Author: Stilgherrian

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Nuclear reactors hacked

Just so you can get a sound night’s sleep before a busy working week, here’s the news that it’s easy to hack into US nuclear power plants:

The first time Scott Lunsford offered to hack into a nuclear power station, he was told it would be impossible. There was no way, the plant’s owners claimed, that their critical components could be accessed from the Internet. Lunsford, a researcher for IBM’s Internet Security Systems, found otherwise.

“It turned out to be one of the easiest penetration tests I’d ever done,” he says. “By the first day, we had penetrated the network. Within a week, we were controlling a nuclear power plant. I thought, ‘Gosh. This is a big problem.'”

Yes, Scott, I reckon it is.

Of course Australia’s “critical infrastructure” wouldn’t have any problems like this, would it.

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If you’re going to lie…

… at least make the lie fit the evidence, that’s what I reckon. Alas, the police in Quebec haven’t learnt that lesson.

The other day I posted a video which appeared to show police provocateurs trying to turn a peaceful demonstration into a violent one. Since then the police have admitted, yes, it was them.

However one blogger notes:

The press release says “Les policiers ont été repérés par les manifestants au moment où ils ont refusé de lancer des projectiles.” In English that’s: “The police officers were located by the demonstrators when they refused to launch projectiles.” Now that version of events is very clearly contradicted by the video, which shows demonstrators telling the officers to put the rock down, not to launch it.

Thanks again to BoingBoing for the pointer.

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Weekly Poll: Who should sing…?

Photograph of Andrew P Street

Andrew P Street is a genius. I say that because (a) he is, (b) knowing Andrew is one of the three vital components for understanding the full subtlety of this week’s poll, and (c) I dare not upset him by failing to acknowledge his enormous throbbing brain.

Last night ’Pong and I went to the Excelsior Hotel in Glebe. Their website is slick and glossy — but the web designer has clearly never set foot in the establishment because the Excelsior is what we in the business call a “dive”. Or, as the Macquarie Dictionary puts it, “a disreputable place, as for drinking, gambling, etc.”

I wish to report that the Excelsior is well-equipped for drinking, and we made ample use of its facilities.

Andrew P Street is, I believe, also well-equipped for drinking, being in possession of hands, mouth, gullet etc. He also has a guitar, and his mouth is so arranged that red wine may flow inwards while, at other moments, song flows outwards.

Continue reading “Weekly Poll: Who should sing…?”

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Is this police provocation?

Here’s a fascinating video from Canada, which seems to show police provocateurs trying to turn a peaceful demonstration violent.

This was shot on Monday afternoon at protests in Montebello, Quebec. It shows the tail end of a confrontation between Dave Coles (president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada) and three masked men who were trying to throw rocks into the police line.

In the commentary, there’s evidence to support the provocateur theory.

  • When accused of being police, the masked men just look confused rather than denying it.
  • Standard police procedure is that once a suspect is cuffed, a mask would be removed so everyone can see their face and reliably witness subsequent events. At least one “protester” stays masked all the way to the police vans.
  • The takedown seems remarkably relaxed, given that these guys pushed into a line of riot police.
  • At 2.45, immediately after they start arresting the “protesters”, the police cameraman shuts his camera off.
  • One of the three is wearing a t-shirt for Radio X — a right-wing Quebecois shock-jock channel. No lefty unionist would be caught dead in one of those, you’d think.

Montobello photo

And this photo (left) of the takedown is interesting. Note that the “protester” is wearing boots with exactly the same tread pattern as the riot police.

There’s more on this story at the Toronto Star. Thank BoingBoing for the pointer.

It’d be interesting to ask NSW police whether they’ve ever used provocateurs in this way — particularly with APEC in Sydney very soon.

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Where Americans live

I’m a sucker for beautiful maps, so I simply must share this population density map of the US which I stumbled across today.

Population density map of the US

It’s part of a Time cover story from last year, An In-Depth View of America by the Numbers, which also includes What We Believe (31% of Americans believe in an “authoritarian God”, for example, while it seems only 6% don’t believe in God), Denomination Nation (exploring which kind of Christians live where) and Who We Are (which, being American, starts off by talking about race).