Apparently just secure isn’t good enough, now there’s 3D Secure! While I was checking out of DealExtreme (was looking for a pouch, but also ended up picking a mushroom plush), I was prompted with the following screen:
Apparently 3-D Secure is a real thing and DealExtreme didn’t just make it up! According to Wikipedia:
3-D Secure is an XML-based protocol used as an added layer of security for online credit and debit card transactions. It was developed by Visa to improve the security of Internet payments and offered to customers as the Verified by Visa service. Services based on the protocol have also been adopted by MasterCard, under the name MasterCard SecureCode, and by JCB International as J/Secure. American Express has added SafeKey to UK and Singapore on 8 November 2010.
[…]
This authentication is based on a three domain model (hence the 3-D in the name). The three domains are:
Acquirer Domain (the merchant and the bank to which money is being paid).
Issuer Domain (the bank which issued the card being used).
Interoperability Domain (the infrastructure provided by the credit card scheme to support the 3-D Secure protocol).
“I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live,” he says.
“Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer.”
Someone in the comments posted:
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
A society falls when old men cut down trees whose shade they know they’re not going to need any more.
@AllYourAnime Saw Ergo Proxy awhile back. Really neat drawings, but story got way too complicated and philosophical near the end. in reply to AllYourAnime#
So Random Curiosity, an anime website I frequent recently did a review on Colorful. I didn’t really read much of the article. In fact, I pretty much stopped reading after the first paragraph as to not spoil it for myself:
As a rule, I’m not going to blog the same shows here on RC that I do on Lost in America, with the exception of a couple of Spring series that I’ll be taking over from Kiiragi. But as we get ready for Summer to start, I asked to make an exception for Colorful. Why? Simply, because I really want this movie to get as much attention as possible. I admit it, this one is personal – I love the film and I want to promote it any way I can.
Funny thing is I’m actually writing this review with the anime paused in front of me right now. The anime is a feature film and runs for a little over 2 hours. Colorful reminded me a lot of the works done by Shinkai Makoto. It appears that Colorful was directed by Hara Keiichi, and was based on a book. Colorful was extremely beautiful and the story deep. The characters are well developed and you quickly get attached to them.
The anime starts off in 1st person view. It appears you’ve died after committing a great sin. We never do (or at least not yet) learn about what sin you committed or how you died, but it was so great that you would not be given the chance to reincarnate. However, “the boss” is willing to give you another chance. He gives you a challenge, a test, by putting your soul into the body of a boy who just committed suicide with the instructions to live life. You don’t immediately learn why the boy whose body your overtook committed suicide, but slowly and surely you learn about the boy’s life.
I highly recommend this anime. It’s a bit melodramatic (I might be using the word wrong here) and definitely not your typical action/battle anime. However, don’t let this scare you away as there were many emotional moments and several intense moments I was clenching my fist. Like I mentioned above, it’s very Shinkai Makoto-like. If you’ve enjoyed Voices of a Distance Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, or 5 Centimeters per Second, you will surely enjoy Colorful. Don’t confuse it with the 16 episode anime series Colorful, which appears to be a comic relief/parody type.
<SPOILERS>
Just some random thoughts…
Just to get this off my chest before I see the ending. I have a hunch that that the soul that currently resides in the body of Makoto (the boy) is actually Makoto himself and he’s being given a 2nd chance. His suicide, the great sin, somehow caused him to forget who he was. And it makes sense that if you’re willing to kill yourself, you shouldn’t really be given a chance to reincarnate.
Update: I was right!
Anyway, you learned (or are led to believe) the main reason why Makoto committed suicide was because he caught his mother cheating on his father. Halfway through the anime, he confronts his mother about it. He wasn’t really confronting her to give her a chance to explain, but more of a reason why he’s being so cold to her. The mom becomes devastated and tries her best to be a better mom, yet he continues to give her the cold shoulder.
At certain points in time, I thought the mom was going to commit suicide because it became so unbearable to face her own child. In one scene, you see her pumping oil from a giant tank into a smaller tank and overfills it because her heart was somewhere else.
In another scene, Makoto comes home to find his mom “asleep” on the couch. It’s a Japanese tradition for the person coming home to say tadaima and the people at home to say okaerinasai. I was so afraid that she had already killed herself. Makoto was just starting to come around. When his brother came up to ask him to come down to talk about some important family matter, I was so scared the mom had died and the brother and dad were trying to softly break the news on him. It would’ve been so sad!!!
That was also another reason I believe that the soul is really Makoto, or why else would he care so much about the mom having an affair.
The anime also shows how important it is to have a friend you can entrust your problems with, even if it’s just one, so you don’t feel like you’re alone in the world. When you’re stuck by yourself and feeling the world is unfair and against you, you are led to do some crazy and stupid things.
</SPOILERS>
@bpump Not sure if this is case, but Google Voice does horribly on foreign languages. For English, they tend to do a good job transcribing in reply to bpump#
Interesting… @facebook changed "Edit Friends" to "Manage Friends" #
@spaceandgames @GuySrinivasan If you can't distinguish imagination and reality, when do you know you should make your dream into reality? in reply to GuySrinivasan#
Proposed Amendments: 1916: […] Anyone voting yes for war had to register as a volunteer for service in the US Army http://bit.ly/jBbO94#
Spent 2hrs troubleshooting w/ my parents on why their internet was down. For some reason, changing my router's MAC address fixed the issue. #
@krunk4ever And it wasn't easy instructing my parents on how to access the router config page, let alone changing the MAC address. in reply to krunk4ever#
@bpump But kids need to be taught when to say please/thank you when they're young, no? How else do kids learn these courtesies? in reply to bpump#
@bpump It's similar to teaching good behaviors/manners, stuff as kid I could care less about, but after doing it repeatedly, it's ingrained. in reply to bpump#
@bpump So you think if given enough chances, I would eventually thank someone for giving me candy? in reply to bpump#
@bpump What might work is learn by example, where you as a parent/teacher thank the giver. The kid wanting to be like you, picks up on it. in reply to bpump#
I just got this email through our HOA group email and just by reading the title, I knew what it was going to be about.
Explosive thrown on my deck last night
Last night at around 11:30pm I heard as if something hit my window or wall and then heard a bang. There was visible smoke on the deck and it smelled like smoke. Upon closer inspection, I found leftovers from a small explosive (photo attached).
This is very scary and I do not feel safe in this neighborhood anymore. I couldn’t sleep for a long time last night and did not get enough sleep as a result which is ruining my weekend. The Board advised I should call the police which I will do next time (I might still report this incident too).
This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I hope this is just some kid playing a bad joke rather than a targeted harassment. If anyone’s children were out last night, please talk to them.
Thanks
What I didn’t expect was how seriously they took the incident. It’s very clear to me some kids got ahold of fireworks and it landing on the porch was probably accidental. Explosive? Harassment? Couldn’t sleep? Ruined Weekend? Seriously?!? Sigh…
Update: OMG seriously?!?!?
Police came over and found a few more scraps of the illegal firework on my deck. They said it’s the type of fireworks that gets out of control and can land anywhere if malfunctioning. Luckily it landed on the concrete part of my patio a couple of inches away from the rug and plants. It could have easily burned my rug if it landed at a wrong spot or hurt me if I was there.
Police requested if anyone saw or heard anything last night or knows something, please report it.
So Random Curiosity, an anime website I frequent recently did a 
