Carpe Decorum

Hairpulling IT Moments

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:06:05 -0400

Hairpulling IT Moments: So an installation of OpenLDAP depends on Cyrus-SASL already being installed. So far so good. But Cyrus-SASL is looking to have an LDAP feature installed so it will work. What the ???
Seems like the…

Reducing PC Power Usage Doable, Not Simple

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:04:47 -0400

Reducing PC Power Usage Doable, Not Simple: Corporate PC Power Consumption Difficult to Reduce from Ars Technica.
The problem is enabling power-saving features at the hardware level, having the right drivers and settings at the software level,…

Frog Claws

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:00:17 -0400

Frog Claws: One of a kind: a frog with retractable claws of bone, not keratin, which pierce the skin.

Neat Old Toy

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:52:54 -0400

Neat Old Toy: What we know now about the Antikythera Mechanism and how it works (Video)
And still haven’t found much on the web in metatonic cycles.

Link

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:17:56 -0400

Link: Although e-voting machines still cause concern, in his interview with Good Gear Avi Rubin is cautiously optimistic about the possibility of safe e-voting following this year’s primaries. Such a…

Salmon Run

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:17:56 -0400

Salmon Run: While other parts of Alaska are seeing few salmon, Bristol Bay has more sockeye salmon than the canneries can process.

Overcoming Hard Drive Limitations

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:01:06 -0400

Overcoming Hard Drive Limitations: It looks like switching to ferroelectric designs of hard drives may just overcome the physical limitations faced by the ferromagnetic hard drives now in use.
Bits are currently stored in the…

Salmon song

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:24:41 -0400

Salmon song: No Sense in Counting on Salmon This Year You could count on the fingers of both hands — no thumbs needed — the number of spring chinook salmon that swam through Willamette Falls Fish Passage on May…

Missing the Point

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:42:55 -0400

Missing the Point: Yes, a lot of web discussions (and gopher discussions beforehand) feature more heat than enlightenment, and passionate debates often use raw language. But if, as Washington Post editor Jim Brady…

Aw hell no

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:37:54 -0400

Aw hell no: A nice bit of work honoring a woman who worked full-time to prevent others from making the same choice she did.
From Washington University’s Record
Six distinguished individuals, including a pioneer…

Link

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:26:15 -0400

Link: In White House Plans Proactive Cyber-Security Role for Spy Agencies Brian Kreb writes,
America’s spy agencies for the first time would be tasked with gathering intelligence on threats to the…

‘Rithmetic

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:05:04 -0400

‘Rithmetic: Another example of how new voting machines are failing to do their basic job: record and count votes.
Apparently, Sequoia has failed to build a number of voting machine that can add correctly. In…

Forget One Little Step and Suddenly YouTube is Off the ‘Tubes

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:09:11 -0500

Forget One Little Step and Suddenly YouTube is Off the ‘Tubes: Yes the temporary rerouting of YouTube raises concerns about censorship and international affairs, but really it just is yet another indication of the inherent vulnerability of this decentralized system to simple mistakes as well as to deliberate attacks:
According to wire reports, Pakistan ordered all in-country Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to YouTube.com, complaining […]

I hate security questions

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:47:01 -0500

I hate security questions: Once every 4-6 weeks I faithfully call my bank to request a reset of the security questions as the years in which I attended high school escape me now, let alone what might have been a preferred subject (Did I type “q2;klnbdi;” in subject or for childhood hero? Capitalization or none?). I surely hope they […]

Petra

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:02:30 -0500

Petra: More on Petra: Region inhabited since prehistoric times.
Nabataean Petra controlled trade through Jordan, the Red Sea, Damascus and South Arabia
Although Petra negotiated with the Romans, it erred in siding with Parthians, and Herod the Great, a Roman client, successfully grabbed territory in 31 BCE. Petra negotiated a deal whereby Rome would peacefully assume control of Petra […]

Link

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:48:33 -0500

Link: The first mention of Nabataeans in classical western history is in 312 BCE, although inscriptions attributed to this trading people appear in the Dead Sea and Arabah Valley area in the years after the 586 BCE Babylonian exile. They migrated as far south as the Gulf of Aqaba. Perhaps pirates initially, the Nabateans did found […]

Link

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:17:16 -0500

Link: Masada references: Herod the Great built a fortress atop a naturally fortified cliff, fearing revolt. Decades after the king’s death, Flavius Josephus reported that the Sicarii won the fort from a Roman garrison in 66 CE, holding it until 73 CE when an attacking Roman army successfully laid seige; according to Josephus, the occupants chose […]

Reliability, Voting and Democracy

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:17:18 -0500

Reliability, Voting and Democracy: The NYTimes Magazine answers maybe, to its question, Can You Count on Voting Machines? Computers behave in predictably undesirable ways: they allow for fast counts and accessibility, but they lock up, they have bugs, and printers jam. And in close elections recounts may not be possible. Optical readers may be better because there is paper […]

Another Alphabet

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:20:44 -0500

Another Alphabet: Hebrew Alphabet
Greek alphabet

On Blogging: Women Lead and Brits First

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:30:44 -0400

Guy Kewney, Register -
Here’s a quote from an interesting time in the past: ten years ago. You know, a decade back, 1997, when (It says here) ‘Jorn Barger, who started his Robot Wisdom weblog in 1997, is “regarded by many” as the “first blogger”.’
Was he heck
The first blogger was Rupert Goodwins. He started his blog […] (via carpe decorum)