I’ve found it interesting how many people start off email exchanges in an insulting, aggressive tone, even though what they are looking for is a simple bit of customer service or an answer. I don’t speak to people I don’t know like that and expect them to respond, and I wouldn’t expect it if I sent a hateful email either. Guess it’s pretty common. Link courtesy of The Editor’s Log, over at The (Greensboro) News & Record. ...
Well, guess what. Another large company that collects personal information about people without their knowledge has been hacked. This time it’s Seisint, owned by Lexis Nexis. This is a database used to supply the MATRIX (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange) system with data. In other words, a system designed to help law enforcement fight terrorism left itself open to a group with stolen passwords. But don’t worry, everyone, the data that was stolen about 32,000 people “included names, addresses, Social Security and driver license numbers, but not credit history, medical records or financial information,” according to a spokesperson. We know no one can do much damage with that, right? :| ...
Looks like American Express is sending out a fascinating little calculator as a promotional item. I haven’t seen one myself, but here are some of the results, as reported by Contentious: 100 - 10 = 10 7.1 + 3.4 = 24.14 144.35 + 525 = 75,783.75 246 - 13 = 18.923076
Flying. Robot parts. Human brains. Let’s just give all of the rodents tiny laser pistols and be done with it. Courtesy of Boing Boing
Raymond Felton and Sean May are on the first team, Rashad McCants and Jawad Williams are on the third. Marvin Williams made honorable mention as a freshman. Now, if only Jackie makes it to the All-Defensive team. You can see the rest here. Update: Jackie did make it on the All-Defensive team. He’s a better defensive player than Chris Paul — Felton’s a better defensive player than Paul, as Paul can attest — and he probably should have been competing with Shelden Williams as Defensive Player of the Year for his shutdown performances. Unfortunately, they don’t have a points scored against vs. average points per game stat, and I suspect the Defensive team is picked on stats first, then impression. ...
Chris Paul vs. some Cameron-Crazy-wanna-be NC State fans. Just screams “classy,” doesn’t it? However, I had to link to this story for this quote: “I got punched in my groin by Chris Paul.” Update: Looks like Chris got suspended for a game. (Oddly enough, it could be the next game against NC State.) In further news, NC State fans might be suspended from watching their school in the NCAA Tournament, if the Pack doesn’t pick it up in the ACC Tournament. ...
UNC seniors Melvin Scott, Jackie Manuel, Jawad Williams Source: CollegeSports.com UNC 75, Duke 73 on Senior Day at Carolina. Good article by Adam Lucas. “I’d like to thank the coaching staff for helping me find myself,” Jackie Manuel said. That’s when those tears came for the head coach. (sniff) You’d have to know the history behind the seniors’ time at UNC to understand why winning the ACC title in their last year was so great. For a perennially good basketball program, it was a chaotic four years for guys who are growing up at the same time. ...
When I was a kid, I used to start when I walked into a natural history museum because of the ubiquitous whale model that would be hanging from the ceiling, right over my head. As a result, I don’t think I’m ever going into a Japanese natural history museum now.
Astronomers have found a full-fledged star, complete with fusion, that appears to be only 16 percent bigger than Jupiter. Wow, so Jupiter could potentially light off as a star? Cool. :)
It’s interesting that the ChoicePoint CISO feels the need to point out that they haven’t been hacked, but were defrauded in a way that happens every day. So, ChoicePoint is not responsible for protecting against the most common threats, or is it just that the CISO’s position isn’t responsible for it at ChoicePoint? Here’s a previous entry on this matter.