Last week, Mike suggested we write about our experiences with or thoughts on the events that occurred on September 11, 2001. I thought about it… where I was (Russian TA session), how old I was (freshman in college – I had just turned 18), who was affected (my roommate and dorm neighbors were from Manhattan; my uncle worked in the Pentagon), and how I felt (outraged, shocked, numb, upset). I had retold the story a hundred times – to friends, mostly foreign and often younger, and mostly on the anniversary of the attacks. I thought about typing it up again, here, but decided it was almost too difficult to articulate. Also, why would my experience be worth reading about? Everyone was freaking out, especially us on the East Coast. I dropped the idea.

Until today.

I was catching up on my Preston and Steve podcasts and listened to the show from September 11. They had an author of a book about the action taken at the Pentagon that day (a story which I agree is overshadowed by the harrowing events in New York City and the legend surrounding Flight 93). A moment of silence was observed, during which all the emotions of that day came swarming back. Those feelings of deep sadness for our nation’s collective loss (loss of life, loss of peace, loss of security) were replaced by the statement’s made next.

While interviewing the author of the Pentagon book, Steve Morrison (co-host of the radio show) made a comment about conspiracy theorists to the effect that to even posit an alternative theory on the events was not only disrespectful to the dead, but made you a stupid human. And this is the most prominent ideological (note: not PHYSICAL) loss to America – the loss of our ability (and perhaps, our will) to question the government.

I’m not saying that I disagree with the standard story of events surrounding 9/11, nor am I a “truther.” The point I am making has nothing to do with my own personal or political beliefs surrounding that day. However, I DO believe that is our right and our DUTY as Americans to question the actions of our government. Why is it suddenly WRONG and UNPATRIOTIC to question authority (and, thus, the authority of the mass news media)? Is it because we’re really that incapable of conceiving that maybe, just maybe, the government killed its own people? Did we forget that this is the same government built out of bloody revolution? The same government who sold arms to Iran and lied about it. The same government who passed a law to listen to your phone calls and read your text messages without a writ of habeas corpus. Yeah – that government.

People who question the events of 9/11 are often compared to those who denied the Holocaust. From what I’ve seen, no one is questioning the fact that the events were horrific and that they did, indeed, occur. That’s not the point. We should be able to question HOW and what our government KNEW (if anything at all) that they didn’t tell us. The freedom to police our government is one of the fundamentals of democracy and shouldn’t be quelled simply because a tragic event occurred. ESPECIALLY now, when the event led to a war (um… that the government admittedly started under false pretenses) is when we should question the motives and methods of our leaders. Even if it leads to a consensus, at least the job was done.

When lives are lost on American soil, it becomes inappropriate to ask “why?” Seems like now, when thousands more Americans are dying in Iraq, all we can say is “why not?”

As a photographer, I can truly empathize with this article and while I am not a parent, plenty of my friends have children and have asked me to photograph them. Most parents take hundreds of photographs of their children in the first two or three years of their life, with digital the number is now several thousand. It is not uncommon for them to snap photos daily because at that young age, subtle changes happen often.

One of the more common photos parents will take is of their children in a bath tub (often with their spouse or siblings), running around the house naked after just getting out of the tub or sitting on the toilet for the first time. Usually these are kept for the family and occasionally for that first time you go on a date to embarrass you. Things are slowly changing.

The FBI has issued blanket requests to photo processing labs and computer repair shops in some cities to be on the lookout for pictures of kids in compromising positions, urging them to call the authorities whether they’re sure or not about a picture’s legality. The big national chains that have photo processing labs — Costco, CVS, Rite-Aid, and Wal-Mart — have company policies that compel them to notify the police about any criminal activity they see in customers’ photos. And when children are involved, they’re more than willing to err on the side of caution.

Makes sense, right? One would think so, however it is nearly impossible to draw a line in the sand to what is or is not worth calling about, even top executives at major drug store chains who process photographs states that this is near impossible to force.

Where is the line drawn and at what point should the authorities be called?

Source with more information: Popular Photography

Sadly, other beautiful and bright young women has died in a car crash.  What makes this incident particularly painful is two-fold.  First, what on earth is an 18-year-old doing with a Porsche 911 Carrera?  Apparently she took it on her way to a doctors appointment without her parents knowledge and without ever having driven the thing before.  Her parents say she took the Porsche because her car had been taken away the night before as a disciplinary measure.  Needless to say, it was the last thing she did.

The salt in the wound, if you will, is how the super troopers of the California Highway Patrol have managed to leak explicitly graphic photos of the crash scene.  The parents are very upset about this and are taking steps towards a civil suit.  The next youngest daughter has even begun home schooling as a result of these leaked photos.  She is afraid of going to school, opening her locker and seeing her sister’s body.  These photos are not for the faint of heart (or stomach).  My person favorite is the one showing what I assume are bits of brain splattered along a curb. 

I think this entire scenario says something about the current culture of the internet in that anyone can find and broadcast anything about anyone.  I am personally very concerned about my rights to privacy and would hope that should I end up dead through some violent hand of bad luck my little brother doesn’t have to stop checking his email or attending school for fear of witness.

There are reports online that your average company worker wastes around 1.15 hours per day, a good chunk of which is surfing the internet. This is costing companies millions of dollars per year. If you are going to do it though, don�t get caught! Lifehacker has a great article out today on how to get a little more privacy while browsing at work. Their first suggestion is to get Firefox, if you don’t have it, get it for home for sure and so long as you are allowed to install software at work, put it on there. You can get the link on the right side of this site for Firefox at anytime.

The article can be found here.

A few things not mentioned:

• If you are getting up from your desk for any reason, even for a short bathroom break, hit Ctrl + Alt + Del and choose Lock Computer (Window only). The easiest way for someone to get snoopy with your private stuff is to sit at your desk. Locking your computer will not close any applications running but will require you to Ctrl + Alt + Del and then enter your password again.

• Don’t surf porn at work. That is the most sure fire way to get busted and fired. It is going to be really hard to explain to the unemployment office that you are trying to collect because you were trying to get porn at work instead of at home.

• Be aware of social networking sites like MySpace and Digg. A good portion of job recruiters are searching these social networking sites prior to hiring you, you can expect that there is a good chance that they will monitor them even after you are hired. Nearly all of these sites have timestamps on the. It will be very hard to come up with a story as to why you were posting a lame Own3d picture on your friends MySpace page instead of working.

• If you piss off your network admin, they will reign down on you and turn your life into hell. They have the ability to do everything from cut you off the internet completely to install key logging software to see everything you are typing.

• Ask for the policy on computer usage when you are hired or if a new boss is appointed to you. Many companies do not have a problem with using the internet or computer for personal use if you are not on their time, including before and after work and during your lunch hour. Better to know the rules prior to getting caught.

• Emptying your recycle can or trash can doesn’t always erase everything like you think it does. It’s not worth going into all the boring details, just be aware that when you erase things, they are not fully erased and could be retrievable. So don’t download anything you know you shouldn’t be.

• Be aware who you give your work email address to. We all have that one friend who has to forward you every stupid email in the world that you don’t want to read, that is someone you want to steer clear of. Again, the network admin can track how much email you are getting, where it is coming from and what is being attached to it. Likewise, try not to subscribe to too many non-work related email lists.