12/15/2005 - Wiretapping in upstate NY

Many of the blogs I follow (Precision Blogging, Mike the Actuary) have been following this issue, so what the heck. One aspect of the story which hasn't gotten too much press from either the Right or the Left is as follows:

The current laws actually provide a fair amount of leeway into this issue. In extreme circumstances, the Government may seek a warrant up to 3 days after placing a wiretap (sample reference). Nobody is suggesting that the Bush administration even sought to do this. So much for the "needing agility" defense.

In other news, you may notice sudden upward blip in my steps per day, starting today. What happened? I bought a new pedometer. The $3 Sportsline model has served me well, but it was clearly missing hundreds of steps at a time. When I found myself pounding the floorboards at 11 am, just to get to 10,000 steps on 12/12, I realized that something was up. Subsequent research suggested it was time to make a change and I am now the proud possessor of a $20 Timex. For a little extra money, I could have bought a better pedometer with several additional features, but the Timex had something the other one lacked -- a flip cover.

I work at a Fortune 500 company and I generally try to avoid wearing things that out me for the geek I am (although that probably requires me to hide my business cards...). My Timex closes to look fairly innocuous and so far I have escaped scrutiny.

16,300, count 'em 16,300 closeted steps today. Cheers,