News & Views

A couple of stories I'm tracking:

Authentication in Banking:

You may recall from my Identity 2.0 (if a non-casual reader), that I'm tracking this whole identity mismanagement thread. I think advanced technology, not more unenforced legalese, is what's called for to address this sorry situation.

So my interest was piqued by the CBS News item yesterday regarding advances in identity safeguards at ATMs and elsewhere. From what one knows, has, or is, pick any two as a cross-check. Thought provoking.

Maybe there's nothing to this, but it seems a lot of people want to keep average USAers clueless, because North America really is a fertile phishing ground at the moment. They bite and bite hard, at the most transparent of schemes.

Real bankers become too easily confused with spam and con artists in the all-American public eye (which the con artists like).

I've seen Hillsboro Police (HPD) try to warn kids of the dangers, but shouldn't the schools be doing a lot more?

The Status of Pluto:

I was somewhat surprised to learn of the Eight Planets solution, but somewhat pleased.

Keeping Pluto on a par with the others would seem too much like giving in to public sentiment (i.e. a politically motivated move). The only consistent path forward would lose sight of the Inner Eight's signature nature, adding all manner of clutter to our once short and memorable List of Planets. Astrology would be ruined.

If some future ninth planet is found that has "cleared its neighborhood" fine, but in the meantime, Pluto becomes the first of a great many dwarves.

Well, I guess there's some fame in being "the first" of anything (go Pluto!).

2003 UB-313 still needs a better name though.