Today I Learned

Tweety from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, via Wikipedia Though certainly an iconic figure, I’ve never been a particular fan of Tweety . I find earlier versions of the character cruel and malicious, while later versions (possibly, I’ll admit, because of those earlier versions) seem faux-innocent and cruelly manipulative. Sylvester , on the other hand, is often a more relatable character, especially when he recognizes that cats eat birds and struggles to control his baser i

“Martha Root”, dressed as Pink Ranger, Chaos Computer Club, 2025 I feel conflicted. On the one hand, it was illegal. On the other hand, they were bad people and it was very cool. I once attempted to describe the “ hacker mindset ”, which is less about technology, and more about trying to find innovative ways to do things – for many “old-school” hackers, it was far more about solving puzzles. Over the years, the word “hacker” has become more and more difficult to define. Depen

Linus and Sally in class, from Peanuts, via YouTube.com Far too often, if you ask an InfoSec professional how to be more secure, your answer will be similar to that of Charlie Brown’s teacher, as you hear a bunch of technical jargon and details of specific vulnerabilities or attacks. This is not really specific to InfoSec, but more a general issue with experts - an occupational hazard, where people understand their field of expertise, but don’t yet understand it well enough t

Mumble, from Happy Feet, via YouTube.com It seems obvious in retrospect. Look at the way penguins walk, then watch Happy Feet , and tap seems like the inevitable style for a dancing penguin. But maybe that’s just because of the masterful dancing (via motion capture) by the amazingly talented Savion Glover  (who was also co-choreographer). For any not familiar with him, Glover got his start on Broadway at age 11, appeared on Sesame Street in his teens, and was called “possibly

Nachtmahr (“The Nightmare”), by Johann Heinrich Füssli TIL that the German translation of the word “nightmare” is “alptraum”, which led me to the wonderful painting above. While “ alp ” is the German cognate of the English word “elf”, the creature in question bears little resemblance to the Tolkienian Elves most of us are familiar with. Instead, they appear to be more closely associated with the vampire, or incubus, and attack sleeping people, either by giving them “elf dream

Pac-Man Fever, by Buckner & Garcia, via Wikipedia A Pac-Man song? I should not have found that surprising, but I did. Originally called...

Life of Brian – “I’m not”, via YouTube Even though I’ve seen it about a dozen times over the years, there’s always something new to learn...

Recently-calibrated reference dog “Consciousness consists of morphogenetic fields of quantum energy. ‘Quantum’ means a redefining of the...

Stg Schultz, Hogan’s Heroes, via YouTube For those who don’t immediately hear the words “I know nothing. NOTHING!”, this is Sgt Schultz ,...

Tux, the Linux Mascot, via Wikipedia This is Tux . He is a penguin. He’s also the official mascot of the Linux kernel , which is the...

MAMMÚT Everyone has heard the stereotype of the older person complaining about the “new music” younger people listen to, and we can all...

Monty Python – Spam, via Wikipedia Even fifty years later, the influence of Monty Python  is felt, as older generations reminisce and...

Contrary to the apparent belief of some in the world today, the book Nineteen Eighty-Four  was not intended to be an instruction manual...