Category Archives: Computing

Links of the day

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PC users still prefer XP to Vista. For some reason The Daily Telegraph doesn’t realise XP and Vista are two versions of Windows.

Giuliani’s advisor Peter King: “Too many mosques in this country”. Another idiotic quote by a gobshite politician. (Crooks and Liars)

Making carbon markets work. It could be an effective way of limiting climate change from CO2 emissions. (Scientific American)

A child’s guide to Iran-US relations. The article makes one or two suspect claims but it’s a good backgrounder. (Scholars and Rogues)

Diabetes breath test may be possible. Every little bit helps. (CNet)

Swedish game show hostess vomits live on air. Only to get back on her seat and finish working. What a pro! (Breitbart.tv)

Hacking the Pentagon

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China’s military hacked into the Pentagon’s computers about three months back, US officials have said.

From the Financial Times:

The PLA regularly probes US military networks — and the Pentagon is widely assumed to scan Chinese networks –- but US officials said the penetration in June raised concerns to a new level because of fears that China had shown it could disrupt  systems at critical times… Hackers from numerous locations in China spent several months probing the Pentagon system before overcoming its defences, according to people familiar with the matter.

The US has also said China probably only got “unclassified” information, although the Pentagon has no idea how much was downloaded.

Things that make you go 'hmm'

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In a good way. Some are funny, some are just intriguing.

Good vibrations: An 86-year-old Jewish doctor has donated 12 surfboards to Gaza to promote peace. (AP)

Aiming high: A one-legged father of 78 is marrying two more women as he goes for 100 by 2015. (CNN/Emirates Today)

The power of words: The influence of pronouns in brain function. (Anthropology.net/Science Daily)

In it for the long haul: Venezuela’s congress has approved constitutional reforms that could let Hugo Chavez rule for a long, long time. (AP/Boston Globe)

The good thief: A gunman holding up a convenience store halted his robbery to wait on a couple who eagerly accepted a pack of smokes and other items without paying. (Kansas City TV)

The great debate: Are gadgets and the internet actually addictive? (CNN)

A new power: Mysterious Italian crime syndicate linked to massacre in Germany eclipses Sicilian Mafia. (International Herald Tribune)

Glorious articles

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My post on the trip to Germany is taking longer than expected, largely because I’m sorting out a few photos to go with it. In the meantime, here’s more of what I’ve been reading over the last 24 hours, some of which has appeared in my del.icio.us feed.

BBC: Astronomers find a planet 70% larger than Jupiter. That would make it the biggest extra-solar world yet known.

CNet: Is a time machine possible? An Israeli professor is examining ways to curve space and time.

Ars Technica: Blogging to reach its peak in 2007. There are also 200 million ex-bloggers, apparently.

Scientific American: Guerilla wi-fi to put a billion more people online. A US firm plans to change the world.

That’s Ireland: Temptresses, winged frogs and Vatican demons. A deconstruction of the first issue of The Hibernian, a monthly magazine dedicated to “faith, family and country”.

International Herald Tribune: Wayward police officers must wear pink armbands of shame. If you’re a copper in Bangkok and you break the rules, you get to wear a Hello Kitty armband.

Slate: How “educational” baby videos stupefy kids. Children are better off watching things like American Idol, it seems.

Scholars and Rogues: Ending poverty means abandoning charity and accepting reality. Long-term charity is not the way out of poverty.

More articles

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Work has been the priority and the long hours have left little time for blogging… but here’s what I’ve been reading in recent days (not all of it has made it to my del.icio.us feed).

CNet: The Microsoft albatross. Don Reisinger says the company needs to abandon Windows after creating one more operating system.

Earth2Tech: EcoWeb tool, LocalCooling.com. The site says its downloadable power-saving software optimises your PC’s power consumption through what it says is a “more effective” power saving mode. I haven’t tried it out yet so I can’t say if it’s too good to be true or a revelation.

Scientific American: Why we quit. A look at why more US college students drop out than graduate.

International Herald Tribune: Murdoch set to win control of Wall Street Journal. A story which was also reported in the Journal.

Harry McGee: The line is going to be Brian. Why Irish politics is going to revolve around the Finance Minister and heir apparent to Bertie Ahern’s throne.

Ads from your hard drive

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Microsoft has filed a patent for an “advertising framework” that uses “context data” from your hard drive to show you advertisements and “apportion and credit advertising revenue” to ad suppliers in real time. From Ars Technica via Slashdot.

Eek. I don’t like where this kind of adware is heading… I’d write a longer post but I don’t trust myself to be entirely calm or coherent.