Links to Help You Avoid Working on Friday
Submitted by you, of course. And these links are all over the lot.First, Matthew Sakey's always interesting Culture Clash column is available here:
http://www.igda.org/columns/clash/clash_Dec05.php.
Next, from DQ reader Geoff Englestein, a link to an article about digital photo forensics, an emerging field used to determine whether photographs have been altered. Here's the short version:
Memon's program relies on the fact that digital cameras record image information in discrete squares of color, or pixels. Each pixel consists of a sensor for red, blue, or green light. "You don't have all three [sensors] at any point," Memon explains, so cameras use "interpolation" algorithms to adjust the color of an individual pixel based on readings from the surrounding pixels. These algorithms vary from company to company, and they "leave telltale artifacts" on pictures, Memon says. In this way an image from one camera can be distinguished from one taken with another.
Very interesting stuff, and here's the link:
http://www.technologyreview.com/wtr_15966,1,p1.html?trk=nl.
From Frank Regan, another pants-messing incident by Sony (there seems to be one every day now).
Researchers at the University of Princeton have uncovered additional information about the rootkit that was shipped without users' knowledge on Sony BMG music CDs.
The findings indicate that the Sony software had a hidden component that would convert the songs on the CD into compressed, protected AAC files, using a reverse-engineered implementation of FairPlay, Apple's own Digital Rights Management (DRM) format.
Sony is starting to sound like the gang that couldn't shoot straight. That is nothing short of bizarre, and I'm guessing Apple is none to happy about it, either. Here's the link:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051206-5697.html.
From DQ Octopus Consultant John Catania comes a link about the Indo-Malayan mimic octopus. It's just incredible what this octopus can look like. Pictures plus two short videos at this link:
http://tinyurl.com/6qobj.
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