Author Topic: Interesting "stuff" (Read 1309959 times)

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #75 on:** November 13, 2013, 01:41 PM »

With more and more consumers having their passwords compromised on a daily basis, a pair of researchers are floating an idea that they contend will help foil digital credential crackers.

They propose salting a web-site’s password database with lots of false passwords called “honeywords.” Passwords in password databases are typically “hashed” or scrambled to protect their secrecy.

“An adversary who steals a file of hashed passwords and inverts the hash function cannot tell if he has found the password or a honeyword,” Ari Juels of RSA Labs and MIT Professor Ronald L. Rivest wrote in paper titled Honeywords: Making Password-cracking Detectable that was released last week.

“The attempted use of a honeyword for login sets off an alarm,” they added.

Use of 'honeywords' can expose password crackers

Honeywords Making Password - Cracking Detectable (pdf)

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #76 on:** November 15, 2013, 05:10 PM »

Any one here interested in Ender's Game.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #77 on:** November 23, 2013, 08:56 PM »

I've always said that the two biggest benefits of running a Linux distribution over a proprietary operating system are: freedom of choice and the Linux community. Despite these advantages, Linux on the desktop needs work in one key area: seizing great opportunities.

Two huge opportunities for the Linux desktop right now are the end of Windows XP support and the less than amazing reception of Windows 8 by casual users. In this article, I'll explore why I believe Windows XP and Windows 8 are fantastic opportunities for an increase in Linux adoption.

Anyone here planning to convert an existing XP machine to Linux after Microsoft pulls the plug on it?

40hz · « **Reply #78 on:** November 23, 2013, 10:41 PM »

Anyone here planning to convert an existing XP machine to Linux after Microsoft pulls the plug on it?
-Arizona Hot (November 23, 2013, 08:56 PM)

I've moved most family and friends over already who weren't planning on getting new machines.

Except for the heavy-duty PC gamers, nobody seemed to much notice or care since office apps, web browsing, e-mail, and social networking made up virtually all of their computer usage. All of those apps have pretty much reached parity regardless of what platform they're running on.

YMMV.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #79 on:** November 25, 2013, 09:53 AM »

REDMOND: Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday that it has made its latest browser, Internet Explorer 11, available to users of Windows 7 machines.

The new browser had already been part of the Windows 8.1 upgrade the company released last month.

The browser, available as a free download, improves the performance of websites that use JavaScript. Microsoft says the browser is 9 percent faster than Internet Explorer 10.

Has anyone here with Win 7 tried this or does this cause you to wake up the next morning a female blond airhead?

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #80 on:** November 27, 2013, 12:21 AM »

Interesting "stuff"

Always-on voice search from your desktop “Ok Google” comes to Google.com Ars Technica

Anyone here tried this out?

sword · « **Reply #81 on:** November 29, 2013, 04:22 PM »

@Arizona Hot ^reply #77, Nov 23:
Re: "Anyone here planning to convert an existing XP machine to Linux..."
Yes, my Toshiba Satellite laptop has been disconnected from the Internet for 22 months so I'm no longer bothered with updates. It has WordPerfect, ViaVoice_8 Preferred, backup files, printers and scanner. If the hard drive fails or XP becomes useless I will use a live Linux CD/DVD on it or try a copy of ReactOS, if they finish that

.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #82 on:** November 29, 2013, 09:39 PM »

Yesterday's update to Sandboxie 4.02 introduces a much requested feature: full 64-bit protection. Sandboxie previously offered protection on 64-bit systems through its Experimental Protection feature which used semi-official kernel interfaces for that. Since those interfaces were not fully documented the feature was tagged as experimental.

The release of Sandboxie 4.02 changes that as the program is now offered full protection for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Windows operating system. The developer has removed the Experimental Protection features as a consequence in the latest version of Sandboxie

Anyone here not using Sandboxie on a Win 7 machine because it wouldn't be fully protected? The current version is 4.06.

40hz · « **Reply #83 on:** November 30, 2013, 10:46 AM »

using Sandboxie on a Win 7 machine
-Arizona Hot (November 29, 2013, 09:39 PM)

You'd be far better off running a VM rather than a sandbox if at all possible. Especially if system security is your main concern. Just my

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #84 on:** December 01, 2013, 04:11 AM »

In other words, it's a thumb of a nose to government eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency. Twitter didn't explicitly mention that bit in its Friday blog announcement, but it did link to an article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) that called out the NSA by name for its "upstream," long-term data storage capabilities.

"Every Web server that uses HTTPS has its own secret key that it uses to encrypt data that it sends to users," wrote EFF activist Parker Higgins. "Specifically, it uses that secret key to generate a new 'session key' that only the server and the browser know. Without that secret key, the traffic traveling back and forth between the user and the server is incomprehensible, to the NSA and to any other eavesdroppers."

"But imagine that some of that incomprehensible data is being recorded anyway—as leaked NSA documents confirm the agency is doing," he continued. "An eavesdropper who gets the secret key at any time in the future—even years later—can use it to decrypt all of the stored data! That means that the encrypted data, once stored, is only as secure as the secret key, which may be vulnerable to compromised server security or disclosure by the service provider."

The fun of perfect forward secrecy is that the aforementioned session keys are generated individually for each Web session. Were someone to acquire said key, it would only really be useful to decrypt a single session of Twitter access. One could still decrypt a ton of past communications, but it would require access to the corresponding ton of keys, not just one SSL key.

Twitter Beefs Up Encryption with 'Perfect Forward Secrecy'

vrgrrl · « **Reply #85 on:** December 02, 2013, 12:53 PM »

I think I would have phrased the Amazon Delivery by Drone question in the FAQ as "is this for f***ing real?" versus just asking if it was science fiction...

http://www.amazon.com/b?ref_=tsm_1_tw_s_amzn_mx3eqp&node=8037720011

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #86 on:** December 02, 2013, 03:58 PM »

I think I would have phrased the Amazon Delivery by Drone question in the FAQ as "is this for f***ing real?" versus just asking if it was science fiction...

http://www.amazon.com/b?ref_=tsm_1_tw_s_amzn_mx3eqp&node=8037720011
-vrgrrl (December 02, 2013, 12:53 PM)

Me too ... But I think they're just trying to get people used to having things buzzing overhead so that the ones with cameras don't stand out so much.

4wd · « **Reply #87 on:** December 02, 2013, 06:51 PM »

I think I would have phrased the Amazon Delivery by Drone question in the FAQ as "is this for f***ing real?" versus just asking if it was science fiction...

http://www.amazon.com/b?ref_=tsm_1_tw_s_amzn_mx3eqp&node=8037720011
-vrgrrl (December 02, 2013, 12:53 PM)

Me too ... But I think they're just trying to get people used to having things buzzing overhead so that the ones with cameras don't stand out so much.
-Stoic Joker (December 02, 2013, 03:58 PM)

Meanwhile, in a cave somewhere:

"What a fantastic delivery system! Program a coord, send it on its way, wait for the earth-shattering kaboom. Who's not going to accept a parcel from Amazon?"

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #88 on:** December 03, 2013, 08:11 PM »

I think I would have phrased the Amazon Delivery by Drone question in the FAQ as "is this for f***ing real?" versus just asking if it was science fiction...

http://www.amazon.com/b?ref_=tsm_1_tw_s_amzn_mx3eqp&node=8037720011
-vrgrrl (December 02, 2013, 12:53 PM)

vrgrrl: I don't mind the post, but I am wondering why you chose to put it here.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #89 on:** December 03, 2013, 08:17 PM »

Published on Dec 3, 2013

Forget Black Friday, this is video of an electronics store in Germany as they let buyers in to pick up the new playstation 4.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #90 on:** December 04, 2013, 05:37 PM »

Weird Products for Women - Boob Glue, Emergency Bra & more bizarre items

Improbable Research » Blog Archive

I would put this in Silly Humor but I think too many people wouldn't think it was silly enough or humorous enough.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #91 on:** December 04, 2013, 09:00 PM »

Despite NASA’s repeated instructions to the Hubble to look for evidence of water on distant planets, the telescope continued to produce more and more self-portraits, posting them to its Instagram and Twitter accounts along with the hashtag #pimpin.

Hubble Telescope Sends Back Annoying Stream of Selfies

Who hacked Hubble?

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #92 on:** December 05, 2013, 03:37 PM »

Analysis Google no longer understands how its "deep learning" decision-making computer systems have made themselves so good at recognizing things in photos.

This means the internet giant may need fewer experts in future as it can instead rely on its semi-autonomous, semi-smart machines to solve problems all on their own.

If this doesn't terrify you... Google's computers OUTWIT their humans

Exclusive One of Google's most advanced data center systems behaves more like a living thing than a tightly controlled provisioning system. This has huge implications for how large clusters of IT resources are going to be managed in the future.

"Emergent" behaviors have been appearing in prototypes of Google's Omega cluster management and application scheduling technology since its inception, and similar behaviors are regularly glimpsed in its "Borg" predecessor, sources familiar with the

IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! Google's secretive Omega tech just like LIVING thing

That does not compute

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #93 on:** December 05, 2013, 07:20 PM »

MIT Wristband Could Make AC Obsolete Wired Design Wired.com

Wristify thermoelectric bracelet makes heating and cooling personal

Wristify

I think this could help a lot of relationships where at home one is always hot when the other is cold.

4wd · « **Reply #94 on:** December 05, 2013, 08:54 PM »

As the first comment said, it's just a peltier^w device - I've got a couple lying around here.

Considering you need around 3+ amps at 12V to drive them, exactly how much energy would you save by having everyone wear these instead of just having more efficient AC?

Be better to incorporate them into the office chairs and use the temperature differential between the office bums and ambient air to generate power^w to drive a couple of ceiling fans

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #95 on:** December 09, 2013, 02:31 PM »

Moto G teardown reveals thin margins for Motorola

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #96 on:** December 09, 2013, 02:36 PM »

Considering you need around 3+ amps at 12V to drive them, exactly how much energy would you save by having everyone wear these instead of just having more efficient AC?
-4wd (December 05, 2013, 08:54 PM)

As I said in the oringinal post, one major benefit is increased social harmony from everyone not complaining about the temperature. Less energy used complaining.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #97 on:** December 11, 2013, 12:41 PM »

Breaking Down The Most Important Michelle Obama Photo Ever.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Breaking Down The Most Important Michelle Obama Photo Ever

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #98 on:** December 11, 2013, 12:49 PM »

18 Everyday Products You've Been Using Wrong

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #99 on:** December 11, 2013, 01:09 PM »

Interesting "stuff"

Interesting "stuff"

This Awesome Atmospheric Anomaly Filled the Grand Canyon With Fog.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Rare Look Spectacular Photos Capture the Grand Canyon Filled With Fog

This Awesome Atmospheric Anomaly Filled the Grand Canyon With Fog