arfink Posted July 11, 2013 Author Posted July 11, 2013 Is that a pink llama? o.o Why yes, it is. Do you dislike pink or something bro?
arfink Posted July 11, 2013 Author Posted July 11, 2013 I am pondering getting shirts made, but I'll need to know how many people for sure want one, and then get ideas of sizes. Ideally nobody wants one S or M because then we can use a bigger screen for all of us big-sized folks. :)
AnneLine Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Big, Beautiful T-Shirts! (We can always offer to hand tailor / alter for smaller sizes if necessary... much easier than altering small ones larger!)
BG45 Posted July 12, 2013 Posted July 12, 2013 http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/07/11/us_spying_government_leaks_send_russian_security_back_to_pre_digital_age Looks like the Luddites at Russia's Federal Guard Service are headed back to the pre-digital age. The agency, which guards Russian officials -- the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Secret Service -- is placing an order for typewriters, according to Russian newspapers Izvestia and the Moscow Times. The reason? Information security. "After the scandal with the circulation of classified documents by Wikileaks, the revelations made by Edward Snowden and reports that [Prime Minister] Dmitry Medvedev's phone was tapped during his visit to the G-20 summit in London, it has been decided to expand the use of paper documents," a Russian official reportedly told Izvestia. The Russian government has approved $15,000 for the purchase of new typewriters for the Federal Guard Service, along with new ink ribbons for older-model machines. (It seems like a lot of money for antiquated word processors, but it's not unheard of. A quick search shows this top-of-the-line Swintec still costs nearly a grand, and the new Triumph-Adler T 180s, for which Russia is ordering replacement ink, sell for over $260.) Izvestia cites experts who say that typewriters are still used by several Russian ministries and security services, and, Radio Free Europe notes, "the typewriters in question are designed for printing classified documents, in that each machine has unique 'handwriting' that can be traced back to the source." But there are reasons Russia entered the digital age in the first place -- hard copies can be lost and are still difficult to transport quickly and securely. And 20 typewriters doesn't mean Russia's diplomatic security is getting offline entirely. Still, it's a serious step, and a sign of how leakers and espionage in the digital age are making governments wary all over again. Well that's one way to keep information more secure.
arfink Posted July 12, 2013 Author Posted July 12, 2013 That won't keep anything secure at all. Paper documents are super easy to steal and leak. Also, typewriters can have key-readers installed on them too. Just like on PCs, it would be completely undetectable unless they're fully manual, and I doubt the Russians are going to switch to those.
AnneLine Posted July 12, 2013 Posted July 12, 2013 (edited) Ah, but you can get that info off a manual, too..... You can snatch the carbon paper, film ribbons and of course the Dictaphone tapes. All those posed security risks even before key readers. Because as any good spy/mystery thriller reader from the 50's and 60's can tell you, you can lift the content of the typist's work off those things, too..... And, of course, you can abduct the poor typist... :eek: And where and how do you store all the tons of paperwork? Brother. or should I say, Comrade! On a brighter note, many a Russian touch-typist may be thinking... "At last,... my skills will once again be called into service!!!!" Because... a keyboard is NOT a typewriter, my friends.... it's a different set of skills. It is NOT going to be easy for anyone trained exclusively on a computer and/or keyboard to go back to a typewriter after using a word processor. REALLY tough, II know, because I had to do it at one point. Had to do that when I went into a convent and all we had to use was a 1940's manual. Nearly drove me nuts! Ah Holy Poverty! If they are really going to do it, I hope they invest in a good machine. Swintec is a great machine. IBM Selectric II, same comment.... the rest, oh boy are they gonna be miserable... Edited July 12, 2013 by AnneLine
AnneLine Posted July 12, 2013 Posted July 12, 2013 Further thoughts re the same.... Point of history: One of the plots in a Perry Mason novel revolved around a really accurate, touch-typing receptionist. I bet most people reading the book thought, oh, that Is really silly.... Not true!!!! When I was a young kid, my mother worked as a legal secretary. They hired receptionists NOT for looks, NOT for telephone or reception skills... but for TYPING skills. (You needed the rest, of course, but it was the typing that was a key). Why? Because the receptionist was the DUPLICATING department. She sat there with carbons and reams of paper and made 5 or 6 copies of every page of every document with her TYPEWRITER. So the ability to type fast and accurate was a KEY skill (no pun intended) in that job. Because every time you made a mistake with that danged carbon paper, EVERY copy had to be fixed while stll in the machine. It was a nightmare. So... you wanted someone who was accurate.... and fast... and could do that while answering phones and doors and making coffee. And if you were a temp, you learned really early to bring your own stuff: Dictionary, eraser pencils WITH brush, white out (later in the game), sponge Dictaphone ear-plug covers (because they were SO painful to wear if you didn't have those... and a lot of the secretaries had worn out totally uncomfortable ones...) And a few other items that made ones' life a little nicer.... Yup. And that was in the 1960's and early 1970's.... Learned & used those skills myself. Ah the good old days......
arfink Posted July 12, 2013 Author Posted July 12, 2013 One does wonder if the Russians even preserved their paper-records security very well. I can just see some hapless secretary throwing out an old carbon or tape without thinking about it.
arfink Posted July 12, 2013 Author Posted July 12, 2013 Also, I do think it's rather absurd of them to do this. Computer security certainly isn't any worse than paper, and with far less hassle.
AnneLine Posted July 12, 2013 Posted July 12, 2013 Or they can learn from the Employment Development Department of the State of California. Had a bunch of VERY confidential paper records. Needed to get 'em shredded. Didn't want anyone to read them or be able to pass 'em on. So..... they found a mental health facility with some VERY low intelligence clients. They were healthy and more or less happy... but their intelligence level was so low they literally couldn't live on their own, and not only could they not read, the would NEVER be abel to learn to read. But they were able to teach them how to use a shredder. After the training, they brought the sealed containers of stuff into there, and let 'em shred. They went to town! And they were paid a wage! Inmates were thrilled -- they were working! They were proud of themselves! And the stuff couldn't have been safer.... because no one could read it.... ;)
arfink Posted July 12, 2013 Author Posted July 12, 2013 See, this whole thing with Russia just proves they're luddites. This is why so many governments and other organizations are not very good at information security, because they won't embrace the cutting edge to stay ahead of the hackers. By regressing into the paper-trail age, they're just making it easier for leakers because the methods of leaking paper are already well known, and forcing all their staff to reinvent the wheel without the benefit of computers, which were the logical answer at the time for information security. There is a reason why the SS adopted computers by IBM even in WWII, because they worked great for that kind of thing.
BG45 Posted July 13, 2013 Posted July 13, 2013 Good points. :) And "duplicating department" just made the job sound soooo much worse. x.x
AnneLine Posted July 13, 2013 Posted July 13, 2013 (edited) And click to see this -- about correcting those documents!!!! http://books.google.com/books?id=5Z4aAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA60&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U3MkhtcUKYux567zKkiwVmKpNNvYg&ci=54%2C34%2C921%2C1257&edge=0 (From Andrews' Facimile Typewriting Manual)(Google ebooks) Edited July 13, 2013 by AnneLine
arfink Posted July 13, 2013 Author Posted July 13, 2013 Those erasers with brushes look quite handy for typewriter work, but wouldn't be much use to a more conventional artist. I would like one of these:
AnneLine Posted July 13, 2013 Posted July 13, 2013 Yes, but read the section on how to make erasures in the typewriter on the link above.... it was a skill, my friend.. :shudder: I remember it well....
arfink Posted July 13, 2013 Author Posted July 13, 2013 Yes, sounds like a major pain. But I suppose in Mother Russia they are used to pain by now...
arfink Posted July 13, 2013 Author Posted July 13, 2013 Heading home! The van is almost packed. 30 minutes til go time I think.
BG45 Posted July 13, 2013 Posted July 13, 2013 In Russia, pain feels you! Or something like that. Boo on end of vacations.
arfink Posted July 13, 2013 Author Posted July 13, 2013 Oh, I dunno about that BG. I am glad to be home! Clean sheets, air conditioning, hot showers. I am clean and cool and freshly-shaved and content as can be. ^_^ Soon I'll be off to confession. Perfect! BTW, that car is something else. Portal themed demolition derby vehicle? And speaking of Portal, I want to go see Pacific Rim in theaters. I hear they used the voice of GladOS in that movie, and for that reason alone I am interested in seeing it.
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