Cryptographic software: vulnerabilities in implementations

Security and cryptographic applications or libraries, just as any other generic software products may be affected by flaws introduced during the implementation process. No matter how much scrutiny security protocols have undergone, it is — as always — the weakest link that holds everything together to makes products secure. In this paper I take a closer look at problems usually resulting from a simple human made mistakes, misunderstanding of algorithm details or a plain lack of experience with tools and environment. In other words: everything that can and will happen during software development but in the fragile context of cryptograph

Non-anthropocentric Philosophy Between Object-Oriented and Thing-Oriented Ontology, or on Some Repetition in the History of Philosophy

The paper analyzes differences between Graham Harman’s object-oriented ontology (OOO) and Jane Bennett’s new materialism as two possible non-anthropocentric ontologies. It also shows how their dissimilarity replicates the differences between Kazimierz Twardowski’s ontology whose OOO recognizes as its forerunner, and reism developed by his student Tadeusz Kotarbinski, who can be regarded as a predecessor of new materialism.Nieantropocentryczna filozofia między ontologią zorientowaną-na-przedmiot i ontologią zorientowaną-na-rzecz, albo o pewnym powtórzeniu w historii filozofii Artykuł analizuje różnice między ontologią zorientowaną-na-przedmiot (OOO) Grahama Haramana i nowym materializmem Jane Bennett jako możliwymi ontologiami posthumanizmu. Jego celem jest jednak przede wszystkim pokazanie, w jaki sposób odmienność tych dwóch projektów powtarza różnice między ontologią Kazimierza Twardowskiego, którego ontologia zorientowana-na-przedmiot postrzega jako swojego prekursora, i reizmem stworzonym przez jego ucznia – Tadeusza Kotarbińskiego – który mógłby zostać uznany za teorię wyprzedzającą rozwiązania nowego materializmu

Plant identification credibility in ethnobotany: a closer look at Polish ethnographic studies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This paper is an attempt to estimate the percentage of erroneously identified taxa in ethnographic studies concerning the use of plants and to propose a code for recording credibility of identification in historical ethnobotany publications.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A sample of Polish-language ethnobotanical literature (45 published sources from 1874-2005) and four collections of voucher specimens (from 1894-1975) were analyzed. Errors were detected in the publications by comparing the data with existing knowledge on the distribution of plant names and species ranges. The voucher specimens were re-examined.</p> <p>A one-letter code was invented for quick identification of the credibility of data published in lists of species compiled from historical or ethnographic sources, according to the source of identification: voucher specimen, Latin binominal, botanical expert, obvious widespread name, folk name, mode of use, range, physical description or photograph. To test the use of the code an up-to-date list of wild food plants used in Poland was made.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant difference between the ratio of mistakes in the voucher specimen collections and the ratio of detectable mistakes in the studies without herbarium documentation was found. At least 2.3% of taxa in the publications were identified erroneously (mean rate was 6.2% per publication), and in half of these mistakes even the genus was not correct. As many as 10.0% of voucher specimens (on average 9.2% per collection) were originally erroneously identified, but three quarters of the identification mistakes remained within-genus.</p> <p>The species of the genera <it>Thymus, Rumex </it>and <it>Rubus </it>were most often confused within the genus.</p> <p>Not all of the invented credibility codes were used in the list of wild food plants, but they may be useful for other researchers. The most often used codes were the ones signifying identification by: voucher specimen, botanical expert and by a common name used throughout the country.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of this study support the rigorous use of voucher specimens in ethnobotany, although they also reveal a relatively high percentage of misidentified taxa in the specimens studied.</p> <p>The invented credibility coding system may become a useful tool for communication between historical ethnobotanists, particularly in creating larger databases.</p

Bycie i świat. Metamorfozy pojęcia „świat” w filozofii Martina Heideggera

Artykuł rekonstruuje przemiany pojęcia „świat” w filozofii Martina Heideggera na podstawie: Bycia i czasu, Podstawowych problemów fenomenologii, rozprawy O istocie podstawy, Die Grundbegriffe der Metaphysik, Źródła dzieła sztuki, Przyczynków do filozofii oraz esejów Język, Rzecz i Budować, mieszkać, myśleć. Niniejsza analiza pokazuje, że kolejne odsłony problemu świata nie unieważniają wcześniejszych rozwiązań, ale rozwijają ich sens, zgodnie z którym bycie ujawnia się tylko wtedy, gdy byty postrzegane są w ich wspólnocie. Tak też różne ujęcia problemu świata wskazują na odmienne aspekty wspólnoty bytów: wzajemną przynależność, pokrewieństwo oraz integralność

Pokemon the demon? : analysis of online fear discourse related to "Pokemon GO" on the Polish Internet

Niniejszy artykuł prezentuje analizę jednego z głównych dyskursów wokół gry "Pokemon GO", która zdobyła w drugiej połowie 2016 roku niespotykaną dotąd popularność. Dzięki wykorzystaniu tzw. poszerzonej rzeczywistości ("augmented reality") gracze zaczęli przemierzać miasta na całym świecie w poszukiwaniu "Pokemonów", czyli kieszonkowych stworków znanych z japońskich filmów "anime". Oprócz entuzjastycznych opinii, wraz ze wzrostem popularności gry zaczęła wzbierać też krytyka pochodząca z różnych stron, począwszy od raczej liberalnych portali, przejętych troską o bezpieczeństwo danych osobowych, aż do stron fundamentalistów chrześcijańskich. Gra była oskarżana o deprawowanie młodzieży i promowanie magii, a także o narażanie ludzi na niebezpieczeństwo. Analizujemy najpopularniejsze argumenty, którymi posługują się przeciwnicy gry, do których należą: zagrożenia związane z bezpieczeństwem, ryzyko nieodpowiedniego zachowania w miejscach pamięci i kultu, a także ryzyko narażenia na szwank zdrowia. Krytyczna analiza pozwala wyprowadzić wniosek, że za krytyką gry stoją nie tyle racjonalne argumenty, ile silny metafizyczny lęk przed sferą liminalną, której istota zasadza się w tym przypadku na zakwestionowaniu granicy pomiędzy tym, co realne, i tym, co wirtualne. Tak też "hejt" wyrażany w serwisach internetowych wobec gry "Pokemon GO" traktujemy jako przykład paniki moralnej - zjawiska społecznego zdiagnozowanego przez Jocka Younga w latach 70. XX wieku. W naszej analizie koncentrujemy się zwłaszcza na dominujących w dyskursie wątkach magicznych, jakie można dostrzec w wybuchu paniki moralnej spowodowanej popularnością "Pokemon GO".This article presents an analysis of the discourse on "Pokemon GO" that gained unprecedented popularity in the second half of 2016. Thanks to the use of augmented reality, players began to travel the world in search of Pokemon, or pocket-monsters, known from Japanese anime movies. As the popularity of the game increased, in spite of enthusiastic opinions, critical voices appeared from various sides, ranging from rather liberal portals concerned mainly for the security of personal data, to the websites of Christian fundamentalists. The game was accused of corrupting youth and promoting magic, as well as exposing people to danger. We analyze the most popular arguments against the game, including security threats, the risk of inadequate behavior in places of remembrance and worship, as well as the health risks. The critical analysis allows us to demonstrate that the criticism of the game is rooted in strong metaphysical fear of the liminal sphere, as the game impairs the boundary between real and virtual. The "hate" expressed on analyzed websites is treated as an example of moral panic - a social phenomenon diagnosed by Jock Young in the 1970s

Fischer's "Plants in folk beliefs and customs" : a previously unknown contribution to the ethnobotany of the Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian borderland

Background: Historical ethnobotanical studies are useful starting points for further diachronic analysis. The aim of this contribution is to present archival data from the Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian borderland, which were collected by Adam Fischer, a Polish ethnographer from Lviv, in the 1930s. These data were originally gathered for publication in the first part of the Lexicon of Slavic beliefs and customs, dedicated to plant uses in traditional Slavonic culture. It was intended to be a joint international enterprise, but was never actually fulfilled. Methods: In this article we used information from historical Lithuania (the Great Duchy of Lithuania), nowadays a border region between Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. We applied cultural importance indices such as Use Value, Relative Importance value and Sørensen similarity coefficient, in order to compare our data with a western Ukraine data set from the same research framework. Results: In total, 153 plant taxa were registered as used in peasant culture in the Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian borderland in the 1930s. The species which achieved the highest Use Values were: Calendula officinalis, Cyanus segetum, Helichrysum arenarium, Betula sp., Prunella vulgaris, and Nuphar lutea or Lilium sp. The most salient use categories were medicinal, followed by food and home garden plants. The overall similarity to plants recorded in western Ukraine within the same project of Fischer’s is quite low (46%), which may be explained by the partly different flora found in the regions, and a cultural discontinuity, revealed by the difference in species with the highest UV. Moreover, the field collaborators were different in the two regions and may have paid attention to different cultural spheres of use. Conclusions: The presented ethnobotanical data are a valuable contribution to the ethnobotany of Eastern Europe as a whole. In particular, the presented list of plants may be a rich source for future studies on the ethnobotany of the Polish diaspora in Lithuania, and diachronic studies in north-east Poland and Belarus