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BREAKING SURF
The US Strategy For Homeland Security
As has been widely reported in the media, the White House this week released this first-of-its-kind strategy document. The purpose of the document is to articulate the US strategy for dealing with terrorism on its own soil. It embraces three strategic objectives: preventing terrorist attacks within the US, reducing the US's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimizing the damage and recovering from attacks that do occur. The document also covers such matters as funding and the legal basis for its proposals. Implementing this strategy will require the cooperation of a skeptical Congress, so it's unlikely that all these proposals will see the light of day unaltered. The full text of this detailed document is available on the White House Web site in PDF format.http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/book/index.html
World Trade Center Memorial Design Concepts
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the entity in charge of rebuilding at the ruined World Trade Center site, has released the six architectural designs it is considering for the site. One of its major goals in revealing the plans is to spur public debate about what should be done with the site. These concepts are just a starting point for what the city officials hope will be vigorous and fruitful public participation. The Web site has the different designs available for examination, along with a good deal of supporting material about the goals and objectives of the project.http://www.renewnyc.com/concepts.htm
An extensive article in Strategy and Business makes the startling claim that China is evolving into a powerful geopolitical entity, the nation as corporation, which combines central control with decentralized freedom. It's a challenging thought for those who believe that it requires the political freedom of democracy allied with economic liberty to unlock the full potential of people and nations. Of course, right now, China is very much a work in progress, an amazing balancing act that could yet tumble. However, if China can pull this off, do what Russia was never able to, and develop economic power within a state under strict political control, it will indeed change the global balance of economic and political power. CNET provides a nice complement to the Strategy and Business article with a three-part piece on the people, the brainpower, and the software prowess of China. Together, the two links provoke powerful thoughts on a topic of unparalleled importance in understanding the future.
Strategy and Business: http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/?art=230651
CNET: http://news.com.com/2009-1001-940094.html
New Cyber Crime Bill Overwhelmingly Passes House
The new Cyber Security Enhancement Act provides for draconian new punishment for hacking activities. It is not likely to face much opposition as it heads through the Senate and the White House on the way to becoming law. The bill is aimed at countering a perceived - though by no means confirmed - threat to the nation's electronic infrastructure. The bill allows life prison sentences for hacking and expands the ability of the police to eavesdrop on telephone and ISP traffic without obtaining warrants. CNET has the background.CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-944057.html
Bill: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.03482:
Intrusion Detection Systems Fail to Perform, and a Honeypot
Sysadmins and computer security professionals will want to read this comparison of eight intrusion detection systems. The folks at Network World found that all the tested commercial and open-source systems did such a dismal job of warning about intrusions that they declined to name a winner. They complained that several of the systems - many costing tens of thousands of dollars - crashed under the burden of false alarms. Real attacks were either not detected or buried in huge amounts of false alarms. Most of the systems also had overly complicated user interfaces. This is a must-read for any IT organizations that are contemplating deploying such software. As long as you're in the security business. you may also be interested in how Michael Anuzis set up an OpenBSD honeypot trap and caught two hackers in the act.Network World: http://www.nwfusion.com/techinsider/2002/0624security1.html
Honeypot: http://www.anuzisnetworking.com/whitepapers/
Hacking Attacks Increasing on Linux Systems, Dropping on Windows?
An intriguing report from security firm mi2g shows that the number of "overt" attacks it detected on Linux systems in the first six months of this year was up 1,900 from the same period last year. In the same time frame, attacks it detected on Windows systems dropped by 2,400. Overall, the company cites a 27% rise in hack attacks over the last year. Unfortunately, the company does not divulge how it obtained those figures, so it's difficult to judge the validity of the conclusions. The trend seems plausible given the rising popularity of Linux machines online, and is worth trying to confirm, which is why we include this item. But approach the report with the caution due any self-serving press release.http://www.mi2g.com/cgi/mi2g/press/110702.php
RoadRunner ISP blocking Kazaa and P2P Traffic
The tech-savvy readers of Slashdot are reporting that cable ISP RoadRunner is blocking peer-to-peer (P2P) file-trading traffic in certain markets. RoadRunner is reportedly blocking connections on certain ports so that P2P programs like Kazaa can't connect to other peers. The ensuing discussion seems to be split between proponents of the action who think bandwidth hogs should be restrained and others indignant that the ISP is trying to restrict what customers do with their equipment. Restricting services is not a new tactic for ISPs, the use of which is likely to grow as risk-averse large corporate ISPs consolidate ownership of broadband connections.http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/07/14/0237258
Liberty Alliance Unveils Single Net Login System Details
The Liberty Alliance project was conceived by Sun Microsystems and its large corporate allies as a counter to Microsoft's similar Passport system. The idea behind both is to provide a single Net-wide login service, along with some ancillary services such as online wallet and identity services. This week, the Liberty Alliance finally unveiled the details of its system. So far, such large-scale services have met with lukewarm reception from consumers, who generally fear abuse of their privacy. Wired has the background, while the Liberty Alliance Web site has the technical specifications.Liberty Alliance: http://www.projectliberty.org/
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53859,00.html
English ISPs Must Be Ready to Eavesdrop on Users by August
The UK's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) mandates that ISPs must be able to intercept their customers' data by Aug. 1 but it appears that the exact way this is to be done has not been set or told to the ISPs. The RIPA does have some exceptions: for example, ISPs with fewer than 10,000 users don't have to meet the requirements nor do financial institutions. The rules that govern the spying are supposed to establish what data is to be intercepted and stored and for how long. None of this seems to be in place, causing confusion and resistance among the ISPs affected by the law. ZDNet UK has the full story and a detailed analysis of the RIPA and how it affects online communications.ZDNet: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2118894,00.html
Analysis: http://techupdate.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t481-s2118813,00.html
Dan Gillmor's Internet Law Seminar Blog
Let's face it, Internet law is complex and murky. Yes, you can go read Larry Lessig's two excellent books, but even they are growing archaic in the fast-paced world of Internet Law. To stay on top of the topic, why not take a seminar with Lessig and others at the bleeding edge of Net law? That's what the San Jose Mercury News's Dan Gillmor did. He attended the Internet Law Program offered by the Berkman Center for the Internet and Society (part of Harvard Law School) and kept a remarkable journal of his week in the ivory tower. Gillmor put forth about some exceptional discussions of open source and the issue of patents, among others. He added many links, including one to the program's syllabus and another to a blog written by fellow attendee Donna Wentworth. The site of the Berkman Center itself is worth a visit. Unfortunately, there's no index page that collates all of Gillmor's daily summaries, so we have to provide all the URLs individually.Day 1: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gillmor/ejournal/3580048.htm
Day 2: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gillmor/ejournal/3586324.htm
Day 3: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gillmor/ejournal/3593653.htm
Day 4: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gillmor/ejournal/3600823.htm
Day 5: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gillmor/ejournal/3605977.htm
Syllabus: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/syllabus.html
Wentworth: http://www.corante.com/copyfight/20020701.shtml
Berkman Center: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/
Anti-spam activist Steve Linford claims that most of the spam flooding the world's inboxes comes from about 100 well organized operations that pump the stuff through relays in countries such as Korea and China. It's hard to stop spam because spamware is cheap and widely available, and spamming is profitable, believe it or not. Just defining spam can be tricky: one man's spam may be another's legitimate marketing message. And spam isn't illegal, just annoying and costly. To counteract spam, many organizations now subscribe to services that use filter lists to reject incoming traffic from listed addresses, but filters can include addresses owned by innocent folks without a spamming bone in their bodies. False positives abound, and can include even large corporations, as British Telecom recently discovered when the SpamCop service erroneously listed its main e-mail hub on its blocklist. Until someone comes up with a better idea, however, such problems will be part of the communications landscape. As usual, abusers end up making life a little less convenient for all of us. Yahoo has an article on spam-blocking and a PC World reporter discovered how easy it is to become a spammer.
Yahoo: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cn/20020712/tc_cn/943337
PC World: http://www.pcworld.com/features/article/0,aid,101769,00.asp
Some DVDs, and DVD players, include a block called regional coding to ensure users are limited by geography to the DVDs they can use. Fox UK's Simpsons Web site, which sells "The Simpsons" DVDs, includes a DVD Q&A page. The page is basically a fun FAQ document with Homer and Lisa Simpson. Last week, the Register noted that Homer was urging visitors, presumably from the UK, to buy multi-regional DVD players, which goes against Fox's policy on the matter. Homer had been saying, "I have no idea whatsoever what regional coding means. But it is essential that you buy a multi-region player. Do it now." The BBC quoted a Fox UK spokesman who said, "Not only does this 'advice' come after admitting his complete ignorance, it is implicit, through the fact it is Homer Simpson (a well-known ignoramus), that this is meant to be humorous and not to be taken seriously." So how come Homer now says, "I have no idea whatsoever what regional coding means. But if you find out let me know. I'll still be waiting here when you get back."?
Simpsons: http://www.fox.co.uk/thesimpsons/
Register: http://www.theregus.com/content/54/25559.html
BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2124000/2124345.stm
The Touchy Question of Internet Standards Royalties
Standards are the bedrock of the Internet. For example, the Web, let alone the Net, could not exist without the famous TCP/IP protocol. Fortunately for all of us, TCP/IP was a gift from the US Defense Department and had become standardized by the late 1970s. Now, new Web standards are being debated and the patent-holders of those standards are rearing their heads. IBM and Microsoft both have standards they want to see widely embraced by the online world. They also hold patents on those standards. Many fear that IBM and Microsoft will initially offer these standards royalty-free, then charge users for using them once they come into common use. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is having a real problem figuring this one out and may collapse over the matter. No solution appears immediately acceptable to all the parties involved, as CNET reports. Check out primary source documents at the W3C's Patent Policy Working Group.CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-943014.html
W3C: http://www.w3.org/2001/ppwg/
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2002 Results
For the uninitiated, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest honors the best "opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels." It is a perennial favorite of literature lovers everywhere, allowing them to wallow in the delicious butchering of the hallowed literary convention that is the novel. This year the winner managed to couple Angela, Tom, a roller coster, and a mismanaged roll of toilet paper into a frightfully evocative vision of a relationship. Besides the overall winner, the contest also honors entrees in Detective, Purple Prose, Science Fiction, Western, Spy, Romance, Vile Pun, and other categories. Enjoy.http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2002.htm
Porn remains the Web's killer app, but it is changing and diversifying, or so claims this Wired article. More and more women are making porn on their own, without and not for male input, so to speak. You could call it a feminist slant on porn. At the sites listed in the article - we do our research, folks - we found no bleach or silicon; rather, you mostly get barenaked ladies posing in an unmodified state, save some make-up, tattoos, and colorful hair dye once in a while. It's certainly soft-core and lacking action photos. If anything, these sites seem to affirm the fact that women pose nude online for many reasons and that they cannot control who will see their images either. Will any of them regret posing when they realize that these images are out there forever?
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,53034,00.html
Tired of bad news? Scandal, terrorism, and the economy? Hey, it's ugly out there. Not in here, though. All you find here are photos of good-looking young women that have been gleaned from news sources, mostly the AP and Reuters newswires. It's updated daily. Those enamored of pretty young things will be fascinated by the frequent appearance of upper body parts in the photos. Not to be ignored, the captions stand by their news value: one recent one noted that Jennifer Lopez is branching out into T-shirts, posters, and other stuff. The site is not part of Yahoo - it's actually owned by Philip Kaplan, the man behind FuckedCompany.com - but it does get pictures from and link to the Yahoo news pages. We won't bet it stays open much longer - it has already received a warning from Yahoo.
Yahotties: http://www.yahotties.com/
Warning: http://www.yahotties.com/notyahoo.html
TV Guide's Worst TV Shows of All Time
TV Guide recently jeered at "The Jerry Springer Show", casting it as the worst program ever to have been aired on television. The popular guide put together a list of the 50 least redeeming programs in history, and Springer's at the top of the heap. It's really an award, of sorts, as the show has good company: occupying the number five slot is "Hogan's Heroes" - a show which, while admittedly popular at the time, has apparently fallen under the ever-lengthening shadow of the umbrella term "politically incorrect". The old Sally Field venue, "The Flying Nun" is pegged at number 42, and squeaking into the stinker list at number 50 is none other than "Barney and Friends". Your toddler probably doesn't need to know. Yahoo has an article that expands on TV Guide's list.TV Guide: http://tvguide.com/50th/features/020715a.asp
Yahoo: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020713/tv_nm/worst__update_1__1
Apple Announces iPod for Windows
Almost every reviewer of digital MP3 players places Apple's iPod at the top of their list. It's a high-end machine in both function and cost and until now was limited to Mac users. At this week's MacWorld Expo NY, Apple CEO Steve Jobs premiered a new high-capacity 20-GB iPod, dropped the price on the 5-GB model to $300, and announced that Windows-compatible iPods will go on sale in August. These moves address the only complaints iPod critics have made. There's more at Apple and at the MacWorld site.Apple: http://www.apple.com/ipod/
MacWorld: http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0207/17.ipod.php
We have a new issue of Netsurfer Books out this week. Some hilights include the greatest scandal of the 19th century, words from Lincoln, killer mosquitos, P2P filesharing, a fundamental text about writing ad copy, and a double dose of Edward Hopper. Have a look, order something, send a bit of comission our way.
http://www.netsurf.com/nsb/sub/v04/nsb.04.03.html
ONLINE CULTURE
Seeking Like-Minded Individual for Gaming, Maybe More
Peter Olafson has a lamentable tale common to males of the generation that grew up with a computer or gaming console as a necessity: it's hard to find a girl who will put up with - nay, revel in the geek lifestyle. Our reviewer, almost 30 and female, is a member of an endangered species at her local Dave and Buster's (a chain of bar/gaming emporia). It's really easy to become obsessed with a particular computer game and it's very difficult when a special someone who doesn't share that obsession can't get excited when roused at 2 a.m. because you've figured out some puzzle in Myst or you made a cow explode in Baldur's Gate. Maybe this is why online games like EverQuest are so popular - you're guaranteed an audience that shares your obsession. Maybe you should fork over the monthly fees and join one of those communities. Until then, read Olafson's story and know you're not alone.http://www.robotstreetgang.com/article.php?sid=44
Blogwhores Link to More Popular Blogs
Times of change give birth to new words, and here's another. If you link your weblog to another that's more successful - presumably meaning it gets more hits - than yours, you've become a blogwhore. At least, that's what some folks are saying. You have to consider just what blogs are about, which is clearly increasing one's exposure. An online blogwhore quiz has a pretty good grasp of the situation, it seems, as the questions posed can pretty well reveal whether or not you even have a blog. If you do, it can effectively determine just how much of an attention whore you are. The quiz links to a blogger "Survival" type game that doesn't really interest us, but here's the URL anyway. We'll back you up if you try to use "blogwhore" in Scrabble.Quiz: http://photojunkie.gtabloggers.com/blogwhore/
Game: http://www.bobupndown.com/more/blogwhore/
Website Easter Egg Talk at Slashdot
Easter eggs are in vogue any time of year - but we mean the electronic kind, the features that coders hide in their products. A Slashdot denizen mentioned hiding one in the URL code back when he worked at eGroups, and that touched off an explosion of discussion and examples. In the ensuing debate, some demanded that the practice be halted, others questioned how anybody expects Easter eggs to ever be found, and others have pointed out still more eggs. Bet you didn't know that some versions of Excel harbor a flight simulator. Of course, you can avoid the Slashdot discussion and just visit a nest of eggs of debatable quality. We covered the Easter Egg Archive in NSD 7.21 and it has collected some 5,800 eggs so far.Slashdot: http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/02/07/11/1912239.shtml
NSD: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/sub/v07/nsd.07.21.html#AO3
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Unofficial Netsurfer Swing Band: CD and Tour Date
Some of us at Netsurfer lead double lives. One of us is a member of a big band, the Disciples of Ursula, that has just released a CD called "Blow Them Horns". The band's site has a full MP3 of one song - hit the "Quoi de neuf?" link for it. A Montreal record store called Archambault is selling the CD (for a mere $20 Cdn) and has RealPlayer snippets of several more songs. The translation of Archambault's review runs something like this: "Big bands do not run about the streets of Quebec. However, here's a local band that knows how to swing like the great ones. In addition to its irresistibly bluesy cover of "Route 66", the Disciples of Ursula Big Band offers on its first CD compositions varying between swing, soul, and jazz. One is charmed by the naivety and the authenticity of the musical arrangements, while the languorous voice of the singer Gizčlia Pacheco is based superbly in the groove. With irresistible melodies that stick in the head, 'Blow Them Horns' is definitely an effective album." That's our editor's son on the CD cover, and he hopes the modeling career doesn't drive the kid to drugs like that nice boy in "54". Readers in Montreal may want to catch the band live at Cafe Campus, July 24 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 Cdn, but a game of Spot the Netsurfer is free and CDs will cost only $12 Cdn at the door. RealPlayer samples:Disciples of Ursula: http://www.disciplesofursula.com/
Archambault: http://www.archambault.ca/store/trouvailles.asp?subcat=111
http://www.archambault.ca/store/product.asp?sku=001264956&type=1
Modern handheld global positioning system (GPS) devices store a lot of data that can be later retrieved. Using that data and a neat application of Shockwave, the GPS Drawing site lets GPS users create plots of their travels. Some are cute, some are interesting, some are astounding, and the doodle created by TyTy the poodle is truly doggy. The site has a gallery of GPS art from all over the world, created on land, in the air, and at sea. There are also detailed instructions for creating and submitting your own GPS art. Our reviewer first thought the concept was loony, but after seeing a few of the more extreme examples, he really started looking forward to trying the techniques.
http://www.gpsdrawing.com/index.htm
If the name Conan conjures for you the image of a muscleman, you don't stay up late enough. This place can help you get acquainted with late night talkshow host Conan O'Brien, moreso if you have a broadband connection and the required apps and plug-ins needed to view the video clips. Despite the mishmash of formats, all the clips are hilarious, and that's really what the place is about. We have chosen to include this site not for its design, which could really benefit from an overhaul, but because we found the side-splittingly funny video of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a frequent guest on O'Brien's show, at the Attack of the Clones premiere. We love Triumph. We can't get enough. After he rips into our beloved geeks, try the other Triumph bits. The FAQ is well done, too, and will likely make you chuckle aloud. Bear in mind that the site is unofficial. Overlook the flaws and just enjoy what you can find here. (We've included a more current link to the DivX codec.)
Clips: http://conanvideos.jt.org/
DivX: http://www.divx.com/
Social Change through Photography
The people behind the Photovoice project give cameras to people whom they believe have the least access to policymakers. The idea is that most policymakers have little understanding of the issues of importance to the affected communities. The Photovoice project provides graphic evidence that may help frame discourse in relation to public policy. The graphics, together with background information, are expected to provide a basis for nudging the process along an appropriate path. The project is supposed to be all about meaningful communication, although there seems to be a lot of resume-building going on here. We've hung around academia long enough to get a real feel for it. Frankly, there's also a lot of the "publish or perish" attitude built into this site. Avoid all that by skipping straight to the Gallery, where you find some good photos and a brief description of each. The Gallery is where the rubber really meets the road.http://www.photovoice.com/
BOOKS & E-ZINES
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Items our staff likes and you might too. Click on the image or title to order at a hefty discount from our affiliate Amazon.com, and send a few pennies our way as well.
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Coraline
Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale
The Secrets of Amusement Park Games... Revealed! , 2nd Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out (with CD-ROM)The Best of Bennun - Interviews and More
If you like to read interviews, you're in for a treat at the all-text Web archive of British journalist David Bennun. Head for the Interviews & Profiles page, where you'll find nine interviews and seven profiles of well-known and not-so-well-known figures. His subjects range from the Coen brothers ("Raising Arizona", "Fargo") to head transplant expert Dr. Robert White. The included articles appeared from 1997 to 2000. In all, his prose is middlebrow yet articulate. Our reviewer especially enjoyed Bennun's interview with Homer Hickham Jr., the NASA engineer whose life as a high-school student in Coalwood, W.Va. was the basis of the best-selling autobiography "Rocket Boys" and the film "October Sky". Bennun blends personal observation with liberal quotation, historical background, and cross-discipline curiosity to provide detail and insight. Out of modesty, perhaps, Bennun does not indicate whether he will post more recent articles, although he has posted record and band reviews of his from 2001 and 2002.http://bennun.biz/
Words on the Page, Easy on the Eyes, Hard on the Gray Matter
Central Booking has a design to envy and a name we wish we'd thought of. Basically, we're just one big ol' ball of avarice about this site dedicated to readers, reading, and readology. (Yes, we just made that word up.) It offers articles on John Steinbeck and notes about Michael Crichton. Whether their local bookstore is their favorite pick-up joint or the closest they get to a library is the impulse buy of a novel at the supermarket checkout line, everyone who reads will find something of value on this site. The only thing we didn't like was the continuous loop on the eyeball animation. Once is enough.http://www.centralbooking.com/
The Internet is famed for the sheer quantity of information that can be easily gathered on any subject. Getting data is no longer a problem, but making sense of all that gathered data is. The News Batch site is the place to go for context on most major social, political, and policy issues. There are two types of material: summaries and links to the world's press. The summaries are complete, neutral in point of view, and extremely good. They're unique and valuable to anyone wishing to understand the context and background of the issues the summaries cover (from abortion to welfare). The press links vary in quality and, naturally, reflect the many biases of the popular media.
http://www.newsbatch.com/
One definition of "backwash" is "A result of an event; an aftermath." In light of current events, you'd guess that much discussion on the Web is backwash. It is at Backwash, an umbrella site for columns, channels, and discussion boards on cultural topics ranging from technology ("AOL Users Missing Email") to celebrity ("It's a White Wedding for Julia Roberts"). Now and then, an item here may shock you. Earlier this July, for example, the site linked to an ABC news item, "Girl Gang-Raped in the Name of Dignity", about an instance of tribal "justice" in Pakistan. Backwash readers posted blazing responses. The site lets you create your own channels. It offers a premium service that filters Web content "in thousands of different ways - from subject, to content type, to demographics, to availability, to quality to internet connection speed requirements...." We suggest checking out the free content before you decide whether to lay out cash for personalization features. You don't have to subscribe to the premium service to create your own text ads, but you do have to pay for those.
http://backwash.com/
Blog Hits It High to Center Field...
Baseball journalism can draw a straight line from the July 13, 1825 edition of the Delhi Gazette to the baseball weblog. David Pinto has one of the latter, called Baseball Musings, which he limits to the major leagues. Pinto seems a traditionalist. He likes statistics and he likes to compare today's players with past stars. On the Fourth of July, for example, he wrote: "For the record, DiMaggio had 387 win shares, Griffey has 313 coming into this year. If you give DiMaggio the benefit of the doubt for the war, he'd probably be around 470. While I do think Griffey will pass 387, with the injuries he's had, I'm not sure he'll reach the high 400's (sic). One place where DiMaggio clearly outshnes (sic) Griffey is in defense." This is the kind of stuff that not enough sportscasters love to throw around during lulls in the game. As Pinto accumulates insights and statistics, the lack of a topic search in his blog software becomes evident. His archives are accessible by date, but you can't search by names or keywords, and there's no way to post replies to his postings. Oh, well - like Cubs fans know, you can't have everything.http://pages.map.com/pinto/blogger.html
SURFING SCIENCE
Over the past few years, the SETI@Home distributed computing project has had its ups and downs, but it's coming to a turning point. The project has narrowed a list of signals it would like to study more to almost 1,400, all of which are continuous signals that have been recorded on more than several occasions. The explanation in Amir Alexander's article is good for non-astronomical folks who just want to understand what's going on, plus you get to learn really cool words like "barycentric". We don't know about you, but this continuous signal stuff gives us the image of an alien pulling up alongside Earth and leaning on his horn, New York taxi-driver style. That's one close encounter we'd prefer not to have. If you want to join NSD's SETI@Home team, visit the URL below.SETI@Home: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/Candidates/index.html
NSD team: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/stats/team/team_1103.html
It's easy to boldly go where no one has gone before - just visit Polygon Worlds. Replete with free software and small galleries of still shots and animations, it's geared toward those with an interest in 3-D graphics and/or planetary exploration. Using NASA's Mars Orbiting Laser Altimeter data, for example, the owner of the site has been able to construct a model of the planet with accuracy to within about two kilometers. Some interesting stuff, all free, can be found here; the site owner is a freelance programmer in London. While making the software and images free of charge, he does ask that you notify him and link to the site if you choose to publish or distribute anything. Seems fair enough to us.
http://planet3d.demonews.com/PWAbout2.htm
The Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics site is devoted to the unreality of movies. The site's title is accurate. Long ago, moviemakers were constrained by the physical laws that govern the Earth. They quickly found reality too limiting and devised their own laws of movie physics. This site, without referring to anything more complicated than basic high-school physics, explores effects and stunts in movies from the last 15 years or so. Some sections are devoted to specific effects, while others parts of the site review and rate the physics of some well known movies. This site clearly proves is that there's a very thin line between science fiction and science farce.
http://intuitor.com/moviephysics/index.html
We have no idea what COSI stands for, but we love it. That's no problem - we don't know what's in most of the sushi we eat either, and that doesn't make it any less appetizing. We have a suspicion it has something to do with Columbus, Ohio, science, and seaweed. Well, maybe not so much the seaweed. The online exhibits are really fun, not just didactic. You can run a farm, make a heart beat, or ask questions of the science experts.
http://www.cosi.org/index.html
SOFTWARE
Peekabooty Seeks to Bypass Censorship
The Peekabooty Web site states that "the goal of the Peekabooty Project is to create a product that can bypass the nation-wide censorship of the World Wide Web practiced by many countries." To this end, the hackers behind the project have created software that creates what is essentially a peer-to-peer proxy server network. In simple terms, user A in a country that uses a firewall to block Web site B's IP address can't see B, but Peekabooty creates a mirror of B on peer C's computer, which A can access. The source code of an early version of this software has just recently been open-sourced. Users can also download a working Windows version to try out. This is still a work in progress, so don't expect a fully polished piece of work nor a large number of participating nodes. A database of open Peekabooty nodes contains only 60 entries at press time.Peekabooty: http://www.peek-a-booty.org/pbhtml/index.php
Node Database: http://www.dutchmountains.net/~fedde/pab/
Camera/Shy, New Steganography Software in the News
Like all steganography software, the new Camera/Shy program hides encrypted messages in images. Quite a few programs already do this, but Windows-only Camera/Shy is getting some press because of the well known hacker group, Hacktivismo, behind it. eWeek reports that, not surprisingly, at least one security firm has come up with sofware that can detect Camera/Shy on corporate computers.Announcement: http://www.cultdeadcow.com/details.php3?listing_id=431
Download: http://www.mirrors.wiretapped.net/security/steganography/camerashy/
eWeek: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,382815,00.asp