Spinor Info

Stop Online Spying

Feb 232012

I just wrote a letter to Vic Toews, our honorable Minister of Public Safety. This was in response to an e-mail I received from him, sent no doubt to many Canadians. I hope he reads my letter, but just in case, I also cc’d our MP, Mr. Mauril Bélanger, and the Ottawa Citizen.

Here is what I wrote.

To: vic.toews.c1@parl.gc.ca; Toews.V@parl.gc.ca
Cc: contact@openmedia.ca; letters@ottawacitizen.com; belanm@parl.gc.ca
Subject: RE: Stop Online Spying

Honorable Minister:

I thank you for your informative e-mail (which I received, I guess, as a Twitter user participating in the #tellviceverything campaign). I am glad that this time around, you used a more civilized form of communication, instead of simply labeling your critics “supporters of child pornography” if they happened to disagree with your Bill C-30 and its pitifully Orwellian new title.

Unfortunately, I find that your e-mail is deceptive, as it directly contradicts the text of the proposed Bill C-30, as it appears on the Parliament of Canada Web site:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=5380965&file=4

Section 6 of this Bill mandates that telecommunications service providers must “have the capability to … provide intercepted communications”. Many described this requirement as a “hacker’s gold mine”: the apparatus and databases that providers will be required to maintain in order to comply with this Section will offer an unsurpassed opportunity for crimes such as identity theft. Indeed, Sections 6-12 can be basically summarized simply as, “If we cannot use your equipment to spy on your users, it is not legal”, while providing no guarantees that such equipment will be sufficiently secure and not subject to abuse (be it by government or by third parties). This does not suggest “a high priority on protecting the privacy of law-abiding Canadians”; if anything, it suggests the contrary.

Moreover, Section 14 effectively gives the right to government to prescribe exactly what equipment must be used by service providers. This requirement can have many unintended consequences going beyond the (absolutely incredible) invasion of privacy: for instance, it can stifle innovation, as telecommunications providers would not be able to install new technology if it fails to meet arbitrary requirements set forth by the government.

Honorable Minister, it is blatantly misleading to suggest that the law is only about “basic subscriber information.” Your law prescribes that telecommunications providers must “have the capability to … provide intercepted communications”. THIS IS NOT BASIC SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION. This is about the government-mandated capability to capture every single bit of data sent or received by Canadians.

While it is true that the legislation does not explicitly require telecommunications providers to “maintain databases”, the Bill remains open-ended in this regard: the equipment that telecommunications providers will be required to install may very well routinely incorporate the creation of such databases.

Regarding warrantless access to basic subscriber information, it is misleading to suggest that this Bill provides a counterbalance. On the contrary, it compels telecommunications providers to hand over this information upon a simple “oral request” by “any police officer”, and all the officer needs to provide is his or her name, rank, badge number and agency. This places in the hands of law enforcement personnel an authority that is perhaps unprecedented in Canada, and can be subject to grave abuse.

Honorable Minister, I understand that you have been personally affected by the debate surrounding this proposed Bill, and let me assure you that like most Canadians, I also strongly disapprove of any attempts to intimidate you unlawfully. However, the fact that you yourself have been wronged does not free you from the responsibility of representing a law that you propose in a truthful and thorough manner, and not attempt to mislead the public about its contents and foreseeable consequences.

In closing, I should mention that I have been trying to figure out if the manner in which your e-mail communication was sent was just a clumsy attempt to communicate with concerned Canadians via e-mail spam, or perhaps something more sinister. Sending an e-mail, presumably to Internet users who interacted with you via Twitter, can be seen as a not so subtle “I know who you are” message. Perhaps that is not the case… I am not a fan of conspiracy theories, so I feel compelled to give you the benefit of the doubt. In case I am wrong and it was indeed an attempt to intimidate your law-abiding critics, well, let me assure you that in my case it didn’t work: having grown up in a Communist one-party dictatorship, I am not that easily intimidated. On the other hand, that same upbringing compels me to feel very concerned whenever I see a government attempting to gain too much control over its citizens, no matter how noble the cause.

As a one-time Conservative voter, I believe in smaller, less intrusive government, the decisions of which are based on facts, not ideology. While I long for the day when I could proudly vote Conservative again, for the time being I must say that I remain thoroughly disappointed by the Conservative Party of Canada.

Sincerely,

Viktor T. Toth
<full address provided>

From: vic.toews.c1@parl.gc.ca [mailto:vic.toews.c1@parl.gc.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 12:43 PM
To: vic.toews.c1@parl.gc.ca
Subject: Re: Stop Online Spying

Thank you for contacting my office regarding Bill C-30, the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act.

Canada’s laws currently do not adequately protect Canadians from online exploitation and we think there is widespread agreement that this is a problem.

We want to update our laws while striking the right balance between combating crime and protecting privacy.

Let me be very clear: the police will not be able to read emails or view web activity unless they obtain a warrant issued by a judge and we have constructed safeguards to protect the privacy of Canadians, including audits by privacy commissioners.

What’s needed most is an open discussion about how to better protect Canadians from online crime. We will therefore send this legislation directly to Parliamentary Committee for a full examination of the best ways to protect Canadians while respecting their privacy.

For your information, I have included some myths and facts below regarding Bill C-30 in its current state.

Sincerely,

Vic Toews
Member of Parliament for Provencher

Myth: Lawful Access legislation infringes on the privacy of Canadians.

Fact: Our Government puts a high priority on protecting the privacy of law-abiding Canadians. Current practices of accessing the actual content of communications with a legal authorization will not change.

Myth: Having access to basic subscriber information means that authorities can monitor personal communications and activities.

Fact: This has nothing to do with monitoring emails or web browsing. Basic subscriber information would be limited to a customer’s name, address, telephone number, email address, Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the name of the telecommunications service provider. It absolutely does not include the content of emails, phones calls or online activities.

Myth: This legislation does not benefit average Canadians and only gives authorities more power.

Fact: As a result of technological innovations, criminals and terrorists have found ways to hide their illegal activities. This legislation will keep Canadians safer by putting police on the same footing as those who seek to harm us.

Myth: Basic subscriber information is way beyond “phone book information”.

Fact: The basic subscriber information described in the proposed legislation is the modern day equivalent of information that is in the phone book. Individuals frequently freely share this information online and in many cases it is searchable and quite public.

Myth: Police and telecommunications service providers will now be required to maintain databases with information collected on Canadians.

Fact: This proposed legislation will not require either police or telecommunications service providers to create databases with information collected on Canadians.

Myth: “Warrantless access” to customer information will give police and government unregulated access to our personal information.

Fact: Federal legislation already allows telecommunications service providers to voluntarily release basic subscriber information to authorities without a warrant. This Bill acts as a counterbalance by adding a number of checks and balances which do not exist today, and clearly lists which basic subscriber identifiers authorities can access.

Are stellar orbits really circular?

Astronomy, Physics No Responses »

Feb 222012

Why exactly do we believe that stars and more importantly, gas in the outer regions of spiral galaxies move in circular orbits? This assumption lies at the heart of the infamous galaxy rotation curve problem, as the circular orbital velocity for a spiral galaxy (whose visible mass is concentrated in the central bulge) should be proportional to the inverse square root of the distance from the center; instead, observed rotation curves are “flat”, meaning that the velocity remains approximately the same at various distances from the center.

So why do we assume that stars and gas move in circular orbits? Well, it turns out that one key bit of evidence is in a 32-year old paper that was published by two Indian physicists: Radhakrishnan and Sarma (A&A 85, 1980) made observations of hydrogen gas in the direction of the center of the Milky Way, and found that the bulk of gas between the solar system and the central bulge has no appreciable radial velocity.

However, more recent observations may be contradicting this result. Just two years ago, the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey (Siebert et al, MNRAS 412, 2010) found, using a sample of several hundred thousand relatively nearby stars, that a significant radial velocity exists, putting into question the simple model that assumes that circular orbits dominate.

No faster-than-light neutrinos after all?

Physics No Responses »

Feb 222012

So maybe neutrinos don’t travel faster than light after all.

Instead, if rumors are to be believed, it was a simple instrumentation problem. There is no official confirmation yet, but according to a statement that also appears on Nature’s news blog, the OPERA team is indeed investigating two problems related to a timer oscillator and an optical fiber connection.

A while back, I wrote that I could identify four possible broad categories for conventional explanations of the OPERA result:

Incorrectly synchronized clocks;
Incorrectly measured distance;
Unaccounted-for delays in the apparatus;
~~Statistical uncertainties~~.

Of these, #4 was already out, as the OPERA team verified their result using short duration proton bunches that avoided the use of potentially controversial statistical methods. I never considered #2 a serious possibility, as highly accurate geographic localization is a well established art. Having read and re-read the OPERA team’s description of how they synchronized clocks, I was prepared to discount #1 as well, but then again, incorrect synchronization can arise as a result of equipment failure, so would that fall under #1 or #3?

In any case, it looks like #3, with a dash of #1 perhaps. Once again, conventional physics prevails.

That is, if we can believe these latest rumors.

Stone age flower

Biology, History No Responses »

Feb 212012

Some thirty thousand years ago, homo sapiens was busy perfecting techniques to produce primitive stone tools. They may have already invented nets, the bow and arrow, and perhaps even ceramics, but they were still a long way away from inventing civilization.

Around the same time, an arctic squirrel in north-eastern Siberia took the fruit of a narrow-leafed campion, a small arctic flower, and hid it in its burrow, never to be touched again. The fruit froze and remained frozen for over three hundred centuries.

It is frozen no longer; rather, it is blooming, thanks to the efforts of a research team led by Svetlana Yashina and David Gilichinsky of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Against all odds, the genetic material in the seed appears to have survived. I say “appears” because such an extraordinary claim will be subject to extraordinary scrutiny, but what I have been reading suggests that this is indeed real: the age of the fruit is confirmed by radioactive dating.

Tax time in Gormenghast

Books, Computers, Intellectual Property, Personal No Responses »

Feb 202012

I just finished doing our taxes. It’s not very complicated (I keep good books) but it still took a few hours. I feel drained… and not just in the wallet. Groan.

Speaking of Groans, I am re-reading the story about the 77th Earl of Groan, Mervyn Peake’s incredible trilogy about the mysterious castle of Gormenghast and its inhabitants. I became aware of this book some 10-odd years ago when the Canadian cable network Space showed the eponymous BBC miniseries; I had no idea what I was watching, but I got hooked by its atmosphere. Later, I bought the book and read it, and what a read it is! Now I decided to read it again, taking my time this time, enjoying every sentence, every turn of phrase. After spending hours with tax software, retiring to my bed with Gormenghast will be quite the relief.

The tax software I use is GenuTax. It is decent, perhaps not the best, but it has an advantage other tax packages lack: it does not require Activation nor does it incorporate other Draconian DRM technology. This is why I switched to this software many years ago. I am disgusted by software companies that treat us all like would-be criminals. Unfortunately, GenuTax is not doing well; their business model is a losing one (lifetime free upgrades) and I worry that they won’t be around much longer, which will be a pity.

Testing (and complaining), please ignore

Computers No Responses »

Feb 192012

Software updates are driving me nuts. One of these days, I’ll try to keep a log of just how much time I spend doing Windows updates, Linux updates, Flash updates, Acrobat updates, Java updates, other software updates… or in this case, updating the Facebook plugin of the blogging software I use, WordPress. The purpose of this post, then, is not just to complain but also verify that the updated plugin still works as advertised. Crossing fingers…

Eurozone

Economy, Hungary No Responses »

Feb 192012

I was watching CNN’s Fareed Zakaria today, who expressed his opinion that the Eurozone crisis is over: that Greece may still default, but by and large, as a result of the activities of the European Central Bank, the Euro itself is now stable and its long-term survival is assured. I hope Zakaria is correct… indeed, this may be the best-case scenario, with a stronger Euro emerging from this crisis. One hopeful sign supporting this optimistic scenario has been the drop in the 10-year rates of Spanish and Italian government bonds; from a peak near 7% (exceeding 7% briefly in the case of Italy) the rates are back down to a more manageable 5.5%.

I wish I could say the same thing about Hungary. Unfortunately, the interest rate on 10 year bonds there is still well in excess of 8%. True, 8% is less than the 10% this rate was at just less than two months ago, or the astonishingly high rate over 12% back in 2009, but it is still very high, limiting the Hungarian government’s ability to deal with the crisis. The fact that many Hungarians (individuals, businesses, even municipalities) have accumulated large debts in foreign denominations (mainly in Swiss francs) also complicates things. Normally during this crisis, having a national currency should have worked to the government’s advantage; not with these excessive foreign currency debts.

My opinion about the abilities of Mr. Orban and his administration to deal with these challenges is less than flattering, but I have to admit that the challenges may test the abilities of even the best prepared government.

Stellar arithmetic

Astronomy, Physics No Responses »

Feb 162012

I always find these numbers astonishing.

The solar constant, the amount of energy received by a 1 square meter surface at 1 astronomical unit (AU) from the Sun is roughly s = 1.37 kW/m². Given that 1 AU is approximately 150 million kilometers, or r = 1.5 × 10¹¹ m, the surface area of a 1 AU sphere surrounding the Sun would be A = 4πr² = 2.8 × 10²³ m². Multiplied by the solar constant, we get P = sA = 3.9 × 10²⁶ W, or the energy E = sA = 3.9 × 10²⁶ J every second. Using Einstein’s infamous mass-energy formula E = mc², where c = 3 × 10⁸ m/s, we can easily calculate how much mass is converted into energy: m = E/c² = 4.3 × 10⁹ kg. Close to four and a half million tons.

The dominant fusion process in the Sun is the proton-proton chain reaction, in which approximately 0.7% of the total mass of hydrogen is converted into energy. Thus 4.3 million tons of pure energy is equivalent to over 600 millon tons of hydrogen fuel burned every second. (For comparison, the largest ever nuclear device, the Soviet Tsar Bomba, burned no more than a few hundred kilograms of hydrogen to produce a 50 megaton explosion.)

Fortunately, there is plenty where that came from. The total mass of the Sun is 2 × 10³⁰ kg, so if the Sun was made entirely of hydrogen, it could burn for 100 billion years before running out of fuel. Now the Sun is not made entirely of hydrogen, and the fusion reaction slows down and eventually stops long before all the hydrogen is consumed, but we still have a few billion years of useful life left in our middle-aged star. A much bigger (pun intended) problem is that as our Sun ages, it will grow in size; in a mere billion years, the Earth may well become uninhabitable as a result, with the oceans boiling away. I wonder if it’s too early to start worrying about it just yet.

Ontario’s budget

Canada, Economy, Politics No Responses »

Feb 162012

Ontario is in trouble. According to economist Don Drummond’s devastating report, only drastic measures can reverse the trend of ballooning deficits. So something must be cut. But what? And who will do the cutting?

Normally, this would be the time when I’d be expressing a desperate wish for a Conservative government to replace the Liberals ASAP. Unfortunately, I don’t trust Ontario Conservatives. Chances are that rather than cutting, they’d continue with business as usual, perhaps even spending some more on populist programs that happen to suit their ideological agenda (like Harper’s federal government did, with its tough-on-crime legislation at a time of falling crime rates.) Paradoxically, by commissioning the Drummond report, the Liberals indicated that they may be the best candidates to fix the mess that we are in, even though they may very well have caused it in the first place.

Still, it will be an interesting spectacle with the governing Liberal minority introducing an austerity budget in the provincial legislature. Will the Conservatives vote against an austerity bill just to bring down the government?

Swiss tidiness in space

Space No Responses »

Feb 162012

Other countries have launched satellites to observe the Earth; observe the Sun; observe the stars; perform physical, chemical, or biological experiments in space; or even for military purposes. But here is a first: trust a Swiss team to propose a microsatellite specifically designed to capture orbital junk and drag it back to the atmosphere to burn it up.

Radical extremist child pornographer

Canada, Politics 1 Response »

Feb 152012

Stephen Harper’s government thinks that anyone who opposes Bill C-11, the proposed copyright legislation that includes Draconian provisions on digital locks, is a “radical extremist”. I guess I must be a radical extremist, then, having just signed an online petition:

Stephen Harper’s government also thinks that people who oppose their new proposals for warrantless surveillance are siding with child pornographers. Since I oppose warrantless surveillance, I guess that makes me one:

Of course these contemptuous portrayals of people who opposed this government’s divine agenda reveal only one thing: that although they call themselves “conservatives”, they are anything but. They are the radical right-wing looney house.

Can we have a real conservative party please? I am so tired of voting Liberal.

CNN-led coup d’etat in Hungary

Hungary, Politics 1 Response »

Feb 112012

According to Hungarian media reports, denied by some members of the ruling Fidesz party, but confusingly, confirmed even by some pro-government newspapers, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, told his supporters at a party meeting that there was an international conspiracy attempt, led by CNN (!), to carry out a coup d’etat against his government.

If these reports are true, they prompt me to ask three questions.

First, to Mr. Orban: My good man, have you gone stark raving mad?

Second, to the leadership of Fidesz: Why do you allow yourselves to be led by a person who has obviously gone stark raving mad?

To supporters of Mr. Orban and his party who actually believe his cockamamie conspiracy theories: have you all gone stark raving mad?

Well, perhaps the reports are false after all. As a matter of fact, I’d certainly like to believe that they are false. But they ring true. In recent months, Hungary’s government dismissed all Western criticisms as mere results of an organized liberal or socialist conspiracy by “enemies of Hungary” in the country and abroad. Support for Mr. Orban within his party is unwavering; indeed, support for Mr. Orban seems to have been the central program theme of this party for the past two decades. And Mr. Orban’s supporters recently held a pro-government rally, holding up signs protesting attempts to turn Hungary into a “colony of Europe”.

Colony? No way. Insane asylum of Europe, perhaps.

Diamond Jubilee

Canada, History No Responses »

Feb 062012

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II began on February 6, 1952, following the death of King George VI.

As a loyalist royalist (or is that a royalist loyalist?) Canadian, I think this day is worth celebrating. Besides, I happen to like the old gal anyway. May she be around in good health for many more years to come.

Sunday 1AM

Computers No Responses »

Feb 052012

I am not usually up this late, but I’ve been working a lot tonight. So it’s 1AM and I am still sitting in front of my computer. That’s when it happened… an occurrence that looked eerily like something I’ve seen recently, when my expensive video card died. The system became excessively busy, the mouse pointer froze, and eventually, the Aero glass interface was shut down, for no apparent reason. Oh no… was my computer about to kill another pricey graphics card? But then, in a few minutes, everything was back to normal, with no sign of trouble in the Event Viewer. The only relevant entry was one indicating that the Aero user interface was shut down by a request from the Windows System Assessment Tool. But why? Then, this sentence on Wikipedia caught my eye: “In addition to tests requested by the user, WinSAT is scheduled to automatically run every week. The default schedule is 1am on Sundays”.

Live and learn.

Goodbye, Malév

Aviation, Hungary, Personal No Responses »

Feb 032012

Hungary’s flagship airline is no more: after 66 years of operations, Malév unceremoniously stopped flying after two of its airplanes were grounded in Tel Aviv by a demand for advance payment for fuel and services.

Though the news is not unexpected (Malév has been in deep trouble ever since it was ordered to repay several hundred million dollars worth of state subsidies that were deemed illegal by the European Union), I am still saddened. My first ever professional contract in 1979 (yes, I was still in high school) was to write code to simulate the take-off of Malév-owned TU-134 aircraft at Budapest’s Ferihegy airport under various adverse conditions, calculating the maximum safe take-off weight. I also have other memories, such as nearly missing a Malév flight in Bucharest in 1983, as in Ceausescu’s capital by that time, fuel was scarce, public transport was unreliable, and taxicabs fueled by natural gas were not accepting passengers to the airport due to the chronic fuel shortage and rationing. (I hitchhiked and caught my flight with only seconds to spare.) Ferihegy Airport without Malév is just not the same.

Loaner cat

Cats, Personal No Responses »

Feb 012012

Once again, we have a feline visitor in our house: Poppy, the cat of a friend of ours, has been spending the past two weeks here while her owner is out of town. Poppy is a 20th century cat, but she is in good health and as playful as ever. I am looking forward to many more of her visits in the years to come.

Gotta love Rogers

Canada, Internet No Responses »

Jan 302012

Rogers is supposed to be one of Canada’s leading telecommunication companies. I guess bigger does not necessarily mean better.

Back in August, I upgraded my cable Internet service to a small business package. This itself turned into a comedy of errors: to effect the upgrade, I had to order separately the small business service on the one hand, and cancel my residential service on the other. Sure enough, Rogers managed to cancel the freshly ordered small business service instead, and I spent an hour and a half (!) on the phone with them before it got sorted out. But, I digress.

Presently, I’ve been trying to access this small business account online. Ever since my residential service was canceled, when I logged on to Rogers.com, I saw my wireless and cable TV accounts, but not the Internet account. Cool, I have the option to add a new account, and I certainly have all necessary information. So let’s give it a try. I did so last week… and the service still isn’t shown in the interface. But just today, I received a postal (!) letter from Rogers, confirming that I registered this account.

There is also the option to view small business services on Rogers.com. There, I can again try to add my account. But it isn’t happening… instead, I get an error indicating that the service is unavailable.

OK, let’s try to call Rogers. The letter they sent had an 877-number, which I tried to call, only to get an automated message telling me that they now have online chat support and for all other inquiries, I should call their main number… click, dial tone. There is another number, for small business support… but when I call it, all the announcements are in French, with no option to choose English.

OK, let’s try live chat. The link, helpfully, is right there on the main page of Rogers.com. Click on it and… 404 error, page not found.

Oh really. Come on guys, I don’t necessarily expect perfection, but this is downright amateurish.

Harper’s bold plans

Canada, Politics No Responses »

Jan 272012

I never know what to think of our esteemed prime minister, Mr. Harper.

Every so often he comes across as eloquent, competent, knowledgeable and trustworthy. But just when I am ready to start trusting him…

There is of course his planned copyright bill, with its Draconian DRM provisions, which he seems determined to ram through Parliament despite opposition by many (who, incidentally, were dismissed as “radical extremists” by Harper’s Industry Minister).

Then there is Harper’s much disputed crime bill, introducing tougher sentences and such in an era of declining crime rates. Why? Is this a policy based on fact or ideology?

And now, we hear, Harper may want to fix our old age security pension system. Which presumes that the system is currently broken. But is it, really? An article today in The Globe and Mail suggests otherwise: in Canada, Old Age Security consumes only 2.41% of our GDP (compare this with places like Italy, where the figure is closer to 14%) and even in 20 years, this figure is expected to reach only 3.14%.

Mr. Harper has several more years at the helm, even if he is not re-elected. I sure hope that he will be more inclined in the future to push aside ideology and base his governing instead on facts and reality.

Newt on the Moon

Politics, Space No Responses »

Jan 272012

Normally, I would get tremendously excited to hear about a serious proposal to establish a permanent lunar colony. (Where do I sign up?)

Unfortunately, when Newt Gingrich floated this idea while campaigning in Florida, I did not feel excited at all. That is because I have very little doubt that this was simply an exercise in transparent political opportunism. Mr. Gingrich is hoping to gain some votes in the Space Coast, but I suspect that even residents there, whose livelihood for a long time has depended on a healthy space program, will see through his blatant pandering.

NASA’s week of mourning

Space No Responses »

Jan 262012

NASA’s week of mourning begins tomorrow. The three deadly accidents in NASA’s history all happened in late January/early February. Apollo 1 caught fire 45 years ago on January 27, 1967, killing Grissom, White and Chaffee. Challenger exploded 26 years ago, on January 28, 1986, killing all seven on board. And Columbia broke up during reentry on February 1, 2003, just nine years ago, killing another seven people. Why these accidents all happened during the same calendar week remains a mystery.

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