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LOEX 37th National Conference

Early heads up on next year's LOEX Conference. It will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 30 - May 2, 2009.Here is some text from a promotional flier:LOEX 2009 April 30-May 2 Albuquerque, NM: Blazing Trails On the Path to Information LiteracyJoin us in the Land of Enchantment to explore, network, and share. We encourage you to begin thinking about presentations you would like to share with colleagues.Our trails will diverge toward the following themes:? Trail Guides: Leadership and Management? Off the Beaten Path: Creativity and Exploration? Shortcuts: Lessons ?to go?? From Covered Wagon to the Railroad: Educational Technologies? Round-up: Collaborative Efforts and Spaces? Are we there yet? Assessment and AccountabilityLOEX 2009 New Mexico Planning CommitteeJosé Aranda, Doña Ana Community CollegeMegan Beard, University of New Mexico LibrariesCarroll Botts, University of New Mexico LibrariesMark Emmons (co-chair), University of New Mexico LibrariesSusan Moore, Central New Mexico Community CollegeCassandra Osterloh (co-chair), Queen of Heaven SchoolCecilia Stafford, New Mexico State UniversityGrants Theresa Valko, New Mexico State University

Security Matters: How to Create the Perfect Fake Identity

Let me start off by saying that I'm making this whole thing up. Imagine you're in charge of infiltrating sleeper agents into the United States. The year is 1983, and the proliferation of identity databases is making it increasingly difficult to create fake credentials. Ten years ago, someone could have just shown up in the country and gotten a driver's license, Social Security card and bank account -- possibly using the identity of someone roughly the same age who died as a young child -- but it's getting harder. And you know that trend will only continue. So you decide to grow your own identities. Call it "identity farming." You invent a handful of infants. You apply for Social Security numbers for them. Eventually, you open bank accounts for them, file tax returns for them, register them to vote, and apply for credit cards in their name. And now, 25 years later, you have a handful of identities ready and waiting for some real people to step into them. There are some complications, of course. Maybe you need people to sign their name as parents -- or, at least, mothers. Maybe you need to doctors to fill out birth certificates. Maybe you need to fill out paperwork certifying that you're home-schooling these children. You'll certainly want to exercise their financial identity: depositing money into their bank accounts and withdrawing it from ATMs, using their credit cards and paying the bills, and so on. And you'll need to establish some sort of addresses for them, even if it is just a mail drop. You won't be able to get driver's licenses or photo IDs on their name. That isn't critical, though; in the U.S., more than 20 million adult citizens don't have photo IDs. But other than that, I can't think of any reason why identity farming wouldn't work. Here's the real question: Do you actually have to show up for any part of your life? Again, I made this all up. I have no evidence that anyone is actually doing this. It's not something a criminal organization is likely to do; twenty-five years is too distant a payoff horizon. The same logic holds true for terrorist organizations; it's not worth it. It might have been worth it to the KGB -- although perhaps harder to justify after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 -- and might be an attractive option to existing intelligence adversaries like China. Immortals could also use this trick to self-perpetuate themselves, inventing their own children and gradually assuming their identity, then killing their parents off. They could even show up for their own driver's license photos, wearing a beard as the father and blue spiked hair as the son. I?m told this is a common idea in Highlander fan fiction. The point isn't to create another movie plot threat, but to point out the central role that data has taken on in our lives. Previously, I've said that we all have a data shadow that follows us around, and that more and more institutions interact with our data shadows instead of with us. We only intersect with our data shadows once in a while -- when we apply for a driver's license or passport, for example -- and those interactions are authenticated by older, less-secure interactions. The rest of the world assumes that our photo IDs glue us to our data shadows, ignoring the rather flimsy connection between us and our plastic cards. (And, no, REAL-ID won't help.) It seems to me that our data shadows are becoming increasingly distinct from us, almost with a life of their own. What's important now is our shadows; we're secondary. And as our society relies more and more on these shadows, we might even become unnecessary. Our data shadows can live a perfectly normal life without us. --- Bruce Schneier is Chief Security Technology Officer of BT, and author of Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World.

PHOTOS: Giant, Bulging-Eyed Roman Emperor Statue Found

An "exquisitely carved" statue of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius, with lion-skin boots and a feathery beard, has been discovered in an artifact-rich site in Turkey.

Writer who photographed HP Lovecraft's headstone ordered to delete her photo, heaped with abuse

Matt sez, "One of my favorite writers, Caitlin R. Kiernan, was the subject of verbal abuse, profanity and homophobic remarks from some sort of security guard when she and her companion went to visit H.P. Lovecraft's grave. The guard attempted to make them delete all of the photographs they had taken, despite the absence of any policy forbidding it. Are cameras like catnip for abusive, power-mad rent-a-cops now?" Basic story: Caitlin and her friend have been visiting the grave for a decade or so, paying respects quietly, as do many people. It's one of the most photographed stones in the world. The graveyard's policies, listed on its website, do not prohibit photos. The security was incredibly abusive and jerky. Just another skirmish in the war against photography, as the brave security guards of the world prevent the theft of photons from our poor, helpless inanimate objects. As Spooky was getting into the car, I finally looked him in the eye and said the only thing I said during the entire encounter (which elapsed over the space of maybe three or four minutes, start to finish, at the most). I pointed a finger at the man and, very quietly, I said, "You will be reported." He screamed, "You do that, you piece of shit!." This is the only time I got a clear look at the man. He was white, late middle-aged, seemed to have about three-days worth of beard (salt and pepper), and spoke with a heavy regional accent (don't ask which one). I am fairly certain that he had been drinking, and he may have been intoxicated. He certainly acted like a belligerent drunkard. "...stains on the carpet and stains on the scenery..." (Thanks, Matt!) (Image: H.P. Lovecraft's grave a Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike photo from StrangeInterlude's Flickr stream)...

Olympic Medalist Amanda Beard Bares All to Help Stop Animal Cruelty

While many Olympic athletes were worrying about the smog in Beijing and how it may affect their health and performance, U.S. Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard made time in her busy...

Device clamps on face to preserve goatee

The GoateeSaver protects your beard as you shave. You just chomp on this bit and then you can shave around it for perfect results every time. And you adjust three rollers's width, flawlessly conforming to your face, and also to your notion of what a real goatee looks like. As soon as someone comes up with a PonytailSaver and SideburnSaver, the Blackwater/DEA hipster will have all his grooming accessory needs filled. GoateeSaver (LikeCool)...

Amanda Beard Gets Naked in China For PETA's Fur Campaign

I n addition to her "nude" appearance in a recent Powerade campaign, Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard also got "naked" for PETA in support of the organization's Don't Wear Fur campaign.