Reference for me: Some googling and I found the upcoming barcode standard the IATA will use for all ticketing and boarding passes. I have hit so many walls trying to find the magstripe info for IATA boarding passes, its good to have the new standard. The 2D barcode is described here

PDF417 - 2D Barcode Standard

] MusicBrainz also takes this concept one step further in
] applying it to digital audio files like MP3 files and Ogg
] Vorbis files. The metadata contained in these files is
] often incorrect or missing altogether. If this data is
] not present or correct, it makes it difficult for users
] to find the music they wish to play. Many MP3 lovers have
] a huge collection of MP3 files but often have a hard time
] finding the music to which they want to listen. The
] MusicBrainz solution for this is the MusicBrainz Tagger,
] a Windows application that uses acoustic fingerprints
] (TRMs) to semiautomatically identify tracks in your music
] collection and then write clean and accurate metadata to
] your music files.

I believe some of us were having a conversation about needing something liek this integrated into BitTorrent while at Phreaknic 8.

MusicBrainz - Music Identifier

] It is has been a long time coming, but we have finally
] gotten DDP HackRadio up and running! Click here to listen
] to our new 24/7 hacking radio station.

Check out http://radio.binrev.com for more information. We have a schedule and rotation of show that is already pretty full and we are adding many things as we go along. Expect to hear talk shows, independant music, conference presentations, and some other surprise things to be announced soon.

If you are like me and listen to a lot of talk radio, you now have a central resource for hacking related material. I hope someone enjoys it.

Way to Go Stank! I love to see grassroots efforts like DDP and Binrev succeed, and I know you put an insane amount of work into it.

DDP HackRadio goes live!

] Unsolicited pop-up ads are annoying and may introduce
] spyware to your computer. Banish them forever with MSN
] Pop-up Blocker.

Does anyone else see how fscked up this is? MS had to release a toolbar to block pop-ups, preventing "spyware." But a major reason spyware spreads isn't because of pop-ups, its the complete broken ActiveX controls. So instead of fixing ActiveX (ie killing it), they have to kill the transit mechanism!

Its the same thing with Searching for things on the computer. Instead of simply retrofitting and improving their existing find feature, which already is nicely integrated and can find computers, printers and other things, they instead add a totally new search bar. Wait a minute which do I use if I'm Joe six pack? Why does one suck and the other is good? More importantly, Why the hell should I have do download a plug-in to a freaking *web browser* to improve my ability to find files managed by the *operating system*

This is so totally backwards.

MSN Toolbar... HA!

] Graphics Functions
] Here are detailed descriptions of the various hardware
] graphics functions as used in the N64

Stumbled on this today while looking for info on MIPs processors. Its from a page with extensive info on the hardware specs of the N64. This section discusses common graphical effects (Texture MApping, Gouraud Shading, Anti-aliasing): explaining what they are, common implementations (hardware -vs-software), and how the n64 accomplishes them. Very cool for those interested in graphics and in need of a overview.

Graphics Functions Descriptions

] Southeast Cybercrime Summit 2005 March 1-4, 2005

Potentially of interest...

Computer Forensics - Internet Cop Con in Atlanta in March

] Biometrics, an automated way to authenticate a person's
] identity, is being used from airports to grocery stores
] for both security and convenience.

NO! Damn it! Why do people always get this wrong. Biometrics do not in anyway authenticate a persons Identity. Why is it when conversations turn to security, some half-educated jackass says "just use biometrics."

Biometrics are _NOT_ security. A Biometric is a method of tying a physical person to some form of information. It does _NOT_ prove that information is correct. Which is why these biometric passports are retarded. Sure this passport's encoded biometric matches my thumb print/iris/etc, but the information on the password is completely false. I sold someone's SSN, I fake a birth certificate, whatever. The problem is now for some reason people "trust" this passport more, because its "better" with a biometric. Classic Privledge escalation. Unless your tests for the information you seal with a biometric is extensive or complete, the biometric is completely worthless.

Biometrics: NO!

I'm sure I saw this when it came out, but its a good hack. The glow from your monitor can probably be seen out of your window. If you slowed things down really slow it wouldn't appear as a glow, but rather a strobe, as the electron gun in your monitor sweeps across rows of phosphorus. If you recorded the flashes, and knew the rate at which the gun was sweeping, you could reproduce the image displayed on the screen. Nice...

Optical Emission Security FAQ

MIT rules for publishing this stuff.

MAS863 How to make (almost) anything

] Is the DoD going green? The new diesel-electric hybrid
] Shadow RST-V certainly makes it seems that way. It uses
] less than 50 percent of the normal fuel weight of a
] Humvee, and runs on four magnet motors and two
] lithium-ion battery packs. A typical Humvee guzzles over
] 1,000 pounds of fuel per mission

With all the diffent forecasts about oil availability over the next several decades, makes since the military would start making hybrids or alternate fuel vehicles now.

Humvee goes Hybrid: Diesel-Electric Shadow RST-V