Friends

06:04 - Quantum Cryptography Cracked

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/12/quantum_cryptog_1.html

Impressive:

This presentation will show the first experimental implementation of an eavesdropper for quantum cryptosystem. Although quantum cryptography has been proven unconditionally secure, by exploiting physical imperfections (detector vulnerability) we have successfully built an intercept-resend attack and demonstrated eavesdropping under realistic conditions on an installed quantum key distribution line. The actual eavesdropping hardware we have built will be shown during the conference.

While I am very interested in quantum cryptography, I have never been optimistic about its practicality. And it's always interesting to see provably secure cryptosystems broken.

eonen

02:56 - 3 in the bloody ayem...

Fell asleep watching Mad About You this evening, woke up around 8 or 9. Feeling all right, despite being run down from three weeks of being sick, but not the least bit sleepy right now, alas. Three AM...not the best time to be awake.

Ah, well...I have two seasons of Sliders and plenty to do on Kanira Baxter, if it comes to that...
Still...might be nice to get back on a normal schedule again.

Current Mood: awake

jwz

00:20 - Who's got two thumbs and no bicycle?

←← This guy!

Stolen from the bike rack at the top of the BART stairs at 4th and Market, around 7pm. This bike lasted over three years, though, which is an all-time record since way back in the nineteen-hundreds. (Previously.) They didn't leave a broken lock behind, which is somewhat puzzling. It was a u-lock with one of the new-style flat keys with the dimples on them, whatever those are called.

shivana

23:07 - Inner Pace.

Me:That makes sense. That we'll work on the things that we can; when the time is right to do so and we'll get done what we can in this lifetime.

Austin: exactly, I could say day in and day out that I should or could have but If I dont then It will never happen. I have had some near death experiences that have taught this to me. Enjoy yourself and what you have to offer now. You are being watched and very admired for you and what you are able to do.

I REALLY needed to hear that.
I <3 him.

Current Mood: calm

kiarapanther

20:55

• 17:39 So evidently Ive been subscribed a dye that acts a painkiller "may stain contacts"..... joy........ #

papertygre

22:55 - Stories

It seems that storytelling is fundamental to human communication.

It's probably the oldest form of entertainment - tales around a campfire - and also the most state of the art - moviemaking is a glamorous industry and individual movies can cost enormous amounts to make. Advertising is nothing but storytelling.

Almost every non-basic communication is a story, from "how was your day?" to "why should I vote for so-and-so?" Even hypotheticals can be seen as stories, e.g. "If it keeps raining like this, we'll get some nasty floods." The key is the presence of cause and effect.

The storytelling process is powerful because it creates curiosity about what comes next, which causes the listener to invest energy and attention, creating a bond between the listener and the teller. Also, knowing some of the same stories as other people around you provides a language and a shared background.

Being able to tell short, interesting stories on the fly seems like a crucial skill.

The stories you tell yourself are also important. They influence which events in your past you treat as significant, and they affect what you think you can do, and what you think you should do. If you're not doing something that fits in your story, you feel uncomfortable, like something has gone wrong.

tessier_ashpool

ninevolt

22:46 - Greetings.

So long since I have posted, sorry.

What does everyone think of seed AI versus other types of AI is what I am curious about, and what would you say are the main branches of thinking between types of AI coding structure?

Feel free to make your reply a new post instead of a comment/reply for the sake of pushing the information to people who are watching the community who could have opinions that will see it on their friends link. ;)

Current Mood: 1001

mrissa

21:49 - *kerthump*

Oh, man, kids. My proprioception is shot clean to hell today. It's disturbing as all get-out. Earlier I had to open my eyes to see where my hand was. Like whether it was up by my shoulder or down by my thigh--I knew I could logic my way through it, but the thing is you are not supposed to have to logic your way through, "Where is my hand?" It's one of the ones you're supposed to get for a freebie. It is always in the last place you put it. You should not have to try to estimate how bent your arm is by figuring out how many centimeters of inner elbow are pressed together. If you close your eyes to type, you should not have to reason that your hands are at the same level because you know you left the desk level when you closed your eyes. It is an extremely wrong thing what is wrong with its wrongness.

I don't like to whine, but this is the third Christmas that's been like this, and I could really do something else now.

One of you-all wished me a better ratio of happy niece time to nasty vertigo time, while I was in Wisconsin, and I had to say no, that's not how I do this. Because if I think of the two in ratios, in comparisons, then in some sense the vertigo is canceling out part of the niece time. (Or the time hanging out having dinner with people I love, or the time reading a good book or etc.) And I really need for it not to cancel. I really need for all the good stuff to still be here when I'm done doing the math. Because so far we have been only intermittently successful at making the bad stuff go away, and so if I make the good stuff into the antimatter form of bad stuff instead, that's no good at all, and I might explode.

There was lots of Christmas stuff with missing my grandpa that I expected to be hard, and it was hard. The bit I had not thought about at all that nearly undid me was that Grandpa always collected the trash, the torn wrapping paper and like that. He was the keeper of the bag. Mom hadn't thought of it, either. She immediately passed responsibility on to Daddy, and Christmas could continue. But it's always like that with grief: you think you have a handle on where it'll be hard, and you're always not quite right enough. Right enough to get through, and right enough to have the good memories, and right enough to have Orange Julius and gjetost. But--you never think of everything until it's right there.

girlshawn

19:34 - Fingers in the window 365-12

Fingers in the window 365-12
Originally uploaded by shawnie_0405

girlshawn

19:33 - Fingers in the window 365-12

Fingers in the window 365-12
Originally uploaded by shawnie_0405

catherinew

18:11 - Recipe attempt: Candied limes

Today I tried candying some lime slices using this recipe on Recipezaar. The thought was that Rachel G. could use them as part of the "corporate retreat" menu for her LARP that's coming up in January. Candied green food seems futuristic and corporate, right? 

I sliced the limes very thin -- too thin, in fact. Some of them did not have the structural integrity for the rounds to remain whole, and so ended up as long crescent-shaped pieces of rind, from which the pulp had all been boiled off.

The rounds that did get through the process intact seem to have rinds that are too tough, even though we boiled the heck out of them for far longer than the 10 minutes the recipe specified. (I quadrupled the recipe, and ended up simmering the lime slices for almost an hour in the sugar syrup, trying to get the white parts to turn translucent. It doesn't seem to have quite worked.)

Overall, I think the lime peel twists will make fun garnishes for drinks, lime tarts, or pudding, or could be diced up and used in something else. The lime rounds are edible, but a bit too tough in the peel.

If I make these again, I will either need small, tender, thin-skinned limes, like really nice Key limes, instead of the regular old thick-skinned limes... or else I'll need to remove almost all of the rind and pith before candying what remains.

20:42 - An Offer of Arbitration Docs from Ryan Tibbitts and A Proposed Amended Schedule for Tomorrow

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20091229160525941

Then again, he would say that. But if that were really the case, why would SUSE be so eager to get that show back on the road? I think the arbitration suddenly got "highly contested" in SCO's dreams only after the appeals court ruled that there must be a trial before a jury on copyright ownership. Prior to that, SCO was using the "moot" word, IIRC. Remember at the trial in SCO v. Novell in Utah in 2008, Novell's lead attorney Michael A. Jacobs of Morrison & Foerster, told the court a bit about what was happening in the arbitration:

And, in particular, in the SUSE arbitration, which is still stayed pending the bankruptcy, when SCO was arguing to ... the arbitral panel: Don't go forward with this arbitration. There is no need. The Court -- the District Court in Utah, Judge Kimball, has already ruled on all the important issues here.

SCO said it was pointless for the arbitration to continue because the ownership decisions that the Court made here addressed all of SCO's claims relating to Linux.

futabachan

19:10 - Sorting things out

I've been all over the map on this Seattle thing. When I left Erie, I was sure that I was going to go. This morning, before a phone call with them, I was equally certain that I wasn't. I'm back to being on the fence again, but I want to get them an answer tomorrow if I can.

I do think that for the Seattle job, a "not now, but perhaps later" sort of answer would work from both sides. I'm sort of leaning that way now, but I'm going to sleep on it. Leaving Canada before getting citizenship is enough of a wrench that I'm inclined to not do it... except that the job is cool enough to make me hesitate. And not having a replacement here lined up is scary.

Current Mood: confused

eonen

15:32 - *poing*

Wow... YouTube just offered to monetize another of my videos, my last vid went to #3 in the Education category, I have four vids in the top-rated for the week...things are really starting to take off over here!

Wish they'd hurry up and process my partnership application; at this rate, I could make a bloody LIVING off of the YouTubes! :)

Just sayin'.

Current Mood: pleased

netmouse

18:01 - zer_netmouse tweets of the day

• 12:15 @lisalinderman You are so welcome! We miss you! #
• 12:16 Brian drove us all the way home to Yellow Springs, OH from Charlotte, NC yesterday. Have I mentioned he's my hero? #
• 12:17 @Sheryl67 stop it with the eye poking of self. Seriously. #
• 12:29 RT @sfsignal Spider Robinson fundraiser -- Only 2 days left! is.gd/5Dnh7 #

qazwsxmko

14:36

(More from The Devil and Miss Prym)

Once a year, the inhabitants shut themselves up in their houses, made two lists, turned to face the highest mountain and then raised their first list to the heavens.
"Here, Lord, are all the sins I have committed against you," they said, reading the account of all the sins they had committed. Business swindles, adulteries, injustices, things of that sort. "I have sinned and beg forgiveness for having offended You so greatly."
Then - and here lay Ahab's originality - the residents immediately pulled the second list out of their pocket and, still facing the same mountain, they held that one up to the skies too. And they said something like: "And here, Lord, is a list of all Your sins against me: You made me work harder than necessary, my daughter fell ill despite all my prayers, I was robbed when I was trying to be honest, I suffered more than was fair." After reading out the second list, they ended the ritual: "I have been unjust towards You, and You have been unjust towards me. However, since today is the Day of Atonement, You will forget my faults and I will forget Yours and we can carry on together for another year."

mirandapadgett

14:15 - So I got my second opinion.

And a third is forthcoming.

Dr. Sohl has an appointment with me this afternoon at 3:30 to discuss my water leakage and what my options are.

My friend Foliage sent his mom (a registered midwife) over a couple hours ago to offer a second opinion. She told me that I have every single symptom of being in early back labor, and it pains her that my doctor couldn't tell that. She says it could be anything from two days to a week until I give birth and that my cervix would ripen in it's own sweet time, but that back labor is notorious for being a long, drawn-out process and very painful. She also said it was ridiculous to assume I wasn't in "real labor" because I could still speak. She has me doing kneeling yoga-type exercises to shift Bodhi so my back labor will cease and normal active labor will begin. I'm also supposed to take a tincture of evening primrose oil (who mentioned that earlier? was that Charlotte?) to help my dilation along.

It's nice to know that I'm not crazy or over-reactive and this pain actually means something.

I'm sitting down right now and Zoe is very angry with me because I can't hold her, but I can't hold her. I've never been in this sort of pain in my life. It hurts, but it's hard to describe. It's visceral and feels like energy is being transferred? Sorry, my brain is busy, it's hard to even type right now. Any rate, I can still talk, so I can't call Dr. Soriano.

Current Mood: sore

eonen

13:57 - EVA

Coming soon, Kanira and crew are going to have to leave the White Knight and go for a spacewalk...



So this is what Kanira looks like in a spacesuit. Just sayin'...

And, yes, she's get her head stuck in a fish bowl. It's THAT kind of sci-fi. I hope that's clear by now. :)

Current Mood: artistic

wiredferret

13:42 - Yuletide recc

Mostly, the way I read Yuletide is sort of passively letting people recc things to me. But the Georgette Heyer category caught my eye (natch). There are three stories. THREE. But the amazing long one is what I want to tell you about.

Clean Linen (such a punny title) is a sequel to The Unknown Ajax. In it, we get a complicated Richmond-Hugh-Anthea imbroligo, and a sympathetic, interesting, and excellent characterization of Claud, who is exclusively a comic figure in the book.

I think it probably stands ok on its own, but it is so much better if you've read the book.

polyamory

cyybergod

16:23 - New edition of "The Ethical Slut" vs old edition

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

elynne

13:19 - post-Xmas self-given presents

I has a new chair! Much more comfy and ergonomic than the last one, which is very good given that work is about to plow into the zomfg busy season. New desk chair = happy. ^.^

I also has complete DVD set of Kids in the Hall! which I'm sure I'll get around to watching eventually, or at least in bits and pieces. I might take to watching episodes when I'm on my lunch break, to put myself in a better mood for the zomfg busy season that's starting. ;)

And... that's all, really. Life continues onwards in generally good but unremarkable (for the time being) directions. Oh! supersniffles knitted me a gorgeous shawl and dice bag and cap, and the cap has trilobites on it, and I've been wearing it almost constantly since unwrapping it. XD Many people have commented on how nice the color is (the dark green sets off the lighter green of my hair perfectly), and when I point out the trilobites everybody gets all geek-squee. Thank you pinkness! *hughughug* Eventually I will get around to taking pictures and posting them. (as well as pictures of the WoW Khydann poster I got - a while ago... and haven't taken pictures of yet because I can be procrastinatey like that.) Also codevixen and lyrapuppy conspired to bring me a baby T-Rex, which has already been put to good use scaring the bejezus out of the cats.

My Xmas present to the house was a subscription to Science News, which is now bi-weekly instead of weekly, but that's okay, it's still awesome. I look forward to its arrivals with gleefullness.

Current Mood: cheerful

mirandapadgett

13:04

This is so no fun. I am having excruciating contractions and Zoe flips out every time I put her down so I am trying to hold her too. My back is ANGRY.

rosencrantz319

14:51 - The Holidays are doing their damage

cunningminx

12:30 - Today's Minxy Tweets

What is Minx up to Tweeps?

• 22:35 Sweet! Got my ass kicked at Rough and Tumble. :-D #

mysticalforest

12:07 - The true meaning of Christmas

I forgot to post this earlier:

As we all know, Christmas is that mystical time of year when the ghost of Jesus rises from the grave to feed on the flesh of the living. So, we all sing carols to lull him back to sleep.