Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

HOW TO CHOOSE SECURE PASSWORDS

This is a good article on user names, unsearchable passwords, and security questions.

E-TOTALITARIANISM AT GOOGLE

Scott Cleland, author of the new book “Search & Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google Inc.” (Telescope Books, 2011) has penned a fine shorter article on Google I found worth reading.  It reinforces impressions I have been steadily developing.  "Totalitarianism" may be just the right word.

CAN COMPUTERS BECOME CONSCIOUS BY INCREASING PROCESSING POWER?

Wintery Knight has a great post on this topic (I borrowed his title).  WK's field is computers.  To compliment his own expertise, he draws on UC Berkeley professor John Searle and Christian philosopher Jay Richards.   Short answer to the question: No, computers cannot become conscious by increasing processing power.

How to Protect Your Privacy on Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn

Mint, a free personal finance software website, offers valuable (and easy to understand) privacy protection information for Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn here.

100 INCREDIBLY USEFUL AND INTERESTING WEB SITES

  Looks terrific.   Click here.

THANKSGIVING DAY

Update:  Victor Davis Hanson tells us "This is a wonderful country and we are so lucky to be alive in the here and now in the United States.  So Lighten up this Thanksgiving–Carpe diem!"   His article is titled "Some Random Politically-Incorrect Reasons to Be Optimistic on Thanksgiving Day."

I consider myself fortunate to have come across this article. VDH writes of the United States in the context of the nations of the world and gives us reasons to be optimistic and joyful.  A mind-changing article.

--- The following is from Dr. Mercola's website:

The Power of Giving Thanks

• Change the World, One Thank-You Note at a Time
• Power of Gratitude
• Universal Values to Be Grateful For
• How to Be Happier with What You Have
• The Importance of Thank You

A Powerful Thanksgiving

• Reap Joy from this Thanksgiving Holiday
• Thanksgiving and the Stories We Tell Ourselves
• Thanksgiving How-To Guides
• TIme Management on the Turkey Day
• Top 10 Things to Do for Mom’s PC Over Thanksgiving

Me: I haven't had a chance to look at all of the above yet, but I did look at the last item and found it very helpful -- to me!  (My mother doesn't have a PC). 

WEBSITES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

Here is an article describing the 15 most influential websites to date.  

THE IDEOLOGY OF DEFEAT: HAS LIBERALISM WEAKEND WESTERN RESISTANCE TO BARBARISM?

The liberal vision of a harmonious world dominates the liberal mindset of our day to the utter disregard of facts staring him in the face.    William R. Hawkins wrote an article today noting,

The liberal hope was best described by the title of Tom Englehardt’s 1995 book The End of Victory Culture. In 1999, President Bill Clinton proclaimed: “Perhaps for the first time in history, the world's leading nations are not engaged in a struggle with each other for security or territory. The world clearly is coming together.” It is because the events of the last few years so clearly contradict this liberal vision of a harmonious world, that there is so much hatred of President George W. Bush.

Hawkins, ( his article is titled "The Ideology of Defeat"), asks whether liberal culture with its aversion to  fighting and warfare, can produce the motivation and determination to resist the assaults of suicide bombers and insurgents.  He asks, "Has liberalism already so weakened society's will to fight back that even leaders and soldiers committed to do so cannot succeed?" 

He writes,

It is clear that the objective of liberal policy is not to be more effective, but to uphold liberal values. If this means losing a war, so be it.  It is better to accept defeat than to adapt to the needs of an illiberal world.

. . .  In contrast, Islamic fundamentalists harken back to the glory days when Moslem armies swept across the world from Spain to India, and Mohammed himself approved the razing of villages and the beheading of opponents. They inhabit {and enshrine) the kind of bellicose society that liberalism has done much to bleach out of America. The result is that despite having brave soldiers armed with high-tech weapons who win every pitched battle, American society teeters on the edge of military collapse from a lack of will to do what is needed, on a large enough scale for a long enough period of time, to defeat Islamic militants in any theater of current combat.

. . . Many Moslems have been recruited into extremism while living in the midst of liberal societies (like London), having found their surroundings decadent and corrupt. Thus liberalism’s much vaunted ideals of tolerance and passivity are seen by foes as a lack of honor and strength.

There is something "touchingly naive" about the liberal perspective on human nature and the behavior of nations.  It would be entertaining to watch the drama unfold -- if only this were not a real world where such illusions can result in the slaughter of milions and the collapse of a civilization at the hands of barbarous bellicose enemies.

VIDEO GAMES DEFENDED

Tonight I came across an article that defends video games.   Within the last year I heard a speaker at a technology conference do the same.   This is a subject that demands more investigation and study, and this article seems a good starting point. 

CANADIAN COLLEGE BANS WI-FI OVER HEALTH CONCERNS

Here's the story.  I just recently procured a cable connection, but have been hesitant to hook up the Wi-Fi.   Maybe it would be wise, as this article suggests, to wait for the health reports to be published. 

"Inconclusive studies into possible links between radio transmissions and leukemia and brain tumors from, among others, scientists for the California Public Utilities Commission, led [Fred] Gilbert [President of Lakehead University] to make the "precautionary ban".

"All I’m saying is while the jury’s out on this one, I’m not going to put in place what is potential chronic exposure for our students."

Hat tip: Drudge Report

A different kind of  Wi-Fi article, offering privacy tips, can be found here.