Make that:

$ pwgen -N 3 -y -s 20
Q^lu)bgREy3c$OH5PmGI 95Q~\\1?"W#S9*yDa1)A c0UX4]?e$1{WjM3N7inI

Not just that, but IF you would want to use a cell network (for example aggregation in a network that works with 802.15.4 otherwise), why not just bog standard GPRS. Much better coverage than even 3G, and would still be fast enough. If the Telco's would be smart, they would even target SMS for this. Lower power consumption, even better coverage, and SMS revenue is in decline because everyone is using data to send text messages instead of actually using SMS. Telco's could provide bulk messaging for M2M applications... Instead, they won't because they are shortsighted - just like they wouldn't with the pager network.

Actually, it is not. In reality, a 256 bit key can not be brute forced because of physics - especially the second law of thermodynamics. One of the results of this law is that information needs energy to be represented. In an ideal computer, the representation of one bit requires kT energy, where k is the Boltzman constant and T is the temperature. Let's assume we can operate at the average temperature of 3.2 Kelvin, the average temperature of the universe. The required energy to represent a bit in this case would be around 4.416*10-23 Joule.

The annual amount of energy that our sun emits is about 1.21*10^34 Joule. Dividing this with the per bit-change energy, we could provide power for our ideal computer to perform 2.74*10^56 bit changes. This is just about enough to have a 187-bit counter go through all its states. This does not include the energy needed for the computations to test each key (our counter state in this case) for correctness.

A 256 bit counter would require ~400.000.000.000.000.000.000 stars like our sun just to represent in the counter of our ideal computer.

Or, to say it in the words of Bruce Schneier:
"...brute force attacks against 256-bit keys will be infeasible until computers are built from something other than matter and occupy something other than space".

Note: I am not talking about potential attacks against the algorithms here, etc. only pointing out that encryption is definitely not ALWAYS breakable by brute force.

Bitcoin mining these days is done using ASICS, not PC's...

Just because you don't see a benefit, doesn't mean it can't be beneficial to someone else in a different situation from your own. People didn't see much use to oil at first either. Doesn't mean the only other thing one can do with it must be something criminal...

If you want to get started with FPGA's, consider the ZedBoard: http://www.zedboard.org/. The Xilinx Zynq offers the best of both worlds; you've got two Cortex A9 ARM codes (with NEON etc.) and FPGA fabric around it where you can implement your own peripherals and communicate with them from the CPU. You can use it as stand alone FPGA or Linux system as well, and gradually start using the 'other' side.

Two examples of things I've done in the past and am currently doing:

- count points on elliptic and hyper elliptic curves on a distributed parallel system for cryptography research
- simulating electric motor magnetic fields, forces and temperatures on said parallel system

As someone who does science with Octave, I disagree.

Which is why I still have an N900 new in the box to replace my current N900 should it die.

High Coast (Sweden) and Kvarken Archipelago (Finland)

"The geomorphology of the region is largely shaped by the combined processes of glaciation, glacial retreat and the emergence of new land from the sea which continues today at a rate of 0.9 m per century."

Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/898

Yes, but keep in mind that VAT only applies to consumers/individuals. Company A selling something to Company B does not incur VAT. A company buying something at a store with VAT applied, can get this VAT back.

One of the main reasons the Japanese have been doing so much work on human looking robots is a social problem: they have a graying population (for a long time already), and the goal was to have robots that could replace people taking care of the elderly, disabled, etc. In that use case, it helps to have a robot that looks human instead of a possibly creepy looking machine. Problems such as the 'uncanny valley' issue were intended to be solved as well.

Yes, agreed. As a cryptographer, security researcher and someone who has worked on ITAR sensitive stuff, you don't put that on a third party server - ever.

There are tons of words derived from Greek that don't have the literal meaning of the original Greek word anymore. Archaeology is one of them...

archaeology
/ärkälj/
Noun
The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts.

WWI definitely qualifies as history...