2018 year-end link clearance

Raymond Chen

• James Mickens USENIX Security 2018 Keynote: Why Do Keynote Speakers Keep Suggesting That Improving Security Is Possible? Answer: Because Keynote Speakers Make Bad Life Decisions And Are Poor Role Models.
• Classical music comedians TwoSet Violin perform Paganini Caprice Number 24 with Hilary Hahn while twirling a hula hoop. Also: Professional pianist vs. Beginner pianist. (Here’s a secret: The so-called beginner pianist is not actually a beginner; he’s just pretending to be one.)
• Kate Wagner, the author of the wonderful blog McMansion Hell, teaches us how to look at buildings: The McMansion Hell Quick n Dirty Guide to Looking at Buildings.
• The script says “Bob picks up a book, flips through the pages, and finds a movie ticket stub.” Somebody has to create the book and fill the pages with content, then create the movie ticket stub, then age them appropriately. All for something that’s on screen for five seconds. That person is Ross MacDonald, who creates paper props for movies and television. More links here.
• One of my friends observed that some of the icicles hanging from his eaves were curved. Turns out there’s a paper on that. Bonus icicle research.
• How to swear like a Swede. Note that they misspelled snusk­hummer, so don’t forget the “h” to put that dirty lobster in his place.
• Three Manchester United soccer players vs 100 kids.
• Game 150: A Week in the Life of an [NFL] Officiating Crew. Part 2. Part 3.
• The Soviets’ secret map of Seattle tells a lot about us.
• Dr. Amy Kavanagh is visually impaired, and she explains what the various bumps and grooves in the sidewalk mean, or at least what they mean in the UK. If you like government specifications, you can read Guidance on the use of tactile paving surfaces.
• The creators of the Atari 800 emulator Xformer 10 have posted a second video showing off all the awesome features. Previously.
• Christian Gingras: The Man Who Fixed Robotron.
• How to Design for the Modern Web. “Research has shown that modals that cannot be closed have the best conversion rate.”
• What’s the deal about putting a REPZ in front of a RET instruction? The RET instruction is not repeatable. REPZ RET explains.
• Gaming at 16K resolution. Linus Tech Tips hooks up sixteen 4K monitors to a single PC, for a total resolution of (wait for it) 15360 × 8640.
• Microsoft C 6 launched 25 years ago. Watch the launch video, starring Bill Nye, who at the time was merely a local Science Guy. His educational show didn’t start until 1993.
• Surprising honesty in a KB article: The Message Recall feature in Outlook fails. The last reason why Message Recall doesn’t work: “Most users will see the recall request and immediately rush to read the message.”
• Inner workings of the Crypt­Protect­Data function, for those who like gory details.

Raymond Chen

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