Kevin McCurley

@adamshostack hopefully it won't blow up today. 😐

I recently purchased a #Google #Pixel9a phone to replace my failing phone. So far I have to say that I'm not impressed.

1. The AI features are just crap.
2. The thing has good battery life, but at the expense of being heavy as hell.
3. the case that google sells is incredibly bad. It's […]

How I improved my #mastodon user experience.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is working to get Goleta’s furry tourist home. UC Santa Barbara sent an alert to the campus community saying that Fish and Wildlife and university police were planning to trap and relocate the black bear that has been wandering around Goleta and Isla Vista. The bear has been the talk of the town this week, with photos and videos on social media showing the bear visiting neighbors in Goleta and wandering around UCSB. As of Friday morning, the bear had left campus, university officials said in an alert update. “Although the bear is believed to be off-campus property, please continue to be aware of your surroundings,” the alert said. Reader Udo Gyene saw the bear strolling on More Mesa Beach on Friday morning and sent in a video. The bear was also reportedly seen near the ocean bluffs at the border between Hope Ranch and More Mesa. As of Friday afternoon, the bear had not been captured. #### Sign Up for the A.M. Report Keep up with Noozhawk's daily news coverage, delivered at 4:15 a.m. right to your inbox. Sign up This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. > The California Black Bear on the UC Santa Barbara campus yesterday has left the school grounds. It has been spotted this morning on More Mesa, the beach and going east towards Hope Ranch. The public has, for the most part, given it space. (video: Miguel Penebella) pic.twitter.com/vqHHUivsit > > — John Palminteri (@JohnPalminteri) April 18, 2025 Anyone who comes in contact with the bear is advised by the California Fish and Wildlife Department to make themselves large, wave their arms, and yell. Do not run or try to feed the bear. Residents can report bear sightings to the California Fish and Wildlife South Coast Region headquarters at 858.467.4201 or online here. To avoid potential conflicts, the Fish and Wildlife Department warns residents to bring pets inside at night, block access to potential den sites such as crawl spaces under decks, remove bird feeders from the yard, and keep livestock in secure pens at night.

Maybe this can make up for declining attendance at crypto. https://www.noozhawk.com/fish-and-wildlife-works-to-capture-bear-roaming-ucsb-campus-goleta/

Got it

Bob McEliece was a friend of mine. The Classic McEliece team is certainly no Bob McEliece.

I'm overdue to buy a new phone since my phone is over seven years old. Every time I look at new phones they are either a) filled with AI crap, or b) too big, or c) too expensive. There are times when less is more.

Little known fact: the author of this paper was a target of the Unabomber. It's odd to think of computational number theory as a threat in this world. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/321281.321290

I want a browser add-on like an ad-blocker, that doesn't block sites, but marks domains in search results with things like:

- pay walled
- requires email
- pop-up modals
- AI written

So that I can choose whether or not to visit that domain, depending on what else is in the search results […]

Yeah I'll pass.

IACR Communications in Cryptology

There is a deadline of April 8 for submitting to volume 2, issue 2 of Communications in Cryptology (see https://cic.iacr.org). The papers for volume 2, issue 1 are going through copy editing.

Text message app, message reads: "Txt STOP to opt out of updates on war plans."

Attendees at Real World Crypto take note. Email is an application area that is sorely lacking in useful applications of cryptography. DKIM addresses one corner case of spam, but the problem remains unsolved. See https://toad.social/@grumpybozo/114213600922816869

Free shipping. Huh. https://www.wayfair.com/home-improvement/pdp/17-stories-cast-iron-anvil-132-lbs60kg-single-horn-anvil-with-large-countertop-and-stable-base-high-hardness-rugged-round-horn-anvil-blacksmith-for-bending-shaping-w113145822.html

admin@yourdomain.com is just a honey pot now.

It turns out that the #Portico agreement for #DigitalPreservation was inconsistent with simply having authors put a creative commons license on their article. They wanted us to make assertions about copyright instead. I guess they are designed for commercial publishers instead of […]

I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction.

* Attributed to Clarence Darrow.

The line from the David Bowie song "smiles like a reptile" always reminds me of Donald Trump.

Open Access Tracking Project (@oatp@fediscience.org) 7.12K Posts, 3 Following, 1.68K Followers · Crowdsourced alerts & news feeds about #openaccess to research. See http://bit.ly/o-a-t-p for info on how it works & how to help. Founded & managed by @petersuber. ISSN 2578-7020. Sorry, I'm a bot. You can like, boost, or reply to my toots but I can't do the same to yours.

@oatp Notice of the irony of this demanding personal data (an email) in payment for downloading.

@MartinEscardo arXiv has a five million dollar grant from NSF. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2311521&HistoricalAwards=false and I assume that it has the usual NSF-demanded DEI section in it.

2024 To-yota Co Rolla Cross Hybrid 2.0l New Car Luxury High Speed Made In China Gasoline Car Suv Fwd For Toyota Corolla Cross - Buy Toyota Corolla Cross auto Co Rolla Cross 2023 Hybrid 2.0l Pioneer Edition 5 Door 5 Seats Compact Suv cheapest Price New Cars Toyo-ta Coroll-a Cross Left Hand Car 5 Door 5 Seat Petrol Vehicle Suv Almaty best Price Toyota Corolla Cross Car 2022 2023 Hybrid Gasoline Fuel Vehicle / Toyota Corolla Cross Compact 0km Used New Car Product on Alibaba.com 2024 To-yota Co Rolla Cross Hybrid 2.0l New Car Luxury High Speed Made In China Gasoline Car Suv Fwd For Toyota Corolla Cross - Buy Toyota Corolla Cross auto Co Rolla Cross 2023 Hybrid 2.0l Pioneer Edition 5 Door 5 Seats Compact Suv cheapest Price New Cars Toyo-ta Coroll-a Cross Left Hand Car 5 Door 5 Seat Petrol Vehicle Suv Almaty best Price Toyota Corolla Cross Car 2022 2023 Hybrid Gasoline Fuel Vehicle / Toyota Corolla Cross Compact 0km Used New Car Product on Alibaba.com

There might be trouble importing this. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2024-to-yota-co-rolla-cross_1601196073003.html?spm=a27aq.rank_detail.6622646540.3.366e43bflI8WtO&cardType=101002745&cardId=10001328643

One more reason not to shop at CVS... https://www.techdirt.com/2025/02/04/cvs-will-make-shopping-slightly-less-annoying-if-you-download-an-app-consent-to-being-tracked/

@BeAware I started writing such a tool (for search) but then I realized that some people like having the fediverse hard to use. I've since completely lost faith in the fediverse - particularly after trying to engage on the standards.

Street art titled "Elon Mask" by Evyrein, condemning Elon Musk’s Nazi-style salute during Trump’s 2025 inauguration and his later appearance at a German far-right AfD event. The artwork shows Musk pulling a black mask over his face, mimicking Hitler’s mustache, with bold red graffiti text "Elon MASK.

“Elon MASK” by #evyrein.
-
If you like that, you love this: Australia’s journey with Elon Musk has escalated quickly: https://streetartutopia.com/from-meme-to-controversy-the-elon-musk-doge-mural-in-australia/

TIL that Itchykoo Park was a real place.

The image depicts a black and white photograph dated April 1942, showing an individual engaged in the task of picking strawberries on a ranch located in Mountain View, California. The person is dressed warmly in what appears to be period-appropriate clothing for cool weather, with layers including a skirt or dress, leggings, boots, and a shawl draped over their shoulders. The setting suggests agricultural work as we see rows upon rows of strawberry plants under cultivation. This scene captures the daily life during World War II when Japanese farmers were affected by war-related policies that led to their evacuation from farming areas such as this ranch in Santa Clara County. The individuals who had been working on these farms prior to eviction ended up living and working in nearby relocation centers. The photograph is credited to Dorothea Lange, a renowned photographer known for her work documenting the human condition during various historical periods including the Great Depression and World War II era. This specific image is part of the original file collection from US War Relocation Authority (WRA), which was responsible for managing these camps housing Japanese-American internment. The photograph carries significant historical weight, reflecting a period in American history characterized by racial prejudice and systemic injustices against Asian-Americans during wartime events such as Executive Order 9066. This exe [...]

Mountain View, Calif. Apr. 1942. A woman picking strawberries on a Santa Clara County ranch, operated by farmers of Japanese descent before their evacuation and housing in War Relocation Authority centers for the duration of the war

#MountainView […]

[Original post on mastodon.ozioso.online]

@mattblaze its called "communication hill" and a lot of housing has been built up there now. San Jose is changing rapidly.

When you manage a mail server, you sometimes see the strangest phishing attempts. This seems legit in a PDF.

I was born in Santa Monica, and my parents lived in Topanga at the time. It's a different place now.

We are now more than 30 years into the quantum computing hype. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/190616.190617 OMG it's the end of cryptography! zzz😴