links for 2009-08-28

A new study by Balachander Krishnamurthy, a researcher at AT&T Labs, and Craig E. Wills, a professor of computer science at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, painted a different picture. Indeed, the rise of social networking sites appears to be changing the dynamics of online privacy as we understand it.

Based on what I’ve observed with numerous customers over the past five years, and the current reality, in my world, these tools don’t matter.

There is a time and a place that I want to know more, and no amount of Facebook updates is going to placate this curiosity. Perhaps this is a function of my generation, but there are two defining moments for me in the getting-to-know-you phase of a relationship: #1 Can you talk shit? I’m not talking bland sarcasm, I’m talking about a full court comedy offensive that demonstrates not only that you are aware of your surroundings, but you have a gift for improvisation and the courage to use it. #2 Where’s your bookshelf? It’s this awkward moment whenever I first walk into your home. Where is it? Everyone has one. It might not be huge. It might be hidden in a closet, but in decades of meeting new people, I’ve never failed in finding one and when I do I consume it.

From shopping and banking sites to network- and remote-access logins, we're inundated with requests to create and remember a plethora of passwords. Fortunately, plenty of free tools help us store and organize our passwords in a single, secure location.

Shell scripts should not use absolute paths for programs