I’m a nerd
Damn! Damn me to the end of the universe. It could be worse! 
(click the image to watch this particular episode of “the show”, and see if you’re also a nerd)
Why it’s important to always change all the default passwords
A brilliant and relatively simple exploit has had it’s concept proven – a javascript attack on your network router, from within your own network. Basically, the script, if the default password hasn’t been changed, is able to log into your router’s configuration pages from within your own network (making any kind of network security/encription useless), and changes the DNS server settings so the domain name requests are handled by a server that will lead some of the requests to fake phishing servers, or to transparent proxy servers to get access to all your logins and passwords.
Imagine that you use the online banking service of bank xyz on www.xyz.com – with this exploit, when your browser requests the IP address of www.xyz.com, instead of the real IP address, it will receive the address of either a server that looks exactly like your bank’s website, or you connections will be routed through a proxy server that will act like an invisible go-in-between, relaying the content both ways, but storing everything.
This is just one more reason why the default passwords of everything should be changed.
First Commercial Quantum Computer (?)
The world’s first commercially viable quantum computer was unveiled and demonstrated today in Silicon Valley by D-Wave Systems, Inc., a privately-held Canadian firm headquartered near Vancouver.
This is the first paragraph of today’s press release issued by D-Wave Systems. Visit their website for more information on quantum computing in general (in a very accessible language), although commercial “how do I buy it” information is not there explicitly, they hint they’ll be selling capacity online. Let’s see if a) it’s for real, and b) even if it is, what will be the immediate and future impact. They don’t claim that quantum computers will replace conventional computers, explaining (plus here and here) which kinds of problems are better tackled by this technology.
Sometimes, evolution happens in small steps, but if this is true it might signal a true leap in what computers can do. Lets wait and see.
A few links with both sides of the story, and more information:
The Science Behind the Story
The Science Behind the Story is column on the Analog magazine website, where the writers themselves give us amazing glimpses of the scientific “clockwork” behind the stories. It’s a fascinating “must read” for anyone who likes science fiction even if they haven’t read the stories being explained.
I’ve been using Twitter for the past few days. The concept behind it is simple but a bit hard to explain – it’s like an instant messaging nickname that you can update and receive updates from the people in your Twitter list, but it has several different quirks that make it more interesting. Their motto/slogan is “What are you doing?”, but there are a lot of possible different uses for it.
First off, it’s completely multi-modal – meaning that you can update it or receive updates by several different channels – on your phone through SMS messages, through your existing instant messaging account, through your web browser, or through a dedicated client (the system is open, anyone can interface with it – and for now it’s free and they are footing the bill for the SMS messages the system sends you). I like this multi-modality, meaning you can reach it and be reached (or not) in the way you choose.
As with any basic and open system, people have been using/hacking it in interesting ways, finding new ways to make it fun and/or useful. The basic usage is to give the world (if you have your account public, or just your friends if you have it marked private) a status of your situation, such as “stuck in traffic”, “eating lunch @ so an so”, or “taking crap from the pointy-haired boss again” – which gives rise to interaction, as people in your list may respond (either to the “ether”, or prefacing it with “@name” so everyone knows to whom the interaction is directed), giving it a feel of a big pub conversation (in which many times you’ll “hear” just the half of the conversation from the person on your list). Some people have also created identities that are fictional (like Darth Vader telling you what he’s doing and feeling ), or useful hacks (such as RSS news feeds that you receive like regular twitts). Another useful aspect of it, as the Twitts are archived in your account, is to record little ideas or phrases in the collective memory that you can look up later (and that you don’t mind other people finding out about, of course). Meg Pickard has written a nice summing up of Twitter as she sees it.
This makes Twitter not a messaging system as such, but more of an interface for very short messages, be it between people, or connecting us to machines (imagine getting your server status as twitts, as another example, something not very complicated to script). It will be bought by Google like everything else 
(it’s probably being indirectly financed by the money this guy made when Google bought Pyra Labs/Blogger). They’ve got a blog where you can keep up with their evolution.
