h2g2bob @h2g2bob@mastodon.dbatley.com

Recently, a Dutch hacker found a vulnerability allowing him to shut down 4 million solar power installations. A handful of mostly non-European places manage perhaps 100 GW of solar power in the EU. Any mishap there, or heaven forbid, a compromise, could easily shut down so much power that the European electricity grid would collapse. Shockingly, we regulate these massive control panels as if they are online birthday calendars. And that must change. https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/the-gigantic-unregulated-power-plants-in-the-cloud/

I love it so much!

Firefox has made it SO EASY to switch to Firefox from Chrome, that you dont even lose your OPEN TABS.

Have you got 34 open tabs lol? And you lost uBlock ad-blocker today? (You did, you lost your ad blocker, because Google)

You dont even lose open Tabs! (And you get to install uBlock)

Fancy that.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switching-chrome-firefox

#chrome #ublock #adblockers

Got me a box of these. Nice.

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉

Tickets for OggCamp 2024 are now available! Join us on October 12th and 13th at The Manchester Conference Centre for an unforgettable weekend celebrating Free Culture, Open Source Software, hardware hacking, digital rights, and more.

https://oggcamp.org/tickets/

[BLOG] ... and I Must Scream

In which I build a custom Linux kernel module to teach the computer how to scream.

https://blog.yaakov.online/and-i-must-scream/

I've read the programmer folk tale "The Story of Mel" many times and it was already old when I first found it, as it was first posted in 1983. I didn't really appreciate that it was already old by the time it was posted though.
The RPC-4000 computer mentioned in it was produced in 1960, had about 32KiB of memory (drum, so not random access!) and ran at about 12 *kilo*hertz. It was the size of a desk, weighed 235kg and drew 1500 Watts.

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/mel.html

It's unacceptable that some public companies fail to file accounts on time. Brewdog is just one of 293 - this page lists them all, and will automatically update every week.

https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/08/10/list_of_plcs_that_have_missed_accounting_deadline/

Inspired by the Dada movement, from Marcel Duchamp’s L.H.O.O.Q. to Hannah Höch’s collages, Portrait Robot is a parody of current “generative AI” programs.

Thread 👇

0.0.0.0 Day: Exploiting Localhost APIs From the Browser (Oligo Security)

https://lwn.net/Articles/984838/ #LWN

Follow up blog post: Matrix multiplication doesn’t work like that

https://aperiodical.com/2024/08/matrix-multiplication-doesnt-work-like-that/

I occasionally meet people who are not aware that in 1978 the world got a progressive rock opera version of "The War of the Worlds," in which case it becomes my solemn duty to inform them that in 1978 the world got a progressive rock opera version of "The War of the Worlds."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Wayne's_Musical_Version_of_The_War_of_the_Worlds

Game Review - World of Goo 2 for Linux
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/08/game-review-world-of-goo-2-for-linux/

Remember World of Goo? The hit game that you loved on the Nintendo Wii? It was all the rage in 2009:

Fifteen years later... and I spent all night playing the sequel!

Yup! World of Goo is back, baby! And it is just as good as you remember it.

In truth, there's nothing much which has changed. There are a few new Goo types, but the puzzles are all ostensibly the same - build a structure using limited resources. Use lots of triangles.

The art is gorgeous, the story is snarky, the puzzles are all solvable with various degrees of frustration. If you haven't played the original, you probably should - it's only an extra $10 in a bundle.

There are various challenges for every level - which does give it some replayability.

The soundtrack is delightful, the Goo are a silly mix of Lemmings and Minions, and the graphics are gorgeous. Chapter 4 is... different. I liked it - but I didn't think the voice acting was particularly good.

Perhaps it is a little short, and perhaps it isn't much more than an expansion pack of the original. But, you know what? I was just happy to be transported back to 2009.

There's no microtransaction or lootboxes. No online gameplay - so no tweens screaming obscenities at you. Just pure gaming fun.

It isn't the longest game in the world. It took me about 13 hours - which included about an hour getting stuck on one (optional) level before caving and looking for a walkthrough..

Linux Instructions

World of Goo 2 is provided as a DRM-free AppImage file. Getting it working on Pop_OS was quite tricky:

Double click the file to launch it.
Play the game.

Oh.

If you're running something more esoteric, you'll probably need to sacrifice a chicken on the command line.

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/08/game-review-world-of-goo-2-for-linux/

#GameReview #linux

I'm bringing the whole band for my DEF CON mainstage show on Friday night! Do not miss it.

@augieray 20 lb Sounds: "Jimmy Carter" (acoustic live)

freemusicarchive.org/music/20l…

/by @methoddan and friends

Hard to believe it’s a decade since @esa’s @ESA_Rosetta arrived at its comet. The trilogy of films we made for #skyatnight are my favourite - amazing access to a team who trusted us, & a very hard working BBC team who finished the show about an hour before broadcast. #astrodon

*** NEW BLOG POST *** In which I take a look at two roundabouts in London - Old Street and Lea Bridge Road.

https://therantyhighwayman.blogspot.com/2024/08/a-tale-of-two-roundabouts.html

New, by me: More than a million domain names — including many registered by Fortune 100 firms and brand protection companies — are vulnerable to takeover by cybercriminals thanks to authentication weaknesses at a number of large web hosting providers and domain registrars, new research finds.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/07/dont-let-your-domain-name-become-a-sitting-duck/

Tax tech companies to build nuclear and wind generation in Ireland time. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/23/ireland-datacentres-overtake-electricity-use-of-all-homes-combined-figures-show