Prius Diary: [Why not fight global warming by ordering a politically correct fossil-fueled car, complete with fossil-fuel heated seats so that you don't freeze your butt off?]

The seats in the new Prius would please anybody. They’re comfortable, yet firm, you have a good view of the road and you can order them in a heated version which is a nice perk for those of us who live in cold climates.

Drive-By Blackouting - Security Watch

You might have read about how we're spending billions of dollars on a new electrical "smart grid" to make electrical distribution more efficient. A critical component of this grid is a new generation of "smart meters" which can communicate with the grid to determine when electricity is relatively scarce or plentiful.

Now a report in the Register describes how a researcher from security firm IOActive will demonstrate security flaws in these meters that could bring the grid down. Mike Davis, a senior security consultant for IOActive, says that the software in the vast majority of meters uses no encryption and requires no authentication before accepting commands to perform critical operations like updating their own software. Davis will demonstrate the flaws at the Black Hat security conference next month.
...
The rush to upgrade dumb meters to smart meters has increased dramatically with the injection of federal stimulus money for it, but there doesn't appear to be any accounting for the security of the devices. Perhaps more attention will be paid to the matter next month after the demonstration.

Today's GISS Conundrum « Climate Audit

Jean S has written to me with another installment in our ongoing series about GISS conundrums. The puzzle starts with plotting the annual (Dec-Nov) GISS 1200 km anomaly map for the period 1991-2008 (here using 1961-1990 reference.) As you see, there is a Gavinesque red spot offshore Ecuador.

Video: James Hansen ridiculous claim; climate models ’sluggish’ | GORE LIED

...Hansen deadpans:

…The climate models were not, uh, are more sluggish than the real world has turned out to be.