Neutered RNG let man rig million dollar lotteries | Ars Technica
A forensic examination found that the generator had code that was installed after the machine had been audited by a security firm that directed the generator not to produce random numbers on three particular days of the year if two other conditions were met. Numbers on those days would be drawn by an algorithm that Tipton could predict […] All six prizes linked to Tipton were drawn on either Nov. 23 or Dec. 29 between 2005 and 2011.
(tags: prng randomness security hacks exploits lottery us audits holes)
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I would only recommend 3d printing to someone who wanted a hobby, and wanted that hobby to be 3d printing, not “having parts made on a 3d printer”. The printing itself is the activity. If you have any other primary motivation your parts will fail more often than they’ll succeed.
(via burritojustice)(tags: via:burritojustice 3d-printing machines parts things hobbies open-source funny)
Internet mapping turned a remote farm into a digital hell
I think this a bit of a legal issue for MaxMind:
The trouble for the Taylor farm started in 2002, when a Massachusetts-based digital mapping company called MaxMind decided it wanted to provide “IP intelligence” to companies who wanted to know the geographic location of a computer to, for example, show the person using it relevant ads or to send the person a warning letter if they were pirating music or movies.