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TFIF

10/28/2005

What a week. Busy at work, though we got my docs signed off. Just got back from the asian achievers awards 2005. Again i didn't achieve much of merit. But i did get some autographs and pics of me with a few celebs. If i am daring this weekend I'll put a few up. The event was largely dull, save the company of Niny and a new niece. The food was good. This weekend is busy again. Sorting out a sideboard and then dinner at my parents. Plus a host of diwali cards to write. Guess i should go to sleep rather than tap this out on the phone. Night night.
..
dp
[mobile]


There is no such thing as down and out...

10/27/2005

...there is only the 'next big challenge'.

Take the case of Carly Fiorina - you may note that after reading a book based on her exploits pre and during her stint at HP, I was astounded to see that people took her seriously. It seems that its not so much a case of what you know, but how you present it and more importantly, if you can find people like yourself to hang out with. Check out this story to see what I mean.

Once again, we see the highest level of US diplomacy shaken to its core by revelations of corruption, evildoing, and backstabbing. I guess its just politics.
--
tnn


What a funny life we sometimes lead...

10/26/2005

Today has been an unusual day indeed. I started by being brave and buying a Berliner Grauniad. I didn't mind the format when they introduced it, but I wrote to them and informed them then that their graphics people need heads checking, since the fact the titles hug a top line like Hindi makes me wretch. Such a waste of white space beneath. Anyway, besides the bad graphics, and bad journalism, there were a couple of interesting stories in there that turned me. The ID Card bill being rushed through, the anti-terrorism and freedom of speach laws causing Liberty to take out a full page ad against the bill. When the world is coming to that, we wonder why people bothered fighting the Nazi's for freedom, when all we get is an inevitable crawl back to facism (albeit in a nice cream cake sort of guise).

Then I get to work to find that there are political knives out, and lo and behold, two are destined for me (cue John Lee Hooker!) Oh what an interesting experience this has turned out to be. Still, I shall watch events unfold with interest, and see just what issues we would face in the midst of the stabbing.

Tomorrow I shall be attending Icy's Asian Achievers 2005 awards. It was pretty weird last time around, and I suspect that it will be so this time (apols Icy). To have Piers Morgan as the top bill kinda gives it a different kind of slant no?

I met up with an old friend from the USA (cincinati) and he and his wife were enjoying the chatter with me and the old froggy (who hasn't changed a bit, other than the procurement of a Honda S2000 sports vehicle). I'm now cordially invied to the East Coast if I should ever decide that NY is a place worth visiting.

I've decided that no matter what else work throws at me (dagger, hatched, chainsaw wise) I shall endeavour to make time to do the things I want to. This includes frequent updates to this here cyberblogings.

Whether I have a job (well project) next week, will be up to the powers that be that are looking to knife me out, but to be honest, I'm beyond caring. You only value criticism and the like from people who know what they are talking about - and in this case...the less said the better ;-)
--
tnn


Batting resurgence?

10/25/2005

There is something wonderful in knowing that a battling line up is slowly clicking into shape. Even if the match is not important and the opposition not taking it so seriously.

So to see India beat Sri Lanka in a ODI with the following batting, was a very pleasant surprise after the demise of the batting since the tour of Pakistan in 2004.

India innings (50 overs maximum)                                R   M   B  4 6
V Sehwag c Sangakkara b Vaas 20 32 25 4 0
SR Tendulkar c Sangakkara b Maharoof 93 149 96 9 2
IK Pathan c Jayawardene b Dilshan 83 104 70 8 4
Yuvraj Singh lbw b Dilshan 14 14 18 1 0
*R Dravid not out 85 76 63 8 1
+MS Dhoni c Jayawardene b Fernando 38 33 28 3 2
AB Agarkar run out (Atapattu) 1 3 1 0 0
Jai P Yadav not out 3 8 3 0 0
Extras (lb 5, w 4, nb 4) 13
Total (6 wickets, 50 overs, 212 mins) 350

Way to go to promote Pathan, one of my favourite new players alongside Pieterson. Also, what a smash by Dravid, uncharacteristic of the best #3 anchorman ever. As usual Sehwag went for a near 100% rr, but he really must look to stay in longer.

Nice to see Ganguly's absence as a chance for change. The test will be, as expected, the real test.
--
tnn


Busy day, and then I read this...

10/18/2005

...Nothing like knowing the government know what they are doing. I for one see the ID card like this:
"steal the ID card, compromise it, and you might as well have taken someone's life, since it FUELS identity theft, not prevents it. Think of it as highly useful and volatile Rocket Fuel for IDs". Chances are, however, that the politicians will not have ID cards, and therefore will not be subject to the same risks. How odd.


UK ID card a recipe for massive ID fraud, says Microsoft exec
By John Lettice (john.lettice at theregister.co.uk)
Published Tuesday 18th October 2005 15:32 GMT

Microsoft UK National Technology Officer Jerry Fishenden has warned that the UK ID card scheme could trigger "massive identity fraud on a scale beyond anything we have seen before." Writing in today's Scotsman, Fishenden says that the security implications of storing biometrics centrally are enormous. "Unlike other forms of information such as credit card details," he says, "if core biometric details such as your fingerprints are compromised, it is not going to be possible to provide you with new ones."

Although he says that a "well-designed UK national identity card could help tackle many problems," Fishenden clearly feels that the current UK scheme does not qualify. He points to the 'honeypot effect' of putting a comprehensive set of personal data in one place, thus producing a "richly rewarding target for criminals," and says that we "should not be building systems that allow hackers to mine information so easily... Inappropriate technology design could provide new hi-tech ways of perpetrating massive identity fraud on a scale beyond anything we have seen before: the very problem the system was intended to prevent."

The current design also hands out too much personal information with too little discrimination: "The ID card itself also needs to be carefully designed to ensure it doesn't add to identity fraud problems by carelessly 'broadcasting' personal information every time it's used. Would you be happy if online auction sites, casinos or car rental company employees are given the same identity information that provides you with access to your medical records? It's unnecessary: we can already design systems that ensure the disclosure of personal information is restricted only to the minimum information required (a pub landlord for example needs only to know that you are over 18). Keeping identity information relevant to the context in which it is used is both good privacy and good security practice."

Fishenden's Commentary piece for the Scotsman does not appear to be generally available in the paper's electronic version, but much of it is quoted in an accompanying piece, available here. (http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2103982005) In addition, the attack on the ID scheme by the "Microsoft expert" is given the front page headline, "ID cards will lead to 'massive fraud'", an editorial demanding an immediate rethink ("Mr McNulty's ID scheme is a Dr Who fantasy which only diverts attention from the real war on terror") and a critical article from SNP leader Alex Salmond. It's about time the Scotsman got off the fence and told us where it stands, we reckon.

Parliamentary spinwatch: Home Secretary Charles Clarke was today due to announce last minute 'guarantees' concerning the data to be held on the National Identity Register. According to the spin fed to the national press, (http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,15642,1594643,00.html) he will promise that extra personal details will only be included via the introduction of fresh primary legislation, and the NIR will not include any numbers that could lead to the disclosure of sensitive personal details. Police National Computer and National Health Service identifiers are allegedly covered here, which one might take to mean that Clarke is making sure that the ID card cannot be used to check your police or your health records.

Except, er, for a couple of things. The enthusiasm of Clarke and Tony Blair for the deployment of the ID card to speed Criminal Records Bureau checks (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/05/id_laundry_analysis/) does rather suggest that it'll be some use in checking for criminal records. And it is rather difficult to conceive of how it will defend us against the (largely fictional) threat of health tourism if it is not in some way possible for the NHS to connect the ID card with a valid NHS record. We know how it works with or without numbers, but if Clarke knows he's not letting on. ®
Related stories

ID card debates need reframing (18 October 2005)
How Clarke is fiddling the £30 'affordable' ID card (17 October 2005)

Minister's shock claim: ID scheme to check 13 biometrics (17 October 2005)

--
tnn


TFIF

10/14/2005

Another blasted week over with. Three things made it bearable.

1) A dinner with Ninny Pinny and Icy, a pleasant evening and it was a delight to see Icy laugh and jovial again. (NOT that she isn't with me, oh no, but its nice to see her interact with other people - I usually only see her in our house alone and its not the same. I'll stop digging now....big mouth or what)

2) An excellent idea of a guess the bookshelf competition over at SwissToni's. A cracker of a concept for a blog. Top notch. Very interesting seeing whats on offer.

3) Pizza Hut last night. Sorry, I do like my PH.

What a simple and busy life I lead. If only I were a millionaire, I'd jack it all in and go and do something more interesting...like sit around, surf, exercise, eat, read, drink and be merry.

Bring on the weekend, maybe my literary skills may return?
--
tnn


Oh dear...

10/10/2005

This is not what you want to read on a Monday morning. Will the Americans ever live him down? Its quite astounding that the man leading the free advanced first world is resorting to religion as his largest socio-political policy driver!

Work has begun as it ended on Friday, silly buggery requests.

Some largely quick selfish updates for fun:
  • Bought a coolio tiny 15" LCD monitor for my PC, and it sits snugly on the top tier of our home desk. Very cheap, not very great, but its just got to power my old PC really, so thats fine.
  • Went out for a night's Gharba - Indian dance festival.
  • Did the garden, cut the grass and finally managed to trim the edges of the lawn with my new edge trimmer.
  • Tidied the home study, it looks nice and clear now - hopefully Icy can keep it going that way as she finally begins her Working From Home - woohoo!
  • Watched another Midsomer Murder last night, was OK, not great.
  • Waiting for damo to pop over for a day or so.
  • Waiting for young clever clog cousin-in-law to pop over for a day or so.
  • Waiting for ninny pinny to pop over for a day or so.
Pretty soon, I'll need a holiday!
--
tnn


TFIF

10/07/2005

Oh my oh my. Thank heavens its friday. Though i made a mental note to not moan about work i must do it, to get it off my chest you know. Work, here goes, is a very big pain in the proverbial. I have had a really bad week. No, i have had a very bad three weeks. I have been working on budgetary stuff. But it is quick and fast budgetary stuff that is born from hard core technology infrastructure design. So there i am, small me, looking at a blank page knowing i have to fill it with a list of items that are capable of running a major financial institutes key system. The problem is that i had two weeks to list it and then price it and then present it. Problem is it is not accurate but the figures are going to be shown to the cio. Problem is i bet they are going to be the budget. Problem is that every man and his dog wants the prices sliced a different way. So there you have a succint definition of why i have been stressed and working like a dog. The best bit is that I've passed a set of figures to the senior partner. He ultimately has to trust me. The client are hard to fathom. I am undecided about them. Anyway its largely done and so i'm relieved. I don't know what i'm going to do this weekend. I am sure it will be a lot of nothing. My brain is exhausted. I have not had a moments rest at work. So bring on the weekend. We had our first dinner party on sunday. It was great but the cleaning was hard work. Looking forward to captain damo popping over. Waiting for ninny pinny to do likewise. Right other stuff. We need another car. Something safer for the motorway. I am amazed at the investigation of the failure to act on the hurricane response. That fellow was obscene. The mayor of london continues to bug me with his authoritarian schemes to ruin life in london and then claim otherwise. The football is looking a bit yawny, though i am preparing for a mid table united finish i can't see a challenge to chesea. And finally, i finished 24 season 4. Who'd have thought that jack was the one who did it in the study with the rope? Amazing.
..
dp
[mobile]


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Weekly musings from a confused mind. This blog, and all posts within it, are just ramblings. They are in no way affiliated with any past, current or future employers. Neither do they represent my deep felt views, or those of my friends or family. Really, its just a blog, which is a new thing, and has new dimensions. So please, dont take anything seriously. If you do, contact me via a comment, and I will get back to you to resolve the situation. Seriously, enjoy life, ignore this blog, and views within it.

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