Monday, December 05, 2005

Iran to Solicit Bids to Build 2 Reactors [New York Times: International News] 10:34:44 PM    comment []

Guerrilla Identity Protection. Next time you call customer service to manage one of your accounts and they ask you for pseudo-private information like your SSN or Mother's maiden name, ask them for their name. When they ask why (feel free to prompt since this probably isn't completely out of the ordinary) let them know that you are keeping track of people who know your private information, just in case your identity gets stolen. Then explain that you want to keep a list of suspects handy for the police and since s/he had access to your information, they will be high on the list. One of the measures of a fair deal is "Does it seem fair if I'm on the other side?" From Pete Lindstrom, "Guerrilla Identity Protection." [Emergent Chaos] 10:34:28 PM    comment []

How Hackers Think. This is a bit technical, but it's a good window into the hacker mentality. This guy walks step by step through the process of figuring out how to exploit a Cisco vulnerability. [Schneier on Security] 10:22:21 PM    comment []

The most 'attention'. Via information aesthetics This is a news mapping visualization showing what countries different news agencies are paying the most 'attention' to today. Global Attention Profiles [Smart Mobs] 10:21:33 PM    comment []

DIY $100 Laptop. MAKE blog has an amusing post about the beginnings of a project to make a $100 or so laptop with the main features of the One Laptop Per Child project -- portability, hand-crank & solar power, wireless network, and useful software -- using only materials gathered from sources like eBay, Freecycle, Craigslist, and the like. The object isn't to replace the OLPC computer so much as to see what can be done, now, with the detritus of a rapidly-evolving technology base. A trip to a local used computer store will find dozens of still functional old laptops for amazingly low prices. What could we do with them to make them useful in today's world, not as Thinkpad/Powerbook replacements, but as new kinds of tools? [WorldChanging: Another World Is Here] 10:21:28 PM    comment []

And don't forget: For the next couple of weeks, you can discuss things Julie & Julia with Julie Powell over at the Well's Inkwell. 7:13:05 AM    comment []

Useful Technologies That Are Too Complicated or Geeky to Use. [How to Save the World] 7:11:19 AM    comment []

Iran's President Gives Parliament Fourth Nominee for Oil Minister [New York Times: International News] 7:10:40 AM    comment []

Well, I Can Imagine Worse.... Putfile: Worst Job Ever. [Dan Gillmor's blog] Audio is NSFW (depending on your W, natch). 7:10:39 AM    comment []

Inter-Korean exchanges on internet games. This article in the smh says "South Korea's main negotiator on North Korea has pledged support for inter-Korean exchanges on internet games,according to a news report".The Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said "I hope the day comes soon when youngsters in the North can enjoy online games and the Northern children can hold a championship with Southern gamers." Pacman diplomacy on the Korean peninsula [Smart Mobs] 7:10:39 AM    comment []

PHONifier [unmediated] PHONifier is an open source script that automatically strips webpages of unneccesary code. It can be used to surf the web on your mobile device or to make RSS feeds accessible on your mobile phone. 6:58:47 AM    comment []

Sovereignty. Sovereignty is a useful construct to avoid international conflicts, but is there in any moral sense a right to sovereignty? Do I have a right not to have my country ruled by foreigners? I'm asking this because it seems quite... [Leiter Reports: Guest-Bloggers Jason & Marcus Stanley, Nov. 28 to Dec. 4] 6:58:30 AM    comment []

Telcos Attacking the Open Web [unmediated] 6:57:29 AM    comment []

madonna and camille reunite. The annual list of lists has started to take off. Rex (no relation) at RexBlog did an interview with me about list-making. I have some big personal announcements to make soon, but first a small one: I have an essay in this new book from the American Press Institute. Okay, some links: [snip] Everyone I know wants to talk about Camille Paglia on Madonna in Salon. Seriously. See the new TiVo features? The debate at the New York Public Library between publishers and Google is now online (mp3).  Panopticist: Gawker as purchased by NYT. [Fimoculous.com] 6:57:11 AM    comment []

Lumberjack dolly converts to werewolf.    This lumberjack plush toy ingeniously inverts itself to become a werewolf -- genius! Link (Thanks, Alice!) [Boing Boing] Also from Cory: Indiana Jones v Katamari Damacy sight-gag. In this little animation, Indiana Jones flees from a giant rolling ball from the brilliant video game Katamari Damacy, while the little prince happily rolls it along. Pure hilarity! Direct link to animated Gif, Link to page with GIF, music And from Xeni: Hewlett Packard Garage Birthplace Restored. Snip from Damon Darlin's story in the NYT: Million-dollar renovations of multimillion-dollar homes are not uncommon along this university town's tree-lined streets. But spending that kind of money to fix up a garage? And a 12-by-18-foot, wood-frame, one-car garage at that? When the garage in question is one of the most famous in the business world, that kind of investment may not be so odd. The little brown building with green doors at 367 Addison Avenue is often considered the birthplace of Silicon Valley. David Packard and William R. Hewlett set up shop there in 1938, cutting a template that thousands of fresh-faced entrepreneurs, just out of school, would use in hopes of building products and companies that could change the world - and make them rich. Link (Thanks, Mister Jalopy, who says "Never underestimate the power of a modest garage.") 6:55:34 AM    comment []

Connections: Reading Kids' Books Without the Kids. Teen pulp reflects a different set of expectations about how books are read and why. By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN. [NYT > Books] 6:55:30 AM    comment []