I got this in my "Spam" mail folder today:

UCSD
CAMPUS NOTICE
University of California, San Diego

OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR

September 28, 2006

ALL ACADEMICS AND STAFF AT UCSD (including UCSD Medical Center)

SUBJECT: UCSD Celebration of Abilities Month

I am pleased to announce and encourage faculty, staff and students to participate in the Celebration of Abilities Month events during the month of October 2006. Featured events will be held at the Price Center Plaza on October 4 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and consecutively on October 5 at the grassy area between Torrey Pines Center North and Torrey Pines Center South.

The purpose of these activities is to increase the awareness of and sensitivity to the abilities and needs of people with disabilities at UCSD. Details and a complete schedule of events can be viewed at: http://blink.ucsd.edu/go/disabilityawarenessmonth

In recognition of this annual event, I am approving one hour of administrative leave with pay that employees may apply to their
attendance at a Celebration of Abilities activity. Supervisors are encouraged to allow employees one hour of administrative leave with pay to attend a Celebration of Abilities event when the absence does not infringe upon the performance of required job duties.

Inquiries regarding the events may be directed to the Human Resources Department, Employee Rehabilitation Program at (858)534-6744.
Marye Anne Fox
Chancellor

Now read this excellent article from the Onion: Congress Passes Americans With No Abilities Act. Now go back and re-read the above email. If you've ever dealt with Academic Computing Services here at UCSD, you'll know who will be getting the biggest cheers at this celebration.

Five years ago, I was not yet a college graduate. Now I'm beginning my fourth year of graduate school. I have a masters degree in physics, I'm on my way to a PhD, I'm more or less self sufficient and I am in a stable relationship. I can safely say that I've learned much in the last five years.

This cannot be said for the DHS. It is run by a bunch of morons. Take this news peice from today: "Cell phone makers fight resales." People are buying cheap handsets meant for by-the-minute cell plans and shipping them to foreign countries for resale at higher prices. The US is one of the few places in the world where cell phone companies subsidise the cost of the handset, hoping (rightly) to recoup the cost in the monthly service charges. However, because these phones are sold without a contract, and are not yet activated, there's no assurance that the person buying the phone will have to make monthly payments. Clearly, and logically, the phone companies are bothered by this.

So why does the DHS care about this? Why, terrorism, of course! 9/11! Terrorism! All these phones could be used for remote detonation devices. Yeah, and so could a Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR Radio Controlled Car for $9.95 at Radioshack. Seriously folks, if a terrorist wanted a cell phone to detonate a bomb, does he need to buy dozens at once from one store? No. Terrorists want to act on the down low, which means buying perhaps one or two at any one time. They don't want to attract attention because they're doing illegal things. The people buying 20 phones at once don't care about seeming out of the ordinary because they are breaking no laws. It seems the en vogue thing to do that if your business model is in jeopardy, cry "terrorism!" and hope the DHS and their bad logic comes to the rescue. In this case, the DHS proves once again, they are unable to recognize legitimate threats.

According to the comment on my last post, my brother is not actually going to teach in Jeongseon. He's in Gohan, a few valleys over from Jeongseon. Interestingly, it's the home to the only casino in South Korea that South Koreans can gamble in. It's also going to open a ski resort in December which has made him happy, no doubt.

Hopefully he'll post something about the hamlet soon.

My brother is in Korea to teach english for a year. A few days ago he was told exactly where he'll be teaching, Jeongseon, Kangwon-do province, South Korea. Sensing a challenge, I went ahead and tracked down this mountain town.

The image on the left is a Google Earth image of the area around Jeongseon. It's a mountainous area -- the town appears to be jammed in between 1000 meter peaks at a 180 degree bend in the river (what river?). It also appears to be small -- it's smaller than 2 miles from end to end. If you'd like to find Jeongseon, go to 37° 22'36.52" N, 128° 39'54.46" E.

With all recent news about doping in cycling (and everywhere else), including the whole Floyd Landis debacle, I think that it's high time to institute Top Fuel Cycling. What? Top Fuel?!

Here it is: Throw all doping controls out the window. Anything that doesn't kill you (immediately) is allowed. EPO, testosterone, human growth hormone, amphetamines, and many more. Finally, there will be no question about who's on the stuff and on the clear.

On the flip side, there will be a league for cyclists who aren't on anything. In fact, they'll be forced to live like an average american. They'll need to eat cheetos, or maybe the league will be sponsored by the Lance snack company. It will be in their contract that half their calories have to come from Lance snacks. The other half from soft drinks and beer. To top it all off, this league will be followed by a TV crew filming a reality series. Each week someone will be kicked off by a judging panel, made up of Lance Armstrong, Lance Bass, and David Hasselhoff.

Today a bunch of "Islamic fascists" were arrested in London for plotting to blow up 10 transatlantic flights using liquid bombs. My parents are currently in Wales, and I think they were planning on returning in a little over a week. Who knows if their flight might have been targeted? It's unlikely, but there was (and still is, I suppose) a non-zero probability of something happening to any flight.

After watching the evening news tonight on several networks, I've come up with some comments on airport security guidelines & related topics:

• On both networks I watched (CBS, NBC) there were dozens of clips of passengers throwing their liquid items into the trash, and then airport workers collecting huge bags full of discarded items & throwing them into dumpsters. If liqud bombs were a real concern, wouldn't the contents of the trash be treated with more respect than that?
• I subscribe to the Crypto-Gram newsletter written by Bruce Schneier. One of the things he's written about over the last few years is airport security. Specifically, how they (being the "experts" at DHS/TSA) react to security threats. Usually, they act after the threat has been identified, or sometimes, after the second time. Responding after the threat is identified is like taking a final exam a second time, except people die. What's needed is more comprehensive security that responds to a broad range of threats, not silly movie plot scenarios.
• I can't resist. Here's my movie plot scenario: If a terrorist is willing to die, surely they're willing to undergo some elective surgery. I don't think it would be impossible to implant some explosive device inside a human body. It would not be very comfortable, and would probably lead to infections after a while, but the bomber needs only to be able to tolerate it long enough to get on the airplane. Right now (and until someone attempts this) people are only put through the metal detector. Careful engineering could certainly prevent any kind of detection by that crude device.
• Airline perks are going to make a comeback. Now that you can't take anything onto the airplane, the airline will have to supply diversions and food, or else they face very bored & unhappy passengers. The alternative is to start filling the cabin with N₂O.
• A coworker today theorized that the endgame in all of this is a plane full of passengers in hospital-like paper gowns handcuffed to the seats. Passengers will be supplied with absorbent underwear for the longer flights. Children will be put in cages. Do you think this can't happen?

This is less of an executive order and more of a rant, really. Over the weekend I listened to a segment of On the Media in which they discussed HD Radio. It is a new technology that allows stations to broadcast up to three free digital channels (two CD-quality, one voice-quality) in the space of one analog station. And the broadcast is backwards comptatible so old radios still work. A really excellent thing is in order to entice people to buy radios the stations are broadcasting without commercials until 2007.

All of these things got me interested enough to investigate this. The first thing I checked out was the list of local stations that offer HD radio. As you can see below, only three stations in San Diego have adopted this technology. Fresno has six. America's Finest City beat out by Fresno. Excellent.

I also checked out the various HD radios available for purchase. The radios are expensive and small in variety. If I could find one for around $100 would consider one, but the cheapest ones are $300 and the shelf-type. I'm looking for a component-type since I already have a set of nice speakers and an amplifier.

A bigger and better-known problem like this is the implementation of HD TV services. And, surprise, San Diego lags behind there, too. San Diego has six HD broadcast stations, while Fresno has 11. San Diego is the 28th largest market in the US, while Fresno is the 58th. Ron Burgundy would be ashamed.

Why do I compare San Diego with Fresno? Have you been to Fresno? I guess it's more natural that Fresno has better radio and TV, what else is there to do there? Seriously, San Diego better get it's act together, or else I'm really gonna have to issue an excecutive order. I want my HD services.

I have been reading all kinds of travelogues about North Korea recently. I find it an incredibly interesting place, it's kind of frozen in time since the Korean War. It's very Orwellian, the way China and the USSR used to be. I find the utter ignorance to the outside world of the average North Korean fascinating. And Kim Jung Il is always amusing (10cm lift shoes!), except when he's allowing his people to starve by the hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions).

See what the CIA thinks about North Korea.