Normally, I'd be speaking about computer "pathogens" but, for a change, I'll speaking at the New Jersey Infragard chapter April meeting. The meeting's theme is Pandemic Flu Planning.

My presentation is:

Lessons for the 21st Century from the 20th Century History of the Flu:

There were three major influenza pandemics in the 20th Century. The 1918-19 "Spanish Influenza" was particularly deadly, killing anywhere between 30 and 50 million people around the world. The 1957-58 Asian flu was not as deadly, but still killed about 70,000 Americans. The "mildest" pandemic, Hong Kong Flu of 1968-69, caused about 34,000 US deaths. Then there was the 1976 "Swine Flu" abortive pandemic and a nationwide vaccination program which some called a fiasco.

What lessons for today can we glean from these events decades ago? This presentation will point out lessons to help us to better prepare for future pandemics.

Also speaking will be Heather Benamati, MPH, CHES, Health Services, Human Services Coordinator of the Bernards Township Health Department. She focus upon public health aspects of pandemic flu preparedness. There will be a third speaker who'll cover business contingency planning.

Date:		Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Time:		9:30 am to 10:00 am - networking session 10:00 am to 1:00 pm - the Chapter meeting
Location:		AFFINITY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION 73 Mountain View Boulevard Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920. [Map] [Directions] Parking will be available at the Credit Union for attendees.

If you are near Central New Jersey and are interested in creative ways to improve energy use, environmental sustainability, "reducing your carbon footprint", and similar topics. you might like this meeting

From a MAKE:Princeton announcement...

<<---
All,

We have a MAKE:Princeton meeting tomorrow! This one will be inside
and away from flame as we discuss sustainability, energy, and ways to
make your home more energy efficient. Discussion will include an
analysis of (1) how energy is used in a home, (2) how energy is wasted
in a home, (3) how wasted energy can be reduced or reclaimed, and (4)
different ways to think about energy efficiency.

And, since this is make, feel free to bring your projects to show and
tell and bring a friend.

Where: Room 039, East Pyne Hall, Princeton University Campus [Visitor Info]
When: Tomorrow, 15 April 2009, 7:00pm
What: MAKE:sustainability
Who: You and your friends.
--->>

I am one of the MAKE:Princeton members. The group has some bright, creative people and the sessions are interesting techie brainstorming learning sessions. You don't have to be coder, engineer, or a techno-geek to enjoy the meetings. We are looking for creative people who like to find new ways of solving problems or doing cool things. Tinkers, Hackers, Artists, what-have-you.

Alas, I have other obligations for Wednesday nights until mid-May, so I won't make it out to this meeting. But I encourage interested people to attend.

Cheers,
Jonathan "J.D." Abolins

The site: http://www.modernliberty.net/
Cory Doctrow's post on Boing Boing: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/27/tomorrow-is-britains.html

The Modern Liberty site explains why the convention is needed:

We are entering a dangerous period in our country. Economic turmoil threatens profound hardship and disharmony. Disenchantment with politics is growing and even legitimate protest is threatened by an unprecedented programme of challenges to our rights, freedoms and democracy. Sixty years ago Britain was a proud co-author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Now it is increasingly centralized, abandoning its historic principles some of which date back to the Magna Carta.
The Government’s continued stated determination to extend detention without charge in terrorism cases to 42 days is one symbol of the damage done to our hard-won rights and freedoms. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), which gives hundreds of agencies access to people’s records without their knowing, is another. The collection of all available records on a huge central database for the use of the authorities is a third.
We believe that such threats can be overcome but only if the public is woken to the dangers. While we may be impatient for action, the issues must be addressed in an open-minded way with as thorough and accessible public debate as possible.
Therefore we invite you to join a Convention on Modern Liberty. It will ask three broad questions:

• Are our freedoms and rights threatened by an over-powerful state and if so how do we defend ourselves from this?
• Are dangers to our security from terrorism and other threats, from climate change to pandemics being used to attack our rights, and how can we best defend ourselves?
• How can we arouse sustained public interest?

We are making Modern Liberty a convention not a conference. We want to bring as many people together to see what common ground can be reached in defence of our freedoms. The Guardian is the main media partner. The Rowntree Reform and Charitable Trusts and the Rowntree Foundation are initial supporters. A wide range of organisations are joining the event from across the political spectrum.
Fundamental rights and freedoms are common to us all. The Universal Declaration recognises ‘the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’. In Britain such values have an even longer history. We are indeed the inheritors of an inspiring tradition of liberty.
At the same time technical advances from information technology to explosives and the threats of catastrophic climatic change have altered the framework of power and fear.
This calls for a renewal of our democratic self-confidence. This is the purpose of the Convention on Modern Liberty. Whether you agree or not we hope you will join us to debate these issues.

British liberties and privacy issues might seem irrelevant to those of us in the US. But I see interplays with what goes on in the UK and in the US. For example, the pervasive public surveillance of British society is often cited as a good example for the US. Unfortunately, the lessons learned in Britain about what works and what doesn't with surveillance don't get noticed as well in the States.

Also, with the new US President and Administration, I believe we will see much reshuffling about privacy, security, and liberties. 20th Century concepts of these values might not hold up well in the 21st Century. It will be important for citizens to learn about the issues and get involved. Learning from other countries' experiences can be helpful.

If you are not able to attend the meetings, the Modern Liberty site will have video and photos.

Here's looking at you,
Jonathan D. Abolins

The next meeting of MAKE:Princeton will be held on 12 November 2008 in room 039 of the East Pyne Building at Princeton University, from 7:00 to 9:00pm.

Nick Johnson will be leading a short lab session on "How to Solder," in which we will practice through hole soldering techniques and "make blinking things". The lab will be free, but donations for parts and supplies would be helpful. I'll bring some additional supplies.

Although soldering is often associated with electronics, it's a skill useful for other tinkering and crafts.

J.D. Abolins

Last Friday, Richard Weait of the Ontario Linux Fest gave an Introduction to OpenStreetMap at the Cherry Hill Linux Users Group. I was quite impressed with both the presentation and OSM..

OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/ ) is sometimes called the "the wiki-style map of everything". While it appears to just an open source equivalent of Google Maps and various other mapping sites, there is a crucial difference: Having the data versus having only a picture of the data. With OSM, you can get the data, not just a picture. If you want to, you can set up your own OSM server. This can be useful for some applications.

Fitting the open source ethos, OSM is being built up by the contributions of many users around the world. You don't have to be a programmer or a developer to participate. Among things people can do is to collect GPS data of roads and other features of an area, verify the information, and update the OSM data. In fact, last weekend had an OSM mapping event in Philadelphia. I could not attend but it sounded quote interesting. Maybe another time.

Meanwhile, you can see OSM events and meetings around the world, as well as learn more about OSM, at the OpenStreetMap Wiki.

J.D. Abolins

We had about 6 or 7 people for the initial Make:Princeton meeting tonight.

After introductions as we looked over Make magazine swag free to take and ate some cookie, we got to share our projects.

One fellow showed a high voltage circuitry he was working on for a TIG welding apparatus. The idea was to enhance an inexpensive TIG welder by adding a high voltage circuit that would ionise the air between the electrode and the material to be welded. You can see the circuitry in the second photo on the right.

I showed the Tikitag RFID experimentation kit I had recent;y purchased. I've only had a few days to tinker with it.

Nick Johnson, the fellow who's getting the Make:Princeton group going, showed his alarm clock with a clever snooze alarm that requires you to correctly answer maths questions before going silent. (The insides are shown in the bottom photograph.) Several of us noted the resemblance to the "Google Mail Googles" concept that uses maths tests to check the user's mental state before allowing emails to be sent out.

A couple of people who did not have projects to show, told about the projects they had at home. One fellow is working on what I'd call an aesthetic version of a USB thumbdrive RAID. Another showed photos of a MAME based home video game arcade system with a nicely done cabinet and a touchscreen music jukebox/light show wall hanging device.

Lots of good brainstorming followed the presentation of each project.

Although the intial show & tell consisted of electronic tech projects, we hope to see folks with other types of creative interests, such as graphic arts, crafts, and such. We can learn much from each other.

It looks like the Make:Princeton group will meet every other Wednesday in East Pyne Hall, Room 039. Check the Make:Princeton news group for more information.

Jonathan "J.D." Abolins

UPDATE (18 Oct 2008): The Make:Princeton blog has more info and photos from the meeting.

Photograph by Nick Johnson from his Flickr site. Used per the photo's Creative Commons licence.

If you've read Make: magazine, you've seen an interesting range of creative tinkering. Interested in meeting other people with such interests?

The Make:Princeton group will be holding its first meeting this Wednesday (Oct 15th). Here's the announcement from the group's blog:

The first meeting of Make:Princeton will be on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 from 7:00pm-9:00pm in 039 East Pyne on Princeton University Campus. Light refreshments (junk food) will be served. Feel free to bring your creations for a show and tell session.

Make:Princeton is a organization of people who share a Do-It-Yourself ethic that allows us to connect with one another and shake knowledge, skills, equipment and tools.

For further information, see our wiki and our news group.

Sounds quite promising. I plan attend and let you know more about it.

J.D. Abolins

"Hacking & the Law: What Are the Legal Considerations of Tinkering with Software & Hardware?"
Presentation for the Cherry Hill Linux Users Group (CHLUG)
Friday 1 Aug 2008 from 7pm to 9pm
in the Multicultural Room of The Cherry Hill Public Library.
1100 Kings Highway N., Cherry Hill, NJ. [Directions]
The meeting is open to the public.

UPDATE 24 Aug 2008: The slides from the presentation (including updates) are now online. [pdf]

When I offered to speak at a CHLUG meeting, I asked what information security topics they wanted covered. The answer was "Hacking & the Law". Interesting, but it is too vast a topic to cover in 45 minutes. I asked what they meant by "hacking". The CHLUG members explained they were interested in "hacking" as it pertains to tinkering with software and hardware. Since this is a Linux users group, the emphasis would be upon free & open source (F/OSS) concepts. Excellent!

Some of the things I'll cover include

• Quick overview of concepts such as copyrights, fair use, and patents.
• Overview of F/OSS licensing approaches such as GPL ones.
  
• Can F/OSS licensing provisions be enforced by law?
  
• Hardware tinkering issues such as "Tivoization" where a system incorprates F/OSS but the hardware is designed to prevent modification of the code.
• Examination of the issues raised by things such as the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions.
• Issues that can arise when publicising info about our tinkering.
• Suggestions for dealing with these issues.
  

(NOTE: I am not a lawyer and this general presentation is not a substitute for competent legal counsel.)

J.D. Abolins

Through Sunday afternoon (20 July 2008):
http://radio.hope.net/

Right now, I am listening to Steve Ramban, a private investigator who speaks at every HOPE conference, speak about privacy and, moreso, the ways it is disappearing. Fascinating as usual.

In a few days, I'll post links to photos and videos from the Last Hope.

Cheers,
J.D. Abolins

UPDATE (23 July 2008): The streaming radio feed from Last HOPE's Radio Statler is no longer on the air.

Information about the conference at http://www.thelasthope.org
Speaker/ Talks info: http://www.thelasthope.org/talks.php
Conference schedule: http://www.thelasthope.org/matrix/
Discussion site: http://talk.hope.net

Since 1994, the Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conferences have been held in New York City every other year. The HOPE conferences are organised by the folks who publish 2600 - The Hacker Quarterly.

These conferences bring together an interesting variety of people from all over the world, including technology fans, tinkers, academics, cryptography folks, cyber-liberties activists, and, of course, hackers of all kinds as well as people interested in hacker culture.

This year is going to be difficult for time but I hope to make it out for one of the days.

One of the presentations that should be very interesting is Johnny Long's "No Tech Hacking". I've seen him give such a presentation at TechnoForensics 2007 and it's both fun and thought provoking. The no tech aspect is a good eye-opener for people who get so focused upon technical/cyber security issues that they forget the low/no tech gotchas. (Hint for organisations with special security concerns that was conveyed by a couple of the slides: Don't put agency logos on laptops, laptop cases, etc. Advertising might not be your friend. <g>)

HOPEfully,
J.D. Abolins