It started with an observation based on the Equifax fiasco by Hao-Kai Pai: Defanging identity fraud by verifying identities – “part of the damage here stems from organizations assuming that Social Security Numbers are secret … another part of the problem is that some businesses are startlingly lax about confirming who they are extending credit to.” That is […]
Apple did their big show to sell the next iteration of improvements and enhancements. That raises the usual cheers and jeers as well as a few questions and concerns. One is: Do “THEY” Really Say: “TECHNOLOGICAL Progress Is Slowing Down”? — Consider the 256 GB memory iPhone X: Implemented in vacuum tubes in 1957, the transistors […]
He says they are ‘hiring’ … and it’s an ad hoc group of volunteers trying to make Python better. The problem is significant: how do you encourage and motivate volunteers to join in and add to, rather than detract from, a project such as Python. Hettinger has some rather harsh words about the need to […]
Last month, it was Wes putting together a retro-Pi project to run classic games from days past using emulation on the Raspberry Pi. This time it’s A Classic Retrocomputer Kit from the 1980’s. The idea is to build a classic Z80 computer to fit into an Altoids tin and call it a Z80 Membership Card. Then […]
Some claim it is the Next Big Thing and going to overturn civilization. It sounds so wonderful with peace, love, and all that: technology is going to solve all human ills and whatnot. Technology dreams seem to invite a blindness. Luboš Motl gets to the key issue with Bitcoin: Decentralized blockchain and subjectivity of the […]
Good article at Make: Take These Steps to Secure Your Raspberry Pi Against Attackers. Pretty much standard stuff but good stuff well worth considering even on a project SBC [single board computer]. Why is the SBC a target? Make suggests it might be used for distributed computing to aid Bitcoin miners, as a host for I’net […]
Android is a Java based system running on a Linux Kernel. The inter-tangling between these parts is a conflict of the philosophies behind them and practical realities. That has meant that product evolution has been somewhat hampered and cell phones are static devices rather than living technology expressions. ArsTechnica has Android 8.0 Oreo, thoroughly reviewed […]
Python libraries use the system API for fundamental file operations and I encountered one example of subtlety in this with the program to scan for duplicate files that had been merged by Fslint using links. A restored tarball had symbolic links that were no longer valid. That caused problems. OSError: [Errno 2] No such file […]
Zach Sutton has pictures of Rental Camera Gear Destroyed by the Solar Eclipse of 2017. With all of our rentals leading up to this event, we warned everyone to view the event with appropriate eyewear and to attach a solar filter to the end of their lenses to protect the lens elements and camera sensor. But […]
Trent Hamm has a good summary in his Six Fresh Ways to Think About Retirement Savings at the Simple Dollar. From the social security network to retirement fund withdrawal rules of thumb and from basic subsistence levels to choosing a location for cost of living reasons, he provides a good over-view of issues that many don’t […]