Chatter Of The Squirrel

Ebay Snipers!

Dang IT!!

Was winning the bid for a very affordable ring flash (for taking macro pictures) at AUD$131.50.

5 sec from end of auction, and I was still winning.

But at 2sec from end, I lost the bid at 137.50!

GGggrrrRRAAAAaaggggghhhhhH!!!

Slumdog Girl On Sale

Am sure many have read the news already that little Latika was offered for sale.

It’s the kind of news that must ring throughout the blagosphere, and millions must condemn the evil, greedy father who was going to sell his daughter for money.

But what of the reporters that performed the ’sting’ operation? They know the hype, interest, and controversy surrounding the slumdog children. Even when the boy was hit / disciplined by his dad, the papparazi had a field day. These reporters came up with a really clever plot to exploit the poverty and fame of Latika’s parents in order to sell headlines. When you can’t find news, you have to go make it.

This doesn’t qualify as investigative journalism. They wanted a specific story, and went all out to make sure they get it. If the reporters had gone out to Mumbai, asked to buy Rubina, and gotten a “No”, there’ld be no story. Instead they posed as childless sheikhs who can give Rubina a future away from the slums, and elevate her entire family from the endless cycle of poverty. If they have tapes of the interviews, I want to hear the whole thing. Not just the parts edited for impact. I want to hear how the ’sheikhs’ sold the adoption idea to Rubina’s parents. How they tried to move them with their childless plight. How they tempted them with money. How they weakened their resolve by inviting them to their ‘5-star hotel’.

God made the Devil so much stronger than the Man. What chance did Rubina’s dad have ?

If Rubina’s dad had put up her daughter on eBay, or sold pictures of her in kiddie-porn sites, I’ll be disgusted as well. And bear no illusions, he can make a mint doing that.

Instead, Rubina was offered a life that her father can never give her in a million years. Faced with a choice like this, even a loving father will be hard put to make the right choice. Is it moral to deny Rubina her one chance out of the slums? Is it moral to ‘profit’ from it?

No one has the moral mandate to judge them. Least of all those who have not been spiritually crushed by a lifetime of poverty.

I can’t imagine what will be the loving thing to do in such a position. Even leaving morality aside.

But I can condemn the morality of the tabloid that operated the sting. Were they doing it out of ‘love’ for Rubina? Out of fear that she might be exploited, so they went to test her guardianship? They were selling news! They were the ones who’s trying to exploit and profit from little Latika. And successfully did so.

Who gave them the right?

There’s Money In Hacking

My first real exposure to the internet was 1996, with the Leonis server at NUS. Almost immediately I was testing the boundaries, and trying to find ways to do more than the system would trust me with. For a while I had an unhealthy preoccupation with IT Security.^_^

A lot of this was motivated by my desire to keep in touch with my friends after I left NUS for UM. These were the days just before Hotmail, and before ICQ. Heck, this was even before JavaScript >_< , so forget about eBuddy and stuff like that. All there was, was finger, and talk. And NUS wouldn’t let me log into Leonis from outside Singapore.

But it’s also because I like to take things apart and figure out how things tick. I own a lot of screwdrivers. Also knives… [insert ominous music] 

Anyone still remember Sneakers? For a while, I wanted to be like that. (Not like Redford, but the blind guy who figured out how the box worked, except not blind.) To be able to solve puzzles, and get paid and be respected for it. In those days such was fantasy.

But today, ethical hacking is a viable career. And making good money too it seems. If only this was the case a decade ago for me. Still, no harm picking up some new knowledge. The EC Council is conducting internet classes on a variety of IT security subjects. I’ve already signed up for the free one day webinar, something like a sneak preview to the courses. There are a number of interesting subjects, covering security fundamentals, ethical hacking, penetration testing, computer forensics, disaster recovery and secure programming. I’m gonna check them all out until I run out of free tries. Maybe they’ll fire up something that I’ve left unexplored for too long.

It seems that the webinar will be conducted through GoToMeeting.com, which is wonderful. I’ve earned a heap of Brownie pts at work introducing that service to my CEO. It is just the best way to do a presentation over the web that we’ve seen so far. Am very much looking forward to it.

#CEH