This explains a lot. The Dunning-Kruger effect describes the phenomenon whereby people who don’t know anything about something think they know more than those who do. The peculiar part is that those who lack the expertise are often far more confident and forceful when they discuss the issue than those who are knowledgeable. This is because those who…
Archives for 2007
A Twitter Primer: Pros and Cons
Twitter is one of the most interesting web services to come out in recent memory. Many are aware of it but most don’t use it. The reason is usually one of these two: Not knowing what it is. Thinking it’d be a constant annoyance. What It Is Twitter is basically a text message broadcast service. When doing something…
An Oversimplification of the Subprime Morgage Crisis
I’m not an economist, but I read a lot. Here’s what happened: greed + stupidity. Greed on the part of the lenders, i.e. taking advantage of people who can’t read finance terms, and stupidity on the part of…people who can’t read finance terms. Here’s how it plays out: Greedy, immoral people loan stupid amounts of money to people…
A Three-Dimensional Approach to Organizing Your Feeds Using Google Reader
I’m constantly optimizing how I do things, and nowhere is this more important to me than with my feed reader. I happen to use (and highly recommend) Google Reader, and what follows is a multi-tiered approach to classifying and reading your feeds using an often ignored feature of the application. The Problem The fundamental problem is input management….
Say Goodbye to U.S. Particle Physics
This is sickening. Fermilab, The United States’ main particle physics lab, is being hamstrung by congress’s latest omnibus bill. This is the same bill that approves billions for the war in Iraq but will result in hundreds at the lab being laid off permanently and countless others having to take extended time without work. The bill reduces Fermilab’s…
Imaginary Scaffolding: Geniuses and Religious Conservatives
People raised as geniuses and people raised as religious conservatives have something in common. A significant portion of their identity rests upon a faulty belief system. For those raised as super-geniuses, i.e. those who are told that they’re so smart they don’t really have to try, the faulty belief is that they will succeed without having to put…
Port Mirroring on a Cisco 3550 Switch
Just for reference… Source port(s): Switch# config t Switch(config)# monitor session 1 source interface fastethernet 0/1 Switch(config)# monitor session 1 source interface fastethernet 0/2 Switch(config)# monitor session 1 source interface fastethernet 0/3 Switch(config)# monitor session 1 source interface fastethernet 0/4 (however many you want to monitor) Destination port: Switch(config)# monitor session 1 destination interface fastethernet 0/24 …then exit…
Is It Wrong to Have Children?
I’ve thought a lot about having children over the years. Not so much whether I wanted to have them, but why people in general want to have them. More specifically, I’ve been trying to determine whether or not it’s becoming immoral to do so. Everyone knows that once a good parent has a child they become rather selfless….
Was the Last Time Your Last?
I used to be into BMX bikes. I was obsessed. Every little thing about it was interesting. The brakes, the handlebars, the different types of mags–all of it. One day–I don’t remember when–I got off my last BMX bike. I wish I would have realized it when it happened. Later in life I got into skateboarding. My favorite…
The TED Talks Syndication Feed
This is the syndication feed for TED Talks. If you don’t know what that is yet, you’re welcome. Anyway, they don’t make the feed easy to find on the site. I tracked it down and here it is: http://www.ted.com/talks/rss
5 Things My Second Generation iPhone Better Do
As most already know, the second generation of the iPhone will be released next year — possibly around April. For most people the major feature, which has already been confirmed, will be the network speed improvement, i.e. the move from EDGE to 3G. While I think this will be a great improvement (assuming I don’t lose too much…
Succinct Success
I used to pronounce succinct as suh-sinked, i.e. without the hard first c. My friend Jason corrected me, saying it’s suck-sinked (seems vulgar, but it’s not). This makes sense. If you’re ever in any doubt, try pronouncing success as suh-sess. Yeah, not so much.:
Apple vs. AT&T
As you may have heard, AT&T’s chief executive disclosed last week that the second version of the iPhone will be coming next year. And most importantly, he said it’ll be 3G. Think of what that does to sales of the current version of the device — and right before the most important sales period for consumer electronics. How…
I Don’t Think the American Public Really Gets This: We’re Borrowing Money to Pay for the War in Iraq
Yes, we’re actually borrowing money from other countries (like China) because we don’t have the money ourselves. How sad is that? Honestly. Does that not just embarrass you? What the hell has this country come to?
How to Name a Suburb Development
We’ve all seen them — these contrived little mini-communities with perfect landscaping and uppity names. Here’s how to name one. Pick any two of the following things and put them together: Pine View Crest White Creek Manor Stone River Heights Brook Green Cedar Acres Meadow Haven Ridge So, we end up with: Cresthaven Pineridge Cedarheights Brookstone [ etc.,…
Beer and Metal: Finding Signal Within Noise
A couple of my friends are trying to teach me to appreciate beer. I’m trying to teach a couple of my friends to appreciate Slayer. It’s the same. I can’t find “flavor” within the overwhelming bitterness. They can’t hear “music” through screaming and guitars. It’s the same. We can’t find the signal within the noise. The answer, in…
If You Support Either Paul or Kucinich, Support Them Both
This country needs decent candidates more than it needs perfect ones. Paul and Kucinich have significant differences of opinion on various issues, and I disagree with both of them on some major points, but none of that matters. They both have honest, thought-out opinions and are untethered to selfish external interests that aim to thrive at the country’s…
Fox News Contributor Speaks Truth
Fox News judge goes off on the Patriot Act. He later got fired for it, which is ironic since they’re supposed to be pro-freedom.
A Shining Example of Socialism, and Why America Can’t Compete
[ Norway: A Socialism Proof of Concept ] So here’s the question — and this isn’t rhetorical: what’s the problem with this system? What about this (other than high taxes) is wrong? And are the high taxes perhaps tolerable given the fact that they’re being used properly? I genuinely have some cognitive dissonance on this issue. Once you’ve…
How to Migrate Your Custom Domain’s Email to Google (And Maintain Your Addresses)
After over six (6) years of handling my domain’s email through self-built and administered Linux boxes, I just migrated all my email functionality over to Google. This has never been a solid option for me for one primary reason: the mixing of gmail.com with my own domain (danielmiessler.com). Forwarding and changing “reply to” settings has never been that…
Genetics and Prejudice
It seems things are getting more intense on the genetics front, specifically with the implications of being able to clearly identify precisely which groups we fall into. They’ve just found the genes that make white people white, for example, and that keep Asians from sweating as much as other groups. According to this New York Times article many…
New Project: PasswordStandards.com
I’ve just registered the domain of passwordstandards.com as part of a new project. The goal of the endeavor is to call attention to online services that don’t allow their users to select decently strong passwords. This is especially crucial for services that are financial in nature or maintain other types of sensitive information. Project Clarification First things first…
Leave an Outlet Free
I was put in an especially difficult business situation recently. My company, represented by myself, and another company (a massive superpower) were working the same project for the same client. The massive company had designed a network for this mutual client, and I was brought in to evaluate the security of said design. I found it unsatisfactory. They…
Stdout, Stderr, and Tee
My friend Jason just posted a really cool command line trick that lets you log stderr and stdout to different files while still having them visible in the console. ($command | tee /logs/stdout.txt) 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3 \ | tee /logs/stderr.txt Very cool.
President Bush is Dog the Bounty Hunter With a Motorcade
Question: What’s the difference between Dog the Bounty Hunter and George Bush? Answer: Nothing. They have three unifying characteristics. Ignorance. Strong religious convictions. An obsession with with wielding force in order to affect the changes they feel need to be made. These are all found independently, of course, but when they are combined it tends to get ugly….
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 9
- Next Page »