Learn Free Card Trick

According to the sleeve of his latest book, Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security, "in an Uncertain World, Bruce Schneier is the go-to security expert for business leaders and policy makers." If only the policy makers would listen, we'd be safer, happier and still free.

BRUCE SCHNEIER: I don't think I had any defining security episodes in my life, but I think you're right that security is something you're born with.

The Future Is For Everyone (Or At Least, It Should Be)

The article about siblings seems to indicate mainly that siblings of autistics can have autistic traits (or perhaps even be autistic themselves), which of course makes sense when you consider that autism has a strong genetic component. The characterization of this phenomenon as autism being "bad for siblings" is more than a bit misleading—it's not as if, somehow, the autistic sibling hadn't been born, the children being studied would not have exhibited the same social and communication patterns. If someone is going to be autistic, or perhaps broader autistic phenotype, they're going to be that way regardless of whether they have siblings or not.What struck me about the article on siblings, though, was the manner in which the siblings' performance was described:

"Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders demonstrated weaker performance in non-verbal problem-solving, directing attention, understanding words, understanding phrases, gesture use and social-communicative interactions with parents, and had increased autism symptoms, relative to control siblings,"

The reason that description struck me was because in all that verbiage, there was absolutely no questioning of the underlying assumptions in place. These assumptions are common in autism-related literature but very few people even notice them—to me, they're like the proverbial "elephant in the room". And just what are these assumptions? Well, first of all, the tests being used to evaluate the performance of the siblings of autistics (many of whom were probably autistic themselves) were probably not written with autistic cognition in mind. Second of all, I'm almost certain that the tests being used in this context probably assumed quite a bit about the childrens' level of understanding based on the compliance of these children. To make an analogy, watch any cat navigate around a house and you'll definitely get the sense that you're dealing with a creature with a highly developed understanding of physics, but tell the cat to fetch your slippers and you'll probably not get much in the way of a response. This isn't to say that all autistics are good at physics and bad at following instructions—but rather, that it doesn't really make sense to assume an autistic person must be able to perform well on tests normed to a typical population in order to be happy or successful. I somehow doubt that cats wake up every morning lamenting that they're not dogs—but who knows, they might if their human companions constantly punished them for not acting like dogs or doing things that dogs tend to do.Whenever I read articles on autism so utterly dripping with unquestioned assumptions, I can't help but think back to elementary school, when quite a lot about me was considered to be "problematic" or worrisome, even the aspects of myself that I really liked. If you'd asked my fifth-grade classmates about me then, they'd most certainly have said that there was definitely something very wrong with me, that I didn't relate normally, and even that they felt sorry for me. In sixth grade a few girls came up to me and told me that they were being mean to me "for my own benefit", since in high school, "everyone was going to hate me anyway". I remember people wondering if I was sad or depressed because I often preferred to read or draw rather than engage in group activities—in fact, the main thing that made me tend toward sadness at times was the perception that whatever I liked to do was some kind of symptom or problem. I even once got in trouble for being really interested in a particular subject—the teacher assumed that my interest was a sign of being "too lazy to learn about anything else". I'm not saying all this to invoke a pity party—that's the last thing I would want, especially considering one of the things that always infuriated me while growing up was the "we feel sorry for you for being you!" bit I used to run into at school. Rather, I'm just trying to make the point that kids like the ones I grew up with have also grown up. Some of them might even be in professions now where they're evaluating kids.

It's Down Memory Lane For Nobat Group At King's Installation

KUALA TERENGGANU, April 23 (Bernama) -- The installation ceremony for Sultan of Terengganu Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin as the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara on Thursday, will hold a very special meaning for the Kumpulan Nobat DiRaja Terengganu. It was 42 years ago when some members of the Terengganu nobat group or royal court orchestra played the sacred, haunting music at the installation of Tuanku Mizan's grandfather, the late Tuanku Ismail Nasiruddin Shah as the fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 1965. This time they will return to Istana Negara to sound the nobat at Tuanku Mizan's installation. Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Ismail, 56, a member of the group for 23 years now, said he was happy and proud to be part of the nobat ensemble at such an auspicious occasion, and the group had been practising here everyday.

Kurdish university is oasis of free thought in chaotic Iraq

Erbil, Iraq - A guard armed with a machine gun stands at the gate of the compound, which shares a high concrete wall with a prison at the rear. But inside the University of Kurdistan, the only English-language university in Kurdish-controlled Iraq, free minds are at work. Gates open to a freshly laid lawn area. Off to the right, a four-story steel-and-glass facility comes equipped with lockers, air-conditioned computer labs and prayer rooms. Faculty members and students say their college is a break from the Saddam Hussein era, when the curriculum was controlled from Baghdad. "Freedom of expression is the mark of a modern community, not the buildings or technologies," said Abbas Vali, the school's dean. "Under Saddam, university education was an extension of a political system adapted to meet state demands.

Clark Center gears up for Japanese festival

Whether you're interested in bonsai, origami or the martial art of Japanese fencing, the seventh annual Spring Festival at Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture in Hanford offers a full day of activities Sunday. The center, located near a walnut grove six miles south of Highway 198, offers free events along with others at an additional charge.Kenji Miyata, a native of Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan, will provide a bonsai demonstration from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on the outdoor stage. The bonsai master travels throughout the United States showing his skills honed with years of training. He was given the title of bonsai master by the Nippon Bonsai Association in 1978.The center's gallery will be open for docent-led tours throughout the day. The new exhibition, "Tracing the Silk Road with Ikuo Hirayama: The Legacies of East-West Cultural Exchange," can be viewed by picking up tickets at the center's office.Throughout the day, visitors can view and buy paintings, ceramics, photography, textiles and wood artwork from among 14 California artists.

Miranda S-250 Travel Guitar

From an early age, I wanted to learn to play the guitar. I took a few lessons here and there through the years, but for the most part taught myself from books and tapes. I never was a very good player, but that hasn't stopped my love of the instrument and music. I've had several guitars, from electric to acoustic, to even a mini electric that I built myself using a kit. I even had a dial up BBS back in the day completely devoted to TAB (tablature files) that was named CrossRoads BBS.

I haven't made time to play for years and years, but just recently decided to try to revive the desire. What better way to do that, then to buy a new guitar! I didn't want or need another regular acoustic since I already have a very nice small bodied Collings. I didn't want an electric because I don't have an amp.