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UUID Library

Submitted by Xenoveritas on
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I've created a library for generating UUIDs with Java, based on RFC 4122. If you're using Java 1.6, this will use a hardware MAC address to generate a UUID as specified in the RFC. If not, it uses a randomly generated number for the node.

Note that while Java 1.5 added a UUID class, this library uses its own UUID class.

Update: Version 0.9.1 no longer requires Java 1.6 to compile and now runs under Java 1.5. You may also now choose whether or not to use your MAC address as the node value using the built-in generator under Java 1.6.

Wikiality

Submitted by Xenoveritas on
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On Monday's Colbert Report, Colbert coined the term "wikiality" (which, unlike truthiness, he gets to keep as his own invention). He used the term to describe how, when enough people believe something, it may as well be true, regardless of reality.

Specifically, the concept was that, because Wikipedia can be edited, if enough people edit it a certain way, the view expressed there will become the "truth" regardless of reality. He then "edited" two pages, The Colbert Report recurring elements and George Washington.

Password Generator

Submitted by Xenoveritas on
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Generates a random password based on a user-defined set of parameters. This currently uses your browsers built-in random number generator, meaning that it's only as theoretically secure as the random number generator in your browser. At some point I may try and write something that tries to be "more secure" but it's good enough for simple passwords.

It works by allowing you to specify different "character sets" with different minimum required characters. If you require more characters than the password length, it'll clip starting with the last character set.

PS3: Sony's Various Ups and Downs. But Mostly Downs.

Submitted by Xenoveritas on
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This is starting to get to be ridiculous. It all started with the announcement that we could expect the "cheap" PS3 to cost $500, and has continued to spiral downhill from there. So here's my attempt at a list of everything we currently know about the PS3:

  • The "cheap" version is severely crippled, missing the HDMI output that allows high-def Blu-Ray movies, and cannot be upgraded to fix this flaw.
  • Blu-Ray looks substantially worse than HD-DVD.
  • The PS3 memory architecture is such that only half can be read by the main CPU.

I'm Moving!

Submitted by Xenoveritas on

I'll be moving this weekend, which means I'll be even less responsive than in the past. I still need to sign up for Internet access from a company, so I won't have access to the Internet for a while.

Note that "this weekend" is July 1st, 2006. We'll see how long this story stays up after it no longer applies.

More Fun With Slashdot's CSS

Submitted by Xenoveritas on
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Slashdot has updated their CSS style sheets again. Yet again, there are little tweaks that would be nice. So here are some custom rules to add to your Firefox userContent.css file.

This contains rules to change Slashdot back to a Serif font, bolds the comment counts on the main page, and fixes some headers that were left with black text on various colored backgrounds - including black backgrounds in certain sections.

Update: Now contains rules to fix the "comment score" header (when viewing a comment, it's the box that lists the break down of moderation scores) and the "recent submissions" header.
Update 2: Added the missing Apache, BSD, and Features sections, which helpfully aren't listed under the sections bar on the left, but do, in fact, exist.
Update 3: Removed the rules to adjust the comment score, since Slashdot altered their own CSS to move the score to the left of the title.

The PS3 for HOW much?!

Submitted by Xenoveritas on
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According to some unsubstantiated rumors, Sony is going to miss the $600 price point for the PS3. The actual price is rumored to be even higher due to extremely low chip yields for the cutting-edge PS3. Right now it's expected that the PS3 will sell for around $650, although that price may actually still rise if they can't improve yields.

Fixed User Privileges

Submitted by Xenoveritas on

I can't remember if I've ever posted this before, but user accounts created on this site also work within FFXI @ xenoveritas.org. However, due to a configuration error, users created from this site would have no privileges to access the other site, and vice-versa.

I have now corrected this. All user accounts created from either site should work on both sites. You'll (currently) still need to log in to each part of the site individually, but your user account should now work properly on both sites.