Vintage Passwords

"Forum cracks the vintage passwords of Ken Thompson and other Unix pioneers"

Apple Safe Browsing

"How safe is Apple's Safe Browsing?"

Catalina Prep

"Don't update to macOS Catalina without checking this first"

Quantum-Proof Encryption

"New Encryption System Protects Data from Quantum Computers"

Cyclist Pool Noodles

"Why every cyclist needs a pool noodle"

AI, Doctors, And Lawyers

You know medical AI is becoming the real deal, when lawyers start writing articles in major medical journals on malpractice issues: "Potential Liability for Physicians Using Artificial Intelligence".

(JAMA. Published online October 4, 2019)

Quantum Investments

"Quantum gold rush: The private funding pouring into quantum start-ups"

Fire Prevention Update

"New gel lets us spread flame retardant before wildfires start". (Via H.R.)

Star Wars Cookware

I probably won't buy one, but this Han Solo™ Carbonite Signature Roaster looks pretty damned cool. Click through to see more from the Le Creuset Collection.

Visualizing Card Shuffles

Video: "Visualizing Card Shuffles"



Some explanatory notes from the video:

Starting Distance is how far each card has moved, on average, from its starting spot. So, if the deck was originally 1234 and then shuffled to 4123, the 123 moved 1 space and 4 moved 3, so that’s an average move distance of 1.5.

Neighbor distance is looking the unshuffled deck and how far each card ends from the next card in order. So, if we have 12345 shuffled to 15243.

Card 1 is 1 space from the 2.
Card 2 is 1 space from the 3.
Cards 3 & 4 are considered 0 spaces away from each other since they’re still adjacent, even if their orders are reversed.
5 isn’t taken into consideration because it has no neighbor to start.

So that means the neighbor average is 0.5.

Catalina Review

"MacOS 10.15 Catalina: The Ars Technica review". (Via H.R.)

Colorado Beer

"The Thirty Most Important Beers in Colorado History"

Parking Lot Revenues

"How Much Money Do Parking Lots Actually Make?"

Plate Tectonics Update

"Plate tectonics runs deeper than we thought". (Via H.R.)

Phishing Tricks

"How phishing attacks trick our brains"

Implanting False Memories

"Scientists Implant False Memories in Birds to Teach Them Songs They've Never Heard"

This is both super-cool and super-creepy at the same time. #21stCenturyOrwellianHeadlines

Big Locomotive

"Meet the Man at the Controls of the World's Largest Steam Locomotive"

Dark Side Of The Moon

"The First Photograph of the Far Side of the Moon from 1959"

Tower Of Terror Secrets

Video: "How Disney's Tower of Terror Works"

Silicon-Interconnect Fabric

"Goodbye, Motherboard. Hello, Silicon-Interconnect Fabric". (Via H.R.)

Illness On A Cruise Ship

"How Cruise Ship Passengers Should Prepare For Sickness Or Injury At Sea"

Baby-Seat Map For Air Passengers

"Airline introduces baby-seat map so passengers can avoid infants on planes".

I like kids. I also like the idea of air passengers being better able to choose to sit closer to (or further away from) babies.

Surviving Lightning

"How to Survive a Lightning Strike"

Contra Caps Lock

"It's time for Caps Lock to die".

Which also gives me a chance to post one of my favorite Homer Simpson quotes. (Click on image to see larger version.)

Anti-Surveillance Fashion

"Face masks to decoy t-shirts: The rise of anti-surveillance fashion"

Parking Math

"To find the best parking spot, do the math"

Critical Word Choices

BBC: "The Simple Words That Save Lives".