Well, my bank has failed, and everyone’s talking and blogging and twittering about economics and politics, two topics I’m terribly passionate (read: opinionated) about. In an effort to not get run out of town, I’m going to stick to this as my commentary for now, and try very hard to keep my mouth shut otherwise:
Why keep my mouth shut? My opinions aren’t going to change yours, and this time of year, some (thankfully, some, not all) people start hating people who don’t think like them. I like my friends, and would like them to continue liking me. I know I’m not going to change your vote, so how about we just agree to disagree and go back to talking about Star Wars and web startups like we used to? I guess I’m just also a little exhausted from political mud-slinging drama, and fairly bummed (dare I say depressed? *Ba-dum-ching!*) about the bailout. Can’t we just be friends?
This is rather silly but interesting in the “let’s take a snapshot of your life right now” kind of way. I’ve been enjoying others’ posts, so I guess it is only fair to do my own. So, here’s a moment in the life of Cassie, at work:
Instructions:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair - just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.
Post these instructions with the picture.
This is either my most pointless or awesome post ever (depending on who you are).
So, I was considering today the awesomeness of sandwiches available in Seattle, especially near my office on Capitol Hill, and decided to share with you my top picks (in no particular order).
The Romozzager from The Honey Hole: Roma tomatoes, mozzarella slices, a dash of balsamic vinegar, romaine lettuce, mayonnaise, salt and pepper on a fresh French roll ($4.05)
The B.E.T. from Crave: Bacon, escarole, yellow tomatoes, and delicious goat cheese ($7.50)
Lemongrass Steak from The Baguette Box: grilled organic ‘strawberry mountain’ lemongrass steak with carrots and some rutabaga-like veggie called jicama that I love ($7.50)
What are your favourite sandwiches in Seattle (or elsewhere)?
My Washington Mutual debit/credit card just expired at the end of August, so today I found myself using a different bank’s card. Why didn’t I just activate the new one they sent me? Without asking me, they had sent me one with RFID, which allows you to pay without even touching the sensor. Maybe it’s secure, but why risk it? There’s enough out there to lead me to believe it isn’t secure, and why should I believe the credit card companies? Of course they’d love to make our spending easier, with RFID we won’t even have to look at the total, and American debt can continue to increase at an even more ridiculous and undisciplined rate.
But spending concerns aside, there’s still security. Apparently, it must be pretty darn hackable, because Adam Savage of Mythbusters wanted to test it and the Discovery Channel quickly got bullied by a bunch of credit card company lawyers to basically stay the heck away from the topic completely “or else”.
Now, this irritates me even more. Security by obscurity is not a valid method in the information age. Notice that everyone and their mother has heard of lock bumping now? The best way to fix a security hole isn’t to hide it. BoingBoing already has showed you can make a RFID reader (and cheaply).
Tomorrow I’m going to my bank and telling them where they can put their RFID tags, and it isn’t on my credit cards. Someday, I might just have to be the nutcase with tin foil around their wallet and passport, but as long as it’s an option I’ll take the ten extra seconds it takes to sign my receipts in exchange for knowing my data stays in my pocket with my cards.
Maybe I sound paranoid, but this is coming from someone who’s been a victim of identity theft twice. I was beginning to feel like Sandra Bullock in The Net. There’s no way I’m going to make things any easier on these guys.
“There’s been a lot of talk about this RFID thing, and I have to admit that I got some of my facts wrong, as I wasn’t on that story, and as I said on the video, I wasn’t actually in on the call,” Savage said in the statement. “Texas Instruments’ account of their call with Grant and our producer is factually correct. If I went into the detail of exactly why this story didn’t get filmed, it’s so bizarre and convoluted that no one would believe me, but suffice to say…the decision not to continue on with the RFID story was made by our production company, Beyond Productions, and had nothing to do with Discovery, or their ad sales department.”
Sounds like someone gets to keep his title as “dude with the best job in the world”.
The Penny Arcade Expo this year was even better than last year, despite the crowding that has resulted from being consistently awesome. Three days of constant “epic/legendary/monumental” everything managed to actually wear me out, which is a great feat, really.
I could recap the whole thing, but I am too tired. Instead, I will just post a link to the photoset on Flickr, and some shout-outs to those who made it great: Harmony for being the best sister in the world, Mike and Jerry of course for putting it on, the Enforcers for making it work, Wil Wheaton for calling me “baby” (swoon), Tony, Cameron, Sam, and Melissa for coming out, and especially the Twitteratti that made up my “PAX Posse”: @andy_k, @bethgo, @jtswinkles. I also had the joy of running into some great folks, albeit way too briefly: Jason and Montine, Colin Henry, Wade Rockett, Scott Robinson, and a bunch of new people I got to meet at PAX. Oh, yeah, and this guy dressed as Mario’s Princess Peach…
It was great to know so many people at PAX, that was a new experience and one I’m grateful to have had, because when it comes down to it, community is what PAX is about, or any conference for that manner. You can get so much information independently online these days, that now few conference panels can provide more factual information than can be easily researched by ones’ self (or viewed online after the fact, for that matter). After attending Gnomedex one weekend and PAX the next, two very different events, I’ve found that 95% of the value quickly becomes getting a chance to share an experience with a like-minded but diverse set of individuals who have committed their time to come together as a community.
So, though I’m tired, my extrovertism remains strong as ever. I feel so lucky to know the people I do, and am amazed at the seemingly non-stop flow of wonderful people in the world. It’s encouraging to know the world can be such a friendly place.
