Author: Simon

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Mantis

Mantises arguably qualify as cool members of the insect class.  They’re also really creepy.  But, like spiders, they adhere to what I like to call the “Quarter Rule”.  That is to say, if they’re smaller than a quarter, then they’re cool/cute.  If they’re bigger, then I’m grabbing my 20ga.

But the one I found met the cool size requirement.  As I was inspecting my jalapeño plant, I noticed this little guy hanging out, blending in nicely with the bright green:

They’re primarily ambush predators, and I recall from my childhood that once they claimed a spot, they tended to not leave unless hungry.  It’s been a week and he’s still there.  So it would seem that my jalapeño is lucky enough to have its own guardian.

–Simon

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Rhubarb

According to legend, this rhubarb plant, which was given to my by my mother, is part of a plant which was given to her by my father’s mother, who also received it from someone else in the family.  I guess this plant goes way back.  I’m not sure if if qualifies as “heirloom”, but it’s certainly an elder.

At the time, I stuck it in a pot, because I hadn’t installed a garden for it.  Still, it seems very happy, so Liz decided to experiment with a rhubarb crisp recipe.  I find the phrase “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” to apply to my garden.  I watched as she chopped away and reduced the plant to a few stubs.  Sigh.

No matter.  It’s already growing new leaves.  As for the crisp, the conclusion was that it was good but a little too sweet.  I expect there will be future recipe refinements as the plant grows back.  Even so, it was so good that I failed to get a photo of the final dish before it was gone.

How long will a rhubarb plant live?  Aren’t we just essentially cloning it?  It has to be at least a century old.  I wonder.

–Simon

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Password Expiration

For anyone who follows infosec, or even just basic tech, news–NIST has made a landmark change to their password guidelines:

Verifiers SHOULD NOT require memorized secrets to be changed arbitrarily (e.g., periodically). However, verifiers SHALL force a change if there is evidence of compromise of the authenticator.

The change came last month, with the NIST Special Publication 800-63B.  Now, to clarify, NIST cannot enforce these standards upon the private sector.  However, as a general best-practice, businesses incorporate the NIST standards anyway–a decision with which I personally don’t find any fault.

But a consequence of this has been the eternal password debate.  I jested at the very-popular entropy argument, and offered my own thoughts on the matter, specifically that the mathematical models change depending on how one views a password’s derived length.  And while this argument still continues, as least now we can finally acknowledge that once a “good” password has been created, the human elements create enough points of failure as to render any advantages of regular password changes negated.

I therefore beseech you, my employer: can we now please stop with the mandatory 90-day password changes?

–Simon

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Genetics

Liz bought me one of those genetics tests for Father’s Day.  I’ve been waiting for the results since, but they came in today, thus putting to rest the quandary of whether I’m Irish or Scottish.  Turns out I’m definitely not Irish, at least not according to the DNA in my saliva.

I assume Great Britain is referring the the isle, as the regional color indicates, which would naturally include the Scots, thereby explaining the Moorhead surname.

This also confirms the German in me, which is no surprise.  That’s mom’s side.

I surmised that there was some Scandinavian blood.  They had a tendency to spread their genetics all over during the Viking age.  So confirmation on that too.

The Iberian genes were somewhat unexpected, but since we’re going back thousands of years, Iberia was Celtic/Gaulic, so that makes sense.

The test also provided me an analysis of to where my people have migrated within the last several generations.  Cincinnati isn’t exactly a surprise (again, mom’s side).

Looks like I’m living with my own.  No major genetic shockers.

–Simon

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Pumpkins!

Volunteer plants are always fun.  Nature has done the selection process for me.  I don’t have to cull or deal with failed germination–just transplant and be rewarded with a hardier stock, already more adapted to my specific micro-climate.  I mentioned these plants previously, but now I have actual fruit.

I still don’t seem to be having major problems with the vine borers either, so maybe everything’s happily maintaining in symbiosis.  I’ve also been pretty generous with the nitrogen additives, given through foliar feeding, which has yielded giant leaves, resembling tropical undergrowth.

I have two promising jack aspirants:

I’d swear this was a watermelon

–Simon