And I thought the Jolt cola was bad - NASHE "youth group" executes denial of service "defense"

When I hear the phrase "youth group," I end up thinking of things such as church youth groups. I was a member of one when I was a youth, and later as a young adult I was a counselor for another such group. The worst situation that I ever had to deal with as a counselor was when one of the junior high kids drank some Jolt cola before coming to youth group. Afterwards, we decided that this particular youth should be banned from drinking Jolt cola before meetings.

Well, youth groups can do a whole bunch of things, as HS Daily Wire noted in its story 2007 cyber attack on Estonia launched by Kremlin-backed youth group.

Now that's heavy.

A country being outwitted, overwhelmed, and paralyzed by a group of teenagers? Apparently, yes. Members of a Kremlin-backed youth movement have claimed responsibility for May 2007 cyber attacks that crippled Estonia's Internet in the midst of a diplomatic argument with Russia....

Russia has consistently denied any involvement. Yesterday, however, Konstantin Goloskokov, a "commissar" in the youth group NASHE, which works for the Kremlin, told the Financial Times that he and some associates had launched the attack, which appears to be the first time anyone has claimed responsibility. "I wouldn't have called it a cyber attack; it was cyber defense," he said. We taught the Estonian regime the lesson that if they act illegally, we will respond in an adequate way."

For the record, the Russians were defending themselves from Estonia's belligerent act of...um...removing a Second World War Soviet memorial from Tallinn. Considering the way in which Estonia joined the Soviet Union in the Second World War, Estonia's cool feelings about the memorial are understandable.

HS Daily Wire also discussed the technology used in the cyber attack - I mean cyber defense.

Jose Nazario of Arbor Networks, an Internet security company, is an expert on the Estonian attacks and said they measured about 100 MB per second of traffic, compared with the largest recorded attacks of 40 GB per second. He said that generating such an attack was quite simple, requiring "just a lot of people getting together and running the same tools on their home computers".

Sounds like a fun way to spend an evening. Back to Konstantin Goloskokov of NASHE:

"We did not do anything illegal. We just visited the various Internet sites, over and over, and they stopped working. We didn't block them: they were blocked by themselves because of their own technical limitations in handling the traffic they encountered."

Well, I guess that's one way to look at a distributed denial of service attack - I mean defense.

Sphere: Related Content

Of spans and series, or why I haven't written in mrontemp that much

It is now March 10, 2009, and this is only the seventh post that I've written at mrontemp this month.

Compare this with January 2009, during which I wrote 59 posts in this blog, or almost two posts per day.

Or how about January 2008, when I wrote 202 posts?

One could reach the conclusion that I've quit writing in the long form and have instead reverted to just shooting the breeze on FriendFeed.

But actually, that's only part of the equation. I've been blogging up a storm - just not here.

I've talked about my Empoprises project before on this blog. For those who aren't aware, I author a series of four blogs under the "Empoprises" banner. Unlike the "all-encompassing" blog mrontemp, the Empoprises blogs are each devoted to a specific topic.

Far from restricting me creatively, the existence of four separate blogs has actually given me more freedom.

For example, I will often make a game of taking the same event and spanning it across as many Empoprises blogs as possible. Take my weekend visit to the Wal Mart in Chino, California - a business in the Inland Empire that sells music. Yeah, I milked that one.

But I'm having just as much fun writing various series of posts in the blogs. My longest-running series, Empoprise-NTN High Noon, takes a look at various restaurants and bars that offer NTN Buzztime trivia. And I'm getting close to wrapping up a series entitled When Madonna Was Hot. And I just wrapped up A Piece of the P.I.E. (Professionals of the Inland Empire).

But sometimes, rather than planning a series, I just fall into one. For example, on Monday I wrote a post entitled Payola, pay per post, or the 1984 commercial? An inconsistency of moral outrage re product placement business practices. Today, I followed it up with Or perhaps I am outrageous - an opposing view on disclosure and pay per post. Although this doesn't have a cutesy title, I hope to pursue the topic in the future.

If I hold up.

You see, I've been able to keep these blogs running by writing scheduled posts at odd hours (for example, unless I change the schedule, I've already written a Thursday post for Empoprise-BI, "Words aren't only cool, they make you money"). But time is finite, as Steven Hodson noted in a post entitled "Think long and hard before starting that second or third blog." An excerpt:

The problem is that time and energy are never kind to us – especially if our work on our main blog is our primary concern. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence as the web is littered with blogs that have been long forgotten for one reason or another. We only have so much time and/or energy and no matter our first rush of getting that new blog up and running at some point we run out of steam.

So perhaps this may falter along the way, and Empoprises may give me nightmares in the future. But at the moment I'm having fun.

P.S. Steven Hodson wrote his cautionary post on March 2. I've wanted to write a formal response to it, but it's taken me eight days to do it. Although this post is a non-scheduled post, one problem with writing scheduled posts is that they often aren't all that timely. But what does that matter to me? I am not trendy.

Sphere: Related Content

Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter - What does it don't?

One of my FriendFeed buddies, Chris White, has been busy this evening.

I was sharing some things in Google Reader a little earlier, and White has responded to a couple of them.

For example, I shared something that postulated that Facebook's just-announced changes are an attempt to counter Twitter. White commented via FriendFeed:

What is Facebook, what is Twitter?

A few minutes later, I shared Dana Franks' post "Why Twitter Matters to Me." White commented on the FriendFeed share for this item also:

What is Twitter?

I figured that White was executing a master plan - and frankly, I think that master plans are stupid things unless I'm the one executing them. And, with apologies to Jim Bakker, I was right:

I am going to respond to every Facebook and Twitter post with the question "What does it do?" I'm sure you will be annoyed, and then you will know how I feel.

I might use some variation, such as "What is it?"

Actually, White is asking a valid question, especially since Facebook and Twitter tend to get a lot of press. But you can ask yourself, do the applications do anything?

In an attempt to answer that question, I'd like to invite you to dinner with me. The dozen or so diners who gathered at the restaurant earlier this evening came from different backgrounds - some were scientists, others were forensic people, and others were salespeople or marketers. But all of us were interested in technology. Which meant that several of us brought out our phones at some point in the evening.

Now, as Louis Gray happens to know, my current phone is a 2 1/2 year old Motorola Q (or, as Gray lovingly calls it, an "8-bit rotary phone") with the equivalent of Internet Explorer 4. But Gray will be happy to know that I associate with people that have more modern phones, such as the Apple iPhone that Gray likes. Perhaps you've heard of this phone. And perhaps you've heard of some of the applications that you can get for the iPhone.

• You can get an application that allows the iPhone to act like an ocarina.


• You can get an application that makes irritating noises, like the sound of a dentist's drill.


• You can get an application that imitates a glass of beer - you hold the iPhone upright to pour the beer into the "cup," then you tilt the iPhone to "drink" the beer.

Actually, you can get three applications that imitate a glass of beer - and one of my fellow diners knew someone who had all three.

Now when you hear about these applications, you're forced to ask a probing question about the iPhone:

What does it do?

The answer, whether you're talking about the iPhone, Twitter, Facebook, or a hammer, is that the item in question does whatever you want it to do.

Let me share something more serious from that same dinner. My day job is as a product manager, and part of my responsibility is to set overall direction for my product. As part of my job, and because of my fifteen years in my particular industry, I sometimes pretend like I know what the product should do.

But I've learned something over the years. As soon as I use my imagined knowledge to make a statement such as "This product will never need feature X," I will receive a request from a customer asking for...you guessed it; feature X.

You see, I don't determine how my product will be used. Steve Jobs doesn't determine how the iPhone will be used. And the Facebook and Twitter people don't determine how their products will be used. (Although Jobs and Zuckerberg try to dictate uses.) In the end, it's the users that determine how these products will be used. I say it again, it's the users that determine how these products will be used.

Just like Google doesn't determine how Blogger will be used. This post was originally entitled "What does it don't?" But then I changed the title to "Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter - What does it don't?" knowing full well that the title of the post would eventually end up on FriendFeed...and that Chris White would see it...

Told you that my master plans were brilliant.

Sphere: Related Content

Using the winter coat, part 1

As I've mentioned in some other forums, I had to take a business trip to Maryland today (Tuesday). Luckily I didn't have to fly on Monday, because it was still snowing in the area at the time. (I was monitoring the @insidecharmcity Twitter account very carefully on Monday.)

After a four-hour layover in Denver (I like to not be rushed), I landed at BWI early this evening East Coast time. The roads are clear, and I made it to my hotel.

See the next post for something I found at the hotel.

Sphere: Related Content

Clinton 2.0

The President of the United States isn't the only government official trying to display some electronic communication savvy. Look at what's on the Department of State website.



Yes, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is waiting for your texts.

Wonder if Barack recommended that she use a Blackberry.

Sphere: Related Content

Yes, hell has frozen over...I've joined Facebook

(This picture is from Flickr user billums and is used under this license)

Back on October 9, 2007 I blogged the following:

So I'm thinking that I may have to set up a Facebook account at some point if I want to be only slightly non-trendy. I know I'm supposed to be the "I am not trendy" guy, but my MySpace account is so non-trendy that it's like leeches.

Of course, trendiness is not the sole reason to join Facebook. It's potentially an excellent way to contact people you know.

But, over the years, I've been reluctant to join Facebook for a couple of reasons:

• Their view on pseudononymous accounts. Basically, they prefer that you use your given name on Facebook, even if you market yourself under another identity. Until recently most of my online interactions were under the Ontario Emperor name, and I didn't want to jettison my brand just because Facebook wanted me to do so. If you really want to explore my thoughts on this in detail, check out my link-heavy song parody that I wrote on January 9, 2008.


• The horror stories about Facebook policies. There are numerous examples of these, the whole thingie about the terms of service being the latest example.

Lately, my attitude has been changing on both the counts. I have started several projects (such as Empoprises) that use my real name, so I am establishing an online presence under that "brand" for better or worse. And, while Facebook may have onerous terms of service, so does everyone else.

Last night I spent some time on LinkedIn, and ended up sending connection requests to two people that I knew from high school. This in itself was unusual, because I have only maintained regular contact with one person from my high school. Not because I hated the school or anything like that, but because I left town in 1979 and have rarely been back since, so I've naturally lost touch with a lot of folks. So anyways, I sent the two connection requests, and got the following response from the second person when my request was accepted:

John, get on facebook

Well, when that person talks, I listen. (I'd tell you the name of the person who sent this message, but if I did that, I'd be violating that person's privacy, wouldn't I?)

So I signed up for Facebook and was immediately befriended by Jan McInnis, as well as by a former co-worker who is very social media-savvy. I've sent out a few more friend requests and gotten two responses, but have not yet heard from the classmate who urged me to join Facebook in the first place.

So how will I use Facebook? I've read the suggestions in this FriendFeed thread that I started, and my initial thought is that I will use it in conjunction with my LinkedIn and Plaxo accounts (and, to a limited extent, with my MySpace account). I won't be following over a thousand people like I do in Twitter or FriendFeed, but the Facebook account may not just consist of people that I've physically met either.

In essence, I've provided the answer to my own question:

Has Facebook become one of the services that you must join, whether you like it or not?

Perhaps. Theoretically you could use one service to do everything that you want to do, but there are going to be people who are on Facebook and not on LinkedIn, or vice versa. (This is one of the reasons that I maintain my MySpace account; certain people are only reachable there.)

The only disturbing part of this is that the number of "must-use" services could potentially mushroom out of control. Think about it; in addition to various Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo properties, I have a presence on a ton of services, including:

Allmusic
Am570radio
Amazon
Chumby
del.icio.us
Disqus
Excite
Facebook
Frappr
FriendFeed
Getsatisfaction
Gospelr
InfoWorld
Inside the IE
Jaiku
last.fm
Mojipage
Monster
Mychurch
Myheritage
MySpace
Ning
Pandora
PBwiki
Perplexmi
Scrine
Soup.io
Stumbleupon
Technorati
Tripod
Twit2Fit
Twitter
Velvet Rope
Wetpaint
Wikipedia
Yelp

And that's probably just one third of the services to which I have memberships. There are some memberships that I have for corporate reasons, and there are some memberships that I just plain am not going to talk about (for a variety of reasons).

Frankly, some of the services listed above haven't been visited by me in months, if not years. Some I use every day. But what happens if a situation arises where I have to use five of these services every day? Ten? Twenty?

But I'm not concerned about that now. The immediate concern in my mind is this - what the heck is a poke, and what is the etiquette to follow if I get one? Belgrade and Beyond has expressed some thoughts:

How many times you have been poked by a friend, colleague, and affiliate? And what was your reaction? I had to write few lines on this as I am recently (massively) poked on Facebook. It was regular, surprisingly massively poking (not superpoking), not explicitly poked, but – just regular poke with two choices given: to poke back or remove poke....

In social networking terms, poke is contextual, and the context of poke is dependent upon the current level of familiarity between the ‘poker’ and the ‘pokee’. I remember last year I was invited to a group “Enough with poking, let’s just have sex “, and ignored request for the membership as I observed then poking as friendly virtual gesture with friends and colleagues , usually denoting verbal phrase: “Hey , what’s up?” , or “Look at me!”, saying” ”Hi”, to someone you already know well or screaming background form: “Hey, I’m here, online!,” or “Hey, I’m busy but just poked you to say I didn’t forget this and that or will be back soon’, followed usually by message/email. And there are pokes that are expressing more than friendly, primarily school behavior with connotation: “I poke you and now you have to poke me back”.
Poking for fun? “I won’t pull your hair/ponytail – but I’m poking you” - elements of (naïve) and light weighted flirtation. Therefore, poke can be flirting. Poke can be “I am shy but won’t to say hi”.

There are numerous possible meanings and interpretations behind the poke....

Oh boy. Learning a new culture and its terminology is complex.

#TINOSP.

Sphere: Related Content

The exclusionary and self-justifying nature of hashtags #DYSP

Earlier this morning, in complete compliance with California law, I entered the following message into fftogo:

stopped at a train track. #dysp

All industries and societies, probably including your own, have their own jargon which not only makes it easier for people within the industry or society to communicate, but also serves an exclusionary purpose by ensuring that outsiders have no idea what you're talking about.

Among the other things that hashtags such as #dysp do, they also serve these two purposes. In this case, the second purpose (exclusionary) is beneficial, because if I had spelled out the words in the acronym "dysp," people unfamiliar with the phrase in question would probably misconstrue it.

"What do you have against Steven Perez?" they would ask. "Why are you slamming Steven Perez? What has this guy ever done to you?"

Now perhaps you're one of the readers of this blog who has no idea what "dysp" stands for. The acronym stands for a phrase which took currency on FriendFeed and elsewhere, the phrase being "Damn You Steven Perez!" (often typed in ALL CAPS, but it's early in the morning so I'll spare you). This phrase was used frequently in FriendFeed, and eventually led to the creation of a (then-)private FriendFeed room, the sole purpose of which was to assemble a video of people saying the golden phrase.



The video was released mid-day on Perez's birthday, but he did not have a chance to watch it until later, so his reaction was delayed. (Oh, and be sure to watch past the first minute and 30 seconds.)



For me, use of #dysp instead of the full phrase also confers another benefit. You see, I have a problem saying, or even typing, the word "damn." Even when it is not preceded by the name of a deity, the implications of the term are truly harrowing when you think about them. So I'll use this substitute or another substitute here and there, and when referring to the golden phrase I'll use #dysp and feel better about myself, telling myself that I'm not damning anyone, but just d'ing them.

Of course, that is a danged crock, and my self-justification of my actions isn't fooling anyone. Or Anyone with a capital A.

Oh well...so should I just say, "This is not optimal, Steven Perez"? TINOSP?

Sphere: Related Content

Those who are condemned to repeat history are bound to remember it

Louis Gray was interviewed in Sociosophy, and something that he said caught my eye:

I would like to find a way to...make it easier to find older content that is relevant. I know that 95% or more of my posts from 3 months ago and before get very little visibility now, even if they are still extremely relevant.

I was musing on this as I was getting my hair cut (hey, you gotta do something), and I figured out three ways in which older content can be highlighted again:

• The Ann Landers way. Matthew and Sarah Gray aren't the only twins around; the most famous Ann Landers was a twin of the most famous Dear Abby (Ann was really Esther, while Abby was really Pauline). At one point, Ann Landers got into a bit of trouble for re-running old columns without advertising them as such.


• The Unclutterer way. There is a blog called the Unclutterer (I can definitely use it), and they'll often run a post with the title "A year ago on Unclutterer." (Here's the February 22, 2009 version, which looks at posts from February 2008.) This serves to remind you of good stuff from the past.


• The "Where Are They Now?" way. Normally used in music and entertainment (whatever happened to Foghat???), this potentially provides a way to recycle the old content and update it, making it wonderful and fresh and relevant.

The last way is the most intriguing, since it actually adds value to the content. For example, what would happen if Gray added value to his earlier content? Let's pretend that he wrote a post like this back in January 2006:

Portable computing devices just keep on getting smaller and smaller. I don't have kids, but someday I may have a kid, and I wonder if the portable devices that are around at that time will be small enough to fit in my infant child's hand?

Well, Gray (to my knowledge) never wrote a post like that, but certainly he could update the post today and speculate on devices that TWO kids could hold.

I'm am not Louis Gray, but I'm intrigued about using this "where are they now" method myself. I've done it here and there on occasion, but perhaps I could make a concerted effort to recycle my content. And it would definitely require a concerted effort, because I've generated a lot of quality content over the years. I contributed 3,072 posts to my first main blog, the Ontario Empoblog, between October 2003 and February 2007. My current main blog, this very mrontemp, already has 2,925 posts (not counting this one). Plus I've written a few hundred in various other blogs, ranging from my fake radio and TV station blogs to my current series of Empoprises blogs.

So I've got a lot of recycling and updating to do, should I choose to do so.

Perhaps Empoprise-MU is due for a post on Fred Smith. I've covered Patti Smith pretty well already.

Sphere: Related Content

If he had used the name "John Doe," no one would have suspected anything

Normally I don't post work-related stuff in my personal blog, but this one was too good to pass up. Put this in the dumb crime category.

From the Manchester, New Hampshire Police Blog:

Manchester Police Officers conducting a routine traffic stop on Hanover St. [on the afternoon of February 15, 2009] were greeted by a local man who provided the name John Brown and claimed to have a Maryland driver's license. When no record of the license was found, the man was arrested and brought to the Manchester Police Department. Despite his insistence that he was giving his true name, the officers sensed a problem.

Now I don't see why the police were jumping to conclusions. Just because a local guy claims to have a Maryland driver's license, which he doesn't have, is no reason to think that any hanky-panky is going on. After all, he gave his name, John Brown. What more do you want?

Well, for whatever reason, the police decided to investigate a little further:

They then brought the man over to the department's Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) machine and entered his fingerprints. The officers then made contact with NH State Police, who were able to provide an immediate identification of the subject. As it turns out, the officers' instincts were correct and the subject had in fact provided a false name. He was identified as:

John Hilliard DOB: 9-7-1973 of 45 Bradley St. Manchester

Through further investigation, it was found that subject Hilliard had two outstanding Bench Warrants and an active Arrest Warrant for a Parole Violation. Along with the warrants, Hillard was charged with Disobeying a Police Officer and Unsworn Falsification.

Oops.


View Larger Map

As you can see rom the map, Brown's - I mean Hilliard's residence is right next to Nutts Pond.

Sounds about right.

P.S. While there have been cases over the years that have challenged the accuracy of fingerprint searches, it should be noted that tenprint searches - i.e., searches in which a person's complete set of prints is compared to a previously captured complete set of prints - are very accurate. The cases that have come under question, such as the Brandon Mayfield case, have involved searches of latent prints, or prints (or partial prints) that are recovered from crime scenes. Since the criminal is not courteous enough to leave a high quality print at the crime scene, these prints are much more difficult to search. Chris in Utah explains the difference:

While it is pretty technical, CSI isn’t really rocket science. And while fingerprint evidence isn’t nearly as reliable as DNA, it IS reliable. What your article was talking about is what is called a partial fingerprint. If you are lucky enough to find what is called an "AFIS" (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) quality fingerprint, and it matches your suspect, it is so close to the reliablilty of DNA that the difference is not worth mentioning. But we very very rarely get that quality of fingerprint. We do find partial prints. They say that they are of comparison quality, if you find a suspect, you can match it to that person, but you can’t run it through the AFIS system. Those prints are not nearly as reliable as DNA. Those prints are the ones that cause problems.

If you're interested in the subject of latent print examination, from both a forensic and a legal basis, I highly recommend Ed German's website at onin.com/fp.

Disclosure - my employer provided the Automated Fingerprint Identification System to the state of New Hampshire, but this case would have resulted in the same outcome had John Brown - I mean Hilliard lived and committed crimes in a state with an AFIS from another company, such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, or New York.

Sphere: Related Content

On Saturday's FriendFeed meetup, and on meetups in general

Some people may think it odd that communicating via computers can lead to increased non-computer communications, but I've known that for decades.

I've previously blogged about some of my BBS experiences in the early 1990s (see this list of BBS systems I frequented), but some of the most fun from that time would be when the people from The Grotto and other WWIV boards would gather at places such as Benjie's (long gone), drink cold brown thingies, and shoot the breeze about Ralph the iguana and other topics that were the BBS generation's equivalent of bacon/mango conversations.

After that, most of my online communications remained strictly online until I began going to Oracle OpenWorld and blogging about it. When I first went to Oracle OpenWorld I'd only stay for a day or two, so it's wasn't until 2007 that I got to personally meet the other Oracle bloggers at the Thirsty Bear. I've joined them again in 2008 and, depending upon what transpires in my future, I hope to join them again at Oracle OpenWorld 2009.

So over a week ago, Anika Malone began planning a FriendFeed meetup for FriendFeed users in the Los Angeles area, at the Five Guys in Cerritos, California. While part of the attraction was the chance to sample a Five Guys burger (my parents had told me about them), obviously another part was the opportunity to meet Anika and other FriendFeeders, none of whom I had met before (other than the Oracle people, of course).

So my wife (who is not on FriendFeed or Twitter, but who did get active in the Grotto and some other BBS systems back in the day) and I drove down to Cerritos, a little later than usual (tips: make sure you leave on time, and that your just-repaired car seat actually works, and that you have money for food). After I got my lunch, I got a chance to visit with some other FriendFeeders: not only Anika (faboomama), but also adrianculici, krynsky, geekandahalf (Derrick), elzbeth (Pea), and faithx5 (Jandy).

While my wife and I skipped out on post-burger geek store goodies, we had a fun time.

Incidentally, I've written three additional posts which are at least tangentially related to the FriendFeed meetup:

• Buffalo in Hovercraft, or Why I Don't Direct Videos (Empoprise-MU)


• Five Guys Burgers and Fries (Empoprise-BI)


• Van Hagar and the stringless phenomenon (Empoprise-MU)

And no, I couldn't think of any way to work the experience into my other two blogs, since Cerritos isn't in the Inland Empire, and since Five Guys doesn't have NTN Buzztime trivia.

But this isn't the last meetup that I'll be attending; the LinkedIn group Professionals of the Inland Empire will be getting together on Tuesday, and I hope to stop by there for a little bit (although I have another commitment later that evening).

Sphere: Related Content

Christian Behavioral Medicine Practitioner?

I was checking my email to see who was disturbed enough to follow me on Twitter, and I found that I am now being followed by @mdcounselor. So I followed @mdcounselor back.

It turns out that @mdcounselor is George Trimble, M.D. of Dallas, whose Twitter profile says he is a "Christian behavioral medicine practitioner."

I followed the link on his Twitter page...and ended up at an "under construction" notice. But Trimble wrote it in good humor:

Under Construction -- please drop back by. I know. I'll never see you again. C'est la vie, mon ami.

Trimble sounds depressed. He should see a Christian behavioral medicine practitioner.

Which reminds me - what IS a Christian behavioral medicine practitioner?

A Google search shows that Trimble is the only person who advertises himself in this way.

So, taking a step back, let's see what a behavioral medicine practitioner is. Here's what the state of Minnesota says:

Under administrative direction, provides technical consultation and direction to a broad spectrum of other clinicians, including medical specialists, psychologists, nurses, therapists and community health care providers in a specialized field of clinical psychology such as Adolescent Psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Neuro-Psychology or Forensics. Designs, develops, implements and evaluates psycho-social based treatment programs for clinically complex clients, including those with multiple diagnoses, conflicting diagnoses and unidentified disabilities. Testifies in court proceedings as an expert witness. Performs related work as required.

The Behavioral Medicine Practitioner provides specialized consultation to treatment teams in multiple programs serving a specific disability group (e.g. Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency, DD, etc.) at multiple facilities within a geographic region of service. It designs specialized treatment programs and directs the implementation of these strategies in multiple facilities within a region. It is also responsible for directing outcome analysis for programs within the specialty area, developing and delivering training in specialized assessment or treatment strategies for medical staff; directing and implementing quality improvement strategies and developing and monitoring utilization management.

The level of technical knowledge required for this position is typically acquired through additional specialized experience and educational training beyond that required for a Ph.D. in Psychology. Specialized certification is preferable.

You can probably tell that a human resources specialist (with appropriate degrees) wrote the text above. But the text below was written by an actual BMP - in Texas, no less. Dr. Greg Hupp:

Behavioral Medicine is the interdisciplinary field concerned with the
development and integration of behavioral, emotional, psychological, social, and medical knowledge and techniques relevant to the understanding of health and illness, and the application of this knowledge and these techniques to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.

So presumably my good Twitter buddy Trimble also integrates Christian belief into his practice. He's not the only one - Phil Monroe is a Christian psychologist who has a blog.

But he's not from Texas.

Sphere: Related Content

For Mona...

As the Lakers win, Mona responds to the latest picture meme, and I respond to Mona.

Sphere: Related Content

More evidence that I am not trendy

We were cleaning out an office, and I wanted to save this. I was overruled.

Sphere: Related Content

Revisiting Charles Sophy's medical degree

Back on June 22, 2007, I wrote a post on Charles Sophy that noted, among other things, that Sophy is a D.O. and not an M.D. This was taken from a Radar Online post:

Sophy has been mistakenly referred to as an M.D. (specifically by Men's Health). He's a D.O., a doctor of osteopathy, a slightly different classification, though D.O. schooling and training mirrors that of M.D.s. Osteopaths focus on alternative treatments, prevention, and patients' total wellness rather than specific symptoms. And osteopathic psychiatrists make up about 10 percent of the American Psychiatric Association, of which Sophy has been a member for more than a decade.

My post just prompted the following comment:

Anonymous said...

You might want to do your research a little more responsibly and profesionally. Dr. Sophy is the Medical Director of Los Angeles County D.C.S.F. (Dept. of Children and Family Services) He is most certainly an M.D. I know; he was my son's psychiatrist at the L.A. County D.M.H. (Dept. of Mental Health) for two years.

Your ramblings are absolutely pathetic.
06 February, 2009 01:05

So, what does Interactive Dad Magazine say about Sophy's degree? Nothing. Here's the relevant portion:

His professional training includes medical residencies in family practice at Metropolitian Hospital (Philadelphia), and adult psychiatry at Norristown State Hospital, and a fellowship in child/adolescent psychiatry Hahneuman University Hospital ( Philadelphia), as well as, other massive government-run psychiatric institutions around Philadelphia.

And HealthGrades has a listing for Dr. Charles J. Sophy, MD, but with this interesting wrinkle:

Medical School, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Med

Now perhaps I should be...um...professional and specifically investigate how many MD degrees the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Med grants, but there are better ways to spend one's time.

But does it make any difference? Here's what [CORRECTED 2/19] the American Osteopathic Association says:

DO's and MD's are alike in many ways:

* Applicants to both DO. and M.D. colleges typically have a four-year undergraduate degree with an emphasis on science courses.

* Both DO's and MD's complete four years of basic medical education.

* After medical school, both DO's and MD's can choose to practice in a specialty area of medicine such as psychiatry, surgery, or obstetrics. They both complete a residency program, which takes typically two to six years of additional training.

* Both DO's and MD's must pass comparable state licensing examinations.

* DO's and MD's both practice in fully accredited and licensed hospitals and medical centers.

* DO's comprise a separate, yet equal branch of American medical care. Together DO's and MD's enhance the state of health care available in America.

* However, it's the ways that DO's and MD's are different that can bring an extra dimension to your family's health care.

DO's bring something extra to medicine:

* Osteopathic schools emphasize training students to be primary care physicians.

* DO's practice a "whole person" approach to medicine. Instead of just treating specific symptoms or illnesses, they regard your body as an integrated whole.

* Osteopathic physicians focus on preventive healthcare.

* DO's receive extra training in the musculoskeletal system - your body's interconnected system of nerves, muscles and bones that make up two-thirds of its body mass. This training provides osteopathic physicians with a better understanding of the ways that an injury or illness in one part of your body can affect another. It gives DO's a therapeutic and diagnostic advantage over those who do not receive additional specialized training.

* Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is incorporated in the training and practice of osteopathic physicians. OMT allows physicians to use their hands to diagnose injury and illness and to encourage your body's natural tendency toward good health. By combining all other medical procedures with OMT, DO's offer their patients the most comprehensive care available in medicine today.

Of course, these are only my pathetic ramblings. What are your thoughts?

Sphere: Related Content

Perhaps I am at a deficit - caffeine and ADHD

So anyways, on Thursday afternoon I was paying a visit to a Flavia machine when I ran into one of my co-workers, who commented that she couldn't drink coffee that late in the afternoon or she'd be up all night.

I remarked that sometimes coffee actually relaxes me and puts me to sleep.

She then remarked that she knew people with ADD/ADHD who took coffee instead of Ritalin. "Not that I'm saying that you have ADHD," she added.

Well, I'll refrain from self-diagnosing myself at the moment...but I will read newideas.net:

Caffeine is a mild CNS stimulant that can be used with ADHD children, teens, and adults, if used purposefully and in moderation. All stimulants are vaso-dilators, meaning that they allow the blood vessels to increase in size and increase the blood flow in the brain. One of the primary physiological problems causing ADHD seems to be a lack of blood flow to certain regions of the brain, and stimulants help to improve blood flow and reduce symptoms caused by this problem, at least temporarily.

It is estimated that 100 mg of caffeine is equivalent to 5 mg of Ritalin, which is the lowest therapeutic dose, and the usual starting dose for children. It is similar to Ritalin in that caffeine is absorbed and begins working in about 45 minutes, and the benefits wear off after about three to four hours. And, of course, caffeine can have the same kinds of side effects as other stimulants.

I did find a dissenting view:

[I]t is supposed to help if you drink caffeine an hour or so before an important test, but in the long run it is harmful. In the long-run it makes you dependent and makes the ADHD worse. It does the same with Asperger's. You should limit your caffeine intake to the times you absolutely need a boost rather than have it regularly. Ritalin and Adderall are different kinds of stimulants than caffeine and that's why they work better for ADHD. Adderall too is prescribed if you have both Asperger's and ADHD.

Then again, the same anonymous person then went on to post the following:

Nicotine in cigarettes it is not addictive. It is not addictive! You smokers don't believe me, do you? (laughter) You non-smokers don't want to believe me (more laughter). It is not addictive. Nicotine by itself has an incredible hypnotic effect. Anything that it is applied to, it tends to exaggerate. So, if somebody says nicotine in cigarettes is dangerous, it intensifies that, and it makes them dangerous. Nicotine is one of the most responsive substances on Earth. It fulfills your belief systems. It is wonderful.

Wait - it gets better:

The government helps to regulate the hypnotic effects of foods, of activities, of money, of morals. The government creates this incredible hypnotic effect. Now, you can particularly feel it when you go to any center of government, whether it is your city government, whether it is your national government. Go to the capital of your country, and just hang there for a while. You're going to feel its hypnotic effect. You are going to feel yourself buying into it. You are going to feel the intensity of the duality all around that your government is exaggerating duality in every way.

Now, isn't it interesting that the churches and the government are sometimes the same, even when they say they're not? Even when they pretend there is a separation, they work together. Again, this is not a conspiracy. It is just simply something that happens.

I'll grant that this is an unscientific survey, but I think I trust the first opinion a little more than I trust the last.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired of writing this and want to do something else.

Sphere: Related Content

Tech is tech - what happened to QuickVerse?

I previously wrote a post (in Empoprise-BI) on how a wide variety of people are moving their domain registrations away from GoDaddy. My post was partly sourced from a Wired post entitled "Christians Bailing on GoDaddy Due to 'Immoral' Advertising." I shared the Wired post on FriendFeed, and a spirited conversation broke out. Several excellent points were brought out in that conversation, but I want to focus on a comment from Joey Gibson:

What's funny is that Bob Parsons was the guy from Parsons Technology that sold QuickVerse, one of the original electronic Bible programs.

I knew that, but had forgotten about it. See my 2005 Ontario Empoblog post, which quoted from a 2005 Bob Parsons post which included the following:

There's one more issue I want to address head on.

As many people know, the first company I started and sold to Intuit was called Parsons Technology. We had a number of product divisions at Parsons Technology. Our product divisions follow:

1. Financial (this included accounting, money management, and tax preparation products).
2. Legal (document preparation for home and small business).
3. Personal productivity (greeting card makers, address books, etc.)
4. Utilities (virus detection and removal, etc.)
5. Church Software (Bible lookup software, Map software, Sermon preparation, Congregational accounting).

It's true. I used to sell Bible software.

He then included a personal statement of belief.

To this day I consider myself a Christian, but I am not a fundamentalist Christian. I am also not a member of the religious right. I am not opposed in anyway to these groups. I am just not part of them. My beliefs today are exactly what they were back when I owned Parsons Technology. I'm still the same guy.

Parsons then talked more about the church software itself.

Our church software division was the brainchild of a man named Craig Rairdin. Craig, on his own, wrote the first QuickVerse program, and did it before joining Parsons Technology. When Craig showed me the program that he had written, I knew instantly that it was well done and would be a hit. Within a few weeks, Craig was our Director of Church Software, and QuickVerse was a Parsons Technology product.

Being a hard worker, Craig soon began hiring additional staff and developing additional Christian products. While Parsons Technology marketed QuickVerse, Craig owned the rights to the product, and after I sold Parsons Technology to Intuit, Craig later sold the rights to QuickVerse to another company.

Today, Craig Rairdin owns his own company. He specializes in Bible lookup and Christian software for hand held computers. His company is called Laridian Electronic Publishing and can be found at http://www.Laridian.com

And QuickVerse has its own QuickVerse.com website, and is apparently now owned by FindEx.com, Inc., which is publicly traded.

I don't believe they ran a Super Bowl ad.

Sphere: Related Content

If this "Dr. Dobb's" thingie takes off, maybe it can become its own Journal!

Page 39 of the January 26, 2009 InformationWeek. Print gets smaller.

Sphere: Related Content

All of my Super Bowl 2009 tweets

Followup to my post on Empoprise-BI.

Here's a quick screen dump of my most recent tweets from my @oemperor Twitter account, in LIFO order.

too bad jack in the box missed the end of the game. #sb43 #superbowlads
18 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

pittsburgh wins 6th super bowl. excellent game to final seconds. 20 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

fumble? we'll see. 22 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

i've shushed 2 family members away in last minute. 26 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

ari has 35 sec and 2 time outs to score td. 27 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

review. play stands. pit needs extra point. 27 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

and now i'm seeing hardly any tweets. traffic 29 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

td td td td td ... well, they'll review. 30 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

actually on 7. i stand corrected. inc helped. 31 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

mouth open again. steelers on 5. 33 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

al michaels: it's windy. 34 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads godaddy enhanced. at least it mentioned the product. 2.5 stars. 36 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

my twitterfeed seems slow. fitzgerald overwhelmed twitter. 38 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

RT @CathleenRitt: Gordon Lightfoot just rescinded his new single "The Wreck of the Larry Fitzgerald" 39 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

@shey i may be wrong on this game. 41 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

uh...my mouth was literally wide open. ari now leading on fitzgerald run. 42 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

according to al michaels, last safety was in super bowl 25. i mean xxv. 44 minutes ago from m.slandr.net

safety. 20-16. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

@jack @ev @biz i've only had one brief access problem throughout the entire game. congrats to twitter. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

whoops, that was a retweet of an @anamariecox tweet. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

@anamariecox: ...Looking forward to FedEx's "maaakin' coopieeees" spot. #sb43ads about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads alec baldwin hulu good sense of humor. 4 stars. maybe i won't visit youtube. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads thank you ge for supporting your network. (the rainbow connection.) 2 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads i'm watching on 13" tv. it's not a vizio. 1 star. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads question - if you don't know who mean joe greene is, what do you think of the coke zero commercial? about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads coke zero takeoff on mean joe greene appreciated by this geezer who remembers original. 3 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

some of you may not remember, but jack in the box was was blown up in late 1970s. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

@biggjon in los angeles, jack in the box was a local sponsor. the chain is not national. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

just realized that jack in the box was not national #superbowlads - it has the most compelling story so far. must check website. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads before jack got hit by a bus, i was giving infiniti 2 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads i haven't - oh my god they killed jack (again)! 4 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads nfl ok. 2 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads sugar fr- i mean frosted flakes as health food defies reality. 1 star. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads coke ad seemed like pixar rip off. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads to careerbuilder.com - hey dummy, boring commercial. 1 star. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@venson pit couldn't score td, kicked fg again. 20-7. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

arizona's defense may have saved 4 pts. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@venson 17 pit 7 ari, penalty against ari on successful pit fg kick, pit may get 7 instead of 3. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@MiaD my problem is that i compare all #superbowlads against apple 1984. none measure up. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads witch mtn as action movie w the rock, who has already proven himself in kid's movie. 4 stars. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads the budweiser clydesdales have jumped the shark. 1 star. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads coke would like to teach the world to animate in perfect harmony. 1 star. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads i liked monster.com deer body 3 stars. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads bridgestone jump around ok. 2 stars. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@Tad next year a savvy #superbowl advertiser will say "please RT this tinyurl" about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads our local commercial in el-lay was for local furniture chain living spaces. 2 stars. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

RT @jdickerson: The chills I got from the Boss's performance were the kind associated with awkward rehersal dinner toasts. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

oooh, rebellion. plugging a disney property on an nbc universal tv show. that's...um...bad. #sb43 about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads lmao clinic gets one star for the acronym. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@BradHoward you are correct sir. they are deathly afraid of exposed nipples. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

oh dear. dialogue, referee actor about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

post janet/justin #superbowl halftime shows remind me of when i saw jan & dean in early 1980s. mostly nostalgically unsatisfying. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

just got back from fftogo - i was checking friendfeed comments on my slandr tweets. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads i don't have 3d glasses. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#sb43 17-7 pittsburgh at half, but they don't control game. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#sb43 ruling on field stands. touchdown. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

booth review??????? about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads cheetos got a LOL out of me. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads teleflora good, establishes halfway believable need (flowers w/o boxes). 3 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

RT @vanhoosear: Yeah, I also noticed no American car companies mentioned in the Hyundai ad. Very smart. #superbowlads about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads pixar looks good. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads hulu.com got the website name out. 4 stars. (but i'll probably go to youtube anyway.) about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads hyundai going for it. claim better than everyone. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#cardinals you're supposed to go forward #sb43 about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@badbanana and the show claims the existence of a "hyundai" car and "bud light" beer. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

RT @nathanchase: did you see that home run? what a shot! can't wait for the 10th frame about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@4fthawaiian madden has not flown in decades. he used amtrak, then a custom bus to go to games. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads cars.com got my attention. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads so what IS mission g? 2 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#cardinals good play #sb43 - this is a game. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

RT @anamariecox: Said it before, will Tweet it again: New Trek movie="Muppet Babies." about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@DaveMurr animals, FOREIGN cars, and movie trailers. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads star trek - i watched it twice, but the characters were nearly invisible. 1.5 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads bud horse love yawn. 2 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@Jesse why so low on pedigree #superbowlads ? about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads pedigree adoption drive conveyed message well. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads godaddy now predictable, but leading people to product good move. 3 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads loud doritos fun. 3 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads will ferrell 2 stars. "matt lauer can eat it" was good. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@CatchUpLady as i watched bridgestone #superbowlads i thought men would like it better. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads castrol, kept on looking at monkeys. 2 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#sb43 end of 1st quarter already? about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

order of magnitude on pittsburgh yards #sb43 about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@vdegeorge tell your 5 y/o daughter the story of kurt & ben and their magical pig(skin). about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

ben r has THE POISE. #sb43 about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@ariedana live-blog my twitterstream if you like. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@outtacontext i think you and i are only ones who liked conan sweden #superbowlads about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads conan bud light 4 stars. if it had been finland rather than sweden i would have given 6. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@tiffanypr re companies monitoring twitter. hopefully. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

got a 502 error, but it passed. #twittout about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@dalecruse failure to score on 4th and 1 could have been psychologically devastating. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads doritos 8 ball good, painful at end 3.5 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads pepsi forever young yawn 2 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads audi 4 stars. foreign car companies taking advantage. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

oops, #superbowlads bud light 2 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#suprbowlads bud light, i kept on thinking: what company serves beer at all meetings? 2 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@mandyg madden-bashing is a patriotic american tradition. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@rondean i go with recent experience steelers in #sb43 about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#superbowlads hyundai again. corgan's voice wasn't too whiny. 3 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

curious if matt leinert has been interviewed #sb43 about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@vanhoosear did i see that the nfl itself will air one of the #superbowlads in 3rd quarter? about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

well, hyundai can afford to advertise in pregame #superbowlads about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

#sb43 derived question - do singers sing soulful versions of "o canada" or "god save the queen"? about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

yes, world, #sb43 is a religious event. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

so are we doing america the beautiful and the national anthem before #sb43 ? (searches for lee greenwood) about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

hopefully getting payton award before #sb43 kickoff won't mess up kurt warner. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@Williamblake paris hilton has a british best friend show too? wonder how the american best friend feels. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@agersh i believe sporting events such as #superbowl get highest viewership as an evening program (east coast time). about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@stevehall i'm a creature of habit. i tweeted to @superbowlads acct last year, so i like the similarly named #hashtag about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net

haven't decided on other #hashtag - i like #sb43 and it's short, but everyone is using #superbowl instead. i may do #sb43 anyway. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net

my #hashtags for today? #superbowlads rather than #sb43ads and #superads09 about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net

RT @mattearley: I propose that the hashtag for Super Bowl 43 should be #SB43 . If you agree, please retweet. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@vanhoosear 2008 #superbowlads were rated on a 1 to 5 star scale. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@vanhoosear i think there was a rating system for last year's #superbowlads (tweets to @superbowlads acct). have to dig it up. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net

@mvavrinak thx for tweeting about @spotcritic - hadn't heard about it. about 8 hours ago from m.slandr.net

And here are my replies from that period:

dcfemella @oemperor Shush! 9 minutes ago from FriendFeed in reply to oemperor

davidsinger @oemperor seems to have clobbered their server about 1 hour ago from Twinkle

MiaD @oemperor LOL! I m sure it's been all downhill since :) about 2 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to oemperor

goblinbox @oemperor LOL about 2 hours ago from TwitterFon in reply to oemperor

dcfemella @oemperor I said the same thing! Super cute about 3 hours ago from FriendFeed in reply to oemperor

mvavrinak @oemperor @vanhoosear smart and also pointed... few American brands are actually true luxury worldwide about 3 hours ago from web in reply to oemperor

DaveMurr @oemperor good point about 3 hours ago from twhirl

vdegeorge @oemperor I tried to get her to watch, but she's not interested because neither team is wearing pink. Sigh. about 4 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to oemperor

outtacontext @oemperor No, I saw other tweets who agreed. about 4 hours ago from TwitterFon in reply to oemperor

mandyg @oemperor LOL ...I think my own personal hell would be having to listen to Madden and Lou Holtz about 4 hours ago from web in reply to oemperor

vanhoosear @oemperor Heh. Do they have to pay for their own spots? about 4 hours ago from twhirl

RanchoVibe @oemperor - from one Canadian here - the answer is yes. about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to oemperor

ScotMcKay @oemperor Should energize him, I'd say. about 4 hours ago from Twittelator in reply to oemperor

agersh @oemperor makes sense that #superbowl gets highest viewership as an evening program actually. about 5 hours ago from web

Williamblake @oemperor You can imaging now!!! ;) about 7 hours ago from web in reply to oemperor

stevehall @oemperor #hashtags for today? #superads09 and #sb43ads rather than #superbowlads :) about 7 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to oemperor

mvavrinak @oemperor welcome!! Hope to see you as part of the stream! about 8 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to oemperor

Now I just have to write up a history of Jack in the Box. A number of the commercials in the Super Bowl relied on historical precedent, and Jack was one of them. [8:20 PM - I'VE WRITTEN THE HISTORY, WHICH IS AT EMPOPRISE-BI.]

Oh, and I need to check that SocialToo survey. My 4 star commercials were the following:

• Audi


• Conan Bud Light (Sweden)


• Pedigree adoption drive


• cars.com


• Hyundai ad that trumpeted how Hyundai was better than other car manufacturers


• Earlier Hulu spot


• Pixar movie


• Cheetos with the bird


• Witch Mountain movie


• Jack from Jack in the Box being hit by a bus


• Alec Baldwin's Hulu spot

For the record, my favorite commercials last year were the following:

So my highest rated ads were Diet Pepsi Max (What is Love), Budweiser (wine & cheese), FedEx (giant pigeons), Tide (the talking stain), the GMC Yukon (Sisyphus), and Coke (parade).

Sphere: Related Content

No, I won't be "securing the Tampa Convention Center"

This is a semi-amusing little postscript to a story that started several months ago. In fact, it began precisely on Friday, August 22, 2008.

That morning I was sitting in a presentation at a conference in Louisville, Kentucky, performing some free association on a notepad. Specifically, I was thinking about presentations that our company could give at the 2009 conference.

But then I began thinking about a presentation that I could give at the Oracle OpenWorld 2008 Unconference. The idea was that I could give the presentation at Oracle OpenWorld, then adapt it for presentation in 2009. (I'm green, so I believe that recycling presentations is good.)

As readers of this blog know, I eventually came up with a presentation idea for the Oracle OpenWorld 2008 unconference. After that I worked on the associated last.fm playlist, found Overlook 3A, went to the overlook, and gave my presentation.

That was 2008. This is 2009...and it's time to figure out how to revamp this presentation for an entirely different audience. As far as I'm concerned, there are two differences between the Oracle OpenWorld Unconference audience and the other audience:

• The other audience is much more knowledgeable about automated fingerprint identification systems and biometrics. While there are people at Oracle OpenWorld who are knowledgeable about these topics, the vast majority of OpenWorld attendees have other interests. Therefore, my OpenWorld presentation included some basic information about AFIS which the average attendee at the other conference wouldn't need.


• The organization hosting the other conference has some specific rules about presentations that are not found at the Oracle OpenWorld Unconference. The 2009 conference is dedicated to exploring the scientific disciplines that are followed by the practitioners who attend this conference. Therefore, it is acceptable to talk about ideas in general, but it is not acceptable to promote a particular vendor. If I were to go to the conference and exclusively talk about my product and the Oracle database, one of the conference executives would literally stand up and stop my presentation.

These differences in and of themselves were not a concern, because I figured that my 2009 presentation would be more of a generic look at three types of biometric systems:

• Biometric systems that are designed to be used for a particular event.


• Biometric systems that are designed to be used at a particular location (or to secure a particular perimeter).


• Biometric systems that are designed for both purposes.

Now back in 2008 in San Francisco, I gave several examples of such systems, and concluded with the "what if" question reflected in the title, "Securing the Moscone Center" - or, in other words, using biometrics to control entry and exit to the Moscone Center during Oracle OpenWorld.

For the 2009 presentation (which would be held in Tampa), I would concentrate on real-life examples, such as biometric systems designed for jail entry/exit, systems designed for an election, and other types of systems. Whether the "perimeter" to be protected was the perimeter of a jail, the perimeter of a school lunchroom, or the perimeter of a country (e.g. a biometric-enabled visa/passport), I wanted to explore the commonality between different types of "event-based" and "perimeter-based" systems.

You see, biometric systems are already classified in some traditional ways, the most common of which is to divide them between criminal, civil, and commercial applications. But I was wondering whether, for example, "event-based" systems would have some commonalities regardless of whether or not the system was criminal, civil, or commercial. For example, would a system designed to investigate a crime be similar in any way to a system designed for the World Cup?

So I wrote a title and a synopsis, although I had difficulty with the title. Ordinarily I would have used the word "classification" in the title, but it turns out that classification has a particular meaning in the biometric world, so I had to find an alternate word that wouldn't mislead my audience. I played around with "taxonomy" (which explains my January 21 reading) but eventually decided that I needed a better word.

But before I found a better word, I read the synopsis of my proposed presentation. After reading the synopsis, I asked myself the following question:

So what?

I was forced to conclude that my presentation idea, as then conceived, didn't really benefit the attendees of the Tampa conference. I still think it's a good idea, and may pursue it someday, but with a different audience.

At this point I'm not sure what the takeaway from this is, other than to note that an idea, once conceived, may mutate into something entirely different from what you originally envisioned. Take the church choir singer who didn't realize that the solution to his problem would also solve my later problem about idea brainstorming.

Sphere: Related Content

I'm talking to you now - the Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification

On Saturday, January 24, I wrote a post entitled Talk to me - barriers to communication affect everybody. As part of that post, I reproduced some of the jargon that I spout every day:

BCA needs ESB support, and since we know this now, we don't need to CCB it in. We can start with FEC and write the appropriate STRQs and MRs to get us to M-11. Of course, we'll follow P_RGP in the SPP to do all this. And of course BCA will need all the ANSI/NIST and EFTS stuff we do - you know, WSQ and all that. But the ADS handles that with no problem, as does the DES, of course.

Now that was probably cruel of me to spout all that stuff and not explain a word of it. Following Elvis Google's mandate of "Don't be cruel," I'm going to be a little less cruel about it. I'm not going to explain every one of those acronyms, many of which are only meaningful in a particular office building in Orange County, but I'm going to take a few minutes to explain the acronym EFTS, and why you should never use it again.

You see, the EFTS is the Electronic Fingerprint Transmission Specification, which has since been superseded by the EBTS, the Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification. Both of these specifications were written by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and (to simplify things) dictate how the FBI's criminal system will receive and transmit biometric data that is used in solving crimes, and for other purposes.

And there's a definite need to receive and transmit biometric data. You see, the FBI isn't the only police unit in the United States. There are state organizations, county organizations, city organizations, and various other kinds of organizations that are all occupied in taking fingerprints, palmprints, facial images, and other types of biometric data. And all of these organizations, or many of them, take all of this biometric data and store it in a biometric system (the common term used is AFIS, or Automated Fingerprint Identification System, although many of the systems store more than fingerprints).

And guess what? There are multiple manufacturers of AFIS (I work for one of them), and the FBI system (currently called IAFIS, or Integrated AFIS) is manufactured by another company.

Let's say that my home city of Ontario, California gets some fingerprints at a crime scene, searches its AFIS (which includes fingerprints from previously arrested criminals), and can't match the crime scene prints to any person's prints. The regular procedure is that Ontario will then submit the prints to the state of California, so that California can search its AFIS. If California can't match the prints, they'll go on to the FBI's system. Well, those three systems are manufactured by three different vendors, and the FBI needed to set some rules to make sure that the systems can communicate with the FBI system, and send the right data in the right format to the FBI system.

Hence we have the standard now known as the Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification, which is available for your reading pleasure at http://www.fbibiospecs.org/. But this web site doesn't only have the EBTS, but also has a lot of related standards from a lot of related agencies. If you want to know how to format XML for fingerprint transmissions, then this is the place to go.

Oh yeah...XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. But that's a whole other topic...

Sphere: Related Content