tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137032452024-03-13T13:13:45.078-04:00Shamino's pageSpewing random nonsense at the world since 2005Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.comBlogger623125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-59718065089557399832024-03-11T08:07:00.002-04:002024-03-11T08:07:55.763-04:00Federalist: Daylight Savings Is A Scam<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<IMG SRC="https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/29626758696_cdb406ea1b_k-e1709942969945.jpg" HEIGHT="150" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" />
<A HREF="https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/11/daylight-savings-is-a-scam/"><B>Daylight Savings Is A Scam</B></A><BR />
<SMALL>By: <a href="https://thefederalist.com/author/nathan-stone/">Nathan Stone</a>, <time datetime="2024-03-11">March 11, 2024</time></SMALL>
<P>
Americans don’t get more daylight. Plants don’t enjoy an extra hour of sunshine. The only difference it makes is to harm our health.
</P></DIV>
<P>
A great summary about the origin of Daylight Saving time, what people claim it accomplishes, and references to the inconvenient truth that is doesn't accomplish anything, but does significantly impact our health an well-being.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-22679163932217989722024-02-16T18:08:00.005-05:002024-02-16T18:56:02.046-05:00Apple's magic sound-file renamingThis is based on a discussion thread I just started on <A HREF="https://talk.tidbits.com/t/apples-magic-sound-file-renaming/26805?u=shamino">TidBits Talk</A>.
<P>
For those who are unaware, in macOS 11 (aka "<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Big_Sur">Big Sur</A>"), Apple changed all of the standard system sounds. If you compare the system sounds preferences of it (or newer) releases with prior releases, you'll see that the standard set changed:
<STYLE>
table { border:1px solid black; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:small ; }
th { border:1px solid black; padding:5px; text-align:center; color:black; background-color:yellow }
td { border:1px solid black; padding:5px; text-align:center; }
</STYLE>
<TABLE><TR>
<TH>Old (pre- Big Sur) macOS system sounds</TH>
<TH>New (Big Sur and later) macOS system sounds</TH>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Basso</TD> <TD>Mezzo</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Blow</TD> <TD>Breeze</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Bottle</TD> <TD>Pebble</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Frog</TD> <TD>Jump</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Funk</TD> <TD>Funky</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Glass</TD> <TD>Crystal</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Hero</TD> <TD>Heroine</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Morse</TD> <TD>Pong</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Ping</TD> <TD>Sonar</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Pop</TD> <TD>Bubble</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Purr</TD> <TD>Pluck</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Sosumi</TD> <TD>Sonumi</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Submarine</TD> <TD>Sumberge</TD>
</TR><TR>
<TD>Tink</TD> <TD>Boop</TD>
</TR></TABLE>
<a name='more'></a>
<P>
Now, changing the standard set of system sounds is nothing new. Apple has done it many times before. The interesting thing is that if you go to look for the actual sound files (in <TT>/System/Library/Sounds</TT>), you'll find that the filenames are the same as the old names:
</P><BLOCKQUOTE STYLE="font-size:small;"><PRE>
$ cd /System/Library/Sounds/
$ ls
Basso.aiff Frog.aiff Hero.aiff Pop.aiff Submarine.aiff
Blow.aiff Funk.aiff Morse.aiff Purr.aiff Tink.aiff
Bottle.aiff Glass.aiff Ping.aiff Sosumi.aiff
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
So where are the new names coming from? Apple normally presents sounds using their filenames, and they do so for any other audio file you choose to install (e.g. by copying to <TT>/Library/Sounds</TT> or to <TT>~/Library/Sounds</TT>. But not these.
</P><P>
My first assumption was that Apple somehow embedded new names into the audio files or their metadata. But after searching the file for anything resembling the new names, I found nothing. And the files have no extended atrributes or resource forks (two other ways I might expect Apple to hide a name in a file's metadata).
</P><P>
And just to make things even more interesting, if you copy these files to <TT>/Library/Sounds</TT> or <TT>~/Library/Sounds</TT> and open up the system settings page for alert sounds, you will see that they appear as their filenames (but, of course, with the same sound).
</P><P>
After quite a bit of web searching and finding that nobody else appears to have documented this mechanism, I started searching my system for something that might give me a hint to what's going on. And I found it. There is a application extension, <TT>/System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/Sound.appex</TT> on my (macOS 14 "<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Sonoma">Sonoma</A>") system. It is apparently a <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_Look">Quick Look</A> plugin, but looking inside its package, I found a mapping table named <TT>AlertSounds.loctable</TT>. And this file is a binary property list file with a changed file extension. Dumping the contents of the file reveals the mapping. And not just one, but a big array of localized mappings:
</P><BLOCKQUOTE STYLE="font-size:small;"><PRE>
$ cd /System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/Sound.appex/Contents/Resources
$ plutil -p AlertSounds.loctable
...
"el" => {
"Basso" => "Μέτζο"
"Blow" => "Ασθενής άνεμος"
"Bottle" => "Χαλίκι"
"Frog" => "Μεταπήδηση"
"Funk" => "Φάνκι"
"Glass" => "Κρύσταλλο"
"Hero" => "Ηρωίδα"
"Morse" => "Σήματα Μορς"
"Ping" => "Σόναρ"
"Pop" => "Φούσκα"
"Purr" => "Χορδή"
"Sosumi" => "Ξυλόφωνο"
"Submarine" => "Κατάδυση"
"Tink" => "Μπουπ"
}
...
"en" => {
"Basso" => "Mezzo"
"Blow" => "Breeze"
"Bottle" => "Pebble"
"Frog" => "Jump"
"Funk" => "Funky"
"Glass" => "Crystal"
"Hero" => "Heroine"
"Morse" => "Pong"
"Ping" => "Sonar"
"Pop" => "Bubble"
"Purr" => "Pluck"
"Sosumi" => "Sonumi"
"Submarine" => "Submerge"
"Tink" => "Boop"
}
...
"es" => {
"Basso" => "Mezzo"
"Blow" => "Brisa"
"Bottle" => "Piedrecita"
"Frog" => "Salto"
"Funk" => "Funky"
"Glass" => "Cristal"
"Hero" => "Líder"
"Morse" => "Pong"
"Ping" => "Sonda"
"Pop" => "Burbuja"
"Purr" => "Punteo"
"Sosumi" => "Sonumi"
"Submarine" => "Inmersión"
"Tink" => "Boop"
}
...
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
So it would appear (I assume) that if your configure your Mac's local language to something other than English, you may well see these sounds appear with different language-specific names.
</P><P>
And it also appears that the mappings are only applied to files in the <TT>/System/Library/Sounds</TT> folder because, as mentioned above, copying one of these files to <TT>~/Library/Sounds</TT> causes it to appear as its filename on the list of alert sounds in the system settings.
</P><P>
Pretty sneaky.
</P><P>
As for why Apple didn't rename the files to align with the new names (at least the English ones), I assume this was done in the name of backward compatibility with any apps that may have hard-coded an old name and would break if a standard system sound file would turn up missing - so these apps will simply play the new audio but otherwise keep working.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-42599397711533882142024-01-30T14:43:00.002-05:002024-01-30T14:43:32.745-05:00Disabling an iPod's headphone volume alerts<SMALL>This is a cross-posting of a thread I started on <A HREF="https://talk.tidbits.com/t/disabling-headphone-volume-alerts/26630?u=shamino">TidBITS Talk</A></SMALL>
<P>
Yesterday, while taking a short road trip, my iPod Touch (running iOS 15.8.1) stared giving me "headphone safety" notifications, complaining that I’m subjecting myself to dangerous volume levels for an extended period of time.
</P><P>
Yes, the iPod was running at maximum volume for three hours. But not into headphones. The headphone jack was connected to a cable to the car’s AUX audio input, for playback over the car's speakers.
</P><P>
I’ve been doing this for years, but something must have changed recently because I never got these warnings before today. (And they even propagated through iCloud into my phone’s Health app - just to rub it in, apparently).
</P><P>
I eventually found the location to disable this, but contrary to expectation, it’s not located in the "Sounds → Headphone Safety" page of system settings (where the option to "Reduce Loud Sounds" is located), but is instead, in the Accesibility section, for some strange reason. Accessibility → Hearing → Audio/Visual → Headphone Notifications.
</P><P>
I've turned it off. I’ll see if it does anything on my next road trip, where I'll be playing music at 100% volume out the headphone jack into the car stereo for six hours.
</P><P>
<SMALL>h/t: <A HREF="https://www.iphonelife.com/content/how-to-turn-headphone-safety-notifications">iPhone Life: How to Turn Off Headphone Safety Notifications on iPhone (iOS 17)</A></SMALL>
Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-48232718359974142602023-10-26T10:33:00.003-04:002023-10-26T10:34:22.057-04:00Loony Tunes: "(Blooper) Bunny" (1991)While looking for something completely unrelated, I ran across this great cartoon that I had never before seen. Enjoy:
<P>
<iframe width="708" height="416" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/rwml0mdWX-o?si=UpUzGb0IB6CzguNh" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</P>
Read more about this cartoon on <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(Blooper)_Bunny">Wikipedia</A>.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-35788199549496880182023-08-22T10:25:00.004-04:002023-08-22T10:25:32.414-04:00XKCD: Circuit Symbols<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<A HREF="https://xkcd.com/2818/"><IMG SRC="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/circuit_symbols.png" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" /></A>
</DIV>
<P>
Ow. This is particularly painful.
</P><P>
<SMALL><A HREF="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2818:_Circuit_Symbols">Explanation</A> for those who need it</SMALL>
</P>Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-82434292311256229482023-08-10T15:32:00.005-04:002023-08-10T15:32:29.444-04:00National Pulse: Native Americans Demand DC Football Team Reinstate 'Redskins' Moniker.<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<IMG SRC="https://thenationalpulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/IMG_8751-830x415.jpeg" HEIGHT="150" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" />
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpendicular_recording"><B>Native Americans Demand DC Football Team Reinstate 'Redskins' Moniker.</B></A><BR />
<SMALL>10-August-2023. Jake Welch</SMALL>
<P>
The <a href="https://www.nagaeducation.org/?pgid=ka7ad7pz-50eb99cb-336d-4f37-8688-90f2384eaaa7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">non-profit</a> Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) has threatened the newly renamed "Washington Commanders" with a boycott similar to that of Bud Light's parent company Anheuser-Busch unless the American Football team reverts to its historic name, the 'Washington Redskins.'
</P><P>
The organization has <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/native-american-group-threatens-boycott-similar-to-anheuser-busch-if-commanders-ignore-name-petition-washington-redskins-nfl-football-sports-news-updates-bud-light-busch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written</a> a letter to the team's new ownership demanding the opportunity to discuss reinstating the team's name in a face-to-face meeting, citing lawsuits, polls, and general sentiment to suggest that Native Americans are not offended by the name, 'Redskin.' The organization has also launched a "Reclaim The Name" online <a href="https://www.change.org/p/change-the-washington-commanders-back-to-the-washington-redskins-3db47898-920b-4ba3-b608-9ffe3b4a0adf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petition</a> that has attracted over 70,000 signatories so far. However, it has been routinely ignored.
</P></DIV>
<P>
I don't think I need to comment about this one. But I'm both laughing and not (very) surprised.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-24460697933953562892023-06-09T09:40:00.000-04:002023-06-09T09:40:12.044-04:00SMBC Theology: Why the universe is 4-dimensional<A HREF="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/three-2">
<IMG SRC="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/1686243208-20230608.png" WIDTH="256" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" ALT="Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: Three"/>
</A>
Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-43277884513582990982023-05-04T12:43:00.001-04:002023-05-04T12:43:34.663-04:00Names for those funny icon-based menusJust in case you were curious, those funny-shaped menus, consisting of lines and dots, that are used in apps (both mobile and desktop) these days have actual names.
<UL>
<LI>If the menu is three horizontal lines, it is called a <A HREF="https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/h/hamburger-menu.htm">hamburger menu</A>.</LI>
<LI>If the menu is three dots in a horizontal row, it is called a <A HREF="https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/meatballs-menu.htm">meatballs menu</A>.</LI>
<LI>If the menu is three dots in a vertical column, it is called a <A HREF="https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/k/kebab-menu.htm">kebab menu</A>.</LI>
</UL>
And now you will know what to call these menus when talking about them with your friends.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-63897621840273830902023-03-13T10:50:00.009-04:002023-03-13T17:23:27.375-04:00iPhone tip: Watch out for "Time to Leave" calendar notifications<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQ4dr4u6GhTXa7HPCix4rXwb72bb0Ox7f7uKrRFDeYtqu4-d6F8lwmR-KrlmnauvhsadCob0piPjF4i__BfX0NarVkSZBpvV2Qio7VON8Adz3zbtFjf3Nwe4-tbn7Ft7WwS81UnlKYyTgijCSFWubgDyG3gVe2QPGkjo7pfrQ2Ihk7x8BCA/s1290/Calendar%20Event.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right; margin-left:10px"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQ4dr4u6GhTXa7HPCix4rXwb72bb0Ox7f7uKrRFDeYtqu4-d6F8lwmR-KrlmnauvhsadCob0piPjF4i__BfX0NarVkSZBpvV2Qio7VON8Adz3zbtFjf3Nwe4-tbn7Ft7WwS81UnlKYyTgijCSFWubgDyG3gVe2QPGkjo7pfrQ2Ihk7x8BCA/s320/Calendar%20Event.png"/></a></div>
<P>
This weekend, I was traveling out of state. While away, my phone started alarming at 4:00am. Which is very strange because I hadn't set any alarm for that hour, nor is there any event scheduled for that time.
</P><P>
After a bit of investigation, I discovered that it was because an event later that day (a simple reminder, scheduled for 9:00am) accidentally had its alert time set to "Time to Leave". See the image (right) for an example.
</P><P>
In case you're unaware, the "Time to Leave" alert is a feature meant to let you know when you need to start traveling in order to arrive at the location for the event. For instance, if you have a doctor's appointment, and the doctor's office is 15 minutes away from home, it will alert you 15 minutes before the appointment when you're home. But if you happen to be somewhere else, it will alert you based on the estimated travel time from your actual location (based on a computed route, traffic conditions, etc.)
</P><P>
You can probably figure out what happened. My reminder was scheduled for 9:00am, with a location set to my home. And the alert time was "Time to Leave". So when I was out of state (a 5 hour drive away from home), it dutifully alerted me 5 hours before the reminder's time - at 4:00am.
</P><P>
Let this be a friendly reminder to double-check your alert settings when creating events, especially if they are daily/weekly reminders.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-44270178278785479502023-03-06T16:49:00.002-05:002023-03-06T16:49:09.698-05:00Some of my favorite scripts<P>
I've been writing small little scripts and utilities for myself to use for many years.
</P><P>
Today, I decided to release them (with a GPLv3 license) and have uploaded some of my favorites to GitHub. The link is: <A HREF="https://github.com/Shamino0/scriptsandtools">GitHub: Shamino0/scriptsandtools</A>.
</P><P>
Enjoy.
</P>
Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-49146562042113023802023-01-27T10:53:00.002-05:002023-01-27T11:00:20.447-05:00Quick tip: Use SHIFT-refresh in your web browser<P>
This is a tip you may already know about, because browsers have supported the feature for many years.
</P><P>
If you hold down the SHIFT key while refreshing a page (e.g. type CTRL-SHIFT-R or hold SHIFT when clicking the Refresh button in the tool-bar), it will tell the browser to ignore cached content when reloading the page.
</P><P>
This is a great way to resolve problems when something doesn't seem to have loaded correctly. Web site managers will frequently tell you to clear your cache to solve problems, but that's a pain in the neck. You need to dig through various screens in your browser's preferences in order to find the button to do this, and when you do, <I>all</I> web pages will need to reload everything, slowing down their load times until the cache gets re-populated.
</P><P>
Simply holding down SHIFT while reloading is much better. It's immediately available, so it won't distract you from what you were doing. And it only reloads the cached content used by that page.
</P><P>
This feature is known to be available with Firefox (<A HREF="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/keyboard-shortcuts-perform-firefox-tasks-quickly#w_navigation">source</A>), Chrome (<A HREF="https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/157179#zippy=%2Cwebpage-shortcuts">source</A>) and Microsoft Edge (<A HREF="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/keyboard-shortcuts-in-microsoft-edge-50d3edab-30d9-c7e4-21ce-37fe2713cfad">source</A>).
</P><P>
On Apple Safari, use the OPTION key instead of SHIFT. (CMD-SHIFT-R opens the page in Reader view). (<A HREF="https://www.macobserver.com/tips/quick-tip/macos-safari-reload-page-from-origin/">source</A>).
</P><P>
I suspect most other browsers will also support this feature.
</P>Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-57706556288040908092022-08-22T18:14:00.001-04:002022-08-22T18:16:59.810-04:00How macOS tracks file metadata on non-Mac storageThis article is based on a discussion thread on <A HREF="https://talk.tidbits.com">TidBITS Talk</A>: <A HREF="https://talk.tidbits.com/t/finding-type-creator-tags-in-old-mac-document-files">Finding Type/Creator Tags in Old Mac Document Files</A>.
<P>
In this thread, one reader asked how Macintosh file metadata (e.g. a file's type and creator codes) are preserved when a file is copied to non-Macintosh storage (e.g. a Windows file server or a FAT formatted hard drive). He observed that he can copy a file to a Windows server, then copy/move the file to several different locations from Windows, and then copy the file back to a Mac and the metadata is preserved.
</P><P>
Here is the result of my analysis.
</P>
<a name='more'></a>
<P>
Since the first days of the Macintosh, files were never as simple as they are on other computers. In addition to "standard" metadata like a file name, size and basic permissions (e.g. read-only, hidden), Mac files almost always contain additional metadata including:
</P><UL>
<LI><B>File type</B>. A 4-byte number (usually expressed as four text characters) identifying the type of data stored in the file. For example, "TEXT" for text files, "WXBN" for Microsoft Word XML files (aka "docx"), "FMP7" for FileMaker Pro version 7 and "MPG3" for MP3 audio.</LI>
<LI><B>Creator</B>. A 4-byte number (usually expressed as four text characters) identifying the application that created the file. For example, "ttxt" for the old "TeachText" text editor and "MSWD" for Microsoft Word.</LI>
<LI><B>Dates</B>. For creation and last modification.</LI>
<LI><B>Icon</B>. How the document is presented on your desktop. An icon will be normally be taken from its associated application, but it can be overridden on a per-document basis.</LI>
<LI><B>Locked</B>. Makes the file read-only. On modern versions of macOS, this is distinct from the Unix-level file permissions.</LI>
<LI><B>Stationery pad</B>. If this flag is set then the document is treated as a template. Opening it will cause the application to create a new document with the file's content.</LI>
<LI><B>Comments</B>. Users can type arbitrary text, which is stored with the file.</LI>
</UL>
<P>
Additionally, Mac file systems support "forks". These are additional streams of data that are stored along with the file's normal content. Originally, macOS only supported two forks: the <I>data fork</I> and the <I>resource fork</I>. The data fork is considered a file's main content (and on other operating systems that don't support forks, it is the entire file content).
</P><P>
The resource fork is a sort of database to store "resources" - objects like bitmaps, icons, fonts, string tables, and other kinds of support data. Resources are indexed by a type (a 4-byte number represented as four text characters) and a numeric index. Classic MacOS (versions 0 through 9) even use resources to store an application's executable code, as a set of "CODE" resources stored in the application's resource fork.
</P><P>
Today, much of this is vestigial. Modern Mac applications don't use the resource fork (they use a completely different mechanism, beyond the scope of this article for accessing resources).
</P><P>
Even the type/creator codes are barely used today. Modern Mac systems identify a file's type based on an extension to its filename, just as other operating systems do. The system associates an application with a file type, which will be launched when the user double-clicks on a document's icon, unless the user manually override that default using the Finder. But the codes are still used if the file name has no extension or if the extension is unknown - in which case, the default application will be the one that created the file (identified by its creator code), and if that application is unavailable, any other application that advertises support for the file type.
</P><P>
But Finder metadata isn't completely unused. MacOS stores other kinds of metadata (e.g. a "quarantine" flag to identify files that should be checked for malware before opening) with files, and it does this using "extended attributes". These attributes are stored as Finder metadata and in secondary forks (not the legacy resource fork, but other ones created for the purpose). Because this metadata is still important, it should be preserved when the file is copied to non-Mac systems, and if you try it, you will see that it is preserved. But how is this done?
</P>
<H2>Disk images, archive files and special encodings</H2>
<P>
In the early days of the Macintosh, it was the user's responsibility to make sure that Finder metadata, the resource fork and other similar data would be preserved when copying files to non-Mac systems. Simply copying a file to a non-Mac system would typically result in the loss of this data, the result of which could be catastrophic (e.g. an application, whose content consists almost entirely of resoruces is the resource fork). For this reasons, various text and binary encodings were invented in order to preserve this data, and Mac users (especially those exchanging files over BBSs and the Internet) were expected to run application software in order encode/decode these formats. Some popular examples include:
</P><UL>
<LI><A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BinHex">BinHex (.hqx)</A>. A text-based format that encodes all of a Mac file's data in a text-only format suitable for exchanging via e-mail and other 7-bit communication interfaces (e.g. the early CompuServe network).</LI>
<LI><A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBinary">MacBinary</A>. A binary format that combines a file's data fork, resource fork and Finder metadata into a single "normal" file that can be copied to/from non-Mac computers.</LI>
<LI><A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleSingle_and_AppleDouble_formats">AppleSingle</A>. Another binary format for combining files. This one was invented by Apple and solves some technical problems with the MacBinary format.</LI>
<LI><A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleSingle_and_AppleDouble_formats">AppleDouble</A>. A binary format where the file is stored as two files. The data fork content is stored in one and all other data (Finder info, resource fork, etc.) is stored in another. It was invented for Apple's <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/UX">A/UX</A> Unix platform, to allow Mac files to be stored on a Unix file system in a way they are usable by Unix applications, but without losing Mac-specific content.</LI>
<LI><A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StuffIt">StuffIt</A>. A very popular commercial (originally shareware) data compression system designed for MacOS, and therefore fully supporting Mac file system data.</LI>
</UL>
<P>
Mac software has also been (and continues to be) frequently distributed in the form of disk images. These are (data-fork-only) files that contain an image of a complete file system. Images of Mac file systems (e.g. HFS and HFS+) can natively support all of a Mac file's forks and metadata. These are very popular for distributing collections of documents and application installers.
</P><P>
Finally, since Mac OS X 10.3 ("Panther"), Apple started supporting the use of <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_(file_format)">Zip archives</A> for Mac files, including easy integration with the Finder. If Mac files are zipped and unzipped using the Finder, Mac metadata should be archived along with the rest of the content.
</P>
<H2>Copying Mac files to non-Mac storage devices</H2>
<P>
With the above background, we can now understand what modern versions of macOS do when you copy a Mac file to a storage device that doesn't support Mac file structures (e.g. a FAT-formatted storage volume).
</P><P>
MacOS uses a variation on the legacy AppleDouble format. When a file is copied to a non-Mac volume (or if a Mac app creates/edits a file on such a volume), two files are created. The first (having the file's normal name) contains its data fork. The second (having a name identical to the first, but prefixed with <TT>._</TT>) contains Finder info and all other forks (resource and otherwise).
</P><P>
If you use the Mac <TT>GetFileInfo</TT> command from a Terminal session, you can see the file's Finder info. If you run it against a file on a Mac storage volume, you might see something like:
</P><BLOCKQUOTE><PRE>
$ GetFileInfo foo.docx
file: "/Users/.../foo.docx"
type: "WXBN"
creator: "MSWD"
attributes: avbstclinmedz
created: 08/21/2022 18:24:31
modified: 08/21/2022 18:24:31
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
And if you copy that file to a FAT-formatted volume, you will see the same thing:
<BLOCKQUOTE><PRE>
$ cd "/Volumes/FAT"
$ GetFileInfo foo.docx
file: "/Volumes/FAT/foo.docx"
type: "WXBN"
creator: "MSWD"
attributes: avbstclinmedz
created: 08/21/2022 18:24:31
modified: 08/21/2022 18:24:31
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
So the metadata is being preserved. And it is being stored in the file's corresponding <TT>._</TT> file. Which you can see if you perform a hex-dump on its content:
</P><BLOCKQUOTE><PRE STYLE="font-size:smaller">
$ ls -la ._*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 ... staff 4096 Aug 21 18:29 ._foo.docx
$ hexdump -C ._foo.docx
00000000 00 05 16 07 00 02 00 00 4d 61 63 20 4f 53 20 58 |........Mac OS X|
00000010 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 02 00 00 00 09 00 00 | ........|
00000020 00 32 00 00 0e b0 00 00 00 02 00 00 0e e2 00 00 |.2..............|
00000030 01 1e 57 58 42 4e 4d 53 57 44 00 00 00 00 00 00 |..WXBNMSWD......|
00000040 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000050 00 00 00 00 41 54 54 52 00 00 00 01 00 00 0e e2 |....ATTR........|
00000060 00 00 01 34 00 00 00 b3 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |...4............|
00000070 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 01 34 00 00 00 20 |...........4... |
00000080 00 00 15 63 6f 6d 2e 61 70 70 6c 65 2e 71 75 61 |...com.apple.qua|
00000090 72 61 6e 74 69 6e 65 00 00 00 01 54 00 00 00 10 |rantine....T....|
000000a0 00 00 1a 63 6f 6d 2e 61 70 70 6c 65 2e 6c 61 73 |...com.apple.las|
000000b0 74 75 73 65 64 64 61 74 65 23 50 53 00 00 00 00 |tuseddate#PS....|
000000c0 00 00 01 64 00 00 00 2a 00 00 24 63 6f 6d 2e 61 |...d...*..$com.a|
000000d0 70 70 6c 65 2e 6d 65 74 61 64 61 74 61 3a 5f 6b |pple.metadata:_k|
000000e0 4d 44 49 74 65 6d 55 73 65 72 54 61 67 73 00 00 |MDItemUserTags..|
000000f0 00 00 01 8e 00 00 00 59 00 00 37 63 6f 6d 2e 61 |.......Y..7com.a|
00000100 70 70 6c 65 2e 6d 65 74 61 64 61 74 61 3a 6b 4d |pple.metadata:kM|
00000110 44 4c 61 62 65 6c 5f 6f 66 66 32 74 33 34 64 33 |DLabel_off2t34d3|
00000120 75 74 70 35 6f 37 76 73 77 70 70 66 61 72 68 72 |utp5o7vswppfarhr|
00000130 79 00 00 00 30 30 38 32 3b 36 33 30 32 62 30 39 |y...0082;6302b09|
00000140 66 3b 4d 69 63 72 6f 73 6f 66 74 5c 78 32 30 57 |f;Microsoft\x20W|
00000150 6f 72 64 3b 9f b0 02 63 00 00 00 00 66 9a 4f 18 |ord;...c....f.O.|
00000160 00 00 00 00 62 70 6c 69 73 74 30 30 a0 08 00 00 |....bplist00....|
00000170 00 00 00 00 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 |................|
00000180 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 f2 8a |................|
00000190 e8 14 f6 73 bd 4a 7d d8 21 e3 ac e3 1c 5d ff 2b |...s.J}.!....].+|
000001a0 b6 18 5c 7e 64 9f bf 7a 8a 7b 7a 8f 03 ff 38 03 |..\~d..z.{z...8.|
000001b0 d6 b5 40 7f c9 68 33 2c 8f f6 35 80 70 77 42 5f |..@..h3,..5.pwB_|
000001c0 0d ae 68 66 f7 f1 fe 6e 0b c5 eb 43 7a 50 93 95 |..hf...n...CzP..|
000001d0 bb 40 65 df 61 ee 12 82 f5 77 79 1d a8 ed 86 a7 |.@e.a....wy.....|
000001e0 fa 4d 2c d2 2d 7a 4b 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.M,.-zK.........|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
00000ee0 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000ef0 00 1e 54 68 69 73 20 72 65 73 6f 75 72 63 65 20 |..This resource |
00000f00 66 6f 72 6b 20 69 6e 74 65 6e 74 69 6f 6e 61 6c |fork intentional|
00000f10 6c 79 20 6c 65 66 74 20 62 6c 61 6e 6b 20 20 20 |ly left blank |
00000f20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
00000fe0 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000ff0 00 1e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1c 00 1e ff ff |................|
00001000
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Although this is a big blob of binary data, there are some interesting things you can notice:
</P><UL>
<LI>The type and creator codes are here (at offset 0x32): <TT>WXBN</TT> is the file type and <TT>MSWD</TT> is the creator.</LI>
<LI>You can see the names of four extended attributes:
<UL>
<LI><TT>com.apple.quarantine</TT> (name starting at offset 0x83)</LI>
<LI><TT>com.apple.lastuseddate#PS</TT> (name starting at offset 0xa3)</LI>
<LI><TT>com.apple.metadata:_kMDItemUserTags</TT> (name starting at offset 0xCB)</LI>
<LI><TT>com.apple.metadata:kMDLabel_off2t34d3utp5o7vswppfarhry</TT> (name starting at offset 0xFB)</LI>
</UL></LI>
</UL>
<P>
As long as the file's corresponding <TT>._</TT> file always accompanies the original file when it is moved/copied, the metadata will move/copy with it. If, however, this file should get lost (e.g. the original file moved without it, or if it should be deleted), then the metadata will be lost. For example:
</P><BLOCKQUOTE><PRE>
$ rm ._foo.docx
$ GetFileInfo foo.docx
file: "/Volumes/FAT/foo.docx"
type: "\0\0\0\0"
creator: "\0\0\0\0"
attributes: avbstclinmedz
created: 08/21/2022 18:24:31
modified: 08/21/2022 18:24:31
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Notice how the type/creator information is no longer available. That's because it was stored in the <TT>._</TT> file (along with other metadata), so when that file gets deleted, so does its content.
</P>
<H2>Copying to non-Mac file systems that support forks</H2>
<P>
Interestingly enough, it doesn't always work this way. For example, if you would copy the file to an NTFS volume that is shared by a modern version of Windows (e.g. Windows 10), you will not find any <TT>._</TT> file stored alongside the original file. But you can copy/move it all over the Windows file system and when you copy it back to the Mac (or open it via the Windows file share), the metadata will present itself.
</P><P>
So what's going on here?
</P><P>
The answer is that the NTFS file system (used by most Windows installations these days) supports multiple forks, just like Apple's file systems do. Microsoft calls these forks <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS#Alternate_data_stream_(ADS)">Alternate Data Streams</A> or ADS. When macOS copies a file to a network volume and the server reports that it supports ADS, macOS will store the file's metadata (Finder info, extended attributes and forks) as alternate data streams associated with the original file. These streams are typically kept hidden from users, but you can see them if you know where to look.
<P><P>
If you use the <TT>DIR</TT> command without any special options, you will not see them:
</P><BLOCKQUOTE><PRE>
C:\Users\...\tmp> dir
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is DA9A-72B5
Directory of C:\Users\...\tmp
08/22/2022 11:27 <DIR> .
08/22/2022 11:27 <DIR> ..
08/22/2022 11:26 11,878 foo.docx
1 File(s) 11,878 bytes
2 Dir(s) 56,669,786,112 bytes free
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
But if you use the <TT>/R</TT> option, then you will be able to see five alternate data streams, in addition to the original file:
</P><BLOCKQUOTE><PRE STYLE="font-size:smaller;">
C:\Users\...\tmp> dir /r
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is DA9A-72B5
Directory of C:\Users\...\tmp
08/22/2022 11:27 <DIR> .
08/22/2022 11:27 <DIR> ..
08/22/2022 11:26 11,878 foo.docx
60 foo.docx:AFP_AfpInfo:$DATA
16 foo.docx:com.apple.lastuseddate#PS:$DATA
89 foo.docx:com.apple.metadatakMDLabel_off2t34d3utp5o7vswppfarhry:$DATA
42 foo.docx:com.apple.metadata_kMDItemUserTags:$DATA
32 foo.docx:com.apple.quarantine:$DATA
1 File(s) 11,878 bytes
2 Dir(s) 56,669,786,112 bytes free
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Applications that are ADS-aware can open these alternate data streams and read them as if they were separate files. The name is what you see in the directory listing, but without the <TT>:$DATA</TT> suffix. One application bundled with Windows that is ADS aware (and can therefore read these streams) is Notepad:
</P><BLOCKQUOTE><PRE>
C:\Users\...\tmp> notepad foo.docx:AFP_AfpInfo
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
And if you do this, you will see that the <TT>AFP_AfpInfo</TT> stream contains the Finder info, including the type and creator codes:
</P>
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiA__OsDPFo1uhzqlrMXz7qkgvltEKBhxZ4SwnCnCtmBpLdG_g5Wo8QgpRfXogOatFw7_91OeNwxB2hAMrZ0GWBt4cY1FnlYqRKPTvj8FjC7YpVISmkr2ujjw_NyWkK9GagbG5yLj--yPhcjA8zeME3cAX8XA9DFCQ0noJEQ1_AvaDzLDjvA/s1600/foo.png"/>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>IMPORTANT: Do not save this file!</B> These alternate data streams contain binary data and Notepad is a text editor. If you try to save the stream, you will probably corrupt its content.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The other named streams (obviously) correspond to the four extended attributes we saw in the hex-dump of the <TT>._</TT> file. The only difference between each stream's name and its attribute's name is that <TT>:</TT> characters have been replaced with a <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Use_Areas">private-use</A> Unicode character (<A HREF="https://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/f022/index.htm">U+F022</A>: ), because colons are illegal characters in Windows file names.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-39428318055730739092022-05-27T13:00:00.002-04:002022-05-27T13:00:16.682-04:00Linkiest: 5 Classic Songs That were Ment to Be Jokes<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<IMG SRC="https://linkiest.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/linkiest_logo.png" HEIGHT="150" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" />
<A HREF="https://linkiest.com/5-classic-songs-that-were-ment-to-be-jokes/"><B>5 Classic Songs That were Ment to Be Jokes</B></A><BR />
<SMALL>By Don McMullen </SMALL>
<P>
Certain songs over the years were written to be joke but not exactly a novelty either. However too many people can’t see the jokes or the satire in those songs either because the audience eats it up and is into what the artists are mocking or even getting back at someone else or mocking a certain product or whatever. Regardless here a short list of classic songs that were meant to be jokes but were taken seriously enough to be hits in their own right.
</P></DIV>
<P>
A fun read. And you'll never hear these songs in the same way again.
</P><P>
<SMALL>h/t <A HREF="https://bonginoreport.com/">The Bongino Report</A></SMALL>
</P>Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-83555077003423256392022-03-23T08:55:00.004-04:002022-03-23T08:55:36.840-04:00Don't believe the news<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<A HREF="https://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/mallardfillmore/s-2650838"><B><IMG SRC="https://resources.arcamax.com/newspics/226/22613/2261309.gif" />
</B></A>
<P>
<B>Mallard Fillmore comic: March 23, 2022</B>
<P><P>
Transcript (in case the image goes off-line in the future):
</P><P>
Mallard is watching TV, which is saying:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Coming up... We'll consult our panel of experts who've been proven dead wrong about every international conflict for the past two decades but are definitely <B>NOT</B> wrong about this one.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</P></DIV>
<P>
Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-14833594772521507532022-03-21T13:53:00.001-04:002022-03-21T13:53:18.051-04:00Healthline: Why Ditching Daylight Saving Time Would Be Healthier for Everyone<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<A HREF="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-ditching-daylight-saving-time-would-be-healthier-for-everyone"><B>Why Ditching Daylight Saving Time Would Be Healthier for Everyone</B></A><BR />
<SMALL>Written by <a href="https://www.healthline.com//authors/nancy-schimelpfening">Nancy Schimelpfening, MS</a> on March 14, 2022. Fact checked by Jennifer Chesak</SMALL>
<P>
<ul>
<li>Each spring, people in the U.S. shift their clocks forward by 1 hour for daylight saving time.</li>
<li>Scientists say this long-standing practice may actually be detrimental to our health and safety.</li>
<li>Daylight saving time can disrupt our circadian rhythms, making us less alert and prone to illness or accident.</li>
<li>Many sleep experts are calling for it to be abolished.</li>
<li>In the meantime, a gradual shift in sleep schedule leading up to the time change may help minimize the effects.</li>
</ul>
</DIV>
<P>
I have been complaining about Daylight Saving time for as long as I can remember. It's good to learn that there is actually some science to back up my annual rants.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-33009676078887115502022-02-25T12:24:00.006-05:002022-06-30T08:50:25.835-04:00Comic and a bit of philosophy<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<A HREF="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/context-2"><IMG SRC="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/1645731317-20220224.png" HEIGHT="200" STYLE="margin-right:20px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" /></A>
<SMALL>Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal for Friday, February 25, 2022</SMALL>
<UL>
<LI>How do you stop being jealous of other people?</LI>
<LI>The key is to always do what is true to you. Find your highest ideal and pursue it.<BR />
Then, when other people have more success, you can recast your failure as a heroic struggle for purity or beauty or whatever.</LI>
</UL>
</DIV>
<P>
This comic, which portrays a very cynical view of the world (a common feature of comics by its author), calls to mind a very famous quote from the Talmud (<I>Pirkei Avot</I>, aka "Ethics of the Fathers", <A HREF="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2032/jewish/Chapter-Four.htm">Chapter 4, mishna 1</A>):
</P>
<a name='more'></a>
<BLOCKQUOTE><P>
Ben Zoma would say: Who is wise? One who learns from every man. As is stated (<A HREF="https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16340/jewish/Chapter-119.htm#v99">Psalms 119:99</A>): "From all my teachers I have grown wise, for Your testimonials are my meditation."
</P><P>
Who is strong? One who overpowers his inclinations. As is stated (<A HREF="https://www.chabad.org/16387#v32">Proverbs 16:32</A>), "Better one who is slow to anger than one with might, one who rules his spirit than the captor of a city."
</P><P>
Who is rich? One who is happy with his lot. As is stated (<A HREF="https://www.chabad.org/16349#v2">Psalms 128:2</A>): "If you eat of toil of your hands, fortunate are you, and good is to you"; "fortunate are you" in this world, "and good is to you" in the World to Come.
</P><P>
Who is honorable? One who honors his fellows. As is stated (<A HREF="https://www.chabad.org/15831#v30">I Samuel 2:30</A>): "For to those who honor me, I accord honor; those who scorn me shall be demeaned."
</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
I think this quote, especially the third line, is a more proper answer to the question asked in the comic.
<P>
People are jealous of others when they believe that they deserve to have what others have. The solution to not being jealous is to be satisfied with what you already have. Or if that is not possible, think about what you really want (and the answer to that is never "whatever somebody else has") and work toward that goal. Once you have what you really want, you will be happy with what you have and you won't be jealous of others.
</P><P>
In my own life, I want to have a job that I enjoy doing and that will have a meaningful impact on the world. I don't need to be super-rich, but I want to earn enough money to live comfortably in a home, always be able to put food on the table, and save enough so I will be able to maintain the same lifestyle when I retire.
</P><P>
The key here is that my goal is almost entirely within my own ability to achieve or lose. Sure, random things could happen - I could win the lottery, or the government could go completely tyrannical and confiscate all my assets. But the highest probability is that I will achieve or fail to achieve my goals based on the decisions I have made over the past 30 years and the decisions I will continue to make in the future, because my goals are reasonable and have absolutely nothing to do with anybody else's fortune (or lack thereof).
</P><P>
And that's why I'm not jealous of others. If someone I see on the news gets fabulously successful, their success doesn't impact my ability to achieve my goals, and I remain satisfied with the path I'm already on.
</P>Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-51304640129561301952022-02-23T11:10:00.002-05:002022-02-23T11:10:11.789-05:00Computer Weekly: Backups ‘no longer effective’ for stopping ransomware attacks<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<A HREF="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252513735/Backups-no-longer-effective-for-stopping-ransomware-attacks"><B>Backups ‘no longer effective’ for stopping ransomware attacks</B></A><BR />
<SMALL>By <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/contributor/Alex-Scroxton">Alex Scroxton</a>. 23 Feb 2022 14:00</SMALL>
<P>
... <BR />
Data collated from Venafi’s worldwide survey of IT and security decision-makers reveal that 83% of successful ransomware attacks now involve alternative extortion methods – for example, using stolen data to extort customers (38%), leaking data to the dark web (35%), and informing customers that their data has been compromised (32%). A mere 17% of attacks merely ask for money for a decryption key.
<BR />...<BR />
Venafi also found that cyber criminals are increasingly following through on their threats whether or not they get paid. Indeed, 18% of victims had their data leaked despite paying, while more than the 16% who refused outright to pay anything and had their data leaked. Some 8% refused outright, but then had their customers extorted; and 35% paid, but were left hanging, unable to retrieve their data.
</P></DIV>
<P>
In other words, if you are victim of a ransomware attack, you're screwed no matter what you do. Even if you pay up, there's a good chance you won't get your data back and your confidential data may still be published.
</P><P>
So, (desptie the article's headline), the best you can hope for is to get yourself operational by restoring from a backup (be sure to retain several, in case your most recent one was corrupted by the attack), and don't pay the ransom.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-24034066829033056702021-10-06T09:45:00.003-04:002021-10-06T09:45:16.383-04:00SMBC: Love ModelingI'm a regular reader of <A HREF="https://www.smbc-comics.com/">Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal</A>, a very strange comic that has a lot of geek-appeal.
<P></P>
<A HREF="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/love-modeling">Today's comic</A> is particularly amusing. I won't embed the image here, because of copyright, but please click through and read it.
<P></P>
The interesting part is that this has been demonstrated. Back in the 60's, researchers at MIT created <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA">ELIZA</A>, a program that can (among other things) simulate a psychotherapy session. It mostly works by parroting back whatever the human user says, with occasional non-specific questions and statements. It is nothing close to AI, but it is nevertheless convincing to quite a lot of people, including many who understand software enough to know better.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-68619160417677442312021-10-05T08:28:00.002-04:002021-10-05T08:28:29.383-04:00The UN's two-faced policiesThis morning, I heard about this incredible news:
<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<IMG SRC="https://cdn.i24news.tv/uploads/cd/65/d1/5d/62/c5/06/18/c6/a4/a0/d4/1b/8f/bc/ae/cd65d15d62c50618c6a4a0d41b8fbcae.jpg?height=150" HEIGHT="150" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" />
<A HREF="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/1633380091-43-countries-pledge-to-combat-antisemitism-at-unhrc-session"><B>43 countries pledge to combat antisemitism at UNHRC session</B></A><BR />
<SMALL>i24NEWS. <time datetime="2021-10-04T20:41:31.000Z">October 04, 2021, 04:41 PM</time></SMALL>
<P>
<B>Statement led by Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia in coordination with World Jewish Congress</B>
</P><P>
At least 43 countries signed a statement pledging to combat antisemitism that was issued at the 48th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Monday.
</P><P>
The statement was led by Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with the coordination of the World Jewish Congress.
</P><P>Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg warned of the <a data-is="component-link" href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/1633236205-unhrc-stops-video-quoting-antisemitic-posts-by-unrwa-teachers">dangers of antisemitism</a> in a video statement, saying that "we will remain steadfast in our pledge, never again."
</P></DIV>
<P>
Which was a very welcome surprise. Then I saw the following article, posted only a few hours later:
</P>
<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<IMG SRC="https://jewishjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Hillel-Neuer-696x597.jpg" HEIGHT="150" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" />
<A HREF="https://jewishjournal.com/news/worldwide/341077/un-cuts-off-un-watch-director-for-highlighting-unrwa-antisemitism/"><B>UN Cuts Off UN Watch Director for Highlighting UNRWA Antisemitism</B></A><BR />
<SMALL>Aaron Bandler. <time datetime="2021-10-04T14:16:15-07:00">October 4, 2021</time></SMALL>
<P>
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) cut off UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer as he was highlighting antisemitic social media posts from various United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
</P><P>
Speaking virtually at the October 2 UNHRC session, Neuer cited UN Watch’s recent report about two UNRWA teachers in the Gaza Strip, one who posted an Adolf Hitler video to Facebook “with quotes to ‘enrich and enlighten your minds’” and another who posted “conspiracy theories” about Jews controlling the world, starting the COVID-19 pandemic aiming “to destroy Islam.” At that point, UNHRC President Nazhat Shameem Khan cut off Neuer’s video feed, accusing Neuer of making “insulting and inflammatory remarks.”
</P></DIV>
<P>
So, apparently, the Human Rights Council opposes Jew hatred, but not when it's coming from other UN agencies. Why am I not the least bit surprised?Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-27272461703336691612021-09-22T22:41:00.005-04:002021-09-22T22:42:10.932-04:00Netflix acquires Roald Dahl's estate<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<IMG SRC="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/dahl-netflix.jpg" HEIGHT="150" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" />
<A HREF="https://freebeacon.com/media/netflix-anti-semitism-scandal/"><B>Netflix Acquires Prominent Anti-Semite’s Estate, Announces Epic Content Dump</B></A><BR />
<SMALL><a href="https://freebeacon.com/author/andrew-stiles/">Andrew Stiles</a> • September 22, 2021 6:30 pm</SMALL>
<P>
Netflix, a media conglomerate with ties to former president Barack Obama, announced on Wednesday its acquisition of British author Roald Dahl's estate and promised to produce "a unique universe across animated and live action films and TV, publishing, games, immersive experiences, live theatre, consumer products and more."
</P><P>
In addition to authoring such classics as <em>Matilda</em> and <em>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</em>, Dahl was a virulent anti-Semite who would have already been ruthlessly canceled by woke scolds if his bigotry had been directed at any other vulnerable minority.
</P></DIV>
<P>
I completely understand the desire to censor all of Dahl's work from history because of his anti-semitism.
</P><P>
On the other hand, with Netflix buying Dahl's estate, I no longer feel uncomfortable buying his famous children's books because the money will no longer be going to his family (which seems to have taken a conspicuously long time to publicly disagree with Roald's statements).
</P><P>
Of course, I don't approve of Netflix's politics very much either, but that's another discussion.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-59224358733463550132021-08-24T15:18:00.004-04:002021-08-24T15:19:28.588-04:00Naked Security: How a gaming mouse can get you Windows superpowers!<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<IMG SRC="https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/mouse-1200.jpg?resize=780,408" HEIGHT="150" STYLE="margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; float:left;" />
<A HREF="https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2021/08/24/how-a-gaming-mouse-can-get-you-windows-superpowers/"><B>How a gaming mouse can get you Windows superpowers!</B></A><BR />
<SMALL>By <a href="https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/author/paul-ducklin/">Paul Ducklin</a>, <time datetime="2021-08-24T17:58:17+01:00">24 Aug 2021</time></SMALL>
<P>
What if you’re a gamer who wants to be a sysadmin? On someone else’s computer?
</P><P>
Well, apparently, until last week at least, gamer-centric mice and keyboards from popular vendor Razer could help you to do just that.
<BR />...<BR />
<UL>
<LI> <strong>You plug in a Razer gaming mouse</strong> for the first time.</LI>
<li> <strong>Windows detects that this device type has special software and drivers</strong> that will make it work Even Better than a regular mouse.</li>
<li> <strong>Windows finds Razer’s official addons</strong> in the Windows Update cloud.</li>
<li> <strong>Windows downloads and launches the offical addons</strong> so you don’t have to.</li>
<li> <strong>The Razer app helpfully ends with a clickable directory name,</strong> showing you what ended up where in the installation process.</li>
</UL>
<BR />...<BR />
The problem in this case is the point at which Razer’s app helpfully displays the name of the software installation directory at the end, even though it doesn’t need to.
</P><p>That’s an active link in Razer’s app, so you can right-click on it and view the directory in File Explorer.
</p><p>
Then, once you’re in Explorer, you can do a Shift-and-right-click and use the handy option <i>Open PowerShell window here</i>, giving you a command-line alternative to the existing Explorer window.
</p><p>
But that PowerShell prompt was spawned from the Explorer process, which was spawned from Razer’s installer, which was spawned by the automatic device installer process in Windows itself…
</p><p>
..which was running under the all-powerful <code>NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM</code> account, usually referred to as <code>NTSYSTEM</code> or just <code>System</code> for short.
</p><p>
So the PowerShell window is now running as <code>System</code> too, which means you have almost complete control over the files, memory, processes, devices, services, kernel drivers and configuration of the computer.
</p></DIV>
<P>
Wow. A chain of good intentions all leading to an exploitable system vulnerability. I realize that Razer has (or will soon) fix this bug in their driver installation tool, but it seems to me that Microsoft should do something to prevent this from being possible in the future. Maybe do something so an installer trying to open a URL (or an Explorer process) does so at the user's normal privilege level instead of at the driver installer's level (which, of course, needs to be at a higher level in order to perform the installation).Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-52913555956731094642021-08-03T19:06:00.005-04:002021-08-03T19:09:54.312-04:00Homestar Runner rises again!If you have no idea what this subject line is talking about, then you missed out on what used to be one of the coolest parts of the Internet.
<P>
<A HREF="https://homestarrunner.com/">Homestar Runner</A> is/was a web site full of silly animations and games, written almost entirely in Flash. Unfortunately, with the demise of Adobe Flash, most of the site ended up a giant mess of broken links. And for those of us who got rid of Flash before Adobe shut it down, the site stopped working a long time ago.
</P><P>
Fortunately, it appears that some enterprising engineers develpped <A HREF="https://ruffle.rs/">Ruffle</A>, a Flash Player emulator that can be embedded in web sites, and the Homestar Runner people have been busy converting their site over to it.
</P><P>
As its disclaimer says, "Not every cartoon and game works perfectly just yet so be patient and expect some jankiness here and there while we keep a-workin!", but it is pretty good. And I can once again enjoy all of the <A HREF="https://homestarrunner.com/sbemails">StrongBad Emails</A>, not just <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSFI7mabpYe4qnB47xr_kS7rhha36aY2M">the ones that have been converted to YouTube videos</A>.
</P><P>
And since this post wouldn't be complete without them, here are a few of my all-time favorite StrongBad e-mail videos:
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="https://homestarrunner.com/sbemails/57-japanese-cartoon">#57: Japanese Cartoon</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="https://homestarrunner.com/sbemails/58-dragon">#58: Dragon</A>. Featuring everybody's favorite character, <A HREF="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/trogdor">Trogdor, the Burninator</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="https://homestarrunner.com/sbemails/118-virus">#118: Virus</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="https://homestarrunner.com/sbemails/152-isp">#152: ISP</A></LI>
<LI><A HREF="https://homestarrunner.com/sbemails/179-pizza-joint">#179: Pizza Joint</A></LI>
</UL>
Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-75972973630528761382021-07-20T10:26:00.002-04:002021-07-20T10:26:41.559-04:00Google shutting down Bookmarks<img width="700" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NJyemoAI0fo/YPbaUS7-MlI/AAAAAAAABUE/pir1543ppGoHVWemxshsQrjj8Zh13ViQgCPcBGAYYCw/s0/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-20%2Bat%2B10.13.31.png"/>
<P>
I just saw this message this morning. So Google shuts down yet another really useful web service, forcing the rest of us to scramble in search of an alternative.
</P><P>
Once again, the point is hammered home: If you aren't paying for the service, then you are not the customer, you are the product. And cloud-based software means it can be taken away from you at any time and you will have absolutely no recourse when it happens.
</P><P>
And now I need to either switch back to using locally-stored bookmark files, create a web page somewhere to provide remote access, or switch to a different cloud service and risk them in turn going away.
</P><P>
And now my question to you: Is there a good alternative? Ideally, it should offer:
<UL>
<LI>Stored on an Internet-hosted server so I can access bookmarks when I'm away from home</LI>
<LI>Cross-platform. Should work with multiple browsers (especially Firefox, but ideally others as well) and on multiple platforms (Windows, macOS and Linux)</LI>
<LI>Have a convenient browser add-on so the bookmarks can be presented as a menu somewhere (ideally on its bookmarks toolbar)</LI>
</UL>
I know Apple supports shared bookmarks via iCloud, but it only supports their Safari browser on Apple devices. Firefox offers a sync service, but it only supports Firefox.
</P><P>
If you know of any other good alternatives, please let me know.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-43280825183956663682021-07-16T09:30:00.008-04:002021-07-16T09:33:14.420-04:00The Heisenberg Life Insurance Principle<DIV STYLE="border:1px solid; border-radius:15px; padding:5px; overflow:auto;">
<A HREF="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/death-10">
<IMG SRC="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/1626367571-20210715.png" WIDTH="500"/></A>
<P>
H/T <A HREF="https://www.smbc-comics.com/">Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal</A>
</P></DIV>
<P>
This comic actually makes a lot of sense.
<a name='more'></a>
</P><P>
For those unfamiliar with modern physics, <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle">Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle</A> states (in a non-mathematical summary) that for any particle, it impossible to simultaneously know its exact position and its exact momentum. That is, the more accurately you measure one, the less accurately it is possible to measure the other.
</P><P>
Interestingly, you can make a similar observation about life and death, which is spelled out very humorously in the above comic.
</P><P>
For a sufficiently large population, you can very accurately predict how many people will die at any given time, but it is impossible to know exactly who they are. Conversely, for each individual person, we all know that he will eventually die, but it is impossible to know exactly when it will occur.Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13703245.post-21363349379181172102021-06-23T14:29:00.003-04:002021-06-23T14:29:54.815-04:00The best Disney parade everBack in 2000, Disney had their <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Millennium_Celebration">Millennium Celebration</A>. Among many incredible attractions was the <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapestry_of_Nations">Tapestry Of Nations</A> parade at Epcot, which many people (myself included) consider the best parade Disney ever produced.
<P>
I had the privilege of seeing this parade live in December 2000. It remains a wonderful memory. So I was thrilled when this past week I decided to check to see if anybody had uploaded video of it to YouTube and I was successful, finding a recording of the complete performance from September 2000, only a few months before I saw it.
</P><P>
Great thanks to <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgADXjq8V2rqfHlDhmckASg">Jeremy Trist</A> for sharing this video with us.
</P><P>
So, without any further ado, here is the performance. Enjoy.
</P>
<iframe width="708" height="416" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/gRy2M7dvhu4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Shaminohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18083421322796364263noreply@blogger.com0