Can you spot a Phish?

Head over to MailFrontier's Phishing IQ test and see how you do. A recent survey found that 80% of people cannot distinguish them. Typically I can only pick them out by looking at the actual destination that the links go to (by mousing over them). Unfortunately Internet Explorer by default hides that information from most users (if you are using web mail) and most mail clients don't display it at all. Gee, thanks Microsoft!

My advice is if you receive an e-mail from a company you do business with then you should go to the site how you normally do (bookmark, typing it manually, etc.), and never follow links in an e-mail. The exception would be if you are absolutely positive it is legit (i.e. You are expecting the e-mail). Also beware of links on web pages. I know someone who followed a link in a web page to sign up for a Yahoo Groups list only to find out he had been redirected.

After you take the test you can request their "Top 10 Tips for Finding a Phish".

So how did you do? I scored 90% correct. The Earthlink one threw me off.

Wikipedia Permalink

When you are citing Wikipedia as a reference one thing you need to be aware of is that it is always changing. It would be unfortunate if you quoted something from it, and later someone checked your reference and the quote had been edited out. What would be ideal is if they offered a "permalink" to a specific (current) revision accessible via the main article page. Until they do that you can get a permanent (or I assume p) link to a past revision from the history page.

Example:

This takes you to the latest revision: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

This takes you to the revision as of 07:35, 8 Jul 2004 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere?oldid=4515898 (Link was originally http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Dyson_sphere&oldid=4515898 but I shortened it. The link is obtainable from the history page)

Right bellow the article title it indicates that it is a revision as of a specific date. Ideally it should offer an obvious link to the most recent revision, maybe with the option to see the differences.

This Land

In case you have not seen JibJab's "This Land" you really should check it out. Better hurry since the copyright owner is treatening to sue.

The parody is set to the tune of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land", and it would appear that even though the song was written in 1940 it is still under copyright. While the song parodies the patriotic message of the original song, some accuse it of using the song in satire of the current election. It would certainly seem to me that it does both.

A parody is protected fair-use legal since it pokes fun at the work that is modified. A satire is not fair-use since it uses someone else's work to poke fun at a 3rd party. So I guess the question is if the including of satire in a parody is still fair-use - or - is this really a parody of the original song.

UPDATE: I found a direct link to download / watch the movie. The comercials that Atom Films (check out the 2004 Star Wars fan film winners) make you watch didn't seem to work right some times. Also, just fair warning that the video will most likely offend everyone ireguardless of political views. It is great that way.

X-Ray of a GPS Coke Can

You know those Coke cans with the GPS inside of them? They have been making a fuss with security types because they don't quote know what is inside of them. Could be a listening device. Well in order to help anyone running an X-Ray machine not jump to the conclusion that it is an Improvised Explosive Device a document [pdf] was prepared showing what they look like under an x-ray.

Now I just need an x-ray machine and a whole bunch of cases of coke.

Hello and welcome

This is my personal blog and home page. This is not to be confused with the Boise Software Developers Group home page where I will post information related to software development and the group. These pages will be reserved for more personal information that has little or nothing to do with software development. For those who know me you might expect that I will have little or nothing to post here. Time will tell.

Originally I was going to name this blog "The Cubed Root of Uncertainty" after a book I recall reading a long time ago. I picked it up at the Boise Public Library about 8 years ago, and it was old at the time. I was never able to find any information about this book so I figured either:

1. I made the title up for a real book I read
2. I imagined reading the book all together
3. I totally confused the title
4. The book has slipped hopelessly from the public eye

Turns out I only partially had the title messed up. It was titled "The Cube Root of Uncertainty" (not Cubed) and was written by Robert Silverberg.

It was a really amusing collection of short stories about how the universe always gives you a bum deal. Some of the stories were really dark and disturbing, but I took it all as satire. I guess I am an optimist. Anyway, I found where I can buy a used copy online (or I can still check it out from the library) so I guess I will read it again. See if I remember it correctly.

The reason I picked the book is in school I used to enjoy coming up with weird mathematical operations on physical constants. Like the inverse of the speed of light. The title reminded me of that.

Instead of that title I decided to go with the one you see now "Extrapolated Facts". I really liked the word "Extrapolate" when I was in school, so I thought this would be a fun title to show that this blog is made of opinions, but they may be stated as fact. Enjoy, and don't get hurt!

For anyone looking for any of the stale content that used to be here, I plan to clean it up and repost it. It is all still here, but just brushed aside for now.