Breaking News! Google AdWords Exploit Seen in the Wild! Yikes!

Today, my aunt Sue did a google search for “ebay” and got this…

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See the ad for ebay at the top of the results? Not particularly interesting, right? The google provided link text says ebay, and overing over the link shows ebay. But a careful look at the source shows this…

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The person who bought that ad cleverly injected a link to very NOT ebay. The link is to here (posted as image so you can’t accidentally click it)…

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Yikes! Yikes! There is no way you could tell that link was not going to ebay without clicking it, and in fact the link text says “ebay.com” which is supposed to be checked against the actual target link by adwords. Yikes!

When you click on the link, you end up here…

SNAG-0031.jpgQuadruple yikes!

Normally when I get a call like this, I assume that the person calling did something wrong like installing software or clicking on a wrong link.

In this case my Aunt Sue didn’t do anything wrong – google did!

Worse, the person who paid for this ad specifically targeted old people!!!!

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…and seems to be from ebay!

Google: you really need to fix this! Make sure that link text matches the link target, and also give me a button to check who paid for an ad!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the more interesting air conditioners I have met

Almost all air conditioners and refrigerators on the planet work basically the same way, but some units have their own unique charms. Click on to through to see inside the thinnest, quietest, tiniest, and crappiest units I’ve ever met.

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The inside of the cheapest ($99) AC I’ve ever seen. Most of the internal structure is styrofoam and the vibration dampeners are squished on plumbers putty. But it works!

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Pneumatic Hydraulics Are So Fricken Fun!!!!

 

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How did I not know about Pneumatics before now?!? They are just like the hydraulics on your backhoe, except they are super cheap and easy and fun- and they don’t smell, won’t ruin your shirts, and won’t turn your arm into a meat pie (warning! gross!!!).

Today I share with you the full breadth of pnuematics wisdom that I’ve painstakingly acquired over the course the last 20 minutes so you can start playing with them too.

Full video after the break….

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Porno for Pedophiles?

Thought experiment:

Assume someday the VR sex-machine experience gets so good that pedophiles would prefer to have a virtual encounter with a child than a real one.

Should the software that generates these experiences be illegal to create? Own? Use?

Thoughtful answers requested in the comments section.

FAQ

Q: Children are still harmed even with a VR only encounter.
A: Assume that all the characters in the VR simulation are completely computer generated and synthetic. If this is the case, then who is hurt- and how?

Q: Having access to VR porn would stoke pedophiles to action and create more victims. 
A: In this thought experiment we are stipulating that the VR porn is preferable to real life and would supplant it for some people. This is not a necessarily hypothetical conceit.

Q: Why would the software be illegal? It is just 1’s and 0’s.
A: Things can get legally non-intuitive around this issue.

Q: You sick fuck.
A: I am not a pedophile. Instead, I am interested in thinking and talking about ways to potentially reduce or eliminate the harm that they do.

A software only solution to the vexing Beagle Bone Black PHY issue

Power cycling BBB’s with clicky relays

Sometimes the Ethernet port on a Beagle Bone Black does not work on power up. It takes either a physical reset button press or a power cycle to fix it. This problem affects all BBB’s and until now could only be solved with hardware hacks.

The final official word from TI on this problem:

“There is no solution for this on the BB Black“

This sucks. If you are thinking of using a Beagle Bone Black for anything important… then don’t. And don’t bother reading the rest of this article.

If you already are stuck with the Beagle Bone Black and wish that it worked right each and every time you turn it on, then read this article.

Here is a workaround that can guarantee that an unmodified Beagle Bone Black will have a working Ethernet port within a few minutes after power up.

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