ThinVNC - HTML5 Remote Desktop

Posted in Developing Software on Apr 11, 2014

This is one of the coolest applications I've met in a long time. It's a single executable. Download it, double-click it, assign yourself a username/password, click 'start server.' Then from any modern browser in the world, you can go to the correct IP address and view the desktop, mouse control included. Add a phone call and this is the easiest way to do remote tech support. This kind of software has been around for years, but now it RUNS IN YOUR BROWSER as easy as pi.

ThinVNC is a pure HTML5 & AJAX Remote Desktop implementation. ThinVNC works on any HTML5-compliant web browser. Users can acce...

Bogon Routes Report - bgp.he.net

Posted in Developing Software on Feb 10, 2014

Apparently there is such a thing as a bogon and it is regularly reported upon.

http://bgp.he.net/report/bogons

Genave - DTMF Explained

Posted in Developing Software on Jan 15, 2014

While the engineers were designing this protocol, they decided to throw in a few more “special purpose” tone groups. You don’t normally see these extra four buttons on telephones, but they are alive and being employed for communications signaling. For lack of imagination, the engineers called the four extra digits “A B C D”. These all use the same row frequencies as a standard keypad, but they have an additional column tone.

via Genave - DTMF Explained.

144 computers on a single chip

Posted in Everything on Dec 25, 2013

It's good to see Charles Moore is still going strong. He's a clever, clever, and only slightly odd man.

Programming a 144-computer Chip to Minimize Power.

Defying gravity should not need to be so complicated

Posted in Everything on Dec 22, 2013

Occam's Razor says that defying gravity should not need to be so complicated, and you can see it defying inertia if you watch it closely near the beginning and end and about 60-72 percent of the way in. What fascinates me is how complicated a movement, involving at least 3 bodies, is operating at the crux of this video.

Watch This Freaky Gyro Cube Balance Perfectly, Defying Gravity.

Aging is related to oxygen levels

Posted in Everything on Dec 20, 2013

More than just an intrusive molecule that foils communication, HIF-1 normally switches on when the body is deprived of oxygen. Otherwise, it remains silent.

via A new -- and reversible -- cause of aging: A naturally produced compound rewinds aspects of age-related demise in mice.

It's actually possible to acquire decryption keys by capturing computer sounds

Posted in Everything on Dec 19, 2013

Well this is just remarkably clever.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/new-attack-steals-e-mail-decryption-keys-by-capturing-computer-sounds/

The funniest thing I have read in years. Good clean humor here.

Posted in Everything on Dec 14, 2013

Lawsuit claims accidental Google search led to years of government investigation and harassment - Techdirt.com

Actually, not funny. Likely quite serious, you gotta give a little creative license to people who've obviously been through a lot. I originally posted this back a few years ago when I was thinking the only way I could post such things online was to disguise it as being funny. I've since realized that my site draws such little traffic I needn't worry.

How small is zero price - zero.pdf

Posted in Everything on Nov 26, 2013

So basically giving stuff away for free inclines people to advertising for you via word of mouth

"Related to these findings on motivation and incomplete contracts, it has also been shown that when prices are mentioned, people apply market norms, but when prices are not mentioned i.e., the price effectively is zero, they apply social norms to determine their choices and effort (Heyman and Ariely 2004)."

via How small is zero price - zero.pdf.

World's smallest FM radio transmitter

Posted in Everything on Nov 20, 2013

With a graphene amplifier and a graphene transmitter, wow, how small a walkie-talkie can you make?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131118091502.htm