Monday, September 26, 2005

Pick-up Lines For Feminists. I've fallen for poet Lesley Kartali. How could one resist after reading "pick-up lines for feminists"? You'll find it in the fall issue of Lodestar Quality, which bills itself as "an online journal of the finest gay, lesbian, and queer literature." Lodestar Quarterly's founder and editor-in-chief, Patrick Ryan, invited his mother to write about her evacuation from New Orleans. By now you may have read many stories. Read at least one more. [ms.musings] 5:57:10 PM    comment []

Longer listens: Truman Capote. For those of us too young to remember Truman Capote's days as the favorite literary pet of the talk show circuit, the flamboyant persona and reedy, simpering voice of Philip Seymour Hoffman in the new biopic "Capote" might seem a caricature. But Hoffman's portrayal of the one-of-a-kind dandy who penned "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "In Cold Blood" is no exaggeration. Hoffman, at least in his outward aspect, has nailed Capote with uncanny precision. And you don't have to take my word for it. Compare the movie's trailer with the audio from this 1970 appearance on the "Dick Cavett Show" (MP3, 21:01) and this 1976 reading of the short story "A Christmas Memory" (Real Audio, 54:00) from Minnesota Public Radio. [Salon.com] 5:54:39 PM    comment []

Fingerprint-Lock Failure in a Prison. So much for high-tech security: Prison officers have been forced to abandon a new security system and return to the use of keys after the cutting-edge technology repeatedly failed. The system, which is thought to have cost over £3 million, used fingerprint recognition to activate the locking system at the high-security Glenochil Prison near Tullibody, Clackmannanshire. After typing in a PIN code, prison officers had to place their finger on a piece of glass. Once the print was recognised, they could then lock and unlock prison doors. However, problems arose after a prisoner demonstrated to wardens that he could get through the system at will. Other prisoners had been doing the same for some time. Unfortunately, the article doesn't say how the prisoners hacked the system. Perhaps they lifed fingerprints off readers with transparent tape. Or perhaps the valid latent fingerprints left on the readers by wardens could be activated somehow. I would really like some more details here. Does it really make sense to have a tokenless access system in a prison? I don't know enough to answer that question. [Schneier on Security] 5:54:05 PM    comment []

Fewer Clicks but More Follow-Through. DoubleClick announced that consumers opened direct-marketing e-mails less often, but were more likely to buy if they opened such messages. By ALEX MINDLIN. [NYT > Technology] 7:25:12 AM    comment []

We Still Love Katamari. The sequel to last year's innovative roll-everything-into-a-ball game is a whole lot more of the same, which is a good thing. Chris Kohler curls up with We Love Katamari. [Wired News] 7:25:07 AM    comment []

China Tightens Its Restrictions for News Media on the Internet. China on Sunday imposed more restrictions intended to limit the news and other information available to Internet users. By JOSEPH KAHN. [NYT > Technology] 7:22:54 AM    comment []

A Project to Remodel Grape Genes Yields Mostly Outrage. In Europe, there is a growing concern about the gradual spread of genetically modified plants. Nowhere is the genetic tinkering more contentious than in France's vineyards. By CRAIG S. SMITH. [NYT > Dining and Wine] 7:22:46 AM    comment []

There's 'Sis' and 'Bah,' but 'Boom' Is a Menace. A study has confirmed what musicians and band directors have known anecdotally for years: playing in a marching band can damage your hearing. By HENRY FOUNTAIN. A Sports Drink for Children Is Jangling Some Nerves. Many involved in youth sports express strong concern about the idea of encouraging children to use performance-enhancing products, such as a drink called Spark. By DUFF WILSON. 7:17:00 AM    comment []

Surviving Rita: A tale of two data centers, by Todd R. Weiss, Computerworld. For the second hurricane in a row, New Orleans-based Web hosting vendor and Internet domain name registrar DirectNIC managed to stay up and running overnight as Hurricane Rita pounded the Gulf Coast before coming ashore early this morning. Sigmund Solares, CEO of Intercosmos Media Group Inc., which owns DirectNIC, rode out Hurricane Rita in New Orleans last night and was busy assessing damage this morning. Solares said his company, located on the 10th floor of a downtown New Orleans office building, was still dealing with broken windows and other damage left from Katrina, which plowed through the area Aug. 29. During that storm - and despite massive flooding in much of New Orleans after -- DirectNIC's operations continued uninterrupted because it had an emergency generator and an adequate fuel supply, he said. DirectNIC has approximately 800 hosted servers. 6:51:00 AM    comment []