Slashdot Mirror

The report references a blog by Who da'Punk, an anonymous Microsoft employee...

Wow, the dude on the Mini-Microsoft blog, which is notoriously anti-Microsoft, posts something anti-Microsoft?

That's about as earth-shattering as Slashdot posting this recent string of "Microsoft Sucks, Vista Sucks" articles.

I can see access-restriction applications for this technology. But the more I learn about the security precautions banks currently employ on their consumer accounts, the more laughable I find references to the banking industry where these sort of gee-whiz technological innovations are being discussed.

I just got off the phone with two major banks today inquiring about security on their accounts. This after Washington Mutual wrote me to say that my grandmother compromised her account and authorized a bogus transaction by saying yes to confirm the name of the city where the account is held. No, really -- they put this in writing:

http://wamublamesgrandma.blogspot.com/2006/03/wamu s-response-to-my-letter.html

So long as UCC 3104 serves as the code governing check transactions, checking accounts are less secure than an unpatched Windows machine. True, I'm sore because someone dear to me got burned. But with the increase in electronic transfers of fund, I get the impression that fraud of this sort is rapidly growing.

MSAS is actually set to ignore Claria
http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2005/07/microsoft- sets-claria-to-ignore.html

shows you how much we/people can trust MS for malware removal, probably $ related

In addition to the applications that I added (some I wrote myself), there is this one note about "testcd" that I have discussed in my blog.

From what I can tell, if "testcd" does not come out right for a livecd linux, there is the _possibility_ that the cd may not boot on all 386/586/686 boxes. I have tried to get my remaster right, so it passes "testcd" with a 100% score, so to speak. One would need a Knoppix cd, and one that boots when you want it to.

Here is the latest recap of some of the features in my remaster.

There are automated scripts to use when remastering the CD. One copies the cd, the other prepares an iso after changes are made to the master-copy.

I left out the fact that I have emelFM in there, I use it all the time.

Enjoy the screenshots:

In addition to the applications that I added (some I wrote myself), there is this one note about "testcd" that I have discussed in my blog.

From what I can tell, if "testcd" does not come out right for a livecd linux, there is the _possibility_ that the cd may not boot on all 386/586/686 boxes. I have tried to get my remaster right, so it passes "testcd" with a 100% score, so to speak. One would need a Knoppix cd, and one that boots when you want it to.

Here is the latest recap of some of the features in my remaster.

There are automated scripts to use when remastering the CD. One copies the cd, the other prepares an iso after changes are made to the master-copy.

I left out the fact that I have emelFM in there, I use it all the time.

Enjoy the screenshots:

I expected that some one would trot out that hoary old "bad news is better than no news" in the PR business. Whatever validity it has, there are certainly exceptions. Microsoft has to be one. I read a previous post by a Slashdot poster with a link to a Microsoft employee blog http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2006/03/vista-2007-fi re-leadership-now.html I can't find the post right now for attribution, so if you posted this link, accept my apologies please. If you stop reading the Slashdot posts on this subject (Vista) and check out that link to the blog above, you'll find some real eye-opening stuff. I have been reading it for two hours and am not even halfway through. It is a pretty fascinating view from the inside.

I listen almost exclusively to music podcasts, since I find amateurs talking at a mic only slightly less annoying than professionals on the radio talking at a mic, but just like blogs, the best way to find good podcasts is to find one you like, then find what other podcasts that podcast's website links to.

My favorite music podcasts, though, are:
The Beat Oracle (Downtempo Electronica and smart hip-hop)
The Data Sound (Indie Alternative with some eclectic touches)
the letter g (very eclectic from week to week, could be hip-hop, could be electronica, could be alternative)
Space Music (Downtempo and Ambient Electronica brought to you from the Netherlands)
Beats In Space (Electronica and Hip-hop, maybe slightly dancier than tBO above)

Enjoy!

The Digg of this, with a similar summary, has already been marked as inaccurate. Besides on top of the article, no where does it cite the 60% code rewrite.

However, if you want the "truth" about Vista, I suggest this: http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2006/03/vista-2007-fi re-leadership-now.html

On this article, many anon MS coders comment on Vista and the management shakeup. Some are fake, but there are many legitimate posters, including the blogger himself. The comments paint quite a bleak picture for MS and Vista.

On the other side of the coin, the right to create and invent is a natural right, and has been with us since the beginning. It is only in the past several centuries that this natural right has been eroded by idea monopolists and those who want to tie up exclusive rights to natural discoveries through physical force, in the form of patent and copyright law.

On the other side of the coin, the right to create and invent is a natural right, and has been with us since the beginning. It is only in the past several centuries that this natural right has been eroded by idea monopolists and those who want to tie up exclusive rights to natural discoveries through physical force, in the form of patent and copyright law.

See their many, many comments on the MiniMSFT blog

Some particularly choice ones include this and this

See their many, many comments on the MiniMSFT blog

Some particularly choice ones include this and this

See their many, many comments on the MiniMSFT blog

Some particularly choice ones include this and this

When you take time to update Sendmail, also consider adding some hard coded relay blacklist entries. This is an access-based RBL that hangs up on known broadband DUL space containing zombies. A nice addition to a well tweaked Sendmail setup.

http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2006/03/vista-2007-fi re-leadership-now.html#comments

Mini-MSFT wrote an extensive rant about why the Microsoft execs should be fired, and more interesting are the readers' responses.

Got this link yesterday over at digg when they were discussing this. . . Interesting read. . http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2006/03/vista-2007-fi re-leadership-now.html

This is true by default, but is not a requirement. I just got a new 160 GB drive. See http://predelusional.blogspot.com/2006/03/using-pr icewatch-effectively.html

By using a command like
mke2fs -j -b 1024 -m 0 -N 2000000 /dev/hdb1
one can have a 1K sized blocks. I argue that with mostly continous filesystems, the block size is largely irrelevant to performance. A small block size reduces the wasted space at the ends of files. For me, going from 4K to 1K gave me 4 GB more free space on my 160 GB drive for my current files - 2.5%.

System supported file compression would yield more, of course. Sure, the mp3 & jpg files won't compress, but I have lots of text files. A good compression system will know this and not bother compressing files that are incompressible. It might even use a file like magic cookie mechanism so it doesn't have to attempt compression to find out it's pointless.

If the improvement in space due to consolodated ECC codes and other overhead saves more total space than the end-of-file wastage, it would still be a win. The article doesn't say how much better the new standard will be.

It may be that Linux will provide 1K filesystem blocks on top of the 4K phsyical blocks. Performance will be worse. However, the original ext filesystem provided half K blocks, and that option is now moribund.

For new systems, this standard is fine. However, I run my machines into the ground, and the better ones have lasted fifteen years. Given that my current machine could last another ten years, it would be a shame to have to toss it into the landfill in five years because the disk drives can't be replaced. Progress is good. Forced upgrades are not.

For a company to be added to the dow it has to meet certain criteria
One of these is that the company has to be in existence for at least 25 years

http://otherthingsnow.blogspot.com/

I run multiple tasks at a time frequently, under Linux. My currently machine is three years old, and wasn't high end at the time. It's plenty fast. The bottleneck is disk. While a disk to disk copy is in progress, such as during backup, the user interface grinds to a crawl. The IDE ATA disks suck down CPU, true enough, but also, the controllers are so tied up doing the copy that other tasks have a hard time getting through. SCSI performs better, but currently, SCSI drives are priced out of the market. Multiple CPUs, same core or not, don't solve this problem. How are USB or Firewire drives on cost and performance?

Generally, i'm happy with current performance. The system can display full screen real time video. I have no requirements past this. My system is also upgradable.

http://predelusional.blogspot.com/2006/03/using-pr icewatch-effectively.html

This is just an echo then ... if not a dupe. The beta for Google Pages and the Google Page Creator has been around for exactly one month now. Cannot read the article (slashdotted) but I don't think there is anything new to say about it. And even if there was, the place to search for it should would be this: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Microsoft employees in Vista revolt

Bring me the head of Monkey Boy
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30490

and

http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2006/03/vista-2007-fi re-leadership-now.html

The TPMCafe article to which I linked offers more detailed analysis focused on exactly the US version of the UK issue that we're talking about in this subthread. The first sentence of that article links to even more detailed analysis of the bicameral screwup Bush is leveraging into legal authority for his worthless signing statements.

You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what I'm talking about. You don't know what they're talking about. Why do you keep posting?

Theres a good take on why this has started to happen recently on a blog all about the Telco/ISP struggles of late. Its just a side-effect of the increasing consolidation among those who "own the pipes", an inceasingly desperate act to sweat more revenue from their investments, rather like a historical land-owner putting up taxes for peasant farmers on his land.
Nick

We already have our very own Enabling Bill under the Civil Contingencies 2004 Act.

It is exactly the same, except that any future Govt couldn't use it to abolish elections.

This is, of course, where LRRB comes in...

Main comment

Actually, we already have our Enabling Bill under the Civil Contingencies Act.

It is exactly the same as Hitler's, except that any future Govt couldn't use it to abolish elections.

This is, of course, where LRRB comes in...

Main comment

His Government just blocked an amendment that would prevent LRRB being used to abolish elections, imprison everyone etc.

We have already had the Civil Contingencies aka Nazi Enabling Act which gives near unlimited powers to Ministers in the event of an emergency (eg burning down the Reichstag).

We have already had the dreadful Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act forced upon us. RIPA can force ISPs to secretly install mass surveillance equipment or imprison you if you do not release your PGP keys.

And the insidious Identity Cards Bill is hanging like a Sword of Damocles over British privacy and freedom. ID cards are just a front for an unbelievably intrusive database that would make the Stasi blush. The excellent No2ID campaign cannot persuade the House of Lords to hold this up for much longer...

Other attacks on British freedom here.

As Woodrow Wilson pointed out:

Liberty has never come from Government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it... The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.

Whether you consider it your duty to protect Britain's freedom or whether it is merely expedient because you'd like to live here, please write to your MP and join the many campaigners who are dedicating their lives to this fight.

His Government just blocked an amendment that would prevent LRRB being used to abolish elections, imprison everyone etc.

We have already had the Civil Contingencies aka Nazi Enabling Act which gives near unlimited powers to Ministers in the event of an emergency (eg burning down the Reichstag).

We have already had the dreadful Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act forced upon us. RIPA can force ISPs to secretly install mass surveillance equipment or imprison you if you do not release your PGP keys.

And the insidious Identity Cards Bill is hanging like a Sword of Damocles over British privacy and freedom. ID cards are just a front for an unbelievably intrusive database that would make the Stasi blush. The excellent No2ID campaign cannot persuade the House of Lords to hold this up for much longer...

Other attacks on British freedom here.

As Woodrow Wilson pointed out:

Liberty has never come from Government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it... The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.

Whether you consider it your duty to protect Britain's freedom or whether it is merely expedient because you'd like to live here, please write to your MP and join the many campaigners who are dedicating their lives to this fight.

Mr Wave Theory thinks that there is a Bubble 2.0 for Web 2.0 and Most Analysts Are Overestimating the Size of Google's Total Addressable Market for Internet Advertising I am sick and tired of hearing analysts make wild projections about Google's growth prospects based on wild projections about the size of Google's total addressable market. Continued ... http://mrwavetheory.blogspot.com/2006/03/bubble-2. html

Mr Wave Theory thinks that there is a Bubble 2.0 for Web 2.0 and Most Analysts Are Overestimating the Size of Google's Total Addressable Market for Internet Advertising I am sick and tired of hearing analysts make wild projections about Google's growth prospects based on wild projections about the size of Google's total addressable market. Continued ... http://mrwavetheory.blogspot.com/2006/03/bubble-2. html

Mr Wave Theory thinks that there is a Bubble 2.0 for Web 2.0 and Most Analysts Are Overestimating the Size of Google's Total Addressable Market for Internet Advertising I am sick and tired of hearing analysts make wild projections about Google's growth prospects based on wild projections about the size of Google's total addressable market. Continued ... http://mrwavetheory.blogspot.com/2006/03/bubble-2. html

Both are good. Each has tagging. Here's something cool you can do with Stuffopolis: http://herestomwiththeweather.blogspot.com/2006/03 /google-maps-meets-stuffopolis.html Charlie

S. 1932, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

The fix is in, the party is over.

The bat wins.

Your reference's definition of an "enrolled bill":
"The final copy of a bill or joint resolution that has passed both houses of a legislature and is ready for signature."

In fact, the bill I mentioned had passed each house in a different form, had not passed both houses, and was not, therefore, ready for signature.

I invite you to research the problem with an evidentiary rule like Field v Clark. Here's a start:
" Dennis Hastert has violated his constitutional oath by attesting to the accuracy of the bill, knowing that the House version was different (and having intentionally avoided fixing the discrepancy when it came to his attention before the House vote)."

There's lots more in just that one discussion, including 'Field v. Clark itself, in which the Court agreed that "it cannot be doubted" that a bill signed by the President "does not become a law of the United States if it ha[s] not in fact been passed by Congress. . . . There is no authority in the presiding officers of the House of Representatives and the Senate to attest by their signatures, nor in the President to approve, nor in the Secretary of State to receive and cause to be published, as a legislative act, any bill not passed by Congress."'

Then there's the reality that these Republicans have now conspired to create an entirely new legal instrument that circumvents Congress to make laws, founded on an unconstitutional passage of a law by a signing statement.

Anyone who thinks that's OK is a traitor to our country.

Audio recordings have been used for decades to help students review lectures. Podcasts not only serve as study aids, they let people who would otherwise have no access to the lectures learn about various subects while they jog, drive, or do some other activity. This is a positive trend IMHO.

Unfortunately "people taking control and not asking government to act for them" is nowhere on the radar screen at this point in time.

That is not true. Check these articles out:

Why I Vote

Realize All Politicians' Evilness

Sidenote: Self-serving links.

Unfortunately "people taking control and not asking government to act for them" is nowhere on the radar screen at this point in time.

That is not true. Check these articles out:

Why I Vote

Realize All Politicians' Evilness

Sidenote: Self-serving links.

I hope so, check out Ben Maurer's latest blog entry, near the bottom he talks a bit about this. Actually, the latest entry is quite informative about the new memory mapping features in the latest kernel.

Q8bot is a very small bot, consisting of only 926 lines of C-code. And it has one additional noteworthiness: It's written for Unix/Linux systems. It implements all common features of a bot: Dynamic updating via HTTP-downloads, various DDoS-attacks (e.g. SYN-flood and UDP-flood), execution of arbitrary commands, and many more. In the version we have captured, spreaders are missing. But presumably versions of this bot exist which also include spreaders.

Here is an interesting perspective on Windows Vista and how it will affect online video, music, and photos and why it is bad for Google and Apple.

Why Windows Vista Delay is Bad News for Apple and Google

Most botnets are used for spamming. An analysis of the majority of inbound spam clearly shows most of the traffic coming from unauthorized SMTP relays set up in broadband IP space. The main advantage to setting up botnets is to do mass-mailing from a large pool of IP addresses that have the best chance of getting around RBLs. Spamming is the primary revenue source for botnets and also the primary manner in which machines are infected.

Some ISP recognize this issue and are dealing with it. Some are not.

The solution is very simple: filter port 25 traffic from broadband IP space.

Let me repeat this, because it's real simple.. it's so goddam simple that we're now to a point where any ISP that doesn't do this should be considered grossly negligent and a spammer themselves.

Some ISPs are responsible and some are not. AOL is a good example. AOL started filtering port 25 traffic and this has a dramatic effect on the security of their clients, the performance of their network and the overall safety of the Internet at large. Other ISPs are working on this too, like Bellsouth. These are the good ISPs who recognize that this simple solution can create a dramatic reduction in botnet propagation and spamming.

On the other hand, you still have many ISPs who don't seem to give a shit and are part of the problem. I'm not talking about the foreign ISPs... we know they're irresponsible. TDE, Brazil, China, Korea... it's easier to just wholesale block their IP ranges, but domestic ISPs like EARTHLINK and Verizon continue to be a major source of spam and botnet propagation.

Earthlink particularly annoys me because they constantly advertise how great they are at keeping spam and viruses out. Ironically, they are one of the largest sources of spam, phshing scams and worms in the United States. Thanks Earthlink! Get your fucking act together you morons. Take a few of those goddam leprechans and pink unicorns you have hanging around and replace your existing IT staff!! Filter port 25 so we don't have to deal with spam, worms, system probes and wasted bandwidth from your badly-managed networks!

Filtering port 25 takes a lot of the incentive out of creating a botnet. Everyone who really understands the dynamics of the spam/worm problem recognizes this.

...to resuscitate The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster, I reckon.

The people have a right to know how the series could've been had Lucas any writing chops worth writing home about.

Further, they say that they are getting the data direct in their blog.

Also, look again at the blog: Canadian Venture Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange.

This was reported on NPR back in January, Hansen was on an interview shortly thereafter (early February, if I remember right), and has been reported online in great detail, including George Deutschs fall from grace after he was exposed as a fraud.

For those who didn't know offhand, Deutsch is the person who was primarily (though not solely) responsible for the censorship attempts within Nasa. It turned out he never graduated from Texas A&M as his resume claimed, because he left early to work the Bush campaign - can you say Plum Pie?

Read the Scientific Activist blog entries here (in chronological order):
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/01/spe ak-no-evil.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/bre aking-news-george-deutsch-did-not.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/nas a-science-censor-resigns.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/deu tschgate-in-media.html

The author of the Scientific Activist blog, Nick Anthis, is the person that initially uncovered Deutschs falsification of his resume and tipped off the NYT (and never got credit for the scoop, can you believe that?). This was back in early February.

This was reported on NPR back in January, Hansen was on an interview shortly thereafter (early February, if I remember right), and has been reported online in great detail, including George Deutschs fall from grace after he was exposed as a fraud.

For those who didn't know offhand, Deutsch is the person who was primarily (though not solely) responsible for the censorship attempts within Nasa. It turned out he never graduated from Texas A&M as his resume claimed, because he left early to work the Bush campaign - can you say Plum Pie?

Read the Scientific Activist blog entries here (in chronological order):
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/01/spe ak-no-evil.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/bre aking-news-george-deutsch-did-not.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/nas a-science-censor-resigns.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/deu tschgate-in-media.html

The author of the Scientific Activist blog, Nick Anthis, is the person that initially uncovered Deutschs falsification of his resume and tipped off the NYT (and never got credit for the scoop, can you believe that?). This was back in early February.

This was reported on NPR back in January, Hansen was on an interview shortly thereafter (early February, if I remember right), and has been reported online in great detail, including George Deutschs fall from grace after he was exposed as a fraud.

For those who didn't know offhand, Deutsch is the person who was primarily (though not solely) responsible for the censorship attempts within Nasa. It turned out he never graduated from Texas A&M as his resume claimed, because he left early to work the Bush campaign - can you say Plum Pie?

Read the Scientific Activist blog entries here (in chronological order):
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/01/spe ak-no-evil.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/bre aking-news-george-deutsch-did-not.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/nas a-science-censor-resigns.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/deu tschgate-in-media.html

The author of the Scientific Activist blog, Nick Anthis, is the person that initially uncovered Deutschs falsification of his resume and tipped off the NYT (and never got credit for the scoop, can you believe that?). This was back in early February.

This was reported on NPR back in January, Hansen was on an interview shortly thereafter (early February, if I remember right), and has been reported online in great detail, including George Deutschs fall from grace after he was exposed as a fraud.

For those who didn't know offhand, Deutsch is the person who was primarily (though not solely) responsible for the censorship attempts within Nasa. It turned out he never graduated from Texas A&M as his resume claimed, because he left early to work the Bush campaign - can you say Plum Pie?

Read the Scientific Activist blog entries here (in chronological order):
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/01/spe ak-no-evil.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/bre aking-news-george-deutsch-did-not.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/nas a-science-censor-resigns.html
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/deu tschgate-in-media.html

The author of the Scientific Activist blog, Nick Anthis, is the person that initially uncovered Deutschs falsification of his resume and tipped off the NYT (and never got credit for the scoop, can you believe that?). This was back in early February.

For Technique, I recommend none other than Scratch DJ Academy, with Locations in NYC, Miami, and Los Angeles. They have week-long bootcamps in the summertime if you don't live close enough for their once-a-week class. You can learn on your own, but you take the chance of learning things incorrectly and it will take you much, much longer (one hour a week for six weeks equated to six to nine months of on-your-own our instructors told us). My experience there was very positive, I plan to return for more classes.

Tools are all up to you. By definition, DJs just beat-match two tracks together. Old skool DJs are all about vinyl, some are spinning on CD tables now, and some have adopted MP3 time-coded record setups like Scratch Live and Final Scratch.

If you don't have any equipment, you should know that the industry standards for tables are Technics 1200s (every club you might spin in will likely have those), but if you just want to get your feet wet and see if you like it, I'd recommend starting with Neumark's DJ in a Box, which comes with two tables, a mix, and some headphones. The equipment is ghetto for the most part, but for $350 (new) you can get a full setup and see if you're into it instead of dropping $1000-$1500 to see if it's your thing (though you can buy up stuff from Craigslist and eBay from losers who did that before you). My personal preference, since all my music has been MP3 since the late-90s leans towards standard turntables (I like to scratch) and a Serrato Scratch Live to spin my MP3s on vinyl.

If you're talking about musicial composition (you want to make your own electronica), there's a host of products with various specialties. The Apple camp gives you Garage Band free with iLife (free with new Macs) and there are tons of expansion packs. If you outgrow that, you can look at Logic Pro and then Protools when you outgrow that. There are packages for beat making, there are tons of tools on the PC. If you're just starting out and you're a Mac guy, start with Garage band before you look at anything else (go download NIN's "The Hand that Feeds" and remix it like the rest of us did).

It's fun stuff though man, good luck and enjoy.

We think the future of advertising is on keyword exchange markets, but sadly we didn't find resources on Internet about it, beyond our concept description at: KEM Blog post.