links.lmorchard.com

December 2012

199 bookmarks saved in December 2012

Of Course House Republicans are Trying to Stop Hurricane Sandy Relief Funds

http://gawker.com/5971985/of-course-house-republicans-are-trying-to-stop-hurricane-sandy-relief-funds
Hurricane Sandy relief efforts continued over the holidays with volunteers dropping off meals on Christmas eve and confidential documents being returned from the wreckage to their rightful owners. But good will can only go so far and victims in the north east are still waiting for federal aid to trickle in. More »
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22975

Tips on Roasting Coffee in Cool Weather - The Captain's Coffee

http://www.thecaptainscoffee.com/single-page-fix-learning-center-articles/51-tips-on-roasting-coffee-in-cool-weather
Most people choose to do their coffee roasting outdoors. Typically, they do it on a porch or in the garage. Aside from it being a nice excuse to be outside, it also makes dealing with the smoke from the roast a non-issue. And the great smell makes the neighbors jealous. But what to do when the weather gets cold?
#coffee #homeroasting #imported:pinboard #roasting
archive.org #22951

A virus that reprograms your pacemaker to deliver an electric shock

http://io9.com/5969986/a-virus-that-reprograms-your-pacemaker-to-deliver-an-electric-shock
What's likely to become a health threat you never expected next year? 4Chan griefers could actually deliver death or injury from the safety of their forums with a virus designed to infect medical devices. Many of these devices, such as pacemakers, can be reprogrammed wirelessly. And that means bad guys could reprogram your pacemaker (or insulin delivery system) with some bad code. No, it's not science fiction. The John J. Reilly Center at University of Notre Dame has released its first annual "List of Emerging Ethical Dilemmas and Policy Issues in Science and Technology" for 2013, and near the top of the list is "hacking into medical devices." They write: Barnaby Jack, a hacker and director of embedded device security at IOActive Inc., recently demonstrated the vulnerability of a pacemaker by breaching the security of the wireless device from his laptop and reprogramming it to deliver an 830-volt shock. Because many devices are programmed to allow doctors easy access in case reprogramming is necessary in an emergency, the design of many of these devices is not geared toward security. We don't yet have evidence of a hacker breaching the security of a medical device with malicious intent, although we now know that it's possible, and over the last few months, government and health care agencies have been discussing the best ways to protect patients. This fall, the US Government Accountability Office released a report detailing their concerns about how hostile actors could attack people with remotely-programmable medical devices in their bodies. The GAO notes reassuringly: Although researchers have recently demonstrated the potential for incidents resulting from intentional threats in two devices-an implantable cardioverter defibrillator and an insulin pump-no such actual incidents are known to have occurred, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). So nobody has been hurt yet, thankfully. But if we take no steps to secure these medical devices, next year could mark the first assassination by computer virus. Read more of the Reilly Center's report on emerging ethical dilemmas and policy issues on their website.
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22931

As Commander Riker ponders, the Enterprise loses another member of her crew

http://io9.com/5970847/as-commander-riker-ponders-the-enterprise-loses-another-member-of-her-crew
As if traveling into deadly anomalies and encountering hostile aliens wasn't bad enough, occasionally the Enterprise loses a (figurative) redshirt just because Riker is lost in thought. Inspired by scifi pulp covers, artist Melanie Schultz created this squidy portrait of our beard-stroking Number One. William T. Riker [Melanie Schultz via Ian Brooks]
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22924

Cory Booker Once Fisted a Man's Gunshot Wound

http://gawker.com/5970894/cory-booker-once-saw-a-guy-get-shot-and-then-stuck-his-hand-an-open-chest-cavity
Here's a picture of Cory Booker reacting to Peggy Noonan on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. This was his expression when he heard her say that video games were to blame for gun violence in America. It's the same look that TV viewers at home have been giving to Peggy Noonan for years. Major props to Cory Booker for putting it out there on national TV. More »
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22922

My Shame is TL;DR, So You Want to Arm the Teachers

http://thefourthvine.tumblr.com/post/38515024680/so-you-want-to-arm-the-teachers
From pinboard.in/deusx: "No. No, no, a thousand times no. If this is your plan, if this is the best you can do, then you really, really, REALLY need not to be firing guns, or carrying guns, or in the presence of guns. You are exactly who should not be armed. Because you’re fucking dangerous, out of touch with reality, frothing at the mouth rabid. And I thank you for showing me how to vote. I will absolutely vote to take your guns away. "
#facebook #ifttt #imported:pinboard
archive.org #22918

Where we're going, we don't need roads, but we do need this official Back to the Future Lego set

http://io9.com/5970475/where-were-going-we-dont-need-roads-but-we-do-need-this-official-back-to-the-future-lego-set/gallery/1
We're probably not getting hoverboards in 2015, bt at least we have the consolation of knowing that Lego approved an actual, licensed Back to the Future DeLorean set for release in the middle of next year. The set - which should include the necessarily Legos to modify the DeLorean for all three movies, as well as various figures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown - was submitted to Lego's Cuusoo site, where it reached the necessary 10,000 votes to be considered and was chosen by Lego for actual production. What's super-cool is that Masashi and Team BTTF, the people who designed and submitted the set, are donating all of the royalties they'd receive from the set's sales directly to the Michael J. Fox Foundation to help fight Parkinson's disease. Apparently the next judging period includes a Portal 2 set. Cross your fingers. Back to the Future II Version Back to the Future III Version Marty and Doc minifigures DeLorean close-ups
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22912

The Website Counting Down to Gangnam Style's Billionth Hit Turned to Porn Ads When It Happened

http://gawker.com/5970468/the-website-counting-down-to-gangnam-styles-billionth-hit-turned-to-porn-ads-when-it-happened
If you were counting down to "Gangnam Style"'s one billionth YouTube view on the site BillionCount.com, you might have been a little confused at what happened when the counter hit 1,000,000,000: it turned into a porn site: the "Xpress Cougar Dating Club." "When it was getting closer to 1 billion views I figured I had to do something with it," the site's creator told us. More »
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22911

They're really making a live-action movie about Wile E. Coyote's favorite supplier, the Acme Company

http://io9.com/5970659/theyre-really-making-a-live+action-movie-about-wile-e-coyotes-favorite-supplier-the-acme-company
We'd heard reports about an Acme Company movie ages ago, but now it's apparently really happening. And producer Dan Lin explained to Collider that it's not an animated film, it's a live-action comedy — and Acme's most famous customer, Wile E. Coyote, won't be in it. Said Lin: We're not going to use Looney Tunes in the ACME movie, it's a live action movie. What were so excited about is the lead character is a Steve Jobs meets Dean Cameron kind of character and because it's ACME you can create some incredibly funny, wacky inventions that you can't do on any other movie. So naturally it's just a super imaginative movie. Meanwhile, Lin said there's actually a screenplay for the long-delayed movie of DC's Suicide Squad comic, written by Justin Marks — but it's not actually happening any time soon. Said Lin, "I think Warner Brothers wants to finish their A-list stories first and then we'll talk about stories like Suicide Squad." In the right hands, a Suicide Squad film could obviously be amazing — but only if they're able to nail the bleak, character-oriented tone of the 1980s Ostrander comics. Tons more details at the link. [Collider]
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22908

Firefox 3D John Hancock Center

http://shaneriley.com/firefox_skyscraper/
Introducing a new use for Firefox 3D view: Creating sculptures using DOM elements! For my first project using 3D view, I figured I'd take a skyscraper in Hashrocket Chicago's neighborhood and attempt to recreate it using DOM elements and absolute positioning. The resulting building ended up being inspired by the design of the John Hancock Center, but is not a scale replica by any means.
#3d #firefox #imported:pinboard #nifty #webdev
archive.org #32604

Firefox 3D John Hancock Center

http://shaneriley.com/firefox_skyscraper
Introducing a new use for Firefox 3D view: Creating sculptures using DOM elements! For my first project using 3D view, I figured I'd take a skyscraper in Hashrocket Chicago's neighborhood and attempt to recreate it using DOM elements and absolute positioning. The resulting building ended up being inspired by the design of the John Hancock Center, but is not a scale replica by any means.
#3d #firefox #nifty #webdev
archive.org #22905

Remove Old Kernels in Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric ocelot) | Liberian Geek

http://www.liberiangeek.net/2011/11/remove-old-kernels-in-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot/
When you’re running Ubuntu and updating your system frequently, there is a high chance that older kernels that are no longer needed are still installed on your system. Over time, if these older kernels are not removed, precious hard disk space may be wasted and your system’s performance may suffer.
#boot #imported:pinboard #kernels #linux #ubuntu
archive.org #32610

Remove Old Kernels in Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric ocelot) | Liberian Geek

http://www.liberiangeek.net/2011/11/remove-old-kernels-in-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot
When you’re running Ubuntu and updating your system frequently, there is a high chance that older kernels that are no longer needed are still installed on your system. Over time, if these older kernels are not removed, precious hard disk space may be wasted and your system’s performance may suffer.
#boot #kernels #linux #ubuntu
archive.org #22892

Nothing To Do With Arbroath: Tiny puppeteer spider observed building bigger spiders as decoys

http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2012/12/tiny-puppeteer-spider-observed-building.html
An Amazon spider has been caught pulling the strings behind intricately built arachnid decoys. Biologist and science educator Phil Torres says the artful arachnid is the first discovered that builds "replica" spiders with eight legs. Mr Torres has recorded the spiders amazing work in a blog for ecological tourism firm Rainforest Expeditions which operates a combined lodge and research centre in the Tambopata national park in Peru. "It (first appeared) to be a medium sized spider about an inch across, possibly dead and dried out, hanging in the centre of a spider web along the side of the trail. Nothing too out of the ordinary for the Amazon," he said. "As you approach, the spider starts to wobble quickly forward and back, letting you know this spider is, in fact, alive. "That spider form you were looking at is actually made up of tiny bits of leaf, debris, and dead insects," he said. The culprit was spotted hiding behind its articulated arachnid-shaped shield: a tiny spider about 5mm wide. Mr Torres said he believes the fake spider is positioned as a decoy to distract and confuse predators and prey.The puppeteer spider sitting above one of its constructions. About 25 of the spiders - believed to be a member of the Cyclosa family - have been spotted in the floodplain surrounding the research centre since first spotted in September. However, none have yet been found further afield. Mr Torres said specimens would now have to be collected and carefully recorded before an article could be submitted to a scientific journal before it could officially be named a new species.
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22890

Unhosted 1: Personal servers and unhosted web apps

https://unhosted.org/adventures/1/Personal-servers-and-unhosted-web-apps.html
Since we move all the application features out of the personal server and into the browser, the actual personal server becomes very simple. It is basically reduced to a gateway that can broker connections between unhosted web apps and the outside world. And if an incoming message arrives while the user is not online with any unhosted web app, it can queue it up and keep it safe until the next time the user connects.
#imported:pinboard #remotestorage #unhosted #webdev
archive.org #22886

Unity Opera! | kyleabaker.com

http://kyleabaker.com/2011/05/07/unity-opera
With Unity in the recent spot light and a little free time on my hands, I decided it was time to dabble with the Launcher API. What better combination that my two favorite pieces of software: Unity in Ubuntu and Opera!
#opera #ubunty #unity
archive.org #22883

The Web We Lost - Anil Dash

http://dashes.com/anil/2012/12/the-web-we-lost.html
The tech industry and its press have treated the rise of billion-scale social networks and ubiquitous smartphone apps as an unadulterated win for regular people, a triumph of usability and empowerment. They seldom talk about what we've lost along the way in this transition, and I find that younger folks may not even know how the web used to be.
#blog #blogosphere #culture #history #imported:pinboard #internet #metablogging #web #web1.0
archive.org #22863

George Lucas cut female X-wing pilots out of Return of the Jedi at the last minute

http://io9.com/5968305/george-lucas-cut-female-x+wing-pilots-out-of-return-of-the-jedi-at-the-last-minute
The original Star Wars trilogy isn't really known for having a lot of roles for women — but it turns out that the third film, Return of the Jedi, featured some female pilots in the Battle of Endor. Two of these fighter pilots are featured among the deleted scenes and extras on the recent Blu-ray release, but not the two female X-Wing pilots. And curiously, we still haven't seen the deleted scene featuring Vivienne Chandler (left) as a X-Wing pilot, who had a full page and a half of dialogue in a cockpit set. Apparently, Chandler actually went to a screening of the film that included her scenes, and then when it was actually released, they were gone. You can glimpse the female pilots in the briefing scene before the battle. One of them was actually included for a split second, but her one line of dialogue, "Got it," was replaced by a male voice in post-production. Did George Lucas decide that showing female pilots getting blown up was too intense? Or was there some other reason why he wanted an all-male fighter squad? We'll probably never know — but it's weird that Chandler's footage has never turned up, in any form, after being in an early cut of the film. More details at the link. [Star Wars Afficionado and Star Wars Afficionado via BuzzFeed]
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22861

Here is the biggest goddamn snow blower you've ever seen

http://io9.com/5968510/here-is-the-biggest-goddamn-snow-blower-youve-ever-seen
Add this to your ever-growing list of things you never knew existed but now desperately need: a BNSF rotary snow blower. The video up top is of a model currently in operation clearing railroad tracks in Aurora, NE, but you'll find them all over the country, churning through formidable heaps of tightly packed snow like so many styrofoam packing peanuts. Like pretty much all snow blowers, the various models of BNSF rotaries work by virtue of an engine-powered blade that pulls powder into the apparatus before jettisoning it far away from the area being cleared. The only difference is that BNSF's blowers look like someone spliced genes from the Death Star's Concave Dish Superlaser with a Langolier and mated the outcome with a locomotive. Can you think of anything scarier than finding yourself on the business end of one of these monsters? I mean just look at these things: Terrifying and awesome and terrifying. All at the same time. [Spotted on boingboing]
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22860

R. Umar Abbasi subway photo: Google Glass, surveillance means more of this phenomenon. - Slate Magazine

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/12/r_umar_abbasi_subway_photo_google_glass_surveillance_means_more_of_this.single.html
Little Brother is burgeoning, too. More and more people are carrying cameras with them. Typically, these come in the form of mobile phones, but wearable cameras are growing in numbers and shrinking in size. Not too many years from now, lots of people will be wearing “heads-up” camera/display combos (such as Google Glass) that capture videos of pretty much everything they see. Unless we turn from the course we've set as a society, we'll soon arrive at a day when every square foot of every subway station—of just about every place, really—is being recorded at all times, and probably from multiple views. And all of these devices, capturing higher and higher resolution images plus audio, will be connected at high speeds to digital networks.
#cameras #imported:pinboard #mobile #politics #video
archive.org #22854

baudehlo/Haraka · GitHub

https://github.com/baudehlo/Haraka
Haraka is an SMTP server which uses a plugin architecture to implement most of its functionality. It uses a highly scalable event model to be able to cope with thousands of concurrent connections. Plugins are written in Javascript using Node.js, and as such perform extremely quickly. The core Haraka framework is capable of processing thousands of messages per second on the right hardware.
#email #haraka #imported:pinboard #js #mail #node #nodejs #services
archive.org #22852

Mechanics of Flite - Underappreciated NPM Commands Developers Should Know About

http://mechanics.flite.com/blog/2012/12/11/underappreciated-npm-commands/
npm, the package manager that comes bundled with node.js, is generally described as “awesome”. While it was originally a separate project, npm has been bundled with node.js for the past few releases and the number of npm packages available in the npm registry has exploded.
#imported:pinboard #javascript #js #nifty #node #npm #tools #utils #webdev
archive.org #32619

Mechanics of Flite - Underappreciated NPM Commands Developers Should Know About

http://mechanics.flite.com/blog/2012/12/11/underappreciated-npm-commands
npm, the package manager that comes bundled with node.js, is generally described as “awesome”. While it was originally a separate project, npm has been bundled with node.js for the past few releases and the number of npm packages available in the npm registry has exploded.
#javascript #js #nifty #node #npm #tools #utils #webdev
archive.org #22851

Combining HTML Hypermedia APIs and Adaptive Web Design – Jayway

http://www.jayway.com/2012/08/01/combining-html-hypermedia-apis-and-adaptive-web-design/
HTML is the lowest common denominator in a world where the number of devices are steadily growing. In such a world, our API should be hypermedia driven and we should consider choosing HTML as the media type for our APIs. If we choose this, we can enhance the API with CSS and JavaScript, making the API human-friendly as well. Further, we can use Adaptive Web Design to make the best possible experience for all types of browsers and devices. This kind of solution has some risks and technical issues related to it though. And it is not a silver bullet.
#html #hypermedia #imported:pinboard #rest #webdev
archive.org #32620

Fuck You, Slow Walkers

http://jezebel.com/5967553/fuck-you-slow-walkers
When we have to share common space, I feel like we are all better served when each of us takes reasonable measures to ensure we are not announcing ourselves too loudly. That we're not taking up more than our share of the sidewalk, talking at unnecessary volumes on the phone, or occupying the seat next to us with our bag even as the train fills to standing room only. Those kinds of acts are, I feel, deeply selfish.
#funny #imported:pinboard #knowthatfeel #to:fb
archive.org #22850

The Big Budget Mumble - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/opinion/krugman-the-big-budget-mumble.html?_r=0
Now Republicans find themselves boxed in. With taxes scheduled to rise on Jan. 1 in the absence of an agreement, they can’t play their usual game of just saying no to tax increases and pretending that they have a deficit reduction plan. And the president, by refusing to help them out by proposing G.O.P.-friendly spending cuts, has deprived them of political cover. If Republicans really want to slash popular programs, they will have to propose those cuts themselves.
#fiscalcliff #imported:pinboard #politics #republicans #to:fb
archive.org #22846

The Pirate Bay Is The World’s Most Efficient Public Library - Falkvinge on Infopolicy

http://falkvinge.net/2012/12/07/the-pirate-bay-is-the-worlds-most-efficient-public-library/
It begs the question why every author, filmmaker, and musician isn’t up in arms about the New York Public Library’s rampant sharing, while there’s a ton of opposition to the sharing habits of BitTorrent peers who use The Pirate Bay. After all, The Pirate Bay’s community shares significantly less than the New York Public Library: just 1 million items in 2008 (and the collection certainly hasn’t grown 5000% since then). The reason that The Pirate Bay is offensive, and the New York Public Library is not, is because of its efficiency.
#bittorrent #copyfight #imported:pinboard #libraries #piracy #piratebay
archive.org #32623

The Pirate Bay Is The World’s Most Efficient Public Library - Falkvinge on Infopolicy

http://falkvinge.net/2012/12/07/the-pirate-bay-is-the-worlds-most-efficient-public-library
It begs the question why every author, filmmaker, and musician isn’t up in arms about the New York Public Library’s rampant sharing, while there’s a ton of opposition to the sharing habits of BitTorrent peers who use The Pirate Bay. After all, The Pirate Bay’s community shares significantly less than the New York Public Library: just 1 million items in 2008 (and the collection certainly hasn’t grown 5000% since then). The reason that The Pirate Bay is offensive, and the New York Public Library is not, is because of its efficiency.
#bittorrent #copyfight #libraries #piracy #piratebay
archive.org #22845

Client: We would like to have a shot of the sun...

http://clientsfromhell.net/post/37570454079/client-we-would-like-to-have-a-shot-of-the-sun
Client: We would like to have a shot of the sun rising and setting over the ocean. Me: We can shoot the sunset, but it’s impossible to get the sunrise right. Client: Why? Me: Well, the sun rises from the East. The coast we are shooting from is on the western part of the country. Client: So what?
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22843

Our first peek inside the new TARDIS interior is inscribed with Gallifreyan

http://io9.com/5966821/our-first-peek-inside-the-new-tardis-interior-is-inscribed-with-gallifreyan
Along with his new companion, the Doctor is getting a new TARDIS interior. BBC America released this small hint to the new design—cold metallics with Circular Gallifreyan inscriptions. Anyone want to take a crack at translating it? (Or, rather, hazard a guess as to what it's about?) [BBC America via Nerd Approved]
#imported:pinboard #needs-tags #shared #ttrss
archive.org #22838

What a Wonder is a Terrible Monitor « ASCII by Jason Scott

http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/3786
The vector lines, which are created by aiming a beam DIRECTLY AT YOUR EYES only to be stopped by a coated piece of glass, have a completely different feel. The phosphor glows, the shots look like small stars floating across the glass, and a raster line is not to be seen. It’s an entirely different experience, and the teenagers at MAGfest had never seen it before, and unfortunately, it is well on its way out.
#arcade #asteroids #emulation #history #imported:pinboard #raster #to:fb
archive.org #22835

Archivists' Toolkit | For archivists by archivists

http://www.archiviststoolkit.org/
The Archivists’ Toolkit™, or the AT, is the first open source archival data management system to provide broad, integrated support for the management of archives. It is intended for a wide range of archival repositories. The main goals of the AT are to support archival processing and production of access instruments, promote data standardization, promote efficiency, and lower training costs
#archives #imported:pinboard #metadata #tools
archive.org #32625

Archivists' Toolkit | For archivists by archivists

http://www.archiviststoolkit.org
The Archivists’ Toolkit™, or the AT, is the first open source archival data management system to provide broad, integrated support for the management of archives. It is intended for a wide range of archival repositories. The main goals of the AT are to support archival processing and production of access instruments, promote data standardization, promote efficiency, and lower training costs
#archives #metadata #tools
archive.org #22832