Davi Ottenheimer

flyingpenguin

Interesting development in Germany to restore phonetics that were erased by the Nazis Before the Nazi dictatorship some Jewish names were used in the phonetic alphabet – such as “D for David”, “N for Nathan” and “Z for Zacharias”. But the Nazis replaced these with Dora, North Pole and Zeppelin, ... Read More

Discover magazine has just published a review of the 1980s phenom known as the 414s (Milwaukee area code, adopted by teenage hackers) While the 414s’ antics didn’t spark a nuclear conflict, they did ignite a national conversation on computer security… They get called pioneers, which I suppose is reasonable when ... Read More

by Bertold Brecht One day in blue-moon September, Silent under a plum tree, I held her, my silent pale love in my arms like a fair and lovely dream. Above us in the summer skies, Was a cloud that caught my eye. It was so white and high up, and ... Read More

The US National Park Service calls it… 8 Hours that changed the Great Plains forever In brief, on November 29, 1864 at Sand Creek, Colorado a peaceful non-threatening group of Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe Native Americans (who believed they were under protection of US forces) were massacred by around 700 ... Read More

As a backup to GPS, but really the precursor and consistently better system to GPS, is astral navigation. In the USAF they affectionately referred to their NAS-14V2 system as a science-fiction icon. Mounted behind the SR-71’s cockpit, this unit, affectionately known as “R2-D2,” computed navigational fixes using stars sighted through ... Read More

I’ll never forget being briefed by a US Army General about the redesign of South Korea in ways that would force invading Chinese tanks into tight “killing zones”. Take the humans out of those tanks and you’ve got explosive projectile-laden drones on land, similar to the evolution of torpedoes flying ... Read More

I’ve written about Thanksgiving history here many times for many years (2005, 2006, 2008, 2010) and this year it feels like time to write again. It is clear that the holiday was created by President Lincoln after Civil War to bring the pro-slavery rebels back to the table with their ... Read More

Sometimes I check myself and wonder if my criticism has been too harsh of security operations at Facebook since 2014. I had direct sources and knew the actors personally, so I have to expect some of that insider information is useful yet not all. Then I see my positioning has ... Read More

A site called Coastal Review has a fascinating take on the events that led to Blackbeard’s untimely violent death. Blackbeard did not prey on a single ship in the waters off the Outer Banks during his surprisingly brief 23-month career as a pirate. And, as previously stated, his pitiful camp ... Read More

Maps are political by nature of defining boundaries. Whoever has that authority to classify territory, gains a lot of power. More interesting than just drawing the lines, however, is the graphical representation of 3D spaces in 2D. Many probably are familiar with the impact of the Gall-Peters map (by Arno ... Read More