Previously I had subscribed to The New Yorker, but let it lapse, not being able to quite keep up. I still sometimes stumble on links to the excellent magazines's website when reading news on my phone, like the link that took me here:
The irony! Paywalls are part of what makes the Internet no (or less) fun. Amiright?
It's not that I oppose paywalls. I understand the cost of journalism, and writers deserve to make a living. Spare me that lecture. It's more that I'm nostalgic for the early Internet, like I imagine the author of that New Yorker article might be, had I been able to easily read it. Or perhaps paywalls aren't mentioned at all. Let me know, if you subscribe.
The website you're reading now is an artifact from an earlier Internet. It is November 2023 as I write this, but in 1998 we first lit up this domain, when banner ads were the worst scourge the web had to offer (and they couldn't track you). A lot has changed since then. We've always avoided loading third party advertising into your browser, chasing you around with cookies, and the like. The experience of being here should not be sullied by such things, or affected by capital interests, to my mind.
It reminds me of how a friend responded once, as I observed her reading tarot cards, and remarked at the money she could make in doing so.
There are people who know computers, and people who know computers. Telling the difference between these two groups can be easier than you think. The former group can talk a good game, is fully buzzword compliant, and likely wants your money. The latter group, those who really know computers... and don't ask me why... can most often be seen with untucked shirts.
The technology industry is no stranger to capitalist ambition: that's what industry is. But as the cybersecurity field continues to expand, it's most troubling to see this particular area become tainted by the lies of snake oil salesmen: the area of trust. Computer security is founded on trust relationships between systems. But trust is a profoundly difficult thing to maintain, be it between computers or humans. Digital security obeys the laws of espionage, and adversaries are everywhere. Friend and enemy blur.
Your worst enemy in cybersecurity is not the attacker looking to infiltrate your network on that zero-day exploit. That enemy is a known concern, from whom you have already revoked trust. Your worst enemy is the pretend-friend, the software and appliance vendor selling you additional infrastructure. Trust us, they say... we've got your best interests... and your credentials... well in hand.
The fundamental problem is that the more "hands" through which credentials pass, the less secure your network is. This is a law that can never be escaped, no matter how many value-add features are bundled. If you take point-to-point authentication from one server to another and add additional servers between the original two, you have greatly increased the attack surface of that authentication. Not only have you introduced additional hosts, but additional software handoffs, for your precious credentials to pass through, hoping to encounter no frenemies on their now-longer journey. This is the legacy of commercial Single Sign-On.
But it's even worse than that. As cybersecurity "solutions" grow in complexity, it's not just the system attack surface that grows. The human attack surface grows as well. That's exactly what's happened to Okta, and by extension, their technology partner BeyondTrust. Hilariously, but completely on brand for a company called BeyondTrust, they take full credit for exposing the breach. We're not supposed to notice that they detected the breach precisely because Okta is part of their infrastructure, an expansion of the credential-handling footprint that is the very anti-pattern we are calling out.
What's the lesson? Ask yourself: who do I really trust? Who wants my money? Who in my circle will really tell me the truth...
Keep your circle small. And check their shirts.
UPDATE 10/27: Now 1Password admits to being part of this ever expanding attack surface. Also, this message:
In hopes of uncovering the secrets of modern AI image generation software, we've fed it prompts of all flavors until we arrived at an avatar that summarizes the pursuit. Behold the first (and last?) artificially generated artwork on Mind Mined.
Like most, I've dabbled in social media, doomscrolling my way to distraction and wondering how something could be so compelling yet so deflating at once.
After hopping around a bit and finally abandoning the blue bird a year or so before Elon took it over and renamed it X, I thought I might be done. But I was tempted by Mastadon, then beckoned by Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter clone where you skeet instead of tweet, and where a slow-rolling beta is slowly expanding its user base.
So Mind Mined is on Bluesky for now, but maybe not for long, because it's still basically the same medium we wandered away from before. Nonetheless, we have an available Bluesky invitation for the curious and adventurous first asker who emails me and wants to see what this one is all about.
A very special technology has been at the foundation of this website for over 25 years, a dynamic and magical touchstone that makes the impossible possible: to precisely instruct these mysterious computing machines. I speak of Perl, the programming language that turned me on to software development, and for which I haven't yet found a replacement that would be an honest upgrade.
The Perl community remains vibrant. Mónika and I met because of Perl. We weren't able to make it to Toronto for this year's conference, but maybe Vegas next year.
Figured I would stump ChatGPT with an oddball question, something hyper-human, self-reflective about AI, with a dash of mushrooms. I asked:
"What do people on psychedelics think about artificial intelligence?"
And I have to admit, I was pretty impressed at this response:
The perception and thoughts of people on psychedelics can vary greatly, as psychedelics can induce a wide range of experiences and perspectives. It's important to remember that individual experiences and interpretations can differ significantly, so the following description is a generalization and may not apply to everyone.
When under the influence of psychedelics, some individuals report having profound and expanded states of consciousness. They may perceive a heightened interconnectedness with the world and a deeper understanding of complex concepts. In this altered state, people often experience a sense of awe, wonder, and unity, which can lead to profound insights and reflections.
Regarding artificial intelligence (AI), people on psychedelics may have a range of thoughts and reactions. Some possible perspectives could include:
Enhanced appreciation: People may perceive AI as a remarkable product of human ingenuity and innovation. They might marvel at the advancements in technology and the potential benefits that AI can bring to society.
Deep interconnectedness: Psychedelics can generate a sense of interconnectedness and unity, leading individuals to view AI as another manifestation of human consciousness and creativity. They may perceive AI as an extension of humanity's collective intelligence and see potential synergies between human and artificial intelligence.
Ethical concerns: The heightened sensitivity and empathy experienced on psychedelics may lead some individuals to contemplate the ethical implications of AI. They may question the impact of AI on human autonomy, privacy, and social dynamics. This heightened sense of empathy may also generate concerns about the potential for AI to replace human labor and the resulting societal consequences.
Existential inquiries: Psychedelics often trigger existential reflections, raising questions about the nature of reality, consciousness, and the human experience. People on psychedelics may contemplate the role of AI in shaping the future of humanity, pondering existential questions such as the potential for AI to develop consciousness, self-awareness, or even surpass human capabilities.
It's worth noting that psychedelics can amplify existing beliefs and thought patterns, so individuals who already have strong opinions about AI may experience intensified versions of those viewpoints while under the influence. Ultimately, the impact of psychedelics on one's perception of AI will depend on a multitude of factors, including personal beliefs, the specific psychedelic substance, dosage, setting, and individual mindset.
On the bucket list of any sci-fi reader has to be Foundation, Isaac Asimov's nearly seventy-five year-old trilogy, considered a classic, yadda yadda. The technological predictions in a work of that vintage range from still conceivable, but not yet realized advances such as intergalactic travel and telepathy, to the mind-blowing convenience of a magical contraption of commerce that amounts to an airline ticket kiosk.
mid-sixites printings of Asimov's Foundation
Still, the feat of imagination Asimov completes is impressive, especially in regard to great expanses of space and time. The political evolution he describes spans generations of power jockeying and intrigue. And yet, this swath of time may also be what hampers the experience for me, because few characters persist for long beyond their usefulness to Asimov in his games of galactic chess. None stick around long enough for me to develop an emotional connection to them as a reader.
So as novels, they don't succeed tremendously for me, but I am reminded that Foundation was not intended as a coherent novel from the first; it was a series of stories published between 1942 and 1950. In this way, Foundation is more like a Universe that Asimov wrote within over and over again, helping early on to establish the practice of world building that creators like Stan Lee, George Lucas and many others would take to new levels.
Above is a picture of my paperback copies. I fancy older printings of books in many cases, 1950s through 1980s is best. I rarely review books here, so it seems I mostly wanted to show you these.
Frank Black longed to live on an abstract plain; Erica Mari can take you there. We've been tugging at Ms. Mari's shirtsleeves for some time in hopes she might join our merry band of artists, and today she does just that, offering a selection of her full spectrum, richly textured work.
If you like what you see, check out the Erica Mari Arts website where prints and even clothing featuring her original collection are available.
"Rose Grow" by Erica Mari
Previously I had subscribed to The New Yorker, but let it lapse, not being able to quite keep up. I still sometimes stumble on links to the excellent magazines's website when reading news on my phone, like the link that took me here:
The irony! Paywalls are part of what makes the Internet no (or less) fun. Amiright?
It's not that I oppose paywalls. I understand the cost of journalism, and writers deserve to make a living. Spare me that lecture. It's more that I'm nostalgic for the early Internet, like I imagine the author of that New Yorker article might be, had I been able to easily read it. Or perhaps paywalls aren't mentioned at all. Let me know, if you subscribe.
The website you're reading now is an artifact from an earlier Internet. It is November 2023 as I write this, but in 1998 we first lit up this domain, when banner ads were the worst scourge the web had to offer (and they couldn't track you). A lot has changed since then. We've always avoided loading third party advertising into your browser, chasing you around with cookies, and the like. The experience of being here should not be sullied by such things, or affected by capital interests, to my mind.
It reminds me of how a friend responded once, as I observed her reading tarot cards, and remarked at the money she could make in doing so.
"Join the circus," she said.
There are people who know computers, and people who know computers. Telling the difference between these two groups can be easier than you think. The former group can talk a good game, is fully buzzword compliant, and likely wants your money. The latter group, those who really know computers... and don't ask me why... can most often be seen with untucked shirts.
The technology industry is no stranger to capitalist ambition: that's what industry is. But as the cybersecurity field continues to expand, it's most troubling to see this particular area become tainted by the lies of snake oil salesmen: the area of trust. Computer security is founded on trust relationships between systems. But trust is a profoundly difficult thing to maintain, be it between computers or humans. Digital security obeys the laws of espionage, and adversaries are everywhere. Friend and enemy blur.
Your worst enemy in cybersecurity is not the attacker looking to infiltrate your network on that zero-day exploit. That enemy is a known concern, from whom you have already revoked trust. Your worst enemy is the pretend-friend, the software and appliance vendor selling you additional infrastructure. Trust us, they say... we've got your best interests... and your credentials... well in hand.
The fundamental problem is that the more "hands" through which credentials pass, the less secure your network is. This is a law that can never be escaped, no matter how many value-add features are bundled. If you take point-to-point authentication from one server to another and add additional servers between the original two, you have greatly increased the attack surface of that authentication. Not only have you introduced additional hosts, but additional software handoffs, for your precious credentials to pass through, hoping to encounter no frenemies on their now-longer journey. This is the legacy of commercial Single Sign-On.
But it's even worse than that. As cybersecurity "solutions" grow in complexity, it's not just the system attack surface that grows. The human attack surface grows as well. That's exactly what's happened to Okta, and by extension, their technology partner BeyondTrust. Hilariously, but completely on brand for a company called BeyondTrust, they take full credit for exposing the breach. We're not supposed to notice that they detected the breach precisely because Okta is part of their infrastructure, an expansion of the credential-handling footprint that is the very anti-pattern we are calling out.
What's the lesson? Ask yourself: who do I really trust? Who wants my money? Who in my circle will really tell me the truth...
Keep your circle small. And check their shirts.
UPDATE 10/27: Now 1Password admits to being part of this ever expanding attack surface. Also, this message:
In hopes of uncovering the secrets of modern AI image generation software, we've fed it prompts of all flavors until we arrived at an avatar that summarizes the pursuit. Behold the first (and last?) artificially generated artwork on Mind Mined.
Like most, I've dabbled in social media, doomscrolling my way to distraction and wondering how something could be so compelling yet so deflating at once.
After hopping around a bit and finally abandoning the blue bird a year or so before Elon took it over and renamed it X, I thought I might be done. But I was tempted by Mastadon, then beckoned by Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter clone where you skeet instead of tweet, and where a slow-rolling beta is slowly expanding its user base.
So Mind Mined is on Bluesky for now, but maybe not for long, because it's still basically the same medium we wandered away from before. Nonetheless, we have an available Bluesky invitation for the curious and adventurous first asker who emails me and wants to see what this one is all about.
A very special technology has been at the foundation of this website for over 25 years, a dynamic and magical touchstone that makes the impossible possible: to precisely instruct these mysterious computing machines. I speak of Perl, the programming language that turned me on to software development, and for which I haven't yet found a replacement that would be an honest upgrade.
The Perl community remains vibrant. Mónika and I met because of Perl. We weren't able to make it to Toronto for this year's conference, but maybe Vegas next year.
What's new in Perl? Check it out:
Figured I would stump ChatGPT with an oddball question, something hyper-human, self-reflective about AI, with a dash of mushrooms. I asked:
"What do people on psychedelics think about artificial intelligence?"
And I have to admit, I was pretty impressed at this response:
The perception and thoughts of people on psychedelics can vary greatly, as psychedelics can induce a wide range of experiences and perspectives. It's important to remember that individual experiences and interpretations can differ significantly, so the following description is a generalization and may not apply to everyone.
When under the influence of psychedelics, some individuals report having profound and expanded states of consciousness. They may perceive a heightened interconnectedness with the world and a deeper understanding of complex concepts. In this altered state, people often experience a sense of awe, wonder, and unity, which can lead to profound insights and reflections.
Regarding artificial intelligence (AI), people on psychedelics may have a range of thoughts and reactions. Some possible perspectives could include:
Enhanced appreciation: People may perceive AI as a remarkable product of human ingenuity and innovation. They might marvel at the advancements in technology and the potential benefits that AI can bring to society.
Deep interconnectedness: Psychedelics can generate a sense of interconnectedness and unity, leading individuals to view AI as another manifestation of human consciousness and creativity. They may perceive AI as an extension of humanity's collective intelligence and see potential synergies between human and artificial intelligence.
Ethical concerns: The heightened sensitivity and empathy experienced on psychedelics may lead some individuals to contemplate the ethical implications of AI. They may question the impact of AI on human autonomy, privacy, and social dynamics. This heightened sense of empathy may also generate concerns about the potential for AI to replace human labor and the resulting societal consequences.
Existential inquiries: Psychedelics often trigger existential reflections, raising questions about the nature of reality, consciousness, and the human experience. People on psychedelics may contemplate the role of AI in shaping the future of humanity, pondering existential questions such as the potential for AI to develop consciousness, self-awareness, or even surpass human capabilities.
It's worth noting that psychedelics can amplify existing beliefs and thought patterns, so individuals who already have strong opinions about AI may experience intensified versions of those viewpoints while under the influence. Ultimately, the impact of psychedelics on one's perception of AI will depend on a multitude of factors, including personal beliefs, the specific psychedelic substance, dosage, setting, and individual mindset.
On the bucket list of any sci-fi reader has to be Foundation, Isaac Asimov's nearly seventy-five year-old trilogy, considered a classic, yadda yadda. The technological predictions in a work of that vintage range from still conceivable, but not yet realized advances such as intergalactic travel and telepathy, to the mind-blowing convenience of a magical contraption of commerce that amounts to an airline ticket kiosk.
mid-sixites printings of Asimov's Foundation
Still, the feat of imagination Asimov completes is impressive, especially in regard to great expanses of space and time. The political evolution he describes spans generations of power jockeying and intrigue. And yet, this swath of time may also be what hampers the experience for me, because few characters persist for long beyond their usefulness to Asimov in his games of galactic chess. None stick around long enough for me to develop an emotional connection to them as a reader.
So as novels, they don't succeed tremendously for me, but I am reminded that Foundation was not intended as a coherent novel from the first; it was a series of stories published between 1942 and 1950. In this way, Foundation is more like a Universe that Asimov wrote within over and over again, helping early on to establish the practice of world building that creators like Stan Lee, George Lucas and many others would take to new levels.
Above is a picture of my paperback copies. I fancy older printings of books in many cases, 1950s through 1980s is best. I rarely review books here, so it seems I mostly wanted to show you these.
Frank Black longed to live on an abstract plain; Erica Mari can take you there. We've been tugging at Ms. Mari's shirtsleeves for some time in hopes she might join our merry band of artists, and today she does just that, offering a selection of her full spectrum, richly textured work.
If you like what you see, check out the Erica Mari Arts website where prints and even clothing featuring her original collection are available.
"Rose Grow" by Erica Mari
