Silicon Asylum

I may update this with further thoughts later, but I wanted to get this up so people became aware of it....

Check it out, get a chance to have your thoughts heard:

"When a domain name works with any character beyond the a-z alphabet, it's called an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN). CIRA is considering the implementation of French character IDNs so that .CA domain names can be written correctly in French. Find out more about IDNs and about our proposed launch policy."

While I think this is an interesting idea I see lots of problems with implementing this change.

1. Lots of software will have to be updated to accommodate the change (DNS server software, DNS client software, all kinds of security packages [AV, FWs, IDS, IPS, etc])...


2. Adding other characters to DNS just BEGS FOR ABUSE. Think of the phishing possibilities using Domain Names with accented characters?


3. The change requires user education that will NEVER happen. it's hard enough to get users to pay attention to standard English domain names...


4. Companies will now have to pay for and maintain registrations for even more DNS entries for actual translations of their name and the numerous misspellings (assuming they care that a malicious individual may squat on such and ruin their name etc).

I haven't been able to find out but I doubt that anyone has actually done any analysis vs. Canadian HoneyPots/HoneyDNS to see if users are actually trying to use accented characters for DNS. It seems like this is going to "fix" something that isn't broken or add support for something that the community doesn't really need or want.

If the greater community actually wants to do this why don't we go full foreign character support at the same time? Fix/enhance software to handle all characters at the same time (instead of piece-meal), etc.

Firefox 7 is out now.

One of the "fixes" is that Firefox now follows Opera and Chrome is hidding the http:// protocol portion of URLs in the address bar.

As a security professional I enjoy being able to easily see what protocol my browser is talking (http/https/ftp) in any given tab/window. You can restore the previous functionality by navigating to about:config and setting:

browser.urlbar.trimURLs = false

As some of you may have heard TLS1.0 got some bad news/press recently.

Various details: One, Two, and Three or check this Technical Paper (pdf).

So please go over here -> Firefox : Bug 480514 - Implement TLS 1.2 (RFC 5246) and VOTE!

If you're really ambitious you could also go vote for TLS 1.1 implementation (for the sake of maximizing compatability with web servers):
Firefox : Bug 565047 - Implement TLS 1.1 (RFC 4346)

No my TV addiction hasn't ended :( Here's the 201 fall installment. I'm not going to bother listing times this year. Really most days have multiple shows plus most people have time shifting on their Cable or Sat. service so here are the dates that I've been able to find so far. I'll tweak and update as I find new details...

(* = new show; CTV Two was formerly A Channel)

11-09-01: Added "Up All Night" Sept 14th premiere.

Tuesday, September 13
-90210 (CW, Global) [Global seems to have Season 3 info but isn't yet showing a premiere date/time on their online schedule]
-Ringer (CW, Global) *

Wednesday, September 14
-Survivor (Global, CBS)
-Up All Night (CTV, NBC)*

Thursday, September 15
-The Secret Circle (CW) *

Monday, September 19
-Castle (CTV, ABC)
-NCIS (Global, CBS)
-Hawaii Five-O (Global, CBS)

Tuesday, September 20
-The Biggest Loser (CityTV, NBC)
-NCIS: LA (Global, CBS)

Wednesday, September 21
-CSI (CTV, CBS)
-Harry's Law (Global, NBC)
-Law & Order: SVU (CTV Two, NBC)
-Criminal Minds (CTV Two, CBS)

Thursday, September 22
-Charlie's Angels (CTV, ABC) *
-The Big Bang Theory (CTV, CBS)
-Grey's Anatomy (CTV, ABC)
-Person of Interest (CityTV, ABC) *
-The Mentalist (CTV, CBS)

Friday, September 23
-Blue Bloods (CTV, CBS)
-Fringe (CityTV, Fox)
-Nikita (CW)

Sunday, September 25
-The Amazing Race (CTV, CBS)
-The Simpsons (Global, Fox)
-CSI: Miami (CTV, CBS)
-Pan Am (CTV, ABC) *
-The Good Wife (Global, CBS)

Monday, September 26
-Terra Nova (CityTV, Fox) *
-Gossip Girl (CW)

Thursday, September 29
-Private Practice (CTV, CityTV, ABC)

Monday, October 3
-House (Global, Fox)

Friday, October 21
-Chuck (Space, NBC)

Thursday, November 3
-Bones (Global, Fox)

So I saw this show recently on the Discovery channel in Canada (Curiosity: Did God Create the Universe).

The show is hosted by Stephen Hawking, he's a pretty bright guy and the content of the show is very interesting. However, I'm EXTREMELY disappointed with the show and Stephen's conclusion.

Their conclusion is that since time started with the Big Bang itself, there was no time prior to the Big Bang and therefore couldn't have been a being or entity to cause the Big Bang. The problem with this as I see it though is the fact that they assume a 3 or 4 (3 + time) dimensional existence. Yet numerous scientific theories suggest > 3 or 4 dimensions, in fact up to ten that I've read about*. So why can't the Big Bang have been created or started by a being or entity that lives outside of our 3 or 4 dimensions, something that lives or exists outside of our time dimension?

I just found this location a few weeks ago and have since been over twice and have another trip planned for later this week.

Green Papaya (Thai Garden)

"At the THAI GARDEN Restaurant, explore the Classic culinary traditions of Thailand, Buffet style for lunch and regular service for dinner."

I've only been there for lunch and their buffet is great! Two soups, some salads, about 12 different mains (maybe even approaching 18) including: various curries, pad thai, spring rolls, two rices (to put your curries on) etc, and a few deserts.

They make a red pork curry I really like, as well as a yellow chicken/potato curry that I've ordered from their non-buffet locations before and their soups are delicious.

Price is decent ~$14 for lunch buffet (IIRC).

I got this forward this morning and have seen a number of blog posts about it:

Example:

"New gas protest circulating for April 15th, see following:

What the heck, I’ll go do it! If running low, just get your gas the day before on April 14 or the day after on April 16. Every little bit helps

In April 1997, there was a “gas out” conducted nationwide in protest of gas prices. Gasoline prices dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight.

On April 15th 2011, all internet users are to not go to a gas station in protest of high gas prices. Gas is now over $1.20 a liter in most places.

If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take $2,292,000,000.00 (that’s almost 3 BILLION) out of the oil companies pockets for just one day, so please do not go to the gas station on April 15th and let’s try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry for at least one day.

If you agree (which I can’t see why you wouldn’t) resend this to all your contact list. With it saying, “Don’t pump gas on April 15th”"

Sorry to be a nay sayer but I don't see it.

There are ~34Million people in Canada (according to the CIA World Fact Book). In order to "cost" the Gas or oil companies 3 billion each person in Canada would have to NOT buy ~$88 worth of gas.

68.5% of Canada's population is driving aged : 15-64 years. Yes some older people "can" drive, but some 15, 16, 17, 18, etc year olds don't or can't (~23.3million people). Which means that to "cost" them 3billion each driving age person has to NOT buy ~$129 worth of gas on the given day.

Now lets assume that 33% of driving age people buy gas on any given day (~7.7million). Each of them would have to NOT buy ~$390 worth of gas.

Etc etc, considering car pooling, not everyone drives everyday, people "drive" for a living and those companies will continue to buy gas to perform their commercial activities (the post office, the cops, the military, truck drives, construction....).

Not to mention that similar to death and taxes almost all of us are in the unavoidable situation that we need gas to run our cars. So even if we don't buy it on the appointed day we'll still have to buy it the day before or the day after......and who has complete control of the price of gas? THE GAS & OIL companies.

This idea has been circulating for some time, snopes.com wrote up "Pain in the Gas" in 2007.

Labels: rant

Click the image to take the quiz for yourself.

Created by Oatmeal

Labels: rant

So for the last 3 (IIRC) years one of my favorite shows on TV has been "The Big Bang Theory". I totally relate to this show, though the characters are more geeky than I. The things that come up with them are things that came up with my group of friends in college, the things that still come up with the people I work with, and are things that I regularly read about on slashdot, etc. The show is crazy funny and even my wife watches it with me....though I suspect this might be mainly because she just enjoys how much and how hard it makes me laugh :D

Today I came across a great site that covers the science behind the science of the show... It's lots of fun so check it out if you're a science lover (even if you don't watch the show):

The Big Blog Theory

Building on my previous posts:
Keyboard Shortcuts (Part I) and Keyboard Shortcuts (Part II)

Excel:

- When you have a cell some kind of content and want to see the insertion point so that you can navigate the value and edit it press F2.
- If you want to add lines to a cell (i.e.: enter multiple lines of text in a single cell) use alt + enter.

General:

- In most Windows applications when a dialog box appears the buttons can be activated ('clicked') by typing the first character or the word. i.e.: Save (s), Don't Save (d), Restart (r), etc.
- In most Windows applications when a dialog box is showing you can use tab to navigate between the controls (buttons, file lists, etc.)
- ctrl + tab > In a control panel or similar allows switching between tabs (combine with shift to go in the opposite direction). In web browsers/word processors/Excel this usually allows you to cycle through tabs or windows.

Same as other years, here's the premiere line-up for the fall. This list is a work in progress, let me know if I've missed anything notable.

Update >12-Sept-2010: Continued updates and Canadian'ization :)

Update > 2-Sept-2010: Canadian networks/carriers being listed as "CAN: Network" i.e.: "CAN: Space", updates are being marked with italicizes dates as they're added. Though the list was started based on a US article and details I do plan to switch things to the relevant Canadian dates/times. From what I've seen so far the Canadian premieres are usually within a few days of the US, so as long as you're setting timers etc a few days in advance you shouldn't have problems following this list.

Wednesday, September 8
Hellcats - The CW CAN: ATV – 9/8c

Thursday, September 9
The Vampire Diaries - The CW CAN: CTV – 8/7c [2-Sept-2010 CTV is not currently advertising a premiere date for Fall 2010?]
Nikita - The CW CAN: ATV – 9/8c

Sunday, September 12
Lost Girl - CAN: Showcase - 9/8c [Added 2-Sept-2010]

Monday, September 13
90210 - The CW CAN: Global – 8/7c
Gossip Girl - The CW CAN: ATV – 9/8c

Tuesday, September 14
Parenthood - NBC – 10/9c
One Tree Hill - The CW – 8/7c
Life Unexpected - The CW – 9/8c

Wednesday, September 15
Outlaw - NBC CAN: Global – 10/9c [CAN Premiere Fri. Sept 17th]

Monday, September 20
Castle - ABC CAN: CTV – 10/9c
Hawaii Five-O - CBS CAN: Global – 10/9c
House - Fox CAN: Global – 8/7c
Lone Star - Fox – 9/8c
Chuck - NBC – 8/7c
The Event - NBC CAN: CityTV – 9/8c
Chase - NBC – 10/9c

Tuesday, September 21
Detroit 1-8-7 - ABC – 10/9c
NCIS - CBS CAN: Global – 8/7c [CAN Premiere Wed. Sept 22nd]
NCIS: Los Angeles (two-hour premiere) - CBS CAN: Global – 9/8c
Glee - Fox – 8/7c

Wednesday, September 22
The Whole Truth - ABC – 10/9c
Criminal Minds - CBS CAN: CTV – 9/8c
The Defenders - CBS CAN: CTV – 10/9c
Undercovers - NBC CAN: CityTV – 8/7c
Law & Order: SVU (two-hour premiere) - NBC CAN: CTV – 9/8c

Thursday, September 23
The Big Bang Theory - CAN: CTV -
My Generation - ABC – 8/7c
Grey's Anatomy - ABC CAN: CTV -
Private Practice - ABC -
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - CBS CAN: CTV – 9/8c
The Mentalist - CBS CAN: CTV – 10/9c
Bones - Fox – 8/7c
Fringe - Fox CAN: CityTV – 9/8c

Friday, September 24
Medium - CBS – 8/7c
CSI: NY - CBS CAN: CTV – 9/8c
Blue Bloods - CBS – 10/9c
Human Target - Fox CAN: CTV – 8/7c
The Good Guys - Fox – 9/8c
Smallville - The CW – 8/7c
Supernatural - The CW – 9/8c

Sunday, September 26
Desperate Housewives - ABC
Brothers & Sisters - ABC

Tuesday, September 28
No Ordinary Family - ABC – 8/7c
The Good Wife - CBS CAN: Global – 10/9c

Wednesday, September 29
Law & Order: Los Angeles - NBC – 10/9c

Friday, October 1
Stargate Universe - CAN: Space – 10/9c [Added 2-Sept-2010]

Sunday, October 3
CSI: Miami - CBS CAN: CTV – 10/9c

Wednesday, November 10
Lie to Me – Fox CAN: Global – 9/8c [This may have already start in Canada, it seems to me that the episodes which are on currently are new.]

I just came across this bit about asteroid Apophis and the chances of it impacting earth.

"NASA scientists have recalculated the path of a large asteroid known as Apophis and now say it has only a very slim chance of banging into Earth.. The Apophis asteroid is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields, and updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036 for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million, NASA stated."

So here's the bit that rubs me wrong: "four-in-a million". Why not say "one-in-250,000". If the authors are really stuck on the whole "four-in" thing then they should have said four-in-180,000 to start with.

I really find inconsistencies like this baffling, I wish I knew the author and could understand what they hoped to gain by reporting the number in this way.

Labels: rant

Here's a short list of shows starting this month that seem interesting.

Returning:
Burn Notice (USA) June 4

The title refers to the burn notices issued by intelligence agencies to discredit or announce the dismissal of agents or sources who are considered to have become unreliable. When a spy is burned, they are wiped off the "grid". According to the narration during the opening credits, the burned spy has no prior work history, no money; basically no identity. The television series is a first-person narrative (including frequent voice-overs providing nuggets of exposition) from the viewpoint of covert-operations agent Michael Westen, played by Jeffrey Donovan.

After fleeing a Nigerian operation blown apart by the sudden and unexplained non-cooperation of his U.S. contact, Westen finds himself in his hometown[3] of Miami, Florida, attended to by his ex-girlfriend, Fiona Glenanne, but abandoned by all his normal intelligence contacts, under continuous surveillance with his personal assets frozen. Extraordinary efforts to reach his U.S. government handler eventually yield only a grudging admission that someone powerful wants him "on ice" in Miami; if he leaves the city he will "heat up fast", i.e., he will be hunted down and taken into custody, whereas by staying there he can remain relatively free. Consumed by the desire to find out why he has been burned, and by whom, Westen goes to work as an unlicensed private investigator/spy/soldier of fortune for anyone in town who can pay him any money in order to fund his personal investigation into his own situation as a blacklisted agent.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_Notice
* http://www.usanetwork.com/series/burnnotice/

Eli Stone (ABC) June 20

The show starred Jonny Lee Miller in the title role of attorney Eli Stone. In the first episode, Stone is discovered to have an inoperable brain aneurysm which is causing hallucinations. His acupuncturist, Dr. Chen, suggests that his hallucinations are actually divinely inspired visions of the future. These visions often foreshadowed future cases and events, including an impending earthquake.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Stone
* http://abc.go.com/primetime/elistone/index?pn=index

Cleaner (A&E) June 23

William Banks, played by Benjamin Bratt, is a drug addict. With the birth of Lula, his daughter, William makes a deal with God arguing, if he is given a second chance, he will end his drug abuse and help others to end their addictions to sex, drugs, and gambling. William Banks and a small team of recovering addicts work to help others in recovering from their addictions. Banks and his team will resort to unethical and illegal tactics in order to end their clients' addictions.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cleaner_(TV_series)
* http://www.aetv.com/the-cleaner/

New:
Listener (NBC) June 4

he Listener is a Canadian supernatural drama about a young paramedic named Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik) with the ability to listen to people's most intimate thoughts. Aided by his partner Osman Bey (Enis Esmer), Toby Logan is a 28-year-old paramedic who did not know his parents and grew up in foster homes. Until now Toby has kept his ability secret and the only one he has shared it with is his old counselor and confidant, Dr. Ray Mercer (Colm Feore). While he crosses the city of Toronto in his ambulance with his partner Oz, Toby tries to help persons in crisis and on the way treat his own wounds. With the help of Detective Marks (Lisa Marcos) and his ex-girlfriend Olivia (Myléne Dinh-Robic), an E.R doctor, Toby realizes that his gift can serve to help other people.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Listener_(TV_series)
* http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20090505/listener_airdate_090505

Survive This (CN) June 17

On this show, Les Stroud takes eight teenagers into the wild to teach them how to survive.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survive_This

Merlin (NBC) June 21

Merlin is a British television drama series that began in 2008. It is loosely based on the Arthurian legends of the mythical wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur, but differs significantly from traditional versions of the myth. Produced by independent production company Shine Limited for BBC One, the programme was designed to run in the same Saturday evening family drama slot as other UK series such as Doctor Who and Robin Hood.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_(TV_series)
* http://www.merlinsite.com/

(I was kind of rushing to get this done so all synopsis quotes above are taken from wikipedia.)

Just caught this over on slashdot

"The unmanned vehicle is remotely operated by pilots aboard a surface ship via a lightweight tether. Its thin, fibre-optic tether to the research vessel Kilo Moana allows the submersible to make deep dives and be highly manoeuvrable. Nereus can also be switched into a free-swimming, autonomous vehicle. ... The Challenger Deep... is the deepest abyss on Earth at 11,000m-deep, more than 2km (1.2 miles) deeper than Mount Everest is high. At that depth, pressures reach 1,100 times those at the surface."

Hmmmm lets see 11,000m that's 11km. Yup 11 > 2 ... good job!

For anyone in a nation that hasn't switched to the metric system and still care how long the king's foot is, that's >6miles.

Orignal source seems to be the BBC.

As Homer would say "SMRT".

Labels: rant