Two things. One serious; one not.

First off, this article on how to best gauge what is, and what isn’t, a security threat. I’m pretty much in lockstep with what the author is saying here, but I think my own personal feelings are best summed up in the first comment.

Second, I just had the kind of sobering thought that can only occur if you work with kids and you yourself attain a certain age. To wit, I put together an iTunes playlist of a bunch of bad 80s rock. You know, Poison, Warrant, Bad English, Whitesnake, White Lion, Van Halen, etc. I had the good sense to be somewhat embarassed to be listening to it at a fairly loud volume, and then it occured to me:

This year’s senior class are the only kids here who were even born when these songs were in any way relevant, i.e. before 1990.

Oof.

I’ve decided it’s a good day for a couple of old favorites, and a few new links, hence we’ll call it a Grab Bag of stuff.

For some reason I had this song in mind this morning. It’s the soundbyte that destroyed a Presidential campaign, according to Mr. Lileks, and a longtime favorite around these parts.

If you’ve never seen Robot Chicken, and/or consider yourself as the type who might enjoy a good Star Wars parody, you owe it to yourself to check out this YouTube clip. What the hell is an Aluminum Falcon?! Again, another old favorite.

Here’s a fairly serious story, and definitely a good proposal for a law. Still, I can’t help but chuckle (and think of Jason) when I hear it referred to as “The Poop Bill”.

And finally, if you’re for something more serious to gnaw upon, try this. Spending’s up, personal debt is up, savings are way down, and people are getting screwed left and right in stories like this, but it’s making American companies billions and the Dow is setting records, so the economy’s fine. I’ve got that right, right?

Have you ever had to explain what you do for a living, beyond your title, to someone?
For seven years after I graduated from college, the answer to that question was, “I’m a consultant”. Well, that doesn’t tell anyone much, so the follow up question of “what do you actually do” quickly followed; and was a tougher question to answer.

If you’ve ever struggled to really describe “what you do” you know that it can make you question yourself. “That’s a good question… what is it that I actually ‘do’?”
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