Posts by D. H. McKee

Tornado Golf

Was thinking of hitting the driving range yesterday after work, but the weather started getting rough. I drove along Northfield...

Bug causes Linux to crash

Running a simple C program crashes the Linux kernel. It does not require root access, but shell access is required. It affects both 2.4.2x and 2.6.x kernels on the x86 architecture
The flaw was by accident discovered by Stian Skjelstad while he was doing some code tests. He was quite surprised when I discovered that the code he was trying froze his machine. He reported it to the Linux-kernel mailing list and the gcc bugzilla 2004-06-09.

Moore fights “Fahrenheit 9/11” rating

Filmmaker Michael Moore and distributors of his anti-Iraq War documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" are contesting the restrictive rating it received from the Motion Picture Association of America because of its strong language and violence.
The MPAA, which represents major studios and administers its classification system, gave the film an R rating due to "violent and disturbing images and for language", a spokesman for the Washington-based organisation said on Monday.
An "R" rating prohibits anyone under 17 years of age from seeing the film unless accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.
Moore's film, a scathing critique of U.S. President George W. Bush's foreign policy and the U.S. war in Iraq, is slated for U.S. commercial release on June 25 in 500 to 1,000 cinemas, making it one of the biggest openings ever for a documentary.

Cheney claims ties between Saddam, al Qaeda

Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that Saddam Hussein had "long-established ties" with al Qaeda, an assertion that has been repeatedly challenged by some policy experts and lawmakers.
The vice president offered no details backing up his claim of a link between Saddam and al Qaida.
...
The State Department said last week it was wrong in stating that terrorism declined worldwide last year in a report that the Bush administration initially cited as evidence it was succeeding against terrorism, Graham noted. Both the number of incidents and the toll in victims increased sharply, the department acknowledged.

Squid NTLM Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Remote exploitation of a buffer overflow vulnerability in Squid Web Proxy Cache could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code. Squid Web Proxy Cache supports Basic, Digest and NTLM authentication.
A remote attacker can compromise a target system if Squid Proxy is configured to use the NTLM authentication helper. The attacker can send an overly long password to overflow the buffer and execute arbitrary code.

Good kite-flying weather

Hot and sunny today, but really windy, and it looks like another storm is on its way in. Good kite-flying...

Bratt ‘wasn’t white enough for Troy’

Benjamin Bratt is not happy with British actors after being rejected for the film Troy because he wasn't white enough.
"About a year and a half ago, I read a wonderful script called Troy and, though the leads were set, even the tertiary roles, smaller in size, were of interest to me. I succeeded in getting a meeting, but was told that I was 'too brown'.

Scientists devise perfect joke formula

The mathematical equation for the perfect joke has been revealed by scientists.
The formula - c=(m+nO)/p - was worked out by Helen Pilcher and Timandra Harkness.
As well as being scientists, the pair are also stand-up comedians who make up the Comedy Research Project. They run this in collaboration with the Science Museum's Dana Centre in London.

French Translation

This probably isn't real, but it's sure funny. This is "apparently" a US-made laptop bag. Check out the French translation for the washing instructions:
[US_washing_label.jpg]

Anger at tainted dumplings

South Koreans are demanding regulators put more bite into food safety laws after reports some food makers may have for years used spoiled vegetables in their hugely popular dumplings.
The discovery has prompted a public outcry and calls for harsh penalties.
Four dumpling stuffing suppliers had been charged for food safety violations after raids on processing plants, a police officer involved in the case told Reuters by phone on Friday.
Police would only give the name of one of the four stuffing suppliers and that company did not answer phone calls.
So far, there have been no reports the dumplings have made anyone sick.