Category: Interesting Reads

Security, the Mac, Mac users – fanatical devotion != secure

Last week, the BBC wrote on security on the Mac and the apparent attitude Mac users take towards security. Highlighting the “Month of Apple Bugs” (MOAB) project web site, the BBC discusses the security reality of Mac computing. I suppose due to the brevity of the article there isn’t a lot of the really good information on security I’d like to see, but the BBC basically showcases the reality of security the MOAB project revealed while still pointing out that ultimately, the Mac has yet to be hit by a big, nasty worm or virus like Linux, Windows, Solaris, and so many operating systems have.

Apple Mac users are still too lax when it comes to security matters, an independent researcher has said.

Kevin Finisterre caused ripples in the Mac community when he started a website in January revealing a different bug in Apple systems each day of the month.

While some observers dismissed the survey, Apple recently issued a patch to plug holes outlined by Finisterre.

Apple owners’ attitude to security was “one of the main reasons we started the campaign,” he said.

Apple makes great play of the fact that its OSX operating has yet to be attacked by a virus while Windows XP machines are plagued with problems.

In the end, real-life commitments prevent the MOAB project creator from continuing regular work on it. He does note, however, that he would be glad to continue working on it if someone could put up the capital required to keep it going.

[tags]Apple security, the Month of Apple Bugs (MOAB) project[/tags]

Make money off telemarketers

Most people don’t realize the restrictions placed on telemarketers and how they can benefit from the fact that many telemarketers don’t follow the rules. Instead of just hanging up or being nice and requesting that your name and number be removed from their call list, you can bring suit against them in small claims court and often win a small sum payout.

When André-Tascha Lammé was granted a judgment of $3,500 last month in a Sacramento, Calif., small claims court, he heard gasps.

“You could hear people in the courtroom saying, ‘You can sue telemarketers?'” he said. You can. In fact, you can make some decent cash for your trouble.

Lammé started getting pelted with calls from mortgage brokers last year, just as his adjustable rate mortgage was about to reset. Like many consumers, he quickly reached the boiling point over the frequent interruptions. But unlike many consumers, the computer programmer took the time to educate himself – perhaps owing to the spirit of his grandmother, a lawyer for several decades – and quickly discovered the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Continue reading “Make money off telemarketers”

Give your Mrs. some games

I’m sure the cause and effect tie in won’t actually work out to reward you for getting that special someone in your life into gaming if she isn’t already, but there is a good reason to seek out the gamer chixx0rz if you are currently unattached.

According to a survey conducted by Gametart, a game rental service in the UK, chicks who game get more lovin’ than those who don’t. Out of a sample of 200 ladies (or should that be “laid-ees”?), the ones who gamed got, erm, fragged 1.1 more times a week than those who didn’t.

. . .

Of our sample of 200 women, those who played video games on average had sex 4.3 times a week while those who didn’t play games only had sex just 3.2 times a week.

Although I have to go on record here as saying I’d be happy with even the 3.2 times a week model. I can wait to upgrade to the 4.3 times a week later. I’m not as young as I used to be. Although I’ll try if I can sample 200 women…

[tags]Gamer chicks get the goods more often, Get a gamer-babe in your life to get more in bed[/tags]

Samsung to introduce USB-connection-only LCD

This is not available for purchase yet, but Samsung has announced plans to ship an LCD that connects to your PC via USB only.

Known only as the 940UX, the 19-inch LCD would toss aside both DVI and VGA connectors to plug into a computer’s USB port. Instead of relying on a graphics chipset, the display would use the CPU to power its video. This would have the advantage of allowing as many LCDs as the computer’s USB ports and performance will allow, according to the French news outlet.

This won’t be a display for a gamer, as the display processing will be handled by your processor instead of your video card. Still, for a typical office-worker desktop, this could be really handy. To get extra display area, you just need to plug one of these in to a USB port, load the drivers, configure multi-display in Windows, and use it. There is no system to open, no extra card to install, and no cost beyond the price of the LCD. While there are other ways to add display area for a user, it’s hard to imagine a much simpler way to add display space to the typical office-user computer. And honestly, I wouldn’t mind having one or two of these around just in case I need to add to a system at home. (via crunchgear)

[tags]USB based LCD from Samsung[/tags]

blogHillary is GO!

Now you can keep up to date with all things Hillary through blogHillary.

Welcome to the campaign’s new blog. I’m Crystal Patterson, and I’ll be blogging for the campaign as Hillary travels around the country meeting all of you and sharing her vision for America. I was the one asking your questions during Hillary’s live webcasts (if you missed them, you can watch them here). I look forward to getting to know all of you as the campaign moves forward, and to hearing your ideas, stories, questions, and opinions.

. . .

Let the conversation begin!

I’m working my way through all 100+ comments, but am too early in to say how visitors are settling in. And apologies for the “… is GO!” gaming reference in the title. I just couldn’t think of anything that fit.

[tags]blogHillary is live, Read Hillary Clinton’s new blog[/tags]

MPAA caught stealing intellectual property

Blogging software is easy to find. Lots of it is free. What isn’t is often inexpensive. Yet somehow, the Motion Picture Association of America managed to not only select non-free blogging software but also to not pay for it. In fact, in a bizarre show of disregard for the value of others’ intellectual property, the MPAA stripped all references to the original author and all links back to his site. That does seem odd behavior for an organization who believes piracy to be illegal, bad, and all kinds of evil. It just seems to not match their preaching about piracy:

For consumers to continue to experience the variety and quality of movies they expect, piracy must be controlled. The entertainment industry recognizes the potential of technology to deliver content in new and exciting ways. However, the looming threat of piracy can thwart innovation.

Now I ask, does that sound like the kind of organization that would steal intellectual property created by someone else, strip away all indications of who that someone else is, and then use said IP for their own benefit and profit? Apparently “Do as I say and not as I do” is creedo for the MPAA. (via CrunchGear)

Additional information (and useless techie-geek rambling idiocy with occasional useful and insightful commentary) at Slashdot.

[tags]MPAA is OK with intellectual property theft, “Software stealing is OK – just don’t steal movies” says MPAA[/tags]

Bionic eyes within 2 years?

I’ve avoided posting about this because it seemed like most people wouldn’t be interested in it, but since I’m seeing stories about bionic eyes on almost every web site I frequently visit, I figure I need something up about them here, too. Work on these eyes has been underway for a while, and an improved version of already-in-testing eyes appears ready for trials on humans.

At the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science, a research presented the idea that the blind could have their vision restored, thanks to bionic eye implants which would be available to patients in the next two years.

The first of such an implant has been in the works for five years now. Patients fitted with older versions of the “bionic eyes” have been reported to be able to see light, shapes and movement. Newer versions with higher resolution has recently been developed; the US Food and Drug Administration has already approved the implant of these devices in an exploratory patient trial happening across America in two years.

This is not a general cure-all for loss of vision, as it only applies to certain forms of blindness. Also, the device requires an external processing unit for now, but over time miniturization should help with that tremendously. Improving from 16 pixel units 5 years ago, the soon-to-be-tested new version offers 60 pixels and fits in about 1 mm2.

Find more details at the BBC.

[tags]Bionic eye, Steve Majors – the next generation, Bionic eye for less than $6 million[/tags]

When you try to hijack a plane, know the language of the pilot and passengers

I love it when a plan comes together. And this pilot pulled together a plan beautifully.

A fast-thinking pilot, with the help of passengers, fooled a gunman who had hijacked a jetliner flying from Africa to the Canary Islands, braking hard upon landing then quickly accelerating to knock the man down so travellers could pounce on him, Spanish officials said Friday.

. . .

Speaking to the gunman during the hijacking, the pilot realized the man did not speak French. So he used the plane’s public address system to warn the passengers in French of the ploy he was going to try: brake hard upon landing, then speed up abruptly. The idea was to catch the hijacker off balance, and have crew members and men sitting in the front rows of the plane jump on him, the Spanish official said.

Seems every once in a while, you do see bitching hard karmic payback. (via boingboing)

[tags]How not to hijack a plane, Stupid criminal loses in the end[/tags]

Newly released JFK video

Listening to the news today, I heard a story about recently released video from the JFK assassination. I wondered how this video could be kept hidden for so long, assuming some network had it stored away in a forgotten container only to find out it was a personal recording by an average person who was watching the motorcade and just happened to be recording it.

Previously unreleased footage of John F. Kennedy’s fateful motorcade in Dallas moments before he was gunned down was released on Monday, a surprising new detail in a saga that has gripped the United States for four decades.

The silent 8mm film shows a beaming Jacqueline Kennedy close up in vivid color waving to the crowd.

A group of excited bystanders — women sporting big 1960s hairstyles — waves to the cameraman shortly before the motorcade sweeps past.

The president’s coat is clearly if briefly seen bunched up on his back — a detail that will be scrutinized by conspiracy theorists who see evidence of a plot in, among other things, the fact the bullet wounds on his jacket and body did not appear to match.

The film was donated to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas by amateur photographer George Jefferies and his son-in-law, Wayne Graham. It was released to coincide with the Presidents Day federal holiday.

Museum curator Gary Mack said he was not surprised Jefferies took so long to come forward.

“Everyone who captured the motorcade before the assassination thinks their pictures are unimportant. But to historians, all photos and home movies are important to possibly answer questions that will be asked in the future,” he said.

I came out of my office to watch the story as it ran. MSNBC showed a few seconds of the video, but not enough to really see anything. One of the points discussed in the story is the number of other people seen in the video who also had video recorders. Experts (for some unknown value of “Experts”) are apparently going to try to find out who these other people are (and I have no idea how they will do that – maybe those Student Loan collections companies will help) and see if they can get any more long forgotten videos and pictures of the assassination.

I expect to see lots of conspiracy theorists analyzing this video if it ever makes it in full to the general public. I’m sure we’ll see more detailed analysis telling us there is no way one gunman could have shot JFK, or that the video proves he couldn’t have been shot from the location and angle Lee Harvey Oswald would have had. But then, there are loons everywhere, aren’t there?

EDIT: Fixed bug in which most of the story was cut.  Also, found out after I posted that the full video has already been posted online.

[tags]New JFK assassination video made public, Oh the conspiracy theorists will have a field-day with this[/tags]

AOL recommends waiting on these gadgets

In an effort to help all us herdlings who jump on the latest tech whenever possible, AOL has posted a list of 5 gadgets to hold off buying until the next generation of them comes out – presumably also when these products improve and/or the prices come down.

Many first-generation products have so many little bugs that these highly anticipated toys simply don’t live up to the hype. Making matters worse, consumers have to pay top dollar to get their hands on the newest technology. So unless you simply must have it, you’re better off waiting until the next generation, says Tom Merritt, executive editor of CNET.

Before talking about any of the gadgets, let me just say I’m confident it would be easy to expand this list waaaaaay beyond just 5 gadgets. That said, here are a couple AOL pointed out:

Continue reading “AOL recommends waiting on these gadgets”

Today in History – dinner party ends for Donner and Reed families

A video presentation from the History channel gives us this news about the long-delayed rescue of the Donner party in 1847.

On this day in 1847, the first rescuers reach surviving members of the Donner Party, a group of California-bound emigrants stranded by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

In the summer of 1846, in the midst of a Western-bound fever sweeping the United States, 89 people – including 31 members of the Donner and Reed families – set out in a wagon train from Springfiled, Illinois. After arriving at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, the emigrants decided to avoid the usual route and try a new trail recently blazed by California promoter Lansford Hastings, the so-called “Hastings Cutoff.” After electing George Donner as their captain, the party departed Fort Bridger in mid-July.

If you are somehow unfamiliar with the Donner Party, let’s just say the short-cut wasn’t, nor was the party a party. The group was stuck in the mountains by an early and harsh winter set-in, and stranded there for 4 months. The survivors had to turn to cannibalism to make it until then, as all other supplies ran out long before rescuers arrived.

[tags]Today in History, Donner Party finally rescued this date in 1847[/tags]