My reading list 8/10/2014 - Yet another paper proclaims the death of America

Books 

Dead Six by Larry Correia and Mike Kupari - By the author of the Monster Hunter Series (and his co-writer), but slightly darker in tone.  Action adventure with a good dose of sarcastic humor.  Also an easy read that you can throw down and pick up again a few days later when you have some downtime at work.

Skinner by Charlie Huston - I can't really describe this book yet.  I am about 50 pages in and all of the characters are both slightly (or maybe more than slightly) weird.  I am continuing on because I was a big fan of Huston's Caught Stealing series.

Articles

Om Malick - Why Customization Is the Future -

As society becomes more homogenized — we as social animals have a desire and desperate need to stand out from the pack, and yet be part of the herd. The boom in the number of tattooed people is a reflection of that  social need to standout and tell your own story. Clothes have always allowed us to standout. But as the world has become more uniform — thanks largely in part to the rise of fast fashion. 

There is an opportunity to capture the shifting zeitgeist. 

Personally as a tattooed guy with scraggly hair I probably stick out enough but if not I always have ratty t-shirts with fading decals on them.  I don't need a custom dress shirt, but to each their own.

Ars Technica - Hacking is simple, says author claiming role in breach of spyware firm -

The do-it-yourself guide explains how hackers can map entryways into a target's network, scan for vulnerable services and exploit any that are found. It also lists some of the most common methods hackers use to keep their IP addresses and other digital fingerprints off their attacks.

Give the guide a look.  If nothing else it might help you think of areas you might have missed in your server configuration.

Endgadget - Judge rejects Silicon Valley anti-poaching settlement on suspicions of conspiracy -

Not a good time to be a Steve Jobs sycophanct I guess.

Hacker News - Security of OS-level virtualization technologies -

Academic paper.  Not light reading.  

The Telegraph - Poorly trained IT workers are 'gateway for hackers' -

 Derrick Bates, senior information security officer at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Some of today’s graduates may have an abstract knowledge of info security, but how many of them could spot a dodgy attachment, run a penetration test or crack a code?

"What is the point in universities turning out great software developers and web designers if they have no idea how to design them securely? It is like building a house without locks." 

It isn't just the UK.

Infosec Island - Another Washington Think Tank Paper on Critical Infrastructure - Another Miss -

Unfortunately, like the other papers, there is a lack of control system expertise that has been applied even though I was told more than 200 people worked on the paper. The lack of control system expertise has led to numerous wrong assumptions and omissions dealing with “SCADA” and control systems. 

What, you want expertise involved when making a technical decision?  That's just crazy talk!

Valleywag - America's Entrepreneurial Spirit is Dying -

According to a pair of reports from The Brookings Institution, American entrepreneurship has been declining since the 1970s.

Brookings' reports reveal that American business has become steadily less dynamic in the past three decades. Instead of creating new companies, would-be entrepreneurs are increasing going to work for established corporations. And the rate of corporate consolidation is only making the statistic worse.

Now, for the first time since Brookings began tracking the data, more businesses are dying than being born in America.

I don't want to underplay this, because if it is true it's a huge deal, but at the same time these papers proclaiming the death of America have been coming out since the day after the Revolutionary War ended and somehow we are still around.