Can phishing go away??

Filed in General Interest, October 17, 2005, 12:49 am by

Bruce Schneier’s take on what he calls as “semantic attacks” such as Phishing and Pharming and how much more institutions can do to prevent such attacks and why they are not inclined to do so in the current environment. Although I would doubt that phishing and its variants will completley go away if  financial institutions bore all the responsibilty for identity thefts, it will certainly be a good start. Ganesh

Unsung Blogger of the Week #7

Filed in Unsung Blogger.., October 16, 2005, 5:35 pm by

This week’s featured blogger is Prof. Massimo Pigliucci from SUNY, Stonybrook, New York. He joined the blogosphere only recently with his blog rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com. But he has been publishing his thoughts on skepticism, philosophy and the likes on the web since the Year 2000 on his website www.rationallyspeaking.org. Be sure to read the 2 posts he has pointed to in the interview below. I loved the one about the conversation he had with his 8 year old daughter. Text from the interview conducted via email:

1. Having been on the web for a long time, why did you decide to start a blog? I decided to move from a regular monthly column to a blog
for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted more immediacy in my posts and more opportunity for feedback from readers. Second, it seemed like a monthly column was a stuffy holdover from the time of the printed press, while a blog better reflects the fast-paced and interactive approach typical of the Internet.

2. How do you publicize your blog?
I started recently, and so far I have simply posted links from my web site, www.rationallyspeaking.org (which over the years has achieved a certain recognition among people interested in pseudoscience, philosophy and politics); I have alerted subscribers to my Yahoo Rationally Speaking list; I also write for a couple of printed magazines (Skeptical Inquirer, Philosophy Now), so I added the URL to my byline; and I have asked the several “mirror” sites of my former monthly column (the one that eventually turned into the current blog) to alert their readers. Oh, I sent an email to my mother too… 🙂

3. Which techniques have worked for you and which ones have not? Judging from a cursory examination of my logs, some of the mirror sites have been redirecting a lot of traffic to the blog. My monthly column (Rationally Speaking, same title as the blog) was posted for five years (’till August ’05, when I started the blog) on my main web site as well as on about 50 other sites worldwide, which I
refer to as “mirrors.” The idea was to reach a wider audience that way, and it worked!
 
4. What do you consider as your best post so far?
Ouch, tough question! Do I get to pick only one? OK, that would probably be “The most important question ever”
(http://rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2005/08/most-important-question-ever.html), where I tell the story of a conversation with my 8-yr old daughter. However, the one that has gotten the most comments (and most heated discussion) is “Abortion and the case of the desperate violinist” (http://rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2005/08/abortion-and-case-of-desperate.html),
based on a classical thought experiment in philosophy. (OK, that makes two posts…)

5.   What are your Top 5 Unsung Blogs ? (please include only those that are not in any Top 100/500 lists). Ah, I must admit my ignorance as a newcomer to the blog world here! I have barely enough time to check some of the most popular ones that deal with topics I am particularly interested in! Some of my favorites are: * Humanist Network News (http://humaniststudies.org/), updated weekly, lots of interesting and thought-provoking information about the “culture wars” from a rational, secular, perspective. * The Philosophy Now forum (http://philosophynow.forumsplace.com/), where people can exchange ideas about philosophy and philosophers. It’s maintained by the editors of the printed magazine Philosophy Now, highly recommended if you are curious about philosophy but not a professional.

6.  What are your current book recommendations ? (1 or 2 is
sufficient). You mean besides mine? 🙂 Let’s see, of those I’ve read most recently, Edmonds & Eidinow’s “Wittgenstein’s Poker” and Richard Nisbett’s “The Geography of Thought.” The first one is the story of the 3-minute encounter and ensuing heated argument between two of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper. The book does a marvelous job at presenting the characters (both from
Vienna, different social and economic backgrounds), the atmosphere in Cambridge during the first part of the 20th century, and even the different philosophies of the two men. Nisbett’s book is an interesting look at the different ways of thinking (from the point of view of cognitive science) of Western and Eastern people, and how they may be rooted in their cultural histories.

Built to Last (forever!) – Oldest companies/corporations

Filed in Uncategorized, October 14, 2005, 1:00 am by

Priya Raju asked me recently – which is the oldest company in the world? I did not know the answer, so I looked the question up on the Net. Guess which is the oldest one? 1. That distinction goes to a Japanese construction company called Kongo Gumi which was setup, hold your breath, in the year 578. 2. The Family Business Magazine has an excellent composition of the oldest family run businesses in the world. Some notable mentions – Beretta – the famous Italian Gunmaker was founded in 1526, the Kikkoman company famous for its soy sauce was founded in 1630 in Japan, Sumitomo of Japan was also started in 1630. 3. The same magazine has another compilation of the oldest family run businesses in the US. The preface to the list has some interesting wisdom gleaned from these companies. Some notable ones – Corning founded in 1851, Levi Strauss & Co (1853), Annheuser-Busch Cos. (1860), RR Donnelley (1864), Cargill (1865), Wawa(1865). 4. The distinction of the oldest corporation in the US goes to Harvard University founded in 1636. Of course, there are universities in other parts of the world that are much older. The oldest one is the University of Bologna founded in 1088. Here is a list of the oldest universities in continuous operation across the world. 5. The oldest company in Canada is the Hudson’s Bay Company  started in 1670 – the owner of Zellers and The Bay.

“Worm Therapy” for Asthma similar to “Hyderabad Fish Medicine”?

Filed in Uncategorized, October 13, 2005, 1:00 am by

Recently read a report describing a new type of therapy for Asthma using hookworms. The basic principle being – the hookworms trigger the production of T cells that direct the immune system to respond and since the immune system is focused on attacking the hookworms, the typical immune system response of the asthmatic to allergens is suppressed.  When I read this, I was reminded of the Hyderabad based Goud Family’s “fish medicine”.  This medicine is administered on one auspicious day every year. The asthma patient swallows a live 3 cm long murrel fish coated with a secret herbal medicine. There are reports of people having been cured by this medicine (I don’t know anyone that has been cured personally). Per a report in the UK’s Telegraph, the Indian Medical Association took the Goud Family to court claiming that this is a quack medicine.(Via Tim Worstall – he says if it works it should be good medicine. ) I started wondering whether the murrel fish is triggering an immune response similar to the hookworms?

The milliondollar homepage – one helluva idea!

Filed in Uncategorized, October 12, 2005, 1:00 am by

A 21-year old student in the UK is trying to pay for his college by selling 100-pixel blocks for $100 on a page with a million pixels on it. As on date he has sold $310,000 worth of pixels. It gives new meaning to the term –  business model. Way to go Alex Tew. (Via  Kottke)