• Science

    There's Spies In Them There Keyboards

    By Jaya Jiwatram Posted on 10.23.2008 4 Comments

    Hackers may be one step ahead of you once again. Sure, you can follow all the steps to protect your private data, like creating a password that's hard to guess or clearing your memory cache after browsing, but that may not be enough. It's very possible that hackers can sniff out your data with every keystroke—at least that's what Swiss researchers proved in a video demonstration, which showed four different ways to pick up sensitive information from people's keyboards as they typed.

    10.24.2008 at 02:16pm - Comment by Foamer

    cf. Tempest - http://www.tscm.com/TSCM101tempest.html

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    The Cup Stops Here

    By Posted on 5.16.2008 7 Comments

    digg_url = 'http://digg.com/extreme_sports/Aways_Wear_A_Cup'; When it comes to sports, Patrick Thorensen nearly redefined the term sacrifice. In successfully sliding across the ice to block a shot in a recent playoff game, the left wing for the Philadelphia Flyers came close to losing a testicle. Adding insult to the near ultimate injury, the Washington Capitals scored on a rebound while Thorensen rolled in agony (and grown men cried themselves to sleep). The 24-year old was rushed to the hospital and underwent two ultrasound tests to ensure there was no rupture. So, while Thorensen has a dented cup to thank for his manhood, it begs the question: what more can science do to protect our cajones? A quick Google of ‘protective cups provides a range of sizes and colors available from $8 to $25, none differing greatly from the cups our fathers (and fathers' fathers?) have donned for years. With a tank of gas at $50, isnt the male population willing to splurge a bit on reproductive life insurance?

    4.23.2008 at 02:22pm - Comment by Foamer

    A tactful handling of a delicate subject. Quite good. And I suspect one heck of a business boost for Mr. Littell.

  • The Environment

    The Grouse: Assault on Batteries

    By Posted on 2.19.2008 21 Comments

    Perusing the deluge of overheated press releases from the CES conference a few weeks ago, one in particular, for Panasonics new line of EVOLTA batteries, got me thinking. And when I say thinking, I mean muttering curse words and shaking my fist. The release made a big deal about the fact that these new batteries last from 1.3 to 2 times as long as other alkaline batteries—which is to say, slightly less poisonous and wasteful, but not much. Whoopdee-flipping-doo.

    1.30.2008 at 02:07pm - Comment by Foamer

    While I think a lot of this is over-the-top in a Jonathon Swift sort of way (although the deposit thing isn't a horrible idea, coming from the bottle/can deposit State of Oregon, it just needs tweaking), one of his ideas has merit for two reasons: require battery driven devices to come with rechargeable batteries. The two reasons are thus: 1. It would reduce the number of non-rechargable batteries purchased separately, many of which just end up being lost; and 2. It would forever end the three most dreaded words of parenthood: Batteries Not Included.



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