News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
Despite the many attempts to cash million-dollar bills and the availability of fakes, the largest banknote ever printed by the US government was a mere $100,000. The linked article has this and other interesting facts about obscure and large-denomination bills.
Last week, Google released version 4.0 of its super-fast Chrome browser. A much-desired enhancement is the ability to support extensions. Say hello to AdBlock!
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
The time-lapse video in the linked article shows starfish and monster worms feeding on the body of a dead seal that sank to the ocean floor. Very neat!
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/…
(via naacal)
From the article: “An AP investigation has found that, barred from using lead in children’s jewelry, some Chinese manufacturers have substituted cadmium — which is more dangerous.”
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
Here at the Chad’s News network command center, we’ll give up Windows XP when they pry it from our cold, dead fingers. But for those power users who’ve taken the plunge to Windows 7, we introduce “GodMode” to make your life easier. And for those who really want to explore the intricacies of Windows system administration, there’s even more.
Link: http://news.cnet.com/…
(via Slashdot)
Nearly everyone is familiar with the Y2K problem, and technically-minded Chad’s News readers know of the looming Y2038 issue, but the Y2010 bug (also Y2K+10 or Y2.01K) seems to have caught everyone unaware.
Starting on January 1st, 2010, some computer systems thought the year was 2016. The Bank of Queensland’s EFTPOS system (in Australia) had this problem, and customers were unable to use their credit cards because the cards had “expired.” Many Germans had a similar problem.
Most computer scientists will figure this one out at first glance (although that didn’t happen here at Chad’s News). Just looking at the last two digits of the years, 10 and 16, should make the problem obvious. The bug was caused by the use of a fairly obscure numbering system known as binary coded decimal (BCD), where each digit of a base-10 decimal number is represented in base-16 (hexadecimal). So a hexadecimal 10, which is normally a decimal 16, is considered to be a decimal 10 instead. The code that failed did not understand this fact and treated the hex 10 as a decimal 16—thus the change from 2010 to 2016.
Link: https://www.networkworld.com/…
(via Slashdot)
The 2009 Darwin Awards are out, and the winners are two bank robbers killed by crushing debt. Here at Chad’s News, we think one of the runner-ups (dying to go) was more deserving, but the judges were obviously swayed by the rare phenomenon of having two people remove themselves from the gene pool with a single action.
Link: http://www.darwinawards.com/
(via Neatorama)
Firefox 3.6 has been officially released. Get it here. Not much in the way of new features, but it now has Personas (light-weight themes), plug-in protection, and changes that only web developers will truly appreciate. See the linked article for more details.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Today Microsoft released an emergency out-of-cycle patch for Internet Explorer. The vulnerability exists in IE6 and above, but so far it’s only been seen in the wild for IE6.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
I did not realize that the Pidgin instant messaging client stores your saved passwords in plain text. The linked article discusses that and more.
Link: http://lifehacker.com/…
Ever wondered how auto manufacturers ensure that car door remotes can’t be used to unlock multiple vehicles? The method they use makes it possible but highly unlikely. Also turns out that you shouldn’t repeatedly press the unlock button unless you’re near the car. The linked article explains all.
Link: http://www.mentalfloss.com/…
(via Neatorama)
The linked article explains the differences between the various USB standards and naming conventions, and also gives some general tips about USB. After reading it, you can amaze your friends with your new knowledge!
