Things that make you go "Hmmmm…" - Page 290

kladner · 2018-01-11, 00:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick

Press article

The irony is beyond words. We were cackling over this story.

kladner · 2018-01-11, 03:43

"Fruitfly creepware turned on cameras and mics, automatically detected porn searches."

Quote:

Early last year, a piece of Mac malware came to light that left researchers puzzled. They knew that malware dubbed Fruitfly captured screenshots and webcam images and had been installed on hundreds of computers in the US and elsewhere, possibly for more than a decade. Still, the researchers didn't know who did it or why.

An indictment filed Wednesday in federal court in Ohio may answer some of those questions. It alleges Fruitfly was the creation of an Ohio man who used it for more than 13 years to steal millions of images from infected computers, as he took detailed notes of what he observed. Prosecutors also said defendant Phillip R. Durachinsky used the malware to surreptitiously turn on cameras and microphones, take and download screenshots, log keystrokes, and steal tax and medical records, photographs, Internet searches, and bank transactions. In some cases, Fruitfly alerted Durachinsky when victims typed words associated with porn. The suspect, in addition to allegedly targeting individuals, also allegedly infected computers belonging to police departments, schools, companies and the federal government, including the US Department of Energy.

ewmayer · 2018-01-11, 04:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick

Press article

Oh, dear - one hopes the pole-dancing robot strippers^* performing at a nearby "gentlemen's club" were not impacted.

-----------------

^* Despite the British-artist-creator's hifalutin disclaimer about making a cautionary statement about surveillance and techno-voyeurism, stuff like this makes me ashamed to be a Silicon Valley geek ... time to go do some diverting old-economy-style stuff, like head out to the work bench and play with the drill press for a while.

ewmayer · 2018-01-27, 01:44

Nutella 'riots' spread across French supermarkets - BBC News

The 2014 Beeb piece (linked on the same page) on the Ferrero-family chocolate-and-hazelnut dynasty, "Nutella: How the world went nuts for a hazelnut spread" (ha, ha, very clever punning) is also worth a read.

ewmayer · 2018-02-07, 01:34

Please, keep the theological stuff to a suitable thread on that topic, perhaps in one of the blog-subfora.

====================

Fake tweet on Trump & the stock market gets way more buy-in than its creator expected

Following the thread down is really funny.

MooMoo2 · 2018-02-08, 19:44

I posted a thread awhile ago that asked how long humanity would take to discover another large prime number if we had to start from scratch. Someone then said that this might have already happened before, and that the next Mersenne prime found would lead to the great unveiling of all the lost knowledge and goods we once possessed.

He was right in a way. We made it to "Point X" in a distant time in the past. A time when we built machines that surpassed all humans in all fields. Anything someone could do, a machine could do better. The machines either knew the solution to every problem, such as curing cancer, or were able to prove that it was not possible, such as reversing entropy within a closed system.

This was fun, but we eventually got bored. And so we had the machines create a world that was identical to the one we grew up in, except that we would have nothing but our bodies and whatever existed in the natural environment. No flint arrowheads, no axes, no wheels. We called this "Day Zero".

Our objective is to get from "Day Zero" to "Point X" as fast as possible. It's like a video game speedrun, but the timescale is much longer for this game. The rumor is that the high score, or fastest time, is 4608 years.

My guess is that we're about 70% of the way there. We're not going to break that record, but this run has been faster than most. Maybe another game will start once this one is complete, but some of the variables, such as the locations and quantities of various minerals and fossil fuels, will change for that run. I wonder what will happen.

LaurV · 2018-02-09, 07:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by MooMoo2

My guess is that we're about 70% of the way there.

Ok, so you are not the wizard. I feel much better now, I was a bit afraid, I must say...

The Carnivore · 2018-02-09, 17:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by MooMoo2

I posted a thread awhile ago that asked how long humanity would take to discover another large prime number if we had to start from scratch. Someone then said that this might have already happened before, and that the next Mersenne prime found would lead to the great unveiling of all the lost knowledge and goods we once possessed.

He was right in a way. We made it to "Point X" in a distant time in the past. A time when we built machines that surpassed all humans in all fields. Anything someone could do, a machine could do better. The machines either knew the solution to every problem, such as curing cancer, or were able to prove that it was not possible, such as reversing entropy within a closed system.

This was fun, but we eventually got bored. And so we had the machines create a world that was identical to the one we grew up in, except that we would have nothing but our bodies and whatever existed in the natural environment. No flint arrowheads, no axes, no wheels. We called this "Day Zero".

Our objective is to get from "Day Zero" to "Point X" as fast as possible. It's like a video game speedrun, but the timescale is much longer for this game. The rumor is that the high score, or fastest time, is 4608 years.

My guess is that we're about 70% of the way there. We're not going to break that record, but this run has been faster than most. Maybe another game will start once this one is complete, but some of the variables, such as the locations and quantities of various minerals and fossil fuels, will change for that run. I wonder what will happen.

You can create a great new ~~movie~~ ~~TV series~~ religion out of this.

masser · 2018-02-13, 14:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaurV

Ok, so you are not the wizard. I feel much better now, I was a bit afraid, I must say...

The wizard is closer than you think...

retina · 2018-02-13, 14:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by masser

The wizard is closer than you think...

I think the wizard is within 1.616229 × 10⁻³⁵ metres.

xilman · 2018-02-13, 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by retina

I think the wizard is within 1.616229 × 10⁻³⁵ metres.

As thick as a Planck, in other words.

2018-02-08, 19:44	#3185
MooMoo2 Aug 2010 2·7·47 Posts	This will definitely make you go "Hmmmm...." I posted a thread awhile ago that asked how long humanity would take to discover another large prime number if we had to start from scratch. Someone then said that this might have already happened before, and that the next Mersenne prime found would lead to the great unveiling of all the lost knowledge and goods we once possessed. He was right in a way. We made it to "Point X" in a distant time in the past. A time when we built machines that surpassed all humans in all fields. Anything someone could do, a machine could do better. The machines either knew the solution to every problem, such as curing cancer, or were able to prove that it was not possible, such as reversing entropy within a closed system. This was fun, but we eventually got bored. And so we had the machines create a world that was identical to the one we grew up in, except that we would have nothing but our bodies and whatever existed in the natural environment. No flint arrowheads, no axes, no wheels. We called this "Day Zero". Our objective is to get from "Day Zero" to "Point X" as fast as possible. It's like a video game speedrun, but the timescale is much longer for this game. The rumor is that the high score, or fastest time, is 4608 years. My guess is that we're about 70% of the way there. We're not going to break that record, but this run has been faster than most. Maybe another game will start once this one is complete, but some of the variables, such as the locations and quantities of various minerals and fossil fuels, will change for that run. I wonder what will happen. Last fiddled with by MooMoo2 on 2018-02-08 at 19:46

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2018-01-27, 01:44	#3183
ewmayer ∂²ω=0 Sep 2002 República de California 19×613 Posts	Nutella 'riots' spread across French supermarkets - BBC News The 2014 Beeb piece (linked on the same page) on the Ferrero-family chocolate-and-hazelnut dynasty, "Nutella: How the world went nuts for a hazelnut spread" (ha, ha, very clever punning) is also worth a read.

2018-02-07, 01:34	#3184
ewmayer ∂²ω=0 Sep 2002 República de California 10110101111111₂ Posts	Please, keep the theological stuff to a suitable thread on that topic, perhaps in one of the blog-subfora. ==================== Fake tweet on Trump & the stock market gets way more buy-in than its creator expected Following the thread down is really funny.