The new U.S. Armed Forces Identification cards have a chip in them. They are "Smart Cards" - and if you are trying to think of a way to create a new Oxymoron out of that, trust me, its been done. Anyway, the chip on mine is this little gold leaf looking thing that looks a little bit like it belongs on the side of a Vulcan "Bird of Prey" space ship or something. Somehow this tiny bit of metal stores my navy.mil login credentials, my digital certificates, my Exchange and Commisary benefit levels and a whole host of other information about me. It also has the added bonus of the ability to trigger every doorway loss prevention alarm at every Walgreens, Target, Barnes & Noble and Electron Hut in the nation. Fortunately for me, in the same manner that people now completely ignore car alarms, I am left completely alone when exiting said places of business, setting off a whirl of sirens and lights each time. Not once has any employee or law enforcement officer even so much as given me a second glance. I wonder why. I have a theory...I am a white guy with very short hair. I have seen Target employees rush out after people that have set off the alarm before, and now that I think about it - none of the customers they pursued were white guys with really short hair. I think I may be on to something here. Is this not approaching a level of trust of white guys with crew cuts that seems intoxicating? The power to corrupt is infinite, and I feel like it is my duty to take advantage of what I perceive as complete and unabashed racial profiling. I could probably walk out of Target with a snowblower with out even so much as a blink from those that should prevent me. Anyone want a new DVD player?

http://www.mikerowesoft.com/

Hard to believe that Microsoft thinks that this guy is some kind of threat. Mike Rowe from Canada is usurping the Microsoft name in an effort to confuse the masses. I'm sorry, even the masses aren't this dumb. Even the masses will know the difference between http://www.mikerowesoft.com/ and http://www.microsoft.com. You, you are a member of the masses. Click both links and then write to me and tell me how confused you are, then I will help enlighten you. Send your comments to me at tech@dixbert.com
Here is the news story from the Official Spin site.

Good grief, when you forget the password to log in to blogger, then it has been too long since the last one.
I will have to set a reminder or something to get myself to write something here.

My wife's grandfather passed away on Tuesday. He joined his wife of many years, who passed away last August. Family changes. It used to be me that looked up to the grandparents and aunts and uncles - I am far from being the grandparent yet, but I am now an Uncle to two little girls. Time marches forward, I guess.

Got him.

No more Saddam. One more left.

ABI Hosting | The truth about cookies

I ran across this link this morning looking for an answer to a test question on a Cold Fusion Application Development exam I was reviewing for a friend of mine.
The question was "How many cookies per domain can exist on your computer?" Well the answer is 20, which the page linked above states, but there is also
some pretty good myth-busting going on there too. To sum it up, a cookie is stored on YOUR computer, so you are ultimately in control. But even today, there
is no way a web site, unscrupulous or not, is going to get your email address, name, phone number or dress size, UNLESS YOU TELL THEM. Cookies can't read
your mind. However I can tell right now that your browser can be described like this: #cgi.http_user_agent# and it is about #timeFormat(now())# EST right now. Pretty useful stuff. I just invaded your privacy, but not really.