i be damned
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has attempted to decipher the hidden watermarks in color laser printers. The group had identified that some miniscule yellow tracking dots appeared under blue light. Now the intrepid civil liberties group says it has cracked the tracking codes used in Xerox printers. (Other codes appear in printouts from machines by manufacturers such as Canon, Epson, HP, and Lexmark.)
While no law appears to require the manufacturers to embed the hidden dots -- which encode the printer's serial number and time and date information -- they nevertheless do it voluntarily as a way to help the Secret Service reduce counterfeiting.
In a Xerox DocuColor printout, for instance, a rectangular grid of 15 by 8 tracking dots are printed on every color page. Blue light and a magnifying glass makes them visible. EFF has even made source code of a Xerox decoding program available.
It's one thing to detect counterfeit dollar bills. But the hidden dots may erode Americans' right to anonymity by making it more difficult to print out political or religious pamphlets anonymously.
"It shows how the government and private industry make backroom deals to weaken our privacy by compromising everyday equipment like printers," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. "The logical next question is: what other deals have been or are being made to ensure that our technology rats on us?"
That's a very good question. Adobe does a similar thing in Photoshop CS, for instance.
welp theregoes my future :(
TOP 10 DUMB THINGS BUSH SAID IN '04
#10: "I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me." -Nashville, Tenn., May 27, 2004
#9: "Then you wake up at the high school level and find out that the illiteracy level of our children are appalling." -Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004
#8: "Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat." -Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2004
#7: "I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country." -Washington, D.C. Jan. 14, 2004
#6: "We will make sure our troops have all that is necessary to complete their missions. That's why I went to the Congress last September and proposed fundamental - supplemental funding, which is money for armor and body parts and ammunition and fuel." -Erie, Pa., Sept. 4, 2004
#5: "After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain, we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week - we will have an all-volunteer army!" -Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004
#4: "Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a - you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." -Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004
#3: "I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft." -second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
#2: "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." -Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004
#1: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." -Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004
pulled this from a site . . . figured id share
THE NEW JAMES BOND IS . . .
The worst-kept secret in Hollywood has now been confirmed: actor Daniel Craig is the new Bond. James Bond.
The 37-year-old Craig takes over the billion-dollar Bond franchise from 52-year-old Pierce Brosnan, who found himself shuffled out of the job earlier this year.
Craig was introduced to the world Friday in typically flamboyant 007 style, swept up the River Thames on a power launch to a news conference, escorted by Royal Marines boats.
Dressed in a blue suit and red tie, Craig posed for photos in the shadow of Tower Bridge, telling reporters: "I'm kind of speechless."
Sony Pictures had plans to keep the identity of their newest Bond a secret, but as The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen told Canada AM, the mystery began to unravel earlier this week.
"This was supposed to be this big splashy 'Guess who we've brought in to replace Pierce Brosnan?'" he said. "But we've known about this for like, at least a week.
WE WILL MISS U PIERCE . . . I MUST SAY PIERCE BROSNAN DID A HELL OF A JOB AS 007 . . .