Computers have been the center of my world since I discovered them when I was eleven. Now they’ve become the center of everyone else’s too, in a way, as shown by the fact that the UN is seriously considering changing the whole way that we (as a race) keep time, just so it’s easier for [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Software and Software Development category.
“Researchers propose simple fix to thwart e-voting attack”
This had better become required by law, and soon, if the government wants people to trust electronic voting machines. Every security expert who’s even glanced at them has been appalled at how easily they can be manipulated. Related and possibly-interesting note: a significant part of one of the Stainless Steel Rat books — written long [...]
“How Big is Your Haystack?”
There are three interesting things on this page: An “interactive brute force search space calculator” for passwords, which you can play with to get a good idea how easily a brute-force attack would find YOUR passwords. Some comments further down the page on mathematical entropy, and how it doesn’t affect password strength (despite common wisdom [...]
“I Live in the Future and Here’s How it Works”
A small excerpt from that excerpt: A few years ago, researchers quizzed more than thirty surgeons and surgical residents on their video-game habits [...] Then they put all the surgeons through a laparoscopic surgery simulator, in which thin instruments akin to extremely long chopsticks are inserted into one or more small incisions through the skin [...]
“How websites use your browser to sell you for cash”
A good and up-to-date overview of defensive measures you should be taking to preserve your privacy on the Internet. I use many of the add-ons mentioned there already, but at least one was new to me too. (Here’s part 2.)
STEED: Usable end-to-end encryption
I’ve been using GPG to sign my e-mail for years, and encrypt it when the recipient will accept such messages (which is very rarely). I find it ridiculous that essentially everyone out there is doing the equivalent of sending e-mail postcards that anyone and everyone with access to any system along their delivery path can [...]
“Bloated, slow and leaky – what version numbers really mean”
This is satire, but wickedly on the mark. Obviously poking fun in the direction of Microsoft, but that’s not the only target — I saw at least one other large company using the same tactics, just before I dumped their product in disgust. I’ve no doubt that several other companies (that I’ve been fortunate enough [...]
“Autism Traits Prove Valuable for Software Testing”
As mentioned previously here, autistic people tend to interpret things as black and white, all-true or all-false, no shades of gray allowed. That’s almost certainly why many of us are drawn to working with computers, because computers “think” the same way. Nice to see someone recognizing that as a strength and putting it to good [...]
“Violent videogames reduce crime”
So violent video games make people who play them more violent, but also absorb that violence, making society safer? A little round about, but whatever works.
Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
I wasn’t awake ten minutes this morning before I learned that Steve Jobs had died. I was never truly happy with Apple products — too expensive, not expandable enough, not complex enough to satisfy my geek soul — but even long before the iPhone, they had a major if indirect impact on everything I did. [...]