@Jules - is the Merc still on the open outcry system?  That seems really outdated at this point.  (altho more fun for sure).

@Phil some things are stil traded open outcry but there are electronic markets for everything now. Last time I checked there were like 6 or 7 different products for people who want to trade S&P... not counting synthetics. Like in most walks of life, electronic is great until it isn't... and then it is totally hopeless.

One day....maybe soon....a cyber attack is going to crash the markets.  It is a matter of time....the enemy is at the gates and they are trying hard to get in.  If it is not a straight up hacking job, it may be an insider who has access to the programs or the servers.  I would not put it past a terrorist group to either blackmail or kidnap someone with inside info....Yes I'm a theorist but nothing of what I just typed should seem like too much of a stretch.  Every major exchange has reported attempted breaches in the past year.  Hackers are selling out to the highest bidders. 

I almost never agree with Chris, but I'm going to partially agree with him here. The only thing I would change is that it's going to be some shit-for-brains kid who brings it all down. Well, shit-for-brains except he's a really good hacker. 

I disagree....it will be a professional and "weaponized" attack.  Funding and keeping secret a nuclear arms program = impossible....funding and keeping secret a cyber-terror program = easy

Didn't the last batman movie have something about hacking exchanges. Seemed real. Enough.

Back to Cyber Security; new technologies bring new vulnerabilities, but it's not like the old tech was less vulnerable; the vulnerabilities were just easier for the masses to see and understand: forged tickets, the famous case of the "Two Pager" trader getting inside information (worn on his belt - left buzz meant buy, right buzz meant sell) and the Madoff/Boskey/Leason's of the world...

The bigger question is "to what end?"

Answering that would make this thread a "geopolitical and social studies"... Feel free to start one or show up with a six pack of beer and we can have a good chat

If somebody figures out how to knock out our electricity grids for a few weeks...we would have Marshall law and the carnage in the streets would make the zombie apocalypse look like a Disney flick. Think of what would happen to Jules if he could not upload his power #'s to Strava and you would have an indication of the anarchy of which I speak.

twoyacks said:

If somebody figures out how to knock out our electricity grids for a few weeks...we would have Marshall law and the carnage in the streets would make the zombie apocalypse look like a Disney flick. Think of what would happen to Jules if he could not upload his power #'s to Strava and you would have an indication of the anarchy of which I speak.

Yes and if a frog had wings he wouldn't bump his a$$ a-hoppin'.... but seriously, no more joking about not being able to upload power numbers... that's just not funny.  Not even a little bit.

Adam said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23784416

Had to post this.  Somewhere.

Brilliant.  At first it seems odd, but if you could sneak onto Air Force 1, I have little doubt you would probably "press all the buttons" and then at some point be reduced to just your underwear.  What sane individual wouldn't?  Sad that the dog bit him in the leg though.  Bit much really.  Should have just offered him more coke if he got off.

Seriously though, that dog bit is a little offside.  I mean honestly - can you imagine the training required to first insert the dog into his pantleg?

what a wonderful story.  he is my new idol.  

HAHAHA.  Remember that time I bit your ear off?  That was GREAT!  Oh man, the good ole days!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OPR7rMR1pU#t=21

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23803093

HACKED !

Utterly crippling. Trading on the other 60 + venues continued uninterrupted...

watching the usa pro challenge.  it's making me insanely jealous of people that live and get to ride in places like colorado and california.  the route choices must be bewildering. 

Mark Clifford said:

watching the usa pro challenge.  it's making me insanely jealous of people that live and get to ride in places like colorado and california.  the route choices must be bewildering. 

as it is, my ride choice extends to a mandatory schlep up the west side bike path with a choice of alpine or the low roads. 

fuck new york. 

I've been watching it as well. The thing that gets me about it is how slow it appears they're riding.  The small riders in empty huge spaces changes perspective.  That, and high altitude makes most attacks look like they're happening in slow motion.  

Mark Clifford said:

watching the usa pro challenge.  it's making me insanely jealous of people that live and get to ride in places like colorado and california.  the route choices must be bewildering. 

as it is, my ride choice extends to a mandatory schlep up the west side bike path with a choice of alpine or the low roads. 

fuck new york. 

Mark, there are actually lots of great options for riding once you get over the GWB. Variations on familiar routes, totally diff't rides. I think the problem for most Brooklyn folks is that by the time you/they are over in Jersey, you are so time constrained that you end up doing one or the other familiar route and don't take the time to explore and get lost.

That said, I plan on riding one of the famous "JP Wormhole" routes on Sunday, and would be happy to have company. The pace will be endurance. The time on saddle will be less than 4 hours bridge to bridge.

If JP or Stokes wants to lead the traditional Kissena group ride though, here's a suggestion to mix it up for the group.

1. Hang a left, and go through Fort Lee.
2. Meander through Alpine/Englewood Cliffs
3. Throw in one of the "McMansion Land" climbs, up to 9W
4. Folks who need to turn around, do so at Sparkill as usual, except they will take the low-road back, then climb up one of the many stair-steppers that hurt like a muhtha.
5. Folks who want more, roll into Piermont, hang a left up Ash, then right on 9W, then left on Old Mountain (steeper climb you will not find in the area), to the top of Clausland Mtn.
6. Drop down, hang a right, go around the college, back up the "second" half of Old Mountain climb, but then straight down at the 4-way intersection. Then back to the busy road, (3-0-Something?) cross it, go up the short climb, hang a left by that other college, then take that road home.

That's some good riding yo. I promise and relatively within the same time frame as the traditional Kissena Sunday ride.

^ i know.  the riding around here is plenty good enough.  i just had a short-lived case of ride envy.

Are you guys seriously arguing that NY is comparable to CO?

Jules said:

Are you guys seriously arguing that NY is comparable to CO?

Even in jest...?

Mon dieu

Jules, it's like apples and oranges.  They're both fruit.  

Didn't the last batman movie have something about hacking exchanges. Seemed real. Enough.

mugwump said:

Jules said:

Are you guys seriously arguing that NY is comparable to CO?

Even in jest...?

Mon dieu

Jules, it's like apples and oranges.  They're both fruit.  

Uh sure.  So like it's the difference between an apple and an orchard.  Got it.

Round and round the parks we go.

Jules said:

mugwump said:

Jules said:

Are you guys seriously arguing that NY is comparable to CO?

Even in jest...?

Mon dieu

Jules, it's like apples and oranges.  They're both fruit.  

Uh sure.  So like it's the difference between an apple and an orchard.  Got it.

but which is the apple and which is the orchard?  

mugwump said:

Jules said:

mugwump said:

Jules said:

Are you guys seriously arguing that NY is comparable to CO?

Even in jest...?

Mon dieu

Jules, it's like apples and oranges.  They're both fruit.  

Uh sure.  So like it's the difference between an apple and an orchard.  Got it.

but which is the apple and which is the orchard?  

If you have to ask...

Mark Clifford said:

watching the usa pro challenge.  it's making me insanely jealous of people that live and get to ride in places like colorado and california.  the route choices must be bewildering. 

as it is, my ride choice extends to a mandatory schlep up the west side bike path with a choice of alpine or the low roads. 

fuck new york. 

i haven't ridden much in CA and never in CO, but i got to say, the 4 days i spent riding in Sonoma County were wonderful but there are simply FEWER roads than out east.  It made me really miss how many tiny beautiful roads criss-cross New England and the Mid-Atlantic.

the grass is always greener on the other side of the mountain

We were sitting in a diner with my son yesterday playing hangman on the place mat while we waited for our food. It was his turn to make up the "word." After much guessing it turned out that the 5 letter word starting with S and ending in N that he'd chosen was S-A-G-A-N. After cuffing him on the ear for breaching the God given rules of hangman, I gave him a big kiss for paying attention to the USA Pro Challenge.