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| Notice: GeekPress is back up and running, thanks to Paul! It's still a not-so-serious tech news blog, but the format is significantly looser. Diana, having given up programming for philosophy, has her own philosophical blog NoodleFood. More of her work can be found at DianaHsieh.com. |
| Digital signature with Smartpen |
| 2:38:44 am mst / 5 January 2001 found by paul / filed in inventions / source Forbes 22 hits / 1 comment / 0 e-mails |
| A Dutch company has devised a new method to implement digital signatures with a device called the Smartpen. As one signs a document, the pen records the pen movements, angle, and tip pressure, which is then encrypted with the strong Rijndael algorithm. The data is then sent over the internet to be compared against a copy of one's signature stored on a secure server to verify its authenticity. |
| I like this technique because it captures much more than the simple line pattern of a signature, which is relatively easy for a skilled forger to imitate. However, my concern is that it may reject too many valid signatures -- I know that my own signature varies quite a bit depending on my mood, level of fatigue, and how much of a hurry I'm in. |
| read 1 comment |
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| California Scheming |
| 4:24:37 am mst / 5 January 2001 found by diana / filed in politics / source Reason 166 hits / 1 comment / 0 e-mails |
| Michael Lynch examines the origin of California's electricity crisis, explaining how fat cat deals made under the guise of deregulation are the cause of the current high prices and shortages. |
| This article is a far more entertaining read than you might expect! |
| read 1 comment |
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| American men ditch sex for PCs |
| 6:15:48 am mst / 5 January 2001 found by paul / filed in culture / source The Register 105 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| According to Playboy magazine, men are spending less time having sex because they are instead playing with their PCs, mobile phones, PDAs, etc. |
| Favorite quote: "The report failed to mention that men are simply catching up with women -- who have, after all, opted for the delights of electronic toys for decades." |
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| Japanese space tourism |
| 8:08:05 am mst / 5 January 2001 found by paul / filed in space / source Houston Chronicle 28 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| A private Japanese company plans on offering space rides for ordinary people, starting in the year 2016. The price for a 3-hour orbital trip will be approximately $26,000, and customers will not require any special astronaut training. The company has backing from several large Japanese corporations, including Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, Sharp, and Nissan. |
| I just hope they don't name the first ship the "Minnow". ("A three hour tour, a three hour tour...") |
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| Has your credit card number been stolen? |
| 12:48:02 pm mst / 5 January 2001 found by paul / filed in security / source CNet 36 hits / 0 comments / 1 e-mail |
| CNET consumer advocate Brian Livingston points us towards this helpful website that will let you know if your credit card number was one of the thousands stolen during the recent break-in at CreditCards.com. To search the database, you don't have to enter your card number -- merely your name, zip code, and e-mail address. (The e-mail address can also be fake, in case you wish to keep it private.) |
| An excellent idea! |
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| Dirty Little Secret |
| 4:02:44 pm mst / 5 January 2001 found by diana / filed in internet / source ZDNet 87 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| Portals are making money hand over fist by selling banner space for naughty search terms, a welcome source of revenue in these leaner times. According to the author's source, the portals "never, ever break down their traffic by adult traffic revenue." |
| Any portal that doesn't analyze their adult versus non-adult traffic can't know what their users are looking for -- and that's just bad business. |
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