Cooper Griggs

via http://brekend.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/droge-kaart2.png

Mario Kart IRL. [zdedwards]

Created by Amsterdam-based director and animator Andre Maat, this quick animated short titled Woodoo relies on impressive sequences of laser-cut wood to create the illusion of a malliable substance. (via Booooooom)

via http://www.dethjunkie.com/

Rooftops in the Snow

Times Square Lights

7th Ave. Night

Hell’s Kitchen

Manhattan Nights

The City Tempest

The Last Light of San Francisco

The Market Street Steamvent

It’s almost impossible for me to select a favorite piece when looking at paintings by San Francisco painter Jeremy Mann (previously). Each of his works seems so wholly genuine, a mix of mystery and grit that brings a sublime light to iconic cities like New York and San Francisco. Above are a selection of paintings from the last two years or so, and you should also check out his recent Figures series. (via one of my favorite new art Tumblrs, Anita Leocadia)

"My cat frequently acts like she’s a spy whose cover has just been blown." [lexisayok]

It just doesn't end. Bloomberg is reporting that, according to “two people familiar with the matter,” the NSA has known about the Heartbleed vulnerability for at least two years—and was using it to collect information about people instead of, you know, telling someone about it and getting it fixed.

With millions of websites compromised, people all over the world changing their passwords for protection, the Canadian government suspending electronic tax filing, and people speculating about whether Heartbleed is the “worst vulnerability ever,” this could end up looking pretty bad for the agency. Good thing it already has a sparkly-clean public image, or it might be in trouble.

According to Bloomberg, it doesn’t seem that the NSA created Heartbleed—it just  found the bug and used it. An NSA spokesperson declined to comment about the agency's knowledge or use of Heartbleed. But Jason Healey, director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative and a former Air Force cyber officer, told Bloomberg, “It flies in the face of the agency’s comments that defense comes first. They are going to be completely shredded by the computer security community for this.”

In early 2012 Heartbleed was mistakenly introduced into the code for OpenSSL, an open-source software component for certain popular types of encryption. It would make sense if the NSA found it soon after, because—in addition to using its influence to weaken new or existing encryption—the agency also spends millions of dollars looking for software vulnerabilities that already exist around the Web, especially in open-source code that is more likely to have inconsistent oversight, and therefore bigger errors.

The big question is: Who else knew about it? If the NSA found it, other international intelligence agencies or criminals could also have been dipping in to the flow of usernames, passwords, and other personal details. But as Bloomberg points out, it took two years for anyone reviewing OpenSSL code to spot it, and there is no evidence so far that hackers found the flaw. The full extent of the damage remains to be seen, though.

The incident raises questions about the NSA, of course, but also about the trust people place in software developers to produce secure code. These questions have lingered in the cybersecurity and cryptography communities for years, but are only now coming to the fore consumers are becoming increasingly aware that their personal privacy is on the line. Settle in, because this won't be the last news story about the NSA exploiting a vulnerability instead of reporting it.

(People call us to set up appointments at counseling clinics. One of our affiliated clinics’ entire staff speaks English, Arabic, and Chaldean, so we get a lot of Arabic callers seeking appointments who may need an interpreter. I know a little bit of Arabic, but not enough to have an entire phone conversation.)

Me: “Good afternoon. [Call Center]. How many I help you?”

Caller: “Hello, I’d like to set up my father with an appointment to see [Doctor at Arabic facility].”

Me: “Okay. Do you have legal guardianship over your father?”

Caller: “No, he is his own man.”

Me: “Well, since he’s an adult you can’t make the appointment for him, due to HIPAA laws.  Is he there with you?”

Caller: “He’s next to me, but he only speaks Arabic.”

Me: “Not a problem! We can do one of two things: I can get an interpreter on the phone, or he can give me permission over the phone for you to make the appointment on his behalf.”

Caller: “Uh… but he doesn’t speak English…”

Me: “Oh, I understand! You could explain to him in Arabic that I’m going to ask ‘Is it okay if I speak with your son on your behalf?’, and to say “N’am” or “Yes”, if he wants that service. It’s legal, and we do it all the time since some people are more comfortable with us speaking with a family member.”

Caller: “Okay, I’ll do that. Here’s my father.”

(I hear the phone shuffle around, and don’t hear any kind of verbal exchange indicating he’s telling his father what’s happening.)

Me: *in Arabic* “…Hello?”

Caller’s Father: “Huh?”

Me: “… Is it okay if I speak with your son on your behalf?”

Caller’s Father: “HELLO?!”

Caller: “See, this is stupid because he doesn’t understand English.”

Me: “… Did you explain to him what I was going to say?”

Caller: “Ma’am, you misunderstand me! He does not speak English!”

Me: “I understand that, sir. What I’m saying is, you could interpret this portion of the phone call, and explain to him, in Arabic, what I am about to ask him, and what he should say back if he wants you to make the appointment. I’m not asking him to understand English. If you want, I’d be more than happy to dial our interpreter line for you?”

Caller: “NO! He wants ME to do it! He gave me permission before the call!”

Me: “I need to HEAR the granted permission. If you don’t want an interpreter, please explain to him the Arabic translation of what I’m about to ask him in English.”

(The caller grumbles and again hands the phone over without saying anything to his father. His father keeps yelling ‘No English’ and ‘Hello.’ The caller takes the phone again and starts screaming.)

Caller: “HE DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH! You are completely incompetent! How am I supposed to interpret if he doesn’t speak English!”

Me: “Here is how interpreting works. You tell him, in ARABIC, what I am going to ask him. So you are explaining that I will say the ENGLISH EQUIVALENT of what you are saying to him IN ARABIC.”

Caller: “Don’t tell me how my language works!”

(Suddenly, I hear a door slam and a confused female voice in the background. The caller is yelling with the female voice in Arabic and English, and the female voice suddenly says, ‘hold on, let me speak with her.’ She takes the phone.)

Caller’s Sister: *calmly* “Hi. I just came home from work, but I believe you were speaking with my brother. I thought I could help. What is it that he’s not understanding?”

(I explain the scenario exactly as I’ve been explaining it to her brother.)

Caller’s Sister: “Oh, okay. So I can just tell my father, in Arabic, what it is that you’re about to ask him in English?”

Me: “Yes.”

(The caller’s sister speaks with her father.)

Caller’s Father: “Oh! N’am! Yes! You… speak with… my… DAUGHTER.”

Caller’s Son: *in background* “What?! That’s bulls***! I know what I’m doing! She’s just an idiot who thinks I can’t speak Arabic!”

Caller’s Sister: “I think you’ll be hearing from me more often than my brother. He’s spoken English his whole life, but I swear, he’s dumber than a box of rocks when people give him instructions. So sorry about that. Well, now, what else do you need to know, love?”

Related:
This Round He Lost (In Translation), Part 3
This Round He Lost (In Translation), Part 2
This Round He Lost (In Translation)

infiniteocean:

My cat looks like a rotisserie chicken.

[sjophotography]

Ninja Knee

Crayon Tree

Snowman on his smartphone

Beard bear

Cereal TIE Fighter

Chip in a bottle

Squorange

Good morning

It’s been a long while since we last checked in with Brock Davis (previously) who seemingly dabbles in every creative field there is from illustration and photography to advertising and apparel. But it’s his Instagram account where his brilliance seems to be most highly concetrated, where every image has a mix of laugh-out-loud whimsy and a good dose of why didn’t I think of that. You can see more if his work right here.

Although major construction on Andy Scott’s imposing ‘Kelpies’ sculptures near Falkirk, Scotland ended last November, this new timelapse from the Helix captures the enormity of the project in vivid detail. The gargantuan horse head sculptures completely dominate an otherwise flat landscape over the Forth & Clyde canal and promise to be a major attraction when they open to the public on April 21. The construction part takes up the first half of the video, you can jump to around 3:00 if you want to see pretty shots of the completed pieces. (via MeFi)

one-to-tennant:

press play if you are a doctor who fan

via http://www.italianways.com/the-ferrari-250-testa-rossa-red-hot-success/

via http://thearabparrot.com/