Neahkahnie Mountain misty trees

We went on an Oregon Coast hike this long weekend to a place called Neahkahnie Mountain. The hike started dry and sunny, then we reached a certain height and it started raining with this crazy mist, then we broke through to the top and it was dry and sunny again.

Magenta Sky

Caught this one by hanging out the bedroom window.

Death by DMCA

IEEE Spectrum has a very well-written article called "Death by DMCA" describing many of the technologies that have been killed or are in the process of being killed by legislation sponsored by large media conglomerates, the RIAA, and the MPAA. If you own a TiVo, MP3 player, DVD recorder, home theater PC, digital camcorder, HDTV, or any of a long list of other devices or technologies, you should read this article. Even if you aren't into any of those things, you should read this article.

It is interesting to read the technologies that we have all missed out on because of fears of piracy, and then to read the statistics showing how they didn't stop piracy at all.

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." - Princess Leia

Bellagio Fountains - Diet Coke and Mentos Style

This video was worth resurrecting the blog for. Geeks with too much free time and video camera.

Shredder

Need a reason to buy a shredder? This just might be that reason.

Victoria

This has to be one of the strangest basketball games I've heard of. Poor guy.

And Now Winter is Gone (again)

Just the other day it was snowing. And now look at it here.

Captured with Jess' new Canon PowerShot A620, and a beautiful thing it is too.

Slogging in a Winter Wonderland

Just in case you didn't think it could snow in Portland in March.

The Real-life Simpsons

In case you ever wanted to know what the Simpsons would be like in real life.

Deep-fried Brain

This week I spend Monday through Thursday in all-day class 8:30am-5:00pm on IA32 architecture, which for you non-techies is the architecture of about 80% of computers in the world, including (unless you own a PowerPC Mac or still fuel your computing needs with your Commodore 64) your own. Some statistics for you:

Number of chapters in the class textbook: 61
Number of chapters in the class textbook CD-ROM addition: 16
Total number of chapters in the class textbook: 77
Number of pages in the class textbook: 1744
Number of pages in the class textbook CD-ROM addition: 342
Total number of pages in the class textbook: 2086
Retail price of the class textbook, including CD-ROM: $74.99 (paperback)

That's right, 2086 pages in four days. Fortunately, there is no test. Today was entirely spent talking about the Front Side Bus (FSB), which is what connects the processor to the Memory Controller Hub (MCH, sometimes called the Northbridge), as well as to other processors.

Yum. Tastes like deep-fried brain.

Google THIS

On Thursday night I went to the usual monthly PLUG meeting I go to sometimes in Portland. This time they had Michael Still and Trisha Weir, along with several others, from Google. Michael gave a presentation on ImageMagick, a library and set of command-line tools for image processing. Afterwards, as is customary, we went to the Lucky Lab in SE Portland and while there Google bought everyone a round of drinks. Well, turns out it was a Google recruiting event, most likely because of their new facility in The Dalles they refuse to acknowledge publicly.

FedEx Kinkos ExpressPay Vulnerability

A new vulnerability was found in the ExpressPay system in use at FedEx Kinkos to pay for things like copies, etc. Basically the vulnerability allows you to get things for free, or even get cash from the system. The problem stems from the fact that the value of the SmartCard in use by the system is stored on the card itself, protected by a 3-digit code. If you can get this 3-digit code, then you can reprogram the card with whatever value you want. Worse yet, the 3-digit code is supposedly the same on all cards, making this what is called a BORE attack, or Break Once Repeat Everywhere. Once the 3-digit code is known (which it presumably already is by now) it can be used on any device. While the initial attack to get the code is complex and requires expensive equipment (a logic analyzer), with sufficient motivation and the potential for BORE someone was bound to do it eventually. This is what product manufacturers need to realize.

Matchbox-sized Projector

These guys have created a projector the size of a matchbox that runs on less than 1.5W of power based on lasers. You have to read this article to see how cool this is. Infinite focus, low power, small enough to be embedded in a CELL PHONE, this could revolutionize how electronics use displays. Instead of trying to watch that movie on your video iPod, how about you project it on the wall wherever you are?

Howlin' Good Time

It's a full moon tonight. At least, off our balcony it is.

Real-world Transformer

Here's a real world transformer in action. Crazy!

Ring Ring, Flush

You know, I've carried my cell phone into the bathroom before. Heck, it has even rung while I was in the bathroom before. But never, in my five-year history of owning a cell phone, while staring at that pearly white urinal with the pink urinal cake and blue rubber splash mat, have I felt the need to *answer* my cell phone. Here is the rough transcript of the conversation I overheard yesterday:

*obnoxious ring tone*
"Hello?"
*flush*
"I'm still at work."
*water splashing*
"Yeah, I'm leaving soon."
*zipper*
"Okay, love you, bye."

In other news, we're shopping for a new cell phone plan. Any suggestions?

Wiretapping, FISA, and the NSA

Here's a *very* interesting in-depth article about the legal issues surrounding the whole NSA wiretapping deal that is being reported to death by the media right now. The article is written by a former head of the Justice Department's computer crime unit.

New Toy

This has been keeping me busy (and out of trouble) lately.

Zero-day Exploit in Microsoft Imaging Software

There’s a new zero-day exploit (meaning it was found out in the "wild" first, not by a researcher) for the graphics engine behind IE, Windows Explorer, and the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. There’s no patch yet, so think twice about web sites you don’t trust or pictures you get via email. All you have to do to get exploited is go to a web site with a special image file or open a *folder* with a special image file in it. You don’t even have to open the image itself.

This is a worst-case scenario for Microsoft.

If you haven't given Firefox a try yet, today might be a good day to do so.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Let's play a game called "spot the typo":

http://www.smarthome.com/13091.html

Did you find it? Need a hint?

Those mints would give you the biggest caffeine buzz EVER. Coffee is just the gateway drug.