The internet’s web of trust is a curious thing.

People receive attacks from odd places all the time. We receive emails with suspicious links, malicious messages on Facebook. Even legitimate webpages we surf to may have been compromised through their javascript, and can do all kinds of bad things to your computer.

When we log in to a site, however, we feel secure, because of TLS.

TLS is part of the “s” (for secure) that appears whenever you see “HTTPS:” in your browser’s address bar. It encrypts your data using an awfully good encryption scheme so no one can see your username or password, or your credit card number, when you do things online.

There are two parts to the whole equation, however. The encryption side of TLS is quite good (There was a small compromise found not long ago, but they’re fixing it now, and the part that caused the flaw was deativated in the meantime). The authentication side, however…

When you send data using TLS, it’s not just important to encrypt the data, but to know who you are sending it to. If you encrypt your credit card number, username, and password, and ship it straight to a hacker (who supplied half of the keypair, probably) all the encryption in the world will do you no good.

To get around this flaw, we use PKI. That’s where we trust a third party to verify who you are sending data to by giving them a certificate. It’s like an ID. The PKI company you have all probably heard of is Verisign.

I’m not here to impugn Verisign’s business. They are a quite well known company, and do an okay job.

If you bought a car on the internet for $10,000.00, and a hacker used a certificate from Verisign to get your information, Verisign would be liable (in certain circumstances, of course). They would refund you up to $100!

Yes, a benjamin. That’s their indemnity in the entire situation, according to their contracts. And they are one of the many certificate authorities out there.I’ve never heard of the vast majority of them. But they say I’m perfectly safe, and should give my info to the nice man behind the counter!

Now, I’m a paranoid in training (I’m going to school for network security), and I’m not trying to freak you out. The internet is a great place, and the vast majority of things on it are enriching, informative, and run by folks on the up-and-up.

But next time you hand over your info, just stop and think for a moment. And make sure your browser is in “HTTPS” mode. It’s the least you can do.

Hopefully someday the internet will lead to some harmony amongst us all, and we won’t have to worry about this crap. I’m not holding my breath, though.

I have a confession to make.

I may be converting into a music video enthusiast.

Some of you may remember that my very first post for bkI was a thinly veiled rant on how music seems to be slowly subverted from an audio medium to a visual medium.  In case you missed it, it’s sitting back there as Visual Autophony.  And….I still believe in the spirit of that first original post.  I feel that music should have the chance to be first experienced within the theatre of the mind, letting the strength of the song alone carry our imaginations.  However, I am always willing to sit back and enjoy a good music video, once I have that opportunity to meet the music on my own terms.

I mean this sincerely when I say this.  It is a moral imperative that you see the music videos of OK Go.

Not just one video.  All of them.

Seriously.

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This week in 1836, 200 some odd people made up mostly of farmers, ranchers, smiths, and other ordinary people, stood and looked into the face of death and, with a defiant shout, fought for something bigger than themselves.

These 200 stood their ground for 3 days against the full might of an army who’s goal to crush a rebellion with such a show of force that no one would dare rise against them again. For 3 days they managed to keep a militaristic dictator occupied enough to keep his full force at hand, giving the rest of the rebellion a few more days to prepare. Those 200 changed the course of history.

Why?

Because they chose to.

History is nothing but people taking chances, opening doors, seizing opportunities. What made them history worthy was, in most cases, because they chose to keep themselves open to possibilities.

There was a link I tweeted recently that went to an article discussing a certain study wherein “lucky” and “unlucky” people were given a series of tests to determine what, if anything, made people lucky.  When it came down to it, the lucky people were simply more open to opportunity, meaning you make your own luck.

Basically it works like this: unlucky people tended to keep their head down and perform the task at hand, while lucky people kept their eyes open for those opportunities.

In life, opportunity takes many forms. baD kARmA INk is an opportunity for us to get our names out there and to start building an audience. Problem is, it’s only an opportunity if we take advantage of it.  The reason I am in the position I’m in at work is because I was open to the opportunities that presented themselves. When extra projects came up, I took them. When problems popped up, I worked on solving them. Effectively, I made the job my own and was rewarded with new work, new positions, and more money.

Problem is, luck requires work. When opportunity pops up, if you don’t take advantage of it, it just becomes another “what if” memory. When history comes knocking, are you going to answer the door?

I’m not sure where in my podcast history I discovered This American Life, but I almost immediately fell in love with it. Not only was the style of storytelling so entertaining, but the stories are, with few exceptions, very human stories about ordinary people and their lives.  No matter the subject, no matter the theme, Ira Glass and crew manage to elevate storytelling to such an art that they can take story suggestions from their own family and make an entertaining show.  That’s some talent right there.

This story is my little homage to them.

So sit back, relax, and read a little human interest piece from another universe.

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So, I am sitting here, pondering what sort of cacophonic concoction I should throw at you all this week, and I get to thinking.  I keep offering what to listen to, but I never really go into where to listen.   Knowing where to go to hear music is just as important as knowing what to listen to, don’t you think?  After all, how would you know what to listen to otherwise?

Not all of us have the well-cultured friend or two that happens to have exactly the type of music that you want to hear at the time.  I’m lucky enough to have people in my life, both in my past and in the present, that have done just that.  It was Ron Yorgason that introduced me to They Might Be Giants and other alternative music.  It also was Ron that started me down the path of the comedic genius that is Monty Python and the sideshow wonders that is novelty music, made popular by the Dr. Demento radio show and others.  It was Susan Kulpanowski that tuned me in to the celtic/new age scene when she played The Lady of Shalott by Loreena McKennitt over a long-distance phone call from Michigan to my dorm room in Minnesota.  I remember being so caught up in the song that I promptly went out and bought all the Loreena McKennitt cds I could get…regardless of the fact I did not even own a CD player at the time.  Present day influences include Shawn Schliepp, a virtual walking encyclopedia of all things musical.  It was Shawn that inspired last week’s spotlight on King Missile, so you can thank him for that.   Of course, my fellow bkI comrades-in-arms Pat and Ben have their impact on my musical tastes, as well.  I am grateful to all of these people and more, for showing me that there is more to life that 80’s New Wave.

I would be remiss in my duties as bkI’s friendly neighborhood musical aficionado if I didn’t provide the same consideration and give you all some guidance to some good music sources.  Since calling each reader and playing a song over the phone isn’t the most effective way to go, instead I have some web sources and general knowledge stuff to pass on.   These are the places that are usually the inspiration behind the music articles, so feel free to place blame accordingly.

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The Internet allows information to easily and quickly flow from place to place. This means that we are inundated with facts every day.

In the past, information sources were scarce, and tended to police each other. In the 1950’s, if ABC news ran a story that was untrue, NBC news would tell you about how ABC screwed up, so you would watch NBC instead.

This led to an era of complacency in believing what we were told. If it’s on TV, it must be true! They wouldn’t air it otherwise! Information in print had similar watchdogs. Even books were looked over by multiple editors to ensure information was correct before going to print.

Now, speed of information rules. The most correct news story has almost nothing on the first one to hit the broadcast medium. News venues will print almost anything they think might have the slightest air of credibility.

My favorite story regarding this was the recent iPad debacle with Jason Calacanis. The night before the iPad was announced, Jason went on twitter and began posting the most ludicrous information regarding the iPad as an obvious joke. He stated things such as solar power, wireless recharging over the air, a special Farmville app interface, multiple cameras, and facial recognition as included features. It might have been more believable if he’d stated it was delivered to him by a Unicorn.

The Wall Street journal, CNN Money, and Wired all picked up the story, among others.

The more quickly and easily we communicate, the more crap we spew. Some of it is simply things no one cares about. Some of it is malicious. Some of it is just misunderstood. (Sarcasm symbol, where are you? And not the SarcMark, either. The fact that it costs money is like a sarcasm tax. And the Temherte Slaqi always just makes people think I’m a retarded spanish speaker.)

This is why Curation is the way of the future. Curators will sort through the massive data sea, looking for the tasty krill we all want. Curators are all over the place, and the need for curation does not appear to be slowing down.

Next time you read a fact or figure, will you believe it? After all, 86% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Including that one, of course.

One of the problems with trying to run a group blog whilst doing your own writing/day job/friends/family/etc is finding the time to get stuff done.  Now, this doesn’t mean that bkI isn’t a big deal for me, but sometimes life happens.  Promise, next Friday, we’ll have fiction all over the feed.

Have a good weekend!

Pat

Head Content Wrangler/Exhausted Dude

By: Nicholas Mrak

The secret to life is to enjoy yourself. Don’t spend your life withering away at a job that makes you miserable. Go out and do the things you enjoy and actually live your life. Man isn’t made to sit in a cubicle all day.

Finding what you really want to do with your life is the first step. Some musician friends of mine have things pretty much figured out. They work a job that they somewhat enjoy, just so they can afford to travel around and perform their music. They are trying to make enough money from their music to live comfortably and only have to worry about getting to shows on time.

I like to delve into things and experience as many options available to me. As should everyone else. Personally I just want to have the electronics, toys, car, and place to live that I feel content with. No extravagance, nothing fancy, just nice enough. I would also like to continue to expand my intellect and knowledge base by reading, hands-on work, and interaction with like persons.

Only thing that sucks about living right now is that you need shit-tons of money to be able to do anything. Most of the money you have goes to bills, living expenses, and other stupid shit. If you are lucky you are left some money to play with, but it usually goes to some unexpected expense or something you really don’t need to own. The hardest thing is to find a balance between going and buying the latest and greatest electronics, vehicle, whatever, versus having things are nice enough for you to feel content.

Life is all relative, with to many variables to for-see. Just go with the flow, make mistakes, learn from them, have fun, and be yourself.

Cover of The Psychopathology of Everyday Life

If you immediately thought that this was going to be an article about gospel worship music, then I am sorry, but you are going to be sorely disappointed.

However, if you recognized the title as a song from King Missile, then congratulations!  You won today’s prize.   And what did you win?   Why, a chance to learn a little bit more about King Missile, and enjoy some choice selections for your listening (and quite possibly viewing) pleasure.

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