Security

Dog House: RFID for Dogs

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The Guardian has a nice write-up of the issues surrounding pet RFID tags. They point out the compatibility issues with varying standards and readers, and claim that a bigger market wouldn’t have the same interoperability challenges:

Finbar Heslin, a vet in the Irish Republic who has worked to try to streamline Irish microchipping standards, says part of the problem is that RFID chips have been developed for a different market. “The idea behind microchipping is excellent. The downside is that you’re taking the technologies from the logistics industry and trying to apply them to animals.”

Logistics is a huge market for RFID and so there is a greater incentive to adhere to standards. “But with animals, the RFID market is small, and there are no standards, even across Europe,” says Heslin.

In both Britain and Ireland, the situation has been what he calls “a free for all”, because distributors weren’t licensed and cheap, non-ISO chips were sometimes brought in from abroad.

I’m not so sure about that. Even huge lucrative markets see the same interoperability hurdles and a lack of consistency across vendors. I brought up something similar back in early October 2005 on Schneier’s blog, specifically with regard to the debate in Congress about how and when to upgrade America’s animals.

History, Poetry

Poetry in Somalia

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I found an interesting page with some insight into the historic and modern role of poetry in Somalia:

The Somalis have been described as a nation of bards and indeed oral poetry plays a central role in all aspects of Somali life such as watering camels and political debate. The wide range of activities in which poetry is involved is reflected in the diversity of genres of poetry differing in their subject matter and stylistic characteristics. In recent decades musical accompaniment has played an increasingly important role in certain types of poetry, and theatre has become an important art form incorporating poetry.

[…]

The poetry of Salaan Arrabay, on the other hand, became an anti-war weapon. His best-known work, “O Kinsman, Stop the War,” was an appeal to end a long-standing feud between two rival sections of the Isaaq clan in northern Somalia. “Tradition has it,” says Samatar, “that the poet on his horse stood between the massed opposing forces and, with a voice charged with drama and emotion, chanted the better part of the day until the men, smitten with the force of his delivery, dropped their arms and embraced one another.”

[…]

Somalis have long debated the merits of a nomadic, pastoral existence versus those of a settled agricultural community. In this excerpt from a Somali poem, a nomad explains his decision to return to his herds after a brief try at farming:

It is said that one cannot pierce the sky to get rain for one’s garden, Nor can one drive the farm, as one drives animals, to the place Where the rain is falling. Worst of all, one cannot abandon one’s farm, even though barren, Because all one’s efforts are invested in it. The farmer, in counter argument, replies: A man with no fixed place in this world cannot claim one in heaven.

It seems to me that areas where it is very risky or costly to create items of any permanence that poetry and verse are the perfect form for tradition as well as laws. The breakdown of portable forms of expression and systematic erosion of the songs and spoken art seems to signal the last flicker from a society under pressure of dissolution or destruction. What a tragedy if we fail in helping preserve the knowledge and wisdom contained in the poems of Somalia.

Security

San Jose Rails

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Dog poop on rails Somewhere someone is busy designing the next generation of skate-board proof railings and curbs.

The irony I see is that the market has generated overly bland and simple rails and curbs to begin with, which has led to exploration by skaters looking for something challenging to do with themselves.

Had the railings been more integrated and delicately created from the start (e.g. more thought/creativity = more expensive) then they would be less likely to be turned into the very thing they seemed destined for — cheap thrills. Some might think that a quick fix will remove the vulnerability of the lowly hand-rail to the threat of eager kids on wheels, and they’re probably right.

Think about it, though. Would you rather a handrail have the look of “damn kids, these metal poop-strips will teach them a thing or two about respecting property” or something more like “grab me and I will help you be safely on your way”. Come to think of it, should we first look at whether stairs are even necessary or just less expensive landscaping?