NOAA Hacked

[Blicj11]

I thought this was an interesting article on IT security (or the lack thereof) at NOAA ==> http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2016/05/audit-finds-hostile-probes-breaches-commerce-satellite-system/128393/

[elagache]

Dear Blick and WeatherCat cyber-security observers . . . .

I thought this was an interesting article on IT security (or the lack thereof) at NOAA ==> http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2016/05/audit-finds-hostile-probes-breaches-commerce-satellite-system/128393/

  . . . . Oh so that explains it.  Someone has been hacking NOAA and making the weather all weird!! . . . . . 

It was a somewhat interesting article.  Alas, it was clear that they use language similar to what the weather forecasters use.  In the end I had very little idea of what these security vulnerabilities are.  Of course they can use the excuse that being more precise might tip off their enemies, but they could correct in a manner that isn't so acceptable.  The enemies in this case being the taxpayers who expect good service for their investment!

The next article on this website definitely didn't give me any warm fuzzies either.  The title was (literally and I quote:)

Feds Finalize Basic Cyber Hygiene Rules for Contractor Systems

What is the name of anything reasonable is: "Cyber Hygiene" ?!?!??

I have a feeling I should wash my hands of the whole business!!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Steve]

]Oh so that explains it.  Someone has been hacking NOAA and making the weather all weird!!

That might explain why it snowed here in Ohio earlier this week...

[xairbusdriver]

Feds Finalize Basic Cyber Hygiene Rules for Contractor Systems
What is the name of anything reasonable is: "Cyber Hygiene" ?

Edouard, I may have missed your use of sarcasm with that question. OTOH, perhaps you've never used the "Dictionary" 'look up' function built into OS X. It's very hand. Just double-click on any word, then control-click the selection. You'll then get several options, including an option to "Look up" that word in the also built in Dictionary app. You won't even have to leave the page/document to see what the dictionary offers.

You might also remember that 'headlines' are created to get your attention as much as describe the subject of the story. They usually have to use as few words as possible, even on the web. I sometimes find they are the most humorous parts of any 'news' source. Since the article you mentioned is in a IT news site, I suspect most of its readers are familiar with the word "cyber". The other word, "hygiene", is probably more widely know and used when discussing cleanliness. But saving five characters may have been more important to the headline writer(s).

Just wondering, were you by any chance a professor of Linguistics or Etymology...  Are you a registered member of POEM?

<http://www.prettygoodgoods.org/...POEM Official products>
<English Majors audio>

[elagache]

Dear Steve, X-Air, and WeatherCat "men of letters," . . . .

Are you a registered member of POEM? <http://www.prettygoodgoods.org/...POEM Official products>
<English Majors audio>

Unfortunately, the website wasn't responding this afternoon, so I never did get a look at your "easter egg."

Just wondering, were you by any chance a professor of Linguistics or Etymology...

Well, I never was a professor, just a lecturer.  I taught one quarter at the Department of Communications at U.C. San Diego in 1994 before I completed my PhD.  I then taught two more quarters at the same department after I completed in my PhD in 1996.  Just after completing my PhD in 1995, I taught two quarters at the Department of Human Development of Cal State Hayward.

Nonetheless, with a strong background in Philosophy and Computer Science, it is hard to escape an interest in the precise meaning of words and their origins.

Cheers, Edouard 

[xairbusdriver]

You know I'm just 'ribbin' you, right? Some might call it "pullin' yore chain"! I must confess to having given a few lectures myself. Neither son seemed to be paying much attention, however...

[Bull Winkus]

Nonetheless, with a strong background in Philosophy and Computer Science, it is hard to escape an interest in the precise meaning of words and their origins.

Philosophy and Computer Science? I suppose those two meet somewhere in-between, but I can't imagine where and how. When I try, all I get is?



Then I have to reboot my brain.

[Blicj11]

Ha ha ha. You are in top form today, Herb. Thanks for the laugh.

[Bull Winkus]

Thanks Blick! It's not me, though. Edouard is supplying the material.

 

[elagache]

Dear Herb, Blick, and WeatherCat scholars,

Philosophy and Computer Science? I suppose those two meet somewhere in-between, but I can't imagine where and how. When I try, all I get is?

It turns out there is a very important point of intersection between Philosophy and Computer Science: Symbolic Logic.

I took a number of courses in Symbolic Logic from the U.C. Berkeley Philosophy department while getting my undergraduate degree.  I learned about G?del's incompleteness theorem and Alonzo Church and Alan Turing's undecidability theorem in philosophy classes.  I also learned about Turing machines in a philosophy class rather than a computer science class.

Today, Philosophy is very much involved in the analysis of what computers can and cannot do.  Hubert Dreyfus has used the philosophy of Heidegger to call into question many of the assumptions of Artificial Intelligence.  He wrote a book called "What computer's can't do.".  Another U.C. Berkeley faculty member: John Searle in his "Chinese room argument" makes a very powerful argument that no software driven machine could ever have what humans would recognize as a "mind."  It is considered one of the most damning arguments against the agenda of Artificial Intelligence.

So, does Philosophy and Computer Science meet - you bet!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Bull Winkus]

Thanks Edouard! Thanks for err? clearing that up. I get the connection now. No more poof.