jfin is here…

Yes. Encryption (the stuff that puts that padlock in the bottom right-hand corner of your web browser when you use your internet banking) can be considered to be a weapon.Maybe that’s pushing it. It’s actually considered to be a dual-use technology, meaning that it can be used for both peaceful / commercial as well as military purposes. Included in this “dual-use” category are things such as nuclear weapons (or their components) and GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.

The international community likes to control who is able to obtain this kind of technology, and a number of nonproliferation treaties and agreements are in place for purpose. One such example is the Wassenaar Agreement, whose 40 participating states (including US and New Zealand):

• have agreed to maintain national export controls on listed items. These controls are implemented via national legislation.
• have agreed to report on transfers and denials of specified controlled items to destinations outside the Arrangement.
• are guided by agreed Best Practices, Guidelines or Elements.
• exchange information on sensitive dual-use goods and technologies.

They have lists of the good-but-bad technologies with which care should be taken. It’s then left up to the member state to implement these controls within their own legislative / regulatory framework.

It’s interesting to look into the different ways in which countries have implemented their own controls - whether in compliance with the Wassenaar Arrangement or not. For example, when exporting encryption products from the United States it gets somewhat complicated, as you have to consider the strength of the encryption, where it is being exported to, who the recipient is, what it will be used for, and how it will be transferred.

In order to maintain existing export controls / regulations, the President of the US is required annually to redeclare a ‘national emergency’. This is because the Export Administration Act (1979) expired in 1994 and has not yet been renewed by Congress. This years continuation notice is here.

Technology will keep on pushing, regardless of whether bureaucracy can keep up or not. Fascinating stuff for a Friday. :)

Listening to : U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name

Spent Sunday afternoon riding the Soquel Demo Forest (up in the Santa Cruz mountains) with Hoz & Erin (fellow NZers I met last time I was up in Tahoe).

Some nice bush - redwoods - and great trails, in comparison to some of the others in the area.

Got the singlespeed to the top of the hill, where my front brake fell to pieces. Took the disc off to at least let it keep the bike rolling, and headed down Braille. Back brake by itself isn’t so flash, so ended up running most of it. Still, a nice ride. Will definitely head back there.

Now it’s Wednesday night .. dropped the Kiwis’ off at the airport yesterday. Always nice having people from home around. :)

Listening to : Goo Goo Dolls - Black Balloon

Saturday afternoon / evening had managed to pick up tickets to the 20th Bridge School Benefit - an annual fundraiser, organised by Neil Young and others, to support a school for children with severe speech and physical impairments. It’s an acoustic concert, which makes things interesting. And it seems that they always manage to get a good collection of big names.

A great lineup this year. Favorite bands (in order of appearance) were Death Cab For Cutie, Trent Reznor (backed by a string quartet.. somewhat different to his usual Nine Inch Nails sound but very cool), Foo Fighters, Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys fame), Pearl Jam, and Dave Matthews Band. Oh yeah, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings were cool too.

Four personal highlights from the night, in increasing order of happiness / excitement generated:

- Brian Williams and his 12 (!) support band members.  Got the crowd on their feet and grooving to classics such as Sloop John B, I Get Around, Good Vibrations, and Surfin USA.

- Pearl Jam. Cranked out a combo of favorites and covers, including Daughter and Betterman, before topping it all off when joined by Neil Young for an incredible rendition of Throw Your Hatred Down.

- Dave Matthews Band.  Third time I’ve seen them since I’ve been here, and they keep getting better. Just awesome with Warehouse and Ants Marching. But especially when Neil Young joined them for their last tune, Cortez The Killer.

- Foo Fighters - Everlong. An all time favorite song of mine, love the acoustic version. Followed by Hero, Big Me, Times Like These, and others. All great, but Everlong was huge. I want to see these guys again.

Started at 4pm, and we left at about 12.30am .. that’s called getting your US$50 worth! Live music is most definitely not losing its appeal. I’ll be back next year.

.. every now and then, and have a little chuckle at the somewhat major differences between there and where I am now.

Inglewood, in Taranaki, New Zealand .. a little town surrounded by rolling green fields, with a skyline dominated by the beautiful Mount Taranaki (when it’s not shrouded in cloud), home to about 3,000 people. Four seasons in one day. Lots of farms. Median price for a home, $150,000.

The Bay Area, in California, America … a geographically diverse metropolitan area, surrounding the San Francisco Bay, home to more than 8,000,000 people. Five months of consistently sunny weather. Lots of IT companies. Median price for a home, $600,000.

Today I’m catching up on some news from back at home and come across a classic headline .. “Vicar saves Inglewood’s knickerless women“. Yep, that’s my hometown, and I look forward to going back there for a few days in January. :)

Listening to : The Killers - When You Were Young

Check out this CNN story:

Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they’ll get hurt and hold the school liable.

Recess is “a time when accidents can happen,” said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.

Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Spokane, Washington, also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, South Carolina, school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.

No running.  No touching.  And no pushing.  So you don’t hurt anyone.  Crazy.

Realised yesterday that - up until now - I’ve never lived more than 10 minutes drive from the sea. Actually, I still do, but the San Francisco Bay doesn’t really count. I was talking to someone from the Midwest the other day who had never even seen the sea for the first 20 years of their life. Hard to imagine.

Took my Sunday off and drove south down the coast. Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur. Then back up the 1 to Half Moon Bay, and home.

The water was mighty cold, but looking out into wide open sea while breathing salty air and digging toes into the sand is good. :)

Photos here.

.. even if they are Friday-the-Thirteenth’s.

Today is an extra-special one, because if you add the digits of the date together they total thirteen as well.

1+3+1+0+2+0+0+6 = 13

Along the same lines, check out this photo… what’s missing? I had this pointed out to me the other day .. it’s the control panel inside the elevator in my work building. Apparently it’s fairly common for American buildings to be missing this thing.

Hmm .. happy not to be superstitious, I am.

Listening to : Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair

.. reading / listening to recently.

Mark Driscoll blogs about Jenna Jameson, of all people. His summarising sentence gets it right:

I guess the entire point that stuck out is that we sinners are a crazy bunch of conflicted people torn between the dignity of creation and depravity of the curse, who, apart from Jesus saving us from ourselves and renewing our minds, are a hopeless mess.

These sermons from the Desiring God conference are definitely worth a listen. The message from Tim Keller is interesting, talking about sharing the gospel in a Western postmodern society and relating it to the story of Jonah. Good summary at Challies:

There has to be a lifelong process of realizing the wonder of the gospel. Religion gives you control which is why it’s so popular. Religion is “I obey, therefore I’m accepted.” The gospel is “I’m accepted, therefore I obey.”

The book Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski is about two guys who put their normal lives on hold and live on the streets in America for 5 months. Provides some insights into what the homeless life is like, and I was definitely challenged regarding how I think about and act towards these people.

And this is an interesting read, about different reactions to a “street preacher”.

It’s raining outside. First time in about five months, I think.

I guess winter is on its way. Mmmmm, white fluffy powder. :) The pre-snow excitement is starting to build.

Plans for the next few months .. 4 weeks in San Jose, 6 weeks in Seattle, 5 weeks back in San Jose, and then 2 weeks (and 3, maybe 4, weddings) in New Zealand.

Something I have learned about myself recently .. I enjoy work most when I am busy working on a job that has purpose and provides a sense of achievement. Otherwise I just get bored. And that is not good.

I’m definitely not one of those people who could go along to work day-in day-out for weeks on end and do nothing.

Hmm .. I should clarify. This dent in this bottle has developed over several evenings .. only one glass tonight. Ahhh, a taste of home. :)

Listening to : Dave Dobbyn - Whaling