It was forty years ago this fall, in 1977, that I bought my first computer. I had little experience with computers prior to that – a few weeks working after hours on an APL system at the U of T, mostly to play games against the machine, reading a few
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PostArctica: Ellis D. Kropotechev and Zeus, This marvelous time-sharing system. 1967
Stumbled on to this interesting little 16mm film made by a couple of Standford grad students in 1967. Some computer history and plenty of innuendo. Enjoy!
Continue readingScripturient: Microsoft killed solitaire for me
Solitaire – also known as Klondike and Patience – is a very popular game on computers. So popular, in fact that a version of this 200-year-old card game has been included by Microsoft in every version of Windows since 3.0 (1990), aside from a brief hiatus with Win 8 (which
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: IT Problem At Saskatchewan Government
What’s going on? Trying to communicate with #skpoli gov't?Don't bother. E-mail server, website all still down. — Murray Mandryk (@MMandryk) December 7, 2016 server down all day. No gov't news releases. So the question is: How many of the govt's 400 communication officers still filed for overtime? — Murray Mandryk
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Wildrose offices burgled, computers stolen, membership data being misused
David Climenhaga over at AlbertaPolitics.ca has the scoop. Here is an excerpt from his piece tonight: In an email to supporters sent late Sunday with the bland subject line, “A Wildrose Update,” Opposition Leader Brian Jean drops a bombshell with… Continue Reading →
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: The Story Of Human Voice Recordings
For the longest time, historians thought they knew Edison was the first to record the human voice. Then a team of researchers realized there were earlier recordings that were made by a Frenchman without any expectation that they could be converted back into sound. Our advanced scanning and computer equipment
Continue readingScripturient: Transcendance
It’s not surprising that AI replaced the biological form in the popular Frankenstein monster trope. In fact the smart-evil-machine scenario has been done so often this past decade or so that I’m more surprised any film writer or director c…
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Being a Cyborg Can Leave a Lot to Think About
Pacemakers and Piracy: The Unintended Consequences of the DMCA for Medical Implantshttps://t.co/uGz68CtR7V pic.twitter.com/ZXFrZgRCBd — Cory Doctorow (@doctorow) April 25, 2016 “Today there are well over 3 million pacemakers and over 1.7 million ICD’s in use.” What should you do to close potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities in your wireless implantable design? For one, make device security an […]
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: The Most Dangerous Writing App
I tried this silly online app, and won on my first try. I chose the easiest 5 minute difficulty though. I’m certain I won’t be able to use this dangerous writing app effectively. I should have a screenshot of it, just in case, I fail. It’s been nearly one minute, and I’ve not been interrupted, […]
Continue readingTechnology bargain betrayed—where have all the rewards gone?
Early in the Industrial Revolution, many workers were concerned about being replaced by machines. The most well known group were the Luddites, British weavers who smashed mechanical looms that threatened to replace them with low-wage labourers, leav…
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Sanders Backs Up Clinton, Gets Back Stabbed By DNC
One of the notable moments of the Democratic Debate on CNN weeks ago was when Bernie Sanders bluntly said he was sick and tired of hearing about Hillary Clinton’s emails. Clinton infamously used personal email for government business, which is illegal. Sanders took the high road and refused to pillory her. The Democratic Party is […]
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: $5 Raspbery Pi Computer
With computers this cheap, the hardest part is finding applications that are programmed well enough to work on under-powered hardware.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Apple’s Welcoming Ceremony Challenged By Robot
I’m cool with a robot waiting in line for a little tech innovation. Get used to it, cyborg haters. https://t.co/Q4Omggedoc — Kashmir Hill (@kashhill) September 25, 2015 It makes more sense than a human wasting their time. “Since the iPhone’s official release in 2007, waiting outside for a new iPhone
Continue readingScripturient: Server upgrade coming
Sometime in the next two weeks, I will be amalgamating servers for the several sites I manage and conflating them onto one, new and (I hope) faster and more efficient server. There may be some downtime while the files and databases migrate, like virtual birds, to their new home. I
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Real Life First Person Shooter (Chatroulette version)
This is great improv acting and a great concept for a video.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Killer Robots By Accident or On Purpose?
It’s There are companies like Lockheed Martin making autonomous killing robots, and there are companies like Google making self-driving cars (which kill people by accident or poor design). At least cars don’t tend to kill on purpose, and the Google self-driving car hasn’t had a deadly accident (or one it
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: The Inexpensive Computer Comes With Expensive Shipping Option Only
When I read about the $9 computer on Crash Bang Labs’ Facebook page, I was ready to help kick start that CHIP. But I got to the payment screen when the shipping amount came up. How much could it cost I’d thought to ship a computer smaller than a couple
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: NSA Wants To Apple-fy All Computers
Do you want a computer that will only install US Government authorized applications? That’s what the NSA wants for you, so they’ll have a front-door to every device.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: “Anti-Petroleum” RCMP Explodes Gasoline In Their Cars’ Engines
RCMP called ‘anti-petroleum’ critics (aka anyone concerned about climate change) a potential security threat http://t.co/sollGvyhdB #cdnpoli — Keith Stewart (@climatekeith) February 18, 2015 The RCMP have displayed Climate Change Denial symptoms. This is bad for Canada, because if the police tasked with interfering in climate change related activism do not
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Shhh – Not In Front of the TV, George.
Be careful what you say in front of your smart TV. According to Samsung, you never know who might be listening to your every word. The warning applies to TV viewers who control their Samsung Smart TV using its voice activation feature. When the feature is active, such TV sets
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