Elliptic curve PRNG “back door” proof-of-concept...

Elliptic curve PRNG “back door” proof-of-concept...  Aris Adamar explores the leaked exploit, and concludes (appropriately): “Yikes!” 

LRO spots Chang'e on the moon...

LRO spots Chang'e on the moon...  The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) cameras have detected Chang'e (the Chinese lunar lander and rover) on the moon's surface, though not quite in the expected position...

Kim Jong-un loves ObamaCare...

Kim Jong-un loves ObamaCare...

Oh, the irony...

Oh, the irony...  I've written before about the ship currently trapped in ice near Antarctica.  The first three rescue attempts (by icebreakers) failed, and now another attempt by helicopters is being planned – but the weather is awful and has so far kept the rescuers from getting there.  The ice is compressing the hull of the trapped ship, and there is a very real danger that its hull will be breached and the ship sunk.  The people on it are in real danger, though it's not clear that they themselves realize it.  We hope that their rescue is successful, and that their ship can be retrieved safely so that it doesn't join the dozens of other sunken vessels around Antarctica.

But there is a delicious little irony contained within the story.  The ship is Russian flagged, and it's a sort of global warming tourism effort: there are a few actual climate scientists on board (warmists all), along with a number of paying passengers who are hoping to contribute in some small way to climate science.  Their goal on this trip was to document decreasing ice coverage due to global warming; instead they ran into record high ice levels.

But that's not the irony of which I speak.  Here it is: those people on that ship need accurate weather data to guide their actions (and, hopefully, a rescue) over the next few days.  They didn't have access to that data.  So they reached out to some well-known sources of good (meaning accurate) weather data – including John Coleman and Anthony Watts, both leaders in the global warming skeptic community.  They are doing their best to help.

Some background on the expedition here.  Their leader, climatology professor Chris Turney, looks quite foolish on the evidence at hand...

Awesome response to a cease-and-desist letter...

Awesome response to a cease-and-desist letter...  A bar in Missouri had a beer whose name was dangerously close to Starbucks' “Frappucino”  Starbucks' lawyers sent them one of the usual over-the-top cease-and-desist letters.  The bar owner's response is wonderful!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  We're noticing that for a lot of people (ourselves included), there's a suffix this year: we're hoping that 2014 is a better year than 2013 was...

California leads the way!

California leads the way!  ... in small business discouragement.  Says Andy Puzder, CEO of Hardees' parent company:

Under the current U.S. business climate, regulatory and tax restrictions tend to curb otherwise dynamic entrepreneurial energy.  We’d love to see more growth in domestic markets. Unfortunately, it’s easier for our franchisees to open a restaurant in Siberia than in California.

That's the way, Sacramento!   Let's not have any of those job-producing, consumer-pleasing fast food joints in our state!