Notices by spaf (spaf@mstdn.social)

Sad satire https://www.duffelblog.com/most-powerful-military-in-history-mobilized-to-arrest-guy-washing-dishes/

Almost anything can be a UFO if you are really bad at identifying things.

It appears most people outside the USA (and many inside) don't understand what the government shutdown is all about. Here is a succinct summary:

In the USA, it is called “MAGA”

In Germany, it is called “Why grandpa has to live in Argentina.”

It is important to be comfortable in your own skin.

Largely because you can get in a lot of trouble for wearing someone else's.

Yes, it is basically this: https://youtu.be/FavUpD_IjVY?si=AKQZ3XjZmJgZrAZQ

Most cybersecurity vendors: "We provide the most comprehensive alarms and fire extinguishers in the business!"

Business and government talking to people like me, "Why do you keep recommending bricks and steel to replace our wood and paper structures?"

To think -- some of us spent all that time and effort in school studying science, history, and math. We thought deeply about ethics and society.

Now, our government and businesses are run by the kids who cheated on all the exams. Our law enforcement and defense are run by the kids who skipped class to drink behind the bleachers. And our health care and science policy are run by the people who ate the crayons.

When he finally dies, I think we should give him a funeral like an ancient pharaoh -- and bury all his cabinet officials and the Congress-critters he owns, along with him. Better yet, a funeral pyre.

"The trouble is, you think you have time." -- Buddha

A public service announcement

"Any kind gesture which pulls another living soul out of despair is indistinguishable from magic." --Michael Xavier

Practice magic, everyone.

That means provide hope, not criticism. That means a smile, not a cold shoulder. That means listening, not lecturing. That means empathy, not ostracism.

This was posted online several years ago. As I navigate through several meeting requests today, I can't help but endorse this.

Found in my archive:

Apolitical, non-technical, and not silly.

Clematis bloom time on our back deck. Enjoy.

Happy Burt Gummer Day!

"Do What You Do Best: Find Something Simple And Complicate It."

Has anyone else noticed that when time travelers grab you by your shoulders and ask what year it is, and you tell them, they don't reply, "Then I'm not too late," anymore?

That's rather concerning.

Old Soviet joke repurposed for 2025:
Several times daily, a woman opens a news website, glances at the screen, then closes it.

Her spouse, curious, asks what she's doing.

The woman explains she's looking for death notices.

The spouse says that the website only has headlines, not obituaries.

The woman replies, "Oh, the obituaries I'm praying for will be headlines."

We're going to stay up until midnight this New Year's Eve.

Not because we are at a party or celebrating -- it is to be certain that 2024 leaves.

We are delighted to see that "Cybersecurity Myths and Misconceptions" has been added to the Cybersecurity Canon of definitive literature!
https://icdt.osu.edu/about-cybersecurity-canon

Have your copy yet? If not, why not?