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Handing over information regarding a passenger's name, gender and birth-date may violate Canadian privacy laws

What's worse is that the TSA can't even get any of those three facts right in many cases.

Last Name: "Alphabetic, no numeric or special characters, except dash ( - ) and single quote ( ' ). Do not include suffixes (e.g., jr.). Truncate names longer than 35 characters to 35 characters".
First Name: "Secure Flight allows first initial only;" otherwise, same as last name. Honorifics are not to be placed in the name.
Middle Name: same as first name.

So if any of your three names doesn't perfectly fit this convention, you will be hit with a $100 Change fee, including if you don't have a middle name. This is particularily problematic for asian, greek, or many other nationalities whose names include special characters or when translated to english result in a name longer than 35 characters.

Gender: Once again, the TSA fails to account for any manner of diversity in the human population. Anyone who doesn't conform to the gender stereotype fixed to your official documents will be subject to additional (unwanted) attention. I wonder if they'll be offering sensitivity training for the crossdressers, transgendered, butch lesbians, and intersexed amongst us. And god help you if the Driver's Bureau screws up, or you live in a state that won't alter birth records after surgery, or one of a dozen other very real problems.

Birthdate: Did you know a lot of people who immigrate to this country don't know when they were born? In fact, in developing countries, it's quite common for people not to know their actual age. People assume a person's date of birth is a fixed thing -- how could you screw that up? And if you live in this country, you don't have to worry about this anyway. Well, remember that until the mid-90s the Social Security Administration wasn't so on about immediately registering newborns -- and did you know some people choose to have their kids at home? Some people don't get a birth certificate until they're five years old because parents just plain forget -- and for a variety of reasons, sometimes they fudge the actual date. Try getting this changed later -- it's fun.

In short, there's no real security being added here. All of it can be defeated quite easily in any event by putting a gun to the head of your wife, kid, or anything else you don't feel like losing. And as we make these security restrictions increasingly ethnocentric, the terrorists will adapt their strategies accordingly, because the payoff is so damn good! They sucked the US economy of trillions of dollars and all they had to do was crash four passenger planes. We offer the best "bang for the buck", literally and figuratively. It doesn't matter if they make it ten thousand times more difficult and expensive to pull another 9/11 job -- it's still an amazingly good deal for the terrorists.

Indeed. And here in the UK, we've had a year of possession of so-called "extreme" porn being criminalised, which is already being used for as ludicrous cases as joke Photoshopped images of someone having sex with a tiger.

It also reminds me of a common claim regarding criticism of porn crackdowns: "Why are you whining about porn; in China they have real censorship about political things, that's what real censorship is like", they cry. Stories like this show that different kinds of censorship - whether moral or political - are two sides of the same coin. They all have the same effect of ruining people's lives, over material that the state wants to banish.

No problems here running Windows 7 Professional x64 on a 2007 20" iMac 2.4 (iMac7,1).

I had two tweaks that I had to perform. One tweak was due to a M$ screw-up and the other is a Boot Camp x64 driver compatibility issue.

1. Just set up a Boot Camp partition like you normally do, throw in the Windows 7 disc when prompted. If you see nothing but a black screen that says "Select CD-ROM Boot Type", please see the link below. This is a known issue with some downloadable Server 2008 / Windows 7 media provided by Microsoft in .iso form.

http://sergiomcfly.blogspot.com/2008/04/select-cd-rom-boot-type-when-installing.html

2. Format the BOOTCAMP partition (do not remove it, just format it and the installation process should start)

3. Once Windows 7 is installed and at the desktop, locate your Command Prompt, right-click and "Run As Administrator"

4. Insert your Snow Leopard disc (or other media containing the Boot Camp 3.0 drivers) and run the BootCamp64.msi from D:\Drivers\Apple\BootCamp64.msi

Instead of receiving the error message "Boot Camp x64 is unsupported on this computer model." when running the main Setup.exe, the 64-bit Vista drivers will install on Windows 7 x64 just fine. All hardware seems to be properly supported, although I replaced the Apple ATI Radeon HD 2600 driver with a current version from the ATI site for gaming performance purposes.

VMware Fusion 3.0.1 tied into the Windows 7 x64 Boot Camp partition works just fine as well.

Citation needed.

The reason it's the number 80 was rather arbitrary, but a throwback to old punch-card systems.

Actually, Opportunity is examining the damaged heat shield from re-entry, which it just arrived at the other day.

I have bought over 1200 ebook/stories. I do buy stories with DRM attached but only if I know I can remove it. Here are some links:

mobidedrm http://darkreverser.wordpress.com/ This removes the DRM from mobi books

ineptkey http://i-u2665-cabbages.blogspot.com/2009/02/circumventing-adobe-adept-drm-for-epub.html This removes the DRM from epub.

calibre http://calibre-ebook.com/ An open source book management system that also does format conversion.

I have never shared any of the books I have bought although I suppose I would in theory be willing to lend one to someone.

True, they're not Muslim. But a huge percentage of them, at least the ones with relatives in the Middle East, are Muwahiddun, which I personally suspect has about as much in common with Islam and Moslems as Unitarians do with Trinitarian Christianity.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

No, extraordinary claims require simple proof like anything else. The burden of proof does not scale with the grandiosity of the claims. Rather, each aspect of the extraordinary claim should be subjected to falsification.
Here are some falsification tests for Christianity, for example, which directly map to specific, "extraordinary claims" made by it.

If I were to claim to have a device that could solve any problem in linear time, or that produced more energy than it consumed, or that nullified gravity, any engineer worth the title would be highly skeptical and would demand to see hard data before believing such a claim.

That is because those claims have been demonstrated to be impossible or at least improbable beyond a reasonable doubt at this point. Spiritual claims are primarily testimonial. I suppose you could argue that testimonial evidence is crap, but then you'd also have to argue that the entire foundation of the legal system is crap too, since "forensic science" (at least as practiced by the government) is closer to phrenology than physics as far as being science.

I imagine Microsoft has no problem with being "forced" to remove support for custom XML elements now that the enterprise threat posed by OpenOffice has waned. Others saw this coming and warned that Microsoft's OOXML was a marketing gimmick pretty much from the start.

Though I do use Word periodically for my work, I have not been foolish enough to rely on it in any sense. At one point I did consider that perhaps OOXML was a step in the right direction (of interoperability). But as we can see, Microsoft can't manage to support anything, that doesn't directly increase lock-in and their bottom line, for longer than a single upgrade cycle. This is precisely the reason I and others haven't wasted any time taking Microsoft's "open" document standards seriously.

1) The recession is partly DUE to this practice.

Really? Everything I heard was that it had to do with too much debt and too much access to cheap credit, and an era of deregulation and mergers.

2) It's not that the people won't work- it's that it's not being offered in the first place and they're claiming a "shortage" of workers (even though there's not...) and getting the H1B's in here

If H1Bs are such a threat, explain this: Given this time of cost cutting and layoffs, you'd expect companies to fire all their expensive American workers, and replace them with cheap foreign imports, yet this year it has taken eight months to reach the quota of 65,000, instead of two days, like the past 4 years.

Also explain this, why would you not want to siphon off the best and the brightest of the world?

1) The recession is partly DUE to this practice.

Really? Everything I heard was that it had to do with too much debt and too much access to cheap credit, and an era of deregulation and mergers.

2) It's not that the people won't work- it's that it's not being offered in the first place and they're claiming a "shortage" of workers (even though there's not...) and getting the H1B's in here

If H1Bs are such a threat, explain this: Given this time of cost cutting and layoffs, you'd expect companies to fire all their expensive American workers, and replace them with cheap foreign imports, yet this year it has taken eight months to reach the quota of 65,000, instead of two days, like the past 4 years.

Also explain this, why would you not want to siphon off the best and the brightest of the world?

1) The recession is partly DUE to this practice.

Really? Everything I heard was that it had to do with too much debt and too much access to cheap credit, and an era of deregulation and mergers.

2) It's not that the people won't work- it's that it's not being offered in the first place and they're claiming a "shortage" of workers (even though there's not...) and getting the H1B's in here

If H1Bs are such a threat, explain this: Given this time of cost cutting and layoffs, you'd expect companies to fire all their expensive American workers, and replace them with cheap foreign imports, yet this year it has taken eight months to reach the quota of 65,000, instead of two days, like the past 4 years.

Also explain this, why would you not want to siphon off the best and the brightest of the world?

This happens all the time in the U.S. The government even shut down a Spanish travel agency that arranged tours to Cuba -- they were foolish enough to register their domain name here. http://thespamdiaries.blogspot.com/2008/03/dont-register-or-host-your-domain-in-us.html

Here's one guy's description of the Apex Technology Group's H-1B agreement (from http://ripoffatapextgi.blogspot.com/ ):

This information is being mailed to you as a reply to your post regarding Apex Technology Group Inc (Sarvesh Kumar Dharayan) (www.apextgi.com)Please find the employment agreement letter http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10702214/agreement, which I received after I started working for Apex at a client location. None of the terms were part of the initial agreement between me and Apex Technology Group Inc.

I would like to take this oppurtunity to highlight several aspect's of the 9 page legal agreement which might be important for you. For example: 30 day termination notice or forget your last paycheck when you quit, If you join a company (including any level between you and Apex) then pay $35000 or face a law suit, $9000 for legal,training and guest services when you quit. $35000 if you quit in between a contract...etc

The document at http://www.docstoc.com/ is not available any more. I assume it was the victim of a takedown request.

Once again, I want to make it clear that I am in favor of technical immigration (both to and from the U.S., for that matter) but it's these kinds of alleged abuses that have made it clear that the H-1B program is fundamentally flawed.

There are plenty studies showing strong correlation between economic freedom and GDP (even between US states)

That "study" is BS. Just look at the errors, the higher the variables, the higher the variance between the model and the actual data. You can't confidently draw correlation conclusions with heteroskedasticity. The only thing this "study" shows is that the authors lack a good understanding of econometrics.

Thanks for the link! I found these instructions to build fsv... worked for me on Ubuntu 9.04.

http://sectio-aurea.blogspot.com/2008/12/3d-file-system-viewer-building-fsv-on.html

Very cool! XD

After a brief googling I couldn't find a decent study comparing the likes of human rights (or at least press freedom), and GDP (or at least economic freedom).

Anecdotally (from just browsing the individual indexes) however there appears to be a strong correlation - with various exceptions, some of which can be accounted for by e.g. natural resources. There are plenty studies showing strong correlation between economic freedom and GDP (even between US states), but that's not much of a substitute for human rights and freedoms.

Of course, correlation is not causation, although intuitively it makes a lot of sense - wealthier people seem to consider themselves more important, demand more power, education, have better communications...

My assumption is that the better a country's economy, the better the human rights. Anyone have a good study?

Make WinXP look like KDE http://www.tech-atom.com/windows/ultimate-linux-transformation-pack-for-windows-xp.html

Make GNOME look like WinXP http://ubuntu.online02.com/xpgnome

Make WinXP look likeUbuntu http://pc-hacks.blogspot.com/2007/10/make-up-over-your-windows-look-like.html

Make WinXP look like Enlightenment http://www.litestep.net/

Make Linux look like Win95 http://fvwm.org/

It all makes my head hurt.

Carter Sande, young coauthor of Hello World, did a guest video lesson on the Young Programmers Podcast: http://young-programmers.blogspot.com/2009/11/carter-sande-presents-pythoncard.html

I recommend Scratch (MIT), Alice (Carnegie Mellon) and Python, for teaching kids. I have some video lessons here: http://young-programmers.blogspot.com/ on those three, plus Jython and Pygame, Scala and Lift.

According to a report from ABI Research, Apple’s iPhone now represents 1.1 percent of the worldwide mobile phone market and grew in dramatically from just 0.3 percent during 2007. The reports shows that the numbers put Apple on par with HTC and slightly ahead of Sharp. Nokia leads the market with 38.6 percent share with Samsung in a distant second with 16.2 percent. Apple’s closest rival RIM (Research in Motion) is slightly ahead of Apple with 1.9 percent. 1.21 billion phones were sold worldwide in 2008 According to a report from ABI Research, Apple’s iPhone now represents 1.1 percent of the worldwide mobile phone market and grew in dramatically from just 0.3 percent during 2007. The reports shows that the numbers put Apple on par with HTC and slightly ahead of Sharp. Nokia leads the market with 38.6 percent share with Samsung in a distant second with 16.2 percent. Apple’s closest rival RIM (Research in Motion) is slightly ahead of Apple with 1.9 percent. 1.21 billion phones were sold worldwide in 2008 http://magnalite-cookware.blogspot.com/

Yea, the Google-DoubleClick acquisition:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070915143243/http://blogs.business2.com/beta/2007/04/in_role_reversa.html
http://digg.com/business_finance/The_Irony_of_Google_s_acquistion_of_DoubleClick
http://google.blognewschannel.com/archives/2007/04/15/google-says-we-gots-money-lets-buy-everybody/
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/04/why-theres-no-doubleclick-ad-on.html
http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/google-buys-doubleclick---is-banner-advertising-making-a-comeback/

"you're talking to the person who implemented samba's 2nd nmbd improvements, back in 1996, and demonstrated the world's first multi-workgroup / multi-PDC server on microsoft's campus, in about 1998." - by lkcl (517947) on Saturday December 26, @09:13AM (#30555560) Homepage

Good: Then YOU are EXACTLY the kind of person around here I'd like to "run this by" so please: Read this, end-to-end, & comment back if you would (thanks):

I am going to tell you a way to get around this NetBIOS flaw (HOSTS & LMHOSTS) & other DNS issues until it's fixed (& I think YOU, of all people here, will understand, & yes, appreciate it (if not be able to "punch holes" into what I write (good luck)):

It's a QUITE OLD way, that works, in custom HOSTS files (specifically, via "hardcoding" your fav. most used sites into it - this technique is DEEP into this post, so read it, end-to-end, IF you are interested in a working "fix"):

I use a custom HOSTS file, in addition to the tools others here in this thread have noted (which MANY like FF addons only really function for FireFox/Mozilla products, but don't extend globally to all other webbound applications, & that is part of what HOSTS files give you above the methods you extoll + utilize: "GLOBAL COVERAGE", & of ALL webbound apps, not just FireFox/Mozilla ones via the addons you most likely use yourself...).

HOSTS files can be used to blockout KNOWN "bad" adserves, maliciously coded sites or adbanners, and "botnet C&C servers" too!

You can obtain reliable HOSTS files from reputable lists for more security online, but also for speed!

(More on that later & WHY/HOW (I use reliable lists for that, such as these HOSTS @ Wikipedia.com -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file or those from mvps.org (a good one this one))

I also further populate & keep current my custom HOSTS file with up to date information in regards to all of those threats, via:

----

A.) Spybot "Search & Destroy" updates (populates HOSTS and browser block lists)

B.) Sites like ZDNet's Mr. Dancho Danchev's blog -> http://ddanchev.blogspot.com/

C.) Sites like FireEye -> http://blog.fireeye.com/

D.) SRI -> http://mtc.sri.com/

----

My HOSTS file incorporates ALL of the entries from the HOSTS files shown @ wikipedia as well... gaining me speed online (by blocking adbanners, which have been compromised many times the past few years now by malscripted exploits (examples below)).

(I combined ALL reputable HOSTS files with one of my own (30,000 entries), & I removed duplicates removed via a Borland Delphi app I wrote to do so called "APK HOSTS File Grinder 4.0++". That program also functions to change the default larger & SLOWER 127.0.0.1 blocking 'loopback adapter' IP address to either 0.0.0.0 (for VISTA/Windows Server 2008/Windows 7, smaller & thus faster than 127.0.0.1 default) or the smallest & fastest 0 "blocking 'IP ADDRESS'" (for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003 which can STILL use it (& it was added in a service pack on Windows 2000, only on 12/09/2008 MS patch tuesday was it removed for VISTA onwards (& now all these "phunny little bugs" are showing up as FLAWS in this new NDIS6 approach via WFP as well in the firewall, which ROOTKIT.COM has stated (with code too no less on how it is done) -> http://www.rootkit.com/newsread.php?newsid=952 that it is EASIER TO UNHOOK (than was the design used in Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003))

Another EXCELLENT benefit of HOSTS file usage? More speed online, & also more security + reliability (especially in the case of DNS servers today, per folks like Dan Kaminsky &/or Moxie Marlinspike finding various security vulnerabilities in th

"Ever heard of DNS cache poisoning?" - by AigariusDebian (721386) on Friday December 25, @10:13PM (#30553924) Homepage

Yes, I have... & TOO MANY TIMES the past 5++ yrs. now (see lists below in fact)... So, thus, I am going to tell you a way to get around it: And, a VERY OLD way, that works, in custom HOSTS files (specifically, via "hardcoding" your fav. most used sites into it - this technique is DEEP into this post, so read it, end-to-end, IF you are interested in a working "fix"):

I use a custom HOSTS file, in addition to the tools others here in this thread have noted (which MANY like FF addons only really function for FireFox/Mozilla products, but don't extend globally to all other webbound applications, & that is part of what HOSTS files give you above the methods you extoll + utilize: "GLOBAL COVERAGE", & of ALL webbound apps, not just FireFox/Mozilla ones via the addons you most likely use yourself...).

HOSTS files can be used to blockout KNOWN "bad" adserves, maliciously coded sites or adbanners, and "botnet C&C servers" too!

You can obtain reliable HOSTS files from reputable lists for more security online, but also for speed!

(More on that later & WHY/HOW (I use reliable lists for that, such as these HOSTS @ Wikipedia.com -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file or those from mvps.org (a good one this one))

I also further populate & keep current my custom HOSTS file with up to date information in regards to all of those threats, via:

----

A.) Spybot "Search & Destroy" updates (populates HOSTS and browser block lists)

B.) Sites like ZDNet's Mr. Dancho Danchev's blog -> http://ddanchev.blogspot.com/

C.) Sites like FireEye -> http://blog.fireeye.com/

D.) SRI -> http://mtc.sri.com/

----

My HOSTS file incorporates ALL of the entries from the HOSTS files shown @ wikipedia as well... gaining me speed online (by blocking adbanners, which have been compromised many times the past few years now by malscripted exploits (examples below)).

(I combined ALL reputable HOSTS files with one of my own (30,000 entries), & I removed duplicates removed via a Borland Delphi app I wrote to do so called "APK HOSTS File Grinder 4.0++". That program also functions to change the default larger & SLOWER 127.0.0.1 blocking 'loopback adapter' IP address to either 0.0.0.0 (for VISTA/Windows Server 2008/Windows 7, smaller & thus faster than 127.0.0.1 default) or the smallest & fastest 0 "blocking 'IP ADDRESS'" (for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003 which can STILL use it (& it was added in a service pack on Windows 2000, only on 12/09/2008 MS patch tuesday was it removed for VISTA onwards (& now all these "phunny little bugs" are showing up as FLAWS in this new NDIS6 approach via WFP as well in the firewall, which ROOTKIT.COM has stated (with code too no less on how it is done) -> http://www.rootkit.com/newsread.php?newsid=952 that it is EASIER TO UNHOOK (than was the design used in Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003))

Another EXCELLENT benefit of HOSTS file usage? More speed online, & also more security + reliability (especially in the case of DNS servers today, per folks like Dan Kaminsky &/or Moxie Marlinspike finding various security vulnerabilities in them the past couple years now)...

SO, to "CIRCUMVENT" THAT WHICH YOU NOTE & to get more speed online (besides/above potentially hijacked adbanners etc. et al)?

WELL - I also use another "technique" called "hardcoding" an IP address to domainname/hostname in my HOSTS files, for my FAVORITE websites:

This allows me to FIRST bypass any remote/external DNS lookups, which also would in theory @ least, make me "proofed" vs.

"Appletalk Name Binding Protocol (NBP) is also likely to be vulernable, as is Novell's Service Advertising Protocol (SAP), was well as Multicast DNS (sort-of-aka Avahi, Zeroconf, Bonjour). At the end of the day, you can't completely trust what somebody else says unless you already explicitly trust them." - by anti-NAT (709310) on Saturday December 26, @05:47AM (#30555096) Homepage

Here is a VERY OLD 'something' that can fix this problem in BOTH NetBIOS and yes, DNS itself, in the meantime - for the end user: A CUSTOM HOSTS FILE!

Specifically, the "DOMAINNAME/HOSTNAME-to-IP ADDRESS" equation in them, & "hardcoding" it there (so you do NOT get "misdirected" by an attacker of DNS or NetBIOS). That's fairly DEEP into this post, so, if you are interested? Read on:

I use a custom HOSTS file, in addition to the tools others here in this thread have noted (which MANY like FF addons only really function for FireFox/Mozilla products, but don't extend globally to all other webbound applications, & that is part of what HOSTS files give you above the methods you extoll + utilize: "GLOBAL COVERAGE", & of ALL webbound apps, not just FireFox/Mozilla ones via the addons you most likely use yourself...).

HOSTS files can be used to blockout KNOWN "bad" adserves, maliciously coded sites or adbanners, and "botnet C&C servers" too!

You can obtain reliable HOSTS files from reputable lists for more security online, but also for speed!

(More on that later & WHY/HOW (I use reliable lists for that, such as these HOSTS @ Wikipedia.com -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file or those from mvps.org (a good one this one))

I also further populate & keep current my custom HOSTS file with up to date information in regards to all of those threats, via:

----

A.) Spybot "Search & Destroy" updates (populates HOSTS and browser block lists)

B.) Sites like ZDNet's Mr. Dancho Danchev's blog -> http://ddanchev.blogspot.com/

C.) Sites like FireEye -> http://blog.fireeye.com/

D.) SRI -> http://mtc.sri.com/

----

My HOSTS file incorporates ALL of the entries from the HOSTS files shown @ wikipedia as well... gaining me speed online (by blocking adbanners, which have been compromised many times the past few years now by malscripted exploits (examples below)).

(I combined ALL reputable HOSTS files with one of my own (30,000 entries), & I removed duplicates removed via a Borland Delphi app I wrote to do so called "APK HOSTS File Grinder 4.0++". That program also functions to change the default larger & SLOWER 127.0.0.1 blocking 'loopback adapter' IP address to either 0.0.0.0 (for VISTA/Windows Server 2008/Windows 7, smaller & thus faster than 127.0.0.1 default) or the smallest & fastest 0 "blocking 'IP ADDRESS'" (for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003 which can STILL use it (& it was added in a service pack on Windows 2000, only on 12/09/2008 MS patch tuesday was it removed for VISTA onwards (& now all these "phunny little bugs" are showing up as FLAWS in this new NDIS6 approach via WFP as well in the firewall, which ROOTKIT.COM has stated (with code too no less on how it is done) -> http://www.rootkit.com/newsread.php?newsid=952 [rootkit.com] [rootkit.com] that it is EASIER TO UNHOOK (than was the design used in Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003))

Another EXCELLENT benefit of HOSTS file usage? More speed online, & also more security + reliability (especially in the case of DNS servers today, per folks like Dan Kaminsky &/or Moxie Marlinspike finding various security vulnerabilities in them the past couple years now)...

SO, to "CIRCUMVENT" THAT WHICH YOU NOTE & to get more speed online (besides/above potentially h

"So a new flow in the Netbios protocol, tell me something new. Once we had a rogue router plugged in the network who was happily changing the DNS setting on the Windows workstations. Nothing else, just DNS settings. This case alone should give nightmares to any Netbios administrator." - by Krneki (1192201) on Saturday December 26, @08:03AM (#30555354)

What I will tell you MAY be "something new" to YOU, but... it's actually QUITE OLD, but, can work vs. this flaw: HOSTS FILES!

THIS? This is just yet another reason (many more exist below, regarding DNS itself is why I state that) WHY the "old faithful" HOSTS file can be of use here: To counter this NetBIOS + DNS flaw!

I use a custom HOSTS file, in addition to the tools others here in this thread have noted (which MANY like FF addons only really function for FireFox/Mozilla products, but don't extend globally to all other webbound applications, & that is part of what HOSTS files give you above the methods you extoll + utilize: "GLOBAL COVERAGE", & of ALL webbound apps, not just FireFox/Mozilla ones via the addons you noted + use yourself...).

HOSTS files can be used to blockout KNOWN "bad" adserves, maliciously coded sites or adbanners, and "botnet C&C servers" too!

You can obtain reliable HOSTS files from reputable lists for more security online, but also for speed!

(More on that later & WHY/HOW (I use reliable lists for that, such as these HOSTS @ Wikipedia.com -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file [wikipedia.org] or those from mvps.org (a good one this one))

I also further populate & keep current my custom HOSTS file with up to date information in regards to all of those threats, via:

----

A.) Spybot "Search & Destroy" updates (populates HOSTS and browser block lists)

B.) Sites like ZDNet's Mr. Dancho Danchev's blog -> http://ddanchev.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]

C.) Sites like FireEye -> http://blog.fireeye.com/ [fireeye.com]

D.) SRI -> http://mtc.sri.com/ [sri.com]

----

My HOSTS file incorporates ALL of the entries from the HOSTS files shown @ wikipedia as well... gaining me speed online (by blocking adbanners, which have been compromised many times the past few years now by malscripted exploits (examples below)).

(I combined ALL reputable HOSTS files with one of my own (30,000 entries), & I removed duplicates removed via a Borland Delphi app I wrote to do so called "APK HOSTS File Grinder 4.0++". That program also functions to change the default larger & SLOWER 127.0.0.1 blocking 'loopback adapter' IP address to either 0.0.0.0 (for VISTA/Windows Server 2008/Windows 7, smaller & thus faster than 127.0.0.1 default) or the smallest & fastest 0 "blocking 'IP ADDRESS'" (for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003 which can STILL use it (& it was added in a service pack on Windows 2000, only on 12/09/2008 MS patch tuesday was it removed for VISTA onwards (& now all these "phunny little bugs" are showing up as FLAWS in this new NDIS6 approach via WFP as well in the firewall, which ROOTKIT.COM has stated (with code too no less on how it is done) -> http://www.rootkit.com/newsread.php?newsid=952 [rootkit.com] [rootkit.com] that it is EASIER TO UNHOOK (than was the design used in Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003))

Another EXCELLENT benefit of HOSTS file usage? More speed online, & also more security + reliability (especially in the case of DNS servers today, per folks like Dan Kaminsky &/or Moxie Marlinspike finding various security vulnerabilities in them the past couple years now)...

SO, to "CIRCUMVENT" THAT WHICH YOU NOTE & to get more speed online (besides/above potentially hijacked adbanners etc. et al)?

WELL

Also sounds similar to Euphio Question by Kurt Vonnegut. Basically a radio frequency is discovered that puts people into a euphoric stupor.

The mass of lithium in a Li ion battery is no where near 1/2. For example, a LiMn2O4 Cathode is only 1/20 lithium by mass. Also, the 'recoverable' reserves of Lithium are at least three time higher than that 11 Megatonnes estimate. See http://lithiumabundance.blogspot.com/.

The earth's crust is nearly 20 ppm lithium by mass, so lithium is faily abundant. However, there are very few economically recoverable sources of lithium. If prices rise, more sources become available. We simple cannot 'run out' of lithium.

World production of lithium is another matter, it is only about 40,000 tonnes a year.

if you knew half the stuff that went through the average woman's brain you'd probably crap a few bricks. Women make up for in detail what men do in quantity in that regard.

Case in point. Except most adult women are smart enough not to write it down.
-
This probably won't write down every single thought that runs through your head. You still probably have to 'think' of the letters. When I type I mentally spell out every word and know that I have to hit those keys. When I'm talking to someone or just thinking about that hot waitress I'm not thinking "W-o-w w-h-a-t a g-r-e-a-t a-s-s".

I wonder what the WPM is. I've reached a point in my keyboarding skills that the limitation seems to be on the brain thinking of what to type and not on the fingers actually doing the typing.

I had to google google legs.

http://google-au.blogspot.com/2007/05/google-legs-burn-at-balmoral.html

Hmmmm. I was hoping to see some more feminine legs. :^( There's no porn like google porn.

Regarding the glue code, do you honestly think the tiny amount of code required to dump the string into the XML parser is going to make a noticeable difference when compared to the amount of processing required to parse an XML document?

You write custom XML parsers every time you parse a different doc schema? Wow.

If I know exactly what the format is, and what data I'm looking for, it's WAY quicker to treat it like a stream of tokens, parsing out tokens, and when you find the beginning of one that interests you, save a pointer to 1 byte past the end, continue tokenizing until you find the close, and grab the data between the saved pointer and the beginning of the end token.

You can recurse this if you have enclosed tags.

Why would I want to waste my time doing more? (aside from the fact that xml really sucks badly.

Regarding the glue code, do you honestly think the tiny amount of code required to dump the string into the XML parser is going to make a noticeable difference when compared to the amount of processing required to parse an XML document?

You write custom XML parsers every time you parse a different doc schema? Wow.

If I know exactly what the format is, and what data I'm looking for, it's WAY quicker to treat it like a stream of tokens, parsing out tokens, and when you find the beginning of one that interests you, save a pointer to 1 byte past the end, continue tokenizing until you find the close, and grab the data between the saved pointer and the beginning of the end token.

You can recurse this if you have enclosed tags.

Why would I want to waste my time doing more? (aside from the fact that xml really sucks badly.

From the OP:

.' But are we likely to see Google open their search engine, advertising or the famous back-end system?

No, actually, we aren't. The email says so, in the fourth paragraph under Open Technology > Open Source:

Don't you love it when the submitter doesn't even read the article in question? Get mad all you want, yes I am looking at you CmdrTaco. You may not have submitted it, but you green-lit it.

They haven't opened everything, but they do open things that give them a competitive advantage. The most recent would be the SPDY protocol.

http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2009/11/2x-faster-web.html

Didn't they open their hardware design for power supplies? Apparently they save a fortune by running pure DC data centers.

Google also releases patches for projects like MySQL, pays for Google Summer of Code, employs people to solely work on OSS projects (such as kernel developers), fights to protect open standards, is helping push for HTML 5, and pushed for Ogg in HTML 5, etc. etc. etc.

Didn't Google just release Android out in the open, and Chrome browser, and Chrome OS?

.' But are we likely to see Google open their search engine, advertising or the famous back-end system?

No, actually, we aren't. The email says so, in the fourth paragraph under Open Technology > Open Source:

While we are committed to opening the code for our developer tools, not all Google products are open source. Our goal is to keep the Internet open, which promotes choice and competition and keeps users and developers from getting locked in. In many cases, most notably our search and ads products, opening up the code would not contribute to these goals and would actually hurt users. The search and advertising markets are already highly competitive with very low switching costs, so users and advertisers already have plenty of choice and are not locked in. Not to mention the fact that opening up these systems would allow people to "game" our algorithms to manipulate search and ads quality rankings, reducing our quality for everyone.

Afraid I have to disagree with you there. In the UK at least, there are many bloggers whose output is verifiably more truthful, better-written and more apropos than that of most "professional" journalists. While the journalists are concentrating on how many women Tiger Woods has slept with, how breakfast is good for you and generally toeing the corporate party line, there are bloggers like this chap: Anton Vowl who writes coherent (if occasionally profane) and well-researched articles about important issues - often pointing out where the "proper" journalists have got it wrong and then admitted it later in very small writing.

The quality of bloggers is just as variable as the quality of journalists. From the many examples of cut-and-paste journalism that have been seen lately, it would appear that "following up on leads, research and fact-checking" are far less of a priority than publishing the latest celebrity scandal or product press release.

What happened to IPv1, IPv2, IPv3 and IPv4 The short answer is that they never existed.

And back then, Republicans were "liberal." At least by modern definitions of the word. So I don't really find it ironic. Parties change sides all the time. Now if Reid were an actual politician from those days then, yes, it would be ironic.

Also ironic because Reid is still a racist, as is clear if you do a little bit of research .

I vote for suggest new features and options. We are proposing a redesign to an open source project called KATO (mainstreaming software agents) where we have made available a discussion area and survey for soliciting feedback and ideas on the redesign. You can make a difference there on that project in only 5 minutes.

Perhaps it's sometimes more effective for people who aren't primarily geeks to show their nerdy side. I remember how nice it was when Pink Floyd presented the synthesizer they used in the Dark Side of The Moon, although it wasn't necessary to enjoy the music that was their main focus.

As for education, having Wolfram's Rule 90 as a part of an art class might interest someone in procedural 2D graphics. It's quick and easy to plot on graph paper using simple rules.

Apart from reading and education, what they could do is put cool hackers in movies. And even then, they should be creative. Usually movies depict hackers as someone who basically uses or works around someone else's product (The Matrix, Die Hard 4, I think), which is the idea that non-technical people have of computers in general. That is, they probably don't think they use computer _programs_ - they think they use software _products_. So, instead of being able to just work with existing systems, maybe it would be cool if they also did something original. For instance, someone could set up a time bomb using some kind of sleep(x) command, or something. Use a simple while(true) loop to do... something. Indefinitely. I don't know what, because I'm not cool.

It was in some Opera 10 beta that they improved the JS engine a lot, and now they've improved it over 7x again

Makes you wonder what those guys from pypy could do for Python if they got some proper funding

You mean like this one, one of my local beaches:

http://nudisttravel.blogspot.com/2007/05/wreck-beach-pictures-of-vancouvers.html

"Personally I would be running my own DNS servers / Anon proxies on those blocks of IPs so that bot traffic can be managed better." - by cjjjer (530715) on Monday December 21, @05:30PM (#30517760)

Why waste the CPU cycles & RAM on a quite possibly & MORE THAN POTENTIALLY "buggy" DNS server setup (plenty of evidence of THAT much is in my lists below), which is more complex to do than what I will suggest (which everyone has already, in a HOSTS file) in HOSTS files?

HOSTS files are something you already have, & they are also VERY easily edited (via a text editor like notepad.exe) & reliable/reputable ones are EASILY obtained (& kept current/up-to-date vs. KNOWN bad sites + bad servers) online?

(I use reliable lists for that, such as these HOSTS @ Wikipedia.com -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file or those from mvps.org (a good one this one))

So, that all "said & aside", about DNS servers vs. HOSTS files (which on the latter, again, you already HAVE one)?

How about a GLOBAL solution that not only blocks out ads, giving you an "HBO-Style Internet Experience" & a much faster websurfing experience in the same pass, but one that also secures you vs. maliciously coded banner ads & known bad servers/sites too... & it's also a solution that extends to ALL of your "webbound apps", instead of just 1 family like mozilla browser addsons do only also!

(AND this is a solution that acts as "layered security" in combination with the FF/Mozilla only methods you use (which slow your browser down, use CPU cycles & more... where this solution does not, + is 100% FREE (you already have one is why, it's just a matter of populating it from reliable sources), & it's a solution that GLOBALLY covers ALL webbound apps as well)??

A GOOD SOLID & GLOBAL WORK-AROUND, IS YOUR LOCAL HOSTS FILE!

(It works for more speed online, AND SECURITY ESPECIALLY... Also, it works for your money, because you pay for your linetime out of pocket most likely as I do, you can get back your speed, AND, gain security easily, & from a single easily edited file & a file eats no CPU cycles like a local DNS server can (& are not as security vulnerable either if you protect write access to a HOSTS file also)...

Personally, here, I use a custom HOSTS file vs. a DNS server setup!

That's in addition to the tools others here in this thread have noted for "blocking out" known bad servers &/or sites (which MANY like FF addons only really function for FireFox/Mozilla products, but don't extend globally to all other webbound applications, & that is part of what HOSTS files give you above the methods you extoll + utilize: "GLOBAL COVERAGE", & of ALL webbound apps, not just FireFox/Mozilla ones via the addons you noted + use yourself...).

HOSTS files can also be used to blockout KNOWN "bad" adserves, maliciously coded sites or adbanners, and "botnet C&C servers" too & again, VERY easily! (Can't 'stress that' enough)...

I also further populate & keep current my custom HOSTS file with up to date information in regards to all of those threats, via:

----

A.) Spybot "Search & Destroy" updates (populates HOSTS and browser block lists)

B.) Sites like ZDNet's Mr. Dancho Danchev's blog -> http://ddanchev.blogspot.com/

C.) Sites like FireEye -> http://blog.fireeye.com/

D.) SRI -> http://mtc.sri.com/

----

My HOSTS file incorporates ALL of the entries from the HOSTS files shown @ wikipedia as well... gaining me speed online (by blocking adbanners, which have been compromised many times the past few years now by malscripted exploits (examples below)).

(I combined ALL reputable HOSTS files with one of my own (30,000 entries), & I removed du

Using proper meta tags

Oh, really?

But they do talk bad about their company (at least mostly in a 'WTF is Ballmer doing this time' way)

http://minimsft.blogspot.com/

Some of the posts are intriguing, some are just dull, some are cutting.

Free/open-source software has a lot of these. As an open-source developer myself, I can understand why. One issue is that a lot of open-source projects are started by young naive people who do not realize how much time and effort it really takes to make a software program. Probably over half of the projects on Sourceforge fall under this category. One example is MooDNS, a DNS server that stopped development around the time the developer realized what a pain in the butt DNS compression is.

Another way open-source projects get abandoned is when other software that does the same thing comes along. For example, the GNU Hurd never became production-ready because Linux came along and was good enough that the perceived need for Hurd development went away.

Other projects that stop development are projects where the developers stop going to school and get real jobs, and no longer have time to devote to an open-source project. One example of this is the Y Window System

For all of the advantages of Free software, one issue is that, without, by and large, the developers being paid money, there is not nearly as much motivation to get something finished, so a lot of projects become vaporware.

Closer to home, I've told myself for years I would have a thread-free version of a recursive resolver for my own MaraDNS. I finally started writing the code in late 2007. Around the end of 2007, I had a working basic non-recursive cache. The project was put on hold in 2008 while I got out of the Slashdot-posting basement and looked for a girlfriend. I finally got one around the end of 2008, and was able to spend 2009 adding a lot of features to the code, making a lot of releases of the code.

Well, around September of 2009, I got burnt out. Too much work for too little (almost no) pay. I stopped doing major development on the recursive code at that point, but have a really nice non-recursive cache with most of the foundation needed to make it a recursive cache. I do want to get back in to the project; but it's a lot of work and having a few thank you emails doesn't feel like enough compensation at times, especially when the other half of the emails are people asking me to implement their favorite pet feature for fun and for free, or asking for free email support. I finally put a plug on that nonsense by making it extremely clear that I only answer private email for people willing to pay me. Here are some of my rants I blogged about. I do get the occasional "you made this nice DNS server, we would like to hire you" email, but haven't gotten a job from that yet.

I do want to finish up the recursive code, and put closure on my DNS server project, but I just haven't gotten myself in the "develop free software" mindset again.

Maybe it's time to stop goofing around on Slashdot and finish up the code. :)

Subject: Every computer hackable by Radio Freq?
- a global conspiracy?

This lady claims to have found some strange things on her Windows PCs and Linux!

Subversionhack Archive
https://tagmeme.com/subhack/

So, with modern blackboxed hardware components, are all of our PCs hackable via radio frequency / ham packet radio type of blackbox voodoo?

Dig deep, I've found no other site like this. Are Linux/BSD varieties vulnerable?

http://www.invisiblethings.org/code.html
http://www.invisiblethings.org/papers.html

AND

This talk explores three possible methods that a hardware Trojan can use to leak secret information to the outside world: thermal, optical and radio.

In the thermal Trojan demo, we use an infrared camera to show how electronic components or exposed connector pins can be used to transmit illicit information thermally. In the optical Trojan demo, we use an optical-to-audio converter to show how a power-on LED can be used to transmit illicit information using signal frequencies undetectable by human eyes. Finally, in the radio Trojan demo, we use a radio receiver to show how an external connector can be used to transmit illicit information using AM radio transmission.

http://www.cvorg.ece.udel.edu/defcon-16/
https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-16/dc-16-speakers.html#Kiamilev

fools laugh and cry tinfoil, others read and learn and decide for themselves

http://bluepillproject.org/

http://subversionhack.livejournal.com/1815.html

"I sincerely believe that Blue Pill technology will (very soon) allow for creating 100% undetectable malware, which is not based on obscurity of the concept. And I already stressed this in the description of my talk here (http://syscan.org/program.html) and here (http://blackhat.com/html/bh-usa-06/bh-usa-06-speakers.html#Rutkowska). The working prototype I have (and which I will be demonstrating at SyScan and Black Hat) implements the most important step towards creating such malware, namely it allows to move the underlying operating system, on the fly, into a secure virtual machine."
  - http://theinvisiblethings.blogspot.com/2006/07/blue-pill-hype.html

http://rayer.ic.cz/romos/romose.htm

"The ROMOS is a stand-alone x86 code allows you to load and run your own binary code or 3rd-party code. ROMOS rely on BIOS functions only so it can be executed directly without any operating system. The main purpose of ROMOS is to be placed in a ROM, from where it can load/run other software (e.g. bootmanager, HW diagnostics, special controlling software...) during POST (Power-On Self Test) while your PC is booting up. It can also load DOS-based operating systems (may be other OSes) such as FreeDOS stored in ROM together with ROMOS. This mean that any floppy/harddisk/CD-ROM drive is not needed. It may be very useful in various embedded diskless systems. Or simply as reserve OS for rescue use. Other applications are on you."

mark this offtopic while you browse for porn to satisfy one more rub-one-off session, despite it containing more than the OP.

Oh, but you can. ;)

http://roaminghack.blogspot.com/
http://www.ucan.org/telecommunications/wireless/how_to_cancel_your_cell_phone_contract

I am in the process of getting off of Bell Canada and none too soon. I moved within Calgary, and the area I am in has poor coverage, so the phone drops calls continuously. After calling Bell to complain about the coverage, even though the coverage map says my area of the city is good, they said that I couldn't quit them since I didn't get their permissions to move (huh???), and its my fault the phone works periodically.
Anywho, I asked to get a supervisor and he got me off the rest of the contract and heading over to a new provider (http://www.windmobile.ca/) in the new year, and their rates are fantastic.... just hope they don't treat the customers like crap.

what are we supposed to do, just accept rising sea levels, melting glaciers and the sahara desert growing 25%?

The Sahara desert was a savannah just a few thousand years ago*. It's currently getting _greener_ - not expanding**. A warmer atmosphere leads to increased precipitation, and maybe it changes a few winds around as well which would rectify the current desert-anomaly, if you'd so choose.

if you don't believe the earth is heating up, you still have to admit the earth has had historic swings in climate, and that we earthlings will have to intervene at some point, correct?

Depends. We're currently nowhere near as "hot" as we've been in recent times***, thus, why should we do anything at all?

IF anything, we should prepare to mitigate the looming ice age.

Sources:

*) http://www.livescience.com/history/060720_sahara_rains.html
**) http://surveying-mapping-gis.blogspot.com/2006/01/greening-of-sahel.html
***) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFbUVBYIPlI

The families of those four policemen who were murdered by a paroled felon last month would like to hear your answer.

And you'll talk to the families of the little boys who were raped while Ricardo Rachell sat in prison for a crime he didn't commit?