Posts tagged ‘funny stuff’

Interesting stuff

Am I the only one who finds this absolutely terrifying?

If you haven’t seen DCLugi’s Snakes On A Plane auditions on YouTube you need to!

Bruce Schneier reported on this a while ago, I need to keep the link around. What to do when your neighbour is using your internet.

Our “honourable” EU politicians are finally worrying about the right things when it comes to Microsoft. Microsoft is all about lock-in, they’ll use security to achieve it if they can. Microsoft is of course responding. I wonder if they’re ever going to inhabit the same world as I am? Vista creating 100000 new jobs? Only if changing the title of a position from “Windows XP Developer/Administrator/Shithead” to “Windows Vista Developer/Administrator/Shithead” counts as “creating a new job”. I think Linux Journal is too kind when they call it Microsoft’s Masterpiece FUD. I think it only shows just how desperate Microsoft is to get Vista out the door.

Digital Rights Ireland are challenging the Data Retention Directive. I hope they are successful, I don’t there are many citizens in Europe who would be sad to see that invasive directive go away.

A good article on “open vs. closed” from the Financial Times—A closed mind about an open world. FT is increasingly “getting it”.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when reading this article trusted computing—Trusted computing a shield against worst attacks?. Let me see if I got it right. Phoneix Technologies, who happen to make a TPM module, pays analyst firm Trusted Strategies to have a report on digital attacks done. Then, surprisingly, the analysts come back and say that a TPM would have stopped most of those attacks. Who would ever read and put any faith in a report like this? Besides other analysts of course. I can’t help but think that the computer analyst firms are locked in a circle-jerk that’s paid for by computer companies. It is a very strange world we live in.

Thinking of writing a media app in Python? This seems like a good place to start.

Stuff worth reading (04/08/2006)

Elmo is right, Britain really is the 51st state. I’ve noticed the very strange and one-sided relationship with the US before but this article on Britain’s nuclear weapons put that in a whole new light.

Britain has just been blessed with a system of threat levels. Bruce Schneier isn’t impressed and I can’t help but wonder what should we do now that the threat level is SEVERE?

RFID seems to be the rave at the moment for securing things, which means it’s the rave in circles that break stuff. Here’s an interesting story on how secure signal-emitting chips in car keys are. It seems the RFID in passports has been cracked as well.

To end on a lighter note, you can now get your computer to do useful stuff by hitting it.

Christian smacking manual

I was only interested in this article about the Christian smacking manual because they’d managed to find some wacky Swede to defend it. I didn’t expect to find one of the best quotes I’ve ever seen:

Mr Smith said last night the brochure was written for a Christian audience and outlined the biblical philosophy of child punishment. Many Christians did not want to see smacking banned as that would take away parental authority, but he conceded the brochure would appear as “total nonsense” to non-Christians.

I’m sure it’d appear as “total nonsense” to sensible Christians as well :-)

Stuff worth reading (08/07/2006)

There seems to be some intelligence in North America. In Canada to be more specific. This is only the last article of quite a few on Canadian artists worrying about copyright. This is a little old, but still hilarious. Go CEA!

Here’s an article on Britain’s anti-terrorism policy. It pretty much confirms the worries I’ve had but haven’t been able to put my finger on.

You can always trust El Reg to report on the silliest things ever. Here’s an article on a futurologist’s prediction that men will lose out to robots. This can be shot down on so many levels it isn’t even funny. Except it is :-)

Ending with some funny stuff. A map of the Software Wars. I’ve recently discovered Humorix, this announcement on Microsoft’s plans for a DRM-oriented language had me laughing out loud.

Hitler and anti-hitler cartoons