:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Saturday, September 27, 2003 ::

Want to know when someone is eves dropping on your phone call? It's when you say one of the words that trigger Echelon. I’m not sure how much to believe this. As far as the acoustics are concerned identifying a speaker from them saying a known word is relatively easy. To identify words spoken by a known speaker is also fairly easy. To identify when anyone says any of these words? Seems like a lot of work to me. Not to mention the dubious positioning of some of the words in the list. But anyway just in case you wondered, there they are.

:: Dan 27.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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This ones for Dave:
“Superficially, this site looks like a set of FAQs about a novel that I wrote entitled QUICKSILVER. As time goes on, we hope that it will develop into something a little more than that. We don't know how it will come out. It's an experiment.”
(Thanks to G3RM for the link)

:: Dan 26.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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Doctor Who returns to TV. Yes, new Who on BBC One. "It is far too early in the day to discuss possible storylines, characters, villains or who might play the Doctor."

:: Dan 26.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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Jesus Dress Up
Jesus is cold and needs something to wear, do him the favor and help him out cause his hands are a little nailed down.

:: Dan 25.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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Hybrid SACD/DVD disks? Seems bogus to me but apparently the patent is pending. Although, the patent for sticking two disks together already exists so whether someone can get away with patenting sticking SACD and DVD/DVD-A together will depend on the wording of the existing patent. And is there even a market for it when we already have hybrid players? Who’s going to go to the extra publishing expense when they need only have made one in the first place? I can’t see this coming to anything but it might be worth keeping an eye on.

Europe gets set for Moon mission

Sorry Dan Dan Noodles, link removed for contractual reasons.

A trip to the shops these days is likely to result in almost as much packaging as food

And all of this stolen from the Guardian:

The Uberworm – “It is fun, if not irresponsible, to speculate”

Google coding competition

Microsoft's first government leaders conference in Europe

Hurricane season
Track them via the Hurricane Advisories site - which also offers links to "hurricane cams" in eastern US states and the Caribbean - Hurricanes.net, and the US government's National Hurricane Center. HowStuffWorks has a good section on how they work, while Canada's hurricane site has a special section for kids.

Another world
IBM Fellow Mike Cowlishaw has finally released a version of his programmable World Globe for Windows, 12 years after the 16-bit OS/2 original. Since Mike created the Rexx language, loved by many former Amiga owners (not to mention Sinclair QL and Palm users, etc), all PMGlobe commands can be used in Rexx macros.

:: Dan 25.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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I thought Norris Mcwhirter was dead?
If not that might finish him off!

:: Dan 25.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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I wonder if Norris McWorter was there to watch all 24hrs of this world record breaking feat.

:: popcorn 25.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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All MSN UK Chat Rooms will be closed down as of 14 October. No great personal loss to me but this has upset a lot of people and set a dangerous president which will likely lead chat users to less reputable, un-moderated sites. Is this really a move to protect children or is that just an excuse to rid M$ of a non-profit making arm?

:: Dan 24.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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Are you a couch potato?
Too lazy to reach over for the remote or phone?
Then perhaps you need to talk to the guys at Dublin Uni, who's smart sofa may one day cater for all your lardarse needs.

Quote: "researcher Haahr admits that at first glance it doesn't appear to have much use beyond fulfilling the whims of the extremely lazy."

:: popcorn 23.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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The Darknet and the Future of Content Distribution
An interesting paper by some guys from M$^* investigating collections of networks and technologies used to share digital content, and categorizes and analyzes darknets from both technical and legal points of view. 1 Meg Word doc of American English I’m afraid.
* "Statements in this paper represent the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the position of Microsoft Corporation"

Thanks for that Codec thing Popcorn. Interesting, must keep an eye on it and see what comes out.

:: Dan 23.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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Codec comparison

:: popcorn 23.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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I had intended – but totally forgot – to post something about "talk like a pirate day" on Friday. (See Friday’s Gromblog for plenty of pirate talk related links.) I think the reason it slipped my mind so easily was because everyone talks like pirates here all the time in Bristol. As an example, I do remember when in a car park last Friday hearing one woman say to another, “will yers luk a‘fer ar mal fer a mo?” You can see why the novelty of putting on a pirate voice would be lost around these parts. I’ve spent most of my life trying to hide this frickin’ horrible accent, exaggerating it fun, if only for a day, could be disaterous in the long run. Beez curful ow’ther everyz one, yers n’ver knowz whenz i’mi creep up on yers.

:: Dan 22.9.03 [Arc]    ::
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