Consider the tuba and its player. Maligned by flautists and other snigglers, ignored by second-rate composers, the tuba is a musical instrument with a deep history. From serpents to ophecleides to sousaphones, the tuba is truly God's voice box (although some would say it is closer to Satan's). Tubas represent love. Tubas bring joy. Humor. And beer. Rising above the petty stereotyping of fat men and oom-pah bands, the tuba is inarguably the most important musical instrument that exists today.

...legislation near passage in the Texas House of Representatives would gather the two password biometrics most commonly used into a database of 13.5 million Texas drivers, and allow law enforcement to access the information without a warrant in any criminal investigation. Talk about unintended consequences! Well, maybe it's intended by somebody.

Presently, two types of biometrics are commonly used for personal computer passwords: fingerprints and facial recognition. For some time now DPS has gathered both thumbprints (or fingerprints where that's not possible) on all Texas drivers, and in recent years has begun to maintain that data digitally. Now they'll add facial recognition measurements from their photo database to the mix. (You don't suppose anybody would want to steal that information, do you? Identity theft, anyone?)

Never forget that, to your computer, your fingerprint, facial image or iris scan isn't connected to you - it's just data, a bunch of ones and zeroes cycling through the computer system. If it's stolen, you can never get it back, nor can you change your fingerprints or your facial structure. [read full post]