The Actuator – December 20th

We are in the home stretch now, folks, with less than a week to go before The Big Day. I hope you and yours have a wonderful and peaceful holiday season.

As always, here are some links from the Intertubz that I hope will hold your interest. Enjoy!

The FCC has repealed net neutrality

The biggest headline of the week was that the FCC did what we all knew they were going to do. The discussions that followed have shown me that no one has any idea what should, would, or could happen. Technology moves too fast for legislation, IMO. But when your house needs a new coat of paint, you don’t burn it to the ground. Idiots.

PuTTY Begone! Microsoft will ship an OpenSSH client

For those of you who hate seeing Microsoft embrace open source, look away. And while I’m happy to see this, I do hope that any implementation of a SSH client is done so with security in mind.

Kleptocrat: How To Hide Your Dirty Money

Ever wonder if you have what it takes to be a politician? This game will help determine if you have the skills or not. Let the record show that I am horrible at hiding dirty money, apparently.

Falsehoods programmers believe about programming

A brilliant list that can be modified and applied to any role inside of IT.

Uber accused of espionage, hacking and bribery in bombshell letter

Here’s your weekly reminder that Uber is a company you should avoid. This post makes Uber look like it is a shadow company for MI6. So, if you want to avoid being caught in a spy-ring-bag-drop-gone-sideways-shootout, use Lyft instead.

Power restored at Atlanta airport after outage grounded hundreds of flights

For those scoring at home, that's two electrical fires in the past 16 months at the Atlanta airport. Each one showing how important it is to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Right about now, I’m not sure Georgia Power has updated their infrastructure to ensure proper business continuity planning. Then again, there could have been dozens of times where everything worked well, too. Still, once is an accident, twice is a trend.

A Water Slide Ferris Wheel Might Be the Most Stomach-Turning Ride Ever Invented

If and when this ride becomes operational, I intend to travel there and ride it all day.

Merry Christmas! Here's how I lke to celebrate, with maple bacon bourbon popcorn balls: