One of my favorite comics is [PennyArcade](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/6/20/), which is made by a duo. The writer, whose pseudonym is “Tycho”, made an excellent post to accompany today’s strip, which goes something like this:

>People are constantly trying to figure out what kind of “hat” LulzSec is wearing, specifically the >color of this hat, which is a waste of time. For one thing, LulzSec has no head. For another >thing, thinking of it as a group or an individual with agency is a fool’s errand. It’s a natural >“force,” like erosion. And I don’t want any Goddamn part of it. Plus, now they’re going to lap >gently at the base of our government institutions until such time as our democracies are >reduced to a granular, wholly uniform beach.  It’s the sort of thing that makes one stockpile >seeds.

>Like the electronic smash and grab at Sony, I think the endgame here is better security at the >places we trust with our data. It’s been an education for me, to be sure: custom passwords >everywhere, now, 2-step where available, and when I need a new password I let my daughter >go fucking crazy nuts on the keyboard. And then I say who’s my little hash function? Who is >it? She knows who.

>That doesn’t mean no turbulence. In fact, apparently it means more turbulence, because even >after hackers kicked off a month long outage at one of the most powerful companies in the >world, it still wasn’t enough to change policy. I want you to think about that future, the one we >want to live in. Hopefully it will be some comfort while you are looking over your transaction >history, trying to figure out exactly how much of your hard earned savings have been >converted into dildos.

>-Tycho

“FACET Data Visualization of US airspace:”

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/big_picture_facet.html

It absolutely blows my mind seeing this data displayed, can you imagine the fuel we must consume to keep these planes aloft? Look at how many planes are in the air at any given time! With the thousands of flights that are completed every day, it’s hard to be afraid of crashes. I suppose it’s the lack of control that makes people so afraid of flying, even though driving a car is so much more dangerous (statistically). Regardless, NASA’s got a really cool software here for the ATC big board, props to them!

(Sent from Flipboard),

-Taylor Hoff

Demagoguery is the last refuge of the spineless politician willing to do anything to win the next election.

via politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

I may not care for the Tea Party, but this rang so true to me I had to post it. Something needs to be done about the deficit, and it needs to be very drastic. A complete reboot of the Social Security system is a good start, followed by some reduced military spending, with perhaps a dash of frugality here and there. Gosh, this concept of not spending money is hard…

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Never despise small beginnings, and don’t belittle your own accomplishments. Remember them and use them as inspiration as you go on to the next thing. When you venture outside your comfort zone, wherever the starting point may be, it’s kind of a big deal.

via chrisguillebeau.com

An inspiration for you all on a rainy day here in St. Helena. I’m resting up and writing my Spring Break posts. I’m gonna miss my rig here in California; I forgot what it feels like to have a full-sized keyboard, speakers, and LCD display. I wish I could pack this entire setup and bring it home with me, but my room doesn’t have enough room! (Oh the irony.)