May 16, 2008
Graham Siebe Alaskan Photoblog
PhotoGrahambo.com ― Alaskan photoblog by Graham Siebe. Where, what, and how.
15 bits of crypto should be enough for anybody
On May 13, security advisories published by Debian and Ubuntu revealed that, for over a year, their OpenSSL libraries have had a major flaw in their CSPRNG, which is used by key generation functions in many widely-used applications, which caused the "random" numbers produced to be extremely predictable. [lolcat summary] [more inside]
The blah story.
Bill vs. Dave 1982
A very, very funny Bill Murray guest stars on the first episode of Late Night with David Letterman -- 1982
The end of Rice-Boy
The end of Rice-Boy. T.O.E, Angel Eye, Calbash (alas we hardly knew ye) and Rice-Boy have ended their adventure. 2 years 1 month and two weeks after the start.
Evan Dahm produced one of the most engaging and beautiful webcomics over the past two years and it has concluded. A moment of silence.........
Ok now, the good news. Rice-Boy is done, but further Overside stories are likely. YAY. [more inside]
Beyond the Torture Debate
Beyond the Torture Debate On May 6th the American Strategy Program hosted an event with Philippe Sands, Professor of International Law at University College London and Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff for Colon Powell. Mr. Sands was in DC to testify to the House Judiciary Committee about the findings in his new book, Torture Team, which examines the legal implications of the Bush administration's policy of torture. Col. Wilkerson was on hand for commentary on the subject. The event was moderated by Patrick Doherty, deputy director of the American Strategy program.
The event was recorded and posted by the New America Foundation to YouTube.
It is 1 hr 31 minutes long, but well worth it. [more inside]
The Crazy Raspberry Ants are coming! The Crazy Raspberry Ants are coming!
“They’re the ant of all ants...and are moving about half a mile a year.” Crazy Raspberry Ants! (And you might want to check your computer....)
Does Africa Need Wealthy White Celebs to help her Survive and Prosper?
There is something creepily colonialist in Madonna’s attitude to Africa. First we had the White Man’s Burden -– now we have the White Madonna’s Burden. More and more celebrities are treating Africa as a wide-eyed child that needs a Hollywood hug -– or as a wicked devil that needs a Hollywood hammering. [more inside]
Telectroscope
They're Red Hot!
...even after five agonizing years of the Iraq War, a summer blockbuster isn't prepared to say that not only is its action hero is corrupt, he's corrupt because America has become corrupt.
Iron Man, who represents an imperial America, can only win Pyrrhic victories. Spencer Ackerman of Tapped Online has a nice history of the Iron Man comics that reads the character's alcoholism, Civil-War overzealousness, and persistent blundering "into a hell of unintended consequences" as a symbol and subtle critique of American exceptionalism and what Jonathan Schell among others has called "impotent omnipotence".
ToC
Some readers will appreciate their typographic form, while others will see further strategies at work — informational, strategic, philosophical, literary. There are odd, even anachronistic cultural references, gestures that date these books in a manner oddly soothing.
The Next Page: Thirty Tables of Contents [more inside]
The Next Page: Thirty Tables of Contents [more inside]
The Black Cab Sessions
Death Cab For Cutie. Live, in a Black Cab. One Song ("No Sunlight"). One Take. One Cab.
Also: Daniel Johnston, Bill Callahan, The New Pornographers, The Raveonettes, Okkervil River, Spoon, & The Futureheads.
Also: Daniel Johnston, Bill Callahan, The New Pornographers, The Raveonettes, Okkervil River, Spoon, & The Futureheads.
A really high shine
This thread will end well. Buy at 61.7; sell at 60.1.
The Promise of Prediction Markets (full text link; .pdf here). A group of distinguished economists and other scholars has published a call to exempt prediction markets (previously on MeFi: 1, 2) from American laws that restrict internet gambling. [more inside]
"It took 1.1 milliseconds!" Yao exclaims. "Yeah, that's me!"
China's All-Seeing Eye. Naomi Klein's piece in the May 29th edition of Rolling Stone details how China is building the prototype for a high-tech police state with the help of U.S. defense contractors. And it's a growth market!
The 10 best beer names ever
Analog textual clocks
The veena, turned up to 11.
With a pickup mounted on the body of the instrument just below the strings, Revathy Krishna, KP Sarada and Sivanandam and Jayanthi Kumaresh get an unexpectedly fat sound out of their veena. Rocking! The instrument is more often amplified with a microphone, in which case it sounds more like this performance by D. Balakrishna, who, as you'll hear, ain't no slouch, neither. And here Pichumani gets his groove on, no doubt about it. So, hey, two more raags for the road, courtesy of Rajeswari Padmanabhan. The second tune on her clip, by the way, has got some deep blues in it, so I'm thinking maybe Rajeswari might've been down to the crossroads at midnight... [NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
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