North Korea - Suddenly missile tests don't seem so quaint

xmlguy — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 14:06:59 GMT

I'm a little worried (as we all should be) by North Korea's apparent testing of a nuclear bomb.

Its not so much that I think they could fire a missile at the US, though apparently there is some risk of that.

I'm actually more concerned that they have been testing missiles recently, flying them over Japan or the most recent that failed and crashed in the Sea of Japan.

I'd be extremely worried if I lived in Japan right now (I may even retire there, so its not an entirely empty sentiment). The next time North Korea launches a "test" missile, how should we react? How should Japan react? How are they to know that Kim Jong Il didn't strap a nuclear warhead onto it?

The second scary question - what if he did? What if heaven forbid he nuked Tokyo or anywhere else in Japan? Its not like the US could "nuke them back to the Stone Age" with China on one side and South Korea and Japan so close. Nuclear fallout doesn't stop at the border - just ask any of the farmers in the UK whose sheep became radioactive after Chernobyl. And of course, its only the top leadership that is at fault here - that rank and file working in the fields are as innocent as always.

What this should teach us if nothing else is that once a nation has The Bomb, suddenly a whole bunch of options are off the table. Can't invade - thats like prodding a hornets nest. Turning their country to glass is interesting rhetoric but totally dumb.

Best to make sure it doesn't come to that in the first place. Iran anyone?

Q&A with Steve - Another major "first" milestone....

sw0l33txp — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 14:23:04 GMT

Mohammed Salahuddin was the first to drive around the world (with his wife alongside which is actually an even greater feat!), Naomi Uemura was the first person to reach the North Pole in a solo trek across the Arctic sea-ice and then ofcourse there is myself - the first person to post in Steve's General Topics category. Baby steps people....you have to start somewhere.

So on with the topic. We shall call this thread "Q&A with Steve?" and my goal is to stump him, to actually ask him something about himself that he doesn't know the answer to! If that doesn't work, atleast we can get to know him a bit better.

Here goes nothing:

1. As the world of technology became your job, have you found yourself migrating to new pursuits for enjoyment? What are some of those pursuits and have you always had them in the back of your head or are they completely new, previously untapped ideas?

2. I suggest it's often difficult for intelligent people to integrate themselves into the real world. Do you find it difficult to have deep friendships with people you do not consider as bright as yourself or that cannot understand what you do in technology? Obviously we all have friends from all walks of life but the key here is "deep".

3. How hard are you on yourself for taking responsibility for teaching your daughter? What specific things do you think you will do to encourage her to be confident, strong and self assured?

4. If someone doesn't have as much money as others and is interested in purchasing personal technology for enjoying podcasts - what would you recommend?

5. If you had to move one more time, to a different state than you are in now, and could only move this one more time, where would you move to and why?

6. What scares you most about being a father and what are you doing about it?

7. Do you get upset when you hear something said in jest about people from Japan? Other countries? How do you balance the idea of jokes that you see humor in and yet may have a personal impact on you? Can something be funny even if it's making fun of you or something you love?

8. A 15 yr. old can be known as "cool" for simply doing a trick on a skateboard, having spent perhaps a day or week practicing. You have spent your life coding and most people cannot fathom your genius and therefore will never be able to fully respect what you do or your vision. Most Americans seem to want to be acknowledged for their abilities, to perhaps get some attention for what they do or atleast a level of respect. As you get older, not that you are old, have you found yourself coming to terms with being happy with just knowing what you did or do you find yourself looking for auxillary ways to gain some attention?

9. The human hand is a miracle. The myriad of ways it can grasp, feel, determine temperature is mind boggling. If someone loses a hand and must wear a prosthetic, there isn't any amount of money that can replace their hand. If you were God, and you gave them their hand or hands back, they would be the happiest person alive. Yet, we have our hands and we don't give it a second thought. Often times, instead of being grateful for what we do have, we look to what we want to make us happy. All too often people are in bad moods over things that are very trivial and they almost become accustomed to being in a bad mood- almost like it's their moniker. People even tend to accept people for being that way as if it's an unbridled frustration for their genius and not being able to perfect things in life. So the question to this diatribe is have you found any wisdom in what I call "I have hands"? Have you been able to push aside a yearning for what "more you could have" in life to make room for "what you do have". How have you done it?

10. If you could choose to go down in history on a similar scale to Albert Einstein for something you do or you could be forever known as the greatest father in the world by your children, what would be the hardest thing for you to come to grips with when choosing the "greatest father" choice?

I hope you found these questions respectful, inspiring and thought-provoking. They are original questions by me and they are with good intentions and a fondness for you.

General topics

North Korea - Suddenly missile tests don't seem so quaint

Q&A with Steve - Another major "first" milestone....