danielmiessler.com » History http://danielmiessler.com grep understanding Thu, 24 May 2012 04:36:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Walk of Ideas | Germany http://danielmiessler.com/blog/walk-of-ideas-germany http://danielmiessler.com/blog/walk-of-ideas-germany#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:42:21 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/?p=11265
Media_httpuploadwikim_hmfcv
via upload.wikimedia.org

I seriously want to (re)connect with Germany — especially Leipzig. I have so much I want to learn about history.

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/walk-of-ideas-germany/feed 0 TimesMachine November 11, 1911 – New York Times http://danielmiessler.com/blog/timesmachine-november-11-1911-new-york-times http://danielmiessler.com/blog/timesmachine-november-11-1911-new-york-times#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:04:53 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/timesmachine-november-11-1911-new-york-times
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via timesmachine.nytimes.com

Wicked cool.

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/timesmachine-november-11-1911-new-york-times/feed 0 Why Lock Technology Stagnated for Decades http://danielmiessler.com/blog/why-lock-technology-stagnated-for-decades http://danielmiessler.com/blog/why-lock-technology-stagnated-for-decades#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2011 05:51:50 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/?p=10602 At BSides-LasVegas this year I saw an exemplary talk on the history of lock technology and lock picking. Not only was it informative, but it was highly entertaining as well.

At the end of the talk, the speaker had a question for the audience. After charting astounding progress in lock technology up through the 1860′s, locks basically stagnated after that point until the 2000′s, and he asked the audience why that was.

After he finished I approached him and told him I thought I knew the answer, which was that lock technology had simply reached a state of “good enough”, which reduced the require to innovate below the threshold of effort required to do so.

He smiled and said that he’d like to discuss it further with me.

Do any of you have any ideas on this, or are you able to more formally and properly describe the phenomenon that I am trying to capture?

]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/why-lock-technology-stagnated-for-decades/feed 2 American’s Aren’t Learning History http://danielmiessler.com/blog/americans-arent-learning-history http://danielmiessler.com/blog/americans-arent-learning-history#comments Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:47:53 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/americans-arent-learning-history

One problem is personnel. “People who come out of college with a degree in education and not a degree in a subject are severely handicapped in their capacity to teach effectively,” Mr. McCullough argues. “Because they’re often assigned to teach subjects about which they know little or nothing.” The great teachers love what they’re teaching, he says, and “you can’t love something you don’t know anymore than you can love someone you don’t know.”

Another problem is method. “History is often taught in categories—women’s history, African American history, environmental history—so that many of the students have no sense of chronology. They have no idea what followed what.”

What’s more, many textbooks have become “so politically correct as to be comic. Very minor characters that are currently fashionable are given considerable space, whereas people of major consequence farther back”—such as, say, Thomas Edison—”are given very little space or none at all.”

via online.wsj.com

I think, along with Latin, Rhetoric, and Dialectic, History is the most important thing we can teach kids. Unfortunately (and this is one of the main reasons it isn’t taught), history deals in reality whereas teaching history to human children in 2011 deals with political correctness.

It’s a travesty.

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/americans-arent-learning-history/feed 1 Common Sense (Thomas Paine) http://danielmiessler.com/blog/common-sense-thomas-paine http://danielmiessler.com/blog/common-sense-thomas-paine#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:35:23 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/common-sense-thomas-paine
Common Sense[1] is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, during the American Revolution. Common Sense, signed “Written by an Englishman”, became an immediate success.[2] In relation to the population of the Colonies at that time, it had the largest sale and circulation of any book in American history.
via en.wikipedia.org

I just finished this essay. It’s stunning to read this and imagine the time (1776). It reminds me much of The Prince, which I’m about to finish, and desperately makes me want to visit Boston.

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/common-sense-thomas-paine/feed 0 Part of Julius Caesar’s Last Breath is Probably in You | Berkeley.edu http://danielmiessler.com/blog/part-of-julius-caesars-last-breath-is-probably-in-you-berkeley-edu http://danielmiessler.com/blog/part-of-julius-caesars-last-breath-is-probably-in-you-berkeley-edu#comments Mon, 30 May 2011 04:28:30 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/part-of-julius-caesars-last-breath-is-probably-in-you-berkeley-edu
Thus there is a 1.8% chance that none of the molecules you are (still) holding in your lungs came from Caesar’s last breath. And there is a 98.2% chance that at least one of the molecules in your lungs came from Caesar’s last breath.
via econ161.berkeley.edu

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/part-of-julius-caesars-last-breath-is-probably-in-you-berkeley-edu/feed 0 Where the 12 Apostles Died – Google Maps http://danielmiessler.com/blog/where-the-12-apostles-died-google-maps http://danielmiessler.com/blog/where-the-12-apostles-died-google-maps#comments Fri, 20 May 2011 17:40:07 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/where-the-12-apostles-died-google-maps

View Larger Map
via maps.google.com

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/where-the-12-apostles-died-google-maps/feed 0 Among the Worst Ways to Die: Upside-down Sawing http://danielmiessler.com/blog/among-the-worst-ways-to-die-upside-down-sawing http://danielmiessler.com/blog/among-the-worst-ways-to-die-upside-down-sawing#comments Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:06:57 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/among-the-worst-ways-to-die-upside-down-sawing
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Damn.

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/among-the-worst-ways-to-die-upside-down-sawing/feed 1 False Flag http://danielmiessler.com/blog/false-flag http://danielmiessler.com/blog/false-flag#comments Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:17:38 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/false-flag
via upload.wikimedia.org

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/false-flag/feed 2 10 Centuries in 5 Minutes http://danielmiessler.com/blog/10-centuries-in-5-minutes http://danielmiessler.com/blog/10-centuries-in-5-minutes#comments Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:48:01 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/10-centuries-in-5-minutes
via youtube.com

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/10-centuries-in-5-minutes/feed 0 Recording of Japanese Navy Prepping for Pearl Harbor Attack http://danielmiessler.com/blog/recording-of-japanese-navy-prepping-for-pearl-harbor-attack http://danielmiessler.com/blog/recording-of-japanese-navy-prepping-for-pearl-harbor-attack#comments Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:27:24 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/recording-of-japanese-navy-prepping-for-pearl-harbor-attack
via youtube.com

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/recording-of-japanese-navy-prepping-for-pearl-harbor-attack/feed 0 Kindle Books Outselling Hardcover Books http://danielmiessler.com/blog/kindle-books-outselling-hardcover-books http://danielmiessler.com/blog/kindle-books-outselling-hardcover-books#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:36:48 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/kindle-books-outselling-hardcover-books
Perhaps even more interesting is that books sold on the Kindle are now outpacing the hardcover books Amazon sells. In the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books sold, Amazon.com has sold 143 Kindle books, they say. And that gap is getting wider. In the past month, for every 100 hardcover books sold, there have been 180 Kindle books sold through Amazon. This is across Amazon’s entire U.S. book business and even includes hardcovers that have no Kindle version.
via techcrunch.com

Mark your calendars, friends and neighbors. This is a Gutenberg moment.

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/kindle-books-outselling-hardcover-books/feed 2 Southerners Got Their Accents from Their Slaves? http://danielmiessler.com/blog/southerners-got-their-accents-from-their-slaves http://danielmiessler.com/blog/southerners-got-their-accents-from-their-slaves#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 06:10:57 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/southerners-got-their-accents-from-their-slaves
Incidentally, the author doesn’t comment on US Southern prestige accents that were non-rhotic almost from the start. The reason for that? They were raised by their black nannies and African languages are non-rhotic. Southerners hate to hear this, but their prestige non-rhotic plantation accents are the product of slave speech! A lovely topic for the 4th of July as we contemplate liberty…
via news.ycombinator.com

Too weird.

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/southerners-got-their-accents-from-their-slaves/feed 2 A Proposed Project to Summarize the Concepts Taught by the Classics http://danielmiessler.com/blog/a-proposed-project-to-summarize-the-concepts-taught-by-the-classics http://danielmiessler.com/blog/a-proposed-project-to-summarize-the-concepts-taught-by-the-classics#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:05:34 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/a-classics-summary-project mindmaps

So I have an idea for a project. The idea is to document the core concepts taught in the major classical works. Phase two would be to build some sort of concept-normalized mindmap. Here’s the impetus:

When I read my favorite authors I am constantly struck by references–too many of which I don’t have a strong command of. So my goal here is to continue reading voraciously and to document every single reference I come across. Then I’ll take those references, find the original work, and create this type of summary for it.

The first task of the effort will be to come up with a format for the summaries, which I want to be extremely clean, i.e. brief. I’m thinking perhaps:

  1. Title
  2. Author name (with Wikipedia link)
  3. Date of publish
  4. A 1-3 sentence summary of the work
  5. 1-10 bullets of key concepts and pioneering words or phrases

An example:

–

[ Many of the summary sentences will probably come out of Wikipedia, as they have high shoulders. ]

1984

Author: George Orwell
Published: 1949

Summary

Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes written 1984), by George Orwell, published in 1949, is a dystopian novel about the totalitarian regime of the Party, an oligarchical collectivist society where life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, public mind control, and the voiding of citizens’ rights.

Concepts

  • Big brother looks attractive and ends up being evil
  • Watch for political talk that promotes pervasive surveillance
  • Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four that is almost purely propaganda. It is described in the novel as being “the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year”.
  • Be extremely weary of giving power to someone who says they’re protecting you.

–

This is, of course, an obscenely simplistic summary. But I think capturing the major works in this way might still be of use to many–not the least of which is me. It doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t read the works themselves, as many are classics for the beauty in which the concepts are presented in addition to the concepts themselves, but I believe there is value in distilling the wisdom as well.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/a-proposed-project-to-summarize-the-concepts-taught-by-the-classics/feed 0 San Francisco, Then and Now http://danielmiessler.com/blog/san-francisco-then-and-now http://danielmiessler.com/blog/san-francisco-then-and-now#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:41:11 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/san-francisco-then-and-now In 1906 (a couple of days before the earthquake)

And the same street (market) in 2005

]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/san-francisco-then-and-now/feed 3 History At Our House » Why Most People Think Memorizing Historical Facts is Useless (and Why It Isn’t) http://danielmiessler.com/blog/why-history-matters http://danielmiessler.com/blog/why-history-matters#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:39:48 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/history-at-our-house-%c2%bb-why-most-people-think-memorizing-historical-facts-is-useless-and-why-it-isn%e2%80%99t

The writers of Calvin and Hobbes may be able to put a humorous spin on it, but the truth is that viewing historical knowledge as the intellectual equivalent of an appendix is a tragedy.

Why?  Because the empowerment that one can derive from history is real, and it can only be derived from history.  A mind equipped with proper historical knowledge understands how the world around it came to be (for better, and for worse), can see where civilization is headed, and more fully appreciates the man-made values that make life worth living.  By contrast, a mind that is not equipped with the unique perspective that history can provide is stranded in a world shaped by forces it does not understand, moving in a direction it cannot predict, surrounded by values it cannot fully appreciate and defend.

It is only by studying history that one can learn not only that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, but also all the crucially connected information, such as their reasons for leaving England and the kind of colony they created, as part of the whole story which renders that knowledge meaningful and applicable to life here and now. It is only by means of the lessons of history that we can accept with the same conviction as Thomas Jefferson the need for a “wall of separation between church and state.”
via historyatourhouse.com

This is why I’m starting to think when I go back to school it may be for history or political science rather than technology. This makes sense, since I’m going back for love of learning, not for a career.

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]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/why-history-matters/feed 3 This is How I’ll Remember Michael Jackson http://danielmiessler.com/blog/this-is-how-ill-remember-michael-jackson http://danielmiessler.com/blog/this-is-how-ill-remember-michael-jackson#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:02:52 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://danielmiessler.com/blog/this-is-how-ill-remember-michael-jackson This is what made him, and it’s what defines him.

]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/this-is-how-ill-remember-michael-jackson/feed 1 10 Things Everyone Should Know About the Middle East http://danielmiessler.com/blog/10-facts-every-westerner-should-know-about-the-middle-east http://danielmiessler.com/blog/10-facts-every-westerner-should-know-about-the-middle-east#comments Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:59:59 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://dmiessler.com/blog/10-facts-every-westerner-should-know-about-the-middle-east middle_east

Most people–especially in the West–know very little about the Middle East and the people that live there. This lack of knowledge hurts our ability to understand, and engage in intelligent discussion about, current events.

For example, frighteningly few know the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and most think the words “Arab” and “Muslim” are pretty much interchangeable. They aren’t. So here’s a very brief primer aimed at raising the level of knowledge about the region to an absolute minimum.

Basics

  1. Arabs are part of an ethnic group, not a religion. Arabs were around long before Islam, and there have been (and still are) Arab Christians and Arab Jews. In general, you’re an Arab if you 1) are of Arab descent (blood), or 2) speak the main Arab language (Arabic).

  2. Not all Arabs are Muslim. There are significant populations of Arab Christians throughout the world, including in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Northern Africa and Palestine/Israel.

  3. Islam is a religion. A Muslim (roughly pronounced MOOSE-lihm) is someone who follows the religion. So you wouldn’t say someone follows Muslim or is an Islam, just as you wouldn’t say someone follows Christian or is a Christianity.

  4. Shia Muslims are similar to Roman Catholics in Christianity. They have a strong clerical presence via Imams and promote the idea of going through them to practice the religion correctly. Sunni Muslims are more like Protestant Christians. They don’t really focus on Imams and believe in maintaining a more direct line to God than the Shia.

  5. People from Iran are also known as Persians, and they are not Arabs.

  6. Arabs are Semites. We’ve all heard the term anti-Semitism being used — often to describe Arabs. While antisemitism does specifically indicate hatred for Jews, the word “Semite” comes from the Bible and referred originally to anyone who spoke one of the Semitic Languages.

  7. According to the Bible, Jews and Arabs are related [Genesis 25]. Jews descended from Abraham‘s son Isaac, and Arabs descended from Abraham’s son Ishmael. So not only are both groups Semitic, but they’re also family.

  8. Sunni Muslims make up most of the Muslim world (roughly 90%). 1

  9. The country with the world’s largest Muslim population is Indonesia. 2

  10. The rift between the Shia and Sunni started right after Muhammad’s death and originally reduced to a power struggle regarding who was going to become the authoritative group for continuing the faith.

    The Shia believed Muhammad’s second cousin Ali should have taken over (the family/cleric model). The Sunni believed that the best person for the job should be chosen by the followers (the merit model) and that’s how the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, was appointed.

    Although the conflict began as a political struggle it now mostly considered a religious and class conflict, with political conflict emanating from those rifts.

Sunni vs. Shia | Arab vs. Non-Arab

Here’s how the various Middle Eastern countries break down in terms of Sunni vs. Shia and whether or not they are predominantly Arab. Keep in mind that these are generalizations; significant diversity exists in many of the countries listed.

  • Iraq Mostly Shia (roughly 60%), but under Saddam the Shia were oppressed and the Sunni were in power despite being only 20% of the population. Arab.

  • Iran Shia. NOT Arab.

  • Palestine Sunni. Arab.

  • Egypt Sunni. Arab.

  • Saudi Arabia Sunni. Arab.

  • Syria Sunni. Arab.

  • Jordan Sunni. Arab.

  • Gulf States Sunni. Arab.

References

1The CIA World Fact Book | Field Listing – Religions

2The CIA World Fact Book | Field Listing – Indonesia

Wikipedia | Sunni Muslims

Wikipedia | Shia Muslims

Wikipedia | Arabs

]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/10-facts-every-westerner-should-know-about-the-middle-east/feed 204 Agriculture Ruined the World http://danielmiessler.com/blog/agriculture-ruined-the-world http://danielmiessler.com/blog/agriculture-ruined-the-world#comments Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:30:47 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://dmiessler.com/blog/agriculture-ruined-the-world A provoking argument about the effects of agriculture.

Links

[ The Worst Mistake | awok.org ]

]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/agriculture-ruined-the-world/feed 8 Some Wisdom from Eisenhower http://danielmiessler.com/blog/some-wisdom-from-eisenhower http://danielmiessler.com/blog/some-wisdom-from-eisenhower#comments Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:42:47 +0000 Daniel Miessler http://dmiessler.com/blog/some-wisdom-from-eisenhower In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

“As we peer into society’s future, we-you and I, and our government-must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage.”

“Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.”

“Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.”

“We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love. ]]> http://danielmiessler.com/blog/some-wisdom-from-eisenhower/feed 0