Poetry, Security

National Poetry Month

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Here’s to April showers and National Poetry Month. Scholastic has some fun links to help kick off the celebrations; “use these resources throughout the school year to practice language and literacy skills for all grade levels.”

Community Poems (PreK–2)
Creepy Crawlies (K–2)
The Farm Octopus (K–2)
Poems About Me (PreK–2)
Get Ready to Rhyme (K–5)
The Name Game (PreK–1)
Poems About Me (PreK–2)
Writing an Acrostic (3–8)
Noun Poems (K–5)
Small Poems (1–5)
Personification (K–5)
Chants and Street Rhymes (3–8)
Math Poetry Puzzles (K–4)

The chants and street rhymes are especially interesting to read and reflect on from a security perspective. Imagine using the following rhyme as your passphrase:

Bake a pudding, bake a pie,
Did you ever tell a lie

Or if you are restricted to using passwords, perhaps you could create this version of the same:

baPBa314Du

…if you know what I mean. Here’s another good one to play around with:

Ooo-ah, wanna piece of pie,
Pie too sweet, wanna piece of meat,
Meat too tough, wanna ride a bus,
Bus was full, wanna ride a bull,
Bull too fat, want your money back,
Money too green, wanna jelly bean,
Jelly bean not cooked, wanna read a book,
Book not read, wanna go to bed.
So close your eyes and count to ten,
And if you miss, start all over again.

Food

Kvass

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Delicious stuff, but the word Kvass (Russian word for leaven?) seems more like a sound of exasperation than a delectible treat. I highly recommend it, not least of all because the ingredients are just so darn simple. Rye, sugar, water. Either some Ukranians have found a way to make real food for real people, or they are being incredibly modest about the ingredients (perhaps to hide corporate secrets about the true chemical makeup required to mix tasty beverages). Best tasting soda I’ve had in ages. Taste some yourself and see…

Security

Commercial cell phone spying

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Pre-orders are being taken by a company called FlexiSpy that promises the ability to spy on Symbian, Pocket PC, and Blackberry devices. It apparently gives you the ability to remotely monitor a phone’s log/history as well as tap into real-time data:

FlexiSpy Pro allows you to specify a phone number from which you can call their mobile phone, and rather than the phone ringing, FlexiSPY PRO activates the microphone on the phone, so you can listen in to what is happening where ever the phone may be or whatever they may be doing. Call their phone, and you now are the ‘fly on the wall’ that we’ve always wanted to be sometimes listening in on their conversations, actions, etc.

Might be handy to spy on yourself to keep a log of all activity…