Security: Flash Updates (and ...)

Adobe has released an upgrade to address security issues in its Flash Player. The latest version, for most versions of Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X is 9.0.124.0.

Visit this page to check your version of Flash. (You almost certainly have some version -- it's how you see virtually all videos in your browser.) There's a link right on that page to get the update. It's easy: quick download, close your browser, double-click the file you just downloaded, restart your browser. If you like to be sure, revisit the same Adobe page to confirm the new version. Takes about a minute, total. Do it right away, because the latest holes have gotten a lot of coverage, having been discovered in a well-publicized contest.

Gory details: Adobe's security advisory page is here. Nathan McFeters, who discovered one of the holes, has more here.

(and ...): Patch Tuesday was two days ago, for all you Windows users. If you don't have Automatic Updates turned on, you know what to do, right? Depending on your version of Windows, you'll get about eight or ten patches. I did the update yesterday -- took about five minutes, no drama. Reboot required, of course.

Even more (and ...): FileZilla recently released version 3.0.9.1, and OpenOffice.org recently released version 2.4. The usual Help -> Check for updates should get you squared away in both cases. Be advised that the OO.o download, even moving from v2.3, is not svelte. It's about 127 MB. On the upside: no talking paper clips included. More info about FileZilla here, more about OO.o here.

Frum Pee

Pull my string! Hear me talk!

Roy tears apart the latest bit of drivel by David Frum paragraph by paragraph, but I just couldn't let this closing line of Frum's go unremarked (emph. added):

... we could discover that the next generation of young people reacts to the failures of an Obama presidency by rediscovering the enduring Republican principles of limited government, individual rights, strong national defense and pragmatic effective governance.

This has to be a keyboard macro. Not even Frum can believe this mantra any longer. I mean … TSA, DHS, warrantless wiretapping, secret prisons, torture memos, broken army, science replaced by religion, "heckuva job, Brownie," … hello?

One small sign of hope: evidently, even Frum's computer refuses to add "party of fiscal responsibility" any longer.

---

(pic. source)

Straight Talk Express: Unexplained Delays

I'm reminded by Steve Benen that John McCain has yet to release his tax returns or his medical records.

The obvious thing to wonder about the medical records is whether there is something there that the McCain campaign hopes will go away, given a little more time. For example, I could imagine he's getting some treatment that is supposed to knock down some marker numbers or something like that. I would have thought he'd want to get his tax returns out while the media was distracted with Obama's bowling score and other matters crucial to deciding who is the best candidate. But maybe he's thinking if he releases the tax returns, that reminds everyone that he's been stalling on the medical records.

Or maybe he really has nothing to hide, and he's playing the media with his usual skill -- wait till they really start clamoring and release the records then, which causes another bout of rightwing faux outrage about the "liberal media picking on McCain," which results in the MSM resuming its usual hagiography.

Or maybe he does have some items in either the taxes or the medical records that will only make news if nothing else is making news, so he's waiting for a big distraction.

I don't wish illness upon him, as much as I don't want him to be president, so I hope it's not the first case. The second scenario makes me suspect I've been permanently scarred by exposure to Karl Rove. So, I guess I want to think the third is the most likely. But the dream would be that there's some huge anomaly in his taxes that he's been trying to cover up, and the story finally breaks in October.

Thoughts?

Wingnuts and Class

The cover of the latest issue of National Review:

Ask yourself what the reaction would be from the right if The Nation ran the equivalent cover, but instead with an unflattering picture of Cindy McCain, and … well, you can guess what caption I'm thinking of.

(h/t: James Wolcott)

Hard to Believe The Republicans in Congress Can't Grasp This

I first came around to the "set a deadline" point of view in late 2004. In the three years since that strategy was rejected, basically every single bad consequence (ethnic cleansing, civil war, Iranian influence, al-Qaeda propaganda gains) that I was warned would follow from leaving happened even though we stayed. There's no sense in looking at a complicated, unpredictable situation that crucially depends on dozens of variables outside of our control and simply assuming that all potential ills will flow from U.S. military withdrawal and all potential goods will flow from a continued presence. It's not being glib to assert confidently that if we do leave Iraq and stop squandering our blood and treasure that, that no matter what happens the United States of America will endure and most likely Iraq will, too. This idea has taken grip that it's the height of seriousness to contemplate Iraq with nothing but dread and agony, but insofar as the upshot of this is merely to produce paralysis and to de facto endorse the policy prescriptions that follow from the hawk faction's fantastical analyses, there's nothing serious about it.
-- Matthew Yglesias

More on the "Edit Wars"

If you were puzzled by my reference to Wikipedia's "edit wars" in an earlier post, you might like "Wiki Woman," by Eve Fairbanks. Fairbanks describes the ongoing battles over the Wikipedia pages for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, focusing on two self-appointed guardians for the integrity of those pages.

The whole thing may strike you as unbearably trivial. On the other hand, as Faribanks notes:

The candidates' Wikipedia pages are their second Google hits, right after their official campaign portals.

Like it or not, people make voting decisions for all sorts of unimpressive reasons. I'm inclined to think a Wikipedia article carries at least as much weight as an op-ed in a newspaper or a TV ad, for a large number of people. Therefore, understanding a little bit about how the Wikipedia ecosystem works may be worthwhile. It is at least interesting, in the same way watching an ant farm is.

So that you know where I'm coming from: I'm not a Wikipedia hater or lover. I admire the concept and think the world is better off for having it. I find it most useful for reminding myself of something that I can't quite dredge out of memory. I also like it for getting a quick background on someone who is participating in a debate that I'm watching or who has written an article that I'm reading. And, for topics that aren't politically contentious, it's quite good for introductory material, just like any other encyclopedia. It's not a sole source for me, but it's often a first step.

(h/t: On The Media)

The Burden of White Men

Today's op-ed by Gail Collins is worth a read. It's both funny and expresses exasperations that I feel, this one in particular:

The candidates have already resigned themselves to wooing people with political attention deficit disorder. They know that if they embark on a 12-week tour of the nation to publicize their signature issue of dropout prevention, on the day it’s over they will turn on the TV and see an undecided voter in sweat pants saying: "I’m waiting to hear what they say about dropouts."

She's preaching to my choir, for sure. It drives me crazy how much attention the "undecided" voters get as elections progress, especially since 95% of the time, "undecided" in this context means "clueless," and almost all of these votes will ultimately be cast on the basis of the last video clip shone into the glazed eyes of a couch potato.

Ah, well. Might as well wish for Dick Cheney to grow a new heart.

Collins goes on to discuss the irony of a contest between a white woman and a black man coming down to, once again, what white men care about, and how a certain type of white man feels like he's lost a lot of turf lately. On the lighter side, she says:

I once tried to make a list of specifically guy things that no woman was ever going to want to trespass upon. All I came up with were "The Three Stooges" and lawn care.

To the extent that this is true, I can come up with a few more:

• building a fire
• lifting heavy things
• packing the trunk of a car
• killing large bugs
• worshipping Joe Satriani

Anybody got anything to add?

Headline of the Day: 2008-04-04

One of the weird things about the blogosphere is how often it works to tell the punchline first:

Coming Soon: Shockingly Awesome Pizza

Nice one, Tim Dickinson.

A Sudden Craving for McNuggets

Now that I've got my beverage picked out for cocktail hour, it looks like I also know where to go for dinner.

Shout out to Mickey D's.

Steve Benen details the hilarity.

Oxymoron Watch: Military Intelligence

You've heard about edit wars in Wikipedia, right? Here's a story that brings to mind many military terms, stealth not among them:

A Wikipedia article about Maj. Alan Rogers, a gay soldier who was killed in January in Iraq, was apparently edited by someone in the Pentagon, who removed any mention that Rogers was gay.

The user on Monday redacted details about Rogers that appeared on the online encyclopedia site. Information that was deleted included Rogers' sexual orientation; the soldier's participation in American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group that works to change military policy toward gays; and the fact that Rogers' death helped bring the U.S. military's casualty toll in Iraq to 4,000.

Rob Pilaud, a patent agent and a friend of Rogers who attended the soldier's funeral, restored the information to the Wikipedia article the next day. Pilaud was among Rogers' friends who created the Wikipedia page.

The anonymous poster also provided the following comment in the "discussion" section about the article:

"Alan's life was not about his sexual orientation but rather about the body of work he performed ministering to others and helping the defense of the country," the poster wrote. "Quit trying to press an agenda that Alan wouldn't have wanted made public just to suit your own ends."

The IP address attached to the deletion of the details and the posted comments is 141.116.168.135. The address belongs to a computer from the office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G-2) at the Pentagon. The office is headed by Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, who was present at Rogers' funeral and presented the flag from Rogers' coffin to his cousin, Cathy Long.

The Army's public affairs office did not return a call seeking comment.

The whole article.

The Wikipedia "talk" page for the entry in question.

(h/t: Jake Tapper, via Steve Benen)

Dimwit Antidote Revisited

Remember my earlier post, For When the Dimwits Get You Down?

Here's Richard Florida's post, with data, to substantiate his claim.

(h/t: Jonathan Stein)

10-4(0)!

The Clintons have released their tax returns. They've made about $109 million since 2000. Interested?

Nearby headline:

In Memphis, Clinton Calls for Cabinet Post on Poverty

Yeah, yeah. Cheap shot. Sue me.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up hard liquor**

Stop the presses. Michelle Malkin is outraged.

Yes, yes, I know. Forget about "dog bites man." This is about as unusual a story as "dog poops."

The occasion this time?

A vodka ad, created for billboards and other outlets. In Mexico.

Observing the quickly loosening fastenings on display over at Michelle's Hub of Horrors,* I'm about ready to go buy a quart or two. Seems like a good time for a screwdriver.

Once I mix said drink, I will join John Cole in toasting Jeffrey Moran, the Absolut exec apparently responsible for the ad. Here's the reply email the wingnuts are getting in response to their outraged missives:

Your message

To: Moran, Jeffrey
Cc:
Subject: Offensive ad
Sent: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 15:18:30 -0400

was deleted without being read on Thu, 3 Apr 2008 16:28:51 -0400

(pic. sources: 1, 2)

---

^* No. No link. Surprising as it may sound, I do have some standards. Maybe it's only one drop not in the bucket, considering the zillions of links she'll be getting from her fellow xenophobes, but the parching of her brand of hatred has to start somewhere.

^** (cf.)

The Never-Ending Attempt to Suppress The Truth Continues

(Updated below)

---

Via Don and Jinnet, I learned of this latest bit of Bushwackery:

A U.S. government-funded medical information site that bills itself as the world's largest database on reproductive health has quietly begun to block searches on the word "abortion," concealing nearly 25,000 search results.

LibrarianActivist has a nice post on the matter, too. Among the links offered is a contact URL for the offending organization. Which you might want to attend to, post haste, for some reason I can't quite put my finger on at the moment.

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Update

2008-04-04 20:02

Don reports some good news: corrective action appears imminent. Excerpt from a statement by the Dean:

I could not disagree more strongly with this decision, and I have directed that the POPLINE administrators restore "abortion" as a search term immediately. I will also launch an inquiry to determine why this change occurred.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and not its restriction.

Am I too old to say w00t!!?

Line of the Day: 2008-04-04

I've always had a vague sense about this aspect of Dick Cheney, but I've never heard it put so succinctly:

For 32 of the last 37 years he's been a government employee, during which period he's amassed a personal fortune of $100 Million USD.
-- Don McArthur

My Moment of Infamy

(alt. video link)

The whole diavlog may be viewed here. This excerpt starts at 1:47.

For the record, my alleged parade-starting is available for viewing in this thread, probably starting with this post, on the BH.tv forums. I don't really cop to defamation; I thought I posted legitimate criticism in response to this diavlog and the previous one.

But in a world driven by sound bites, I might as well embrace this moment: "BJKeefe ... he started the whole parade of defamation." If I wanted a tombstone, that would be the inscription.

QuickTime Update Available

Brian Krebs reports that Apple has released a set of patches for Quicktime, bringing the latest available version to 7.4.5. This closes eight or eleven security holes, depending on your operating system. Krebs says this is an especially important one for Windows users. Running Software Update should take care of the Mac users; Windows users can run either Apple Software Update or Quicktime's own Help -> Update Existing Software.

No personal input from me. The Apple people continue to ignore us crusty old Win2K users. Which is fine, since I continue to ignore QuickTime.

Some Bitch Calls Some Other Bitch A Fucking Whore

It must be admitted that this post's title is solely motivated by my never-ending quest to outdo the Doghouse in at least one area.

Other than that, my ability to feign outrage has flatlined.

Unsurprisingly, some of the folks at MyDailyDrama feel differently. Big Spent Democrat has yet to weigh in, which leads me to suspect there's a shortage of smelling salts in Denver.

Pet Peeve Ishin

In support of a dream, I have added my name to a petition to urge Michael Goldfarb to put his rifle where his cannon-sized mouth is. I encourage you to do the same. Who knows? Might work.

Goldfarb, if you don't already know, is the Online Editor of The Weekly Standard. He is but one of many in that cesspool of neocon "thought" who thinks the answer to all questions of foreign policy is more bombing. His shallow attitude and lack of any military service is characteristic of the frat-boy mentality of so many supporters of the Bush/Cheney way of doing things. Goldfarb is all for boots on the ground everywhere, provided his feet don't have to be in them.

If you'd like a taste of why I find him so repugnant, his most recent appearance on BloggingHeads.tv should serve. It's also worth watching to see what happens when he has to debate someone who actually has a clue; in this case, Robert Farley of LGM.

BTW, there are other people with the same name (e.g.), unfortunately for them.

FileZilla Update

There's a new version of FileZilla available: version 3.0.8.1. If you don't have automatic notifications turned on, Help -> Check for updates should get you squared away.

As with previous minor upgrades, the updating process is quick and smooth. All personal settings are preserved, even if you choose the recommended option to uninstall the previous version as part of the installation process. (That's what I did.) If you're upgrading from version 2.x, as I did a while ago, you'll have to re-enter things like your ftp URL(s), username(s), and password(s).

Don't know from FileZilla? Short version: It's an FTP client; i.e., a program that resides on your home computer that you use to upload files to a website. You don't need such a program nearly as much anymore, since blogs, photo-sharing sites, and social networking sites all provide built-in interfaces for uploading, but if you run your own old-school website, you might like it. I do. See filezilla-project.org for more info. And yes, it's free and open source.

New Picasa Features

Thanks to Paul, I just learned that you can easily embed photo slide shows on your blog or website. All you need is a Picasa account, which is free. (And content worth displaying, of course, which is certainly the harder part for me.)

Here are some links that you might find handy:

• Create the embeddable slide show right now
  
  
• More info on embeddable slide shows
  
  
• What's new: other new Picasa Web features
  
  
• Home page for Picasa, including a link to create a Picasa Web Albums account

Broken Clock or Broken Record?

Since the last line is, "I'm Hillary Clinton, and I approved this message," I can only say, "I'm Brendan Keefe, and I have further doubts about your judgment."

(alt. video link)

(h/t: Oliver Willis)

Happy AFD from TPM

Veracifier sez:

We've resisted the urge to foist fake news on you in honor of April Fool's Day. But today we've decided to bring you some of my own true moments of foolishness. You may think putting together TPMtv is just a walk in the park. But try getting through Florida Rep. Bob Allen's claim that rather than soliciting the guy in the next bathroom stall for sex he was actually trying to offer his assistance in case his stall mate had been struck by lightning. Not an easy thing. So today, in honor of the one year anniversary of TPMtv we're bringing you some of our favorite moments from the cutting room floor.

(alt. video link)

Racial Dialogue?

Sadly, No!

Is Our Children Learning?

Some poor kid turns to Yahoo Answers for help:

President Bush, how has he benefited American Society??? George W Bush Jr; for a report I must do for Gov?

My teacher is having class to write a report on the great accomplishments of G.W. Bush Jr; and it counts as half of my grade, could really use some help.

My prediction.

[via]

My (Standards) Slip is Showing

TS from Instaputz notes the following from a recent PEW report (PDF):

One-in-ten voters believe that Barack Obama is Muslim; 14% of Republicans, 10% of Democrats and 8% of independents think he is Muslim.

TS is upset that 10% of Democrats still, apparently, believe every forwarded email they get. Me, I'm happily surprised the number is that low. Maybe our nefarious middle name scheme is working.

Wikipedia Moves Beyond Complete

Whoda thunk we needed this entry?

(click pic to enlarge)

The only reason for the existence of this page that I can think of is as a target for Googlebombing; e.g., nude pictures of Dick Cheney.

Rather than talk about how I ended up on this page, let's instead speculate about who might volunteer to supply the "additional citations needed for verification."

For When the Dimwits Get You Down

Richard Florida, speaking about demographics in a recent BloggingHeads.tv diavlog with Will Wilkinson:

Okay, he might be a little biased. But still.

Entire diavlog here.

My new nickname for her is Hillerbee

(click pic to enlarge)

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(cartoon swiped from Oliver Willis)

Line of the Day: 2008-03-32

Came across the following while rooting through the archives of a particularly fine web site:

The pessimistic will recall that corruption of thought goes hand-in-glove with corruption of language, and cast a dubious eye upon context without content.
-- Cosma Shalizi

I'm going to take the first part as renewed justification for my ridiculous habit of being a language crank.

[Added] Here's another fun bit found on Cosma's site: a link to the definition of fukayama.

To his credit, the source of the eponym seems to have backed off from some of the views that provoked this coinage. Nonetheless, it's pretty funny, and deserves to be filed right next to the entry for jonanism.