Loose Ends
It’s housekeeping time at Port 80: My last few posts need a few updates, and I’m going to take care of them all at once.
The War on Terrorism: “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise”
In “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise,” I promised to discuss why I felt that Jihadist terrorists could not be appeased or negotiated with. As I worked on this post, it began to involve into a general discussion of causes and roots of the War on Terror. However, this is a subject that many others in the blogosphere have already covered excellently. Thus, rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ve chosen to present a small selection of essays which I think best explain the current global situation.
I would start with “Out of Context” by Anticipatory Retaliation, which does a brilliant job of explaining the difference between what has been termed “September 10th thinking” and “September 12th thinking.” If you cannot comprehend the reasoning of those who prattle on and on about the War on Terror (or if you cannot comprehend the reasoning of those who don’t), this post is vital reading.
The quickest summary of the current situation and what must be done to deal with it is provided by Eric S. Raymond in his short “Anti-Idiotarian Manifesto.” On the other end of the brevity spectrum, there is Stephen den Beste’s “Strategic Overview.” While I don’t totally agree with all of den Beste’s arguments (notably as to the exact root cause of the current war), his work makes for a fascinating and thought-provoking read.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention “Three Conjectures” by Wretchard of the Belmont Club, who explores just how ugly the War on Terrorism could get. den Beste’s follow-up essay is also worth reading. However, don’t start on either of these if you plan on sleeping anytime soon.
Computer Security: “The Future of the Internet”
“The Future of the Internet” is the single post on this website that has gotten the most interesting responses. I’ve gotten e-mails from individuals in the computer security industry about the work, and have seen links to it reposted to other forums on the web. (I’ve also seen one individual try to repost the entire text - but trying to fit a 4000 word essay into a text box on a web page proved to be a bit too much.)
Now, however, the print media have picked up the article. The July 12th issue of New Scientist magazine briefly quoted the post in an article (”Vigilantes on the net,” by Barbara Moran) discussing the impact of counterstrike systems on computer security:
As web pundit Zachary Heaton of Dayton, Ohio, wrote online earlier this month, “Internet users everywhere are in for a wild ride.”
If you’re interested, the full article is available through the New Scientist archives, which you can get a guest pass for from the New Scientist website. (The exact issue is Volume 182, Issue 2451.) The focus of the article is far more on the short-range effects of counterstrike systems than the long-range effects I focused on, but it’s a worthwhile read.
While I don’t know about the claims of some that weblogs are “the new media,” it’s nice to see the “old media” taking notice of them. How else does an unknown self-published essayist get quoted in the same article as the network administrator of MIT, the head of the FBI’s Criminal Computer Intrusion unit, and miscellaneous other notable security experts, computer scientists, and attorneys?