Quickie

How Stuxnet inflitrated and frustrated Iran’s nuclear program: At Natanz, for almost 17 months, Stuxnet quietly worked its way into the system and targeted a specific component – the frequency converters made by the German equipment manufacturer Siemens that regulated the speed of the spinning centrifuges used to create nuclear fuel. The worm then took control of the speed at which the centrifuges spun, making them turn so fast in a quick burst that they would be damaged but not destroyed. And at the same time, the worm masked that change in speed from being discovered at the centrifuges’ control panel. ...

An email doing the rounds at the moment - absolutely brilliant, especially in today’s context. [caption id=“attachment_1140” align=“aligncenter” width=“400” caption=“Calvin demonstrates modern business acumen”][/caption] It’s like Bill Watterson saw into the future. Here’s another brilliant one that’s all too prescient : [caption id=“attachment_1141” align=“aligncenter” width=“400” caption=“Verbing”][/caption] (with apologies for the lack of posting - things have been… interesting.)

All of the following are linked to Japan in one way or another, and look damn good - can’t wait. The most obvious one is Okuribito, or Departures - this is the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film this year, and looks gorgeous. It will probably be as slow as any Japanese drama is, but I guess that’s the genre conventions. The next is Shinjuku Incident, Jackie Chan’s new film about a clash of triads and yakuza in Tokyo. This looks like your more standard action fare, and obviously it’s Jackie. How could that not be awesome? ...

Bluey the Mower was given a fine send-off today, as signs of a terminal affliction finally caused those working to cure him to give up hope of a recovery. The best Bluey could manage today was an asthmatic wheeze, and with nary a pulse in evidence, the decision was made to bring to an end any further life support efforts. As a 2 Stroke, 160cc Victa, little was asked of Bluey but to do his job, month in, month out, and he served well for 15 years, having come to his current role after being retrenched from his last for a younger model. For many years, though hot weekends and sodden ones both, Bluey strove to fulfill his purpose faithfully, although it sometimes took more than a curse or two before he got going. ...