Tim and the Tin Titan

30.7.03

The Crypto Rebelion
WASTE is a software product and protocol that enables secure distributed communication for small (on the order of 10-50 nodes) trusted groups of users. It is private in the fact that you have to know someone who is already inside the network to get in. It is secure since you need to trade public keys to be able to communicate and that all communication is encrypted. If you are thinking this is the RIAA's worst nightmare, you may be right. Contact me if you are interested...

Update: well, apparently Waste doesn't play well with proxies so I'm out. Check out these posts [1,2] for some more technical information on how to set it up if you own your ip address.

Do men deserve it?
Why don't we have commercials like this on our side of the ocean?

29.7.03

The price for the rest of us
While shopping for a digital camera at Ritz Camera and trying ot figure out if it would be more advantageous to purchase it here in Canada or in the United States (a task made diffiult by the combination of exchange rate, shipping and duty), I ran across the Canada Post Borderfree service on their site, labeled as "Canadian Checkout". In their own words:
"You can now purchase products from us in Canadian dollars, with all relevant charges clearly shown prior to completing your order. The price you receive at checkout is guaranteed – no surprises upon delivery in Canada, or unexpected charges on your credit card statement. ".
Having just been slapped with a unexpected 10.63$CAN duty fee on a 25$US item, I can say that I find this a very good idea. Check out the list of partners here. I truly hope this idea takes off and becomes more common. And kudos to Canada Post for getting involved in something that is so forward thinking.

"'If you want your family released, turn yourself in.'"
If you had any doubts that the US was now using the same tactics that they deplore in terrorists (kidnaping innocents and holding them for ransom), read this article: U.S. Adopts Aggressive Tactics on Iraqi Fighters. And if are wondering, yes, those actions are against the Geneva Convention.


"To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, 'Our country, right or wrong,' and urge on the little war. Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation?"

Mark Twain 1906

28.7.03

Make your own Science!
This site has plenty of scientific experiements/games that you can make from stuff around the house, including a Film Can Cannon and a 10minute railgun. Remember to wear your safetly goggles kids!

I'll have some crack, please
Fishy is an extremely simple yet addicting and frustrating game

update july 30th: finaly beat the game...

It's funny cause some of it is true
With my impending nuptuals on the horizon, this seems rather funny:
60 Signs That You're in a Capital "R" Relationship

25.7.03

Are your pictures hiding something?
You are a host on a TechTV show, you also have a blog. You post some nice pictures of yourself on you blog. Someone finds something [includes some minor nudity] left over by Photoshop in your pictures. What do you say then? Do you get all defensive, do you start suing everything in sight? No, how about:
Interesting
1) it was a mistake... you all lucked out... BIG time. ;-)
2) i don't smoke all the time.... just sometimes... and i like it.

this has been an interesting ride. stay tuned for more fun... no more special pix though.

Please meet Cat Schwartz, one cool cat and pretty cute too.

24.7.03

Red vs Blue T-shirts
Pick your team...

Penny Arcade
"It's like the Circle of Life, only with tits and liquor" If you haven't already, check out the latest comic on Penny Arcade, it's very geeky and centered on games and often times very funny.

Digital Disposable
Ever wanted an email address for just a couple of minutes? Like when a site asks you for your email to send you a password to let you in for no good reason? Well here are a couple of solution:

Jetable.org will generate an email on their domain that will redirect to your real email address for a period of time you set, form 24h to 8 days.

Mailinator.com lets you make up an addresse on the spot. Enter "test@mailinator.com" as your email anywhere and then go to mailinator.com, login with "test" and bingo, you have the mail that was sent to "test@mailinator.com". No passwords or any security, but then again the mail is ereased every couple of hours. Yes, two people can be using the same address at a time and anyone can go in to see any address's mail. The advantage is that you don't have to visit mailinator.com before using it, an account is automatically created when the mail is received and can then be accessed. Also the site has a good sense of humor (check the FAQ).

The cost you ask? Free. Isn't this great?
Source: evhead.com

23.7.03

What Makes a Hero?
With all the news of Jessica Lynch's return home and her being called a "War Hero", I have to wonder why she is getting that title? How is it exactly that someone who got lost, injured in a vehicular accident, taken prisoner and then "rescued" form a civilian hospital a hero? By the same rationale, a mountain climber who breaks a leg on a ridge somewhere and has to be airlifted out is just as deserving of the "hero" tag (obviously not the war part). I think we give out these title a bit too easely. Is the hiker who got pinned by a boulder and amputated his own arm a hero? No, I do not belive so. Is he an extraordinarily brave individual, with brass balls the size of footballs? Yes, yes he is.

Weathering adverse conditions is not heroism, it is merely survival. We should call these people Survivors and not in the cheezy "reality TV" sense, but in the primal sense of not giving up in the fight for your life.

15.7.03

What does heaven look like?
An interesting and heartwarming little article.

10.7.03

Hand made bullet time
This is a brilliant little video, ping pong matrix style. Took me a couple of seconds to see it wasn't done digitaly still with great results.

Hum...
I have tried the Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz synchronicity before (good results and copious amounts of alchool were involved) but Led Zepplin's Kashmir and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring? This I will have to try...

Let the backpedaling begin!
The United States didn't declare war on Iraq because of new evidence of banned weapons, U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday.

8.7.03

Keyboard Sumo
Good game to try drunk...

Human, like all of us
Stephen Hawking visiting a strip club. I know it`s a gossip article but this sounds like him, he is never one for convention or the norm.

I remember seeing an interview with him where they asked him, one of the greatest mind alive, if there was something that was still a mistery to him and he answered, through his synthetiser "Women" while cracking a broad smile.