Tag: Technology

Firefox 4 for PowerPC Macs

Although I have many complaints about Firefox 4 it is still my main browser because I can’t remain sane, online, and not have NoScript. Two weeks ago I tried running Chrome as my main browser again thinking I would give it a fair shake only to rediscover all the full page advertisements, popups, flash advertisements, and other annoying things that I forgot existed thanks to the wonderful little plugin that prevents all but authorized domains from running scripts.

I also have an old PowerBook that I still use once in a while and Firefox 4 doesn’t support it. It’s not the end of the world yet as Firefox 3.x is still being supported on the platform and with security updates but that will end some day. Thankfully somebody has seen my blight and has started a project to bring Firefox 4 to PowerPC Macintosh computers via the TenFourFox project. This is one huge advantage to open source software, when a vendor drops support for a platform others can swoop in and do the support themselves.

The group behind TenFourFox is also claiming that they’re making CPU specific optimizations which is pretty awesome. I’ll have to test this on my old PowerBook G4 and let you know how it runs.

Why I Don’t Run an Open WiFi Network

There are two things I’d like to do but don’t because some jackass taking advantage of my kindness could lead me to legal trouble. The first is run a Tor exit node. I love Tor and believe the benefits of having an anonymity network are great, especially in countries where the government works very hard to suppress free speech. Number two on my list of things I’d like to do but don’t is run an open WiFi access point. I would be more than happy to provide an access point for anybody to use if they need Internet access, especially if the people in need can’t afford Internet access themselves (my connection is a corporate account so my terms of service would easily allow me to do something like this). Sadly as Bruce Schneier points out the consequence of being a good Samaritan are often incredibly high:

The three stories all fall along the same theme: a Buffalo man, Sarasota man, and Syracuse man all found themselves being raided by the FBI or police after their wireless networks were allegedly used to download child pornography. “You’re a creep… just admit it,” one FBI agent was quoted saying to the accused party. In all three cases, the accused ended up getting off the hook after their files were examined and neighbors were found to be responsible for downloading child porn via unsecured WiFi networks.

Any traffic going through an open WiFi network or a Tor exit node traces back to the IP address of the person operating them. Thus if somebody uses them to do something illegal the ISP will see it as you doing that illegal act and you’ll have the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) storming through your door and probably shooting your kenneled dog.

The Market for IPv4

In other not at all shocking news there is a scarcity of IPv4 addresses which has head to the development of a market:

The IPv4 address space resale market is evolving in light of Nortel’s recent sale of 666,624 IPv4 addresses to Microsoft for $7.5 million, or $11.25 per address.

Maybe investing in IPv4 addresses is a good idea at the moment.

Self-Adjusting Rifle Scope

The Firearm Blog has the lead one a new piece of fancy technology brought to us by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a self-adjusting rifle scope:

Military and police marksmen could see their rifle sights catch up with the 21st century with a fiber-optic laser-based sensor system that automatically corrects for even tiny barrel disruptions.

The system, developed by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Slobodan Rajic, precisely measures the deflection of the barrel relative to the sight and then electronically makes the necessary corrections. The lifesaving results are lethal.

The only current downside is the technology only appears to work with fluted barrels:

The typical barrel of a high-power rifle has exterior grooves, called flutes, to reduce weight and create more surface area to enable the barrel to cool faster. The barrel heats up as a result of the hot expanding gases in the barrel and the friction from the bullets that are propelled by these hot gases along a helical path inside the barrel.

With the ORNL technology, glass optical fibers are placed into the flutes. These flutes are either produced by the barrel manufacturer or subsequently retrofit. The sensor system contains a laser diode that sends a signal beam into the optical fibers parallel to the bore axis of the barrel.

Still this technology looks fucking awesome and I believe it goes without saying that I want one.

Amazon to Allow Library Lending of Kindle Books

The Sony E-Reader has had the capability to allow libraries to loan e-books to their customers for a while now. It seems Amazon wants in on this action and are now going to allow libraries to loan Kindle e-books:

SEATTLE, Apr 20, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — (NASDAQ: AMZN)– Amazon today announced Kindle Library Lending, a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States. Kindle Library Lending will be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps.

What I really like about how Amazon is going about this is any highlights or annotations you make on a rented book will be saved:

Customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone. If a Kindle book is checked out again or that book is purchased from Amazon, all of a customer’s annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.

I’d say that’s pretty important because it would be a huge pain in the ass to lose any notes made on a book because the loan expired.

Mileage Based Tax and Other Fun Uses for GPS

Those of you who have purchased hybrid or electric cars recently probably remember a pretty nice tax incentive. Not only has the government been granting tax breaks to those purchasing fuel efficient vehicles but those who have these cars pay the government less gasoline tax as well. Unfortunately for you guys the government doesn’t like missing out on what it considers revenue and the State of Minnesota is looking into mileage based taxation:

The state’s Department of Transportation is recruiting 500 drivers in Hennepin and Wright counties to travel with GPS-enabled smart phones for a “Minnesota Road Fee Test.” The data will be used as state officials consider replacing gas taxes with mileage-based user fees.

It seems the state has a hard on for putting GPS devices in automobiles. If that state decides to go this route I wouldn’t be surprised if inclusion of these devices becomes mandatory (maybe that’s when I’ll move to join the Free Staters in New Hampshire) through legislation. These types of devices would grant the state three major benefits as I see it; the ability to tax people based on miles driven, the ability to track the whereabouts of vehicles for law enforcement uses, and the ability to automatically write traffic violations.

The first item is the justification being used by the states to get the pilot program going. It’s doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to see the police using these devices to track where somebody has been. Police have a bigger hard on for violating rights than the politicians.

The second item is the most interesting because it would create an additional source of revenue. A GPS system can be used for many things including determining the speed of a vehicle. With the correct data the device in your vehicle could know the speed limit on each street in Minnesota. The GPS could be used to determine the speed of your vehicle and the speed limit of the street your traversing; if the first value is higher than the second the device can automatically issue you a speeding ticket. And there you have it, instant additional revenue.

Man I miss the days when I was naive of government desires and thought these ideas were just cooky conspiracy theories.

HP/Palm WebOS 3.0 Preview Leaks Out

For both of us who are excited about the next version of HP/Palm’s WebOS it appears as though one of the developers who was admitted access to the Early Access Program has decided to grace us all with a video of the goods:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvqzXR0JkuY]

The emulator is still in beta obviously but it’s looking pretty cool if I do say so myself. WebOS 3.0 will debut on HP/Palm’s tablet at some future point. If the actual device holds as well as the emulator preview is letting on HP/Palm’s tablet could actually give some real competition to Apple’s iPad.

iPad Makes a Great Video Player

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I don’t purchase physical media all that often. Most of the movies I buy are purchased via iTunes. The reason for this is because iTunes has a good selection of movies, I can play movies on any of my computers, and my movies can be loaded onto my iPad and iPhone. If there is a downside it’s the fact that plugging a computer into a friend’s television isn’t always a straight forward way to watch a movie and most movies played via a computer on a CRT television look like shit.

Realizing the iPad is far more portable than a television and that I sometimes like to bring movies to my friends’ houses I decided to purchase a set of Component AV Cables for use with my iPad and iPhone. Last night was the first time I actually used them and I’m happy to report they work great. The test movie was the high definition version of Tron: Legacy which looked absolutely great playing off of my iPad. It also beat the Hell out of trying to hook a laptop up to the television. Being everything has a downside one is apparently made using the iPad, there is no remote control. If you want to pause the move you have to go over to the iPad and tap the pause button on the screen. Not a big deal but it’s honestly the only downside I could find to this setup.

While playing a movie on an external display you can turn the iPad’s screen off and the movie will continue to play. However if you leave the Video app the movie will stop playing which is probably a side effect of allowing other applications to utilize the video-out capabilities of the iPad. I will also note that if you get an e-mail or other message on the iPad while it’s hooked into a television the notification sound plays on the television so it’s a good idea to turn your networking capabilities off while watching a movie if you get as many e-mails as I do.

Needless to say I really like the iPad as a video playing device. There is no real setup required beyond plugging the component cables into the television and pressing play on the iPad.

So Many Buzz Words It Has to Be Awesome

I work in an industry where buzzwords are the bread and butter of marketing people. All computer technology ultimately comes down to the buzzwords and whether or not there are enough of them. Needless to say when something awesome like a grenade launcher is combined with enough buzzwords to start a marketing campaign for a software solution I get a bit curious:

Combining a GPS, laser rangefinder and computer, the new Mk19 FCS (Fire Control System) enables gunners to put the first round on the target, at extreme ranges (over 2,000 meters). The FCS can also fire an accurate pattern of 40mm grenades at those same ranges.

GPS, lasers, and grenades all in one package! It’s amazing what our advances in technology can lead us to produce.

A tip of the old hat goes to The Firearm Blog for unveiling this amazing piece of technology.

MySQL Compromised by SQL Injection

This is comedy gold. MySQL.com’s database was compromised yesterday (at least that’s when the story was published) by somebody who used an SQL injection attack:

MySQL offers database software and services for businesses at an enterprise level as well as services for online retailers, web forums and even governments. The vulnerability for the attack, completed using blind SQL injection and targeted servers including MySQL.com, MySQL.fr, MySQL.de and MySQL.it, was initially found by “TinKode” and “Ne0h” of Slacker.Ro (according to their pastebin.com/BayvYdcP dump of the stolen credentials) but published by “Jackh4x0r”.

Oh delicious irony how I love thee.