Rotundus.com

Adobe credentials and the serious insecurity of password hints

"Password hints are an absolutely ridiculous security measure. The whole premise that the secret that is the password can be unlocked by referring to a retrievable user-generated piece of text is just completely nonsensical. The other thing that’s completely nonsensical is this: Whilst Adobe encrypted their passwords (even though done poorly), password hints had absolutely no security whatsoever."

Lesbian couple create a child who is deaf like them

"A deaf lesbian couple in the US deliberately tried to create a deaf child. ... The women, both professionals in the mental health field, insist that they would still love their child if it could hear: 'A hearing baby would be a blessing. A deaf baby would be a special blessing'." Apparently it didn't work quite well enough as the article also notes that "It appears that Gauvin’s right ear has some residual hearing and a hearing aid is suggested. The doctor says, if they want to take advantage of it, they should do it now ... but Gauvin’s parents will not permit him to have one at present." (at least they're not doing anything cruel and oppressive like limiting the kid's fast food intake).

A Delicate Balance: Women, Work and High Heels

"The history of the high heel in Western dress reaches back to the late 16th century when European men first embraced the Near Eastern heel and incorporated it into masculine attire." Gone by the 18th century but I still hadn't been aware of this part of the history of the high heel.

90% of drivers would consider self-driving cars to save on insurance, survey says

I'm a bit shocked that only 90% would opt for a more-fuel-efficient, safer, doesn't-require-you-to-pay-attention-to-the-road approach to transportation. To me that's worth paying more for, not something that it'd take a discount to get me to use.

I've commented before on how the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report is useless for actually determining a gender gap, and a recent article has pointed out some absurdities in the latest version of the index (emphasis mine):

The countries which are ranked highest in each category are not those which have the smallest gender gap, but those which have the largest “reverse” gender gap.
When measuring enrollment in tertiary education (college, university etc) this produces some bizarre results. The number one ranking nation is Qatar with a staggering female to male student ratio of 5.60. The US comes in at 32nd place with a ratio of 1.41, while the UK is 36th with a ratio of 1.38. Over half of the countries surveyed have more female than male students. Apart from suggesting that the term “reverse gender gap” may be a misnomer in this particular area, it also means that those countries which currently have a perfect 1.00 ratio (Switzerland and Guatemala) are relegated to the bottom half of the table. Beneath these are the minority of countries which have more male than female students, with Chad being at the very bottom of the pile with a dismal ratio of only 1 female student for every 4 males.
Perhaps the oddest thing about this whole odd table is that the size of the gender gap in the worst country is surpassed only by the size of the gender gap in the “best.”

Fashionista has leg amputated so she can wear high heels

High heels have always seemed silly to me to begin with but this seems to be taking things to a whole new level.

Cinnamon rolls under threat from EU legislation

"Cinnamon rolls are under threat following an EU directive limiting how much of the spice can be used in baked goods. Cinnamon contains the chemical coumarin, which is moderately toxic to the liver and kidneys. ... 'Most can tolerate the higher threshold [of coumarin] but there are others who can’t,' Fødevarestyrelsen spokesperson Birgit Bønsager told DR." I almost feel like I have to make a protest batch of cinnamon buns. I wonder what percent of the population can't tolerate the cinnamon in a cinnamon bun - higher or lower than the percentage of the population allergic to peanuts?

For Nearly Two Decades the Nuclear Launch Code at all Minuteman Silos in the United States Was 00000000

A lot of people tend to use fairly weak passwords for their accounts, but I would have hoped there'd have been somewhat better security for nuclear missles.

The Dirty Secret of Black Friday 'Discounts': How Retailers Concoct 'Bargains' for the Holidays and Beyond

"The number of deals offered by 31 major department store and apparel retailers increased 63% between 2009 to 2012, and the average discount jumped to 36% from 25%, according to Savings.com, a website that tracks online coupons. Over the same period, the gross margins of the same retailers—the difference between what they paid for goods and the price at which they sold them—were flat at 27.9%, according to FactSet."