Excellent article regarding computer security…

security

I know this is supposed to be a blog about my life in the Middle Kingdom and all, but there’s just too much interesting stuff going on back home to ignore it.

Here is an article from the Silent Circle folks about trusted computing. Essentially, at the absolute bottom, unless you mined the ore yourself you can’t be absolutely sure you’re not bugged.

I wonder about his remarks on microcode–that stuff built into the foundation of the computing hardware we all use. How many of these little black plastic components are built in this country, and what do you suppose the odds are that some little bit of nefarious code could be installed–and not detected because we’re not looking for it? Given that there is such a thing as a State Owned Enterprise, “a corporation acting like a country” could it seems to me be in a perfect position to modify what it produces for the world market. Who in the world will take the time and effort–and the bill–for such an investigation? Oh, my.

Twitter / KenTenTen: Excellent article regarding ….

via Twitter / KenTenTen: Excellent article regarding ….

Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems

Life in general

Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems

Having been here in China for almost three years now, I’ve had a bit of time to get to know the locals and to become somewhat familiar with the way of life–daily life, work ethics, personal behaviors–general experiences of the culture. It was quite interesting to watch this video on TED recently; the speaker was making a case for the government here in the Middle Kingdom. Most interesting as he brushed aside the charges of rampant corruption and cronyism at every level, to insist instead that the members of The Party only arrive at the highest levels by being the best there is.

Competency Rules.

And while there are more engineers and scientists in Chinese government than are elected in my own, or so I’m told, I’m just not convinced that a one-party system can be all that self-correcting, as the speaker claims. I don’t notice the world striving to emulate the Chinese way of life, but I do see a rapid adoption of the Western culture here. So, if this is a self-correction, why has it only become necessary after the opening of China to the world? Seems like it’s very much driven by outside economic and political forces, not internal retrospection.

I think the Chinese government is much more highly skilled in followership than in leadership.

(Oh, there’s that knock at the door again…)

 

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