Kolya Miller

Droste Effect with Mathematica

2009-04-28T10:12:00.000+10:00

This is great thinking, applied really well. I wish I could do this!

Wolfram Blog : Droste Effect with Mathematica

iPhone App Solves Rubik's Cube

2009-01-29T13:42:00.000+11:00

Damn I love clever thinking like this....

iPhone App Solves Rubik's Cube in 20 Moves or Better Epicenter from Wired.com

There is no virus threat!

2008-12-11T16:52:00.000+11:00

PC Pro: Blogs & Analysis: Features: Is the virus threat real?

Honestly - this has been my feeling for a while. Who has really had any issues recently? I think the threat is overrated.

Any counter arguments?

A Butler

2008-11-12T15:11:00.000+11:00

A Butler Well Served by This Election

This is a great story - and I almost cried at the end!

Google Flu Trends

2008-11-12T11:32:00.000+11:00

Google Flu Trends

This is what data mining is all about. Finding correlations, deep insight, and useful technology!

Fridge-sized tape recorder could crack lunar mysteries

2008-11-11T09:38:00.000+11:00

Fridge-sized tape recorder could crack lunar mysteries

An archiving error by NASA has meant 173 data tapes have sat in Perth for almost 40 years, holding information about lunar dust that could be vital in expanding science's understanding of the moon.
But after almost four decades, a donation from a Sydney computer society look sset to breathe fresh life into a long-neglected field of lunar science.

You know! It's a thingummy

2008-11-05T08:53:00.000+11:00

You know! It's a thingummy... Whatjermercallit... The everyday items with the forgotten names Mail Online

My daughter always asks what the vertical indentation between the upper lip and nose is called.

Now I know - the Philtrum. The term derives from the Greek word philein, to kiss - for the ancient Greeks believed this area was one of the most erogenous spots on the body. Both Hitler and Charlie Chaplin covered theirs with a moustache- - while, apparently, SAS officers can kill someone simply by tapping-their philtrum in a certain way.

Bosses 'should embrace Facebook'

2008-10-30T12:20:00.000+11:00

BBC NEWS Business Bosses 'should embrace Facebook':

Companies should not dismiss staff who use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo at work as merely time-wasters, a Demos study suggests.

Security Policies Are Unrealistic

2008-10-30T08:45:00.000+11:00

Employees: Security Policies Are Unrealistic - Security policy/Management - DarkReading:

Current IT security policies frequently don't reflect the reality of how employees use their computers, according to a report published today by Cisco Systems.

The report, a deeper analysis of internal threat data collected by Cisco earlier this year, indicates that many users break their companies' security policies because following those policies would prevent them from doing their jobs

I don't know about you - but I fit this category. I know so many people who simply disregard or do something specific to avoid their IT security policies - and these are generally the security people I'm talking about!

7 myths about security metrics

2008-10-29T16:55:00.000+11:00

security metrics

Good article about measuring security risks. Interesting read while I'm thinking of my clients dashboard.

Banking security on a USB stick | Latest Security News - CNET News

2008-10-29T16:41:00.000+11:00

Banking security on a USB stick Latest Security News - CNET News

Really - why can't we just use an RSA SecureID token? Because it costs money to send out these things! It costs money that customers don't want to spend. This is just another form (in my personal opinion) of two factor authentication.

Just my .02

Hackers publish attack code

2008-10-29T10:25:00.000+11:00

Hackers publish attack code for last week's Windows bug:

Just a day after downplaying the vulnerability that caused it to issue an out-of-cycle patch last week, Microsoft Corp. late yesterday warned customers that exploit code had gone public and is being used in additional attacks.

'We've identified the public availability of exploit code that now shows code execution for the vulnerability addressed by MS08-067,' said Mike Reavey, operations manager of Microsoft's Security Response Center, in a post to the MSRC blog Monday evening. 'This exploit code has been shown to result in remote code execution on Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.

Uh Oh... better get patching!

Carbon Footprint Dashboard

2008-10-27T15:52:00.001+11:00

Carbon Footprint Dashboard

Posted using ShareThis

The Mortgages of the Future

2008-10-27T13:32:00.002+11:00

Economic View - The Mortgages of the Future - NYTimes.com

Interesting read and some good ideas for different (or improved) mortgages. Unlike NAB's so called 'thinking mortgage'...

You too can scan (hack) your way to retirement (dismissal)

2008-10-25T19:51:00.001+11:00

SoftPerfect Scans Networks From A USB Drive - Lifehacker Australia

Windows only: A good network scanner digs deep into any network it's pointed at and opens it up for you to get into. SoftPerfect Network Scanner does those things, can do them from a thumb drive, and is a good deal less intimidating than some other scanner apps out there.

Just make sure you read you're company policy on network and system usage - most organisations take a dim view of their employees scanning the network without permission (even if it is part of their role)!

Australian Government Censorship 'Worse Than Iran'

2008-10-24T16:39:00.000+11:00

Slashdot Australian Government Censorship 'Worse Than Iran'

Reminds me of an ad for a softdrink - Drink Sprite and be goodlooking*

* Drinker must be goodlooking first

Live in a free country*

*not Australia

Photos for passwords?

2008-10-24T15:52:00.002+11:00

http://www.utwente.nl/nieuws/pers/en/cont_08-044_en.doc/

Great read about using photos for passwords derived from work around getting handguns to recognise users.

"This idea of using biometrics for safe storage and transfer arose from the SecureGrip project. This is a project in which the grip of a policeman’s firearm is biometrically protected, in this case with a ‘personal grip' covered with a network of pressure sensors. These recognize the way in which the user holds the firearm. If someone else holds the weapon, it does not work."

HubbleSite - Entire Collection

2007-11-29T08:54:00.000+11:00

HubbleSite - Entire Collection

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire_collection/

We are just a spec of dust in this enormous universe that we can not even comprehend.

What can Enterprises Learn from Teenagers?

2007-11-09T08:49:00.000+11:00

What can Enterprises Learn from Teenagers?

Corporate knowledge management sites lag behind the services that teenagers use - and by considerable distance. Don Rippert, Accenture's Chief Technology Officer, compared the experience of looking for documents and content on an average corporate knowledge management site with the way that teenagers will use interactive and collaborative services...

Are people really this stupid?

2007-11-06T08:52:00.000+11:00

'Cool Cash' card confusion - News - Manchester Evening News

The 23-year-old, who said she had left school without a maths GCSE, said: "On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't.

Robot Cannon Kills 9, Wounds 14 on Danger Room

2007-10-19T11:28:00.000+10:00

Robot Cannon Kills 9, Wounds 14 on Danger Room

What more can I say? Robo-cop?

5 concerns about the future of banking we need to get through our heads

2007-10-17T14:50:00.000+10:00

It’s not [insert web2.0 banking website here] fault. Get over it, banker. Blaming leading edge organisations is like blaming the entrepreneur. “Oh no, please don’t let my customers actually find services from my competitors and then use them!”
We don’t get to charge people for slow, inefficient and bad service - and we certainly don’t want to charge people for daily hassles. Putting our service behind walls (policy walls, security walls or other kinds) where it can’t be accessed by users is bad. Don’t hide our services from our users.
People who bank aren’t uneducated yobbo’s unconcerned by facts. They’re our customers and our neighbours and if we play our cards right, our marketers and our community sales force. If we really play it right, customers can be the leaders of a “network marketing program”. There is no “us vs. them” issue.
We ignore new delivery systems at our own peril. RSS, SMS, iPhone, e-paper, Blackberry, widgets, podcasts, vlogs, Facebook, Twitter — these aren’t the competition, these are our new carriers. We need to learn how to deliver our content across every new technology that comes into view on the horizon.
Remember: A glass half full is actually ALL full, just half liquid, half gas. There is excellent work being done in the new world of online banking and it’s being done at banks like ours! We don’t need millions of dollars or super computers or years of training to make it happen; all we need is the right frame of mind. Let’s start building our own piece of the new world of banking.

*Based on the “10 obvious things about the future of newspapers you need to get through your head” posted at http://www.ryansholin.com/

Disrupting Internet Attackers' Black Markets

2007-10-17T08:54:00.000+10:00

Oct. 15: Carnegie Mellon's Adrian Perrig Leads Research Team Dedicated To Analyzing and Disrupting Internet Attackers' Black Markets - Carnegie Mellon University

Paper Critters

2007-08-16T14:44:00.000+10:00

Paper Critters: Online Paper Toy Creator

This is a wonderful way to waste time and be productive in parallel!

Listen Up!

2007-08-16T13:53:00.000+10:00

Ten Supercharged Active Listening Skills To Make You More Successful Tyner Blain

Sometimes people just don't listen. Use these tips to improve your listening skills!