Steal This Wi-Fi?

There's a thought-provoking piece over at Wired, written by Bruce Schneier, that argues in favor of running an open wireless network at home. I have a great deal of respect for Schneier's opinions, and to tell the truth, I've never been burned by anyone using a wireless network that I've left open, though I suppose that's always a possibility (as Schneier acknowledges).

I must admit, however, that one of the first things that crossed my mind while reading the article was an item I had read on boingboing, about how a TV celebrity in the UK, in writing a newspaper editorial criticizing privacy activists for what he characterized as an overreaction to the British government's loss of financial details about of millions of UK households, published his bank account details in the article to underscore his assertion that "We have nothing to fear."

Whereupon, quoting the article, "someone promptly began making fraudulent withdrawals from his account." The kicker? Check this out:

"The bank cannot find out who did this because of the Data Protection Act and they cannot stop it from happening again," he said.

Anyway, leaving my Wi-Fi open right now is a moot point, as the house is pretty far from neighboring residences and I don't expect to be hosting computer-savvy company any time soon.

It's a thought, though.

Cheers...

You can't always get what you want...

I allowed myself to be inveigled into editing some civil registry documents (generally a piece of cake to translate, and a piece of cake to edit).

The key word in that last sentence is "generally."

Herewith, the last graf of my cover note to the project manager:

Please do not send me any more documents like this to edit if they were translated by the same translator. In my opinion, the work was done with a lack of attention to basics, and included several errors in transcribing numbers, omitted text, and translation errors. As a result, editing took longer than expected and the work was needlessly stressful and unpleasant. Short of retranslating the documents myself, I can't be sure I haven't somehow missed something.

Cheers...

Wrap-up...

A short second item came in as I was completing the last of the civil registry documents, and despite the fact I had an appointment to meet with the lawyer regarding estate matters, I took the job. I figured the time pressure would encourage me to streamline my time with the attorney, and although my plan pretty much worked, I came uncomfortably close to delivering the short item late because the time I gained with the lawyer was lost looking for stuff the lawyer had requested.

Today, I signed up for a t'ai chi course at the local library (where I yesterday obtained a borrower's card with no trouble). The course starts tomorrow afternoon. And tomorrow night, I have a night out planned with Galina.

It'll be good to get out of the house for something other than groceries or sandpaper.

Cheers...