] "The game is based on the popular arcade game
] 'Whack-A-Mole,' where moles pop up and you try to hit
] them. Instead, now you're peeing on them

Now this is a great idea!

ABCNEWS.com : Students Create Video Game for Urinals

] I've modified an Epson LQ-500 dot matrix printer into a
] musical instrument. The project has now evolved into two
] different versions. The original project had two
] independent sound generators: a tape based sound
] generator similar in concept to a mellotron and tones
] generated from the print head. The new version of the
] software is written with the concept of turning the
] printer into an instrument without any physical
] modifications to the printer. Since the tape mellotron
] setup does require some modifications to the printer, it
] is not part of the new version.
]
]
] Most of the changes to the printer operation are done by
] changing the software. The printer is controlled by a NEC
] 7810 microprocessor that runs off code on an EPROM inside
] the printer. I have reverse engineered most of the basic
] operation of the printer and now have control of the
] paper feeder motor, the print head, the lights, the error
] beeper, and can read the buttons.

This is really neat. I never would have thought to try and make music from one of those old noisey things.

Dot Matrix Synth

] Cable operators say they may soon be able to offer
] services that would crush their satellite and phone
] competitors following introduction this week of a simple
] device that could free up massive amounts of bandwidth.
]
] These devices, about the size of two cigarette packs,
] could enable cable systems to transmit lots of
] high-definition TV (HDTV), video phone connections, video
] on demand and far faster high-speed Internet connections.
]
] "It allows you to dream, create and do things differently
] than you've ever done," says Comcast Cable President
] Steve Burke.
]
] Operators envision buying millions of these converters
] or similar ones planned by Motorola and others
] and putting them on virtually every TV owned by
] their nearly 72 million customers. Then operators can
] stop transmitting analog signals and go all-digital.
]
] That's a big deal. Analog TV channels consume about 65%
] of the bandwidth on most modern systems and
] operators can squeeze as many as eight digital channels
] into the bandwidth that each analog channel now fills.
]
] That's key for adding HDTV.

Adios analog.

Laughing Boy

Device could change cable

] o the naked eye, it looks like a fleck of tile decorated
] with the Greek letters alpha and omega. But when it is
] magnified by a factor of 600, its true nature becomes
] evident %u2014 the world's most portable copy of the New
] Testament. According to the latest version of Guinness
] Book of World Records, the five-millimeter-square tablet
] is the smallest reproduction yet of a printed book.

VERY cool... I want to see pictures of it magnified.

In Gold Ink on a Chip, the World's Tiniest Book

The Kryptos sculpture at CIA Headquarters has 4 sections of code on it. The first three have been solved. In 1999 there was a big media splash as Jim Gillogly announced his solution, which had been obtained via a computer attack. Part 4 (the last 97 characters) is as yet unsolved.

I wish I could say that I'd solved Part 4, but I haven't (yet). What I *did* do this week though, was come up with a new solution technique for part 3 which I believe to be the "pencil and paper" method that the original authors of the sculpture intended to be used. It's a way of eyeballing the code, such that anyone with access to the ciphertext ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/kryptoscode19.htm ) could quickly make a grid and check the letters off to get the entire message. -- no elaborate mathematical formulae or number-crunchers required.

I've written to Gillogly and a couple other cryptographers to check my work. If anyone else would like to take a look in the meantime, I've got a page describing the technique which is posted at my Kryptos site:

Elonka's Solution to Part 3 of Kryptos

] In a letter on its Web site from Novell CEO and President
] Jack Messman, the Provo, Utah-based company lashed out by
] challenging SCO's assertion that it owns the copyrights
] and patents to Unix System V. Novell, which had earlier
] acquired the Unix systems business of AT&T Corp., broke
] up and sold its Unix properties in 1994 and 1995. One of
] those deals was with the former Santa Cruz Operation,
] which was bought by Caldera International Inc. and later
] became The SCO Group.

http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2003/05/pr03033.html
The Letter from Jack Messman to SCO

Novell calls on SCO to prove allegations about Linux - Computerworld

Need web-based access to WHOIS, reverse lookup, ping, tracert, spam database lookup, IP routiong info and more? Check this site out for several useful networking tools.

[Wilpig] I've used this site a good deal for testing DNS setups and I have grown to love their reports about a domain.

DNS Stuff: DNS tools, WHOIS, tracert, ping, and other network tools.

A fairly accurate timeline, er, from some points of view, of the progression that the internet has taken over time.

Enjoy!

The Lemon: History Of The Internet

Requires Java.

Visual Google Browser. Type in a URL, and it displays a visual representation of that URL and all the other URLs that are related to it (somewhat similar to visualthesaurus.com, if you've played with that).

Extremely cool to look at and play with.

TouchGraph GoogleBrowser V1.01

Dolemite,

Here is the software that is of interest to you. You can copy 1:1 to another DVD disc:

Here is the latest legal battle on it:
http://news.com.com/2100-1025-1003541.html

-w

DVD Copying