... a gem of a comment comes out

On one hand.. I agree they crossed the line.. on the other I kind of understand people's motives. Now I am in no way shape or form advocating hacking someone's email account, but there's something important to consider here. There's a great article at NY Times [nytimes.com] which talks about Palin's rise in politics. Here's one excerpt:

Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

If she does infact use her private email address for correspondence with other staff members or governmental bodies, can you really consider it a private email account anymore? I'm not asking for response from slashdotters with analogies here, but if she does infact potentially use her personal email to avoid subpoenas then why the hell should it be considered personal. She is paid by the taxpayers and they have a right to know what is going on. Why have her staff members been studying the use of personal email accounts for official business anyways?

Maybe the deal with her using personal email for work is just a rumor, and maybe the whole deal with "Anonymous" is not true, but still things aren't just black and white here.

Good Stuff.

Hackers have mounted an attack on the Large Hadron Collider, raising concerns about the security of the biggest experiment in the world as it passes an important new milestone.

....

The scientists behind the £4.4bn atom smasher had already received threatening emails and been besieged by telephone calls from worried members of the public concerned by speculation that the machine could trigger a black hole to swallow the earth, or earthquakes and tsunamis, despite endless reassurances to the contrary from the likes of Prof Stephen Hawking. Now it has emerged that, as the first particles were circulating in the machine near Geneva, a Greek group had hacked into the facility and displayed a page with the headline "GST: Greek Security Team."

Why on Earth is that a net connected system?

Hackers attack Large Hadron Collider

3lb Amber Malt Extract
3lb Extra Light Malt Extract
3/4 lb Crystal Malt (grain in sock)
3 oz Millenium Hops (15%)  - 2oz at 45, 1 oz at 5

with 15 min left on boil:
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
1/3 tsp Powdered Ginger
2.5 tsp Cinnamon
6 orange peels sliced at about 1" by 1/4" strips, slice on an angle.
4 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp (approx) of Irish Moss
1 of those little plastic bears of honey*

Yeast: Smack Pack Ale Activator




Measured OG: 1.042
Finalized OG: 1.012

Bottle Time:  Around a month.
Estimated Alchohol by Vol: ~5.0%



This was one of the first times I used one of the Smack Pack yeast packs from Wyeast Labs.  Usually I use the White Labs 'Vial-ed' Yeasts.   I feel like more of a mad scientist when I used the White Labs stuff, like I am working on some kind of massive experiment and the final ingredient is some rare component that needs to be poured in with a "mwahahahaha" attached.  So when I was suggested the Wyeast Labs Activator packs I didn't know what to think.   I must say though, right before you pitch the yeast, it is quite fun to smack the hell out of the package.  The only drawback that I can see using the activator packs is that it would really really suck if you didn't smack correctly and ended up not breaking the activator pack, and then not realizing your mistake, pour the contents into your brew having not activated.



* 'little plastic bear' is a world wide recognized quantitive measurement.  Ask any scientist at the new LHC and they would be able to describe it in an instant.  I think a few of the panels were actually measure in 'plastic honey bears' if I am not mistaken.