Bigger and bigger, stronger and stronger?

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I read the news about ”RSA breach leaks data for hacking SecurID tokens”. I didn’t know about RSA or their owner EMC before, but now I know that they work with solutions for secure information in a lot of big companies, all over the world.

People go together in groups to protect themselves and get more efficient. Then the group grows bigger and stronger and get to be really impressing. The feeling of security is total. Then someone finds out how to damage this creation and suddenly security becomes insecurity, if one falls, then everyone falls…

I think about how they grew cereals on Gotland (Sweden) in the old days. A custom that enthusiasts are picking up and is starting to use again nowadays. In the old days the farmer had a special mixture of different seeds and spread them all on the arable land. Because the seeds where different they could defend themselves in different ways. If the field was hit by any danger like too much rain, not enough rain, fungus, bacterias or insects there would be some types of seeds that would get seriously hurt and others that didn’t. In the end the harvest was more secure to produce a good result, than if the farmer had only spread seeds of one kind.

The normal way to grow cereals today is to spread one type of seed, ”the best”, but that seed will need very specific conditions to grow like it’s supposed to. When everything works out fine the result is very good, but if something that was not foreseen happens, the damage can be a total disaster for the farmer.

I think it’s kind of scary when a lot of big companies all over the world buy security from the same big company. Maybe they should use a mixture of different security solutions like the farmers on Gotland used to do…

My cat Silver – the gardener

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I am not interested in gardening. Our garden is a catastrophe… Roine cuts the grass and we might do something small now and then, but, as I said: it’s a catastrophe. Some people takes gardening very seriously and cares especially about their lawn. They try to create the perfect lawn with only grass growing there, but we have plenty of different flowers in our lawn, with beautiful Daisies as the most frequent.

I have noticed that our cats takes good care of the moss in our lawn. Moss are not supposed to grow in a perfect lawn of grass. But eventually it does anyway. We don’t bother. What happens is that everything gets dry in the summer, like now, and then the cats like to rip away the moss in order to get some nice soil to dig in and do No2 in… So, they rake away the moss, then fertilize the soil and soon we will get new, fresh grass growing there. Aren’t they clever gardeners?

Silver is a very systematic cat. He has a record with arranging flowers, vomitting in the litter bin and throwing invoices among the recycle paper… and much more. He can really surprise me.

Today I got surprised as well. Look carefully at this picture – can you see that he has gathered all the moss in a little pile by the side of the moss-cleaned area? It’s like he put it there because he wants me to pick it up and throw it.

Remarkable cat.

I don’t get it: why doesn’t every pregnant woman stop drinking alcohol?

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Now and then there are some news about pregnant women and drinking alcohol. It annoys me when it’s about how much a pregnant woman can drink without risking damage to the baby.

I mean, let’s say anyone claims that studies have shown that ”it’s okay to drink 40 xx” and a lot of pregnant women follow that advice and then three years later the same anyone admits that ”Oops, we made a mistake, the correct amount that you safely can drink when you are pregnant is 15 xx”.

If you by then are a mother of a toddler who followed the first advice and your toddler have some dysfunctions, how would you feel?

The natural and best choice is of course to not drink alcohol at all when you are pregnant! Why risk your baby? There are so many more things to worry about when you are pregnant, so many things to avoid, so many things to do right and so many things that can go wrong. Why not eliminate at least one of all those things: quit alcohol.

Read about a program to train midwives in giving better advice about alcohol and pregnancy in England.

My smart gadgets

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When I go to interview and photographe someone I bring the following gadgets and apps:

  • iPad with Evernote in which I have written my questions. But, I wrote then in Evernote on my MacBook and then Evernote sync it so that I have the questions on both my iPad and my iPhone.
  • iPhone with Bluefire recording app to record my interview. When I am back in wifi-area I can easily transfer the audio file to iTunes and then listen to it and write down what was said.

  • The app Easy Release which I have for both iPad and iPhone. The models I photograph can then easily sign an agreement about how the photos will be used. I prepare with writing down the models names and contact information and when we meet I hand over my Bamboo-stylus so that they can sign directly on the screen. When I’m back in wifi-area the agreement will be sent to them by mail.

  • Then I have my dear camera, a Canon PowerShot SX1 IS which works from super close-ups to 20 x zoom. HD-video too if it’s needed. Automatic or manuel, it’s up to me to choose. Sometimes I think that I should buy a Canon EOS, but hey, I always have everything I need with me! It is very practical and the picture becomes good, so I don’t really have the motivation to change…
  • Well, I have of course scheduled my interview in iCal and had it synced with MobileMe – MacBook, iPhone and iPad. And I also have my ToDo-list in Things on all three devices. Sometimes I keep some important notes there as well, like a road description or a door code.

Wow, what a building Steve Jobs is planning!

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Apple’s new campus will really get amazing. In the end they mention Kaiser-Cupertino Cement Plant and the pollution they are causing. Mr Steve Jobs, we have a cement plant where I live as well, Cementa in Slite. They have worked hard to reduce their pollution and as I understand it they have also succeeded. So, maybe Kaiser-Cupertino Cement Plant could get some advice from Cementa in Slite on Gotland? :-)