I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Linkee-poo is going to see the river man, and tell him all about the plan

A first hand account of fencing with epees. (Grokked from someone, sorry, lost the link)

Detroit's Write-A-House.

Twenty-seven holiday traditions explained.

Saladin Ahmed asked on twitter the other day something like "Why does everybody hate bitcoin." Well my answer was a little simplistic (as twitter answers must be), here's Charlie Stross's longer and wise answer. Basically, bit-coin is the pyramid scheme of prime numbers. And reading it, I'm starting to form an opinion that Libertarianism, as professed any Ayn Rand types, is pretty much a long con meant to funnel as much capital up the chain to a few at the head of the beast as quickly as possible. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

A Rainbow of Wavelengths. Our sun in all it's specular refractive glory. Cue the right-wing, whackaloon "Our Guberment is controlled by teh gayz" contingent in 3… 2… 1… (Grokked from Sarah Goslee)

Holy exploding pig shit. Literally. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

The problem well stated, "We’ve never been on a planet with no Arctic ice, and we will hit the average of 400 ppm… within the next couple of years. At that time, we’ll also see the loss of Arctic ice in the summers… This planet has not experienced an ice-free Arctic for at least the last three million years." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Oh look, a decade on and internet filter software is still crap. "The BBC is reporting that Internet content filters being rolled out by major ISPs in the UK are failing to allow access to acceptable content, such as sex education and sexual abuse advise sites, while also still allowing access to porn." You know, unless blocking education and help sites while still being able to see boobies and cocks was really the secret objective all along. (Grokked from Dan)

"A Republican congressman from Georgia who is hoping to be party’s next Senate nominee said over the weekend that poor children should have to pay or sweep floors if they wanted to eat school lunches." The. FUCK. Didn't we rebrand Newt Gingrich as such a dick when he proposed this in the last presidential campaign so well that he lost every. single. state. What supreme douche bag of a brain can think that child labor is the solution? To anything. That's it, no more Mr. Moderate Nice Guy, it's time to throw the hand-grenades. You, Rep. Jack Kingston, get in the fucking sack. (Grokked from matociquala)

Well, the title of the article is a little misleading. See, you can't really "hack" another computer using sound, but you can create an audio network. This isn't really big news for any of us older kids you used acoustic coupling devices (pre-modem days). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

However, by listening to your CPU's sounds, you can extract a 4096-bit RSA key in about an hour. Now that is hacking by sound. (Pointed to by Dan)

"So Hobby Lobby’s lawsuit is based on the company’s 'firm, fixed, and sincere' opposition to contraception and abortion. That opposition is such an intrinsic principle that it would be impossible for Hobby Lobby to comply with the law’s mandate for gender equality in preventive health insurance… And yet this firm, fixed, sincere conviction has never hindered Hobby Lobby from building its business on a foundation of goods manufactured in China… To recap then, mandatory birth control in China is of no moral concern for Hobby Lobby, but access to voluntary birth control for American women is something it will fight all the way to the Supreme Court. The company has no conscientious objection to forced abortion in China if such objection would interfere with its ability to get kitschy rooster ornaments for pennies for the dollar. But preventive health insurance for female employees violates it’s deepest purported religious convictions." I wonder if the government's lawyer read the Slactivist?

Tweet of my heart: @KameronHurley If you think there's no stereotypical "affluent white people" behavior, come bask in the horror of this bingo card (WARNING - an Xmas Jammies Holiday Video Card - O.M.G.)

Double dip (because you need one after that) @dailybeckett We spend our life – it's ours – trying to bring together in the same instant a ray of sunshine and a free bench.

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