Algorithmic Game Theory has a blog!
Τετάρτη, Ιουλίου 8, 2009
The author of the book “Alogorithmic Game Theory“ (also available online) -for which thanos has commented earlier- has a blog: http://agtb.wordpress.com/
[via @miketrick]
Warren’s Abstract Machine: A Tutorial Reconstruction
Δευτέρα, Ιουλίου 6, 2009
Hassan Aït-Kaci has written the excellent tutorial on the WAM entitled “Warren’s Abstract Machine: A Tutorial Reconstruction“. This book is out of print (I consider myself one of the lucky ones to have purchased a copy). For years it was available at vanx.org, but now the domain seems parked.
I had downloaded a copy of the files, and now the electronic version of the book has a new home at: http://wambook.sourceforge.net
new toy
Παρασκευή, Ιουλίου 3, 2009
Last week, after doing a lot of searching about a commercial Prolog implementation, I decided to go along and purchase WIN-PROLOG from LPA. On Tuesday the CD-ROM was delivered to my mailbox and I had the chance of trying out some stuff to get accustomed to the environment. Pretty impressive documentation, even if you have never written a line of Prolog before! It reminds me of the days that I was reading the DEC manuals.
Källström
Πέμπτη, Ιουλίου 2, 2009
Μια και έρχεται(;) ο Kim Källström είπα να ρωτήσω τους κουμπάρους μου για το πως προφέρεται το όνομα του παίχτη. Απάντηση: shellstrom
Γιατί στην Ελλάδα ο κάθε παίκτης βαφτίζεται από τον πρώτο δημοσιογράφο που θα προφέρει το όνομά του…
Ιδιωτικότητα και Ελευθερία του Λόγου στο Διαδίκτυο
Τετάρτη, Ιουλίου 1, 2009
Πέρα από τη στέρεη ή όχι νομική βάση της γνωμοδότησης Σανιδά εδώ έχουμε να κάνουμε με τον ορισμό της technically uninformed γνωμοδότησης (π.χ. μια και οι εναλλακτικοί πάροχοι τηλεφωνίας δουλεύουν με VoIP, αυτό σημαίνει πως δεν υπάρχει θέμα απορρήτου των επικοινωνιών για τους συνδρομητές τους;).
Νομίζω πως ο Γιώργος Κεραμιδάς έχει αναπτύξει εκτενώς και επαρκώς το θέμα: Ιδιωτικότητα και Ελευθερία του Λόγου στο Διαδίκτυο
Ας το συζητήσουμε εκεί.
Windows shutdown
Τρίτη, Ιουνίου 30, 2009
This is a photograph that I took while passing by a colleague’s desk:
I know that at the end of the day everyone wants to go home (or for a walk, or whatever) but please wait the extra seconds to make sure that your computer actually shut down. What if it was Friday?
Exceptions
Παρασκευή, Ιουνίου 26, 2009
Usually a system manager proposes a policy, gets approval from higher management (a written one if lucky enough, or if compliance with standards is needed) and proceeds to implement it.
Then it begins:
The manager must enforce the policy, with one exception. Then another and another. And later an exception of the form: Deny access to this resource, except from these people, with the exception of these circumstances and provided that the stars are in the right angles. Or in order to give a real life (pseudo)example:
You use a DNSBL. A certain host is included and there are valid reasons for this. But you need to unblock this host because someone with authority asks you to. However, the hard reality forces you not only to implement the exception, but also an exception to the exception (unblock this host for certain recipients, who do not want certain senders from this host, etc).
In this process nobody tries to understand the very root cause of the problem: Are we correct in using the particular DNSBL? And if we are, is there a valid reason for the sending host to be (black)listed? And if there is, is it wise to implement a series of exceptions, or is it better to wait for the host’s administrators solve the problem?
A great number of people seem to misunderstand the robustness principle: “Be liberal in what you accept; be conservative in what you send” (they stick to the “accept” part) and I think we need to rephrase it:
If you want me to be liberal in what I accept, be conservative in what you send
A policy ruled by exceptions is not an exceptional policy.
Information that we reveal
Πέμπτη, Ιουνίου 18, 2009
Bruce Schneier blogs on the possibility of a public tweet leading to a burglary. This got me to mark down some thoughts that I have for quite some time regarding home Wi-Fi networks:
While a simple curtain can keep the nosy neighbor in the dark, Wi-Fi cannot be “curtained”. If our access point is not on all the time, the neighbor knows when we are on the Net. It is even easy to know this even when the AP is always on, since it is the activity that matters. Hell, they can even be patient enough to crack our keys and look around. And it is quite possible that a burglar knows when we are at home, or on vacation by simply observing whether the AP is on or active based on the usage pattern that we create.
[ Update: The post’s point is that wireless devices inside the house reveal habits of ours to the neighborhood that we *think* are not since we have drawn the curtains. Plus, stuff like WPA protects us from the passer-by and not from the nosy neighbor. ]
Oh well, I guess I cannot be paranoid enough, right?
Steven Strogatz blogs at NY Times
Τετάρτη, Ιουνίου 17, 2009
Steven Strogatz has a series of guest blog posts over at the NY Times. Highly interesting stuff (at least for me!)
[via]
