... but I also don't have a GMail account.

Thanks to Johno at the Ministry of Minor Perfidy for the pointer to concentrated electronic paranoia.*

*Note that paranoia about something does not automatically mean that you're wrong.

Posted by: Ted at 08:11 AM | category: SciTech
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At least according to a new report released by scientists studying Dinocephalosaurus, a long-necked aquatic reptile that lived in what is now China some 230 million years ago.

"The long neck would allow it to approach prey without the whole body becoming visible," Olivier Rieppel of the Field Museum in Chicago, a co-author of the report, said in a telephone interview.

Which is good (for the Dinocephalosaurus, not the fish), but it may have done even better than that. Ever notice how when you try to catch or swat certain insects, they seem to know and escape at the last second, even if you sneak up on them? Some insects have organs that sense air pressure, like the wave of air that arrives a split second before the rolled up newspaper. Fish have that ability too, and water, being much more dense than air, telegraphs the pressure wave even more noticably (try it in a swimming pool or bathtub, you'll see what I mean). So how did Dinocephalosaurus solve that little problem?

Michael LaBarbera of the University of Chicago, a co-author of the report, said the rib-like bones along the side of the neck may also have played a role in hunting.

Those bones give the neck some stiffness, Rieppel explained. It could flex, but not like a snake.

According to LaBarbera, contraction of the creature's neck muscles could have rapidly straightened the neck and splayed the neck ribs outward.

That would have greatly increased the volume of the throat, allowing the animal to lunge forward in the water at prey. Ordinarily, lunging through water creates a pressure wave that a fish can sense, allowing it to flee. But the researchers said that by suddenly enlarging its throat Dinocephalosaurus could, in effect, suck in and swallow its own pressure wave, giving it the ability to strike without warning.

The original Big Gulp. Nature does some amazing things.

Posted by: Ted at 06:01 AM | category: SciTech
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Cannibal, yes. Murderer? Maybe not. Desperate people go to extreme lengths to survive, and Alfred Packer always insisted that he only killed one man in his expedition of six, and that it was in self-defense.

Now a museum curator has used archeology and advanced forensics science to show that Packer may have been telling the truth 130 years ago.

Update: According to the first link above:

The University of Colorado at Boulder named their student cafeteria The Alfred Packer Memorial Grill, apparently as a derisive statement about the food served there.

Now I want BBQ for lunch...

Posted by: Ted at 09:19 AM | category: SciTech
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1 I hope you've seen "Cannibal, the Musical." It's a not-to-be-missed TROMA DVD release, the Alfred Packer story done by Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Posted by: Susie at September 18, 2004 02:20 PM (aGSjc)

2 Why doesn't it surprise me that you knew that, Susie?

Posted by: Ted at September 18, 2004 04:30 PM (ZjSa7)

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Remember when I posted the link about these guys? A group of radio control hobbyists who built a scale B-52; 300+ pounds, 27 foot wingspan, 8 working miniature jet engines. So very impressive.

It crashed. Before, during, and after video and pictures here.

Posted by: Ted at 06:14 AM | category: SciTech
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1 Ow.

Damn, that thing was a work of art.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 12, 2004 10:01 AM (+S1Ft)

2 Double damn. Looks like it hit the ground pretty hard, too.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at September 12, 2004 05:13 PM (88z1C)

3 Gad! How many man hours of work went up in smoke with this project! Maybe they should have taken it to the Burning Man in thr desert, it would have fit right in! My heart goes out to these guys.

Posted by: Big Al at September 12, 2004 05:54 PM (Je73l)

4 It was kind of chilling too, because that flight profile exactly matched a video I saw of a real B52 crashing at an air show several years ago. The buff is just not built to fly when the wings go vertical like that. Spooky parallel.

Posted by: Ted at September 12, 2004 06:06 PM (ZjSa7)

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Spammers + Hackers = Uh oh.

New Worm Travels by IM

Paul Roberts, IDG News Service

A new version of the worm that spread from infected Microsoft Web servers in June has been identified and is using instant messages and infected Web sites in Russia, Uruguay, and the United States to spread itself, according to one security company.

Researchers at PivX Solutions of Newport Beach, California, have intercepted new malicious code closely resembling that from widespread attacks in June attributed to a worm named "Scob" or "Download.ject." The new attacks use mass-distributed instant messages to lure Internet users to Web sites that distribute malicious code similar to Download.ject, says Thor Larholm, senior security researcher at PivX.

This wave of attacks works similarly, routing victims to Web sites with code that takes advantage of vulnerabilities in Microsoft Internet Explorer and Outlook. Though Microsoft has patched those vulnerabilities, the attackers are attempting to exploit unpatched systems. Two patches from 2003, MS03-025 and MS03-040M, address the flaws used by the new worm, Larholm says.

How It Slithers

First detected on June 24, the Scob attacks were attributed to a Russian hacking group known as the "HangUP team." The virus used a recently patched buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft's implementation of Secure Sockets Layer to compromise vulnerable Windows 2000 systems running Internet Information Server Version 5 Web servers. Companies that used IIS Version 5 and failed to apply a recent security software patch, MS04-011, were vulnerable.

The June attacks also used two vulnerabilities in Windows and Internet Explorer to silently run the malicious code distributed from the IIS servers on machines that visited the compromised sites. The malware redirected victims to Web sites controlled by the hackers, and downloaded a Trojan horse program that captured keystrokes and personal data.

The newer attacks begin with instant messages sent to people using America Online's AOL Instant Messenger or ICQ instant messaging program. The messages invite recipients to click on a link to a Web page, with pitches such as "Check out my new home page!" The messages could appear to be sent from strangers or from regular IM correspondents, or "buddies," Larholm says.
Once victims click on the link, they are taken to one of a handful of attack Web pages hosted on servers in Uruguay, Russia, and the United States. There, a Trojan horse program is downloaded.
Greedy Worms?

In addition to opening a "back door" on the victim's computer through which additional malicious programs can enter, the new attacks change the victim's Web browser home page or Outlook e-mail search page to Web sites featuring adult content, Larholm says.

PivX is still analyzing the attacks to see if malicious code is placed on victims' machines. However, many of the files used by the new worm and the way the attacks occur point to the same group that launched the Scob attacks in June, Larholm says.

"The code is different enough to be something of its own, but unique enough to be related," he says. "And as with the Scob attacks, this is all about money--in this case, driving ad revenue for specific people."

PivX has informed antivirus companies of the new malicious code, Larholm says.

Posted by: Ted at 05:14 AM | category: SciTech
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In my research and testing (oooo, sounds official, doesn't it?) about PDA-friendly blogging*, I noticed that many sites - especially some of the 'biggies' - don't offer XML syndication. I think it comes standard with most blogging software now, which means it was intentionally removed.

I'm not an expert on this stuff, which is why I'm studying it. The main effect (I think) of not offering syndication is that aggregators can't include your site in their news-gathering functions.

So why not have it there?

*This is a hint on where my thoughts are headed with this whole line of research. I may end up writing my own aggregator if I can't find one that does what I think I want it to.

Posted by: Ted at 05:18 AM | category: SciTech
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