Castles made of sand…

History’s Worst Software Bugs
This one was published earlier this month, but I still think its worth a read. It lists the top 10 worst software bugs. One of NASA’s probes made the list. There is also European rocket on the list too.

Ignoring useless information aids memory: study
Not much information given in this article, but it suggests that you should ignore your teachers. Okay, it doesn’t _really_ say that, but that’s what I got out of it. The next two years of schooling will be mostly useless information.

Microsoft Seeks to Standardize Office Format
Now this is BIG news. Microsoft going open source? It is a few years off but a standardize office format may allow other applications to surface that could compete with Office directly, or at least applications that get rid of all the clutter with office but still allow you to use the office formats. I suspect OpenOffice would quickly adopt the specification, and its free. But OpenOffice hasn’t proven its worth in industry yet, but Google is on it.

Thanksgiving in Space Could Look Different
The article tells about what will be done for food on trips to Mars, which would be a long trip. Not really new news, but a quote of it was funny. Its out of context, so you can read the article:

“Some crew members are leery of turning urine into drinking water. But Kloeris noted that water-treatment systems on Earth do that already.

“So in real life you are drinking somebody else’s urine instead of your own,” she said. “So I’m not sure psychologically which is worse. I think I’d rather drink my own.”

Browser Makers Band Together Against Phishers
This meeting actually took place last week or weekend. But this is good news for consumers really. All of the major browsers are working together together to establish better ways to identify secure sites. This will require some cooperation from Certificate Authorities (the companies that issue sign certificates that sites use to identify them as secure), but should make a dent in phishers. I wonder how long it will take to see the full effects of this meeting… some of the points were not finalize there so maybe this will spring up in the news again soon. Oh, and this article just gives the overview of what happened, the detailed stuff has posted in blogs by those that were at the meeting.

Harry Potter casts his spell in space
The two guys in the International Space Station got to see the new Harry Potter movie. Interesting.