I love a good controversy – especially when it involves google rankings, blog comments and maybe even the mob. (Okay probably not the mob, but some jerks at Quick Boys Moving & Storage.)
Month: July 2005
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Wired News on Hotel Hacking
Adam Laurie, chief security officer of the London security and networking firm ALD shows Wired News how using Linux he was able to expose billing systems, read other guest’s e-mail, and open the minibar at hotels around the world before he spoke about the vulnerability Saturday at the DefCon hacker conference in Las Vegas.
I find this sort of stuff very interesting.
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Windows Vista Fonts Now Available
Windows Vista (formerly code-named Longhorn) will have six new fonts included when it is released next year. The fonts are called Calibri, Cambria, Candara, Consolas, Constantia and Corbel and are available for download. Constantia is my favourite.
(via tipmonkies)
Update (September 20, 2005): It appears that the download link above is not working. Try these links instead: Calibri, Cambria, Candara, Consolas, Constantia and Corbel.
Update (November 23, 2006): Microsoft has released a compatibility upgrade for older versions of Microsoft office, and within that package they have included finished versions of the new Vista fonts. I’m removing the old incomplete versions from my server now. See my post, Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for more details and your link.
Update (March 4, 2007): Looks like the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack has been removed, so I’ll just put my links back up. Update (March 31, 2008) It’s back up.
Update (October 2, 2007): The fonts have been out of beta for a long time, but the versions here are incomplete. Check out the new and improved versions. When you download them, add .zip to the name of the file.
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Interesting Read – The Mark of the Curse
For those interested in a more liberal view of Mormons, their history with blacks and the priesthood, and the some thoughts about their policy: The Mark of the Curse by Keith Norman (PDF link).
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California Screamin’ Accident
As any long term readers of my blog know, I’m a pretty big fan of Disneyland. However, I have to say my love of the park is slowly diminishing with all the bad news coming out of Disney theme parks lately. For instance there was a low speed collision on Disney’s California Adventure’s Screamin’ rollercoaster yesterday. No one was killed but about 15 people have minor injuries. What is going on with the maintenance lately that there have been so many theme park accidents? From NBC News 4:
Fire crews, ambulances and other emergency vehicles were at the California Screamin’ ride, which features a 108-foot drop. Crews received the report at about 6:40 p.m.
City spokesman John Nicoletti said 15 of the 48 people on the ride were hospitalized for treatment of minor injuries.
[…]
The slow-speed collision occurred on a flat portion of the roller coaster. Officials were attempting to determine a cause.
It was the second accident in four months at a Disneyland Resort park in Anaheim.
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Flash Game
Hey, look who they made a game about.
Yesterday The Supreme Court of Canada ruled against the levy on recordable media like Mp3 players. My iPod was purchased in the States so I never paid the tax, but from what I understand if you bought your iPod in Canada and paid the levy, you might be eligible for a refund; great for you.
However, as Canadian copyright lawyer Michael Geist points out, the ruling is actually not so good for users of the iPod because without the tax (although we’ll certainly hear more about this in the future) it looks like the government now considers any copying of music onto any hard drives, including iPod’s or personal computer drives, as illegal.
Further, today’s decision represents a serious blow to the iPod, which has been an incredible boon to the music industry. Simply put, copying store bought CDs onto iPods, as CRIA’s own Graham Henderson has supported, may now be unlawful in Canada since it is difficult to find an exception within the Copyright Act that would permit that form of copying. While perhaps some in the industry may think this is a good thing as it transitions users to re-purchase the same music yet again as MP3 files from services such as iTunes, I think it will ultimately lower the value that consumers associate with music to the detriment of everyone in the industry.
Link to Canada.com news report on the issue.
Back in April I received an email about my Stairway to Heaven backwards clip. I know there is probably just as much chance that what this guy says is completely made up as true, but nonetheless he emailed me back yesterday and whether it’s true or not I find the possibility interesting.
Hey dude, amazing what you can find on the net when your bored, pretty cool site, some of the lyrics im really skeptical about but hey thats life.
The main thing i wanted to say was my uncle’s cousin is Robert Plant and the next time they get together i’m gonna ask if i can tag along and i’ll ask Rob about the lyrics, more than likely he’ll say it’s all “Bollocks” but hey — Worth a go.
To which I replied:
I figured it was bound to happen that eventually my site would reach someone from the band. Let me know what he says.
Yesterday I received the following:
Hey, i spoke to Rob a week ago and when i asked him he kindly replied “Not all this bollocks again” but he swore that the lyrics were just as they were and nothing was intentionally there when played backwards.
So words from the horses mouth seems that people are j[u]st reading too much into the song, always good to have a bit of controversy though.
So there you have it: Robert Plant, member of Led Zeppelin and the writer of Stairway to Heaven, thinks this whole backmasking controversy is a bunch of bullocks. It’s too bad he didn’t get a photo with Rob, that would have gone a long way in knowing that he really did talk to him.
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Individualized Google
Google has a really cool service called Individualized Google. I love it because it not only lets you set your personal bookmarks on a google start page, but it also lets you track all your favorite RSS and news feeds and even your gmail on the same page!
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I Hate thieves
I went for a quick dip at the Fritz Sick pool tonight. Over the couple years that I worked at that pool I’ve seen a few relatively minor instances of theft from the lockers so since I didn’t have a lock with me, I just brought my stuff out on deck with me.
It turns out that it was a very good idea because when I got out of the pool I overheard that someone had been going through the change rooms stealing whatever they could find. Apparently at least one lady had lost her watch and maybe some other belongings.
What makes people so selfish and inconsiderate? Thieves of the world, please quit thieving.