Late Night? Early Morning?

re: the title...you decide.

Open to all…with certain limitations:

Although Google posted in Gmail's help that "anyone in the world is now welcome to create a Gmail account at mail.google.com/mail/signup", Google's definition of the world was pretty limited.

Gmail is now a public beta in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Brazil, Australia, Russia and Japan, according to BBC. If you live in one of those places, you can go to Gmail.com, and look for "Sign up for Gmail" or you can visit this page to create an account.

I’ve used GMail for well over two years now, or is it three? One forgets. But…I really like it, and that’s an understatement. As I’ve said before: Google’s gonna own the world. It’s just a matter of time.

Speaking of Google…this is fun. And photos! I never had any reason to go to the Googleplex while I lived in SFO, but now I wish I had.

A breath of fresh air… “Global Warming and Hot Air.” In yesterday’s WaPo. Excerpts:

You could be excused for thinking that we'll soon do something serious about global warming. Last Friday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- an international group of scientists -- concluded that, to a 90 percent probability, human activity is warming the Earth. Earlier, Democratic congressional leaders made global warming legislation a top priority; and 10 big U.S. companies (including General Electric and DuPont) endorsed federal regulation. Strong action seems at hand.

Don't be fooled. The dirty secret about global warming is this: We have no solution. About 80 percent of the world's energy comes from fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), the main sources of man-made greenhouse gases. Energy use sustains economic growth, which -- in all modern societies -- buttresses political and social stability. Until we can replace fossil fuels or find practical ways to capture their emissions, governments will not sanction the deep energy cuts that would truly affect global warming.

[…]

Anyone who honestly examines global energy trends must reach these harsh conclusions. In 2004, world emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2, the main greenhouse gas) totaled 26 billion metric tons. Under plausible economic and population assumptions, CO2emissions will grow to 40 billion tons by 2030, projects the International Energy Agency. About three-quarters of the increase is forecast to come from developing countries, two-fifths from China alone. The IEA expects China to pass the United States as the largest source of carbon dioxide by 2009. (Emphasis mine)

Which, in part, is why the infamous Kyoto Protocol does not make any sense, and why the Senate, during the Clinton administration’s tenure, rejected the Kyoto Protocol by a vote of 95-0. As the President said in a 2001 letter to Senators Hagel, Helms, Craig, and Roberts:

As you know, I oppose the Kyoto Protocol because it exempts 80 percent of the world, including major population centers such as China and India, from compliance, and would cause serious harm to the U.S. economy. The Senate's vote, 95-0, shows that there is a clear consensus that the Kyoto Protocol is an unfair and ineffective means of addressing global climate change concerns.

The President is correct. The Kyoto Protocol is just so much window dressing, a sort of “feel good” initiative that doesn’t accomplish a dang thing…even if the nations that signed on (I’m looking at you, EU) actually complied with the protocol. And yet we have idjits like Chirac threatening the US with sanctions additional taxes on our exports if we don’t sign on to Kyoto, and Kerry mumbling about the US being a “pariah” because, in part, we didn’t ratify Kyoto. I know I’m digressing here, but…dang!

Here’s another right-on-target essay on the subject at Café Hayek.

This short-run basic human pleasure most Americans get from warmer weather helps people feel good about being skeptical about the data and the science. How seriously can you take the scientific consensus when there's a debate about whether to use 90% or 99% as the likelihood that we're changing the earth's climate? That's not science. That's politics. How seriously can you take the scientific consensus when there are serious scientists suggesting the whole thing is a hoax. Jeff Jacoby lists a few here. And there are others. These folks aren't saying the estimates are off by 10%. They're saying the whole thing is a hoax. How seriously can you take the scientific consensus when you know that a lot of the experts are on the government and foundation funding gravy train and their livelihood depends on remaining on the right side?

That WaPo editorial and the Café Hayek essay pretty much have the goods. There are a few bits I don’t agree with in the WaPo op-ed, but…on the whole: Recommended. As is the Café Hayek piece.

Interesting… Hackers attack heart of the net. You didn’t notice, did ya?

Hackers have attempted to topple key parts of the internet's backbone, in one of the most significant attacks of recent years.

The target was servers that help to direct global internet traffic.

In the early hours of Tuesday three key servers were hit by a barrage of data in what is known as a distributed denial-of-service attack.

There is no evidence so far of damage, which experts are saying is testament to the robust nature of the internet.

[…]

The servers involved were each operated by a separate body – the US Defense Department, the net’s oversight body ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and UltraDNS, which manages traffic for websites ending in “org” and some other suffixes.

On the other hand, you just might be part of the problem:

Do you know what your computer was doing the other night?

That's the question a lot of security professionals and analysts would like to put to users. On Tuesday, the 13 servers that help manage worldwide Internet traffic were hit by a denial-of-service attack that nearly took down three of them. Analysts say the hackers' used possibly millions of zombie computers to wage the attack -- and they expect that army is populated with the desktops and laptops of unknowing users around the world.

"Individuals have contributed to this problem without knowing it," says Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with Sophos. "People heard about hackers doing these things, but guess what? It may have been your computer doing part of the hacking. ... People need to take more responsibility over the cleanliness of their PCs."

One cannot over-emphasize the importance of good virus protection software. I’ve been in the biz for a long time, yet somehow I became “part of the problem” a few years back. Even though I’ve always run anti-virus and anti-spyware software someone managed to hack my AOL password and use my computer to send literally hundreds of spam messages. I was shocked. And how did I know? AOL “locked” my account and I had to call them to get back on-line. That wasn’t pleasant. Thank God the spam was just ordinary, run of the mill stuff…and not porn, or worse... What could be worse, you ask? Democrat propaganda comes to mind. Just sayin’.

Iowahawk. Iowahawk!! Yes!!

The Pandagon Papers

[Strong content warning - ed.]

To: Senator John Edwards
From: Amanda Marcotte
Re: Job Offer

Dear Senator Edwards:

I am f***ing delighted to accept your offer of the position of Official Blogger for the Edwards 2008 presidential campaign. Please find attached my f***ing W-2 form.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for this totally f***ing awesome opportunity to help you take America back from f***ing BushCo and the other f***tard bible-humping extremists that have turned this once great nation into a goddamn rape factory for their snakehandling Jesus Camp hatebots.

In closing, I am so f***ing proud to be a part of this campaign, and f***ing gratified to know that I'll be working for someone who f***ing understands the importance of reaching out to progressive bloggers like myself. I look forward to contributing in any way I f***ing can. You won't be f***ing sorry!

F***ing Sincerely,
Amanda Marcotte, "Pandagon"

Merely the first of seven notes from Ms. Amanda to Candidate Johnny. Read the rest. Or not, if you’re offended by the f-bomb, of which there are many. But, Hey! That’s Ms. Marcotte’s style, ain’t it? And be sure to chase Iowahawk’s links, coz he’s distilled the essence of the issue…wonderfully.