Slashdot Mirror

Pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto (whether that name represents one person or several) is believed to hold many millions of dollars in Bitcoin. Various attempts have been made to pin down Nakamoto's identity; the IB Times reports today that a (sadly anonymous) analysis points to George Washington University economics professor Nick Szabo, based on textual analysis and some other clues, such as Szabo's expertise in digital currency and his role as founder of GoldCoin. Szabo's blog Unenumerated is fascinating reading, whether or not this analysis is right.

ewhac writes "Having just recently taken a new job, I find myself confronted with an enormous pile of existing, unfamiliar code written for a (somewhat) unfamiliar platform — and an implicit expectation that I'll grok it all Real Soon Now. Simply firing up an editor and reading through it has proven unequal to the task. I'm familiar with cscope, but it doesn't really seem to analyze program structure; it's just a very fancy 'grep' package with a rudimentary understanding of C syntax. A new-ish tool called ncc looks promising, as it appears to be based on an actual C/C++ parser, but the UI is clunky, and there doesn't appear to be any facility for integrating/communicating with an editor. What sorts of tools do you use for effectively analyzing and understanding a large code base?"

ewhac writes "The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that computer security researchers throughout the University of California system managed to crack the security on every voting machine they tested that has been approved for use in the state. The researchers are unwilling to say how vulnerable the machines are, as the tests were conducted in an environment highly advantageous to the testers. They had complete access to the devices' source code and unlimited time to try and crack the machines. No malicious code was found in any of the machines, but Matt Bishop, who led the team from UC Davis, was surprised by the weakness of the security measures employed. The tests were ordered by Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who has until Friday of next week to decide whether to decertify any of the machines for use in the upcoming Presidential primary election."

ewhac writes "Karen Lodrick was entering her sixth month of hell dealing with the repercussions of having her identity stolen and used to loot her accounts. But while she was waiting for a beverage, there standing in line was the woman who appeared on Wells Fargo security video emptying her accounts. What followed was a 45 minute chase through San Francisco streets that ended with the thief being taken into custody by police."

ewhac writes "30 years ago today, mankind paid our first visit to Mars. Viking 1 made its powered landing on the red planet on 20 July 1976 at 05:12 after an 11-month flight. Images and data from the probe were soon seen all over Earth as we got our first close-up look at our planetary neighbor. Viking 2 landed a few weeks later. Like the Pathfinder rovers that followed in 1997, Viking was expected to last but a short time -- only three months -- but instead continued to gather and return data for six years."

ewhac writes "Earlier this year, an advance copy of 'Star Wars: Episode III' was released to the Internet a day before the film's official worldwide opening. Yesterday, the US Attorney handed down charges to the eight people believed responsible. Using forensic markers embedded in the advance-release "screeners," law enforcement were able to track down the leaked copy and the people who came in contact with it. As a result of the early release, Episode III only managed to earn $380 million at the box office."

ewhac writes "The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the new Trans-Neptunian objects mentioned in the press earlier this year are being formally announced this week at a planetary conference in Cambridge, England. Bearing the extremely temporary names 'Xena,' 'Santa,' and 'Easterbunny,' the new objects are quite interesting in their own right (Santa is cigar-shaped, rotates end-over-end every four hours, and has a 60-mile-diameter moon). However, even more interesting is the intrigue behind the press conferences revealing Xena earlier this year. It seems that, using the astronomers' own observation logs (publicly available over the Web) and some key details inadvertently revealed in earlier announcements, someone was planning on 'discovering' the objects first and claiming credit. This was why the scientists 'pre-announced' the existence of Xena back in July, to establish priority. The conference in Cambridge represents the first formal, scientific disclosure of the objects."

ewhac writes "Tapwave, makers of the universally acclaimed Zodiac mobile gaming device/media player/PalmOS PDA formally announced on their Web site that, 'the Zodiac business was discontinued and service and support are no longer available as of July 25th 2005.' The Zodiac was a PalmOS 5.2 device with gaming and media features, including ATI graphics and Yamaha sound acceleration, proportional joystick, two SD slots, Bluetooth, 200MHz ARM CPU (Freescale i.MX1), and up to 128M of RAM. At the most recent Palm developer conference, Tapwave employees were showing Zodiacs running their own port of Linux 2.6.10, with ports of SDL, Python, PyGame, mpg123, and primitive power management. It is unknown what will become of this work."

mc chris, the "beloved" rapper behinds such classics as Fett's Vette and The Tussin in addition to voicing Hesh on Cartoon Networks Sealab 2021 has responded to reader questions. The riveting results are just one click away. You know you want it. And his tour has dates in NC, SC, FL, GA and more. You know you want those too.

yo mc (Score:3, Interesting) by tekunokurato (531385)

Hey mc, we know the generalized geek rapper from the songs, but tell us about YOU. What're the hardware and OS of choice? What kind of characters do you play in D&D? What're your favourite movies/books? Top five all-time desert-island superpowers?

I have a 12 inch mac top, and it's got all the usual programs attached. We made the cartoons on macs with photoshop and protools. so i have all those programs on there as well.

I don't play D&D. I used to when i was little with my brothers, but i wasn't into all the waiting around, I guess I found it boring. I had more fun devising my own version of it, drawing maps, being more creative with it.

A few of my favorite movies are It's a Wonderful Life, Meatballs, Fresh, The Apartment, Double Indemnity, Rear Window. I like the Harry Potter books, and any tale of teenage ennui like The bell jar, or catcher in the rye, or the perks of being a wallflower. I think I'll never shake highschool.

Birthday song (Score:4, Insightful) by kirkb (158552)

Since the 'Happy Birthday' song [snopes.com] is copyrighted, would you consider open-sourcing Hesh's Birthday Song [pod-six.net] under something like the Creative Commons License? I'd rather hear it than the cheezy home-brew birthday songs that restaurants are forced to devise.

I dunno. People ask me to sing it for them at shows because it's their birthday, and I'll try to do it, even though I always mix up the room full friends, mouth full of cake line. there's no feeling worse that letting someone down that knows the lyrics better than you. especially with all the cartoon stuff. it's not my favorite thing that i've done. I don't know why hesh raps. hesh has slowly turned into me over the years.

Whose Voice Work do You Enjoy? (Score:4, Interesting) by ewhac (5844)

Your work on the Adult Swim lineup is much appreciated in our household. But I wondered whose voice work you enjoyed (not necessarily restricted to Williams Street). Who's fun to listen to? Who's fun to work with?

Dave Willis (carl and meatwad) and Dana Snyder (Master Shake) are brilliant. I love watching Dave work, because he'll start out with the scripted line then say it a million times over slowly moving towards a totally different and far funnier line. and as for dana just about everything that comes out of his mouth as shake is funny. I was lucky I got to hear all of their outtakes. and that goes for andy merrill too. I used to cut his reads up in protools. that guy likes to swear and burp, in character.

Hey chris... this is NOT how PAX will be... (Score:4, Interesting) by (PA)Storm Shadow (863825)

Making music for the Nerdcore seems problematic to me. Namely, I don't think that one would be able to put forth a bunch of intellectual property on the internet and expect this group to actually pay for it. Are you 'making it' on the take from the door at your gigs alone? (Hat's off on leaving your day job and giving it a go in either case). Do you feel pressured to put forth a conventional full-length CD for your fans, or will you continue to offer up shorter, sweeter groups of songs for free on your website?

The albums will get longer and you'll have to buy them, but I plan to make some online only songs just so I don't lose internet street cred. I'd like to do that with a cover album since we could never afford to charge people for it.

Music and computers (Score:3, Interesting) by adeydas (837049)

Since you are a musician, you must be using computers for your musical needs. Do you trust Open Source or Propriety software for that?

Also for general computing, what do you use? Can you cite your reasons for the same?!

My dj, John, makes the music on protools with a variety of plug ins. I don't really understand how it works, but I know the sound improves daily. He's constantly seeking out way to improve the sound, which is great for me. We both used macs. I've got a 12 inch lap top, he's got a G5 and 15 inch laptop. We use macs because the industry uses macs, both television and music. and pc's are lame.

Real Question. (Score:3, Interesting) by hot_Karls_bad_cavern (759797)

Did you get to spend much time with the late Harry Goz?

(Harry was Captain Murphy on Sealab, amongst many other things). What are your thoughts on him? Will we see more work with AdultSwim in the future?

I only spent one day with him really. My first day of recording. I was very nervous and I think someone had a hangover so Harry suggested some tea with some jack daniels in it. he was a really nice old guy, very professional and very funny. He was such a strong part of the show, things just weren't the same afterwards. his wife said he was very happy to go out being as popular as he was on sealab. so it was cool that he left us in style.

If presented with an actual musical instrument... (Score:4, Interesting) by smitty_one_each (243267) *

could you play it?

no. I wish I could play piano but no such luck. it's the one thing I can't do. And I wonder if I'll ever try. I feel like writing, drawing, acting and rapping is plenty for one man's plate.

Adult Swim Ties? (Score:3, Interesting) by astyanax (8365)

How about some more computer raps? "Ratz" and "Boy's dont cry" are the closest I've heard of your work to a computer-related song, any chance of getting some Linux-related rhymes? :)

I think the songs will reflect the fan base as well as what i'm going through in my life. I'm not as hardcore a nerd as people want to think I am. I'm much more of a loser. I try to listen though and get to know my fans and what they're into and then put it into the songs to an extent. I think that being solely about geek stuff like computers is dangerous though, because then you get pidgeonholed. the music is mainly about me not so much the scene.

I'll be in Ann Arbor, but what about lip syncing? (Score:4, Interesting) by ian rogers (760349)

It says on your website that you have a meeting about preserving your voice, is this a joke? Are you really having problems or foreseeing problems with your voice? Am I going to see an SNL Ashlee Simpson type ordeal happen at your show at the Blind Pig?

The jist of it is, is that I smoke too much weed which is bad for my vocal chords. but after every show kids try to smoke me up. Any blue blooded stoner would love this charity, but I've learned to get the bulk of the shows done before I start indulging. This next tour is for a straight month, so I'll be gettin the shaky hands I'm sure. And I'll never lip synch. I'm very serious about performing. and letting people see and hear that I can do these songs live.

Hard to work with? (Score:4, Funny) by myowntrueself (607117) Is Master Shake hard to work with?

I think I answered this one. Dana Snyder is one of the nicest and funniest guys in the universe. One time we were all at the Claremont Lounge in Atlanta and I showed up and he was just visiting, and he pulled out a chair for me and made me sit next to him, and we caught up. he's way cooler than me and doesn't have to treat me as nice as he does, but he does and it's cool. He's the opposite of Master Shake.

What I want to know is... (Score:4, Interesting) by th3space (531154)

Why is it that MC Pee Pants gets absolutely no respect from Satan, whereas the WisdomCube/Dubmassahedron does? To me, MC Pee Pants, while not as intelligent as the aforementioned geometric characters, is vastly more entertaining than that lot.

I think Satan likes to torture Pee Pants. Is it a surprise to anyone that Satan is cruel and vindictive? Wait till you see what he does to me next.

Question (Score:4, Interesting) by vincent404 (588127)

How did you start your act? also When and how did you get into voice acting?

I just got discovered in a bar, by Dave Willis, creator of athf and the voice of carl and meatwad. Adam Reed was with him and they both kinda snatched me up. I don't know what it was about that night that screamed, "get this kid in cartoons!" but it was one of those life changing evenings I have no recollection of because I was hammered. people ask me how to get into voice acting, and I tell them to learn to drink a pint of beer in under five seconds. that's how it worked for me.

Your Real Voice? (Score:4, Interesting) by Laebshade (643478) I know some voice actors, for example, use their natural voices for cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny, etc.). When you rapped, as MC Pee Pants (or Sir Loin) for ATHF, was that your natural voice? If not, can you post a clip of your real voice?

my voice is much lower in real life, like james earl jone's. I use the high pitched version to get on tv (and get laid.)

my honest question ... (Score:4, Funny) by YankeeInExile (577704) *

Who the fuck are you, and why do I care?

No one special and you obviously don't. Nice use of the word, "fuck," though.

Re:Who? (Score:5, Interesting) by Golias (176380)

Any chance of your newer songs becoming available on iTMS?

I dunno what that is. So i'll say yes.

ewhac writes "As reported earlier, a Sutter County, CA, elementary school unilaterally took the dubious step of forcing students, under penalty of disciplinary action, to wear RFID badges with their name, grade, and photo. The RFID tags were read by sensors placed above classroom and bathroom doors (though the latter had been shut off). The system was ostensibly used to automate attendance-keeping. Well, InCom Corp., the company that provided the tech free of charge to the school, has abruptly pulled out, without explanation. The school superintendant claimed to be, "disappointed," at the development. However, some parents are not mollified, and vow to permanently keep such people-tracking technologies out of their schools."

ewhac writes "Okay, so it's not a bank branch per se, but a particular kind of bank branch -- one that has play areas for kids, serves coffee and popcorn, and has kiosks instead of teller windows. Washington Mutual has dubbed this branch design, "Occasio" (a generic Latin word meaning, "favorable opportunity," and which has probably been trademarked). The San Francisco Chronicle reports that it may be the first time the USPTO has awarded a patent for the design of a retail store/presence."

ewhac asks: "Recently, I was charged with the mission of obtaining a particular small external USB keyboard, for use on a Win2K laptop. However, when the USB version proved unavailable, I obtained the equivalent PS/2 version and an inexpensive PS/2-to-USB adapter. Should have been cake... Except that it didn't work. Win2K failed to see the keyboard, claiming instead to see an unknown USB device. A different USB adapter didn't help. A different keyboard didn't help. Trying on a different computer didn't help. Googling my eyes out for several hours looking for answers didn't help (although I found a few people with the same question). So I thought I'd beseech the Slashdot crowd and ask how many people have had success using legacy input devices with small, inexpensive PS/2-to-USB adapters?" "Here's the keyboard in question. Here's the first adapter we tested, and here's the second (ignore the picture; it's wrong). Several things about this experience have left me very confused. Keyboards and mice are simple manifestations of the USB HID (Human Input Device) class, and Win2K ships with a fairly complete set of HID drivers -- plugging in a keyboard should (and often does) Just Work. Hence, these adapters are sold without drivers. Further, the PS/2 electrical and logical specifications are older than dirt, and well understood. USB is also very well specified. So building an adapter should be a very straightforward effort, with little room for surprise or failure.

And yet, the damn thing refused to work. All PS/2 keyboards tested worked fine when connected to native PS/2 ports. All computers tested recognized all other USB devices when plugged in. But no matter what we did, we couldn't get any system to recognize any PS/2 keyboard plugged into these PS/2-to-USB adapters.

As the evening wore on, I started to wonder just how many other people had experienced this perplexing situation, and how they resolved it. The makers of these adapters wouldn't knowingly sell non-functional merchandise, so I assume that somehow these things can be made to work. What I'm wondering is what special conditions, if any, are required to get them to work."

ewhac writes "Without admitting wrongdoing, Microsoft today agreed to pay $23,250,000 to Be, Inc., to settle anti-trust claims against the software giant. The payout is anticipated to be used to complete the orderly dissolution of the company. Shortly after announcing sale of key assets to Palm, Be, Inc., filed suit against Microsoft in February 2002, alleging destruction of its business via illegal exclusionary and anti-competitive business practices."

ewhac writes "According to the Associated Press, Intel's Digital Rights Summit was apparently quite lively, as technologists, lawyers (including Professor Lessig), and academics argued the (lack of) virtues of copy-protection and Digital Restriction Mechanisms -- how granting Hollywood's whims would further dampen the already-reeling tech industry. The only voice in support of even more onerous legislation was, perhaps unsurprisingly, Representative Howard Berman (D-Calif), who has co-crafted a proposal to let media companies interfere with Internet operations to combat unsanctioned copying. Berman dismissed the experts' claims as a "smoke screen," to cover the tech sector's true source of hardship, its own irrational exuberance. Berman represents California's 28th district, which includes the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley regions of the Los Angeles metroplex."

ewhac writes "It seems a programmer named Jetro Lauha, for his submission to the Assembly 2002 competition, decided to explore the realm of solid body physics simulations. So he wrote Porrasturvat -- 'Stair Dismount'. The game involves the application of force vectors to solid bodies connected by links with constrained range of motion, and observing their impact forces against other objects in the environment. ...Or, more colloquially, you push a guy down the stairs and see how much damage he takes. Apparently, any similarity between this game and the Terrible Secret of Space is entirely coincidental."

ewhac writes "The Associated Press is reporting that Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly will deliver her opinions on the Microsoft anti-trust suit tomorrow, after close of markets. Much speculation revolves around whether she will approve or reject the settlement negotiated by the Justice Department. Should she reject it, she can only offer suggestions for improvement; she cannot impose amendments. Watch this site for further developments :-)." Reader acacia points out that the opinions should be posted at this site, if you want a quick bookmark.

ewhac writes "The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Covad, who filed for bankruptcy protection last year, is slowly regaining strength. With $246 million in cash, Covad claims it has enough to carry it to profitability. They've also struck a deal with AOL to provide high-speed connectivity to AOL customers. The battle isn't over, though, as Pacific Bell continues to undercut Covad's offerings. Covad is effectively Pacific Bell's only remaining competitor for DSL service. As a happy Covad customer through Speakeasy.net, I'm pleased I won't be forced into PacBell's or AT&T's hands any time soon."

ewhac writes "Salon is running an article about how that cryptic email saying someone has a crush on you may not be what it seems. Portrayed as services to foster romance, some voice concern that some such sites -- two with falsified WHOIS records -- are preying on people's insecurities to build spam lists and directed relationship graphs (who knows who). One site in particular, SomeoneLikesYou, has the temerity to demand you subscribe to an affiliate marketing program or cough up $14.90 before it will hand over the email address of your alleged crush.

A friend of mine and I were bit by SomeoneLikesYou in the last week. The scam is elegant in its simplicity. The site teases you with an email claiming to know someone who likes you, then makes you guess who it might be by submitting their email address(es). Each of those addresses receives a teaser email just like yours. Rinse, repeat. I ignored the message -- obviously a fake; I couldn't possibly be anyone's crush :-) -- but my friend took the bait and fed it some demographic data and email addresses. Once she realized what was going on, she wrote to everyone apologizing for any spam they may have received. She also sent a nastygram to the site's operators.

It should be pointed out that there is no proof that SomeoneLikesYou is doing anything nefarious with the data they're collecting. However, their credibility is not strengthened by their faked WHOIS records and their meaningless doubletalk on privacy issues (the declaration, "We send precisely zero e-mail advertisements," says nothing about the behavior of their partners/affiliates.)"

melquiades writes "Mathematician Hendrik Lenstra was struck by the blank spot in M. C. Escher's Print Gallery . Why is the spot blank there, he wondered, and what should go in it? Although Escher, who had only a high-school mathematics background, drew the picture by brilliant and methodical intuition, the mathematical machinery underlying the image turned out to be elliptic curves (which come up in factorization, cryptography, and the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem). Lenstra and his colleagues were able to generate several breathtaking possible completions for the missing space. Read the story at the ever-registration-required NYT."

ewhac writes "David W. Packard, son of HP's co-founder of the same name, obviously has some strong feelings on the merger between HP and Compaq. Today he shared those feelings on a poster put up in the lobby at the Stanford Theatre. The text of his message appears below. David W. Packard is president of The Stanford Theatre Foundation, a non-profit organization formed in the 1980's to save the classic Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, CA, from destruction. He is also the son of HP co-founder David Packard, and has been very close to the company and The HP Way."

ewhac continues: "Today, he shared his thoughts on the merger in the form of a poster placed in the Stanford Theatre lobby:

Hewlett Packard
1938 -- 2002
R.I.P.

The Stanford Theatre still exists today only because of the employees of the Hewlett Packard Company. Without their achievements over the years, there would have been no foundation to purchase and restore this theatre.

Palo Alto might have had one more book store, or perhaps another restaurant. Architects had plans ready for a new "Casablanca Cafe" at this location when the Packard Foundation rescued the theater in 1987.

The Hewlett Packard Company was founded in 1938 in a garage on Addison Street only a few blocks from where you are now standing. Back then, the Stanford Theatre was showing brand new movies. In 1938 you could have seen Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby and Holiday . You could have seen Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood . You could have seen Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, and Tyrone Power in Alexander's Ragtime Band . You could have seen Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You . You still can see these same movies at the Stanford Theatre. Our audiences know that they are truly timeless.

The HP Way also touched many people's lives. Most of us expected that it would last forever -- that it would prove as timeless as a Frank Capra movie. But those entrusted with the duty to safeguard it have exercised their legal right to make another choice. Dura lex, sed lex. The law is harsh, but it is the law.

HP employees are now on a new ship, being taken on a new voyage. The company has even changed its stock symbol to HPQ to stress that the "old" HP is gone. For the sake of the surviving employees, of course I hope for a good outcome. But it is hard to imagine that their leaders can invent something better than what they left behind.

David W. Packard
The Stanford Theatre Foundation.

"The San Jose Mercury News also has a short article about Packard's message.

"Editorial Content: HP's road to the merger has been the subject of much lunchtime controversy out here. As one of the "founders" of Silicon Valley, Hewlett Packard has for decades been a highly respected institution who earned their reputation through solid engineering and research, and by creating a legendary workplace envied the world over.

"Especially in the Valley, people within and without HP came to feel as David Packard did; that The HP Way would survive management fads and fickle stockholders, and serve as a lasting example of How To Do It Right. But HP's current management has won the right to move onward; to where, no one is sure.

"Though the company is still there, the HP mythos and The HP Way seem to be gone. All anyone can do now is watch and see what happens next."

ewhac writes "Hop-On.com apparently started distributing the first versions of their disposable/recyclable cell phones, which will offer 60 minutes for $30. Hop-On claims their proprietary technology makes this possible. However, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that, upon cracking open the phones, they found not the kind of disposable cell phone technology covered earlier on Slashdot, but a jury-rigged Nokia. When confronted, Hop-On CEO Peter Michaels dodged by saying the phones the Chronicle took apart were, "promotional samples only. They are not Hop-On production phones." The article also calls into serious question Hop-On's other claims, and also points out California revoked Hop-On's corporate status last month."

ewhac writes "Recently, on a whim, I bought one of those tiny little battery-powered vacuums, pitched as effective in cleaning the schmutz out of your keyboard. After trying it out, I found out that it sucks. Or rather, it doesn't suck. Er... It fails to remove the aforementioned schmutz. This came as little surprise to me, since there's obviously an upper limit to the volume of air you can move with a pair of AA batteries. But I suddenly became curious as to whether an effective "keyboard vac" exists at all. So I thought I'd ask here: Has anyone encountered an effective, small hand-held vacuum that doesn't suck? ...er, does suck? Sucks well? Whatever..."

ewhac asks: "After having three 18G drives go toes-up on me in the last two months, all of them done so after about 40 days of use, I want the replacement drives to be rock-solid. While Tom's Hardware and AnandTech review individual drives and their performance, I haven't yet been able to locate any comprehensive or cohesive review of drive reliability and longevity. Does such a resource exist?"