In memoriam of Elmar Ploner (1922 – 2010), who would have been 90 years old today.
On Top of The World, the Alps, 1940s. Photo: Gilbert Ploner. Courtesy of Monika Ploner. Click to enlarge.
On Top of The World
Category Archives: English
Where The Wild Things Are
Don’t we all secretly wish we could go where the Wild Things are? (And be back in time for dinner?)
In memoriam of Maurice Sendak, who died on the morning of May 8, 2012, in Danbury, Connecticut, from complications of a stroke.
“From their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions; fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.” (Maurice Sendak)
$120 Million! I want to Scream!
One of my favorite paintings was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in New York today. Winning bid: $119,922,500.
Dang it! I was outbid again!
Most people don’t know that Skrik is actually a series of paintings created between 1893 and 1910. The version just sold (a pastel from 1895) is the last one in private hands. It was previously owned by Norwegian business heir Petter Olsen.
The 1893 version (and possibly my favorite) is now at the National Gallery in Oslo. My second favorite (the 1910 version) is located at the Munch Museum, also in Oslo. (It was stolen in 2004, and recovered in 2006). The same museum also holds another pastel.
Edvard Munch: Skrik (The Scream). This is the 1893 version. Click to enlarge.
Blackbird Stories
While visiting Blackbird Air Park in Palmdale, California with a friend last week, we had the great pleasure of talking with Bill Flanagan (Major, Air Force Logistics Command, retired). Mr. Flanagan, Chairman of the Flight Test Historical Foundation, flew as crewman on the SR-71. He treated us to many fascinating facts, stories and a detailed hands-on demonstration of the SR-71’s cockpit.
It was quite extraordinary to see and touch this rare and wonderful aircraft, which once was so secret that even most US Congressmen and Senators had no idea of its existence.
Here is a picture of Mr. Flanagan (left) taken while he was on active duty.
Bill Flanagan, BC Thomas, JT Vida, Tom Tilden. Click to enlarge. Image source.
Planespotting: Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N911NA
Here is a picture I took yesterday at the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N911NA. © Reinhard Kargl 2012. Click to enlarge.
This is one of the two existing Shuttle Carrier Aircaft (SCA). This one is aircraft N911NA. The other SCA (N905NA) was spotted by a friend at Washington Dulles Airport the next morning, with Space Shuttle Discovery mounted on top. (Discovery is being delivered to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. N911NA is now officially retired at Dryden. It will be used as a “donor” for spare parts for SOFIA).
Taking Notes
Taking Notes. © Reinhard Kargl 2012. Click to enlarge.
The Smell Of Old Books
I love old books. But I’m not so sure about the smell. At least I now know what causes it (sort of).
Apple Macintosh: Panic About Flashback Trojan Unjustified
A Russian computer security firm got a lot of publicity this week after they announced that about 600,000 Macintosh computers allegedly have been infected with a malware called “Flashback”. Of course, MacOS malware is quite rare, so the news spread like wildfire. It is not quite known what Flashback will lead to, but at this point, there’s no reason to panic.
A couple of points: Flashback is not a OS-level attack on the Mac. (To this date, no such thing has ever been successful in MacOS, and Apple Macintosh computers remain the most secure personal computing platform available to consumers).
Instead of attacking MacOS, Flashback exploits a weakness in Java, a programming language developed by Sun Microsystems (now Oracle Corporation). It uses this weakness to disable some of the Mac’s security features. For various reasons, Apple has supported Java (more or less grudgingly), but viewed it as an (outdated) liability for some time now. Apple finally dropped Java support with the current version of the MacOS (OSX 7 or “Lion”). In its current version of the MacOS (OSX 7 or “Lion”), Apple no longer includes Java in the standard installation. However, users are still able to install and run Java if they wish. (Note: Java, the programming language is not the same as “Java Scripts”, which are a component of many web sites).
Although Apple’s latest operating system does not even support does not install Java by default any longer, many Mac users still have vulnerable Java versions installed, and are therefore vulnerable. But even so, Flashback can only install itself on the user account active at the time of infection. It cannot spread throughout the entire operating system.
At a meeting yesterday, certified Apple Certified Support Professional and consultant, Benjamin Levy (Solutions Consulting) questioned how widespread Flashback really is. So far, he says, there have been almost no reports of infections on the Apple Consultants Network. Levy noted that the claim of “600,000 infected machines” originated with a Russian company selling security software.
How big is the risk? So what should be be done?
Benjamin Levy: “From what is known at this point, the threat from this malware is low. And if you want to go back to the Symantec website for confirmation, it lists Flashback as Risk Level 1: Very Low.”
“I am certain that in the weeks to come this malware will be fully dissected and we’ll know a great deal more about what it does, but for now I think reasonable caution is about all I would recommend. Check to see if you have it, remove it if you do. Learn from the experience and be vigilant about keeping your systems up to date. And yes, this means not letting your computers age outside of current versions of the OS.”
In summary: If you are using Apple’s latest OS (Lion) and have not installed Java, you are fine. If not, make sure you have the latest Java version installed.
If you want to check if your system has been infected, there are various options. Consultant Bruce Gerson (BSG Solutions) recommends:
To check:
http://flashbackcheck.com/
http://flashbackcheck.com/
Or, you could download and run a simple script developed by Bart Busshots:
http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=2236
(I have personally tested this script. It ran fine).
Even if you have the malware, this does not necessarily mean it it working, Gerson points out. (Using the FlashbackCheck.com website will determine if you are part of the botnet).
If you want to wait, Apple will be releasing a removal tool:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5244?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
(Thanks to Bruce Gerson, Ben Levy, Garry Margolis, LAPUG.org, Bart Busschots).
Sexual Humiliation In America – A Tool to Enforce Compliance?
Feminist author Naomi Wolf wrote a rather thought provoking and interesting piece for the UK newspaper, The Guardian. She argues that widespread, court approved sexual humiliation is becoming a routine method to threaten, terrorize and desensitize the American public in order to force political and ideological compliance.
Link: How the US uses sexual humiliation as a political tool to control the masses
道場 – The Place Of The Way
© Lynn Nakada 2012. Used by permission. Click to enlarge.