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I stink at golf. I don't play often enough to get better and I wasn't good to begin with.  But regardless of whether you are a good golf player or not, you can appreciate greatness.  We were in the presence of greatness this weekend and yesterday watching Tiger Woods storm to his latest US Open victory. 

Of course Tiger has won these before, but this one may have been his greatest yet.  Coming off of knee surgery, limping up and down the course, Tiger made so many amazing shots that you almost expect him to make the impossible. Coming back on the 18th hole on Sunday to tie it, then a nail biter 18 hole playoff today, only to win it in an extra death 19th hole Tiger Woods has once again confirmed that he may be the best money player of his generation, if not of all time. 

But Rocco Mediate played for all of us over 40-somethings, that you can still play with the big boys and give them a run for their money.  Good for Rocco too! It is about time someone gave Tiger a run.

At the end of the day though we should all realize how special it is that we get to watch Tiger week in and out.  Much like watching Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle, we may not truly appreciate how luck we are being able to watch Tiger, until we can't watch him anymore.  So like the commercial says, "Go on, be a Tiger"!

Image via Wikipedia

I stink at golf. I don't play often enough to get better and I wasn't good to begin with.  But regardless of whether you are a good golf player or not, you can appreciate greatness.  We were in the presence of greatness this weekend and yesterday watching Tiger Woods storm to his latest US Open victory. 

Of course Tiger has won these before, but this one may have been his greatest yet.  Coming off of knee surgery, limping up and down the course, Tiger made so many amazing shots that you almost expect him to make the impossible. Coming back on the 18th hole on Sunday to tie it, then a nail biter 18 hole playoff today, only to win it in an extra death 19th hole Tiger Woods has once again confirmed that he may be the best money player of his generation, if not of all time. 

But Rocco Mediate played for all of us over 40-somethings, that you can still play with the big boys and give them a run for their money.  Good for Rocco too! It is about time someone gave Tiger a run.

At the end of the day though we should all realize how special it is that we get to watch Tiger week in and out.  Much like watching Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle, we may not truly appreciate how luck we are being able to watch Tiger, until we can't watch him anymore.  So like the commercial says, "Go on, be a Tiger"!

• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Microsoft Windows XP SP2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS (V. 4)
• Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Desktop
• Apple Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
• Apple Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

For January through March of 2008, Mac OS X users experienced the highest number of vulnerabilities as well as the highest number of High severity vulnerabilities while Windows Vista users experienced the fewest and the fewest High severity vulnerabilities.

Here is the chart breaking down all of the OSes by NVD severity ratings:

Download the attached paper for full details.

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The Eye-Fi Explore product relies on Skyhook Wireless's system of analyzing the signal strength of nearby Wi-Fi networks to extrapolate latitude and longitude. Eye-Fi ties that into their system to stamp images with locations. This deal also ties into Wayport's domestic network of 10,000 hotspots, most of which are McDonald's outlets, allowing free uploading via those systems. The purchase price covers one year of hotspot service. You can upgrade an existing Eye-Fi to the new feature for a fee. All three products work with Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard, and Windows XP/Vista.

Because Skyhook needs a live Web connection to look up the Wi-Fi environment, Eye-Fi can store the Wi-Fi snapshot when the picture is taken, and manage inserting the appropriate photo metadata (EXIF format) at upload for Flickr and other services that support geotagging.

Geotagging is a very popular idea, something that I'm quite taken with because it pairs the act of taking a photograph with the location at which the picture is taken, making a digital photograph seem a little less untied to reality. But until now, it's been generally quite involved to match a picture with coordinates. A handful of specialized cameras embed GPS chips, and there's software to facilitate other methods, but the cost and battery drain of GPS chips have apparently so far kept it from being a widely deployed feature, while the wonkiness of alternatives doesn't appeal to mainstream users.

Sony once sold this wacky GPS companion (which I just found out isn't available in either released model) that would track your location over time, and use that information to geotag images via a special software program that let you pair its stream of data with your photographs.

Eye-Fi and Skyhook are doing something almost the same, since the camera isn't capturing the GPS data, and the Eye-Fi isn't applying the information live, much of the time. But it's eminently more usable than the Sony system, because the Eye-Fi handles the assembly seamlessly for you.

Now there's just one thing to worry about. Think about this: McDonald's are everywhere, and nearly all of the U.S. locations have Wi-Fi. The Eye-Fi uploads whenever it can, as long as the camera is turned on. You're geotagging images without any effort. Okay, got it? So...you call in sick to work, and run off to take some photos. Your boss, using RSS to subscribe to your Flickr feed, not only sees your pictures as you wander the town, unknowningly promiscuously uploading them via quick-serve restaurants' networks, but also knows precisely where you are.

This makes me suggest that you might set your Flickr upload preferences to keep images private and your geotagging preferences the same. You can then expose the images you want for public consumption. The Panoptican is...us!

For this contest, the goal is to create fear. Not just any fear, but a fear that you can alleviate through the sale of your new product idea. There are lots of risks out there, some of them serious, some of them so unlikely that we shouldn't worry about them, and some of them completely made up. And there are lots of products out there that provide security against those risks.

Your job is to invent one. First, find a risk or create one. It can be a terrorism risk, a criminal risk, a natural-disaster risk, a common household risk -- whatever. The weirder the better. Then, create a product that everyone simply has to buy to protect him- or herself from that risk. And finally, write a catalog ad for that product.

Here's an example, pulled from page 25 of the Late Spring 2008 Skymall catalog I'm reading on my airplane right now:

A Turtle is Safe in Water, A Child is Not!

Even with the most vigilant supervision a child can disappear in seconds and not be missed until it's too late. Our new wireless pool safety alarm system is a must for pool owners and parents of young children. The Turtle Wristband locks on the child's wrist (a special key is required to remove it) and instantly detects immersion in water and sounds a shrill alarm at the Base Station located in the house or within 100 feet of the pool, spa, or backyard pond. Keep extra wristbands on hand for guests or to protect the family dog.

Entries are limited to 150 words -- the example above had 97 words -- because fear doesn't require a whole lot of explaining. Tell us why we should be afraid, and why we should buy your product.

Entries will be judged on creativity, originality, persuasiveness, and plausibility. It's okay if the product you invent doesn't actually exist, but this isn't a science fiction contest.

Portable salmonella detectors for salad bars. Acoustical devices that estimate tiger proximity based on roar strength. GPS-enabled wallets for use when you've been pickpocketed. Wrist cuffs that emit fake DNA to fool DNA detectors. The Quantum Sleeper. Fear offers endless business opportunities. Good luck.

Entries due by May 1.

The First Movie-Plot Threat Contest rules and winner. The Second Movie-Plot Threat Contest rules, semifinalists, and winner.

EDITED TO ADD (4/7): Submit your entry in the comments.