“By far the two most common types of fonts currently used on the Web are the serif font, Times New Roman (TNR) and the sans serif font, Arial. The question is, which one is more legible and at which size? In the past, it has been determined that serif fonts, which have ornamental strokes at the tip and base of each letter, are easier to read on paper than sans serif fonts, which do not have serifs. This is because it is believed that serifs help distinguished each individual letter (Albers, 1963). However, this benefit may be reduced or even eliminated on computer screens because of their display particularities, like poorer screen resolution and aliasing or “jaggies,” as it is commonly known.”
kris found out why the dogs have been so preoccupied with the basement. apparently our ‘second freezer’ was unplugged by the friendly furnace cleaner man. he forgot to plug it back in. over a week
ago. i guess the dogs have been licking up the blood and goo that’s been leaking out of it for quite some time. no smarty pants. i didn’t kill my mother-in-law and stuff her in the freezer – that’s blood and goo from rotting steaks, hamburger, chickens, turkeys, 40 pounds of hotdogs i got on sale from somebody in wisconsin, something that looked like bad twinkies [can’t be possible], 8 pounds of fresh [sic] blueberries from michigan, 3 pounds of rhubarb from the garden, 6 pounds of bacon and 6 pounds of butter. do you know how damn expensive butter can be? i really don’t think you can imagine just how bad it smelled. too bad ismell isn’t shipping, because you really, really should experience this once in your life.
i can now honestly say that stinkymeat us a useful resource.
try to imagine – if you will – that you are the researcher who knows in your heart of hearts you’re going to get published in science because you’re doing the killer experiment that proves that cloning isn’t associated with premature aging. you’ve worked hard. you’ve eaten your wheaties. you’re beating the odds and getting generation after generation of clones. you’ve stayed up late for months. your kids don’t care that you’re doing cool shit. [i mean, it is cloning for crying out loud.] you come in early one morning. you’ve run out of coffee. [you spilled what coffee you could squeeze out of yesterday’s grounds all over your new [well, new to you] shirt. and you find out your magnificent bit part at playing god has come to a sudden end:
“Researchers have cloned six successive generations of mice in an experiment that gives new insights into ageing. The sequentially cloned mice showed no signs of growing old prematurely and appeared mentally and physically normal.
However, the experiment came to a sudden end when the single, sixth-generation mouse clone was eaten by her foster mother.”
“How could a Ralph Nader story be interesting? He has been turned into the national scold, just as I am referred to as a “gadfly.” I assume that’s because intellectual is too difficult a word to spell. He has been made the bore of all time. Even I, who quite admire him in some ways, find him very boring. But he’s not boring; he’s presented as a bore, as a nag. Seat belts! I’m here in New York, and every time I get into a
taxicab these voices come on that say “buckle up,” I think of Ralph Nader. Now this has destroyed him! You have made him the bore of all time.
It’s all about getting rid of anybody who wants change, and you create an aura about him. I’ve been demonized for 50 years, I’m aware of how it’s done.”
“Hackers quickly figured out the simple base64+XOR system used to scramble the CueCat’s output, and wrote a Linux device driver for the scanner. Others launched web sites that could read the cat’s output. Another programmer pitched in with a decoder written in skintight Perl code. Nevada engineer Stephen Satchell published a detailed analysis of the barcode cues themselves, and a Wisconsin hardware hacker physically dissected his CueCat and discovered a way to neuter the device’s electronic serial number with a careful slice of an X-Acto knife. “The serial EPROM is easily accessible,” said Michael Guslick. “By cutting one of the traces, that effectively disables the serial number.”
Digital Convergence was aghast. “If people take over our cat and start using their own databases, the world becomes cloudy,” says Mathews. “Our revenue model is being the gate keeper between codes and their destinations online.”
By way of example, Mathews points to one hack, created by network engineer Michael Rothwell, that allows users to scan the ISBN number on the back of a book with the CueCat. “You could swipe a code, and it would serve up a page on Amazon.com. But what if [the publisher] doesn’t want it to go to Amazon.com, they want it to go to web site under their control… By the Linux community taking over and redirecting where these swipes go to, they were circumventing our software.””
so the other day, i received a cuecat in the mail. and yes, despite the negative pressattention they’ve been receiving, i was tempted to install the software and begin the digital convergence journey. that is – until the proverbial straw broke the camel’s back:
“Just days after About.com releases email address of some of their business customers, Digital Convergence alerts customers to a possible security breach with their CueCat scanner. The breach includes possible release of emails and names of those who registered the CueCat (which is given away for free at RadioShack Stores). Apparently the CueCat security has been de-clawed.”