The Seventies and Eighties are Dying Out

Apparently, Both Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died today.

Correction. Three celebrities who were famous in the Seventies and Eighties died today. I forgot about Ed McMahon.

What is the first thing that comes to mind about Farah Fawcett? I can remember the bright smile, blond hair and a very attractive face. Not to forget posters of her in swimwear, showing off a very attractive figure. I guess i'll stick with those images, rather than recent pictures that showed a weak and sickly person who was at death's doorstep.

While Farah Fawcett's death was probably expected, Michael Jackson's was totally out of the blue. It is unfortunate that he will be remembered for the alleged child abuse and his general all round weirdness rather than being an icon in the world of pop music.

Is it fair for him to be remembered in this infamous way? Life is sometimes unfair to celebrities and no one can change that. Michael Jackson is a pretty easy target even without the child molestation allegations. One cannot defend his brand of weirdness easily. Anyone trying to defend him on the basis of the fact that he was found "not guilty" by a jury will be pointed to O. J. Simpson's trial and acquittal as a rebuttal. Such is the nature of the American judicial system.

One cannot say for sure whether Michael Jackson was guilty or not. Doubtless, some people are glad that he has kicked the bucket and some are mournful at the loss of an idol in the realm of pop music. One can only wonder what his legacy will be 20 years from now.

All my rambling about aging celebrities aside, I wonder if anyone else is curious about the number of people from the seventies and eighties who have died over the past few days. First it was David Carradine, now it is Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson and Ed McMahon. I just hope Mr. T and Michael J. Fox aren't next.

President Barack Obama

The news of Barack Obama's election to the highest office in the USA has been out for less than 24 hours now and the response the world over has been overwhelmingly positive. It is not only the rest of the world, but a majority of the Americans as well who are celebrating not merely the end of the Bush era, but the beginning of what will hopefully be a time of rebuilding and renewal. As one black comedian succinctly put it, I'm sure many Americans are smiling inwardly while asking themselves - "Damn, did we just elect a black guy to the white house?"

I for one, am relieved that the enormous political circus surrounding the campaigns and this election is finally over. I'm happy that America has indeed voted for the better man this time around. For the past several months, there have been numerous political ads on TV (which I have done my best to avoid). There has been so much discussion on all kinds of trivial (and a few non trivial) issues in the media. I was hoping for an Obama win not merely because of the symbolic significance of having the first non white american president, but also because this is a turbulent time in American politics, and turbulent times call for a rational mind at the helm.

I am mentioning rationality because that has been a hallmark of the Obama campaign, in complete contrast to the trainwreck that the McCain campaign had become in the weeks following the selection of Sarah Palin. The McCain campaign was starting to look childish, vindictive and too eager to engage in mudslinging and FUD tactics. The Obama campaign did occasionally hit back at the incessant republican attacks, but did it in a way that was much classier and more effective.

Of course, now that the republican menace has been temporarily repulsed, the democrats have quite a bit of work to do. They have inherited a huge mess from the republicans. The economy is in tatters, American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is bleeding this anaemic economy dry and the political landscape does not look like it can generate solutions. Obama's administration is in for a hellish first few months on the job. While I'm not overly optimistic about the ability of one man to clean up such a huge mess, I hope Obama can somehow generate the political will to at least get started on solutions to such problems.

One wonders what the future of the republican party is going to be. Is it going to be taken over completely by the evangelical nutcases and the extreme right wing bigots who seem to love and embrace Sarah Palin's idiocy without reservation? Will the moderate republicans (if they still have any voice within the party) actually be able to reclaim it before it metamorphoses into the american fascist theocratic party? Will the neoconservatives who have championed a lot of the extremism of the last eight years finally be routed? Will the party undergo a period of deep introspection and emerge from it like a butterfly after pupation?

I do not know the answer to these questions and I cannot forecast anything about the future of the Republicans, but the Americans probably know deep down that the fight isn't really over. There is some hushed talk in many circles about Sarah Palin running for president in 2012. Although I think she represents the worst of both America and the Republican party, I think Americans are finally ready to reject her brand of narrow divisive politics as completely and thoroughly in 2012 as they have done today. Americans can be happy that their democracy is at least not in as much danger as it appeared to be in. There is a new hope in the air. A hope that the divisiveness and the ugly partisanship of politics in the past two decades of America's polity is coming to a close, to be replaced by a system which finally works for the people. The future of American democracy just appears a little brighter than yesterday, and I'm optimistic that it will stay that way.

The Great American Political Circus Part 2

Even though few Americans know enough about cricket and the terminology associated with it, I cannot resist describing senator McCain's latest political ploy as a googly. However, one must also watch with bated breath to see if this googly flummoxes his democratic opponents or whether McCain will be hit for six. I'm referring, of course, to his bizarre choice of an unknown from Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate.

At the face of it, his choice makes absolutely no sense at all. For the past year or so, all the republicans have been attacking Obama's inexperience and used it as the reason why Americans should not vote for him. Now, they go and choose someone that has been Governer of Alaska for a mere 20 months. That's less than the time since McCain started campaigning to be president!!
How does this make any sense given the rhetoric of the McCain campaign all along about his experience and wisdom and all the other jazz which comes with being an old white guy in American politics?

Its interesting too see that while Obama chose Biden as his running mate in order to complement him and bring some more experience into his platform, McCain chooses an unknown and his only way to justify his choice is to say that he wants a change from the old style of Washington politics!!! While this dual volte face of sorts is fascinating in itself, it is unlikely to work to McCain's advantage.

First of all, Sarah Palin is an absolute unknown and it appears that McCain met her only once before he selected her. In other words, this choice seems to be a cynical politically motivated one which also appears to be made on a personal whim(Some of McCain's Staff were as shocked as the rest of America). Secondly, Alaska has a population of a little under 700,000. Being a 20 month Governor of a state whose population is smaller than Detroit is far from impressive. This doesn't stop people from touting her other credentials, such as being the mayor of a town with less than 9000 people and being in PTA (WTF!!) and a couple of other silly organizations. Overall, her supporters look desperate to justify her candidacy but they seem to be grasping at straws.

There are also a couple of scandals plaguing her barely a week from her nomination. It looks like the internet is feverishly doing what John McCain should have done before choosing her. There has been frenetic activity on the internet highlighting the scandals associated with Palin.
One of the scandals is about a possible abuse of gubernatorial power by Palin. The other major scandal is about the pregnancy of her 17 year old daughter. Her supporters are spinning her daughter's pregnancy as a confirmation of her pro-life credentials that she didn't insist on an abortion but it also highlights her stupidity for opposing sex education in the first place. Incidentally, Palin herself had a baby only four months ago, which is supposed to prove her pro-life credentials further. This looks like something from the script of a badly written soap opera, and I don't see this helping the McCain campaign much. There are some other rumors floating around the internet which are much racier but I'll refrain from mentioning them until more evidence turns up.

However, there are a couple of constituencies where this cynical decision might help McCain. After all, there are a few disgruntled Hillary supporters who might vote for Pain because she is female (even though they would be shooting themselves in the foot by voting for her). I'm not sure this is a big vote base because it is a bit of an insult to Hillary supporters but McCain apparently thinks it has some payoff potential.

The one constituency where her selection might really help McCain is with the evangelicals. These people are usually single issue voters who think abortion is a major travesty and might vote for Palin on the basis of her position on that issue alone. These people might actually have sufficient levels of cognitive dissonance not to see the hypocrisy of a party which apparently stands for moral and family values nominating a woman whose daughter clearly doesn't practice what her mother preaches. This is probably the only thing democrats might have to worry about but its far from a big problem.

All in all, the whole thing looks like it will blow up in McCain's face. The way things are developing, the democrats should comfortably get into the white house in January. It looks like McCain's "strategic" googly might end up being an own goal.

The Great American Political Circus

If there is one thing I've realized after three years of living in America and observing American politics, it is the undeniable fact that American presidential elections are always going to be an all out publicity circus. In fact, one might occasionally wonder if P.T. Barnum's indomitable spirit has suddenly possessed the major players in this chaotic circus act that leaves even its spectators tired. There is so much salesmanship, so much posturing and so many empty words and promises all mixed in and fed to the electorate that getting the hard facts is sometimes like searching for a needle in a haystack.

In the midst of all this, I sometimes ask myself how on earth American democracy could possibly work? It is painfully obvious to almost anyone with any knowledge of politics that democracy is not merely allowing people to vote every few years. In the absence of any reliable sources of information, democracy is meaningless. Right now, I just don't see where Americans get their facts. After all, 90% of the stuff they see in mainstream media outlets is either useless fluff or outright lies. There is so much misinformation out there that you wouldn't know the truth even if it smacked you right in the face. Is this the reason why a poor excuse for a human being like Bush won two elections?

I have some strong views on the state of American politics. To be specific, I have strong views on what I think is wrong with the entire American democratic system, but that will have to wait for later. Right now, I too seem to have been caught up in the tide of what TV pundits (derisively) call Obamania.

The recent democratic convention, where Obama's nomination for the presidential race was made official was quite the publicity circus, but it was extremely successful in giving Obama and Biden a major boost. It culminated excellently with Obama's acceptance speech. I am quite the cynic when it comes to political speeches but I must say I was impressed with Obama's speech. His speech not only said the right things (not merely from a political standpoint but also from a rational standpoint), but it also sounded extremely sincere and most importantly, it had emotional appeal. If there is one thing that an American presidential candidate must remember, it is that one must never appear too intellectual during the presidential race. The American people overwhelmingly prefer appeals to the heart over appeals to the mind. I was impressed at the way Obama managed to avoid looking too high brow and intellectual without sounding like a vapid airhead. That is a balancing act that is hard for an intelligent guy to perform in the present era of 10 sec soundbites and moronic talking heads on TV. I must say that I have been looking at Obama favourably for the last few months and given that the choice is between Obama and McCain, Obama is a no-brainer for me right now.

There is of course a lot more going on behind the scenes and of course, the electorate don't know all the stuff going on in the background but the democrats have now taken the fight to the McCain camp and are counting on the momentum generated during the convention carrying them into the white house. This is going to be a very interesting presidential election, and I personally hope that at least this time the democrats win, so that the whole world will be spared the trauma of another republican administration in DC.

The Sub-Prime Crisis Simplified.

Ever wonder exactly what it was that went wrong ion the whole sub[rime lending crisis? How did a (somewhat small) bunch of people fiddling around with some financial instruments and transactions contribute to the dismal state of the American economy as we see it today? Is there an explanation that will be comprehensible to someone who doesn't have an advanced degree in Economics/Finance?

The answer to all of these questions (and maybe some more) is given in a rather poorly drawn series of cartoons I found today which is called "The Subprime Primer". While it is poorly drawn, it does manage to illustrate the reasons for the housing collapse quite well.

George Carlin Deceased.

George Carlin, stand up comic extraordinaire and one of the wittiest observers of the absurdities of life in general and American life in particular, passed away yesterday. The reason I write about this here is that the man wasn't merely a humourist, but also a guy who could be brutally honest and forthright about some of the key issues that face America today. The guy was never known for political correctness. He probably ticked off a large number of people in his life. However, he was never one to mince words and he always told things as it was, without any sugar coating. He probably had the biggest cojones of anyone involved in the entertainment business in America, and that is saying something.

I could probably give a longer, better worded tribute to him, but I think that my words wouldn't really do justice to him. Instead, I give you a sample of some of his most famous stand up performances.










R.I.P. George.

How I Became a Self Taught White Hat Hacker for a Week

As I have mentioned previously in this blog, I am graduate student in Electrical Engineering. As a result, I am sometimes considered to be a "whizkid" at least among some of the elder members of my family. They often assume that I should be able to fix just about any kind of mess involving new and not so strightforward technology (most of the time this means computers). While I can help with basic queries, I am not really a big "computers guy" and I avoid giving any such impressions as far as possible.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I found myself having to upgrade my computer savviness by a notch this week. Two of my lab computers were infected by trojans and spyware and he situation was becoming intolerable. Apparently, the infection had taken place while I was in India, and my labmate Krishnan had carefully kept the infected computers untouched until my return. By implication, I was supposed to try and fix these things while Krishnan took his one month break. The trojans were of the pesky variety that kept opening random popups when the user was browsing other websites. Most of the pop ups would open in internet explorer even if one used only firefox. As a result, not only were browsing speeds reduced, but CPU and memory was also being overused.

The first of these computers I managed to fix after a long protracted process that involved me scanning the system multiple times, posting logs on an online forum dedicated to helping hapless victims of malware and waiting for instructions from the resident hackers. The whole process took 10 days but at the end of it, the computer was rid of its trojan and things became normal. I must mention of course that both the computers in my lab are somewhat old and therefore, were as fast as a tortoise on crutches when they were infected. It was a relief to get one of these PCs healthy and I was looking forward to cleaning up the other one as well.

Unfortunately, the guys at the forum did not respond to my second request for help, which was a bit strange. I waited two weeks for a reply and did not get one in spite of repeated bumps. There wasn't anything else I could do because those guys on the forum were volunteers and were giving tech support for free. Given my lack of options, I decided to try and fix everything on the second PC by myself.

I started out by running a complete scan of the system using one of the numerous scanning software available for free. The program produced a log that pinpointed the locations of all the files related to the trojans (and there were a helluva lot of them). I just had to delete the files while making sure I did not screw up any system files along the way.

The more perceptive reader will surely be able to see where this is headed. Among the files that the scanning software pointed out, there were many windows registry entries. The windows registry is something like the heart and soul of the OS. In general, tampering with the registry is a bit like doing brain surgery with a hacksaw. It is something that only an expert should attempt (as a last resort) because there is simply too much that can go wrong. However, I was desperate to fix the machine and so I went ahead with my slash and burn style of cleaning up the PC even though I knew a misstep could cause the PC to crash.

I was really pleased when I had removed all traces of the spyware from the PC without causing a meltdown. However, I was shocked a little later when I realized that I simply could not connect to the internet anymore. After a little investigating I found out that while manually cleaning things up, I had somehow screwed up the TCP/IP settings in the registry. I had a different mess on my hand than what I started with and I felt bad for screwing up this way. So I immediately went to google and tried to search my way out of my predicament. I will not go into the details, but I will say that Windows XP does not intend its users to go around fixing stuff by themselves. There were a few sites which listed some simple steps I could take to "reintialize" the TCP/IP registry keys but these steps were all ineffective. I needed to do a complete reinstallation of the TCP/IP protocol to make things work again but XP explicitly considers TCP/IP to be a core of the OS and doesn't allow any user to uninstall it.

After a lot of time spent on google, I finally came across a web page which offered a brilliant hack to fix this whole mess. This link actually specifies how you can change the permissions in order to make XP allow you to delete TCP/IP and then do a full reinstall. Some people might view this as a vulnerability in XP (since the user does something he should not be able to do), but in my opinion, it is one of the best examples of hacking. If you want to explain the essence of hacking to a layman, this would be a very illustrative example, as it shows a very innovative and non obvious solution to a hard problem.

That, in a nutshell is how I almost became a white hat hacker this week. I had great fun tampering with the registry entries, even though the whole thing nearly blew up in my face. The only thing left for me to do now is to get a T-Shirt saying "I Hacked the Windows XP registry and I Loved it". Any idea where I can get one of those?