Things that make you go "Hmmmm…"

[xilman]

Originally Posted by jasong

For those who think someone's hobby is stupid, try reading Ecclesiastes in the Bible. Great read.

Indeed.

Vanitas vanitatum dixit Ecclesiastes, vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas.

. Sums up most hobbies IMAO.

[Batalov]

Originally Posted by message from a certain course in Coursera

Thank you to the many students who have posted in the course discussion forums alerting us to a possible error in the grading formula for the course. After reviewing our formula, we have discovered an error that has caused some students to receive scores which were artificially high and to receive Statements of Accomplishment that they should not have otherwise received. We deeply apologize for this error and are very thankful for the honesty and close attention of those students who alerted us to this.

To fix this error, we have regraded the class using the correct formula. Students should now have the correct scores and only students who passed the course as described in our grading policy will be able to access a Statement of Accomplishment on their Course Records page.

So in other words, some students, instead of making their best effort to learn the material, allegedly hacked the site (or exploited some weakness, -- same thing) to get the passing grades? Hmmmmm...

[Xyzzy]

http://www.navytimes.com/article/201...SSAGES-no-more

[Xyzzy]

https://theconversation.com/to-kill-...op-speed-15142

[cheesehead]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2...-damage-sight/

[Brian-E]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2...-damage-sight/

That one should be added to this list. Teen fads have always been a huge cause of concern, I guess. What do you do about it? Teenagers seem to think they are invulnerable and immortal. And forbidding anything always has exactly the opposite effect from what you wanted.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by Brian-E

That one should be added to this list. Teen fads have always been a huge cause of concern, I guess. What do you do about it? Teenagers seem to think they are invulnerable and immortal. And forbidding anything always has exactly the opposite effect from what you wanted.

There's your answer -- get grandparents on this trend - the older, wrinklier, crustier, the better. Once the octogenarian+ party is in the tent, the teenagers will be looking for an exit.

[Xyzzy]

http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-...005700241.html

[only_human]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

I am no expert in this area, but I suspect these "enhanced links" are ways of getting most or all the functionality of cookies, but in a way that circumvents browser no-cookie settings by the user. Ross, thoughts?

The Web Cookie Is Dying. Here's The Creepier Technology That Comes Next

The problem for marketers is that some users set their browsers to reject cookies or quickly extinguish them. And mobile phones, which are taking an increasing chunk of the Web usage, do not use cookies.

To combat the cookie’s flaws, advertisers and publishers are increasingly turning to something called fingerprinting. This technique allows a web site to look at the characteristics of a computer such as what plugins and software you have installed, the size of the screen, the time zone, fonts and other features of any particular machine. These form a unique signature just like random skin patterns on a finger. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has found that 94% of browsers that use Flash or Java – which enable key features in Internet browsing – had unique identities.

Fingerprinting may prove a more robust tracking technology than cookies because the user’s identify endures even if they erase their cookies. Making changes to your software and settings only makes you more identifiable, not less. An EFF study several years ago found that it is easy to track when someone changes their profiles by adding software updates, for example. You can see what details your computer is transmitting right now by visiting this site.

Visiting that link, I get this:

Panopticlick — How Unique, and Trackable, Is Your Browser?

Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 3,001,298 tested so far.

Currently, we estimate that your browser has a fingerprint that conveys at least 21.52 bits of identifying information.

The measurements we used to obtain this result are listed below. You can read more about our methodology, statistical results, and some defenses against fingerprinting in this article.

[Brian-E]

That's an interesting site for testing the browser's identification of its user. Thanks, only_human.

It gave my browser (firefox) exactly the same summary result as yours. I don't know what that says about the similarities between our browsers and how they are configured.

Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 3,002,872 tested so far.
Currently, we estimate that your browser has a fingerprint that conveys at least 21.52 bits of identifying information.

[kladner]

I got the same as well, except for the incremented counter. That is creepy.

Thanks!