Category Archives: World Wide Web

It’s a puzzle consisting of puzzles

MeFi Projects: Fractal Jigsaw Puzzle. “A jigsaw puzzle in which the pieces are jigsaw puzzles. Runs in your browser.”

The finished image is, of course, from one of the most famous fractals, the Mandelbrot set.

Warning: This is addicting! To quote the author: “There are a lot of pieces in this puzzle. I don’t expect anyone to finish it.” You might just find yourself trying to prove him wrong.

In about half an hour last night, I finished 11 of the 29 puzzle pieces that make up the whole image – or is it just one piece of the next level?!

Update: Here’s the MetaFilter thread: “There are a lot of pieces in this puzzle.“ .

Anniversary

Sixteen years ago I started this weblog in 2000. On this day in…
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005 (a day late)
2006
2007
2008 (16 days late)
2009 (six days late)
2010
2011 (three days late)
2012
2013
2014 (eleven days late, though I posted in the meantime)

… and in 2015 I apparently forgot the anniversary altogether, but at least the post closest to January 25th contains an interesting link to a list of 10 Great National Parks [in the US] You’ve Never Heard Of. André and I have actually been to five of the parks featured in the article, but we might check the other five out too sometime in the future.

If you think there is a National Park (or National Monument, or other place of interest) missing from the list that we should put on our list – especially if it’s in the Southwestern USA – please let me know!

Letzte Woche in der Zeit

Aus der Zeit Nr. 52/2015:

Islamismus: Die dem Terror trotzt. “Claudia Dantschke berät Angehörige von deutschen IS-Anhängern – das hat sogar Barack Obama interessiert.” Von Yassin Musharbash.

Schusswaffen: “Ich brauch ‘ne Kalaschnikow”. “Aus Angst vor Flüchtlingen wünschen sich viele Deutsche eine Schusswaffe zu Weihnachten. Ein Tag im Waffenladen.” Von Anant Agarwala.

Nüsse: Neues aus der Kernforschung. “Nüsse gelten als gesunde Lebensmittel. Die Wissenschaft zeigt jetzt, wo sie besonders helfen.” Von Harro Albrecht.

Integration: Bei uns sind Flüchtlinge eingezogen. “Ständig wird von Politikern persönlicher Einsatz in der Asyldebatte gefordert – diese drei haben Fremde zu Hause aufgenommen. Hier erzählen sie davon.” Von Gabriel Kords.

Zeit-Magazin – Cyberstalking: Der Feind in unserem Netz. “Ein Stalker entreißt Caspar Mierau und seiner Frau Susanne die Kontrolle über ihr Leben. Ein Krimi über die Macht des anonymen Internets und die Schwerfälligkeit des Rechtsstaats.” Von Khuê Pham.

Ads that use inaudible sound

If this is true, I’m going to knit myself a tinfoil hat. And one for my laptop, and one for my tablet, and one for my cellphone.

Ars Technica: Beware of ads that use inaudible sound to link your phone, TV, tablet, and PC. “Privacy advocates warn feds about surreptitious cross-device tracking.” By Dan Goodin.

“The ultrasonic pitches are embedded into TV commercials or are played when a user encounters an ad displayed in a computer browser. While the sound can’t be heard by the human ear, nearby tablets and smartphones can detect it. When they do, browser cookies can now pair a single user to multiple devices and keep track of what TV commercials the person sees, how long the person watches the ads, and whether the person acts on the ads by doing a Web search or buying a product. Dan Goodin reports for Ars Technica on cross-device tracking software already in use today.”

Link via and discussion over at MetaFilter.