How I’d Hack Your Weak Passwords [Security]

How I’d Hack Your Weak Passwords [Security]: From LifeHacker:
"Internet standards expert, CEO of web company iFusion Labs, and blogger John Pozadzides knows a thing or two about password security—and he knows exactly how he'd hack the weak passwords you use all over the internet.

Note: This isn't intended as a guide to hacking *other people's* weak passwords. Instead, the aim is to help you better understand the security of your own passwords and how to bolster that security.

If you invited me to try and crack your password, you know the one that you use over and over for like every web page you visit, how many guesses would it take before I got it?

Let's see… here is my top 10 list. I can obtain most of this information much easier than you think, then I might just be able to get into your e-mail, computer, or online banking. After all, if I get into one I'll probably get into all of them.

1. Your partner, child, or pet's name, possibly followed by a 0 or 1 (because they're always making you use a number, aren't they?)
2. The last 4 digits of your social security number.
3. 123 or 1234 or 123456.
4. 'password'
5. Your city, or college, football team name.
6. Date of birth – yours, your partner's or your child's.
7. 'god'
8. 'letmein'
9. 'money'
10. 'love'

Statistically speaking that should probably cover about 20% of you. But don't worry. If I didn't get it yet it will probably only take a few more minutes before I do…

Hackers, and I'm not talking about the ethical kind, have developed a whole range of tools to get at your personal data. And the main impediment standing between your information remaining safe, or leaking out, is the password you choose. (Ironically, the best protection people have is usually the one they take least seriously.)

One of the simplest ways to gain access to your information is through the use of a Brute Force Attack. This is accomplished when a hacker uses a specially written piece of software to attempt to log into a site using your credentials. Insecure.org has a list of the Top 10 FREE Password Crackers right here.

So, how would one use this process to actually breach your personal security? Simple. Follow my logic:

• You probably use the same password for lots of stuff right?
• Some sites you access such as your Bank or work VPN probably have pretty decent security, so I'm not going to attack them.
• However, other sites like the Hallmark e-mail greeting cards site, an online forum you frequent, or an e-commerce site you've shopped at might not be as well prepared. So those are the ones I'd work on.
• So, all we have to do now is unleash Brutus, wwwhack, or THC Hydra on their server with instructions to try say 10,000 (or 100,000 – whatever makes you happy) different usernames and passwords as fast as possible.
• Once we've got several login+password pairings we can then go back and test them on targeted sites.
• But wait… How do I know which bank you use and what your login ID is for the sites you frequent? All those cookies are simply stored, unencrypted and nicely named, in your Web browser's cache. (Read this post to remedy that problem.)

And how fast could this be done? Well, that depends on three main things, the length and complexity of your password, the speed of the hacker's computer, and the speed of the hacker's Internet connection.

Assuming the hacker has a reasonably fast connection and PC here is an estimate of the amount of time it would take to generate every possible combination of passwords for a given number of characters. After generating the list it's just a matter of time before the computer runs through all the possibilities – or gets shut down trying.

Pay particular attention to the difference between using only lowercase characters and using all possible characters (uppercase, lowercase, and special characters – like @#$%^&*). Adding just one capital letter and one asterisk would change the processing time for an 8 character password from 2.4 days to 2.1 centuries.



Remember, these are just for an average computer, and these assume you aren't using any word in the dictionary. If Google put their computer to work on it they'd finish about 1,000 times faster.

Now, I could go on for hours and hours more about all sorts of ways to compromise your security and generally make your life miserable – but 95% of those methods begin with compromising your weak password. So, why not just protect yourself from the start and sleep better at night?

Believe me, I understand the need to choose passwords that are memorable. But if you're going to do that how about using something that no one is ever going to guess AND doesn't contain any common word or phrase in it.

Here are some password tips:

1. Randomly substitute numbers for letters that look similar. The letter ‘o' becomes the number ‘0′, or even better an ‘@' or ‘*'. (i.e. – m0d3ltf0rd… like modelTford)
2. Randomly throw in capital letters (i.e. – Mod3lTF0rd)
3. Think of something you were attached to when you were younger, but DON'T CHOOSE A PERSON'S NAME! Every name plus every word in the dictionary will fail under a simple brute force attack.
4. Maybe a place you loved, or a specific car, an attraction from a vacation, or a favorite restaurant?
5. You really need to have different username / password combinations for everything. Remember, the technique is to break into anything you access just to figure out your standard password, then compromise everything else. This doesn't work if you don't use the same password everywhere.
6. Since it can be difficult to remember a ton of passwords, I recommend using Roboform for Windows users. It will store all of your passwords in an encrypted format and allow you to use just one master password to access all of them. It will also automatically fill in forms on Web pages, and you can even get versions that allow you to take your password list with you on your PDA, phone or a USB key. If you'd like to download it without having to navigate their web site here is the direct download link. (Ed. note: Lifehacker readers love the free, open-source KeePass for this duty, while others swear by the cross-platform, browser-based LastPass.)
7. Mac users can use 1Password. It is essentially the same thing as Roboform, except for Mac, and they even have an iPhone application so you can take them with you too.
8. Once you've thought of a password, try Microsoft's password strength tester to find out how secure it is.

By request I also created a short RoboForm Demonstration video. Hope it helps…

Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the passwords you think matter least actually matter most. For example, some people think that the password to their e-mail box isn't important because 'I don't get anything sensitive there.' Well, that e-mail box is probably connected to your online banking account. If I can compromise it then I can log into the Bank's Web site and tell it I've forgotten my password to have it e-mailed to me. Now, what were you saying about it not being important?

Often times people also reason that all of their passwords and logins are stored on their computer at home, which is safe behind a router or firewall device. Of course, they've never bothered to change the default password on that device, so someone could drive up and park near the house, use a laptop to breach the wireless network and then try passwords from this list until they gain control of your network — after which time they will own you!

Now I realize that every day we encounter people who over-exaggerate points in order to move us to action, but trust me this is not one of those times. There are 50 other ways you can be compromised and punished for using weak passwords that I haven't even mentioned.

I also realize that most people just don't care about all this until it's too late and they've learned a very hard lesson. But why don't you do me, and yourself, a favor and take a little action to strengthen your passwords and let me know that all the time I spent on this article wasn't completely in vain.

Please, be safe. It's a jungle out there.

EDIT: You might also want to listen to my interview on Connecticut Public Radio about password security.

How I'd Hack Your Weak Passwords [One Man's Blog]

"

Books on Display at HPL

Humor month

Revenge of the Spellmans By Lutz, Lisa 2009-03 - Simon & Schuster 9781416593386 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title The author of the "New York Times" bestseller "The Spellman Files" and "Curse of the Spellmans" returns with the third installment in the series that features the zany, dysfunctional Spellman family. …More

Purses and Poison By Howell, Dorothy 2009-07 - Kensington Publishing Corporation 9780758223760 Check Our Catalog Haley Randolph, the twenty-something fashion sleuth who can spot a fake Louis Vuitton at 50 paces, is back for another murderous romp in this delightful mystery from the author of "Handbags and Homicide." …More

Royal Flush By Bowen, Rhys 2009-07 - Berkley Publishing Group 9780425227886 Check Our Catalog The latest in the Royal Spyness mystery series stars Lady Georgiana, who is 34th in line for the throne and the mystery world's favorite penniless heiress. …More

The Nanny Diaries By McLaughlin, Emma Author Kraus, Nicola Joint Author Kraus, Nicola 2002-03 - St. Martin's Press 0312278586 Check Our Catalog Based on real-life experiences, this novel is the inside story on the lives of the rich and privileged from the women who know all their secrets--the nannies. Excerpt to "Talk" magazine. …More

Never the Bride By Gutteridge, Rene Author McKay, Cheryl 2009-06 - Waterbrook Press 9780307444981 Check Our Catalog When God asks Jessie to let Him author her love story, can she turn over her pen? "Never the Bride" is a romantic comedy with a spiritual twist. …More

Metro Girl By Evanovich, Janet 2004-11 - HarperCollins 0060584009 Check Our Catalog Evanovich's spectacular new novel about a woman in search of her missing brother comes complete with high stakes, hot nights, murder, and graft--not to mention car chases, car races, car explosions, and much more. …More

The Last Noel By Malone, Michael 2002-01 - Sourcebooks Landmark 1402200129 Check Our Catalog The Last Noel is a love story of a long and deepening friendship between two very different people: Noni, a white woman, and Kaye, an African-American man, who were both born on Christmas Day of the same year, in a small Southern town. The story begins in 1963 when Kaye first meets Noni on the eve of their eighth birthday. In the middle of that night on Christmas Eve, he climbs through her bedroom window to invite her to come sledding with him in a rare southern snowfall. As they grow older, Noni and Kaye find that their lives continue to come together dramatically on that holiday, through four decades of great change in the world around them. Through these encounters, their friendship deepens, and their profound affection for each other shows a romantic tension that comes, for them, dangerously close to the surface. Set during the tumultuous decades between 1963 and 2002, The Last Noel touches on the great turning points in our shared American lives as they also profoundly affect Noni and Kaye. In the romantic tradition of the love affairs of Pip and Estella in Great Expectations and Heathcliff and Cathy in Wuthering Heights, Kaye and Noni share a lifelong relationship that shifts and evolves under the cultural and familial pressures they must face. On 12 different days of Christmas over the course of their lives, they come together until shortly before Noni's death, when Kaye fulfills her dying wish and takes her from her hospital bed home to sled again on Heaven's Hill. …More

Nature Girl By Hiaasen, Carl 2006-11 - Alfred A. Knopf 9780307262998 Check Our Catalog In his latest "New York Times" bestseller, Hiaasen introduces impassioned, possibly bipolar, self-proclaimed "queen of lost causes" Honey Santana, who schemes to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference, and dinnertime sales calls. …More

Straight Man By Russo, Richard 1997-06 - Random House 0679432469 Check Our Catalog The author of "The Risk Pool" and "Nobody's Fool" delivers a brilliant new novel about a professor whose sense of humor is tested by the cosmic joke. Hank Devereaux, Jr., failed novelist, creative writing teacher, and estranged son of one of academe's stars, is a hero whose cynicism must be mitigated by his love for family, friends and, ultimately, knowledge itself …More

Jitterbug Perfume By Robbins, Tom 1990-04 - Bantam Books 9780553348989 Check Our Catalog "Jitterbug Perfume is an epic. which is to say, it begins in the forests of ancient Bohemia and doesn't conclude until nine o'clock tonight [Paris time]. It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle. The bottle is blue, very, very old, and embossed with the image of a goat-horned god. If the liquid in the bottle is actually is the secret essence of the universe, as some folks seem to think, it had better be discovered soon becaused it is leaking and there is only a drop of two left. …More

Villa Incognito By Robbins, Tom 2004-04 - Bantam 0553382195 Check Our Catalog Imagine that there are American MIAs who chose to remain missing after the Vietnam War. Imagine that there is a family in which four generations of strong, alluring women have shared a mysterious connection to an outlandish figure from Japanese folklore. Imagine just those things (don't even try to imagine the love story) and you'll have a foretaste of Tom Robbins's eighth and perhaps most beautifully crafted novel--a work as timeless as myth yet as topical as the latest international threat. On one level, this is a book about identity, masquerade and disguise--about "the false mustache of the world"--but neither the mists of Laos nor the smog of Bangkok, neither the overcast of Seattle nor the fog of San Francisco, neither the murk of the intelligence community nor the mummery of the circus can obscure the linguistic phosphor that illuminates the pages of Villa Incognito. A female fan once wrote to Tom Robbins: "Your books make me think, they make me laugh, they make me horny and they make me aware of the wonder of everything in life." Villa Incognito will surely arouse a similar response in many readers, for in its lusty, amusing way it both celebrates existence and challenges our ideas about it. To say much more about a novel as fresh and surprising as Villa Incognito would run the risk of diluting the sheer fun of reading it. As his dedicated readers worldwide know full well, it's best to climb aboard the Tom Robbins tilt-a-whirl, kiss preconceptions and sacred cows goodbye and simply enjoy the ride. "From the Hardcover edition. …More

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh By Chabon, Michael 1989-04 - Harper Perennial 0060972122 Check Our Catalog Now reissued, Michael Chabon's "New York Times" bestselling first novel is a funny, tender coming-of-age novel that introduces readers to Art Bechstein, a Holden Caulfield for the post-Boomer/pre-Gen X-er generation. Chabon's first novel was universally lauded as the arrival of a rare and remarkable new literary talent who has proved to be one of our most profound and original writers. …More

Around the World with Auntie Mame By Dennis, Patrick 2003-09 - Broadway Books 9780767915854 Check Our Catalog Encore, Encore! The brilliant sequel to the smash bestseller "Auntie Mame is back and the reviews are in . . . …More

Don't Forget to Sign That Tax Return and 9 Other Common Tax Mistakes to Avoid [Taxes]

Don't Forget to Sign That Tax Return and 9 Other Common Tax Mistakes to Avoid [Taxes]: From LifeHacker:
"It's almost April, which means there's barely two weeks until good ol' Uncle Sam cometh with his money bag. While you're finishing up your taxes, make sure to avoid these common last-minute mistakes.
Photo by ckhamken.

USA Today runs down 10 of the most common last-minute errors that people make on their taxes before they file for April 15. While they might seem obvious, putting down the incorrect Social Security number could cost you an exemption. If you're planning to file electronically, another important number to double-check is your bank information on the statement. It could be a costly error if you have a refund and it lands in someone else's bank account.

You also don't have to wait for next year to claim donations that you made this year. If you made charitable contributions toward toward the Haiti disaster this year, contributions made Jan.12 through Feb. 28 of this year can also be deducted on your 2009 return. Last, after all the attention paid to detail on your taxes, your brain may hit a snafu on the most important thing to do of all: So be sure you sign your return. (Remember, even if your taxes were prepared by someone else, you still need to sign it or it's not a valid return.)

Hit up the full post for more. Any common tax mistakes you always double-check for while preparing to file your return? Sound off in the comments.

Rushing to do taxes? Avoid these 10 last-minute mistakes [USA Today via Consumerist]

"

Constitution Monday-Amendment 23

AMENDMENT XXIII
Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.
Section 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Reference Question of the Week - 3/21/2010

Reference Question of the Week - 3/21/2010: From the SwissArmyLibrarian:

"This was a challenging question, because it took place over the course of a week and because I kept getting conflicting information.

On a Thursday, my Director asked me where we were keeping our 2010 Federal Census forms. Town Hall had been referring people who to us for a new form after they made a mistake or destroyed the one they received in the mail. I told her we hadn’t gotten any Census forms, but I’d look into it.

On the 2010 Census website, I didn’t see anywhere to download or request blank forms, so I found their Contact Us page and called our local office (but oddly, the regional offices have since been removed from their contact page). The woman I spoke with there said there will be no generic blank forms people can pick up. She said every Census form has a personalized barcode on it, so if anyone makes a mistake and needs a new form, they have to contact the closest Census Call Center to request a new barcoded form - but that information wouldn’t be on the website until Monday.

I emailed Town Hall with this information, and they forwarded back the email that they received saying these forms are available at the library (emphasis mine):

> From: ana.m.morla.vargas@census.gov

> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 9:07 AM

> Subject: RE: Census form

>

> Hello,

>

> Before calling to request a form, we ask that you wait until April 12 to allow

> sufficient time for the questionnaire to be delivered to your address. If you

> still have not received your form by April 12, then you may contact one of

> our 2010 Census Toll‐free help lines.

>

> o English: 1‐866‐872‐6868

> o Chinese: 1‐866‐935‐2010

> o Korean: 1‐866‐955‐2010

> o Russian: 1‐866‐965‐2010

> o Spanish: 1‐866‐928‐2010

> o Vietnamese: 1‐866‐945‐2010

> o TDD (Telephone Display Device for the hearing impaired): 1‐866‐783‐2010

> o Puerto Rico (in English): 1‐866‐939‐2010

> o Puerto Rico (in Spanish): 1‐866‐929‐2010

>

> You can also complete a Be Counted questionnaire if you have not received

> your form. Beginning March 19 through April 19, Be Counted

> questionnaires will be available in public locations, such as libraries,

> within your community and at Questionnaire Assistance Centers where census

> workers will be available to answer questions. Beginning March 18, these

> locations will be posted on 2010Census.gov.

>

> Direct link: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/

>

> Thank you

The Direct Link wasn’t yet working, so I looked around the Census website and found another reference to these “Be Counted” forms on their Questions You May Have page under the question “Is there another way to get the form other than the mail?” When I searched the internet for that phrase, I found a Census faq [pdf] from the Missouri State Government that stated,

The Be Counted program makes census forms available in many different public locations in areas that have been historically undercounted by the census. These locations include community centers, health clinics, convenience stores, churches, businesses and other.

Okay, within that context, the information started to make sense. Chelmsford is a fairly typical upper-middle-class small town, and the residents probably are not “historically undercounted by the census.” I emailed other librarians in my consortium, and sure enough, a couple libraries in large cities with significant immigrant, migrant or homeless populations had received these forms.

I tried the http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/ link again the following week, and this time it listed the Questionnaire Assistance Centers - and as expected, they were clustered in larger cities.

Just to verify I had everything correct now, I called the main Telephone Questionnaire Assistance phone number (866-872-6868). When I finally got a live person* she gave me this summary:

• everyone gets mailed a census form at their house, and these have
  
  personalized barcodes on them




• there are public assistance centers throughout the country, which do have blank Be Counted forms (as well as scheduled times census workers will be available to answer questions). A map of these sites is available at http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/ - if you’re not already one
  
  of these sites, you can’t get any blank forms to pass out




• if someone needs a form, they can either use the map to find a location to pick one up in person, or else call the Telephone Questionnaire Assistance listed at http://2010.census.gov/2010census/contact/index.php (different numbers for different languages)




• participating in the Census is required by law: Title 13 > Chapter 7 > Subchapter II > § 221 (also). Anyone who destroys or ignores their Census forms because they feel it’s an invasion of their privacy will be visited at home by Census workers to answer the Census questions in person (privacy info and video)

All very interesting. And since I spent a lot of time on the Census website, here’s a few of the pages I found most useful:

• 2010 Census homepage


• 2010 Census FAQ


• Interactive map to look up Be Counted sites and text-only version. The map also shows the to-date Census participation rate


• Main Census contact page


• Regional offices and 2010 call center contacts
  
• Census 2.0 on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, and they have a widget:
  

---

*The menu system at this number is kind of annoying, but I learned that you can say “operator” at any point to circumvent the system and speak to a live person."

Upcoming Events at Hackley Public Library

	Game Day Unplugged March 27 2:00 - 4:00 pm Checkers, Mancala, Battleship, Break the Ice, Cootie, and more!  Bring your favorite game or play one of ours at this drop-in session.  Snacks and a few Goofy Door Prizes will add to the fun.  Non-electronic games only. All ages. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230.

	Evening Storytime March 29 6:45 pm Storytelling, picturebooks, fingerplays, holiday tales, and special fun.  Each session ends with a craft project.  Signup required.  Call 231-722-7276 x 230 to register.

	Morning Toddler Storytime March 29 11:00 am Toddlers and care givers attend Toddler Time together.  The simple books and activities are just right for kids under 3.  Signup is required.  Call 231-722-7276 x 230 to register.

	Evening Toddler Storytime March 30 6:45 pm Toddlers and care givers attend Toddler Time together.  The simple books and activities are just right for kids under 3.  Signup is required.  Call 231-722-7276 x 230 to register.

	Morning Storytime March 30 11:00 am Storytelling, picturebooks, fingerplays, holiday tales, and special fun.  Each session ends with a craft project.  Signup required.  Call 231-722-7276 x 230 to register.

	Rainbow Easter Eggs April 3 2:00 - 4:00 pm Make amazing Easter Egg with multicolored swirls, dots, and stripes.  Eggs are dipped again and again to build up a rainbow of colors.  Drop in anytime during event hours.  Families should bring their own hardboiled eggs to take part. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230.

How to get published April 6 6:00 pm Have you written a book but don’t know what steps to take next to get it published?  Roger Rapoport, of RDR Publishing, will discuss the steps to getting your book in print and share his extensive knowledge of the publishing industry.  Mr. Rapoport is a published author whose latest book is “Citizen Moore:  the life and times of an American Iconoclast”.  This is a free program but seating is first come first served.  Call the Hackley Public Library at 231-722-7276 for more information.

Computer Class--Intro to the Internet April 7 9:00 am - 10:30 am 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Surfing the Internet is an introduction to the Internet.  Find out what the Internet is; learn how to find things on the Internet, and how to set up an email account.   It is highly advisable that attendees know how to use a mouse. Registration starts on April 1. Please specify whether you are registering for the morning or evening class.  Two identical sessions of each class are available:  9:00 – 10:30 am and 6:00 to 7:30 pm.  Registration starts on the first of the month in which the class takes place.  Call 231-722-7276 to register.

Mirror Mirror Fairy Tale Art April 8 2:00 pm Meet at the Library for storytelling with Mr. Jim.  Surprises include "The Princess and the Pea" and an "Audience Volunteer Sleep Test."  Then we'll travel to the Muskegon Museum of Art for "Mirror, Mirror Fairy Tale Art."  Kids will see their favorite stories "told" in sculpture, painting, and pottery.  Education curator Cathy Mott will lead the tour and help kids create their own Fairy Tale Art. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230.

	Family History Workshop April 10 10:00 am Learn how to do Genealogy research in the Local History Department.  For more information call 231-722-7276 x 233

Picture Book Artistry April 10 2:00 pm Illustrator Lori Eslick (Read for me Momma, Barefoot Poems) will tell how she turns an idea into a painting.  Laurie Keller (Scrambled States of America, Arnie the Donut) will talk about her new books and create on-the-spot cartoons.  Autographing and a book sale are hosted by North Shore Books of North Muskegon. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230.

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Picture this: Classic Graphic Novels

From Hell - New Cover Edition By Moore, Alan Illustrator Campbell, Eddie Joint Author Campbell, Eddie 2000-02 - Top Shelf Productions 9780958578349 Check Our Catalog Legendary comics writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell have created a gripping, hallucinatory piece of crime fiction about Jack the Ripper. Detailing the events that led up to the Whitechapel murders and the cover-up that followed, From Hell has become a modern masterpiece of crime noir and historical fiction. …More

Ice Haven By Clowes, Daniel 2005-06 - Pantheon Books 9780375423321 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Clowes, who received an Oscar( nomination for the screen adaptation of his graphic novel "Ghost World," weaves a multi-layered tale that, while it owes a debt to "Our Town," is ultimately based on and inspired by the case of Leopold and Loeb. Illustrations. …More

Black Hole By Burns, Charles 2008-01 - Pantheon Books 9780375714726 Check Our Catalog A strange plague has descended upon Seattles teenagers, transmitted by sexual contact. The disease is manifested in any number of ways--from the hideously grotesque to the subtle. "Black Hole" explores a specific American cultural moment in flux and the kids who are caught in it. …More

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic By Bechdel, Alison 2007-06 - Mariner Books 9780618871711 Check Our Catalog Through narrative that is alternately heartbreaking and funny, readers are drawn into a daughters complex yearning for her father. Apart from assigned stints dusting caskets at the family-owned "fun home," the relationship achieves its most intimate expression through the shared code of books. …More

Asterios Polyp By Mazzucchelli, David 2009-07 - Pantheon Books 9780307377326 Check Our Catalog The triumphant return of one of comics' greatest talents. Meet Asterios Polyp: middle-aged architect and teacher, aesthete and womanizer, whose life is wholly upended when he moves to a small town in America's heartland after his New York City apartment goes up in flames. …More

Berlin: City of Stones, Book One By Lutes, Jason Author Drawn & Quarter 2000-06 - Drawn & Quarterly 9781896597294 Check Our Catalog "Berlin: City of Stones "presents the first part of Jason Lutes' captivating trilogy, set in the twilight years of Germany's Weimar Republic. Kurt Severing, a journalist, and Marthe Muller, an art student, are the central figures in a broad cast of characters intertwined with the historical events unfolding around them. "City of Stones "covers eight months in Berlin, from September 1928 to May Day, 1929, meticulously documenting the hopes and struggles of its inhabitants as their future is darkened by a glowing shadow. …More

The Left Bank Gang By Jason Illustrator Hubert 2006-08 - Fantagraphics Books 9781560977421 Check Our Catalog 1920s Paris: Birthplace of the graphic novel?! F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce walk into a Parisian bar... no, it's not the beginning of a joke, but the premise of Jason's unique new graphic novel. Set in 1920s Paris, "The Left Bank Gang" is a deliciously inventive re-imagining of these four literary figures as not only typical Jason anthropomorphics, but... graphic novelists! Yes, in Jason's warped world, cartooning is the dominant form of fiction, and not only do these four literary giants work in the comics medium but they get together to discuss pen vs. brush, chat about the latest graphic novels from Dostoevsky ("I can't tell any of his characters apart!") to Faulkner ("Hasn't he heard of white space? His panels are too crowded!"), and bemoan their erratic careers. Add in a hilarious sequence where Hemingway is lectured by an overbearing Gertrude Stein ("What kind of pencil are you using? You should be using a blue pencil, that way you don't have to erase, all right? Avoid captions. Don't ever write 'A little later.' You don't need that. The reader will figure it out."), guest appearances by Zelda Fitzgerald and Jean-Paul Sartre, and a few remarkable twists and turns along the way, and you've got one of the funniest and most playful graphic novels of the year. Like Jason's acclaimed "Why Are You Doing This?," "The Left Bank Gang" is rendered in full spectacular color. This is Jason's eighth graphic novel in six years for Fantagraphics, and his audience continues to grow with every acclaimed release. …More