I think I’ll name him Ryan.
look what I found!
identity authentication protocols
From: Blog Carnival Message Forwarder
Reply-to: ZZZZ
To: Douglas Galbi
Subject: Fwd: Your Uncle ZZZZ
Your Uncle ZZZZ from YYYY says Hello, would like to get in touch with you. Hope you’re doing well. Planning a trip to D.C. in the fall. Would enjoy having you visit me on the farm for a few days.
—————-
From: Douglas Galbi
To: ZZZZ
Subject: Re: Fwd: Your Uncle ZZZZ
Uncle ZZZZ, is that really you, or is this some kind of scam? Here’s a test question: what sort of farming did you like best (I still remember what you told me).
——————
From: Suzanne
To: Douglas Galbi
Subject: Re: Re: Fwd: Your Uncle ZZZZ
Hi Doug I always did vegetable farming. Last time I saw you was at your uncle F—s’ 50th wedding anniversary. Am going to Maine for a week to see my grandson Scot. Would like to get in touch with you after. Uncle ZZZZ
——————
From: Suzanne
To: Douglas Galbi
Subject: Re: Re: Fwd: Your Uncle ZZZZ
I forgot, I grow Lilacs. Looking forward to hearing from you. Uncle ZZZZ
——————
From: Douglas Galbi
To: Suzanne
Subject: Re: Fwd: Your Uncle ZZZZ
I’m a bit suspicious. About twenty-five years ago, when I visited his farm as a kid, my Uncle ZZZZ told me the kind of farming that he liked best is having the government pay him not to grow stuff. I thought that was a great idea, so I decided that I wanted to be a farmer when I grew up. But I couldn’t get land. Still don’t have any land.
Hmm, what are phonebooks good for?
———————
And that’s the last I heard from Suzanne/Uncle ZZZZ. I called my Uncle ZZZZ and left a message about these emails, along with my telephone number. About a week later, Uncle ZZZZ called my brother and told him to tell me that I was welcomed to come and visit him on his farm.
OpenID and other identity technologies cannot solve these sorts of communication problems. Identity is a social problem. Not having communicated with someone for a long time makes misidentification more likely.
Wednesday's flowers
print down slightly, video up sharply
Video circulation from Massachusetts public libraries doubled from 1998 to 2006. Over the same period, print item circulation fell slightly. Audio and video items together now account for 32% of total item circulation from Massachusetts public libraries.[1] Audiovisual circulation in libraries in other states might account for somewhat less, perhaps a quarter of total circulation.
YouTube, which was launched in November, 2005, now generates about 10% of broadband subscribers’ Internet traffic in North America (Ellacoya findings).
Video attracts much more attention than print. Historically, persons have spent on average relatively little leisure time reading. Most of the growth in leisure time from 1925 to the present has been absorbed in watching television. Now persons have on-demand access to large, diverse collections of videos, similar to what they have had for books.
Book digitization and internet publishing makes texts more readily accessible. But changes in access to video will have much larger effects than changes in access to print.
Reference:
[1] Data from Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, Public Library Data, Summary Report 2006, p. 29. This is also the source for the above graph.
read the writing in the sky
As part of the 2007 Planet Arlington World Music Festival, Jack Sanders, Robert Gay, and Butch Anthony have installed solar-powered LED’s, covered with plastic drink bottles, atop steel rods of varying length in the traffic island between N. Lynn Street and Fort Myer Drive in Rosslyn, Virginia. The work is entitled CO2LED. The Arlington Cultural Affairs Division explains:
CO2LED promotes the use of alternative energy sources as well as recycling and responds to Arlington’s environmental initiative, FreshAIRE (Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions). … The use of energy-efficient, solar-powered LEDs, rather than conventional incandescent bulbs, has the power to significantly reduce the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the environment. Conventional lighting, fueled by power plants which generate energy through burning fossil fuels, requires far more energy than LEDs, resulting in increased carbon dioxide emissions. Being solar-powered, CO2LED produces long-lasting illumination, free of toxic by-products.
Robert Gay is an enthusiastic support of the Arlington arts scene, while Butch Anthony has already made a great contribution to Arlington with his magnificent bike kiosk.
Bicyclists breathing, regrettably, produce CO2. But the effects of all gaseous output from a local cycling team probably has less effect on global warming than does an equivalent number of cows farting. Economic analysis, by a duly certified economics Ph.D., indicates that, on balance, cycling is good for people and the environment. So get on your bike, ride past CO2LED, and breath some of Arlington’s fresh air!