Stuxnet Called an Israeli-US Joint Project

Larry Seltzer writes on PC Mag's "Security Watch" Blog:

A report in the New York Times gives evidence that Stuxnet, the computer worm which appears to have done material damage to Iranian nuclear weapons development, was developed by an Israeli-US team at an Israeli facility.


The Dimona complex in the Negev desert has long been the reputed, but unacknowledged center for Israeli nuclear development. The Times cites "intelligence and military experts familiar with [Dimona's] operations" as saying that over the past 2 years Dimona has served as a testing facility for efforts to undermine Iranian nuclear weapons development.


Israel has acquired and tested, at Dimona, using centrifuges "virtually identical" to those used by Iran. This scenario is reasonable in that it explains how such sophisticated attack software worked when it finally reached its intended targets in Iran. Whoever wrote it had to test it, and they needed access to Siemens SCADA systems and centrifuges identical, or nearly so, to those used by Iran.

More here.

No longer young?

Numbers have a way to unnerve the placid quietude that one might hope for as life progresses...

... Concepts of weight, age, and the related associations are baseless and arbitrary I often console myself. Remember 18 til I die?

However, it is a mean and nasty world that we live in. I caught this No Marks (a brand of cosmetics that boasts of Ayurvedic formulations for diverse usage) commercial on TV and was thoroughly pissed off!

The "geniuses" have launched a new range of face washes that are categorized as follows:

- For teens

- For youth

- For 25+

So 25+ is no longer young? Ouch. Somebody convince me I am reading too much into this ad. Am hurting real bad.

Here, check out the commercial yourself. I am, for sure, never going to use No Marks face wash and I don't care if you dismiss me as being petty. Hummpphh...

Mark Fiore: Shooting From The Lip

More Mark Fiore brilliance.

Via The San Francisco Chronicle.

- ferg

Dakshinachitra

I finally succeeding in dragging Vish to Dakshinachitra – quite literally translated as the “picture or vision of the South (India)”, and much against the locals’ quips that the place is not worth the hype – I enjoyed my trip.

Dakshinachitra, DC for short, is promoted as a heritage village site with the objective of recreating the rural life of the four states of Southern India – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

For Bollywood fans out there, this is the place where Shilpa Shetty and Salman Khan spent “the two days” in the movie Phir Milenge :).

Situated on the east coast road (ECR), DC is a perfect family getaway on a weekend/holiday morning with not only sight seeing to do, but fun activities such as basket weaving, pottery, puppet making etc., and ofcourse shopping that add to the tourist value of the place.

The best part is that it does not get too crowded; though being in the open, a hot summer day may not be the ideal time for a visit.

DC endeavors to preserve the traditional art, craft and architecture forms by providing a platform to the artisans to showcase their talent in the form of demo booths (sari weaving, glass blowing among others) and exhibitions.

Pitched as a cultural odyssey of the South, DC does try to live up to the buzz around it – The Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh sections are still under construction whereas the Tamil Nadu and Kerala sections are complete and offer a fairly detailed insight into the various aspects of the village life.

So, I would recommend that if you are in Chennai or visiting Chennai, take a half day out for a trip to Dakshinachita and you won’t regret it.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

A view of the craft bazaar that greets you right at the entrance…

The structures of village houses…

A peak inside the houses…

Now for some demo and fun stuff…

Silk sari weaving…

Pottery (A statutory warning: The potter thatha is one impatient guy – he was screaming at me in tamil that I was not doing it properly without even teaching me how to mould the clay first :(.

You can also take a shot at grinding rice :D...

Kili jyoshiyam or the parrot fortune teller is another interesting stop over. Following instructions, the parrot comes out of its cage, randomly selects one card from the pile of cards, takes it to the god’s picture and the gives it to the guy sitting there – who then reads out your fortune.

And finally, some shots, which I think were in Phir Milenge…

If you have seen the movie, you couldn’t have missed the amphitheater…

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Added:

Here's the song from Phir Milenge, shot at Dakshinchitra (Thanks a ton Aastha!!!)

Iceland Summons U.S. Envoy Over WikiLeaks Probe

An AP newswire article by Raphael G. Satter, via The San Jose Mercury News, reports:

The American ambassador to Reykjavik has been summoned to explain why U.S. investigators are trying to access the private details of an Icelandic lawmaker's online activity as they try to build a criminal case against WikiLeaks.


Revelations that the U.S. Justice Department obtained a court order to examine data held by Twitter Inc. on Birgitta Jonsdottir, an Icelandic parliamentarian who sits on the country's Foreign Affairs Committee, immediately caused consternation in the tiny North Atlantic nation.


"(It is) very serious that a foreign state, the United States, demands such personal information of an Icelandic person, an elected official," Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV.


"This is even more serious when put (in) perspective and concerns freedom of speech and people's freedom in general," he added.


Jonsdottir is a one-time WikiLeaks collaborator also known for her work on Iceland's media initiative, which aims to turn the island nation into a free speech haven. Jonsdottir told The Associated Press she was too overwhelmed to comment Sunday, but in a recent post to Twitter, she said she was talking with American lawyers about how to beat the order—and was drumming up support in Iceland as well.

More here.

Mark Fiore: Resolution

More Mark Fiore brilliance.


Via The San Francisco Chronicle.

Enjoy.

- ferg

Food, Inc.

I finally got around to watching this documentary -- and although unsurprised, I am continually shocked by the ability of corporations in this country to wield such power and control.

If you haven't seen it, please do.

It is truly heartbreaking, maddening, and almost criminal what is happening with the basic food we all need.

- ferg

Updated 21:50 PST: Let's hope that this helps. Fingers crossed.