BREAKING SURF
| The End of the Mob Project |
| Netsurfer Recommendations |
| Test Your Senses |
| The Slurpee Fairy of the Internet |
| Buy a Piece of Scotland |
| Hand-to-Hand Combat Game |
| Yahoo's Text Twist |
| PGP Universal E-Mail Proxy Server |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
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BREAKING SURF
VeriSign's SiteFinder Redirection Raises Hackles
VeriSign, as you ought to know, manages the Web's .com and .net top level domains. This week, VeriSign introduced SiteFinder, which redirects mis-typed .com and .net URLs - that is, web addresses of unregistered domains - to a Web page with a search engine and some suggested options for the mistyped domains. VeriSign says it has enhanced the netsurfer's experience, but a lot of folks disagree. AOL, for example, is upset that SiteFinder prevents its own site redirection from working. Many spam filters use domain testing to reveal spam, which often has falsified domains. With any .com domain now leading to a valid Web page instead of an error, these filters fail. Much discussion is taking place at the influential North American Network Operators Group (NONAG) mailing list. One question that keeps popping up is whether VeriSign, as a registrar, has the legal right to redirect traffic. The Internet Software Consortium, which produces BIND, the software that runs about 80% of the Net's domain name servers, next week plans to release a patch to block SiteFinder. Meanwhile, there is at least one lawsuit already pending against SiteFinder and VeriSign. CNET has more, and Wired has a non-technical approach.NONAG: http://www.merit.edu/mail.archives/nanog/threads.html
CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1024-5078657.html
Wired: http://wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,60473,00.html
Everyone remembers something different about Sept. 11, 2001. One image is particularly poignant; photographer Richard Drew's image of a man hurtling downward after jumping out of a World Trade Center tower appeared in most major American papers the next day. In the time since, a curious trend has emerged. Those unfortunate souls who were forced to jump to their deaths have been edited out of the history of Sept. 11. This remarkable essay from Esquire addresses the problem of deleting these images from the record. In the US, the networks decided either not to show falling bodies from the start, or to stop doing so quickly. The Naudet brothers, in their remarkable documentary "9/11", edited out the loud thuds of jumpers hitting the ground so that the sound wouldn't overwhelm viewers. In this article, we learn how Drew and others have tried to learn the identity of the man in his picture, but the real lesson is in how understanding that picture reveals even more about the viewer than about the tragic victim. A powerful essay and very highly recommended.
http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2003/030903_mfe_falling_1.html
Robert X. Cringley's essay on identity theft makes us want to turn off all the power and go and hide under a rock. Cringely had a frustrating experience with the US Postal Service (USPS), which mistakenly delivered his mail instead of holding it. On his return home, he discovered the delivered mail had been stolen. The post office promised to investigate, but reimbursement for stolen goods is out of the question. Ominously, Cringely discovered that one of the stolen (and then discarded) letters was a report on his credit. Apparently, someone had ordered it in his name and had presumably planned to intercept it. That was spooky, and Cringely decided to test identification vulnerabilities. He discovered just how simple it is to carry out identity theft. The weak link is American society's excessive and insecure use of Social Security numbers. Using easily obtained government data, Cringely found that in a mere hour or so he could uncover all the info needed to steal the identity of hundreds of thousands of people. He figures it's only a matter of time before someone tries that on a huge scale. There's no warm and fuzzy conclusion to this, alas, just another reason to hanker after steam engines and ice boxes.
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20030911.html
Music Industry Sues with One Hand, Buys Sharing Data with the Other
Most people suspect by now that the RIAA hates peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. It shut down Napster, and has recently turned on customers with a rash of lawsuits. It really, really hates P2P - well, maybe just most of it. The RIAA doesn't want to admit it, but its member record companies are using analyses of P2P traffic to push radio stations to spin the most popular shared tunes more often, and even to decide which tunes could be the next breakout single. The company that tracks the sharing shares is BigChampagne. It watches file-sharing traffic, matches IP addresses to geography, and presents the resulting data in comprehensible format: here's what's hot in Syracuse, N.Y. and here's what's going reactive in Houston. This pricey information helps labels and radio stations determine what goes into heavy rotation and which songs might make money as a single. While the RIAA is suing file-sharers, it is also paying as vuch as $40,000 a month for access to P2P data generated by the defendants. Wired has the story, which touches on the salient point that if P2P sharing has a non-infringing, legitimate use, the RIAA lawsuits suddenly become shaky. Part of the story is online. See the full tale in the October edition of the print magazine.http://wired.com/wired/archive/11.10/fileshare.html
Movie Industry Insiders Mostly to Blame for Online Movie Leaks
That's the conclusion of a study by researchers at AT&T Laboratories and the University of Pennsylvania. They tracked movie files uploaded to file-sharing networks during the first six months of this year. The researchers "developed a data set of 312 popular movies and located one or more samples of 183 of these movies on file sharing networks, for a total of 285 movie samples." They conclude that 77% of these movie samples appear to have been leaked by industry insiders. They also found that 95% of the uploaded movies appeared online prior to a film's DVD release, and that the files are genuine digital copies of the film, not videotaped bootlegs. Lorrie Cranor, one of the paper's authors, has posted a PDF version of the paper on her Web site.http://lorrie.cranor.org/pubs/drm03.html
Clay Shirky says any and all micropayment systems are doomed to fail. This startling prognostication doesn't stem from an inability to set the right price, or have anything to do with the technology. Instead, it's inherent in the nature of decision-making and of the Net itself, he argues. One reason such systems fail is the burden of mental transactions, which is actually higher with low-cost items, as Shirky readily proves with examples. In a micropayment system, you typically don't see the item before you buy. You can't judge if the purchase will be worth the money, so there's little inducement to spend and a big mental tussle in deciding to buy. Subscription models work because they require only a single mental transaction, rather than an endless series of them. Another reason why such systems fail is the prevalence of free alternatives. The Internet has lowered barriers to publishing, and the vast horde of people who seek fame rather than funds easily crowds out those seeking riches. This Pandora's box of endless free content cannot be closed and will continue to influence the Net. Shirky's persuasive piece ends with speculation on the future of collaborative ventures, such as online film and music, as the publishing revolution spreads.
http://www.shirky.com/writings/fame_vs_fortune.html
Was the blackout "great"? Or is this timeline "great"? Who really cares? The Joint US-Canada Power Outage Task Force, which investigated the Aug. 14 power blackout, released a timeline of the events that affected the North American electrical grid on that day. This is only a preliminary timeline, and focuses mostly on the larger transmission facilities and large power plants, so don't expect to find a smoking gun in it. Think of this report, rather, as a skeleton on which the task force will begin hanging its investigative frilly undead pirate clothes. The dry report documents the power surges and grid shutdowns over the course of Aug. 14's crucial few hours. It has plenty of maps and illustrations to liven things up a bit and it sheds light on the complexity of the North American electrical grid.
http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?PUBLIC_ID=14135
Project Censored has a list of the most important and least covered news stories of 2002-2003. You probably haven't heard of most of these, or at best you're only vaguely aware of some of them, but regardless of your political affiliations, this list makes surprising reading. Whether it's US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's "secret" plan to provoke terrorists or the Euro's role in the invasion of Iraq, the stories are well documented and easy to read. What to make of them depends on you.
http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2004/index.html
Google Code Jam 2003 Features $10,000 First Prize
This sounds like grueling fun. Here's how it works. Contestants first download the TopCoder Competition Arena, a Java applet that provides the virtual space where the contest will take place. In rounds, Competitors receive problems for which they have to code solutions. They compile and test their code, and submit it for points - but it gets better. In the next phase of the round, the coders get to submit test cases in attempts to break their competitions' solutions. At the end of each round, Google will run all sorts of automated tests, add up the points, and send the winners on to the next round. The final 25 contestants will be invited to compete for the $10,000 prize at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley. Second, third, and fourth place will win, respectively, $5,000, $3,500, and $1,250. Registration opens Oct. 1.http://www.topcoder.com/pl/?&d1=google&d2=google_overview
The next time you feel the need to clean a CD, don't. Better yet, smear yogurt on the disc, let it dry, and then play it. Liz Phair is going to sound very different. Australian mathematician Cameron Jones is also a DJ. After handling a few discs one week with beer-soaked hands, he forgot to wash one. When he played it - a Nine Inch Nails disc - a week later, it sounded different. Fungus had taken advantage of the beer residue on the disc and had grown on its surface, so that when the CD played, the fungus's interference subtly altered the sound. An article from Sify and a collection of Jones's own papers discuss the phenomenon, but nothing will beat smearing some Dannon on your favorite tunes.
Jones: http://www.swin.edu.au/chem/bio/fractals/refslist.htm
Sify: http://sify.com/news/scienceandmedicine/fullstory.php?id=13248345
Smabcreld Wrods Snrgpriulisy Esay to Uardennstd
We wlil sumuccb to the ugre to ropret tihs sorty ptrety mcuh like eeybdorvy esle who made ntoe of it on the Web. This palaiutcrr mmee was uelaenshd by a bolg cealld Ulnce Jbezazau's Glemiarlfuay, wcihh had an item rgnieadrg smoe aaiecdmc rsecreah aobut utrneainddnsg smberlacd text. It smees that the hmuan mind can do a pettry good job of frigiung out the menagins of wdros, even if all the ltrtees ecpext the first and lsat are sabrlecmd. The blog ertny has links to the rlaveent rreasceh in the Apr. 29, 1999 etdoiin of Nrtaue. Ntrlaluay, sobedomy had to cmoe up wtih a clveer Prel siprct for mialgnng text to istlatrlue the pehenomonn - in tihs case it was Jmaie Zikswani, of Mliolza fmae. For the rrcoed, the URLs bloew are not mgnlead.Uncle Jazzbeau's Gallimaufrey: http://www.bisso.com/ujg_archives/000224.html
Zawinski: http://www.jwz.org/hacks/scrmable.pl
Secure Programming Web Site Opens
The SecureProgramming.com Web site was created by John Viega and Matt Messier, authors of one of our recent book recommendations, "Secure Programming Cookbook for C and C++". You can consider the site to be kind of a living version of the book. It contains articles related to secure programming practices, links to resources, reader submitted recipes for secure code, and numerous related software packages. The authors are also maintaining a blog, at the moment rather thin, related to their book and to secure programming in general. The site is a good link to keep in your back pocket if you're a C or C++ programmer.http://www.secureprogramming.com/
Some Notes on Cracking GSM Phone Encryption
Crypto researchers have figured out how to crack the encryption used by GSM cell phones. GSM phones use encryption to provide privacy to callers, although it is generally assumed that various three-letter national agencies are able to crack the code with alacrity should they want to. These scientists discovered a flaw in the protocol used to manage the phone calls rather than a flaw in the actual encryption algorithm. The GSM Association, an industry trade group, is downplaying the problem, suggesting that the resources to implement this are beyond the reach of the average hacker. Hubris, indeed. The Register has a detailed story, and the actual paper can by found on Cryptome.Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/32653.html
Cryptome: http://cryptome.org/gsm-crack-bbk.pdf
ONLINE CULTURE
Many of our subscribers have doubtless read of flash mobbing, either in NSD 9.24 or recent "Doonesbury" comic strips. Although popular worldwide, the fad reached its peak as a New York City-based street performance thing called the Mob Project. The leader of the Mob Project decided to end his little campaign, and planned a subdued but atypical end. Wired has a short story detailing the last event - presumably - of the Mob Project, and how it went awry. Anarchy reigned, peacefully. Nobody minded.NSD 9.24: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/sub/v09/nsd.09.24.html#OC1
Wired: http://wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,60399,00.html
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Embedded: The Media at War in Iraq
The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty
Black Images in the Comics: A Visual History
Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye!SURFING SITES
With three months left in 2003, the Smoking Gun has confidently announced a winner in its Legal Document of the Year contest. The site is sure that Colorado public defender Eric Vanatta's motion to dismiss a disorderly conduct rap against a teenager for his foul-mouthed tirade against his school's vice-principal will not be bettered. It's a scholarly historical overview of the F-word from its first use in 15th-century English poetry to its modern ubiquitous occurrences in music, film, and literature. The motion even points out that the word throws out more Google hits than "mom", "baseball", and "apple pie" put together. Humor is not often associated with legal argument, but the motion's conclusion had us spitting coffee: "(The F-word) is certainly a controversial word that may be appropriate in certain venues and locales (Florida Election Commissions, speed eating contests, public defender offices) and may be inappropriate in others (weddings, Chuck-E-Cheese pizza parlors, district attorney offices)." Alas, the court never got to rule on Vanatta's motion as he and his client cut a plea deal before trial, but the motion is here for you to judge. NSD verdict: Priceless.http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/fword1.html
The Old Bailey courthouse stands on a site, 200 yards from St. Paul's Cathedral, where criminal justice has been dispensed to Londoners since medieval times. Now it has a Web site. Proceedings of the Old Bailey currently presents around 45,000 trial transcripts that date to between 1674 and 1834, and plans to more than double that number. This was a period when stealing a loaf of bread could earn you a public whipping, counterfeiting coins would get you burned at the stake, and traitors were hanged, cut down while still alive, and then disembowelled, castrated, beheaded, and quartered - so be prepared for some gruesome reading. The site is vast, and you can search the transcripts in a number of different ways: by individual crimes; punishments; dates; or by keywords. In addition, informative articles discuss, among other things, the history of the courthouse itself, policing the capital, and the social structure, culture, and politics of historical London. You may know a little of the history of London's kings, queens, and courtiers, but its brothel-keepers, highwaymen, and murderers make for far racier reading.
http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
Truth, Justice, and the American Way
As the popularity of the current TV series "Smallville" attests, Americans remain fascinated by the ultimate crime-fighter, Superman. The University of Virginia has devoted one of its American Studies projects to the Man of Steel with a fine collection of essays. The Superman in Identity Crisis site explores his character and appeal and how they have changed since his initial appearance in comic books in 1938. One essay describes how Superman is a 19th-century Western hero. Another finds ethnic dualities in the Clark Kent facade and the Earthly superhero from Krypton, while another delves into his sex appeal and the women in his life. The history section deals with Kentian evolution from print to radio; you can listen to 16 radio episodes from 1940. These QuickTime files will strike a chord or two in fans who watched the first TV series, or its reruns, from the late 1950s. As good as the reading is in the major sections, we'd like to see background on the various TV series and Hollywood films that continue making Superman "one of our culture's most enduring and recognizable cultural icons, the inspiration for countless imitators, and a perennial American role model."http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/superman/
Immigrants have been coming to England from other countries for a variety of reasons for literally thousands of years and they've woven themselves into the fabric of English society. The Moving Here site focuses on migration to England in the last 200 years, and looks mainly at the experiences of the Caribbean, Jewish, Irish, and South Asian communities. It provides or links to masses of material, much of it from such organizations as the British Museum, the National Archives, and the Black Cultural Archives. You can browse newspaper reports, photographs, records and archives, audio and video clips, and moving personal stories that build up a rich and complex picture of the countries these people left behind, their voyages to England, their experiences of settlement, the hardships and prejudice they faced, and their past and continuing contributions to the host nation. A Tracing Your Roots section of the site explains and links to resources available to people who want to uncover their own family's past.
http://www.movinghere.org.uk/
Finely Crafted Creationist Spoof
Objective: Christian Ministries (OCM) could be either the work of some seriously insane fundamentalist organization or a staggeringly subtle stroke of parodic genius. The line is so thin, it took us a while to prove to ourselves that it was a hoax. Compared to the similar Landover Baptist spoof's blunt bludgeon, this is a fine scalpel of sarcasm. In fact, OCM even advocates a believable campaign against Landover Baptist. OCM's article on the 2001 Fellowship Baptist Creation Science Fair kinda crosses the line, entertainingly enough for us. Could an entry called "Women Were Designed for Homemaking" really have taken second prize at the middle-school level? And why did "The Thermodynamics of Hell Fire" only deserve an honorable mention at high-school level? A browse around the rest of the site offers similar mixed messages about where this site is actually coming from. Not to be missed is the Baby Jesus who on mouse-over asks the hard question behind the "Have You Accepted Christ Yet?" link.OCM: http://objective.jesussave.us/
Science fair: http://objective.jesussave.us/creationsciencefair.html
Incomprehensible Technical Documentation
Producing technical documentation, such as assembly instructions for consumer goods, should be a straightforward matter. The ideal manual has clear diagrams and easy-to-follow instructions in plain language. It doesn't seem so difficult, does it? That this is so seldom accomplished leads us to believe that there is some sort of global conspiracy among manufacturers to mess with our heads in subtle and disturbing ways. Take, for instance, the instructions that accompany the ceiling-mounted flying Dragonball Z toy - "Prythee no sport with stingy or play asperity game. Winding fingers have got bloodstream not wallk. Throagh of peril." Taken together with the illustrations, they read like Chaucer on acid describing an Aztec skin-flaying ceremony. We also feel that it may well have been inappropriate of Honda to have engaged the services of a manga-porn artist when creating the shop manual for the CBR600F2 motorcycle.http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/hall/
Piracy is alive and well in many areas of the world. Weekly Piracy Report provides summaries of daily reports broadcast to ships in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, including details about suspected pirate craft, actual or attempted incidents, and a list of piracy prone areas. We're aren't talking Hollywood here, folks. Here's a chiller recently highlighted on the home page: "Warning - Vicinity of Bintan Island, Indonesia. Increasing numbers of serious incidents are re-occurring within 30 nm radius of Lat 01N - Long 105E during the last few days. Group(s) of pirates with guns and knives are targeting and attacking ships. Ships are advised to take extra precautions in this area." Site visitors can also read about commercial and legal services, publications, and seminars and workshops. Weekly Piracy Report illustrates why you need Web access at sea. Be careful out there - and take binoculars, or at least a spyglass....
http://www.iccwbo.org/ccs/imb_piracy/weekly_piracy_report.asp
Arrrrrrrr, We Missed It, Matey
Fortune did not smile upon us, for we learrrrrned of International Talk Like a Pirate Day too late to bring it to yarrrrrrr timely attention. As we write this, the day in question is yet to arrrrrive, but betwixt that and the time you crack open your NSD booty, the day shall have come ond set sail, in all likelyhood. Gulf-stream dipper Dave Barry has lent his support to the day, and so shall we, m'lords... starting in 2004.http://www.talklikeapirate.com/
Evil, Vile, Horrid Little Beastly Potato Bugs
The Jerusalem cricket, also known as the potato bug, is found across western North America, extending as far south as Mexico. Looking approximately like a cross between a humanoid and an insect, the nocturnal critter is capable of inflicting a painful bite, as might be expected of a creature that primarily uses its mandibles for digging. Its most salient feature, however, is its effect on the human psyche - the first time you see one in life, you are guaranteed to either lose or ruin your underwear. That noted, we direct your attention to a small site dedicated to fomenting the fear and hatred of what is sometimes called the most disgusting creature on the planet. The compact site is packed with useful tips. Suppose your back yard is infested with potato bugs - how do you get rid of them? No problem - the step by step program is listed right here for you. It's easy; assuming you know how to drive a backhoe and have a passing acquaintance with the effects of corrosives, you're good to go.http://www.potatobugs.com/
Anyone who has ever struggled to write a speech for a business presentation or wedding will know that the art of rhetoric, or speech-making, is a difficult one. Online help and inspiration is at hand in the form of the American Rhetoric Web site. If your interests lie in the political arena, check out the top 100 American political speeches of the 20th century and practice your own rhetoric by arguing the case of a personal favorite. Not surprisingly, Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech is quoted in full and is still full of power. Alternately, you can seek some new turns of phrase and revolutionary ideals in the site's online speech bank. This is where you'll find stored text, audio, and streaming video versions of lectures, movie speeches, interviews, and more. If you can't find a useful quotation or two in that lot, perhaps it's time to consider a vow of silence.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
BoardGameGeek is for the true aficionado of board games, not the casual observer. For those who are obsessive about board games, though, this is a dream come true. A particularly fun way to browse is "Games by Mechanic" where you choose the sort of game you like to play, whether it be something like Auction/Bidding or Pattern Recognition. You can then drill down and find pictures of the game, whether or not any copies are up for sale in the Marketplace, and statistics worthy of a CPA. Use the World Gamers Database (WGD) to find others like you in your area, wherever you are.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/
Sitting at your computer with nothing to occupy your time? Scoot over to Dribbleglass.com because there's plenty of trivia and humor there to distract you. Each day serves up a new joke and some new trivia, but once you've snacked on that, visit the archives for a more fulfilling meal. Site host Scott Roeben's mission is far from low-brow. He believes that "world peace may just begin with funny pictures", so he offers plenty of visual humor in addition to the jokes and trivia. Our favorite was the computer mouse with built-in powder compact. The Billboards section features billboards you'll never see because they're just too honest for advertising executives to design. The always-popular Monopoly Cards page displays Chance and Community Chest cards that you might see in the game were it for adults only. If you're feeling guilty, try out their online Confessional. All sinners are welcome and the penances are fair.
http://www.dribbleglass.com/
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
The BBC has an interactive game that tests your sensory perception with 20 timed questions. You'll have to have Flash and speakers for the full experience - well, you'll also need 20/20 vision and perfect hearing for the full full experience, but the fun of it is finding out where you could use some work.http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/interactives/senseschallenge/senses.swf
The Slurpee Fairy of the Internet
Many mjor cities in the US completely lack 7-Elevens. San Antonio, home of a transplanted Netsurfer, happens to be one. Her reign as Slurpee Fairy, bringer of the refreshingly frozen drink to the ill, is over. However, we dub Brad Fitzpatrick the Slurpee Fairy of the Internet, for bringing important concepts as Slurpiquette and Brainfreeze to the masses.http://www.bradfitz.com/slurpees/
What do you buy the man or woman who has everything? How about part-ownership of an island off western Scotland? For $35, you can own a portion of the beautiful island of Clett. Just don't try to wrap it, unless your name is Christo.
http://www.clett.com/
While no Flash game could ever hope to capture the thrill of seeing the red, throbbing hands of a humiliated opponent, this Schoolyard Slaps game is nonetheless highly satisfying. There's one-player and two-player function, and you can do things like feign slaps or wind up for a real stinger.
http://www.operationslaps.com/
Twist your way to fun with this online game by Yahoo. Text Twist is a word game in which you must rearrange letters to form words before the time runs out. It's a cross between Boggle and Scrabble. Create enough words, and you advance to the next round.
http://games.yahoo.com/games/texttwist.html
SOFTWARE
PGP Universal E-Mail Proxy Server
PGP Corporation has just released PGP Universal, a software suite that transparently encrypts e-mail at the network level. This is not the only such solution out there, but given the fame of PGP Corporation - a far-removed ancestor of Phil Zimmerman's original PGP encryption program - it's the one getting the most publicity. PGP Universal provides encryption and cryptographic signing of e-mail messages in a manner that's totally transparent to end-users. Large outfits like ISPs and corporations find this desirable, not only because it reduces work for IT staff but also because encryption is often mandated for general security and even legal reasons. Slashdot hosts a good discussion that highlights the pros and cons of this kind of system. The PGP Universal Web page lets you download a white paper explaining it all after registering your name and e-mail address.PGP Universal: http://www.pgp.com/universal/index.html
Slashdot: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/15/185256