femtolicious

At 3,106 carats, a little under a pound and a half, the Cullinan Diamond was the largest uncut diamond ever discovered. It was extracted from the earth at the Premier Mine, near Pretoria, South Africa, in 1905. Appreciating the literal enormity of the find, the Transvaal government bought the diamond as a gift for King Edward VII. Transporting the stone to England was a huge security problem, of course, and there was much debate on how best to do it. Detectives were sent from London to guard it on its journey. News leaked that a certain steamer was carrying it, and the presence of the detectives confirmed this. But the diamond on that steamer was a fake. Only a few people knew of the real plan; they packed the Cullinan in a small box, stuck a three-shilling stamp on it, and sent it to England anonymously by unregistered parcel post.

Beyond Fear, pp 211-212, Bruce Schneier (via Schneier on Security)

I thought that thinking of our devices and what they do for us as persistent, things we’re always accountable to — in other words, you can’t just cut them off, or silence them or some such thing. More like pet ownership than just having an inert object that can be denied when it is convenient to ignore them, or discard them.

Research / Techkwondo » Things That Don’t Turn Off