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When they went to the Moon, they received the same per diem...

2012 Aug 28, 4:38


When they went to the Moon, they received the same per diem compensation as they would have for being away from base in Bakersfield: eight dollars a day, before various deductions (like for accommodation, because the government was providing the bed in the spaceship).

theatlantic:

Apollo 11’s Astronauts Received an $8 Per Diem for the Mission to the Moon

The astronauts of Apollo 11: Intrepid explorers. Inspirational heroes. Government employees.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

PermalinkCommentshumor space nasa moon government

Web Security Contest - Stripe CTF

2012 Aug 27, 4:18

Stripe is running a web security capture the flag - a series of increasingly difficult web security exploit challenges. I've finished it and had a lot of fun. Working on a web browser I knew the theory of these various web based attacks, but this was my first chance to put theory into practice with:

  • No adverse consequences
  • Knowledge that there is a fun security exploit to find
  • Access to the server side source code

Here's a blog post on the CTF behind the scenes setup which has many impressive features including phantom users that can be XSS/CSRF'ed.

I'll have another post on my difficulties and answers for the CTF levels after the contest is over on Wed, but if you're looking for hints, try out the CTF chatroom or the level specific CTF chatroom.

PermalinkCommentscontest security technical

Gangnam Style looks like he’s riding a horse but actually...

2012 Aug 24, 1:29


Gangnam Style looks like he’s riding a horse but actually its satire.

Also, the making of video: http://youtu.be/9HPiBJBCOq8

PermalinkCommentshumor music music-video video psy south-korea

IKEA's New Catalogs: Less Pine, More Pixels - WSJ.com

2012 Aug 24, 3:15

CGI for the IKEA catalog:

That couch catching your eye in the 2013 edition of IKEA’s new catalog may not be a couch at all. It is likely the entire living room was created by a graphic artist. In fact, much of the furniture and settings in the 324-page catalog are simply a collection of pixels and polygons arranged on a computer.

PermalinkComments3d photo graphics ikea

Alexandria 2.0: One Millionaire's Quest to Build the Biggest Library on Earth | Threat Level | Wired.com

2012 Aug 21, 7:00

Brief history and scope of the Internet Archive.

PermalinkCommentsinternet-archive history

Seized shirt! For the feds, it’s not enough to simply seize...

2012 Aug 17, 8:40


Seized shirt!

For the feds, it’s not enough to simply seize domain names without warning or due process—they want to make sure everyone knows the website operators were breaking the law, even if that has yet to be proven in court. That’s why every domain that gets seized ends up redirecting to one of these dramatic warning pages, replete with the eagle-emblazoned badges of the federal agencies involved.

PermalinkCommentshumor law ip fbi legal shirt tshirt

(via HTTPSTER T-Shirt) Maybe for Eric?

2012 Aug 8, 3:14


(via HTTPSTER T-Shirt)

Maybe for Eric?

PermalinkCommentshumor tshirt shirt gift http technical

wired: jtotheizzoe: Meet Sarcastic Mars Rover, now on Twitter,...

2012 Aug 7, 5:57










wired:

jtotheizzoe:

Meet Sarcastic Mars Rover, now on Twitter, doing a science all over your everything.

Meet your new twitter friend.

PermalinkCommentshumor mars rover science

Nanex ~ 03-Aug-2012 ~ The Knightmare Explained

2012 Aug 6, 4:29

We believe Knight accidentally released the test software they used to verify that their market making software functioned properly, into NYSE’s live system.

I get chills breaking the build at work.  I can’t imagine how much worse it would feel to deploy your test suite and destroy the company you work for.

PermalinkCommentsmoney stock knight software trading technical

Newsroom: Miscellaneous: New Online Tool Gives Public Wider Access to Key U.S. Statistics

2012 Jul 28, 2:35

The U.S. Census Bureau today released a new online service that makes key demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics more accessible than ever before. The Census Bureau’s first-ever public Application Programming Interface (API) allows developers to design Web and mobile apps to explore or learn more about America’s changing population and economy.

PermalinkCommentstechnical api census statistics stats web restful rest

I'm an American and I want to watch the Olympics. What do I do? (iamnotaprogrammer.com)

2012 Jul 28, 12:05

One persons quest to watch the Olympics online.

The location requirements (guessed at via IP address) are irritating. The requirement that you have a particular cable subscription to view video online seems like not network neutrality.

Also this related article:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/27/nbc-olympic-opening-ceremony/

PermalinkCommentsolympics video internet web

paulscheer: Paul Scheer and Adam Scott trolling Comic...

2012 Jul 17, 3:48






paulscheer:

Paul Scheer and Adam Scott trolling Comic Con

Yup…This Happened!

And the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1lyRA8IRgQ#t=1m29s

PermalinkCommentshumor comic-con paul-scheer adam-scott

Everybody hates Firefox updates - Evil Brain Jono's Natural Log

2012 Jul 16, 1:59

Former FireFox developer on the switch to their continuous update cycle. 

Oh no, Chrome is doing such-and-such; we’d better do something equivalent or we’ll fall behind! We thought we needed a rapid update process like Chrome. We were jealous of their rapid update capability, which let them deploy improvements to users continuously. We had to “catch up” with Chrome’s updating capability.

Dealing with servicing on IE for years had led me to some of the same thoughts when I heard FireFox was switching to continuous updates.

PermalinkCommentsfirefox via:ericlaw web-browser technical web browser servicing update software

MOBY SONG (DIRECTOR’S CUT) (by AdamBuxton) How to on...

2012 Jul 11, 2:28


MOBY SONG (DIRECTOR’S CUT) (by AdamBuxton)

How to on identifying Moby

PermalinkCommentsmoby humor video

laughingsquid: Back to the Future Time Circuit Replica I would...

2012 Jul 3, 2:38


laughingsquid:

Back to the Future Time Circuit Replica

I would love this as a clock.

PermalinkCommentsback-to-the-future bttf toy diy

wired: cnet: Mp3 playing retainer transmits music through your...

2012 Jul 3, 2:31




wired:

cnet:

Mp3 playing retainer transmits music through your teeth:

Bone conduction audio, retainers, and shiny hip-hop teeth grills aren’t new inventions, but tech hacker Aisen Caro Chacin had the clever idea to put them all together.

The Play-A-Grill MP3 player prototype fits in your mouth like a retainer, shines on the outside like a precious metal rap grill, and plays music through bone conduction through your teeth.

Read more

Oh man, this would have made puberty just a touch cooler. Maybe. 

PermalinkCommentshumor mp3 tech

Funny People: Steve Heinrich, You Don’t Know Jack head writer | Interview | The Gameological Society

2012 Jul 1, 3:38

A veteran of the satirical trivia game series since its first heyday in the 1990s, Heinrich talks about Jack’s writing process, its long hiatus, and that short-lived live-action TV version.

PermalinkCommentsgame interview video-game you-dont-know-jack ydkj

Microsoft Surface: a gentle kick in the teeth of the OEMs | Ars Technica

2012 Jun 25, 12:59

But if Surface is aimed at the OEMs—telling them “we can do this just as well as you can, if we have to”—and setting them a challenge—”your tablets have to be at least this good”—then the limited availability isn’t necessarily such a big deal. As long as the OEMs heed the warning and raise their game, so that Redmond can be assured that bad hardware won’t jeopardized Windows 8’s success, Microsoft could safely keep Surface operating as a small-scale operation, playing the Nexus role without upsetting the PC market.

PermalinkCommentstechnical surface win8 windows windows8 business

First Person Tutor | 7dfps challenge

2012 Jun 20, 3:45

First Person Tutor is a game about *grading papers*, lock, stock, and two smoking inkwells

PermalinkCommentshumor game tutor school fps

NICT Daedalus Cyber-attack alert system #DigInfo (by...

2012 Jun 20, 3:23


NICT Daedalus Cyber-attack alert system #DigInfo (by Diginfonews)

Someone has been watching too much Ghost in the Shell. I’d say someone has been watching too much Hackers but this actually looks cooler than their visualizations and also you can never watch too much of Hackers.

PermalinkCommentstechnical network visualization hack security
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