Brian Gongol
North Korea shuts down the hotline to Seoul
The Stalinist government is making some bold and cold moves regarding its neighbor on the peninsula, and making some threats against the United States in the process. The hostile language is at a crescendo right now; North Korea's propaganda agency actually published these words: "[N]ow that the U.S. is set to light a fuse for a nuclear war, the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK will exercise the right to a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors and to defend the supreme interests of the country." Talk of a "sea of fire" is problematic, since it's very difficult to back down from a provocative bluster like that without losing face somehow. South Korea may be at least a little more vulnerable than usual right now because of a change in government that apparently confuses some of the chains of military command. Let's get this right, shall we? Perhaps some serious consideration of a program styled on a gun buyback?
Longer passwords could be easier to remember
If given the freedom to use things like spaces, people may be able to create more complex passwords by using phrases and sentences, rather than just an arbitrarily-selected word or jumble of characters. They're going to try it at UNI, where the new minimum will be 15 characters.
Facebook uses newspaper metaphor to describe the new look of the news feed
Hooray! Another change to the look and feel of Facebook! Just what the millions of users have been asking for, right?
Google will dump another 1200 workers at Motorola Mobility
The phone-making subsidiary is up for a round of layoffs affecting about 10% of the current workforce. This follows a 20% cut in August. Tech businesses are great for consumers, but woe to the tech-oriented investor.
The political left has an anti-science bent, too
Both the political right and left contain a whole lot of people who aren't very objective about scientific facts. Neither should revel in the other's misguidance, but rather both ought to take a careful look in the mirror.
