The Los Angeles Times has a story about a security researcher named Chris Paget, who went cruising around the streets of San Francisco in his car, looking for electronic US passport cards (PASS cards), which have embedded RFID chips. Within an hour of driving around Fisherman's Wharf, using a scanner built from readily available parts, he had successfully captured the serial numbers of six pedestrians' passport cards -- without their knowledge.

It is difficult to look at Afghanistan and not be reminded of another battle, a conflict with an insurgent force in Vietnam. It sounds ridiculous that a nation like the U.S. could not successfully wipe out any given enemy, especially when you consider our military budget. I bet the Soviets thought that as well when they were there.

Many economists, myself included, refer to the recent boom and bust in house prices as a bubble, whose foundation lay in a combination of credit market excesses and human imperfections. Fundamentals certainly played a role as well, but bubble forces were particularly important.

Microsoft has issued a new security advisory for Internet Explorer. It relates to a Microsoft Office Web component, the ActiveX control that is used to display Excel spreadsheets retrieved from a Web site. This is a serious vulnerability, since it potentially would allow execution of an arbitrary program if a user simply visits a compromised Web site.

"Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed. And I don't think you will." -- Senator Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina. While there is glowing praise coming out of the first morning of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing, she has not escaped criticism.

While looking for a creative way to promote my business, I found a company that offers a custom jump drive that can be personalized in a variety of cool designs.

While hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor have just
begun, she is already as well-known as Sandra Day O'Connor, the first
female to serve on the U.S.'s highest court, according to a C-SPAN
poll.

Despite its ostensible focus on stability, the Obama administration's financial reform proposal offers no plan to prevent asset bubbles like the one in subprime loan securities that triggered the current crisis. Although expected, this outcome is disappointing because it appears to be based on an exaggerated fear that a policy against bubbles would fail.

"The Tragedy of the Commons" is an influential article written by Garrett Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968. It's one of those pivotal articles at the dawn of the environmental and conservation movements, which describes a dilemma in which multiple individuals acting independently in their own self-interest can ultimately destroy a shared limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long term interest for this to happen.

The commotion and confusion of Rep. Mark Kirk's entrance/non-entrance into the Senate race in Illinois has once again pitted the party purists against RINOs, or "Republicans in Name Only." Putting aside any ideological arguments or positions on legislation, a party is only relevant when it can a) build a majority and b) get elected in every region of the country.

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