August 2012

There were 111 posts published in August 2012 (this is page 6 of 12).

Why passwords have never been weaker—and crackers have never been stronger | Ars Technica

Dan Goodin of Ars Technica wrote an eye-opening piece on the astonishing state of password cracking. Passwords once thought a few years ago to be safe enough to outlast a century of cracking attempts can now be broken in a matter of days (or even hours) – with a $1000 computer, no less.

The ancient art of password cracking has advanced further in the past five years than it did in the previous several decades combined. At the same time, the dangerous practice of password reuse has surged. The result: security provided by the average password in 2012 has never been weaker.

A PC running a single AMD Radeon HD7970 GPU, for instance, can try on average an astounding 8.2 billion password combinations each second, depending on the algorithm used to scramble them. Only a decade ago, such speeds were possible only when using pricey supercomputers.

via Why passwords have never been weaker—and crackers have never been stronger | Ars Technica.

Pussy Riot case shows Russia’s dark path

Last week, Russian authorities handed down a harsh sentance to the three members of the female punk band Pussy Riot, after the band staged an anti-Putin “punk prayer” in a Russian Orthodox Church. It shows the increasingly autocratic ways of Russian prime minister Vladmir Putin, who is apparently leading the country away from its experiments as an open society (while lining his own pockets at the same time).

Below is a statement from one of the band members which was posted to one of the band’s support groups on Facebook. She is absolutely correct when she writes that the country’s heavy-handed response to their stunt shows the Russian leadership’s fear of opposition.

I hope their case will wake other Russians to Putin’s looting of their country and their rights.
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Google Image search is creepy powerful

Google Image Search can read T-shirts


When I want to see if a particular photo on the web is of a real person or just a stock photograph (also of a real person but a model, of course), I like to plug that photo into Google Image Search (GIS). Google can now search the web for similar images and often if several duplicates of an image show up there’s a good chance that image is a stock photo.

In an effort to see if he is who he says he is, today I searched on an image of a man wearing a T-shirt. Google did not find any matching images to the one I provided, which was somewhat expected. What was not expected was that the Goog was able to identify the man’s T-shirt and provide links to stores selling that same T-shirt! Google’s search actually read the wording on this shirt and matched it up with others!

This capability is quite astonishing, and also quite worrisome. Google’s motto is “don’t be evil.” If the company chose, it could become the best friend of any repressive government.

Twitter Updates for 2012-08-20

  • It's a little-known fact that under Jockey's Ridge State Park is the Dare County landfill. #
  • Packng the car with an eye towards which items I want to hit me in the head should I make a sudden stop. #

Twitter Updates for 2012-08-20

  • It's a little-known fact that under Jockey's Ridge State Park is the Dare County landfill. #
  • Packng the car with an eye towards which items I want to hit me in the head should I make a sudden stop. #

Outer Banks Thursday

Nags Head sunrise


We began our Thursday morning with the promised “dolphin hunt” and I surprised myself with being willing to leap out of bed around 6 AM. The family trudged down the road to the beach as the eastern sky was brightening.

Though it was early, it was wonderful having the beach practically all to ourselves. We sat on the “sand wall” built by the high tide and studied the awakening ocean before us. Numerous sorties of pelicans swooped low across the water, occasionally nabbing a fish breakfast for their trouble. I snapped pictures as the kids cheerfully smiled and yawned in the pre-dawn light. Though we didn’t see any dolphins that morning, we did see an amazingly beautiful sunrise.

The Turners at Nags Head, August 2012.

There’s something about seeing the sun rise over the ocean, something that’s just not the same on the West Coast. That sense of promise of a new day, the feeling of being one of the very first to greet that day, was missing during my time in California. Sure, I’ve seen some great sunrises at California beaches, but by the time the sun reaches California America’s morning is already old news.

We took some time to enjoy breakfast before returning to the beach for more boogie boarding and playing in the sand. Hallie, Kelly, and I rode waves together while Travis spent most of his time digging around in the sand. A dad next to us had dug a hole about knee deep. Travis volunteered to help dig and soon had a hole dug up to his chest.

After getting cleaned up, we headed to the Outer Banks Brewing Station in Kill Devil Hills for lunch (and a few double IPAs). It was an excellent meal with excellent beer. It being America’s first wind-powered brewery was a plus, too. I’d definitely go back again!

Following our late lunch, we moved down the beach to revisit the Wright Brothers Memorial (well, the kids had never seen it but Kelly and I have). We arrived as one ranger was finishing up his talk in front of the replica flyers, but we were just in time for a special “behind the ropes” opportunity to get up close to the flyers. With gloves and special permission from the ranger, Kelly and Hallie got to touch the airplane. I was impressed just seeing how well the brothers Wright had thought everything out.

We then wandered the path the first flights took before visiting the new pavilions erected for the centennial celebration in 2003. Many of the displays inside had misattributed quotes but other than that few were memorable. We did enjoy watching the short film in the auditorium.

At Wright Memorial


With only an hour left, we then wandered up to the First Flight sculpture and took some pictures of (and climbed on) this wonderful work of art. Then it was up the hill to the monument itself. With five minutes to spare, we rolled out of the lot and said goodbye to this park.

On the way back to Nags Head we stopped by the First Colony Inn, which was the site of Kelly’s and my short honeymoon in September 1999. Neither one of us has any great memories of the place: we had only planned to stay three nights there but got chased away after only two by the mandatory evacuation preceding Hurricane Floyd. Of course, Hurricane Dennis had rolled through two weeks prior, so the one thing I remember most about the First Colony was all the mosquitoes that plagued us during that short trip.

The First Colony Inn, Nags Head.


Anyhow, the family and I were disappointed to see that no staff person was around. We browsed the library for a moment or two before taking a stroll around the upper level, trying to remember where our room was. Striking out, we returned to our rental house.

With the sun setting, it was time to head out again to take family pictures on the beach. Usually this becomes a big pain in the ass as I try to get everyone to work together. Instead it became a lot of fun! I had to do a bit of MacGuyvering, though, as it’s hard to take a group photo without a tripod. While Kelly snapped shots of the kids on the beach, I scoured the dunes for a spot with not only a decent background but some sort of makeshift, rudimentary tripod that could be used.

I found just the spot, with a weathered two-by-four providing my tripod. My photo trickery also brought its own smiles to our session when we watched in surprise as my camera took an unexpected short dive into the soft sand below! A little dusting off and it was good as new.

Sunrise to sunset, it was a fun-filled day. I think out of all our vacation days this one captured most of what we like to do at the beach.

Unvacated

We drove back into Raleigh about 1:45 PM today, having reluctantly turned in our keys to the beach house. Half of the drive was through mild-to-heavy rain, which made our pace a bit slower than I had hoped. It also took more energy from me, the driver, than I expected.

I’ve got lots of catching up to do with blogging the trip but it will probably wait for another night. The short version is that it was a wonderful family vacation, with everyone getting along, lots of different activities and good weather.

I may add more later tonight or I may just succumb to the call of my own bed.