Marco Home Page

Random number generator

breakthru — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:48:12 +0000

This is how to really get a really random number:

From XKCD webcomic: http://xkcd.com/221/

Random numbers are really important in today’s computing. You wouldn’t believe it.
They are used in every single authentication method, and are the very basis of encryption (ok, together with prime numbers…).

Water on the Moon?!?!??!

breakthru — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:10:06 +0000

Nasa announced today that THERE IS WATER ON THE MOON!
First thing I thought is obviously “I don’t believe it”!!
So I went looking for official sources and right on nasa.gov website I find this link where NASA explains that the spectrum measured by the second stage of LCROSS rocket agrees with a model where down the dust of the crater there is also various materials, and water! Water on the Moon will certainly make a Moon base possible. Who wants to go?
Quoting from the official announcement “This material has not seen sunlight in billions of years.” I wonder if it should have!
If I were taking bets, I’d never put the odds on the presence of water.
Waiting to know how much they think there is now… and how many more Moon missions will come!

calcionapoli

francesco — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:25:14 +0000

Maggio: “Il Napoli volerà” - Pronto volo easyjet per Parma.
Maggio: “Il Napoli volerà” - O sapev che ‘a società zumpav in aria.
Maggio: “Il Napoli volerà” - La voce di un ala.
Gargano: “Voglio un posto nella squadra.” - Pronta una sedia vicino la panchina del Napoli.
Gargano: “Pronto a giocare” - Oltre alle carte francesi adesso porta quella napoletane.

Comparing Windows 7 and Windows Vista

breakthru — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:51:39 +0000

To all who says: “Windows 7 is better than Vista”. THINK AGAIN! Even the commodore64 BASIC is better than Vista (AmigaOS is better than Vista too).

Album: Listen - by T r y ^ d

breakthru — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:32:52 +0000

Just found an amazing album by try^d on Jamendo.
http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/3661

Waiting for Ubuntu 9.10…

breakthru — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:52:43 +0000

Today is the long-awaited release day for Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop and Server (and Netbook) editions. There’s a bunch of updates and improvements over 9.04 as described on the release notes.
So get ready to bittorrent the latest release, burn it on a CD.. and most importantly.. pass it on to friends.

Or sell it! You can sell a Ubuntu CD , I just don’t understand how computer shops don’t do such a simple service (that’s material for another post).

So, before going on testing and installing and judging how good or bad this new edition will be… think of a way to contribute back! GNU/Linux and Ubuntu wouldn’t be here without the help of lots and lots of people making it happen. Creating this comprehensive software distribution for themselves.. and sharing it with all the world.

Cheers to all Ubuntu contributors!

Beauty is NOT skinny

breakthru — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:03:00 +0000

Queen - Is this the world we created

breakthru — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:32:02 +0000

I love this song “Is This The World We Created”

Just look at all those hungry mouths we have to feed
Take a look at all the suffering we breed
So many lonely faces scattered all around
Searching for what they need

Is this the world we created…?
What did we do it for
Is this the world we invaded
Against the law
So it seems in the end
Is this what we’re all living for today
The world that we created

You know that everyday a helpless child is born
Who needs some loving care inside a happy home
Somewhere a wealthy man is sitting on his throne
Waiting for life to go by

Wooh, is this the world we created…?
We made it all our own
Is this the world we devastated, right to the bone
If there’s a God in the sky looking down
What can he think of what we’ve done
To the world that he created

CoolerMaster V8 installation guide

breakthru — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:09:27 +0000

I’ve just bought this: the Cooler Master V8 cpu cooler! It’s pretty big, and it takes quite some skill to install this monster! First of all we need to take out the whole motherboard.

This is a picture of my motherboard comfortably sitting on the desk:

Then I had to take out the old cpu cooler, and clean all the thermal paste from the cpu itself…

And remove the old cooler stand from the motherboard:

Now with the old cooler brace removed from the motherboard I can put back the microprocessor, and spread carefully new thermal paste on it.

Mounting the AM2 staff on the cooler was very easy, now all that is left to do is to push the cooler into place, making sure that the cpu is in the right spot and pushing to even out the thermal paste.

Then the last part was actually the most difficult.. to turn back the motherboard and screw the four bolts at the back of the cooler stand
to fix it in place. After that, we’re ready to mount the motherboard back in the chassis and turn on the (now more silent) pc.

Brilliant lecture on Finance

breakthru — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:44:58 +0000

I really liked watching this lecture. It is very technical but it is good!

Lecture 2 - The Universal Principle of Risk Management: Pooling and the Hedging of Risks

Robert J. Shiller