When greatness succumbs to disloyalty

Less than a year ago, had he expired from the lung cancer that ultimately robbed him of life, legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno would have been mourned across the board as one of the greatest men to ever tread upon a college gridiron. In October, short of the news that he had covered up a scandal involving young boys and one of his former assistant coaches, Paterno set the record as the winningest Division I coach by eclipsing the 408 wins set by Grambling Coach Eddie Robinson. His record will probably stand for some time to come because most of the more successful college coaches these days end up being tempted by the National Football League or run afoul of their alumni for one reason or other. To have a successful college program that is consistent in its winning ways, to stay at the same school from his time as a young man, to have good health and live long enough to realize the title are all long odds prospects. The great "Pops" Warner (Glenn Scobey Warner) owned the record for decades when I was a young man. It was the University of Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant who exceeded his staggering 319 wins in 1982 and then promptly retired. Bryant died less than a month later, never having really been given a lot of time to bask in the sunset of his historic career. Since then several other coaches have moved up in the ranks including Robinson and the now-retired Bobby Bowden from Florida State. Of all Division I coaches Paterno had the most wins of all coaches. Only if one includes smaller Division III schools do the names of John Gagliardi of St. John's of Minnesota (484-133-11) and Larry Kehres (317-24-3) of Mount Union even get mentioned in the same comparisons as that of Paterno and company among active coaches. But the scandal that swept up "JoePa" in the last several months and ultimately robbed him of exiting in a graceful manner likely contributed to his declining health. Paterno was a fighter and influenced a great many of his players to give more than they thought they were capable of doing and to contribute positively to society. When it came time to consider his institution over the lives of several young men at risk, Paterno did only what was necessary. He failed to report the alleged incidents of sexual abuse in such a way that he could distance himself from the scandal. He reported at least one incident to his immediate bosses in 2002, but never made calls to the police to advise them of the scandal. Again, after 35 years at College Station, Pennsylvania, Paterno made an ill-advised call. He thought he could balance the lives of possible victims of sexual abuse against the image of the university he called home. He took a chance that doing just enough would keep the eyes of an inquiring press and an outraged nation off him and focused instead on the alleged perpetrator. In the end Coach Paterno forgot what he emphasized to his young lieges through his many decades as head coach at Penn State, to wit, just doing enough will not win the game. As one has to excel on the field of play, so, too, does one have to do all they can to find justice in the world for possible victims of those who would take advantage of their positions as mentors. It may have been one of the few times Paterno failed to read from his own playbook and it ultimately cost him universal worship of his great achievement and an unsullied legacy. With the passage of time his reputation may regain some of its former luster, but for now, Joseph Vincent Paterno is gone and so is the opportunity to have left the game with his head high, much like Robinson and Bryant did. It is an American tragedy which will continue to play out in the press and in the courtroom. The final ticks of the clock have come for this celebrated coach. His record of 409 wins, 136 losses and 3 ties will stand long after his passing, but so will the specter of coverup and possible disloyalty to those innocent victims who would have been better served by a coach more closely following his own guiding principles.

It's my fourth anniversary

Today marks the fourth anniversary of this blog. A lot can be gleaned from the fact that I haven't written a word since November here. Actually, I've written gobs, just none here. It's not that I don't want to write here; it's more a factor of time and other commitments that have conspired to keep me from my appointed rounds here. Nevertheless, for those of you who do follow this blog, please know that even though I may not be here as regularly as I was before to speak my piece, I will continue to do so, just with less frequency. Now that I am writing regularly for both Examiner.com and Arts America, it is difficult to find the time to squeeze out more writing. Despite what some may suggest, I do have a life (of sorts). In addition my new duties as the theatre reviewer (critic carries with it such negative conotations) for WYES-TV have eliminated a great deal of my earlier "down" time. Also, this is the time of year when I am concentrating on my efforts to finishing the five...make that six...Mardi Gras ball manuscripts, five of which I will additionally serve as narrator at the balls. It all makes for a great deal of stress and pressure to succeed. Yet, I would be remiss if I did not thank all of you who still check out Kosher Computing for one reason or the other. This blog carries my imprimatur, but in a sense it truly belongs to those who read and glean from it something of value. May the words and thoughts we share be of special meaning as we begin yet another new year and celebrate this anniversary of Kosher Computing.

New month, new look for Kosher Computing

Well, it's been a while since I freshened up my first entry into the blogosphere. I would dare say it's about time that I did something to make this site look a bit more inviting to those who are interested in what I have to say. As the more informed will tell you, the Kosher Computing blog you are reading was the first of several Internet avenues I am now using to teleport my writing and interests to others. I have long written for print media, mostly weekly or monthly newspapers, for decades. Beginning in the late 1990s, I leveraged my interest in the Internet with my computer skills and started working as a chat host for MSN. It allowed me to get to learn about IRC chat rooms and a lot of the ins and outs of dealing with the Internet. I became a member of several MSN Forums and later created some of the first of several MSN communities (later called groups) for special interests in music (Musiclovers and Edwin McCain Fans). I wrote hundereds of pieces, which were posted over these sites. Over the course of several years those groups were unceremoniously dropped by MSN and have since been moved over to a site on Multiply.com that I admit I rarely go to these days. All of the online articles and comments made over the course of six or seven years by members of the group and me were, for the most part, lost to cyberspace. But, change is a necessary component to life and one that makes for interesting new possibilities. The loss of the MSN Groups meant that I was able to write for other outlets. Kosher Computing was one of those that sated my initial hunger for a place to write on the Internet. In more recent years my writing has declined on this location as more avenues have opened up for me. I have been writing for Examiner.com since early 2010 as the Performing Arts Examiner and more recently took on the additional title of Drinks Examiner. I also have expanded my coverage of music to write for Arts America, a new online magazine as their opera, classical and jazz music reviewer. Critic is sometimes a harsh word for me to accept, but, yes, I am also a critic. I have become a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and am also registered with the International Society of Theatre Critics. All of which leads me to render an apology of sorts. I must admit my sorrow at not having enough time to be here more. There is only so much time in the day for me to devote to all of my writing and, these days, this blog has suffered because of it. I can only hope that the lack of quantity will be supplanted by an increase in quality of writing. But we shall see. In the musical "Sunset Boulevard" the lyrics of "With One Look" sung by Norma Desmond as she acknowledges her unseen crowd say something about which writers also feel. "To my people in the dark, still out there in the dark." I can never know just how many people my words will reach or touch. I only know that this is my way to connect to the outside world. Though I may not write as much here as I have before, believe me that this is my first choice for opinion rather than reporting or criticism. Most will note, however, that my opinion pieces oftentimes tend to be more balanced than others. I credit that to my attachment to journalistic style and fair play rather than an active act of vacillation on my part. Nevertheless, I hope all of my friends and family out there in the dark appreciate the sentiment and earnest feeling on my part.

Security Fascists

I know that security has become a caveat for everyone in the computing industry, but there is a point when the ridiculous nature of uber security becomes intrusive and threatening. In the past unprepared banking and investment firms were hit hard by curious hackers and more malevolent criminals intent on stealing identities and funds. The industry's response has been to enlist the services of many of these very same hackers and to give them the keys to the security kingdom. Since they were successful in breaking into networks and protected servers, the CEOs reason, why not let them harden the protective layers to make future hacking improbable, if not impossible? What seems like convoluted logic has led to the most stringent of security practices being exacted on the masses, although the first line of unfortunate victims is usually the network administrators charged with protecting their firms through their own best security practices. Usually, these new security requisites can be logical and understandable. Such good security practices as locking the server room to keep workers' paws off the servers makes good sense. Increasing the length and complexity of passwords is also a common requirement, much to the chagrin of office workers who want to keep it simple like "password" or "fido." Having passwords change frequently seems like another good idea on face value, but in reality having secretaries and mid-level managers create their own passwords is a nightmare (usually they don't reach complexity or length on the first or even second attempts). Having the network administrator charged with keeping the ever-changing password list is also not very feasible, considering everything else he has to keep straight. If all of this isn't enough to drive a sane person crazy, then the new security practices checklist arrives in the mail and is sent from the CEO to the network administrator. Sometimes 20 or more pages, the security inquiries are in fact a questionnaire that determines the level of security enforced at the site. There's only one problem: one size fits all. According to these security fascists, who are intractable when it comes to asking for dispensation or special allowances, a security threat at a small firm carries with it the same weight as one at a major banking firm. Thus, everyone who has to answer their inquiries is put to the test as to how much they can put up with until they turn to these specialists and yell uncle. Recently, a firm hired to maintain levels of compliance for credit cards insisted they be "whitelisted" for the firewall and security device located at a client's office. This was because they were having trouble doing scans on the traffic being passed at the site and they wanted to investigate the traffic more deeply. In other words the device was working too well to keep them - and by extension others - from entering or possibly hacking the site. Other new requirements for VPNs (virtual private networks used for offices to pass traffic to remote sites or for telecomputing from home) include adding special characters (like $,#and @) to passwords between routers that already have extremely high levels of encryption. It is overkill on top of overkill and there seems no end in sight for this madness. Sure, I'm for good security practices. I believe in them. It's just these new restrictions are not breeding any confidence in me that the networks I am responsible for are truly more secure. They're just more complex and more difficult to maintain for the same remuneration. If only I could charge the so-called security experts for my additional time and effort and the costs to the networks to implement their demands.

Food, glorious food

We all remember the classic scene at the beginning of the Academy Award-winning musical "Oliver!" by Lionel Bart. The film based on Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" depicts the children in the orphanage having been carefully fed a regimen of gruel - basically watered down oatmeal - and kept away from a diet which involved meat of any sort. This is to demoralize them and keep their spirits down. It is young Oliver Twist who implores Mr. Bumble for "more" and the tale goes off from there. In many countries the ability to ask for more doesn't even exist. Hundreds of children and adults in East Africa are experiencing hunger on a level few of us can fathom. Yet, here in America we take for granted the fact that food is in abundance and for the most part safely distributed from farm to market to table in an efficient system that assures quality and quantity of products. To be sure there are hungry people in the United States and many of them right under our veritable noses. But here we lack from the politics of food, where food is used as a weapon to keep the downtrodden in check and to prevent any possibility of a backlash against the powers that be. It's much like that in Somalia. The difference is that we have savage, bloodthirsty warlords there who withhold food intended to alleviate suffering because they intend to starve out their enemies. Not one of them is as innoxious a fellow as Mr. Bumble, I am afraid to point out. Nevertheless, we should consider that food is a necessary part of all of our lives. The sooner we remove its inaccessibility from those who need it, the better the human condition will be. Proper food and diets mean less disease and better general health. Think about that today - Blog Action Day - as we reach for the chips and dip, hot dogs or burgers just before we enjoy our regimen of football.

Justice delayed or justice denied

Death chamber for lethal injection

For the family of slain Georgia police officer Mark MacPhail the last two decades have moved slowly and steadily with no closure in sight. His accused killer Troy Davis was charged with the cold-blooded crime despite not a speck of physical evidence. The prosecution proved their case. Nine men had testified that he had done the deed. A Georgia police officer, husband, father, brother and son had been slain. The jury found him guilty and because this was a capital offense involving the killing of a police officer, Davis received the ultimate punishment during the punishment phase of the trial. He was to be executed by the state. In plain and simple terms Davis waited for his date with the executioner for nearly two decades. Over that time he exhausted appeal after appeal. They were denied, but at each turn he was spared and his team of attorneys continued to press their case. Curiously, the longer the conviction stood, the fewer of his accusers were certain Davis was the responsible party. At first, one then two recanted their testimony. Three became five and that soon led to seven out of the nine who changed their minds. Davis never admitted he was guilty. Indeed, he was defiant. It was someone else that had killed MacPhail, he maintained. He was innocent. He pressed his case for a new trial. Another person confessed to the crime, but the courts did not overturn the verdict. Davis' attorneys hoped that some august body of judges would hear his case and grant that a new trial was in order or else find some opportunity to commute the sentence to life in prison while they continued to demand justice. The MacPhail family needing closure for their loss pressed just as hard. What kind of world would allow a public servant who was killed in the line of duty to be forgotten and his killer to remain free? At every appeal there was the MacPhail family demanding justice and there was the Davis family vigorously campaigning for a new trial decrying no semblance of justice. Recently, Davis had gotten closer to the executioner's needle, but last minute reprieves kept his chances and himself alive. But the clock kept ticking. The MacPhail family became jaded. They wanted to know their son had not lived and died in vain. The Davises labored long and hard, reminding the public and officials it was better to let ten murderers go free than to put one innocent man to death. And on it went. When his latest appeal was turned down and the governor refused to act, Davis prepared to meet his maker. Outside the prison and elsewhere there were protests of considerable size. People carried placards and shouted out, while Davis contemplated the meaning of it all. To the end he maintained his innocence even as the IV was attached to his arm and the drugs were sent coursing in his veins. Was this justice? The MacPhails say so. Those that hoped Davis would live say no. In the end it's just one man's life and with the wanton fashion in which lives are snuffed out in an instant these days one may question why the ruckus. In 16 states and the District of Columbia there is no death penalty. These include New York, Illinois, Michigan and Massachusetts - some of the most populous states - and North Dakota, Vermont and Alaska - some with the least populations. Elsewhere in the world countries like the United Kingdom proscribe a death penalty. Is a lifetime behind bars a proper punishment for someone who has deprived another human being of their ultimate right - the right to life? Some of Davis' last words are haunting: "I am not the one who took your son, father or brother!" Only the Allmighty knows if he was telling the truth and if the State of Georgia railroaded a verdict against an innocent man. Fully 65% of Americans believe in the death penalty as a deterrent to crime. If this execution proves nothing else, it proves that Americans are still sharply divided over the right for any state to take a life. In the end there are two families suffering from loss and neither has been fully served by this execution. No one is truly happy. Yes, the MacPhail family has settled for closure. It is simply not possible to bring back Officer MacPhail. Likewise, the Davis family can no longer visit their loved one and they mourn his execution. One thing is certain: the suffering will continue as will the contentious debate over the death penalty.

Gamers defeat HIV mystery

HIV - Could scientists and gamers be on to a cure?

Interesting news today from the computing world. It seems that online gamers have done what scientists have been unable to do by themselves, that is, decrypt the structure of an enzyme in a family of retroviruses that includes the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The monomeric protease enzyme is described as a cutting agent used to tailor retroviruses on a molecular level. Scientists have known about the enzyme for a while, but they could only observe it under an electron microscope which yielded a flat, two-dimensional image. Thanks to a partnership with the gamers, who utilized a special gaming program called Foldit, the scientists were able to understand the complex three-dimensional structure of the enzyme. Understanding the structure could eventually lead to further insight as to how certain diseases like HIV spread and how to design specific blockers to halt them. Foldit was developed as a game by the University of Washington in 2008 in which teams of gamers were enlisted to unfold chains of amino acids, considered the building blocks of proteins. In just three weeks time the gamers were able to unlock the mystery of the enzyme and delivered an accurate three-dimensional model of its structure. Scientists who credited the gamers for the discovery along with themselves say this is the first time that computer gamers have contributed to such a discovery. It shows that the gamers' human spatial reasoning can rise above the skills sets enployed by computers alone. Scientists failed because they could not develop a way to interpret the data from the computers without this extra level of spatial reasoning honed in Foldit. It shows that computers need humans in order to advance to a higher level and dashes much of the doom and gloom forecasts of the downfall of human intellect attributed to the computer. The entire story is presented in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. (You may want to take my word because the cost of reading the article is $32.) This may be just the first step in many new ones to come which could lead to the understanding of the behavior of retroviruses like HIV and could help bring about a cure for the devastating disease of AIDS.