Movies like to show hackers breaking passwords with fancy software and ludicrous gadgets. The reality of busting passwords open is much more mundane. Simple as it may sound, most passwords are broken purely by guesswork. Check out this infographic from ZoneAlarm, as well as this list from the Wall Street Journal of the fifty most common passwords gleaned from the 2010 Gawker hack. If your password is on one of those lists, you need to change it. Right now.
A common problem for many guitarists is what I call the intermediate plateau. As a beginner, you improved rapidly. You got faster and more fluid almost on a daily basis. Then it stopped. However hard you practice, you don’t seem to get any better.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Video Game was released on Tuesday August 10th for the PS3 (Download only, $9.99). It will be released for the Xbox 360 on August 25th for 800 imaginary points. We spent a few hours yesterday on co-op and single player and here are our initial impressions.
Choose the Right Path Making a choice
The SCRABBLE Brand trademark has been around since 1948, but video advertisements for the popular board game didn't appear until the start of this millennium. Although there may be a few SCRABBLE video spots out there that predate 2000, I haven't come across them.
Kurt Harris, MD, writes about paleolithic nutrition at his highly recommended blog, www.paleonu.com.
Aside from the popular television commercials Ogilvy & Mather did for Mattel's Scrabble back in 2000 and 2001, they also have a large history in print with Mattel. From 1998 until the present, they've been designing graceful, risible and salacious Scrabble and Junior Scrabble adverts, winning prizes for advertising prints at the Cristal Awards, Golden Hammer, Loerie Awards, Cannes Lions, Epica Awards and FIAP. Without further ado…
Spent the weekend with Sprint's new phone, the HTC Evo G4. Specification wise, it's better than Verizon's Incredible and T-Mobile's HD2. Apple will be announcing the new version of their phone this week. If it's comparable to leaked phone shown over at Gizmodo, then to say which phone is better is debatable. The iphone might have a better battery life but the Evo has an unlimited data plan, unlike AT&T's new tier pricing structure.
Kick Ass Review Part 3: Conclusions [Spoiler Alert! Plot points are discussed from the movie and comic in this section!]
So the fiance and I cannot imagine spending upwards of $500 on a DJ for our wedding when we have tons of perfectly good music on our computers. And the cross-fade feature... Genius!
Outside the realm of politics, where opposing sides are quite passionate and quite disagreeable, there are few areas in our society quite as divisive as Twitter. People who like Twitter love Twitter and are relentless in trying to co-opt the people they know into joining (this is both altruistic and an unsubtle attempt to boost followers).
Ever since high school, I've been preparing my own taxes. Each year it gets more and more complicated, which results in me filing later and later, avoiding it until I have the time or just can't wait any longer. I even resorted to using TurboTax online to help do some of the grunt work for me these past couple years, but that hasn't stopped me from being lazy about it. I have yet to file my 2010 taxes, but I will very soon. Tomorrow, in fact—before TurboTax raises their prices.
It's somewhat funny that the HTC ThunderBolt smartphone would be released around the same time as Apple's new Thunderbolt technology. Mainly because HTC's smartphone isn't exactly something I would compare to a flash of lightning, which averages around 60,000 miles per second. But Apple's new interconnect surely deserves the Thunderbolt designation.
Back in the eighties, I used to hate television commercials, but I eventually got used to them. Had to, in order to enjoy my favorite shows. Then, the increasing number of billboard ads annoyed me in the nineties. They followed me everywhere I went—no escape—persuading me to buy the newest whatever. It seemed like Big Brotherism—like They Live. But, I got used to it. When I finally entered the digital age and became a web addict, I was peeved at the constant sight of online ads everywhere I v...
After years of false rumors and abandoned hopes, the day has finally come. Verizon Wireless is finally getting the Apple iPhone!
There's a whole lot of brouhaha going on right now about the hidden plug-ins being installed unknowingly in the Mozilla Firefox web browser, with companies like Apple, Microsoft and even Google being named top offenders.
The Motorola XOOM was just released last week to Android-hungry fans waiting the next best thing to Apple's iPad. But should it have been released, considering Verizon's switching to the 4G LTE network soon?
Recently, buyout talks between Google and Groupon ended with Groupon turning down Google's $6 million offer. But with Amazon backing LivingSocial, should they have? Your guess is as good as mine, but one thing's for sure— Groupon has a great voice, and they're sharing it with the world via their Public Groupon Editorial Manual.
Last week, I started a weekly feature on Scrabble World called Scrabble Challenge, where you can solve a few (hopefully) challenging word puzzles. Normally, these will be on Fridays, but today I have a potentially unsolvable puzzle for you to try and solve, in addition to the upcoming one...
How To Start To start developing website is a hard way to tell people depending on what they are best at. I'd like to describe a few of 'em. I will call them a few names depending on what effect comes out of 'em. And I will describe what developing languages there are out there and are most widely used. Let's start with that for now.
I want to write this article because in my childhood, I had experienced internet stalking which ultimately ended in physical stalking which then lead to several attempted abductions. I have now learned how to use the internet safely, who to communicate with and I've learned how stalkers work.
This article will show you how to make a proportionally correct 1/187 (about) size Hubble Space Telescope. I tried to add as many details as possible, but it was hard at such a small size. It was really easy, but it did take a while to make.
Math Craft admin Cory Poole posted instructions on How to Make a Cube, Octahedron & Icosahedron from Sonobe Units, plus some great complex models in his article, How to Make a Truncated Icosahedron, Pentakis Dodecahedron & More. These models use the standard sonobe unit and a coloured variant.
So You're New to Counter Strike Source? So you're new to Counter Strike Source and you want to improve your gameplay? Great. You've come to the right place.
WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the most popular communities. Users can join and participate in any World they're interested in, as well as start their own community.
You're sitting in front of your grandmother's Windows XP machine that has the worst infection you've ever seen. Safe mode? No dice. Restore points? They're compromised. Even worse, all of the files are hidden and none of the executables will run! This leaves her computer in a bricked state. Without some serious CPR, it will be lost to you. Sure, you could just reinstall the system, but then you might lose all of that valuable data.
People sometimes ask me about the IT industry here in the states. These folks are usually either trying to get into a certain field, or looking to switch or move into another one. Right now, you may currently be a Computer Science major that will be graduating shortly and are interested in the current state of IT security.
Remember that scene in The Matrix when Trinity uses a realistic Nmap port scan, followed by an actual SSH exploit (long since patched) to break into a power company? Well, believe it or not, but that scene is not far fetched at all. If you want to exploit vulnerabilities and root boxes, you'll need to learn how to perform the necessary reconnaissance first. In fact, you will spend far more time researching your target then you will exploiting it. In this article, I am going to show you the fi...
In this article, I'll show you how to build a simplistic circuit to generate negative ions. Negative ions have been known to contribute to fresher air, happier mood, and general health benefits. However, they also look amazing in the dark (check out the photos below, purple plasma is amazing!). And if all else fails, they make a cool nightlight. If you've ever been around a Tesla coil, cathode ray tube TV or sometimes even on a trampoline, you've probably noticed that smell; the smell of "sta...
This is a two-part series to locking down the computer to provide maximum protection. Even though this guide will sound intrusive, we are talking about reality here. Extreme measures must be taken to protect our computers, especially when we have confidential documentation or do internet banking, which many people do. We all have to use electronic devices at some stage, whether it be for business or personal use.
In the age of automatic video editors and all around software-assisted creativity, how can a humble blogger help people master a program if said program does all the work for you?
Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play with us on our free server.
Some people are what is labeled a power user. I am one of these people. No matter how fast I get my system, or how quick of programs I have, it is never good enough. There is always at least one program that I could swap out for a more advanced, text-based counterpart that increases performance just a bit. Luckily, you don't have to use text-based programs without graphical user interfaces to get blazing fast speeds on Linux. There are tons of open source alternatives to the mainstream progra...
ZEPHYRS n sing. ZEPHYR gentle breezes 74 points (24 points without the bingo)
It's Monday, and once again it's time to highlight some of the community submissions posted to the Math Craft corkboard. In addition, I thought we'd take a look at having fun with the geometrical properties of polygons and circles by using one of the best circles I know, the penny.
Last week's challenge brought up a good question (thanks Lisa) regarding the functionality of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, both online and in print form. The word TACTICAL was the answer to the first puzzle in that challenge, but when you search for the word directly in the print version, it can't be found. Likewise, when you search the online dictionary on Hasbro's site, you won't find it either. Go ahead, try it. You won't find it looking for TACTICAL specifically.
It's Monday, time to highlight some of the community submissions posted to the Math Craft corkboard. One of these posts inspired me so much, I think it merits a closer look. Today, I present a "simple" method for making a golden spiral using just a straight edge, a compass, and a template, inspired by RJ Ellicock's golden ratio post.
It may not be your number one spot for finding cool apps for your Android device, but the Amazon Appstore for Android is running a new promotion this week called "Geek Week," where eight of the most popular productivity and utility apps are now on sale for 48 percent off or more.
Let's face it, not every logophile is addicted to Scrabble. Without the use of a timer, Scrabble can be a pretty slow game. Even in clubs and tournaments where the standard time limit is 25 minutes per person for a two-player game. Now, take away time restrictions and add two other players and you've got a game that could take up to 2 hours! It all really depends on who the competition is.