AtomicBaboon!?!

With our government going unchecked whilst broadening its powers to spy on the world I am sure most everyone feels pretty helpless to do anything about it. However, it is possible for us to adjust the way we do things in order to keep Big Brother out of our business whether we have something to hide or not. There are ways to use encryption for voice communication. Skype is a popular VoIP (Voice over IP) peer-to-peer system for voice communication. You can get a Skype enabled phone, hook it up to your broadband connection at home, and use it a lot like a regular phone. When you call other Skype users it makes a peer-to-peer connection that is encrypted.

It's a good idea, but there are things about the way it has been implemented that make it a problem. All authentication for access to the Skype network takes place via a central server. This server stores all users public encryption keys. Because of this, Skype has the keys to decrypt conversations. It is possible to make a call to a traditional phone from Skype but all calls of that type have per minute charges applied to them that are in my opinion a bit steep. The protocol used is proprietary which "makes it much more difficult if not impossible for other developers to interact with Skype."

The point I am trying to make isn't that we should all run out and start using Skype. My point is that the technology is out there for We The People to take our power back. Call me a Libertarian Geek, but other than apathy (and I have plenty of that, believe me) there isn't a reason we can't thwart our governments efforts to spy on us. It's not about having something to hide. It's about what living in a surveillance society does to people psychologicaly. It's about protecting what freedom we have left. That's the way I see it anyway.

Via Threat Level I ran across a blog by a guy named Dancho Danchev called Mind Streams of Information Security Knowledge. He is an information security expert and managing director of Astalavista Group's Astalavista.com. You can read more about him here: Dancho Danchev's Section.

I mention it because he describes his research into the methods used by criminals and terrorist organizations to gather and distribute information, malware, etc. Threat Level mentioned him in a recent entry describing how Islamic Extremists are using Tor to anonymously distribute their material to and communicate with each other.

He also has information describing how malware and phishing attacks are performed exploiting unpatched client-side vulnerabilities. It's very valuable information. Know your enemy.

I just added something called Snap Shots to my site. When you move your mouse over a link to an external site it will pop-up a small preview of that destination site. It gives you a quick glance of what is there before you go there. If you don't like it there is a disable button in the upper right hand corner of the pop-up. Let me know what you think.

I have been using Songbird to play and manage my music collection. It is a nifty alternative to iTunes that has add-ons for iPod support, Last.fm, Qloud, importing your iTunes library, among many other things. It is supposed to not only manage your music collection but your collection of bookmarks to music stores, music blogs, network media devices and services, and any other bookmarks you choose.

On top of all that, like Firefox, it is built using Mozilla so it supports many of the same features and it is Open source so you can hack on it if you want. Keep in mind that it is still a work in progress though. I haven't had any problems with it but it is not a completed product so if you run into some odd behavior don't be completely surprised. It is however very functional and nice to look at.

It comes with a nice set of default bookmarks and among them is a site called Scissorkick.com which is a blog about interesting and oft unheard of music and artists. So far just about everything I have heard there has been extremely cool by my standards. If you like music that is "Organic, electronic & everything in between" I'll bet my right shoe you'll like what they have on scissorkick.

P.S. I am willing to bet my right shoe because it has a small pebble in it right now that is driving me a little crazy. Of course I could just take the shoe off and remove the pebble but that would make sense.

I am a member of the Free Software Foundation. I receive interesting e-mails from time to time from them and I got this one a few days ago.

If you are at a university which has a law school, please go to the university archives, and check the old course catalogs to see when classes in the law school began using the propaganda term "intellectual property" (see http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html) in the names of courses. Please send the date, school, course title and description to rms@gnu.org.

Apparently RMS is doing some research. Could turn into something interesting. A couple days later I got this message from RMS forwarded to FSF members.

>From Richard Stallman:

The reason for the question about old law school course catalogs is that we're looking for historical information that shows when use of the propaganda term "intellectual property" became widespread. We are pretty sure this occurred in the 70s and 80s, but we want to find objective evidence about it.

Since we know that the term was widely used in the late 90s, there is no point sending references to the term from the 2000s. They won't show when the usage _started_. Likewise, the rare uses from long ago are not relevant to this question.

Law school course catalogues from the 70s and 80s can show when they started using that term. By checking them, you can provide evidence that directly relates to the question.

The way to look at the old catalogues from the 70s and 80s is to phone or visit the university library and ask where they are kept and how you can look at them.

You may be able to think of other ways to measure when use of that propaganda term became widespread. If so, please try them -- that information may be useful.

After reading "Do you need a Collaborator, or a Schemer?" I think I've identified the reason why projects I have attempted or been involved in in the past were never fruitful. I am a schemer as are many of my friends. I think we need a collaborator to get things moving. So, I am looking for a collaborator or collaborators who might be interested in a programming project. My initial thoughts are it will involve Python, Ajax, and C. Possibly using Django as the web frame work. If you read this and it sounds like something you'd be interested in let me know. My e-mail address is dfeather at acm dot org (or leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will contact you).

Right now it is just a vague idea and I hope to meet with some of my fellow schemers to get the idea more solidified soon. I don't want to get any more specific than that right now. If the languages and tools mentioned above change I will post an update about it.

I ran across this cool project via my Hack a Day rss feed: Real life xeyes. That would be a fun project to put together. The creator plans on putting up more details and some source code for the project this weekend.

Wikipedia: xeyes

I think I need to adjust the layout of my site. I mentioned before that the way I have things setup doesn't lend itself well to adding more links. Having everything at the bottom like I do is a little cumbersome.

I may give in and do what everyone else is doing and put my links on the side(s). I ran across a GPL'd Word Press plugin for StumbleUpon that lists what you have recently stumbled... upon. I downloaded the source and plan on writing a Python version that I can use on my blog. If I do that I am not sure where I would put the list it produces in my current layout. I would also like to add more links to blogs and websites that I like.

I also need a cartoon baboon. I have an idea in my head and I have tried to get it down on paper but it never turns out the way I want. If any of you know good artists let me know. Maybe if I can explain what I am looking for to someone with a little more talent they could pull it off. A funny looking baboon with a green glowing behind would be funny.

I completed all the songs in Guitar Hero II with 5 stars on Medium difficulty last night. Now I am attempting to play them on Hard. That is an addicting game.

Tonight The Moxie is hosting a free show at The Gillioz. They have details on their site. I am going to try to make it over there. The Gillioz has 1100 seats in it, making it the largest theater in Springfield. I have only seen the lobby so far and it is a pretty amazing building. Then I might grab a tasty beer at Patton Alley.

Anyway... I could keep rambling... but I need to get some work done so I will stop here. Have a good day.

I stumbled upon a list of free university lectures today and came across one that is an introduction to Python. Python is an easy to understand language, has a huge set of libraries available, and there is a very helpful community of python programmers behind it. If you want to learn to write code Python is a great place to start. That being said, you might find this set of free lectures about Python programming from the Computer Science Department at Caltech helpful. I haven't gone through them yet but it has Powerpoint and PDF documents available for the lectures and also Lab Assignments to give you something to write.

CS 11: Python Track
If you decide to do this and need any help don't hesitate to drop me a line. My e-mail address is shown at the very bottom of the page... or leave a comment and I will get back to you.

From Wikipeida: John W. Backus

John Warner Backus (December 3, 1924 – March 17, 2007) was an American computer scientist. He led the team that invented the first high-level programming language (FORTRAN) and was the inventor of Backus-Naur form (BNF), the almost universally used notation to define formal language syntax. He also did research in function-level programming and helped to popularize it.

He received the 1977 ACM Turing Award "for profound, influential, and lasting contributions to the design of practical high-level programming systems, notably through his work on FORTRAN, and for seminal publication of formal procedures for the specification of programming languages."

I like this quote of his found in the New York Times Obituary about him:

"You need the willingness to fail all the time," he said. "You have to generate many ideas and then you have to work very hard only to discover that they don’t work. And you keep doing that over and over until you find one that does work."

He laid the foundation for what makes it possible for me to do what I do today.

Via Slashdot: John W. Backus Dies at 82; Developed FORTRAN

Here's a pretty funny song: Threes Rev. 1.1

Three things trust above all else;
Your knowledge of your craft,
That someone makes a profit,
And that you will get the shaft.

Someone patented a linked list implementation. One of the most basic building blocks of organizing and accessing lists of data in a program and someone got a patent on one method in 2006. Why people feel the need to file software patents for blindingly obvious and basic things like this is beyond me. I want to see these people try to enforce this. Linked List - United States Patent 7028023.

Via Slashdot: Linked List Patented in 2006.

This is something I have seen people discussing quite a bit recently. I find the question itself laughable and it betrays the lack of understanding on the part of the person asking the question. The question "Is Computer Science Dead?" People think that because there are off the shelf solutions for things like accounting, customer information management, enterprise data management, etc. that we don't need computer scientists any more and they cite the rapid decline of people entering the field in the last 5 to 10 years as a sign of this.

What strikes me as odd is that people forget where all this off the shelf software comes from. The technology that makes it possible for Jimmy to drag and drop his VB application into existence turning him into an uber windows programmer didn't just spring into existence. Computer scientists develop the tools and technology that makes it possible for pretty much anyone to do anything with a computer. They aren't always computer scientists in the sense that they have a piece of paper that says that on it, but that is what computer science is. Without them writing things like compilers, drivers, operating systems, and doing all the dirty work Jimmy won't have software that allows him to drag and drop VB and Flash applications.

We don't have magical technology fairies that just deliver unto us the necessary, low-level tools that make it all possible. We need smart people that actually know how computers work to create those tools. That need will never go away. However, I will say that computer science in the United States may be dying and I don't see that as a good thing.

Too many people here don't understand what it takes to make these things do what they do. I run into people who know how to use Flash, VB, Access, Excel, or any number of other user tools that like to call themselves programmers and knowledgeable computer experts, and expect to be treated as such. I run into people who may actually be good programmers and can actually write software and because of that they expect to be considered on the same level as a computer scientist. In my experience, these two attitudes are common. Unfortunately they are also naive and often times incorrect.

You might be the worlds greatest VB user, and be able to make all sorts of nifty little windows applications, but that doesn't make you a computer expert. You might be able to write a killer, light-weight HTTP server, but that doesn't make you a computer scientist. Being able to do those things does not mean you have the skill set necessary to write a new process scheduler for Linux, optimize a SCSI driver, write a compiler. It doesn't give you a working knowledge of what a computer is actually doing as opposed to what the tools you use allow you to make it do. Think of it as similar to the difference between a kindergartner with a box of 16 crayons drawing a picture for Mommy and Da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa. While the little tyke might be a talented little scribbler, he doesn't understand why colors do what they do or how to stretch his own canvas among a myriad of other things.

Behind the animation, the slick interfaces, the auto calculated values, and self populating fields are layers of code containing complex algorithms, binary floating-point arithmetic, and shifting bits... someone needs to know how that works! Until the need for computer scientists to do what they do some how disappears I don't see how the profession can die. It got us where we are today and it is taking us where we are headed tomorrow.

Is Computer Science Dead?
The death of computing

I bought a Classic Video Table Tennis Kit from Think Geek and attempted to solder it together this weekend. It was hard... and it doesn't work. I under estimated how difficult soldering it together would be. I spent at least 3 hours, and the power LED lights up, and the reset button appears to work as far as I can tell, but I don't get any video or audio. I think I got the PCB too hot in a couple places because the traces pulled up off the board a bit.

I was also using a Cold Heat Soldering Tool. It can be a little difficult to get it positioned so that it would heat up. So, I would be messing around trying to get it positioned and then end up with the board in a cumbersome spot for getting the solder on it. A little frustrating but towards the end I was getting it figured out. I burned up a bunch of batteries doing it though. I think for lengthy projects I should use a real soldering iron.

There are a few places where the solder globbed up rather than spreading out evenly and this isn't good either. I am going to have to go pick up some solder wick and try to re-do those spots.

Although it wasn't a complete success it was pretty fun. I want to get better at it so I can put together some projects I have had bouncing around in me head for a while. I gotta keep trying.

This is one of the coolest keyboards I have ever seen. Steampunk Keyboard Mod. You might need to hit refresh a couple times because the site appears to be getting hammered right now. It probably got dugg. It is an awesome looking keyboard though.

Finally, attempting to adhere to web standards appears to have somewhat paid off... sort of. My friend Matt has a Nintendo Wii and he downloaded the beta version of the web browser for it, which happens to be a special version of Opera. When I was over there the other night I took a look at my site here and everything looked like it should! So, Atomic Baboon is currently "Wii Friendly" and I didn't even try. How cool is that?

This is exciting stuff: Start-up demos quantum computer. I wonder what sort of language they right their programs in.

I ran across this article which includes information about a new Master of Arts program at Michigan State University in Serious Game Design. Today's Homework: Make Good Games. Veerrry interesting.

Intel demonstrated a prototype 80 core processor yesterday. They speculate that processors like these will be used in servers, desktops, and laptops in 5 years. They have a new manufacturing technique that allows them to make all the transistors even smaller than they are now. This will help further increase the computing power they can cram on a single chip while reducing power consumption at the same time. Today we have Dual Core... tomorrow 80 Core.

Intel Prototype May Herald a New Age of Processing

I just found this comment in some code I wrote 3 years ago:

Beginning in <SomeVersionOfMyCode> this class will slowly be replaced by <SomeJavaClassIWrote> and its elite superiority and awesome goodness with peanuts, caramel, and chocolate.

I disguised the version number and name of the class just in case. Funny comment though. Elite superiority is pretty over the top... a little egotistical. It would have been better if that Java class I wrote had peanuts, caramel, and chocolate methods.

A friend of mine sent me this link this morning.

"Linux Genuine Advantage™ is an exciting and mandatory new way for you to place your computer under the remote control of an untrusted third party!"

Hilarious.

Linux Genuine Advantage™

Here are some projects I want to try:

1. Write "atomiCommerce" - Started
2. Build a coffee table with a built-in Atari 2600 - 2nd Atari for this obtained, Need a house with a garage to work in next
3. Build small video cameras that will stream what they capture over a WiFi connection
4. Build an LCD projector - Need a house first
5. Build a media center PC for the entertainment center - Just thought of this last night. I have a TiVo in the meantime.

Some important, time consuming things are getting ready to change. When that happens, I will have alot more time to do the things I want to do. It will be good. More on that when I can share it. There are also alot of cool and inspirational projects in Make Magazine. Their projects have given me ideas of my own and gave me yet another reason I need a house with a big garage to work in.

I want to do something cool!

I just fixed my feeds. So, now instead of having the title of an entry as the title and description in the feed, you get the title as the title and the body of the entry as the description of the feed. Hooray for permissions.

I apologize for not having everyone's links back up here yet. There are so many that with the way I have my site designed it would look a little funny so I have been hesitant to put them all on here just yet. I am pondering taking an Ajax approach to displaying my links to remedy the sitch. So, if you don't see your blog linked here, please don't be offended, I am just procrastinating.

I am still reading this, and thinking it all through, but it is making me a little nervous. I am not sure how it applies to my blog just yet. What sort of information am I going to have to ask for when people want to post comments? What information do I need to start logging about posters? If someone starts spamming my blog comments with links to child porn this could become a serious problem for me. What are the civil liberties concerns with this bill? If I don't pay attention to what is posted to my comments for a couple days and someone posts something potentially dangerous, am I guilty of negligence and subject to a $50,000 fine?

I understand what they want us to think they are trying to accomplish, but I have a feeling they are creating another system and another excuse to monitor what we do and say. Read it and tell me what you think. Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act of 2006 (pdf).

Turns out that the move to the underground doesn't take place until next weekend. In case you care.

AtomicBaboon.net/DanFeather.net/Vapor.org will be down for a bit towards the end of the week... I guess starting tomorrow or something. Ed, who runs Interlix and has been kind enough to give me a Xen on his system, is moving his servers to the Springfield Underground. So, that means my website will be hosted from an ultra-secure, uber-cool location. Yes... it will be more safe from harm than I ever will be. So, even if Springfield is wiped out do to some act of God or whatever, there is a good chance this website will still be here.

I wish I had my own underground.

I broke the RSS and Atom feeds some how while trying to fix them... cause they were broken already. But now they are REALLY broken. For anyone who cares. I will get around to completely unbreaking them **"when the spirit moves me."

**Translation: later.

I threw together another style/look. You'll notice it says AtomicBaboon.net... that's because that is a new domain name I bought because I thought it was funny... and stuff... anyway. I can't exactly see if everything for my style is here... there should be an atom looking logo in the upper left, and some gray boxes with rounded corners around my entries here. If you happen to read this and everything look like it is there based on what I have just described, please leave a comment and let me know. I will check it when I get home, but it would be nice to know before then. Also, tell me if it totally sucks. Thanks.

I don't like this style. It is plain and ugly. I need to come up with something else.