If you can remember all your passwords, you’re doing it wrong

You need strong unique passwords. Those that you can't easily remember. That's where a password manager comes in. Security experts use them.

I've been using a password manager for some time now. It improved my browser experience. It's faster and more secure.

I use LastPass to store (client side encrypted) all my login information in the cloud. I use their browser extensions to sync these passwords among my different devices. On trusted devices, like my desktop and laptop, login fields are automatically filled in. On non trusted devices, I need to enter my LastPass password before the fields are filled in.

In addition, and this is optional, I need to insert my YubiKey (USB) and press its button to authenticate with a one-time-password, again only for non trusted devices, which is rare. You could use your phone for this too.

LastPass can also store encrypted notes. These can be used for other passwords and secret information that you want to access from anywhere.

Don't forget your LastPass password ;)

G-Force simulators for the home

Do want! But screw those screens, this seems tailor made for an Oculus :)




Maybe for the arcades?

How Programmers Read Code

From the article How Do We Read Code?

I recently got to participate in a psychological experiment for programmers. A friend of mine, Mike Hansen, is doing research on how people comprehend programs. The goal is to figure out some way of measuring what features in programming systems help programmers understand what they are doing, and how this can be used to make systems that lead to higher quality software. Mike is currently running an experiment where he shows people several short Python programs and asks them to tell the output of the program. The test subject is sitting in front of an eye tracker, so afterwards Mike can see where you were looking at various times during the experiment.

I recommend pausing the video for a second and studying the code yourself and then watch the eye-tracking as the participant solves the puzzle. Quite interesting.

Intel's roadmap to 4K displays

I guess we'll have to wait another year to get those sweet 8 megapixel screens

Warehouse Automation

We had a discussion about how Amazon warehouses work and it seems pimp was right. There are still a lot of humans walking through the aisles and picking orders at least in Amazon's case. However this video is from 2009, maybe they are busy updating it.

Because now it seems there might be better solutions:

Amazon gets KIVA

Amazon, of course, began experimenting with methods to improve pick-and-pack efficiency early in its existence. But the Web retailer never bought a solution from Kiva Systems--at least not directly. As it happens, two companies Amazon recently decided to buy--Zappos.com and Diapers.com--have been Kiva users. Through those buys, Amazon now owns four Kiva-powered warehouses (Diapers.com has three, Zappos one).

OSX vs Ubuntu

The best reason to use Ubuntu instead of OS X is found in the OS version names!

Mac OS X:
Kodiak, Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion.

Ubuntu:
Warty Warthog, Hoary Hedgehog, Breezy Badger, Dapper Drake, Edgy Eft, Feisty Fawn, Gutsy Gibbon, Hardy Heron, Intrepid Ibex, Jaunty Jackalope, Karmic Koala, Lucid Lynx, Maverick Meerkat, Natty Narwhal, Oneiric Ocelot.

But still no ENHANCE!

Edit: Repost, derp is on me!

It's about fucking time

This should have been done many Windows generations ago.

Don't steal a hacker's machine!

Data porn

TED: Aaron Koblin: Artfully visualizing our humanity

Aaron Koblin's website

Johnny Cash project

The Mechanical Turk (we should think of a fun project to do with this)

40 stacks of books from Earth to Neptune

"Three years ago, the world's 27 million business servers processed 9.57 zettabytes, or 9,570,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information.

Researchers at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies and the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego, estimate that the total is equivalent to a 5.6-billion-mile-high stack of books stretching from Earth to Neptune and back to Earth, repeated about 20 times.

By 2024, business servers worldwide will annually process the digital equivalent of a stack of books extending more than 4.37 light-years to Alpha Centauri, according to a report compiled by the scientists.
(...)
As large as the numbers may seem, the three scientists who worked on the report stated that their server workload figures may be low because server industry sales figures don't fully account for the millions of servers built in-house by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and other companies using individual component parts ." - read more...

Unreal Engine 3: Nerdgasm

Be sure to watch full screen HD.

Stuxnet: 21st-century cyber weapon of mass destruction

Out of all over-the-top movies, Stuxnet actually makes the Die Hard 4.0 scenario less unrealistic:

McClane takes Farrell to the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., where Farrell is questioned. FBI director Miguel Bowman (Cliff Curtis) is uninterested in his surmise: Farrell believes that the terrorists are mounting a "fire sale" (where "everything must go") attack, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the nation's computer-controlled infrastructure.

A more detailed description of Stuxnet @ wikipedia. Scary shit.

Enhance

The Scrollwheel

Relevant Reddit thread.

IBM super computer Watson beats Jeopardy players

This is quite a big step. Watson understand natural language questions and uses a range of algorithms to give sensible answers. Not to long from now Watson will be the world champion. More @ Engadget

Fifa 1994 Development Team

FIFA 94 And id software (1992) from classics like Doom and Commander Keen:

WTF gears

More videos

Computer animation

Maybe a bit boring for the youtube generation, after a minute I expected to see some boobs or at least a fat german kid breaking his neck.

Anyway the animation skillz are nice and the idea of "architecture through the cinematographic lens" is kinda cool so here is the video:

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

he made it in sketchup, 3dmax, vray, aftereffects and priemere. here is a video to kinda see how he did it:

Exeter Shot -- Making Of from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Winscape Virtual Windows

A hobbyist made these amazing virtual windows which track the users position for added realism, you can see how he did it here. The tracker still needs a bit of work to miniaturize and of course it can only work for on person. Maybe he can upgrade it once glasless 3D TVs are made.