Slashdot Mirror

In this article http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/27/security_rese archer_.html they say that this was planned for public disclosure back in April. Permission was given by both ISS and Cisco. I want to know about these vulnerabilities ASAP. Not after code is developed that runs the latest spammers' zombie on my router. Hmmm, is Cisco the next Windows?

He told them in April, according to BoingBoing, and they still hadn't fixed the problem totally.

As seen using Microsoft Earth (left), Apple's Cupertino headquarters looks like its been bombed to rubble.

Anyway this is an important issue so I highly recommend that people RTFA on this one. Basically, what it comes down to is that identity services should follow the same rules as your local S&M club: Sane, Safe, and Consensual.

http://www.boingboing.net/"World's Worst Excerpt -- The Maddest Mad Scientist: The CIA's Dr. Sidney Gottlieb" - Yup, we've had experience with far too many terrorists, and so many seem to be connected with the CIA, FBI and the Pentagon. Any more questions????

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/21/brazilian_cop s_orkut.html

I've been feeling a sense of deja vu every time I read Slashdot for the past few weeks. The problem is that one or two posts a day have been culled directly from Boing Boing, like this story which was posted there yesterday. I recognize that not everyone actually reads Boing Boing in addition to Slashdot, but it gets really old to keep seeing the same stories over and over and over again (and that doesn't even count the dupes ;-).

This is getting to be a joke.

The story about tusk-free elephants? On Boing Boing first.

The story about the nine year-old geek girl? On Boing Boing first.

The story about the Death Star subwoofer? On Boing Boing first.

And now this story comes from Boing Boing too?

These are only the stories I've noticed from the past couple of days reading Boing Boing. It's one thing to aggregate geek news from a variety of sources. It's another thing entirely to simply copy everything Boing Boing does. Slashdot is going downhill faster and faster.

This is getting to be a joke.

The story about tusk-free elephants? On Boing Boing first.

The story about the nine year-old geek girl? On Boing Boing first.

The story about the Death Star subwoofer? On Boing Boing first.

And now this story comes from Boing Boing too?

These are only the stories I've noticed from the past couple of days reading Boing Boing. It's one thing to aggregate geek news from a variety of sources. It's another thing entirely to simply copy everything Boing Boing does. Slashdot is going downhill faster and faster.

This is getting to be a joke.

The story about tusk-free elephants? On Boing Boing first.

The story about the nine year-old geek girl? On Boing Boing first.

The story about the Death Star subwoofer? On Boing Boing first.

And now this story comes from Boing Boing too?

These are only the stories I've noticed from the past couple of days reading Boing Boing. It's one thing to aggregate geek news from a variety of sources. It's another thing entirely to simply copy everything Boing Boing does. Slashdot is going downhill faster and faster.

This is getting to be a joke.

The story about tusk-free elephants? On Boing Boing first.

The story about the nine year-old geek girl? On Boing Boing first.

The story about the Death Star subwoofer? On Boing Boing first.

And now this story comes from Boing Boing too?

These are only the stories I've noticed from the past couple of days reading Boing Boing. It's one thing to aggregate geek news from a variety of sources. It's another thing entirely to simply copy everything Boing Boing does. Slashdot is going downhill faster and faster.

just go read boing boing. they have dupes there too but nothing like this place. and this site is CmdrTaco's freaking JOB. Not to mention that OSTG/OSDN/VALinux/VA/Whatever paid CT over $3mil for slashdot. for 3mil and a salary you'd think they can do better. but they don't.

http://boingboing.net/

You could get a job as a tech columnist in a major magazine/site by being a troll...

CC is not really a hard concept to understand.

As the creator of a work, I can actively choose which "license" fits how I wish my content to be re-used. One excellent example of how this can come into play is how Cory Doctorow used the developing country license for his latest sci-fi novel.

If picaso had the option to use a CC license for his work, maybe you wouldn't have the problem with copyright all these years later... (example from the article)

The difference between CC and regular old copyright is that with CC the artist has some choice/say in the matter of how they're work can be redistributed.

Speaking of fair use, how well does the current system work? See this example of a person who contacted 7 movie studios to try and get clearance for some clips for a noncommercial home movie project (seemingly well within fair use?)

e.

I host the rather popular Boing Boing and for the last two months in a row Firefox has beet IE in viewership (as seen here). Now, of course, Boingboing isn't exactly CNN, but it is arguably the world's #1 blog, so it does count for something. :)

I host the rather popular Boing Boing and for the last two months in a row Firefox has beet IE in viewership (as seen here). Now, of course, Boingboing isn't exactly CNN, but it is arguably the world's #1 blog, so it does count for something. :)

They allow xxx-rated movies on the PSP.

In the interest of spreading "link-love": How can you discuss Cory Doctorow without even linking to his site or mentioning that he's an editor at BoingBoing?

Here... a classic example... upgrade acrobat and you find yourself locked out of those items that you've purchased...

Well, the last time it happened, I scanned it back in and re-released it under a CC license.

"Visor": Now you're getting someplace. Yes, I read about this company. Here's the website: http://www.visorconsultants.com/index.html

My response: BIG DEAL. So ONE SECURITY company was running a disaster management drill for a London based COMPANY and this drill (conducted in a meeting room, no less) included what to do in a train bombing scenario. NOTE: there was nothing going on in a real rail stations, the government wasn't involved, not even all employees for this company - just crisis managers in a MEETING ROOM at the company.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/10/london_bombin gs_coin.html

Now this guy (probably seeking publicity for his company) mentions this, and you blow it out if all proportion and go on like: 'Omigosh Omigosh... the EVIL government planned the bombing. Workers awake... blah blah blah'. With no evidence this drill helped the bombings (bit difficult to do from a meeting room) this is just plain lying. Does a the struggle of facts and wishful lies creates something beautiful in synthesis? No, it is just creates more lies. The truth is independent of how we wish it to be.

Perhaps this silly page influences you:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2005/0907 05bombingexercises.htm

It's the cat's whiskers in conspiracy theories. All the ones you mentioned, plus bonus groundless conspiracies, with this one taking the cake: "Israel being behind Hamas".

According to the foolish ideology these guys subscribe to, Jihadists can do no wrong - they're just foolish monkeys dancing to the tunes of Bush, etc. The breathtaking arrogance of those who presume that conscience is their prerogative. The rest of the human race is the same as you are!

The crazy stuff about "NORAD radar screens showed as many as 22 hijacked airliners at the same time." finds its echoes in what you are saying -- and the page shows it to just more crazy bullshit with no evidence. OK, lets see this page - a top ranked Googled site - has to offer:

The one solid information it links to about this mirrored page about ONE jet hitting ONE building:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/agency_planned_exercis e_on_sept_11_built_around_a_plane_crashing_into_a_ building.htm

Oh, but does it really hit a building? lets see...
"Agency chiefs came up with the scenario to test employees' ability to respond to a disaster, said spokesman Art Haubold. No actual plane was to be involved -- to simulate the damage from the crash, some stairwells and exits were to be closed off, forcing employees to find other ways to evacuate the building. "

BIG DEAL. 1 drill in 1 building - no planes involved, no radars involved, one building involved

NORAD was running two drills on Sep 11 according to this website:
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/051203atlanticcity fighters.html
One which was a week old and targeted Russians over the North pole. No info on second drill, but probably similar given tone of article.

BIG DEAL - this is just the military doing what it is supposed to do.

Suddenly, these two perfectly innocuous pieces of information change... they multiply, becomes darker, more sinister, ... EVIL! until it becomes a monster drill involving NORAD radar showing many, _many_ _hijacked_ planes. 22 planes - no less.

So where did this number 22 come from? No evidence.

You people are experts in deceiving yourself. Forget this wishful thinking of "too many coincidences" --- there are no serious coincid

You can get one now (from cNet, via boingboing:
DRM removal widget

[...I]t uses the HDCP chips ususally built into high definition displays, so that HDCP "protected" signal sources uncomplainingly deliver their signal to the boxes. They then convert them to RGBHV or unprotected DVI signals.

Buy a crate of them now! Ebay, here we come!

You've probably heard the term "running around like a chicken with his head cut off." It is possible to have motor control of your body without most of your brain since much of your basic motor control is in the brainstem and spinal cord. Here's an interesting story

Cheap swarm robots? Hopefully they can find the room to post this somewhere in their workspace.

~jeff

Seems like I no longer need to read /. as it mostly trails BoingBoing by a day. Jeez... can't they find ORIGINAL articles?!?

I'm an avid fan of Kurzweil, so I may be biased here.

its okay, i don't mind admitting to earning flame points and after all lets be honest, this is slashdot. i'm not expecting intelligent conversation, so hopefully neither do you..

but i do mean militant:

You bring up some potentially valid points. While Kurzweil does occasionally present brief mention of potential ethical implications of technological advances, this is far from the focus of his work and is never adequately addressed. However, this has no negative bearing on the merit of his conclusions and predictions

'negative bearing'? i consider (Infinite Reality > Singularity) a bearing, negative or not. what argument ignores bearing? .. which is probably one of the reasons why he sees nothing wrong with it. But the question still remains, how is he in any way being militant? Not addressing the ethical implications of technology as a consequence of limiting the scope of one's work somehow equates to militance? Fascism even? What?

militant, 1. Fighting or warring.

you can't get a more sinister representation of mans desire to enact "War on All" than the design of nanites to do 'Gods Housekeeping', just so a privileged few can live forever while the seething masses starve.

for just once, i'd like to see science embrace death, and abandon all technology which kills more than it feeds.

don't give me a faster computer or a smaller one, or a new electric RFID cattleprod for my colon, give me instead a musical instrument that'll last 10,000 years that i can give to my son..

Indeed, I was going to say that. In fact, the first appearance of the cracking of Apple's FairPlay encryption was in VLC, and was coded by none other than a certain JLJ:
https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/log/trunk/modules/de mux/mp4/drms.c

http://www.boingboing.net/2004/03/26/dvd_jon_on_vl c_and_a.html

You realize the professor made completely falsified threats, right? The thief kept the laptop and I'm sure the professor lost a lot of credibility.

Tell them you got a phone call from Microsoft asking you why there are two copies of the program using the same account number. You know, kind of like what this guy did.

Violent games and movies allow us a kind of buffer-zone to live out our repressed thoughts and feelings and desires.

I honestly believe that without such products available, there would be far more incients of extreme violence occuring in the world today. Yes, there are those few who don't know reality from fantasy and commit horrible acts against their fellow humans, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Furthermore, I blame neglegent parents, other family, educational officials, friends and other individuals who frequently interact with these people for not noticing strange behaviour sooner and addressing it. There are always warning signs. Always. Don't agree with me? Tough. Read a book. Take a course in psychology. Most experts will tell you there are plenty of warning signs the present themselves early on. Know some young kid who hurts animals? You'd be well advised to red flag such a person because you'll be seeing them in the newspaper someday.

Pornography plays an important role as a buffer, too. I'm certain there'd be many more rapists and other sexual deviants out there if it weren't for adult entertainment. However, the government seems to have found a way to make it difficult for many of these individuals to get their fix.

As far as members of the media are concerned (and I'm ESPECIALLY talking about those that report for CourtTV) let's keep your opinions to yourselves. The news is not your personal bullshit outlet to voice your feelings on the goings-on of the world. You are there to report the facts. That's why it's called the news. In fact, let me offer the dictionary definition:

"new information about specific and timely events"

Also, you might be interested in this:

newsworthiness: the quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins"

Opinions are simply NOT newsworthy unless set in a forum that supports such discussions. As I mentioned earlier...this is no more prominent on any other network as it is on CourtTV. Nancy Grace should receive an award for the number of times she finds a way to tack her personal feelings into the cases they report on. I honestly don't care if you think John Q. Defendant is guilty and should burn for his (alleged) crimes. Guess what? He was found innocent by a jury of his peers. Shut the fuck up and move on. What's that? One of your guests has a different opinion than you do? Oh, that's horrible! Now's the time to attack him and then cut to a commerical before he can offer a rebuttal. Bitch.

And now I'm going to move on to family. Parents...guess what? THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT HERE TO RAISE YOUR CHILD FOR YOU. The government is busy with far greater projects...stop wasting their time, take some god-damned responsibility, and BE A PARENT. Definition:

"Parenting comprises all the tasks involved in raising a child to an independent adult. Parenting begins even before the child is born or adopted and may last until the death of the parent or child. Parenting is a part of the relationship within a family."

Did you read that part about parenting comprising ALL THE TASKS involved in raising a child? I saw it too. Since a child is ill-equipped to make the same distinctions as adults when it comes to violence, sex, and other questionable parts of life, it is YOUR responsibility and no other's to

_The Onion_ continues the tradition pioneered by websites like Slashdot of intriguing headlines, backed by worthless articles no one reads anyway.

I called my senator (Sen. Hutchison) this morning and it was painless. I followed the script at this URL, elaborating a bit on what the broadcast flag is and how it would affect me:

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/06/20/urgent_call_y our_sen.html

Oh, and thank you to my employer for paying my long distance charges ;).

I can see it now, Google uses their 3D lasers to scan sculptures and painting.

I can see it now, Google uses their 3D lasers to scan sculptures and painting.

Feel free to change the existing copy - it's all editable. At this point, making a phone call in the morning is your best bet. There's a sample script on Boing Boing's entry.

We don't know who will be introducing it. Possibly Senator Ted Stevens, co-sponsor of the Hollings Bill which would have also enforced mandatory DRM.

Hmmm... Obviously I'm not a US citizen, but it seems that not everyone feels that way. In fact it looks like the US already has their Real ID bill passed, and not everyone welcomed it with open arms.

All the things you mention are abhorrant, but none of them have anything to do with a national ID card. The police can stop you and ask for your papers today in most states. A national ID card won't change that at all. The rules for how the police act are totally seperate from the rules on what constitutes a valid ID.

Fair points and I'll try and address them.

"but none of them have anything to do with a national ID card". They do however have to do with how the ID card is being sold to the british public. The Id card is being touted as, among other fairy tales, a panacea against terrorism. And yet, as pointed out by an ancestor post, that id is useless unless checked, and to check them widely and efficiently would require measures similar to the ones I describe.

"The police can stop you and ask for your papers today in most states". But if the card is to have any hope of serving its alleged purpose this would need to be endemic. There were checkpoints like this set up in Northern Ireland during the height of the Troubles. I understand that everyone there thought they were a Bad Thing. I sometimes wonder how many of those who say "Harumph! ID cards! Jolly Good Thing Too!" have actually thought through the implications, or whether they would be so keen if they had. Of course, everyone always assumes that they won't be on the receiving end.

"The rules for how the police act are totally seperate from the rules on what constitutes a valid ID". Arguably perhaps, but for the cards to work as advertised... well I've done that bit. The question is whether the government is planning such repressive measures, or whether they're lying about the cards effectveness whilst harbouring ulterior motives, or whether they are just plain incompetant.

Let me give you a little background here. The UK is the most heavily surveilled nation on the planet. Recent legislation saw the right to silence of an accused criminal removed. We have curfews in some parts of the country now - only for certain age groups at the moment, but that can quickly change. We have travel restrictions; usually applied in cases of overseas football matches but again the mechanism is there and is not limited to football hooliganism. Now they want to remove the right to a trial by jury. Oh and resign from the charter for human rights as well.

The last journalist to seriously embarrass the government was sacked, along with the director general of the BBC, while the whistle blower in the case was hounded to his grave.

Does anyone else see a trend developing here?

Almost all of the above is the work of the current government. I hope you'll excuse me if I don't fall over myself in my haste to extend them the benefit of the doubt.

What exactly is the downside to having ID standards that are harder to fake?

ID standards and implementations (in the non-code sense of the word) are not the same thing. Let's not confuse matters unnecessarily. My privacy in only violated by the government when the government forces me to present an ID.

And I've already explained why I find this less than reassuring. All the same, I think we're losing sight of something fundamental here:

The single best reason why we in the UK should not have ID cards is that we do not want them. We live in a dem

Here is the link to the Berkeley press release and information on Berkeley astronomer Geoff Marcy.

And oh, looks like Slashdot is continuing to mirror Boing Boing.

You can't stop human nature. It's natural to judge people by their looks, at a primal level we do this all the time to determine if something/someone is a threat. And if you wear a lot black, well, everone knows bad guys always wear black!!

This has been demonstrated before. Two girls, friends of each other, decided to get a job. They both went to the mall, however one went looking like a cheerleader, the other like a goth. They wrote about their experiences. Predictably, the blond was given an interview then and there, while the goth was grudginly directed towards an application form (after being ignored and being told there were no openings).

Anyone that says they don't judge on looks is a liar. Whether or not the discriminate is another thing, but we all judge.

The glory of America is that A. we all dont have to think like you, and B. that we dont all think like you. People fought and died for these rights.

Oh, do shut up with that nationalist propaganda crap. Firstly, most places are like that, you are nothing special despite your flag waving indoctination since starting in school. Secondly, perhaps you should open your eyes and see how "people of colour" are treated in your country (and it's prisons). That's just the African-decended people. Forget being an Arab right now, christ that must suck!!

Those who died for those rights would be rolling in their graves if they knew how it turned out. Mind you, didn't the founding fathers keep slaves while they were writing "all men are created equal"? Depends how you define "men" I suppose.

Pies have 40,000 digits?

Only at Wendy's.

Pies have 40,000 digits?

Only at .

Like this one?

My webserver seems to be doing just fine, thanks. Of course, it would have to happen the day I finally get a link published on boingboing.net, as well... :) (http://www.boingboing.net/2005/06/08/coast_guard_ intercep.html)

Ian

You dont need the MPAA when you've got clueless hosting companies

Is /. just a gathering place for other site's old news? If you frequent boingboing.net, you probably noticed that this SMS vs. Morse Code article is almost 2 weeks old. I've since read plenty of follow-up articles about applications that let you SMS in morse. And just two stories down /.'s front page is the Oxytocin article, again posted at least a day earlier on boingboing.
I think /. is great but it really detracts from my interest when the news isn't new.

Is /. just a gathering place for other site's old news? If you frequent boingboing.net, you probably noticed that this SMS vs. Morse Code article is almost 2 weeks old. I've since read plenty of follow-up articles about applications that let you SMS in morse. And just two stories down /.'s front page is the Oxytocin article, again posted at least a day earlier on boingboing.
I think /. is great but it really detracts from my interest when the news isn't new.

And boingboing scooped slashdot on the story about the Nokia app.

this is old news... we already have cell phone aps out there...



unrelated: /. editors... please at least TRY and keep up

Nope - why, do you wonder why they sound they way they do?

Cory Doctorow gave an interesting talk on the Broadcast Flag, touching on some of the differences in the European vs US histories and approaches, urging Europeans to reject the idea.

MPGs and MP3s here...worth a listen:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/05/26/corys_broadca st_flag.html

No, it won't. Napster (the old Napster) did the same thing. Also, Boing Boing is reporting that Elite Torrents was just shut down by the FBI. I can't see this search engine going anywhere, unfortunately.

My favorite take on the "loss of sales" argument comes from Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing on March 3, 2005:

"When reporters ask me why I give away the full text of my novels online, for free, the day they're available in shops, I tell 'em: "It's about word of mouth. My readers have large social circles of friends whom they never see face to face. Books like Sisters of Ya Ya Sisterhoood became a success because one friend went to another friend and handed her a copy of the book, saying, 'You must read this, it changed my life.' I want to give my readers the same ability, so I have to give them a form of the book that they can 'hand' to their friends over the Internet. Even if it displaces some sales, the most valuable thing an author can get is a personal recommendation, it's the thing that is most likely to sell more copies of my books."

Linky: http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/03/wordofmouth_i s_why_a.html