Santa Cruz Holiday Parade

Broadcasting live from a float in the Santa Cruz holiday parade, we will cover geek news of the week and chat about the lovely town of Santa Cruz.

Russians on the moon? Canon's image verification system cracked

Hacker Dmitry Sklyarov has succeeded in extractingPDF the secret signing key from numerous digital SLR cameras and has used it to sign modified images which Canon’s latest OSK-E3 security kit verifies as legitimate. Canon’s Original Data Security System is intended to show whether changes have been made to photographs and to verify date and location information.

Ransomware returns: If you ever want to see your data again...

Ransomware is back. After a hiatus of more than two years, a variant of the GpCode program has again been released, kidnapping victims’ data and demanding $120 for its return.

It's the principle of the thing: Couple sues Google, gets $1

At long last, the couple that sued Google for its Street View capture of their home and yard have achieved victory, in the form of a single dollar. The judge handed down the decision today, and while it’s technically a win for the little guy, it doesn’t make Google exactly a target for emotional duress money.

FTC proposes Do Not Track List for the Web

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday proposed a do-not-track list for the Web. The proposal, which would allow consumers to opt out of having their online activities tracked, was included as part of the agency’s preliminary report on consumer privacy.

Paradise Tree Snakes Glide Through the Air

When paradise tree snakes, found in South and Southeast Asia, leap from trees, they don’t tumble to the ground in disarray. They gracefully glide long distances through the air.
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And a study in which scientists threw the snakes from a 50-foot tower and recorded their descent on video suggests that the snakes are active fliers, manipulating their bodies to aerodynamic effect.

Computer Calculates April 11, 1954 as Most Boring Day Ever

Do you remember where you were on Sunday, April 11, 1954? Programmer William Tunstall-Pedoe’s “True Knowledge” computer program has branded that day as the most boring in history, according to the Telegraph.

The program was loaded up with around 300 million historical events that took place between 1900 and present day, and used “complex algorithms, such as how much one piece of information was linked to others” to determine that relatively little happened on April 11, 1954.

Highlights from the day include a general election in Belgium, the birth of a Turkish academic named Abdullah Atalar, and the death of a soccer player named Jack Shufflebotham, according to the Telegraph.

Of course, boredom is relative and the data only goes back to 1900. Today isn’t over yet, either, so don’t count it out quite yet.

Worlds Smallest Microwave Oven The Beanzawave — Coming soon...

This is the prototype of what is believed to be the world’s smallest portable microwave perfectly sized to fit a Heinz Snap Pot. The Beanzawave gives workers across the country a much needed helping hand to make some of their favourite hot snacks either on the go or at their desk by just plugging the microwave into the USB port on their computers.

The 19 Strangest Social Networks On The Web

With over 500 million members and a blockbuster movie based on the company’s beginnings, Facebook may feel a bit too mainstream for some users.

If you no longer get your kicks from the world’s largest social network and are looking for something more personal or unique, alternatives abound.

View our slideshow (below) to see the craziest social networks on the Web—from the strange and sketchy, to the curiously niche.


This show was a lot of fun – a technical challenge – but the audio is just not good enough to re-broadcast… well ok, here it is, but the quality is really bad.