Slashdot Mirror

NUKE! http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/nuke/

What started as an April Fool joke by Google for 2008 called Project Virgle is now a real and genuine effort by an increasing number of people to create ideas and ways in which humankind can live sustainably in space using free and open source technology. This project is a place for all space enthusiasts to cooperate on simulations of space settlements. Rather than argue whether L5 or Mars or the asteroids or the Moon or the rings of Saturn should be humankind's first space settlement, we could be asking what is common between those efforts so that that groundwork can be shared.

The OSCOMAK project will foster a community in which many interested individuals will contribute to the creation of a distributed global repository of manufacturing knowledge about past, present and future processes, materials, and products. OSCOMAK stands for "OSCOMAK Semantic Community On Manufactured Artifacts and Know-how".

Or you could just use DCC and automate the whole process.

source

Data is sent in packets, rather than dumped in a stream manner. This allows the DCC SEND connection to survive where an FTP connection might fail. The size of the packets is up to the client, and may be set by the user. Smaller packets result in a higher probability of survival over bad links. The recipient should acknowledge each packet by transmitting the total number of bytes received as an unsigned, 4 byte integer in network byte order. The sender should not continue to transmit until the recipient has acknowledged all data already transmitted. Additionally, the sender should not close the connection until the last byte has been acknowledged by the recipient.

Apple should invent an e-book reader.

They already had one, years ago. It was called the Newton.

Back when I was working for ANS - err, UUNet - umm, WorldCom - I would download text files, convert them to Newton Book files, upload them to my trusty Newton 2100, and read away. I read The Hacker Crackdown while taking lunchtime walks, as well as a few RFCs.

The Newton's form factor would still be great for an ebook reader. There's still a small but rabid base of people still writing software for the Newton, including mp3 players, 802.11 support, and even a web server! Surely someone can be persuaded to come up with a modern book reader / creator package for the Newton.

The only problem with this is the pride of Steve Jobs. One of his first actions upon returning to the Apple helm was the killing of the entire Newton program, ostensibly as it was the baby of John Sculley, the man who had Jobs removed from Apple. Apple still has the rights to the name and the hardware, and the Inkwell software that's included with OS X supposedly came from the Newton handwriting recognition software, so I can't see a reason why this wouldn't be possible.

Then again, I'm a hopeless dreamer about seeing the best PDA platform in existance making a return to the market :)

IRC is just a telnet hack, so everything's plaintext. They can easily sniff packets at the ISP level.

I'm not sure the word `hack' is appropriate there either. The IRC protocol has many shortcomings, but it's hardly a hack (at least not as defined by the jargon file.) Much effort was put into it, and it's evolved over the years (at least over it's early years.)

But really, it's just the lack of encryption that makes it so easy to sniff. Even if the protocol was binary, the CIA would have no trouble sniffing it as long as it's not encrypted -- after all, the IRC protocol is well documented (though the RFC doesn't cover the many extensions that have come since. For those, you generally have to go to the source code, which also is generally available. But even so, understanding those extensions generally isn't crucial to decoding conversations.)

It's certainly possible to make a plain text protocol that's still encrypted. It would be a bit ... odd ... for something like IRC, but it's certainly possible. THE GLOVELSCHTOP FLIES AT NIGH! GNORPLE VEE?

Were the data in a binary format (like many chat systems that have come since), then the CIA (or anybody else that wants to watch IRC traffic) would just need to add an additional layer that decodes the binary traffic. This would not be difficult, as it would be well documented. (If not documented, then this might be trickier, though I'm sure the NSA/CIA/FBI would have little trouble with it.)

Personally, I suspect that the CIA (and NSA, FBI, etc.) have been sniffing IRC traffic for decades now. I'll bet the Carnivore (or whatever they've being called now) boxes already have that capability. It looks like they're just trying to go beyond looking for `key words' like bomb, terrorist, etc.

I wonder how many of these sniffers are already in place. Alas, we'll probably never know, because I'll bet when they're installed, gag orders are made that prevent the people who do know about them from even speaking of them.

Since there is an issue with the automatic-overflow feature, the backup/alternative channel is openly available if it is needed by #SpaceShipOne chatters. IF the main channel fills (there will be no limit imposed), it will not re-direct you to the other channel.

It is named #SpaceShipOne-overflow. The same rules applies to this channel as the others.

Also, to those who are not sure how to use IRC, you can go HERE to learn more about how to set things up and use IRC commands.

** Windows users!: If you are not sure what client you may need, I personally recommend "X-Chat" as it is fairly easy to set up and is VERY user-configurable. It can be downloaded from http://www.xchat.org/download/
This program is available to a wide variety of other platforms/OSs as well.

John B. (/nick 'Pandelirium')
#SpaceShipOne Admin/OPs/Moderator
http://www.pandelirium.net

A few days after this most beautiful call down that we had received, I was surprised to hear a continuous roar in my phones from Cannon's spark. I sat there fully ten minutes listening to it, and never a let up. Pretty soon, in walked Cannon, and said he had had a little argument with 42 Broadway, so he left a book on his key when he came out. He didn't seem to worry about it, and before he got back and took the book off, one hour and twenty minutes had elapsed. I am sure no one got much through, as when we listened in, it was as quiet as a graveyard. The navy yard did manage to get up courage then and asked him "what he meant by such actions", to which I seem to recall a reply telling him "to mind his own business and shut up".

People can talk about the September that never ended, but it goes to show that people misbehaving "online" due to anoniminity is nothing new...

This part of the story really rings a bell when you look at the behaviour of some of the kiddies online, particularly in the days when winnuke ruled the channels on IRC...

-- Pete.

What the poster meant, I'm sure, is that the IRC protocol itself is a server to client-based system (RFC 1459). DCC was later created for ircii specifically (source) and as it was a great idea, it's just incorporated into the subsequent clients. The only thing that DCC has to di with IRC is the specially-formatted PRIVMSG sent to the recipient containing IP information and such.

What the poster meant, I'm sure, is that the IRC protocol itself is a server to client-based system (RFC 1459). DCC was later created for ircii specifically (source) and as it was a great idea, it's just incorporated into the subsequent clients. The only thing that DCC has to di with IRC is the specially-formatted PRIVMSG sent to the recipient containing IP information and such.

We have a room on the irc.freenode.net servers called #cassini which is available to all who are interested in the Cassini project. Here you will find a wide range of interests discussed, from the informal to the most scientific details of the mission. Some of the Cassini staff have shown interest in participating to further support the project's public interest so don't be surprized to meet them there.

We also support the ' Maestro ' program which is the Public-Outreach software created for the Mars Exploration Rover Project from JPL . As a result, we helped maintain the #maestro room (also on freenode.net) which is still in operation today.

With such high interest building as Cassini-Huygens approaches orbital insertion and the Phoebe flyby, we expect a bigger rush in the next weeks. Join in and share the experience!

If you are not sure how to do 'IRC' there are many good primers online to help and you can visit http://freenode.net for details about connecting as well as links to assist you to set things up to chat online.

See all "/.'ers" there... ;^)

Pandelirium
http://www.pandelirium.net irc.freenode.net
#cassini
#maestro
#pandelirium

HERE is the link.

I laughed when I read this.. perhaps they really are distributing this in order to make people use their software:

Microsoft dished out evaluation copies of Orifice to the assembled hax. When we've got a spare day or two we'll investigate the whole caboodle and let you know.

Posted to IRC/Unity and available on IRChelp. Maybe thats what they are looking for.

DCC is NOT supported by IRC servers. It was never defined in RFC, and there is not a single feature in any major IRCd that was designed specifically to help users file-share.

DCC was introduced on the Client-side as a method of sending pictures. It has remained client-side. Too bad it evolved into what it is considered today...

Think of it this way: Let's say that ICQ doesn't support file-sharing. Eventually someone figures out a way to file-share over the ICQ network by using just messages and codes it into a popular alternative client. Said protocol spreads and ten years later is generaly considered a basic feature of an ICQ client. That's basically what DCC is to IRC.

For those that don't believe, check out this article.

The mark of a good troll is that you can't tell if it's really a troll. With that in mind: How do you think a DCC connection is negotiated? By telepathy? A DCC request is a private CTCP, which is encoded as a private message. DCC, by definition, does use the server.

"We didn't deal crack out of your house; we just met here several times a day to arrange our crack deals, and the crack deals wouldn't have gone through unless we met here first-- but we have a right to use your house." Why do people persist in claiming they have the right to use private property (like a DALnet server) to do something the owners don't want?

Incoming phone calls are WAY more expensive than page views or incoming email.

What about incoming instant messages?

Or you could just go with IRC (obligatory link for newbies) and screw all that schmansy luser "p2p" crap. :)

Like that other game you-have-not-lived-until-you-have-played: Bolo.

Why is it that AOL's proprietory terminology dominates the technology that predates it? It's not a "Chat Room". It's a channel. Read the god damn rfc!

Section 1.3:

A channel is a named group of one or more clients which will all
receive messages addressed to that channel. The channel is created
implicitly when the first client joins it, and the channel ceases to
exist when the last client leaves it. While channel exists, any
client can reference the channel using the name of the channel.

In fact, search the rfc for the word "room" and you wont find it! You're in the real world now people, drag yourself away from the smothering bossom of AOL and grow the hell up.

[talking about tv and online addiction ONLINE, thats like holding an AA meeting at a BAR.]

No, it's like holding an AA meeting at an opium den/casino/crack house that sells cigarettes and has a liquor license.

So I downloaded a copy of the Internet RFC 1459 for Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Protocol and figured out how IRC works.

And indeed, the very protocol itself is designed to make the service easy to shut down in the event that Napster "loses" in court.

The "centralized server" model is what allows this quick-and-easy shutdown. As for the protocol itself, it's basically just a tweaked IRC protocol (RFC 1459).

=================================

Here's a link to a text file that is updated three times a day and lists all the servers: http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/networks/efnet.txt. Unfortunately, all it does is list servers, so it's not full of information.

I know this is probably wishful thinking at this point, but it would be cool...

--Jamin Philip Gray
jamin@DoLinux.org

yes, it is a protocol, see RFC1459

http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/rfc1459.html

(or did I miss a joke?)