J: “My mom’s porgs are the tastiest porgs in the whole world….probably.”
Category: Facebook
Scuttlebutt
Interesting idea: Secure Scuttlebutt, a totally decentralized social network that syncs through mesh & LAN connections & can handle being off-grid.
The Nomad Who’s Exploding the Internet Into Pieces – The Atlantic
An Off-Grid Social Network – André Staltz
Via A Plan to Rescue the Web from Internet – André Staltz
Network Neutrality: A History of Common Carrier Laws 1884–2018
For the last few years I’ve missed the Santa Ana winds, since some quirk of…
For the last few years I've missed the Santa Ana winds, since some quirk of geography causes the strongest wind to bypass this area. But last night, with wind-fueled fires tearing up both wilderness and neighborhoods around LA and Ventura, I found that quirk very comforting.
Sheep with cameras.
How sheep with cameras got some tiny islands onto Google Street View
The Faroe Islands, a remote archipelago that juts out of the cold seas between Norway and Iceland, doesn’t even appear on some world maps. But as of last week, the verdant slopes, rocky hiking trails and few roads of the 18 islands are on Google Street View — and a team of camera-toting sheep helped get them there.
Reexamining old evidence with new knowledge and techniques
The first evidence of planets around another star was found in… 1917?
Another fascinating case of going back and reexamining old evidence with new knowledge and techniques.
XKCD: Cast Iron Pan
Good news for California pine trees.
With California Drought Over, Fewer Sierra Pines Dying
Good news for California pine trees.
The volcanic period that gave the moon its maria may have temporarily given it an atmosphere
https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/air-de-lune
The volcanic period that gave the moon its maria may have temporarily given it an atmosphere comparable in thickness to what Mars has now.
Someone suggested this when I posted an article a while back about using drones as wireless nodes.
Google parent Alphabet looks to restore cell service in Puerto Rico with Project Loon balloons
Someone suggested this when I posted an article a while back about using drones as wireless nodes.
A fascinating write up on a month-long spear phishing campaign
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/09/phish-future
A fascinating write up on a month-long spear phishing campaign that tried to compromise Net Neutrality activists at Free Press & Fight for the Future. Worth a read for the various techniques they used to try to get logins, including individually targeted messages.
There’s timing: I was just wondering whether this cave tour was still open.
There's timing: I was just wondering whether this cave tour was still open.
Good news on the slow, but ongoing recovery of the California condor.
California Condors Return to the Skies After Near Extinction
Good news on the slow, but ongoing recovery of the California condor.
Your identity’s leaked, so you request a credit freeze…which can be unlocked
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/experian-site-can-give-anyone-your-credit-freeze-pin/
Your identity's leaked, so you request a credit freeze…which can be unlocked using the information that was leaked. 🤦
“If this growing cohort ‘wins’, what do they get?”
If this growing cohort 'wins', what do they get? In a post-science world, where physics and testable facts are always open to the layman's opinion in the moment, how are things better? How does one develop a new antibiotic without an understanding of speciation and disease resistance?
OK, one more total eclipse video…
OK, one more total eclipse video…
Similar to my own thoughts on the portal Equifax set up for people to check.
Equifax compromise and their insecure response
Similar to my own thoughts on the portal Equifax set up for people to check.
Just enter your name and 2/3 of your SSN into this brand new website that you can’t verify actually belongs to Equifax, and we’ll tell you if you’ve been pwned!
It really is Equifax as far as I can tell, but the way it’s set up sets off a ton of red flags and will train people to ignore those flags on actual phishing attacks.
Here’s an idea: put cell stations on drones to help coordinate disaster relief & keep lines of communication open.
When Disaster Strikes, Flying Cell Towers Could Aid Search and Rescue
Here’s an idea: put cell stations on drones to help coordinate disaster relief & keep lines of communication open.
It’s possible to add noise to an image that the human brain filters out, but that will cause computers to misclassify it.
Slight Street Sign Modifications Can Completely Fool Machine Learning Algorithms
From the still-needs-work department: It’s possible to add noise to an image that the human brain filters out (or doesn’t even notice), but that will cause computers to misclassify it. Amusing when you’re sorting photos of animals, but dangerous when it convinces a self-driving car that a stop sign is simply reporting a speed limit.
This is a potential game changer in allergy research.
Q&A on Allergy Cell Finding: Targeting Therapies and Predicting Symptoms to Foods
This is a potential game changer in allergy research.