A while back, my friend Rich Vreeland, AKA Disasterpeace, made a Flash game called January where you catch snowflakes on your tongue and each plays a soft, pining note. Rich has been busy lately making music for other video games, but he just pushed out a big update to January. The new version trims down on the storyline in favor of a more capable music generator. It has auto-pilot functionality, a selection of keys to choose from, a pentatonic mode, and the ability to save your generated compositions as MIDI files.

The most important moments in life are moments like these - when you're walking in a quiet field collecting slow flakes on your tongue. Life is worth living because the world we live in is beautiful and we get to experience it. No matter how bad things get, experiences like these are worth having.

Beautiful snowflake catching music generator - Boing Boing

There are a variety of different groups trying to break into computer networks today. Some of them are extremely sophisticated, while others barely understand how to use a command-line interface. Some have monetary and political motives, while others just do it for the “lulz.”

Each group presents a unique threat to the network environment, and there are different ways of responding to each. Tools like anti-virus have their purpose, but they can't address every problem.

I wrote this.

Is the era of anti-virus over? - SC Magazine

Here are five key challenges that computer security professionals face as we move into 2013.

I wrote this.

5 Key Computer Network Security Challenges For 2013 - Forbes

If this is the wave of the future, it makes nonsense of just about all the conventional wisdom on reducing inequality. Better education won’t do much to reduce inequality if the big rewards simply go to those with the most assets. Creating an “opportunity society”, or whatever it is the likes of Paul Ryan etc. are selling this week, won’t do much if the most important asset you can have in life is, well, lots of assets inherited from your parents.

Rise of the Robots - NYTimes.com

One of the prime drivers of economic growth inside America over the past century has been disruptive innovation; yet the phenomenon that Lessig describes is increasingly being used by large incumbent firms as a mechanism to stave off the process. Given how hard it can be to survive a disruptive challenge, and how effective lobbying has proven in stopping it, it's no wonder that incumbent firms take this route so often.

How Corruption Is Strangling U.S. Innovation - James Allworth - Harvard Business Review

NO, coca-cola does not dehydrate you.

Researchers used to believe that caffeinated drinks had a diuretic effect. This means that you would urinate more after drinking them, which could increase your risk of becoming dehydrated. Recent research shows that this is not true and that caffeine has a diuretic effect only if you consume large amounts of it — more than 500 to 600 milligrams (the equivalent of 5 to 7 cups of coffee) a day.

Caffeine: Is it dehydrating or not? - MayoClinic.com

The Republican Study Committee, a caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives, has told staffer Derek Khanna that he will be out of a job when Congress re-convenes in January. The incoming chairman of the RSC, Steve Scalise (R-LA) was approached by several Republican members of Congress who were upset about a memo Khanna wrote advocating reform of copyright law. They asked that Khanna not be retained, and Scalise agreed to their request.

David Brooks:

Since Nov. 6, the G.O.P. has experienced an epidemic of open-mindedness. The party may evolve quickly. If so, it’ll be powerfully influenced by people with names like... Derek Khanna.

Matt Yglesias:

The open-mindedness epidemic seems to have been rather short-lived.

Staffer axed by Republican group over retracted copyright-reform memo | Ars Technica

...

R.E.M. - The Great Beyond (Video) - YouTube

A curated collection of interesting Google maps Street View images.

Jon Rafman

Scientists unveiled today an unprecedented new look at our planet at night. A global composite image, constructed using cloud-free night images from a new NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite, shows the glow of natural and human-built phenomena across the planet in greater detail than ever before.

NASA - NASA-NOAA Satellite Reveals New Views of Earth at Night