• Who's in Big Brother's Database?
  James Bamford, author of the Puzzle Palace the first book published about the National Security Agency, reviews a new book on the agency – The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency by Matthew M. Aid. It's an article well worth reading if you'd like to know a thorough synopsis of the book and a quick overview of the history of the NSA.
  (tags: NSA signalsintelligence)

• Windows 7 Guides: The Best Of – Windows 7 guide – Gizmodo
  There is no one definitive Windows 7 guide—it's a sprawling OS with a decades-long legacy, so nobody can cover it all. But with our powers combined, you're in good hands.
  (tags: windows7 microsoft win7 computer guides windows tutorial guide linux)
• Lifehacker Cookbook: Homemade Coffee Shop Addictions – Lifehacker cookbook – Lifehacker
  (tags: lifehacks recipes cooking Lifehacker coffee recipe howto tips)
• 10 Useful Things To Do After Installing Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
  You’ve installed Ubuntu 9.10, now what? Here are my top 10 tips for getting a fresh install feeling your own…
  (tags: howto blog linux software karmic 9.10 koala sysadmin ubuntu tips hacks OS Flash installation)
• The Silent Number: Top things to do after installing Ubuntu Linux 9.10 …
  his list of the top things to do immediately after installing your newly acquired copy of Ubuntu doubles as a general list of great software to try out and use, complete with links to any special instructions on how to set them up, Terminal commands for those who prefer a command-line interface (CLI), and when available, personal package archives (PPA), repositories to keep the applications at their newest version, not just the security updates provided for you by default.
  (tags: linux 9.10 desktop koala installation karmic ubuntu opensource tips tutorial applications howto tools)
• Droid vs iPhone: The Comparison Chart [PIC]
  The Motorola Droid is certainly one of the most discussed new non-Apple smartphones to come out in some time. It launches November 6th on Verizon, but you can already pre-order it from Best Buy.

  Is it worth switching to if you already carry an iPhone or another device? To provide some guidance, BillShrink has produced a detailed chart looking at Droid, iPhone, Palm Pre, and MyTouch 3G.

  (tags: google mobile apple apps comparison iphone smartphone phones)
• 20 Linux Server Hardening Security Tips
  Securing your Linux server is important to protect your data, intellectual property, and time, from the hands of crackers (hackers). The system administrator is responsible for security Linux box. In this first part of a Linux server security series, there are 20 hardening tips for default installation of Linux system.
  (tags: howto linux tips security tutorial guide hardening sysadmin)

This is a sublime short film by Joe Taylor, with a tip of the blogging hat to Patrick Zimmerman for flagging this up. He shot it with the stunning Red One digital HD camera (if I had a million dollars…). Taylor’s filming style reminds me of some of the atmospheric work of Ron Fricke of Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka fame.

Both cinematographers rely on stunningly framed shots of beautiful landscapes, even if the landscapes are beautiful in subtle, slightly under appreciated ways like the scenes of rusting windmills and half-collapsed barns.

I grew up in rural Illinois, and I still find farm scenes very evocative. They whisper home in my ear. They wrap me, sometimes uncomfortably, in the warmth of nostalgia. When we’re younger, home seems something to escape from, but as we grow older, the burnished memories beckon. The sharp edges are worn smooth with time, and we long for something that probably never was and probably never will be.

That speaks to the tension I find in myself so often. I am a nomad who longs for a sense of being rooted. I love the quiet solitude of the countryside and open spaces but, just like Jack Kerouac, need my noisy bursts of city excitement. I am sure that I am not alone in struggling to balance the tensions of my personality. I expect there are few who stand poised on the fulcrum of their conflicting desires apart from all too fleeting moments. However, I know that too often I fail to savour the moment I’m in and instead long for moments I remember or at least think I remember.

I suppose that all this is part of the human condition rather than a personal failing. Contentment has always been elusive, and the bliss of it is probably – like all positive emotions – twinned with its absence. The tricky bit for me comes in feeling my way through these tensions in my personality. Am I simply suffering yet another bout of the ‘grass is greener’ or are these slight pangs of dissatisfaction something I should pay attention to?

• Google Wave's Best Use Cases – Wave – Lifehacker
  Last week we asked a simple question: How will you use Google Wave? Over 600 responses later, we're sending Wave nominations to the people who had the best use cases. Here are a few.
  (tags: Google howto usecase wave)
• Top 15 Terminal Commands for Hidden Settings in Snow Leopard | Terminal, Finder, Dock/Exposé/Dashboard, iTunes + iPod | Mac OS X Tips
  Tips and tricks for Mac OS X. Tutorials for new users, quick tips, timesaving tricks and hidden features.

My friend and colleague has taken his skills as a photographer and adapted them to creating video, very compelling video. He shoots not only with digital video cameras but also with a new generation of HD video enabled digital stills cameras. Here is a great example of his skill in composition and storytelling with his interview with a Chinese amateur submarine inventor.

I’ve now lived in two capital cities for more than a decade. They are strange places. Most people there can’t conceive of how the rest of the world isn’t as obsessed about politics as they are. Not just that, but most of them think the social drama that plays out around politics is infinitely fascinating rather than what most people see it as, tediously juvenile. Strip away the power and the real impact that some of this soap opera has, and it really bears a striking resemblance to angst-y teenage self-obsession. It’s really best to maintain a healthy distance, which is why most people do.

This Family Guy parody isn’t just poking fun at political cartoons, it’s also poking fun at the bubble mentality of Capitol Hill in Washington and the Westminster Village in London. Unfortunately, I’ve lived in the bubbles so long, I might be one of the few people who will actually laugh at it. I think I need a new injection of perspective. Trip to the countryside anyone?

• Google Wave: You need to pay attention to this.
  Jason Kolb gives an in-depth view of Google Wave and the underlying technology, XMPP. It's a technical post, but it clearly explains the possibilities of XMPP in a much broader context. It's really worth a read.
  (tags: google wave xmpp)

Kitteh Couture

After an entirely too busy summer, things are settling down a bit so I’m just really busy instead of so-busy-that-I-don’t-actually-have-any-time-to-do-anything-but-work busy. One of the big changes in the life of the Charman-Anderson household is that we’re the proud parents of two kittens, who as of today are four months old.

Friends of our ours were adopted by a cat. Sookie was a bit on the big side, and when they took her to the vet for a check up, he offered his congratulations. They were going to be kittie parents. We waited for months as we got updates on Sookie’s pregnancy progress, and we knew it was meant to be when eight kittens were born on my birthday.

We originally were only going to adopt one, and Suw wanted a girl. We brought Grabbity home when she was just 10 weeks old. She was an achingly cute little ball of fluff. Grabbity is a portmanteau of grab and gravtiy. Even before we brought her home, if things fell, we would say: Grabbity did it!

Shortly after we brought Grabbity home, one of other people who were going to adopt had second thoughts. The kitten had a slight heart murmur, and the prospective kittie parent was worried about what that meant for the future. We stepped in and said that we’d take another. We had been thinking about it for a while anyway because we thought Grabbity would enjoy the company. Two weeks after we brought Grabbity home, we brought her brother, Sir Izacat Mewton, home. We named him Sir Izacat Mewton because as everyone knows Mewton discovered Grabbity.

They are, of course, getting into all kinds of mischief. They have discovered drawers now.

• The Wilderness Act: A 'Down Payment on Forever'
  A wonderful piece looking back to the history of the wilderness act in the US. I've walked in many wilderness areas, and it's one of the great treasures. I'm proud of the people who have fought for these beautiful, unspoiled places.
  (tags: US wilderness politics)

• Nokia Money – Your Mobile will turn into a Wallet >> Plugged.in
• (US) Mobile Music Experience Stunted >> Digital Media Buzz
• Why is HTML Suddenly Interesting? >> O'Reilly Radar
• Online Advertising Stronger in the Recession in Russia >> profy
• Facebook ratchets up privacy controls (again) >> CNet The Social blog
• How To Use Facebook Applications To Boost Your Fan Base >> All Facebook blog
• RWW Readers Agree: Augmented Reality is Important >> ReadWriteWeb
• Wisdom From Past Entrepreneurs — The Dirty Little Secrets that No One Talks About >> GigaOm
• Confused About Wikipedia's Flagged Revisions? What's Really Happening >> ReadWriteWeb
• Spotify iPhone App Approved Thanks to the FCC >> ReadWriteWeb
• Apple finally enters the world’s biggest mobile market: China to get the iPhone in October >> MobileCrunch
• Facebook Bows to Canadian Privacy Concerns, Will Change The Way All Apps Access Social Data >> TechCrunch