News Roundup

•  From the "UXO" Department - Authorities in North Carolina are searching an area for World War II era bombs after a 500 pound concrete-filled bomb was found in some woods.  A local company made bombs for the government in the 1940's, so that may be the source for the ordnance.  Lots of us are going to the woods this fall.  Remember, if you didn't drop it, don't pick it up.  Yeah, that blockbuster bomb might make a heck of a grill, but you might get a surprise when you try to open it up.  But if you do decide to utilize a surplus bomb as a grill, a crib, or a coffin, remember to cut the blue wire first.*
• From the "Nothing Can Go Wrong Here" Department - A company in Silicon Valley has come out with a new twist on programmable home thermostats.  You can control it via a physical interface, and it will 'learn' the patterns of your desired temperatures and begin to automatically adjust the temperature of your home.  It also has a network interface, because, really, why the heck not?  Marketing materials assert that you can control it remotely via a smart phone.  Good side of this:  You can adjust the temperature at the house if you forgot to program the thermostat before leaving for a vacation, thus saving a bit of energy and money.  Not so good side of this:  It'll take about 27 minutes for a script kiddy in South Korea to figure out how to get to these devices, turn your thermostats either way up or way down, and then demand a sizeable 'donation' before temporarily releasing control of the temperature of your home.  I'm a geek, but I'm not putting an IP address on anything my home depends on. 
•  From the "No Kidding?" Department - The U.N. is expressing surprise that those who stand up for human rights in areas that have little to no respect for human rights continue to come under attack, as do their families.  Shocked, yes shocked, I am that such a thing happens!  Imagine that, despotic dictators who place no value on the lives of others would attack people who point out that they are oppressing their people.  Maybe if these human rights workers put a little more stock in a person's right to self defense, especially their own, maybe they wouldn't be such a soft target.
• From the "Whodunit?" Department - Several Japanese defense contractors, including a company that makes Patriot missiles, have been compromised by a virus and have lost control of critical product data.  This includes data on missiles, airplanes, naval vessels, and nuclear reactors.  Apparently one of the vectors for the penetration was a trade group the companies belonged to, which had lax computer security standards.  No-one is saying who they believe was behind the breaches, but I have a few theories.  I mean, how many large, technologically advanced, wealthy, powerful countries that might be interested in how Japan might fight a war and what weapons they might use are there in that region?  I know, it's a conundrum.

*After cutting the black wire and turning the detonator three times counter clockwise, using non-conducting snippers.