Thursday, July 17, 2008
Weirdest Spam Ever
I have an email account that has gotten so bad with spam I rarely check it. I was scanning through it today and saw a spam with the subject 'Hidden IFrame'. I rarely click on spam, but I clicked through and saw the following in the email:
Update: Looking through the Ask.com source I see that they are using Really Simply History! Cool!
Staring at it I realized that it was some base64 encoded data, so I jumped to a web-based base64 decoder and decoded it. What it turned out to be blew me away. Here is the data above in this random spam email base64 decoded: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Okay, that's really weird on alot of levels! First, that's one of the files from the Really Simple History project, which is an open source project I started -- that's just strange that its base64 encoded in a spam message to me! Second, it says Ask.com in there -- is Ask.com using Really Simple History?
<!--
Copyright (c) 2005, Brad Neuberg, ***@******* (email removed)
http://codinginparadise.org
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT
OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR
THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
-->
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Ask.com - Local Search</title>
<script language="JavaScript">
function pageLoaded() {
window.parent.dhtmlHistory.iframeLoaded(window.location);
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="pageLoaded()">
<h1>blank.html - Needed for Internet Explorer's hidden IFrame</h1>
</body>
</html>
Update: Looking through the Ask.com source I see that they are using Really Simply History! Cool!
Labels: rsh
Monday, July 14, 2008
BizUnite launched
BizUnite has launched. I did some consulting with them. BizUnite is an interesting web site that is trying to get economies of scale for independently owned businesses, so they can compete against larger conglomerates like Walmart. From their launch email:
"[BizUnite the] platform unites independent businesses, or the Davids, through what we are call "Goliath Clout". What the hell is Goliath Clout you ask? Goliath Clout allows the Davids to better compete against the Goliath's, through tools like Cost Savings (ex. credit card processing), Insurance, Marketing, and Best Practices. For more info on BizUnite check out our launch post.
In the meantime, register for our site, and feel free to forward this around to others especially those that run independent businesses. The site is fully functioning, and indy businesses can get real value right out of the gate."
There are some really cool ideas in here, and their goal of allowing decentralized, smaller businesses to band together to get clout is really cool and worthy.
"[BizUnite the] platform unites independent businesses, or the Davids, through what we are call "Goliath Clout". What the hell is Goliath Clout you ask? Goliath Clout allows the Davids to better compete against the Goliath's, through tools like Cost Savings (ex. credit card processing), Insurance, Marketing, and Best Practices. For more info on BizUnite check out our launch post.
In the meantime, register for our site, and feel free to forward this around to others especially those that run independent businesses. The site is fully functioning, and indy businesses can get real value right out of the gate."
There are some really cool ideas in here, and their goal of allowing decentralized, smaller businesses to band together to get clout is really cool and worthy.
Labels: launch
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Another Article on Coworking in NYTimes
Another article appeared on coworking in the New York Times today; they have a few things wrong but its ok.
Labels: coworking
Recent Science Making Life More Possible in Universe?
There have been several big pieces of news the last few weeks that point the way towards life possibly being more common in the universe than we expect. I haven't heard others put this stuff together so I thought it might be useful to put the pieces together. I'm a big fan and follower of astrobiology and exoplanets so I love tracking this stuff.
First, it looks like rocky planets roughly the size of Earth (known as super earths) might be more common than we thought. First, three rocky Super Earths were found in a single solar system; these run very close to their sun so they are way too hot to support life, but the fact that several rocky core planets were found in one system is surprising. Solid rocky planets are one requirement based on the life forms we know about today. The fact that they are close to their sun is more an artifact of how we detect planets today, which is based on the slight wobble induced on the star by orbiting planets. We either can only detect very large planets forcing a large wobble on the star or planets that are close by that induce a wobble.
There was also recent news of astronomers surveying suns similar to ours. They found that one out of three of the stars surveyed held rocky planets! I can't track down the link right now, but this is huge. Again, it points to rocky planets around stars similar to our own being a common occurrence, not the exception. Keep in mind that just a decade ago there was doubt that planets themselves would be a common occurrence versus the exception.
The next major finding is of course the detection of water on Mars this week. Again, water is a necessary component of life. While the water does not flow freely on Mars today, the big results the last few years was that in the past the water flowed freely across the landscape. The fact that water is still there is also important.
Finally, evidence has been found that Mars was hit by a giant asteroid billions of years ago. It was so large that it gouged a piece of the planet off. The Earth was hit by a similar asteroid, forming the Moon. This is important; there are theories that a large Moon is a necessary pre-condition for life since it attracts away life-killing asteroids (as is the presence of Jupiter sized planets to play interference, and many exosolar gas giants have been found as well). While the impact on Mars didn't create a giant moon, it does show that massive planet-gouging asteroids hitting planets may not be an exceptional occurrence.
Put these all together, and the conditions begin to (tentatively) look like life could be more common than we expect:
First, it looks like rocky planets roughly the size of Earth (known as super earths) might be more common than we thought. First, three rocky Super Earths were found in a single solar system; these run very close to their sun so they are way too hot to support life, but the fact that several rocky core planets were found in one system is surprising. Solid rocky planets are one requirement based on the life forms we know about today. The fact that they are close to their sun is more an artifact of how we detect planets today, which is based on the slight wobble induced on the star by orbiting planets. We either can only detect very large planets forcing a large wobble on the star or planets that are close by that induce a wobble.
There was also recent news of astronomers surveying suns similar to ours. They found that one out of three of the stars surveyed held rocky planets! I can't track down the link right now, but this is huge. Again, it points to rocky planets around stars similar to our own being a common occurrence, not the exception. Keep in mind that just a decade ago there was doubt that planets themselves would be a common occurrence versus the exception.
The next major finding is of course the detection of water on Mars this week. Again, water is a necessary component of life. While the water does not flow freely on Mars today, the big results the last few years was that in the past the water flowed freely across the landscape. The fact that water is still there is also important.
Finally, evidence has been found that Mars was hit by a giant asteroid billions of years ago. It was so large that it gouged a piece of the planet off. The Earth was hit by a similar asteroid, forming the Moon. This is important; there are theories that a large Moon is a necessary pre-condition for life since it attracts away life-killing asteroids (as is the presence of Jupiter sized planets to play interference, and many exosolar gas giants have been found as well). While the impact on Mars didn't create a giant moon, it does show that massive planet-gouging asteroids hitting planets may not be an exceptional occurrence.
Put these all together, and the conditions begin to (tentatively) look like life could be more common than we expect:
- Rocky planets around Suns like ours appears to be common
- Liquid water has been found on a second planet in our solar system -- if its on a second in one system, the odds of it being in others is higher
- Cataclysmic asteroids hitting planets might be common, increasing the odds of large Earth-sized Moons on other planet
Labels: astrobiology, exoplanets, space
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Pocket IE Supports XHTML?!
I was going through the Pocket Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile documentation and I found that it says it support XHTML! That's surprising. Has anyone actually used the XHTML support in Windows Mobile? Any details?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Changing Mac OS X Hosts File
This is more for me so I don't forget it, but other folks might find it useful. If you want to add or delete an entry from the Mac OS X /etc/hosts file, its a bit more involved than on Windows. Here's the steps you need to do.
To add an entry:
To add an entry:
- Edit /etc/hosts
- sudo niload -v -m hosts . < /etc/hosts
- If on Firefox, go to Tools > Clear Private data and clear things.
- lookupd -flushcache
- Edit /etc/hosts
- sudo niload -v -d hosts . < /etc/hosts
- If on Firefox, go to Tools > Clear Private data and clear things.
- lookupd -flushcache
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