links for 2010-12-12

Researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands report that the LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) software used in pro-Wikileaks Anonymous attacks discloses the identity of the user.

John le Carre's wonderful character is 10 times — no, make that 20 times — the fictional spy that the cartoonish Bond ever was. In fact, for those of us who value great fiction and wax oddly nostalgic for the Cold War, [George] Smiley is the greatest spy ever conceived. Not bad for a guy described by his creator as "small and podgy," a guy who gets cuckolded by his wife on a regular basis and who doesn't even carry a Swiss Army knife, let alone the Beretta (or, later, the Walther PPK) used by Mr. License to Kill.