to the ticket, which wouldn’t come until late next summer, would dramatically change the dynamics of the 2012 election. As a black woman - her family has roots in the Deep South stretching back to before Civil War era, and worked as sharecroppers after emancipation - she would mute Democrats’ charges of racism among conservatives, especially tea party members. And her sex would likely prompt moderate women to take a serious look at the Republican ticket....
I know many of us want the Presidential candidate from the Republican Party to be the bold, bright conservative that boldly shoots tea party values, but the truth of the matter is that generic Republican does better in the general election than anyone matching that description, and so let's pick generic Republican Romney, win the election, and then staff his administration with the future. Get excited people!
1. Kodu Game Lab This handy Game lab that lets you design X-box style games on your PC. (There is also a Kodu game for the X-box.) I find it interesting that the installation DOES NOT require admin privileges on the computer.
The Kodu Cup ( a pet project Microsoft Computer Science blogger Alfred Thompson) is a competition from Microsoft with a whopping $5K prize for the school and student creating the best game. The reason this is my #1 favorite is that it has changed the life of my daughter. I've always known she was good at technology but she's never found anything that really sparked her interest. She was inhaled with Kodu Game Lab from the moment she opened it as part of the Digiteen Action project her team is doing and started writing video games after barely out of the tutorial. Kodu isn't super-simple and yet in some ways it is when you have a bent in this direction. She made several games and finally created "Coin Dozer" and we've installed it on the other computers in the lab. They are using it to teach mouse and arrow key functions to kindergarteners as part of their project that will teach technology and digital literacy to kindergarteners.
Cost: Free It is free and I think every computer lab should install this and that parents who have gamers at home that they wish would consider programming should put this on their home computer and encourage their kids to play around.
Yes, the super cool Kinect device for the Xbox is headed to Windows. I'm quite fascinated by the potential to use this to navigate the Microsoft World Wide Telescope (if light conditions will allow it.) We'll see some interesting things here. The demo video shot by "Channel 9" has some cool things.
Cost: ?
3- Microsoft World Wide Telescope One of my favorite things from MSIEF in South Africa was the time spent with the people running this program. You can make a homemade planetarium for your school and use a simple projector with an inexpensive mirror and your kids can navigate and explore the stars in ways that your local planetarium cannot begin to allow. All this for less than a thousand BUT the World Wide telescope is FREE.
I think that shop classes should be building these and that schools strapped for funds in their science programs should definitely download. Every science teacher covering astronomy needs this on their computer. Comparable to Google Sky and yet it is far beyond what Sky can do. Try it and download it.
Cost for Software: Free Homemade Planetarium: Around $500 plus some building know how and a ton of binder clips. ;-)
Windows Sky Drive is incredibly useful for teams using Microsoft Office products. While I liked the way that it's predecessor, Microsoft Office Live, interacted with Office, I'm getting used to this. Although simultaneous editing isn't allowed, it DOES allow one to edit a document through the web browser.
This means that if your student doesn't have office at home that they can have limited functionality to edit and work on the document from their web browser. This includes a whopping 25 GB of storage. I upload more than my powerpoints, etc.
Create team folders to share documents, etc. It is obvious that what Microsoft calls "cloud power" is part of their future strategy. I believe this will be good for all of us who use their operating systems and computers.
Every high school student and teacher should have one. Schools should create shared files. The advantage of this over Dropbox is that I find that this handles the sync process a little bit better. I've had dropbox get "unsyced" lately - if you're not opening the latest copy, Skydrive will tell you!
This gem is by far my favorite interactive white board tool bar none. When we are discussing topics that are tough (like binary number calculations) - I launch this program - capture my notes, links, recordings, and then easily print/ publish, and keep the notes. I have on my personal PD list to learn more about how to use One Note and publish notebooks to students. I've heard some incredible things from teachers who love it. I think it is an unsung wonder.
I love my Evernote but One Note is different. It is the most intuitive notetaking system for students that I've seen. I'm not really sure that Microsoft has really understood what a gem they have in this tool but they seem to be getting it. With the release of the OneNote app for my itouch and the One Note sync capabilities this is a super-powerful tool for business and schools - nothing even comes close.
You can grab screenshots (this feature was added to Powerpoint and Word 2010 but I saw it in One Note first.) You can also record the audio that goes along with the text. (I like the Livescribe pen best for this, but it is a handy feature.) There are tons of "to do list" features not available in Evernote (although the Egret List app lets you harvest the Evernote list feature - evernote itself doesn't.) There are cool tagging and studying feature. Honestly no one else comes close.
Cost: Pay for software. iPod app is free. Sync is free.
6 - Windows 8 Touch Capabilities I haven't been excited about a Microsoft OS since Windows 3.1 and then 95. I was thrilled with the stability and deploy-ability of XP. Vista had some cool things. Windows 7 is really great - but has significant issues on my M90z touch screen computer. After talking to some of my inside sources and blogs, I am hugely excited about Windows 8 both for the touch capabilities and because I think Microsoft is back moving in exciting direction (of course brought on by the very competitive nature of technology today AND economic struggles hitting everyone.) No longer resting on their laurels, I think they are becoming fierce competitors (again.)
This is the most diverse gathering of educators around the world that I have attended, largely because Microsoft flies the winners from their areas to the international competition. You get teachers in huts in africa with no electricity doing powerful things on cell phones, teachers from Arab countries collaborating and promoting peace and pride, and US educators like Pat Yongpradit who are interesting girls in computer science through after school game programming clubs. The closing ceremonies were so very touching. Some great work is being done through this program.
Cost: Your time to apply
8 - Windows Live Moviemaker Some great improvements here, still not able to do chromakey and although iMovie smokes it, you can't beat it for a free, easy to use Movie Making program for the PC.
Math Add in for Word and One Note 1:1 laptop programs should look at adding this over the summer for use in math class with some cool graphing capabilities. A must install for math teachers.
Chemistry Add in for Word - You can put chemical equations, etc. in more easily. A must-install for chemistry teachers.
Some cool graphics/ video capabilities with PhotoStory and Autocollage. PhotoStory was my entrance into multimedia and a nice segue into the cool things we're doing now.
I have to admit I don't understand all the cool things I hear you can do with PhotoSynth as it lets you explore places in 3D. I just haven't used it yet but have seen cool things.
Some other tools are on the teacher download site as well.
Cost: Free
10 - Alfred Thompson, my go-to Microsoft Blogger Since I'm talking Microsoft, I have to put a word in for my friend Alfred Thompson. A big teddy-bear of a man, he was one of my first readers and commenters and has always genuinely been my friend before I was Cool Cat anything.
I sat with him at the first edubloggercon and we had great conversations. He has a talent for writing and is my go-to guy for anything Microsoft. The people at Microsoft will tell you that I am bullish on Alfred because he is the "real thing." A real person with a heart for kids and the classroom and, quite honestly, a huge fan of the company he works for. The kind of "salt of the earth" guy who should be escalated and recognized for his talent and good heart. Follow Alfred on blog and Twitter. He is a great guy and a wonderful resource of information on Microsoft. I find his content "real." I follow people not companies and he's someone I trust.
There are a lot of other great bloggers for Microsoft - and he was kind to me (like David Warlick was) when I had nothing to offer but skin, bones, and a whole lot of questions. I have to put in a word for him because he loves real teachers and I gotta put my money on that kind of person.
A Note from Vicki about this post. Lots of new things from the trusty, faithful things you've used for years. Let's not let the war between Microsoft, Google, Apple, Adobe, Facebook, et.al (expect posts about them in the future) keep us from looking deeply and breathing in the really cool innovations that are happening in these many places. The truth is, few of us are all in the camp of any one company - at least we shouldn't be (unless we work for one of them.) There is room in the educational pond for many to make money and I'm of the opinion that competition benefits everyone. The exciting thing about education right now is that limited funds will force us to consider what REALLY works and start cutting out the fluff.
Full disclosure, Microsoft sent me to their incredible MSIEF (Microsoft Innovative Educator Forum) in South Africa last year. I do have friends at Microsoft. They do not pay me nor have they in any way. ;-)
It is kind of like the time my husband and I drove up on a horrible motor cycle accident that must have happened milliseconds before. The man had flipped over his bike and slid several feet on his face. I didn't want to look but I did and will never forget it. That is how I feel about the book Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker, legendary hacker Kevin Mitnick's personal memoir.
As a huge fan of Leo LaPorte's old show the Screensavers, I knew who Kevin Mitnick was but really had no idea how much effect he had on my own life or what he had really done.
[Video. Kevin Mitnick uses a computer for the first time after his sentence of being unable to use a computer expires on the Screensavers with Steve Wozniak and Leo Laporte]
Cyber-enemy #1: Arrested February 1995 I missed his arrest in 1995 because I had just had my first child and was on maternity leave but I had been working for telephone companies since 1991 for one of Kevin's targets: GTE, then, the nations second largest phone company. But now, I understand a lot.
Mysteries Explained Kevin Mitnick's book explained so many of the things that the "engineers wouldn't tell us" that I am glad I read it. I am only beginning to put things together of what must have been shaking the telecommunications business to the core and still does, but I wasn't at a high enough level to really know about in detail.
Questions like:
Why were telephone CO (central offices) so secure? (We weren't allowed to tour them.)
Why weren't more features on switches enabled and used? (call waiting/ caller id)
Then, when I worked on the cell phone side: how did people clone the ESN's (electronic serial numbers) and why was fraud so ridiculously high? How did that work? When I went on trips, why were such subjects taboo among engineers and not even talked about over dinner?
As market manager of a major city, I wasn't allowed into the company cell sites. I had a valid reason at one point but engineering and operations were very separate to the point of it being odd. Why?
When we asked questions about fraud why did the engineers go silent?
Why did that smart guy who could write in binary get hired and why did he work late into the night? The engineers said he had "special skills" but wouldn't explain them. Why did the engineers have secret meetings and not tell those of us in marketing and sales even what they were about? What was going on?
Kind of like when your Momma and Daddy are sharing that secret language about something important but not really letting you in on what it is. Why?
It makes sense now.
COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN Like the motor cycle accident, I couldn't look away.I really wanted to.
I feel like good people are being hurt with this book. Now that I have said that, I know that Kevin himself says he is glad he is no longer breaking the law, but my biggest problem is that he seems to still be doing harm.
Much of Kevin's ability to steal the source code of the prominent operating systems of the 80's and 90's comes from his uncanny ability to "social engineer" or gain people's trust through deceit to get them to tell him passwords and share whole files. He shares the real names and phone numbers of many of these "nice" people in the book.
People Behind the Pain I think the thing that bothers me the most, though was when I tweeted about reading the book, a close friend who has been at a major software giant for a very long time dm'd me on Twitter.
"Read the book, but don't make Mitnick out to be a hero. I owned a computer hacked by him in the 80's."
I wanted the back story and reached out. He worked for DEC programming the operating system (OS) when Kevin stole a copy of their code.
In the book, Kevin asserts that his hacking didn't cost the companies any money. He is wrong. According to my friend, DEC's development calendar was delayed over a month while the 70-person OS team audited every line of code of DEC's operating system.
"Just because a hacker says he just copied the code because he could, doesn't mean we could afford to believe him. We had to audit every line of code because as a company we had to make sure that our product was safe."
As a person hired to find and help fix security breaches, Mitnick should know that breaches, even if a person doesn't do something, cost money. Hacking cost companies money. I feel like he marginalizes the harm he caused.
I don't buy that people who hack in this way really help make us safer or provide benefits of any kind. (Note: There are many "white hat hackers" who do us a service through protecting us. I am talking here about the hacking described in this book before he began his security business.)
Mitnick's mutiny- a last revenge. Kevin was truly sorry for the pain he caused his Mom and Grandma. Early in the book he mentions that he has an uncanny memory.
He names names and phone numbers in this book of the "nice" and gullible people who gave them their passwords and data files. The "nice" government officials that he conned into giving out social security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, tax records, and all kinds of personal information relating to his targets including how he hacked voice mails. (Sound familiar?) This was in the 1980's until 1995: just a few years, later these people are still around.
What is social engineering? Social engineering is another word for conning or lying. Period.
The thought of good people losing their jobs because they were duped and now those good people having the whole world know they were duped because Kevin used their names in his book...that makes me feel like he is still doing harm. Some may not even know it until the book comes out.
What good comes from your reading this book? So, in this book, he embarrasses people and companies by relaying phone numbers, names, and exposing security flaws for major companies like Pac Bell, GTE, DEC, OKI, Nokia, Microsoft, the IRS, the Department of Motor Vehicles, government agencies of all kinds and more?
Why should I read this book, Vicki?
If we need something to make us more paranoid, this is it. If you are in charge of an IT department or security, you need to understand what Kevin did and that every Mitnick-wannabe will probably be trying this in the future.
I will never view any phone conversation the same ever again. I will never even view any open wifi connection the same again. One of the top tweeters, Ashton Kutcher had his wifi device hacked and fake tweets posted to his account, for goodness sakes.
You know, we know that hackers are there, but this book makes them real. It makes me paranoid. Maybe that is a good thing.
What do I feel? I really don't know what to do with this book. I see the man who just had his nose rubbed off by the pavement looking out at me with blood pouring out of the hole where his nose used to be.
This is probably the first disgusting thing like that you've ever seen me write. But it is the only way to tell you what I feel.
I know that because this book inhaled me and I read it in 4 days that other people will look too, but I am horribly in pain for those Kevin has double hacked by putting their naivety on display. I am sorry.
I don't know what to think except that we all need to wise up and teach our students to have secure passwords that they don't write down and they never share with each other.
It is time to grow up and realize that bad people are out there and just because a nice guy calls on the phone doesn't mean we need to be helpful. I just don't know how I like living in a suspicious world but I guess that is where we are.
I just wish Kevin Mitnick would rethink the harm he could do to nice people. I guess us nice people are dumb and he is so smart that we dumb nice people deserve to be humiliated but I just don't buy it. I don't think the names and phone numbers were really necessary.
Nothing nice to look at. I don't even like the fact I am reviewing it in some ways. I feel sick.
Why didn't someone engage his talent in a positive way? I have to also be upset by the school system that didn't give him access, the people more interested in "catching him" than giving Kevin a positive way to use his talent. In another conversation, I learned how a computer science teacher found a kid who had started hacking and he put him in charge of school security. Now he runs security for a major university.
Sure, Kevin bears responsibility for his action, but I think that it is our job as educators to help talented people like Kevin use their talents in positive ways.
So, as I fly to Microsoft headquarters to one of Mitnick's former hideouts and finish up this post on my iPad (ok, I know the irony, it is ok.) I have time to think over this before I hit publish.
I keep seeing the guy on his face in the street.
It is going to be an important and much discussed book in all IT circles, an unpleasant journey but one that is going to attract interest no matter what we do.
UPDATE: I feel like if I don't write about it someone else will and perhaps deify Mitnick's story. Maybe he will read this post and comment he did change some names and numbers, but here it is. The ugly truth about a book I wish was fiction but if it was, I'd accuse the author of writing sci-fi.
With friends like Kevin Poulson (another former hacker) , Steve Wozniak (author of the foreword of this book) and Leo Laporte, a lot of buzz will circulate about this book whether my 2 cents goes in or not and I bet movies and headlines will hit as people begin to doubt the security procedures of the tech companies who dominate our lives.
While Africa has not established the conditions necessary to convert the knowledge and technology-intensive ideas into successful local and international ventures to improve the lives of its inhabitants, there exists a large number of skilled, creative and innovative minds on the continent – a talent pool of young adults, conscious of the painful lessons learned by preceding generations; aware of the toils and sacrifices of the few; cognizant of the daunting challenges that face a continent; yet eager, to take their turn at Africa’s helm; determined to maximize the opportunities of their time; yearning for a peaceful and prosperous Africa. We, therefore, sons and daughters of Africa, assembled in Harambe Endeavor, with the assistance of those who have come before us and those who share our vision, publish and declare our intention to work together as one to unleash the potential of Africa’s people, pursue the social, political and economic development of our continent and fulfill the dream of our generation. We believe in the unlimited power of ideas and the immediate need for action; we value the untapped potential of Sub-Saharan Africa and we sustain that our continent's greatest resource is its people. Our mission is to empower a people, to inspire a nation and forge the destiny of a continent. Like Ayn Rand, we refuse to lose our knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. We will not let our fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at- all. We will not let the hero in our soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life our continent deserves, but has never been able to reach. We will check our road and the nature of our battle, yet in the end, the Africa our generation desires can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is ours. Sons and Daughters of Africa
From Thomas Sowell comes this piece about an old Russian fable and its implications for politics and businesses today:
An old Russian fable tells of two poor peasants - Boris, who had a goat, and Ivan, who didn't. One day, Ivan came upon a strange-looking lamp; when he rubbed it, a genie appeared. She told him that she could grant him just one wish, and it could be anything he wanted. Ivan said, "I want Boris' goat to die."
This fable may tell us something painful about many Americans today, when so many people are preoccupied with the pay of corporate CEOs. It isn't that the CEOs' pay affects them so much. If every oil-company executive in America agreed to work for nothing, that wouldn't be enough to lower the price of a gallon of gasoline by a dime.
But too many people are like Ivan, who wanted Boris' goat to die.
It isn't the general public that singles out CEOs for so much attention. Politicians and the media have focused on business leaders, and the public has been led along, like sheep. The logic is simple: Demonize those whose place or power you plan to usurp.
Politicians who want the power to micro-manage business and the economy know that demonizing those who run businesses is the opening salvo in the battle to take over their roles. Those who want more power know that giving the people somebody to hate and fear is the key.
This isn't just a question of which elites win out in a tug of war in America. It is the people at large who have the most at stake. We have just seen one of the biggest demonstrations of what happens in an economy when politicians tell businesses what decisions to make.
For years, using the powers of the Community Reinvestment Act and other regulatory powers, along with threats of legal action, politicians have pressured banks and other lending institutions into lending to people they would not lend to otherwise.
Yet, when all this blows up in our faces and the economy turns down, what is the answer? To have more economic decisions made by politicians, because they choose to say that "deregulation" is the cause of our problems.
No matter what happens, for politicians it is "heads I win and tails you lose." If we keep listening to them and their media allies, we are all going to keep losing big. Keeping our attention focused on CEO pay - Boris' goat - is all part of this game. We are all goats if we fall for it.
Sowell has a remarkable talent of making material relatable to us all. It appears that the Democrat's hatred of business and profit is going to lead to the death of one of the Big Three- see this story. This will cause thousands of union labors to have no job at all, and evaporate the pensions of many other good union men. I've always wondered why people vote Democrat, including union employees and teachers. They always think that they'll be better off when Democrats are in charge, but then they all lose their jobs.
Teachers are the same way- back when the teacher-hated Republican John Engler was in charge of Michigan, they all got raises and there were many jobs. Now that the teacher-loved Democrat Granhom is in charge, they get pay cutes and lose jobs. They didn't want to improve their own situation by voting Democrat- they just wanted to kill others goats.
SMEs are the main source of employment in developed and developing countries alike,comprising over 90% of African business operations and contributing to over 50% of African employment and GDP. Many SMEs remain outside the formal and banking sectors yet harnessing the talent in the informal sector and bringing it into the formal sector generates increased revenue through taxation; SMEs benefit from protection under legislation and homogenised standards and supply. Ultimately, some SMEs may become sufficiently integrated into the legal and bankingframeworks that they can work towards listing on arms of the national Stock Exchanges
Malian musician Toumani Diabate's family history includes 71 generations of kora players preceding him. His father, Sidiki Diabate, recorded the first kora album in the 1970s, which became a platform for Toumani's growing success at a young age. His own recording career began in England in the 1980s with his solo album Kaira. In addition to performing traditional Malianmusic, he collaborates across cultures to introduce a wide range of global blends, including flamenco, American jazz, blues and classical instrumentation...[continue reading]
The reframing of the classical music perspective within Africa continues,the AFP reports:
Township Opera from invisible sessions on Vimeo. South African black opera voices have burst onto the international stage, mirroring the country's shift to democracy, decades after white Afrikaner soprano Mimi Coertse debuted at the Vienna State Opera in 1956. Experts say their rise is no sudden outpouring of new talent but rather that all-race freedom in 1994 levelled the playing field to allow those with remarkable gifts who were stifled under apartheid to enter the game. "At the moment our best singers are black," said Virginia Davids, head of vocal studies at the South African College of Music based at the University of Cape Town. South Africans can be found from Tel Aviv to London, with soprano Pumeza Matshikiza performing at Monaco's royal wedding-- where the principality's Prince Albert II married South African Charlene Wittstock in July -- and Sweden-based Dimande Nkosazana taking first prize in a competition in Italy.
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Overview Heist Society
When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own--scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected.
Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster's art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.
While I was reading some of the responses on my blog, one especially caught my eye from blogger- Lodesterre. I thought that it deserved front page billing. He makes the point that there are differences in schools west of the park (upper north west) versus schools east of the river (far south east) in terms of the level of resources, support and educational leadership often lacking in these schools. It seems to me that this blogger's argues that Rhee's decision to terminate and/or buy-out a 'significant share' (Rhee's words) of the entire DC teaching corps does not represent a substantial education plan. Certainly I do not know of any research-based practices to support terminating a significant portion of your work force. Lodesterre sums it up this way : "..teachers are the heart of education. Well, a doctor doesn't replace the heart in a sick body. First the patient must be made strong, then you replace the heart."
I pose to all who blog here: How would you rate Rhee's 5 year education plan ? What other solutions to education reform would you propose particularly for some of our poorer and most neglected schools ? Keep in mind that the reality is that many teachers and administrators do not voluntarily choose to work at these schools given the location (far SE), discipline issues, lack of parental support, crime rate and lack of resources and administrative support, etc.
lodesterre said... "My school does have instructional coaches, but then I work in a pretty good school. A lot of the schools do not. Go into the SE, SW, NE and parts of NW that don't look like Cleveland Park or Chevy Chase and you have a different world. With each step closer to Anacostia and beyond you will find yourself in an alternate reality. I used to work in one of those schools before being excessed by an administrator, I might add, who was a nightmare and used the procedure to rid herself of anyone who stuck up for the children (believe it or not). Look at where Chic was, Nalle. If you had ever been to that school, and I have numerous times, or knew someone who worked there, and I do, then you would know that the school does not have everything it needs.
Many of us were far from perfect as beginning teachers. We all needed help to survive our first couple of years and certainly could have used more. Imagine a teacher in a school where the coaches are pulled to do a thousand different things by the administrator. At my old school I had a reading specialist 8 days the entire year. I documented it. This was in a school where the reading scores were way below what they should have been. The reading specialist was always running some errand for the principal. I made noise, complained through the proper channels and was excessed at the end of the year.
The schools that need changing most are beyond dysfunctional. They are in conditions that go beyond "bad" teaching. To focus on the teachers and believe that getting rid of all of them will change things is short sighted. I honestly believe that you first build the support structure you need to have in place before you start putting up and painting walls. I don't see Rhee's plan. I know she has it on the DCPS website but to me it is more of the same: get rid of the teachers, replace them with TFA and DCTF and NTP teachers and our world will be transformed. There is no coherent, substantial plan that she has had in place. Her professional development and her family support plan have come as afterthoughts - thrown in after numerous complaints were made. Her one idea of change is to bulldoze and rebuild. This is a waste of talent and resource that, despite what you may think or say, does exist in these places.
There are fundamental issues which Ms. Rhee has felt can be dealt with after replacing all the bad teachers. She has said that teachers are the heart of education. Well, a doctor doesn't replace the heart in a sick body. First the patient must be made strong, then you replace the heart." (posted by The Washington Teacher).
Lagos is the Land where the Sun Never Sets on the Hungry Human Stomach. Every vacant spot in every business district cries out (successfully) for occupation by a woman – or band of women – armed with firewood, giant steel pots, and a talent for kidnapping the affections of human stomachs.Iya Seun ("Seun's mother") is one of them. She makes a living selling fried yam, fish and bean-cakes (akara) next to a wall at one end of Olosa Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. I imagine that the smoke from her “kitchen” mingles happily with that emerging from the luxurious kitchens of the nearby 5-star Eko Hotels – evidence perhaps of the classlessness that distinguishes smoke from the human existence.
...Flipped Eye publishes original poetry and prose on a not-for-profit model. The not-for-profit approach has allowed flipped eye to focus on developing new writers with potential, thus facilitating the emergence of truly unique literary talent. We are dedicated to producing consistently high quality fiction, non-fiction and related products, with a focus on poetry and authors who are comfortable with a live audience. This means that, while we seek to publish high quality literature, our authors are signed, not only based on how well they write, but also how well they communicate with an audience. This is because we consider conversation to be the oldest and most enduring form of literary creation.
Watch their 8th year anniversary video after the jump.
In Democratic Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's speech, she touted that Michigan is growing and that there is opportunity here in our state. As evidence of this, she pointed to Motown Motion Picture Studios LLC as an example of how the government can help create new industry and business in a state. Although having a movie studio in the area would be really cool, and I love the fact that jobs and opportunity is being created, let's look a little bit more at the details of the deal, reported on by WWJ news:
Motown Motion Pictures LLC – The new business venture, which will be both a film studio and a production services company, plans to invest approximately $70 million in a 600,000-square-foot development with nine sound stages in Pontiac. The project is expected to create 5,139 new jobs, including 3,600 directly by the company. The MEGA board Tuesday approved a state tax credit valued at $101 million over 12 years to help bring the project to Michigan. In addition, Infrastructure Development Film and Digital Media incentives totaling $12.9 million have been approved to help support the project. Job training assistance through the MEDC and Renaissance Zone designation by the city of Pontiac are also under consideration.
Let's do a little math- 5,139 jobs created at the cost to taxpayers of 113.9 million dollars. That is $22,163 a job. That's about $127 a person- not much, but if you let every person in our state keep that money and spend it on goods and services or invest it, it would multiply many times over, and create more jobs and economic benefits than some pie in the ski scheme like this one. For those trying to do more research on this, according to the Oakland Press, here are some more details:
"It’s good news — it’s going to be 3,600 jobs,” Republican Oakland Couny Executive Patterson said Tuesday. The local investors in the new studio are Oakland County developers A. Alfred Taubman, Gary Sakwa of Grand Sakwa Properties in Farmington Hills and Linden Nelson of Nelson Ventures in Birmingham. They’re teaming up with Raleigh Studios of Hollywood, Calif., and Endeavor Talent Agency of Beverly Hills, Calif.
Notice how the number of jobs this is going to bring to Michigan has dropped considerably now, and that several major players who are receiving this funding from Michigan citizens are from California. This company will likely receive the full amount of funding- but I wonder if taxpayers will receive anywhere near the full benefit from this venture.
Being President of the United States means being competent in international relations and being a good commander in chief. We have Congress to take care of our domestic issues- to pass laws, to push for legislation, to come up with rules and regulations on how we are governed- but Congress has few powers and abilities to act on the international stage, and so our Founders gave those powers to the President. One of the President's most important roles in our system is Commander-in-Chief of our military, and to assist him in this he appoints a very powerful advisor known as the Secretary of Defense.
The Secretary of Defense position has historically been considered one of the most powerful advisor positions in our government, and has been held by such illustrious people as George Marshall, Robert McNamara, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and when the position was called Secretary of War, was held by Henry Knox, James Monroe, John C. Calhoun, Lewis Cass, Jefferson Davis, Edwin Stanton, William Taft, and Henry Stimson. These are the names of future Presidents and the winners of major wars- this position has historically been a position that major talent is appointed to.
The election of President Barack Obama (Democrat) in 2008 changed all of this. First, Obama kept on Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, and for all the good qualities of Mr. Gates, he is and always was simply a placeholder until someone better could be appointed. When Rumsfeld left, Bush needed to replace him, and felt that he needed a moderate and uncontroversial nominee in order to get confirmed by a hostile Democratic Congress that believed in the certainty of our losing the War on Terror (one of the many things in which Democrats have thought was truth and been proven wrong).
Last August, rumors said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, Defense Undersecretary for Policy Michelle Flournoy, former Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed were among the possible nominees. To that list, sources add Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition Ashton Carter.
Hillary Clinton would have nothing to gain, and much to lose, in taking the Pentagon job. At State, she has more freedom to claim headlines and grow her credentials than she would fighting the Pentagon budget battles. She won't do it. (my comment: best option won't take job because recognizes how sucky Obama is as President and is already scheming to replace him)
Chuck Hagel has been campaigning for the job for as long as most can remember. But Hagel is too much of a headline-seeker. Obama would have to worry as much about him in that job as, well, as he has to worry about what Joe Biden will say next about Afghanistan.(my comment: option two is a moron and can't be part of cabinet because Obama already has to many moron's in his cabinet)
Michelle Flournoy is a more likely choice, a notch ahead of John Hamre. Flournoy served as president of the leftish Center for a New American Security before taking her current post and after she served in various mid-level Pentagon policy posts. And because we've never had a female Defense Secretary, she'd be another Obama "first."(my comment: option 3 is being considered for an important position like this merely to make a political point and use external characteristics of people to score political points, and also headed a group that's projections have been wrong about pretty much everything)
Hamre, a defense intellectual, has for ten years been the president of the Center for Strategic and International Study, a nonpartisan think tank. Hamre is well respected on the Hill and could be the bureaucratic type Obama would want to lead the Pentagon for the next two years (my comment: option 4 doesn't sound too bad- this means Obama will only nominate him if his other unqualified and bad choices are rejected)
Jack Reed, a former Army Ranger, Harvard lawyer and liberal Democrat, would be a credible choice for Pentagon boss. But Reed's term doesn't expire until 2014 and there is no reason for him to end his senate term early. Reed's political ambitions would likely prevent him accepting the nomination (my comment: option 5 isn't real option- he won't leave his position)
Jim Webb, a decorated Vietnam Marine veteran, may have a tough race in 2012. Virginia went for Obama in 2008 but since elected a conservative governor and threw out a few liberal Democrats in 2010. But Webb is an odd guy, short-tempered and notoriously hard to deal with. Webb would be a bad fit in the Obama cabinet which is dominated by lawyers and academics (my comment: option 6 isn't a real option either)
Not the least likely - but certainly the least-known -- is Ashton Carter. Carter is a Ph.D. physicist who has taught at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and served in several lower defense posts, is the sort of intellectual Obama is attracted to. His current job, as acquisition chief, makes him knowledgeable of budget issues and his policy experience in assorted national security areas makes him a credible candidate (my comment: this sort of logic is the sort of logic that characterizes Obama's incompetent administration- low level intellectual whose degree is in an unrelated field will follow in the footsteps of the greats- that's the new normal of Obama for you)
So will it be Flournoy, Hamre or Carter? Or a surprise nominee from Obama's inner circle? Whomever it is will have the hardest job in Washington for the next two years.
Whomever it is, with Obama picking the person, we can be sure that it will be a poor pick who will demonstrate little competence and leadership in this important position, and America will be less safe because Obama is in office still making decisions like this.
One of my favorite things from MSIEF in South Africa was the time spent with the people running this program. You can make a 
