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Check out their next projects by Anonymous Coward · 2003-07-23 04:18 · Score: 0 · on Swiss Researchers Exploit Windows Password Flaw

Check out their next projects

Check this one out :

Monitoring Chat Users (Assigned)

* Status: proposal
* Type: Open
* Description: A tool has been developed for monitoring users of various chat systems. It is being used by the police to monitor trading of illegal material by Swiss Internet users. The goal of this project is to make the current tool more robust, to collaborate with an inspector in order to develop advanced features and to adapt the tool to additionnal chat systems.
* Requirements: Good programming (Java).

Re:Not obvious by Milo+Fungus · 2003-06-24 05:59 · Score: 4, Informative · on What is Open Source?

Agreed. As a greenie geek I spent a lot of time just getting up to speed. To save you some Googling (which is a great way to learn about OS/FS), let me post some links for you. These were articles that I've found particularly helpful.

GNUWin II Articles Directory - A good collection of famous FS/OS articles.
Philosophy section of the GNU Project - This is the extreme left wing of free software. I personally prefer a more moderate approach, but the ideas are engaging.
Interview with Andreas Pour of the KDE Project - This interview did much to convert me to open source philosophies.
Legal Concepts section of CreativeCommons.org - Masterminded by Lawrence Lessig, the legal champion of the public commons. One of the greatest minds working for the cause of FS/OS. He also has a couple of books that you might consider reading. I've read the first one and found it quite interesting.

Some of these weren't around when I was getting into things. Creative Commons came a bit later. Most of my earliest reading was from GNU. You've already found Slashdot, which is one of the best resources for learning about FS/OS, especially as it relates to current developments.

One word of caution: FS/OS is a religion. People can be very zealous about their views on it. Be careful as you formulate your own opinions, which will likely change over time. When in doubt, choose a more moderate approach. (If you're interested, my personal views can be found here.)

I hope this is helpful. Well, off to more reading myself...

Re:What else are they supposed to do? by ortholattice · 2003-06-05 05:32 · Score: 1 · on Ballmer Sends Wakeup Call to Staff

I'm surprised no one has mentioned GNUWin II. I've burned a few for my friends and my son's friends, and they're always amazed it's free. It's not Linux but it gets people exposed painlessly to the Linux "flavor" and certainly has everything needed (OpenOffice.org etc.) for schoolwork plus some games for the kiddies (everyone like Tux Racer). I really should burn a couple dozen of these and just leave them out at the next PTA meeting.

The GnuWin chick! by Pervertus · 2003-04-23 01:38 · Score: 1 · on Slashback: Hardware, Lexis, Free

Seems that they didn't answer the mission-crytical question:
Who's that cute GnuWin chick?

Reading between the lines... by leonbrooks · 2003-03-28 23:12 · Score: 2, Informative · on Citrix-Like Server for Linux?

...he want to use thin Linux desktops to run M$ software.

In which case he wants rdesktop. You can run it on thin boxes in about 16MB OK, more if you want to cache fonts and stuff, down to about 8 if you take the time to optimise the living daylights out of everything.

If the place is so pro Microsoft, (s)he should fetch a copy of the GNUwin2 ISO and install stuff from it everywhere he's allowed to. And tell the nice workers about it. When the next unheralded MS virus invasion happens, they'll still have tools they can use. When they want to do something like run text from frame to frame, they won't need to buy Publisher, just use OOo. When they want a graphics program, GIMP will do a lot of stuff without a $1500 outlay. And so on. After a while, they'll be sufficiently reliant on random FOSS tools for day-to-day work that to deny its integrity would be self-evidently foolish.

Computer video not equal to TV video by ChrisCampbell47 · 2003-03-20 14:54 · Score: 3, Informative · on Turn Your Monitor Into an HDTV

Three points:

The specs for the Viewsonic box mention:
Resolution Refresh Rate (Integrated or progressive scan)
Uh, the "i" stands for interlaced. Getting that wrong betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of how "real" video (not PC video) works; hopefully this is a tech writer goof and not exposing basic video incompetence on the part of the designers.
Here's a [tortured] analogy:
computer video is to "TV" video
as
a 64 kbps MP3 is to vinyl played on a high-end analog audio system.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that your computer monitor (ostensibly higher resolution) can display video better than your TV. There are color gamut issues, as well as screen phosphor differences.
Just to give you a healthy respect for the sheer magnitude of information bandwidth carried in a high-quality (SD, not HD) video signal, the uncompressed digital video standard (601) is 270 Mbps, and that's only using 10 bit quantization (digital audio uses 16-24 bit).

"Real" video guys cringe at computer video. Gamut, color accuracy and aberrations, frame interlacing, human optical models, it's all a whole lot more complicated than pixel grids and color bit depth.

Re:Why they're symmetrical by k98sven · 2003-03-01 04:02 · Score: 0, Flamebait · on Snowflake Photos

>>This explanation is just crackpot-science.
>(Why do geeks so often get defensive when you point out gaps in science's perfection?)

No, I just get irritated when people flaunt their own ignorance as an argument that something must be poorly understood by everyone else as well.

>>Crystal growth and dendrite-formation are well-understood subjects within physical chemistry.

>Not symmetries that are maintained over distances of a millimeter or more.

What do you supposedly mean by "symmetry"? Snowflakes are not perfectly symmetric.
Anyway, dendrite formation simulation (at the macroscopic scale) is a popular subject in numerical methods. Here's a quick link off google.

>>Suggesting that all water molecules in a snowflake crystal vibrate in harmony in a state of equillibrium violates the laws of thermodynamics.

>Which law is that? Conservation of Chaos? ;^/

That's one way of putting it, if you like. Although "maximation of chaos" would be better.
The second law of thermodynamics.

Molecular vibrational levels are Boltzmann-distributed at equillibrium, if all molecules in an ensemble were to vibrate at the same level they would have low entropy, in time (and in crystals this can be as slow as 10^-10 s) the distribution of vibrations among the molecules will spread out until a Boltzmann distribution is
reached.

This is not a new vulnerability by apankrat · 2003-02-20 08:58 · Score: 2, Interesting · on Swiss Researchers Find A Hole In SSL

The article in question merely extends previously announced Vaudenay attack against CBC-based symmetric ciphers.

Vaudenay algorithm is a Man-in-the-Middle type of an attack that relies on SSL error messages (invalid_pad and invalid_mac) to effeciently deduce message padding information and (somehow) use it to bruteforce the key.

The attack in current article merely fights the fact that certain SSL/TLS versions do not provide error feedback that is required by the Vaudenay algorithm. So, they measure server response time instead and use it to estimate how much of the message processing the server has performed prior to failing the exchange. This obviously provides a missing information to the Vaudenay algorithm so that it can function as designed.

Differences Between Post and Article? by RAMMS+EIN · 2003-02-20 08:56 · Score: 3, Interesting · on Swiss Researchers Find A Hole In SSL

I have the feeling the assertions made by the original poster and the researhers are rather different. A few examples:
"Quoting Professor Serge Vaudenay from a BBC article the security problem is in 'the SSL protocol itself and not in how we use it or how we implement it.'"
This is different from what it says in the LASEC memo, which identifies a timing attack as necessary to distinguish MAC errors from PAD errors. This suggests that if random delays are added to the error messages, the vulnerability disappears. The article also mentions (obligatory?) that the hole has been fixed in OpenSSL 0.9.7a, which clearly means that the vulnerability is implementation-dependent.

"Apparantly the flow only affects webmail and not banking or credit card payments and took less than an hour (160 attempts) to crack."
The LASEC article does not mention webmail at all, it talks about MicroSoft Outlook connecting to an IMAP server as a convenient example of a situation where the attack is fairly easy to carry out. The point is that the information that is being sent is the same every time, so that multiple guesses can be made. Additionally, in the example, Outlook connects to the server and sends the password every 5 minutes, so that multiple guesses can be attemted in a reasonably limited time span. This means that an attack is feasable for services like email, where the same information is transmitted frequently, and harder for services where the frequency is lower, e.g. SSH sessions.

just my thoughts, I'm not a security expert - yet.

---
All generalizations are false.

Re:A different kind of SSL? by in4mation · 2003-02-20 08:46 · Score: 2, Informative · on Swiss Researchers Find A Hole In SSL

Here's the article itself

Don't forget GnuWin II... by starsong · 2003-02-15 06:15 · Score: 3, Informative · on Dave Stutz's Parting Advice To Microsoft

... also a very nice collection of free software for Windows. It's what I use, and I've been very happy with it.

Plus the mascot is cute. :)

Re:ohhh maaaan by Anonym0us+Cow+Herd · 2003-02-03 10:06 · Score: 1 · on Xmingwin For Cross Generation Applications

I've been trying to migrate people _away_ from windows, this only makes it easier for them to stay ;-)

I disagree. Take a longer term view. This makes it easier for them to leave Windows. Nothing happens overnight. And won't happen as quickly as I would like.

While so much noise and attention is being focused on Linux, I think the biggest threat to Microsoft is, once again, sneaking in under the radar. (Step 1: First they ignore you.) The biggest threat: cross-over applications. Stuff like OpenOffice. Or the GIMP. (And yes, I understand that GIMP is not a competitor to professional Photoshop users.)

It seems like more and more cross platform tools and toolkits are available. This was once the holy grail, and there were basically NO solutions. Now, a recent slashdot article reveals many ways to develop cross platform applications and gui's.

KDE and Qt are both being ported to Win32 (with GPL license). At some point, expect a flood of KDE applications, including another free KOffice suite, to be available for Windows. Other projects such as The Open CD and GNU Win II only help accellerate the acceptance of not only free, but open source applications by ordinary windows users.

Eventually, users recognize: hey the OS is irrelevant!

In the meantime, Linux on the desktop will have improved a great deal. Or instead, perhaps the recent RelaxOS?

Re:Do I get a framed picture of my geek? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-01-26 23:51 · Score: -1 · on Adopt a KDE Geek

Well, she might not be a KDE geek, but what about that dirty, dirty whore from the GNUWin II project?

Mirror list by edooper · 2003-01-17 02:23 · Score: 1 · on Talk to the GNUWin II Team

Since it looks like the site is slashdotted, here is the list of mirrors from the README.

-------------
Information on the ISO image Version 2.1 is now (december 11 2002) available as an iso image. It is now in spanish as well!
Please note: Version 2.1 does not fit on a 650MB/74min CD-R! You need to burn it on a 700MB/80min CD-R. Currently available mirrors

We are looking for new mirrors

We would appreciate new mirrors, especially outside Europe. Thanks to several European Mirrors the load of our server has drastically dropped, but is still very impressive. Have a look at the stats: http://mapc77.epfl.ch/gnu-generation/statistics/gn uwin/

So if you have 650MB spare on a fast server we would be happy if you could mirror the ISO image.

We appreciate links to our site

Link to us if you find GNUWin II useful. Also talk about it to your friends, famlily and of course on the internet.

Mirror list by edooper · 2003-01-17 02:23 · Score: 1 · on Talk to the GNUWin II Team

Since it looks like the site is slashdotted, here is the list of mirrors from the README.

-------------
Information on the ISO image Version 2.1 is now (december 11 2002) available as an iso image. It is now in spanish as well!
Please note: Version 2.1 does not fit on a 650MB/74min CD-R! You need to burn it on a 700MB/80min CD-R. Currently available mirrors

We are looking for new mirrors

We would appreciate new mirrors, especially outside Europe. Thanks to several European Mirrors the load of our server has drastically dropped, but is still very impressive. Have a look at the stats: http://mapc77.epfl.ch/gnu-generation/statistics/gn uwin/

So if you have 650MB spare on a fast server we would be happy if you could mirror the ISO image.

We appreciate links to our site

Link to us if you find GNUWin II useful. Also talk about it to your friends, famlily and of course on the internet.

Re:Missing FAQ question by Migrant+Programmer · 2003-01-16 16:52 · Score: 3, Informative · on Talk to the GNUWin II Team

Hmm, I don't think that's the same girl.. her picture doesn't seem to match up with "logiciels".

Perhaps it's Vicky Rezzonico (see the picture on the team page, and here)? The hair colour matches at least, there. But I'm probably wrong, there are several women on that team list who have no pictures up.

Okay, next person gets to go hunt down photos of all the photo-less people on the team page =)

Re:Missing FAQ question by Anonymous Coward · 2003-01-16 15:58 · Score: 5, Informative · on Talk to the GNUWin II Team

That answer question is answered on the site, there's a The GNUWin team [en] page. Her name appears to be Thi Ngoc Tu Ho and then a little search on Google seems to reveal she has a Home Page and if you go there, and click on My Life Partner you'll see that her life partner is one Ivo Blöchliger and if you cross reference back to where it all started, the GNUWin team page, you'll see that this guy is the first guy on the GNUWin team. Maybe they can add it to the FAQ now that I've done the legwork.

Re:Missing FAQ question by Anonymous Coward · 2003-01-16 15:58 · Score: 5, Informative · on Talk to the GNUWin II Team

That answer question is answered on the site, there's a The GNUWin team [en] page. Her name appears to be Thi Ngoc Tu Ho and then a little search on Google seems to reveal she has a Home Page and if you go there, and click on My Life Partner you'll see that her life partner is one Ivo Blöchliger and if you cross reference back to where it all started, the GNUWin team page, you'll see that this guy is the first guy on the GNUWin team. Maybe they can add it to the FAQ now that I've done the legwork.

You want to do business with THESE guys!? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-01-16 15:05 · Score: -1 · on Talk to the GNUWin II Team

Warning! Take a look at http://gnuwin.epfl.ch/en/credits.html and decide for yourself if you really want to entrust your computing resources to THESE freaks.

(And I'm specifically referring to Fabien ILLIDE, Hermann J. Beckers, Linus-wannabe Federico Vaccari).

I do like that dirty, dirty whore pictured on the front and FAQ pages though. :-)

Different fusion research programs by snowtigger · 2002-12-28 07:21 · Score: 2, Informative · on Build a Nuclear Fusion Reactor at Home

Get some real information on fusion:

European Community, Fusion Programme

U.S. Fusion Energy Sciences Program

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor or (ITER) site

a special Canadian ITER site

This page has a lot of links to different fusion sites around the world. These websites probably contain a lot more useful information than the slashdotted article.

By the way, my university happends to have a research center on plasma physics. It's not as easy as "some basic engineering skills, this site and the inspiration necessary to make your very own 'fusor' produce more energy than it consumes" =)

Different fusion research programs by snowtigger · 2002-12-28 07:21 · Score: 2, Informative · on Build a Nuclear Fusion Reactor at Home

Get some real information on fusion:

European Community, Fusion Programme

U.S. Fusion Energy Sciences Program

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor or (ITER) site

a special Canadian ITER site

This page has a lot of links to different fusion sites around the world. These websites probably contain a lot more useful information than the slashdotted article.

By the way, my university happends to have a research center on plasma physics. It's not as easy as "some basic engineering skills, this site and the inspiration necessary to make your very own 'fusor' produce more energy than it consumes" =)

Different fusion research programs by snowtigger · 2002-12-28 07:21 · Score: 2, Informative · on Build a Nuclear Fusion Reactor at Home

Get some real information on fusion:

European Community, Fusion Programme

U.S. Fusion Energy Sciences Program

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor or (ITER) site

a special Canadian ITER site

This page has a lot of links to different fusion sites around the world. These websites probably contain a lot more useful information than the slashdotted article.

By the way, my university happends to have a research center on plasma physics. It's not as easy as "some basic engineering skills, this site and the inspiration necessary to make your very own 'fusor' produce more energy than it consumes" =)

Re:Linux's next big hurdle by bcrowell · 2002-12-24 08:36 · Score: 3, Interesting · on Linux in the Workplace

Getting non-geeks to try Linux is not just difficult, it's a mistake. Most of the reasons are discussed in the review:

Installing a dual-boot system is hard. (I failed several times myself.)
Installing apps is often a hassle.
Peripherals are often a hassle.

I think the best way to proselytize is to give a non-geek friend a copy of a CD with some open-source Windows apps on it:

Advocating open-source apps also has the advantage that it might really damage MS. Linux has failed to take away more than 0.5% of MS's desktop OS market, which means it's not even really a factor for MS to consider. OTOH, MS makes a lot of money from apps, and they're really vulnerable to competition. A lot of home users are not happy with paying $300 for a whole computer, and then having MS expect them to pay another $300 for apps.

GNUWin 2.1 is out (rejected), 2002-12-13 09:59:50 by imevil · 2002-12-17 21:42 · Score: 1 · on Slashback: Tenacity, Freedomware, Lem

Sounded abour like this:

GNU Generation, a student association at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne, proudly announces the release of GNUWin-II, version 2.1,
a collection of free and open source software for Windows.

It comes on a CD with more than 50 applications, articles, and a five-language (yes it's Swiss, plus Spanish was added in the new release)
html based interface to help newcomers discover Free Software.

You can browse it or download it from one of the mirrors.

I was hoping the article getting thru as a "yet another .x release" one....