Introduction

Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence.
- Napoleon

In the interests of creating employment opportunities in the Java programming field, I am passing on these tips from the masters on how to write code that is so difficult to maintain, that the people who come after you will take years to make even the simplest changes. Further, if you follow all these rules religiously, you will even guarantee yourself a lifetime of employment, since no one but you has a hope in hell of maintaining the code. Then again, if you followed all these rules religiously, even you wouldn't be able to maintain the code!

You don't want to overdo this. Your code should not look hopelessly unmaintainable, just be that way. Otherwise it stands the risk of being rewritten or refactored.

In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival.

Superdickery.com -Absurd, humorous, and sexually suggestive comic book covers

FARK.com We don't make news. We mock it.

Online version of the weekly magazine, with current articles, cartoons, blogs, audio, video, slide shows, an archive of articles and abstracts back to 1925

ScienceDaily (Nov. 18, 2011) — Scientists at Chalmers have succeeded in creating light from vacuum -- observing an effect first predicted over 40 years ago. In an innovative experiment, the scientists have managed to capture some of the photons that are constantly appearing and disappearing in the vacuum.

A couple of years ago our friend Clifford Pickover wrote the terrifically fun book, The Math Book. Now he's got a new one that's just as good about physics. It's called, as you might guess, The Physics Book and the publisher has kindly given me permission to run some examples from the book. You can check all of them out after the jump.

Results from a second experiment uphold the observation that neutrinos are moving faster than the speed of light. The OPERA collaboration, which first reported the superluminal neutrinos in September, has rerun the experiment and detected 20 new neutrinos breaking Einstein’s theoretical limit.

The findings are heartening to anyone hoping to see a major physics revolution in their lifetime. But scientists, as ever, are being cautious, and it will take an independent replication of the results by another team to even begin convincing many of them.

Karen sez, "Instructables user RobHopeless has engineered a way to make your own 3D printer. This tutorial is an entry in Instructables' 4th Epilog Challenge, which is accepting all sorts of creative projects for the chance to win an Epilog Laser."

Every password you use can be thought of as a needle hiding in a haystack. After all searches of common passwords and dictionaries have failed, an attacker must resort to a “brute force” search – ultimately trying every possible combination of letters, numbers and then symbols until the combination you chose, is discovered.
If every possible password is tried, sooner or later yours will be found.

The question is: Will that be too soon . . . or enough later?

This interactive brute force search space calculator allows you to experiment with password length and composition to develop an accurate and quantified sense for the safety of using passwords that can only be found through exhaustive search. Please see the discussion below for additional information.

Peter Fleischer, Global Privacy Counsel, Google:

I’ve considered your offer to not add my wireless network to your location database in exchange for appending “_nomap” to the SSID. I am rejecting it out of hand and laughing at the idea that this is “greater choice for wireless access point owners.”

To start with, I’m not going to reconfigure all the wireless clients I support. I’m sorry that Google is facing increased scrutiny, legislation, and legal action for raping the world’s privacy in order to sell things, but changing an SSID is a big deal for everybody. Doesn’t matter if it’s grandma’s little wireless network or a giant intercontinental wireless hotspot setup, it’s a big pain in the ass to “protect” our privacy this way.

Greater choice for wireless access point owners

From tagging a post with your location, to checking in to a restaurant, to simply finding out where you are, location-based services have become some of the most popular features of today’s Internet. One of the key ways technology companies are able to determine a location for these services is through a location database, which matches publicly broadcast information about local wireless networks with their approximate geographic location. By looking for wireless access points that are close to a user’s phone, location providers can return the approximate location you need. In addition, this method is a good alternative to other approaches, like GPS, because it’s faster, it works indoors, and it’s more battery-efficient.

Overview

Do Not Track is a technology and policy proposal that enables users to opt out of tracking by websites they do not visit, including analytics services, advertising networks, and social platforms. At present few of these third parties offer a reliable tracking opt out, and tools for blocking them are neither user-friendly nor comprehensive. Much like the popular Do Not Call registry, Do Not Track provides users with a single, simple, persistent choice to opt out of third-party web tracking.

Do Not Track signals a user's opt-out preference with an HTTP header, a simple technology that is completely compatible with the existing web. Several large third parties have already committed to honor Do Not Track, but many more have been recalcitrant. We believe regulation is necessary to verify and enforce compliance with a user’s choice to opt out of tracking.

ENJOY FREEDOM OF ACCESS TO BLOCKED INTERNET CONTENT
ANYWHERE YOU ARE IN THE WORLD!

Experience access to region-blocked video and audio!

Works on your computer or TV.

Start to enjoy your favorite shows, movies, and music on your PC, Mac, game console, Internet enabled TV or Blu Ray player, iPhone, iPad, or iPod - anywhere you are!

Anonymously secure your internet connection with HMA! Pro VPN

Connect to our VPN service to anonymously encrypt your internet activity from prying eyes. All applications on your computer that utilize your internet connection will become anonymous with just a click of a button; no technical experience is required due to our easy to use VPN software. Enjoy internet freedom and anonymity knowing that your sensitive web traffic is securely hidden behind 22'500+ IP addresses located in 35 countries.

You know how it is. You’re enjoying yourself, kicking back and relaxing at the pub or maybe at the library; or maybe you’re in class or just casually surfing the internet, indulging in a little conversation. The topic of the conversation is about a pertinent contemporary issue, probably something to do with a group of people who fall outside your realm of experience and identity. They’re also probably fairly heavily discriminated against - or so they claim.
The thing is, you’re having a good time, sharing your knowledge about these people and their issues. This knowledge is incontrovertible - it’s been backed up in media representation, books, research and lots and lots of historical events, also your own unassailable sense of being right.

Yet all of a sudden something happens to put a dampener on your sharing of your enviable intellect and incomparable capacity to fully perceive and understand All Things. It’s someone who belongs to the group of people you’re discussing and they’re Not Very Happy with you. Apparently, they claim, you’ve got it all wrong and they’re offended about that. They might be a person of colour, or a queer person. Maybe they’re a woman, or a person with disability. They could even be a trans person or a sex worker. The point is they’re trying to tell you they know better than you about their issues and you know that’s just plain wrong. How could you be wrong?

Computer networks proved their organizing power during the recent uprisings in the Middle East, in which Facebook pages amplified street protests that toppled dictators. But those same networks showed their weaknesses as well, such as when the Egyptian government walled off most of its citizens from the Internet in an attempt to silence protesters.

That has led scholars and activists increasingly to consider the Internet's wiring as a disputed political frontier.

The goal of this article is to help you understand what a neural network is, and how it is used. Most people, even non-programmers, have heard of neural networks. There are many science fiction overtones associated with them. And like many things, sci-fi writers have created a vast, but somewhat inaccurate, public idea of what a neural network is.

Wer das Volk fragt, wird zur Bedrohung Europas. Das ist die Botschaft der Märkte und seit vierundzwanzig Stunden auch der Politik. Wir erleben den Kurssturz des Republikanischen.

Papandreou hält dem zerrissenen Europa den Spiegel vor. Ein Kommentar zu Frank Schirrmachers „Demokratie ist Ramsch“.

Ein Land steht vor dem wirtschaftlichen und politischen Abgrund. Der Staat steht vor dem Bankrott und die Regierung spart drakonisch: Sie kürzt heftig bei den öffentlichen Bediensteten und erhöht kräftig die Steuern; die Wirtschaft schrumpft dramatisch, und die Arbeitslosigkeit steigt; in den Städten kommt es zu Massendemonstrationen und zu Straßenschlachten; die Banken stehen vor dem Kollaps, weil die internationalen Kapitalgeber ihr Geld aus dem Land abziehen; Banken müssen mit öffentlichen Mitteln vor dem Zusammenbruch gerettet werden. Griechenland 2011? Nein, Deutschland 1931.

Silvio Berlusconis Abgang hat nicht gereicht, das Misstrauen gegenüber Italien hat an den Märkten sogar zugenommen. Wie geht es nun weiter? Wie wirkt sich das Schicksal des Landes auf die gesamte Euro-Zone aus? Drei Szenarien.

Flucht aus der Globalisierung?

Plädoyer für eine nationenübergreifende Kritik am modernen Kapitalismus

von Jean-Marie Harribey

Seit fast zwei Jahren leiden die Gesellschaften unter den von den Finanzmärkten ausgehenden Spekulationsattacken. Jetzt ist ein kritischer Punkt erreicht. Die wirtschaftlichen Strukturen geraten ins Wanken. Der Schleier der marktwirtschaftlichen Ideologie ist endgültig zerrissen. Die Hymnen auf die Globalisierung und Markteffizienz sind nur noch gedämpft zu vernehmen. Und es hat eine breite Diskussion begonnen, die sich um die mögliche Alternative einer "Antiglobalisierung" dreht.

Datenlecks "symptomatisch für Österreich"

Fahrlässiger Umgang mit sensiblen Daten sei leider typisch für Österreichs IT-Landschaft. Hunderttausende Patientendaten aus dem E-Card-System als Datei herumzuschicken, sei nicht "State of the Art", sagt IT-Securityexperte Martin Prager.

So you've decided to work from home. As a rookie veteran of working without a traditional office for one year I'm here to tell you that it is the greatest and worst thing that can happen to your work life other—much like being transferred to a glitter-packing facility. What follows is a quick two minute guide of what you need to know before you take your pants off and turn up those old Hootie and the Blowfish albums.

Tipps & Know-How zur Digitalfotografie

Kom|pen|di|um
[von lat: compendium=„Ersparnis, Abkürzung“]
das; -s, …ien:
Abriß, kurzgefaßtes Lehrbuch, Nachschlagewerk

Klicken Sie auf die großen Links, um zu Übersichtsseiten zu gelangen und auf die kleinen Links, um direkt einzelne Artikel zu lesen.

Grundlegendes »

Belichtung | Belichtungszeit | Blende | ISO-Empfindlichkeit | Lichtwert | Weißabgleich
Was in einer Digitalkamera geschieht | Megapixel und „x-fach Zoom“ | Wieviele Megapixel brauchen Sie wirklich ?
Natürliches Licht und seine Farben | menschliche Farbwahrnehmung

Fortgeschrittenes »

JPG-Format | Histogramme | Belichtungskontrolle mit Histogrammen | Blende und Schärfe | Lichtstärke

Digitale Spiegelreflexkameras von Nikon »

D40 | D90 | D200 | D300s
D200 Praxis-Tipps | Weißabgleich der D200

Bildbearbeitung und Bildgestaltung»

Mein wichtigster Tipp zur Bildbearbeitung | Histogramme in der Bildbearbeitung | „Bildbearbeitung“ mit den Füßen | Herbstmotiv am Straßenrand

Hintergründe und Wissenswertes»

Meine perfekte Digitalkamera
Typen von Digitalkamera-Benutzern | Kategorien von Digitalkameras | Welche Digitalkamera für wen?

About This Manual

This manual, 'Bypassing Internet Censorship', provides an introduction to the topic and explains some of the software and methods most often used for circumventing censorship. There is some information on avoiding surveillance and other means of detection while bypassing censorship, however this is a large topic in itself so we have only addressed it where it coincides directly with issues of circumvention.

A full discussion of techniques for maintaining anonymity and preventing detection of content or activities is beyond the scope of this book.

We had the plaintiff's opening statement posted for some time when we received the following e-mail. -staff
-------

To: "'staff@lectlaw.com'"
Subject: Wile E. Coyote v. Acme Company
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 17:26:15 -0400
Return-Receipt-To:

Attached is the defendant's Opening Statement in the above-referenced matter. Please post to the Rubber Room, as default judgment against defendant would be an injustice.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Coyote V. Acme
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT,
SOUTHWESTERN DISTRICT, TEMPE, ARIZONA
CASE NO. B19294, JUDGE JOAN KUJAVA, PRESIDING
Wile E. Coyote, Plaintiff
-v.-
Acme Company, Defendant

A quick introduction to letterform anatomy & typography basics

Decision made to open Twitter account of Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir, who is taking the case to the Council of Europe

was ich sagen wollte: das netz lebt und funktioniert nicht nur durch hyperlinks, sondern durch die vernetzung, mashups, widgets, werbebanner und anderen eingebetteteten scheiss. ja es finanziert sich sogar dadurch. oder anders gesagt, die überschreitung der strengen deutschen datenschutzrichtlinien ist das wesensmerkmal des netzes…

As I’ve mentioned here before (see QuickQuestion), I’m a total mess when it comes to remembering what I was tinkering with late at night or early in the morning. By the time my lunch break rolls around and I want to hack a little more, I have to search through git logs and Spotlight’s Recent Files just to figure out what I was working with and where I was at with it. Two days later, not a chance. Sometimes it even happens when I’m intent on completing a todo item and let something distract me for just a few minutes. What was I doing?

It’s probably a result of choices I made in my younger years, but whatever the cause, I’m always looking for tools to make this easier. This post outlines a method that I’ve found very useful. You may have a different reaction, especially if you’re the type of person who remembers what they had for breakfast. If you’ve already forgotten about your Wheaties, read on.

Every parent wants their child to become a self-confident, self-aware being who deals well with challenges and can get the most out of life. What if female couples have found the secret?
A series of studies in Canada and elsewhere over the past decade has found that the children of lesbians aren't just well-adjusted – they excel. On average, kids with two moms seem to be more confident and less aggressive than those raised by a mom and a dad. They are open-minded, affectionate and less susceptible to anxiety and depression.

Protecting Your Online Reputation
Something everyone needs to get better at….

Protecting Your Online Reputation: 4 Things You Need to Know [INFOGRAPHIC]

via Mashable! by Charlie White

"Wir müssen Griechenland im Euro behalten"
Als "wichtigen großen" Schritt hat Deutsche-Bank-Chef Josef Ackermann den Schuldenschnitt von 50 Prozent für Griechenland bezeichnet. Nun müsse dem Land geholfen werden, seine Wirtschaft wieder auf Wachstumskurs zu bringen. Im "Bericht aus Berlin" forderte Ackermann "eine Art Marshall-Plan für Griechenland".

At the expense of legitimate commerce, PIPA’s prescription takes an overreaching approach to policing the Internet when a more balanced and targeted approach would be more effective. The collateral damage of this approach is speech, innovation and the very integrity of the Internet.

A Guide for the Pizza Amateur
There are a few "secrets of the trade" in making your own pizza; once you know them, it is not hard to make your own and it takes very little time. In fact, after you make it a few times you'll wonder why I made such a big deal out of it.

Disclaimer: The instructions below are for making a pizza in the traditional American pizzeria style.

Perhaps the best…
A favorite technique of literary critics, this conditional superlative. It lends the writer—any writer, really—an air of authority along with a perfume of humility. Perhaps the greatest short-story writer using English. Perhaps the best novel of its kind. The phrase begs to be quoted on dust jackets and in “Praise For…” prologues, but few realize that Perhaps the best is really short-hand for “I've seen it mentioned in print on several occasions and can't think of any other examples.”

Throughout the turmoil of the past 18 months, one constant has been the exponential growth of WikiLeaks' global support base. Followers of the website's Twitter account have increased nearly tenfold to 1.2 million. And evidence is now emerging that the website has played an important part in seeding and enabling the protest movement Occupy Wall Street and its international offshoots.

Every family has its childproofing lapses. Most survive just fine, but the stakes are always high.

Über den Versuch mit Internetusern über Feminismus zu sprechen
Feminismus ist, so scheint es bisweilen, ein Schimpfwort in nerdigen Kreisen. Eine Kapitulation vor dem Projekt der Emanzipation, gar der Versuch einer Revision der Gerechtigkeit. Trifft man im analogen Leben selten auf bekennende Anti-Feministen, scheint das Internet voll von diesen zu sein. Alleine der Begriff Feminismus - in welchem Kontext auch immer - provoziert ein gutes Drittel der sichtbaren Kommentatoren zu einer verbalen Welle des Hasses. Der Begriff "Femi-Nazis" fasst die Ablehnung gegen den Feminismus (im Netz) wohl eindeutig zusammen. Auch in den Kommentaren dieses Mediums wimmelt es nur allzu oft von pauschaler Ablehnung gegen den Feminismus - eine Partei, die sich zu gewissen Teilen aus eben diesem Forum rekrutiert, verspricht also ähnliche Probleme.

1. Inability to reason about code

Reasoning about code means being able to follow the execution path ("running the program in your head") while knowing what the goal of the code is.

Let's talk about Mary Sue.

We've all met her. She's the violet-eyed, crimson-haired, secret daughter of Amadala and Obi Wan, sent to be raised on the hidden planet where the last Jedi ran to escape the war, and she has just emerged back into the universe with her spinning light saber batons to save her half-brother Luke from falling to the Dark Side. She's the missing Winchester sister with the two magic guns, one for shooting angels, one for shooting demons, who just fought her way out of Purgatory to rejoin her family. She's smarter than you, she's prettier than you, she's more competent than you, her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and the odds are good that she doesn't even notice, because she's just existing in her happy little cloud cuckoo land of sunshine and zombie puppies. Mary Sue, like mistletoe, is a parasitic growth, only she grows on stories, and not on trees.

1.Visit Crate.

Visit Crate and sign on. You'll be presented with a list of crates. A crate holds one or more files. Select one of the crates.

2.Upload your files.

Drag-and-drop all of the files you want to your heart's content. They'll be stored on the cloud, accessible from anywhere.

3.Share the link!

Now you can share away, either a whole crate or an individual file, your choice. We provide a short URL for ease-of-use.

Nearly half of all the college students in a new survey are scared about how much they depend upon the site.
Coed magazine, College Candy and Busted Coverage surveyed 2,500 people by posting a questionnaire on Google and offered prizes as incentives for answering all the questions. The survey also found that:
70 percent would delete Facebook if it became a paid service.
44 percent check their Facebook before brushing their teeth in the morning.
Over 66 percent do not judge others on the site based on number of friends.
54 percent are tagged in photos where they are clearly intoxicated.

When you’re tired, not much seems appealing. Life is dulled, and you don’t get much accomplished. Worst, you don’t have the energy to change the situation.

A programmer’s greatest enemy is getting stuck. A crucial skill in programming—and one that many of my beginning game programming students lack—is the ability to recognize when they’re stuck, to get out of being stuck, and to avoid getting stuck in the first place.

What is this about? This wiki is a catalog of the tricks of the trade for writing fiction.