Three-Step Insta-Blog

From the Basement's Three-Step Insta-Blog:

Step 1: Insert recent national or local political concern here.

Step 2: Make fun of it.

Step 3: Pat self on back for creating the illusion that you are politically active.

Griping Father's Day

There is an inequality in our country when it comes to Mother's Day vs. Father's Day. We just need to look to our popular media to see it. When Mother's day rolls around, we get ads talking about giving Mother flowers, or bath beads, or trips to the day spa. On Father's day we talk about giving Dad tools, and barbequing.

Let me get this straight. On Mother's Day, Mom should be honored by pampering and gifts of love. On Father's Day, we're going to make the old man go out in the heat, fix the car, the house and, on top of it, cook for everyone.

Somehow, the equality escapes me.

More Gas Price Drama

In spite of having at least two oil refineries in northern Utah, and gas prices dropping two cents a gallon nation wide, Utah's gas prices shot up four more cents.

There's lots of continuing debate as to why this is happening. We get this from one KSL report:

. . . . there's a simple reason behind the price: "There's a price control that's in operation that we just simply don't know about."

Yes we do. It's a price control called greed. The oil companies know that Utahans rely on our cars to get us to work, and many of us travel several miles to do it. I, myself, travel 40 miles each way, putting 80+ miles a day on my car. I don’t have much choice, either. It’s my livelihood at stake.

Talk about a captive customer base.

Google Earth, Security and JFK

The latest news, about the recently foiled terrorist plot to blow up some major fuel cells at JFK airport, is about how Google Earth was allegedly used by the terrorists to gain aerial intelligence about the airport.

In its defense, Google is right in saying that such information is hardly limited to just Google Earth. There are several commercial sites that offer detailed aerial photography of this kind. The difference is that Google Earth, and other free sites, make obtaining the information much easier, more anonymous, and in some cases even offer tools that let you measure distances between objects. This is exactly the kind of information you would need when planning an attack of this kind.

It brings up some interesting questions about our access to technology, and the obvious question, "What do we really want to use it for?"

With sites like Windows Live Local coming into play, the issues of privacy and security become even more personal. You'll be able to get street level images of major cities, including the people walking by, and whatever happens to be in the windows.

How private can our lives be if even our homes can be invaded by cameras, and the images posted to the web, where others can access them for free, and without our consent? Technology is cool, but I think the law of "unintended consequences" is in full swing here.