Business, Technology and Society, War Commentary

WiFi Security

8 Comments

This is wonderful. WPA2 has a critical flaw. One more reason to continue to distrust wireless.

[Update a few minutes later]

Well, apparently, so far Netgear is not on the case, so not clear what the implications are for our Orbi mesh. Guess until our phones get patched, good idea to not use wifi.

[Update a while later]

Here’s more information. My new phone is Android 7, so it’s affected, but I don’t generally use it with wifi. I’ll definitely avoid it, or at least avoid it for anything mission critical (like bank accounts), until it patches.

[Update a while later]

Now wondering about the Sony Blu-Ray player. Does this make it vulnerable to becoming a DDOS attacker? Wonder if there’s any way to patch it, and if there is, or will be a patch?

[Mid-morning update]

Nothing on line about patching the player; I’ve tweeted a request to @SonyElectronics. Meanwhile, here’s more info at Ars Technica.

[Update a few minutes later]

Here is the web site for the attack technique, with a lot of technical detail.

Business, Economics, Space, Technology and Society

Morgan Stanley

4 Comments

…says that Elon Musk is building an elevator to orbit. Not literally, but certainly functionally.

[Update a while later]

Some news from Blue Origin as well, revealing more details about BE-4 and New Glenn. I found this curious, though:

Becoming a government supplier doesn’t happen overnight. There is a series of certifications one has to go through. Right now having ULA using our engines and qualifying our engines into that supply system is a good thing for us. They will fly a year ahead of us, in 2019. We will come into the market in end of 2020, 2021. And at that point if we choose to go into government contracting, it will imply setting up cost accounting systems that are geared to the government.

I don’t understand what he means, unless they plan to provide launches cost plus. For a fixed price, their accounting is none of the government’s business.

[Update later morning]

Chris Bergin has an update on the SpaceX launch manifest. Among other things, FH launch in December remains a possibility, NASA is OK with a flight-proven rocket for CRS missions, and first landing at Vandenberg will happen with the Iridium 4 mission. Plus, a mystery payload next month.

[Noon update]

Elon revealed more technical (but not financial) details on an AMA Saturday.

Business, Economics, Health, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Trump And John Roberts

26 Comments

Trump has done what Roberts would not: Start to bring ObamaCare into Constitional compliance.

I continue to believe that there was something very disturbing about Roberts’ last-minute change of position, possible including blackmail. Recent revelations about other instances of the Obama administration spying on its political adversaries do nothing to reduce that belief.

[Update a while later]

ObamaCare was built with intrinsic flaws that Trump is now exploiting. It’s what happens from the hubris of thinking that such landmark social policy doesn’t need bipartisan support.

[Late-night update]

Sorry, everyone, but Trump didn’t instigate the ObamaCare acapolypse.

Nope. It was baked into the cake.

Business, Economics, Space, Technology and Society

BFR

23 Comments

Gwynne apparently had some interesting things to say about the plans. They’re going to (as some have surmised) built a production facility at LA Harbor, because transportation from Hawthorne would be too unwieldy. And it also makes sense that they’d use Bolsca Chica as the first launch site. Particularly if they use an off-shore platform that won’t require solidifying the soil at the launch site. Haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure it will easily fit through the Canal.

[Update a while later]

Meanwhile, in China, a private (?!) company wants to copycat them. I take this more seriously than the government program.

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