Microsoft proves its security team is still top notch. Turns out, the backdoor password was a
series of spaces. Kristoffer discovered that if he simply pressed the space bar to fill up the password field, the system would let him in to his dad's account.
Sounds like the Windows 98 network login dialog - the one where you just press "Cancel" and it lets you log into the desktop, networking still enabled.
Ok, here's my dilemma: I do not use Linux (Gamer and moterhead, with a decent understanding of science and tech...but nobody would mistake me for technician) so I would not recognize a good story from bad there. However, I do understand Windows and the hardware side reasonably well.
I am well read, and understand the basics of most of the scientific topics. Where do you guys recommend (outside of Space.com, NASA.gov etc.) for good, topical, well written and interesting articles? I would like to find some reputable sources to post, preferably without all the hype that tends to surround the more common sites.
I would like to contribute more, but outside of gaming, I am concerned I might link to something incredibly stupid without recognizing it. I want to find interesting things for you to read, not drivel.
I doubt you want to hear about my adventures in a heavily modded Skyrim.....
Manufacturers of DRAM modules reached a
$310 million settlement for working together to fix prices. If you bought DRAM between 1998 and 2002, including any electronic device or computer containing DRAM, you may be
eligible for a rebate . The minimum rebate is $10, while larger purchasers can receive up to $1000. The class action suit applies to the U.S. only, and the deadline to
submit a claim is August 1, 2014.
How do you deal with a software release that goes bad? Ask Squad, creators of the fantastic
Kerbal Space Program , a fun game where players create their own space program and try to build a space-worthy craft, capable of flying its crew out into space without killing them. The collection of parts must be assembled to create a functional ship. Each part has its own function and will affect the way a ship flies (or doesn't).
But shortly after hyping the release of a new patch to the game ("Asteroid Redirect Mission" or ARM), Squad was bitten by the notorious Space Kraken: a game breaking bug was discovered that pushed the patch release into "sometime in April." Fans were not happy. Fortunately, Squad took the high road. They publicly admitted to the P.R. error and asked their fans for understanding. Then they quickly issued fixes for that bug as well as a small game-save bug that cropped up, putting all their energy behind making things right. With fans appeased, anticipation again mounts for the Kerbal Space Program to leave Alpha development phase.
Though development does still have a long way to go, KSP is already rich with content and has a large modding community. If you have any interest in physics based space games, this one is genuinely a step up from anything else, even Orbiter. You'll need a high-end gaming computer at the moment.
Check the forums for details, including issues regarding 64 bit and Linux support.
Asteroids was never this much fun, or as difficult!
(cross submitted to Soylent News)
[2014-04-02 14:53 UTC: re-edited for clarity: the PR was about the asteroid redirect patch]
David Andolfatto, VP of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis offers a slide deck providing an easy-to-read overview of
what Bitcoin is, how it works, and how it compares to old-fashioned currency [PDF] (from a central banker's perspective, remember) in terms of intrinsic value, security, and price stability. Andolfatto includes references to the Mt. Gox meltdown and to the recent IRS ruling that Bitcoin is property rather than currency; also, he's got jokes on the second slide (for the benefit of techies) and second-to-last slide (for the benefit of bankers). I think he's wrong about the size of the Bitcoin source code, though - he says it's 17 MB, but from a quick google search it
doesn't look all that big .
[Ed. note: This is timely given how much Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and similar have been in the news recently. What does Pipedot think? Is cryptocurrency a passing fad, or the first chink in the armor of government regulated currencies?]
The guy
co-founded Mozilla and served as Netscape's chief architect . He
invented Javascript . He's been Mozilla's chief technical officer for 9 years. On March 24th,
Brendan Eich became the Mozilla Foundation's CEO - and members of Mozilla's staff promptly demanded that he
step down . Why?
Because Brendan Eich is anti-gay-marriage. The
BBC ,
CFO World , and
others are
reporting that online dating site OK Cupid is notifying users of Firefox of the views of the Mozilla Foundation's new CEO - and requesting that they use another browser to access the site. It's not quite a boycott - users can still click through to access the site while using Firefox - but it's definitely a statement.
This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened.
Hobby Lobby ,
Chick-Fil-A , and
Costco have all experienced similar backlashes.
Mark Surman, XO of Mozilla, says:
"I worry that we do a bad job of explaining ourselves, that people are angry and don't know who we are or where we stand. And, I worry that in the time it takes to work this through and explain ourselves the things I love about Mozilla will be deeply damaged."
At what point do a person's political, personal, or religious views outweigh their qualifications for leadership - and does using Firefox in any way imply support of these views?
In a wide-ranging
interview on
Wired , Freeman Dyson notes his pride in never having been awarded a PhD, despite having achieved world-reknown for bringing
the mathematics of Richard Feynman's quantum theory to life. He suggests that the PhD system is: "...good for a very small number of people who are going to spend their lives being professors. But it has become now a kind of union card that you have to have in order to have a job, whether it's being a professor or other things, and it's quite inappropriate for that. It forces people to waste years and years of their lives sort of pretending to do research for which they're not at all well-suited. In the end, they have this piece of paper which says they're qualified, but it really doesn't mean anything. The Ph.D. takes far too long and discourages women from becoming scientists, which I consider a great tragedy. So I have opposed it all my life without any success at all."
I am interested in |. answers to the following question: Why has the PhD credential become so important for careers in science and research both inside and outside academia? My best CS professor only had an undergraduate degree, for example, and I never found cause to disrespect his authority on the subjects he taught because the basis of his authority was clear in his instruction.
Last september J.K.Rowling and Warner Brothers
announced a spin off of Harry Potter based on the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." The book takes place 70 years prior to the Harry Potter events, is not a prequel, and contains a more lighthearted comedy than the serious overtones of the Potter books.
New information from the studio notes that three mega-movies are planned. Thus, W.B. adds to the growing trend of milking a trilogy of movies from one book.
Early last month, I tried my hand at creating a unique logo for this site. Turns out, I sucked at it. My temporary solution was to type "Pipedot" in the Koloss font at 25 point and go back to work on the more important stuff. Of course, some have pointed out the resemblance of this setup to the green site. And I'd have to agree; more differentiation is warranted.
Therefore, I've created a new
Logo Contest at designcontest.com - a site that specializes at such things. The winner not only gets their beautiful creation plastered at the top of this page, but also gets a cool $300 USD prize. The contest ends Sunday (1 week duration.)
Please feel free to browse the entries and help me pick out the good ones. The initial response is almost overwhelming, with a hundred submissions on the first day.
Other updates for this week include:
- More Icons - These are the cute little icons tacked onto the top of articles. Much effort was exerted to keep this set as free-software friendly as possible while maintaining a consistent look and feel. The count is now 145 and will continue to climb over the next few months.
- Unicode Support - Most languages and useful symbols (like math, currency, and punctuation) are now allowed. Dingbats, smiley faces, non-printing characters, right-to-left switchers, and other gibberish are still filtered. This change should resolve the issue some have experienced with fancy quotes, em dashes, resolved HTML entities, and foreign languages.