Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Justice, Delving, Printing, Noir
Danke sehr, Herr Doktor Pabst! The sighs -- nay, screams! -- of disappointment rose like the wail of a cat in heat following the announcement that AMD's new chips would be clock-locked, nullifying the advantages of Abit's ultra-overclockable motherboard. Jonathan Dabian writes: "This is probably a little late for me to get the name postage on the front page, but Tom's Hardware posted a new story that is an update to the Monday Blurb where they revealed that the new AMD processors would be multiplier locked. In this new story, Tom Pabst reveals the information he has since pieced together about the connections on the top of the processor, and ideas on how to alter those laser etched connections. Overclocking on the Duron and Thunderbird isn't dead. All that's needed is an easy way to alter those connections."
How do you like your quasi-futuristic clothing, Mr. Mitnick? One of the many following the bizarre turns of the Kevin Mitnick saga, RadarRider writes: "According to the following article on MSNBC:' Reversing a previous decision, Kevin Mitnick?s probation officer has given the notorious computer intruder permission to lecture on hacking and cracking, work as a security consultant and write a column for a soon-to-be-launched e-commerce site.'"
Disallowing use of computers unless specially granted seems a fairly over-the-top punishment -- everything has embedded processors. I wonder if Kevin has to ask permission to use an infrared-type automatic toilet, or a programmable thermostat. Where's King Solomon when you need him?
Unca Steve, Unca Steve! Tell us a bedtime story, OK? Speaking of *ashback, gwernol writes: "There's a fascinating letter from Woz - one of the co-founders of Apple on his web page at woz.org. Its a candid glimpse into the early days of the computer world, including tales of hacking the world's first video games -Pong and Breakout - at Atari. See inside the mind of one of the truly great ones. Some interesting perspective on Steve Jobs, too."
(Hint: some of the same words you can't say on television are off-limits to mass-market video games, too!)
Now I can print up dozens of tasty eclaires under Linux! If you followed the recent story about modernizing UNIX printing standards, you may have caught the news that CUPS 1.1 has been released. Here's some more information from the horse's mouth. printman writes: "Nine months after the CUPS 1.0 release, we are proud the announce the birth of CUPS 1.1, with documentation nearly 500 pages long and distributions weighing in at around 4MB.
"What is CUPS", you ask? The Common UNIX Printing System ("CUPS") is an IPP-based printing system developed by Easy Software Products as a replacement for the aging and clunky Berkeley (LPD) and System V printing systems. CUPS provides all of the modern printing ammenities, including support for user-defined printers and options, non-PostScript printers, color management, and page accounting.
CUPS 1.1 continues our commitment to an open-sourced, IPP-based printing system for all UNIX's. The new release contains many of the functional enhancements that have been requested by our users, including:
- New USB backend and backend device discovery.
- Banner page support
- Digest authentication
- Directory service enhancements, including polling, relaying, and access control
- Directory structure changes to conform to the FHS 2.0 standard used by most Linux distributions.
- Documentation improvements and additions
- Drivers for EPSON printers
- Filters - new PostScript RIP based on GNU Ghostscript 5.50 core, new PDF filter based on Xpdf, new text filter supporting Unicode and bidirectional text
- IPP/1.1 support
- Job persistence & history
- Licensing change - the CUPS API is now provided under the GNU LGPL
- LPD client support
- User-defined printers and options
- Web administration interface
In addition we have contributed more new code to the SAMBA team to support CUPS printing "natively" via IPP, providing a faster, more reliable Windows printing experience.
Others have also been busy at work adding to CUPS. Besides our ESP Print Pro software, two new graphical interfaces have appeared for CUPS - KUPS is a KDE-based interface for CUPS, and XPP is a FLTK-based interface for CUPS.
On the driver front, Grant Taylor has come up with CUPS-o-matic, a PPD file generator and filter script for existing Ghostscript printer drivers, and the GIMP print plug-in developers are working towards "universal" drivers for GIMP, Ghostscript, and CUPS.
Finally, many Linux distributions are including (or planning to include) CUPS or ESP Print Pro. This should provide the final push to get printer manufacturers to support their printers under Linux and *BSD.
For more information on CUPS, go to: www.cups.org
And for bonus points ... Katsu Jin Ken writes: "Indrema has posted a new picture of their upcoming console on their front page." It's looking a lot svelter and sleeker than the old look, and like the finest computers everywhere, features a blue LED. (On the other hand, beware the rude no-exit site design.) Please, Indrema, make it so!
It is obligatory to say that this, like everything else, works better from a TI calc.
First things first: K. Mitnick did not kill anybody ... nor did he cause physical injury. So speculations about "drunk drivers plowing into crowds"(of nuns?) or "serial murders with cars" and whatnot is wildly off. Kevin stole. The analogy is more like someone who uses a car to rip off a million dollars. Actually, given the nature of the actual crimes, it's like "using a car to disrupt a system worth millions of dollars". You know how you "disrupt a system worth millions of dollars" with your car? You park it in the middle of the Holland Tunnel at rush hour, throw the keys down a grate and walk away. And you know what your punishment for that act will be?
A fucking traffic ticket.
2 1337 4 u!
(1) If they're really using X, all the decrypted video must go through the X server (or some shared memory it has access to) to reach the screen
(2) This content could be captured with a hacked X server
So, if there really is to be no programmatic access to the decrypted data, the DVD must go directly to the video card, bypassing X.
I'd love DVD under linux / XFree86, even if it has to be binary only. But linux is too powerful and modular to please the lawyers.
-- 2 + 2 = 5, for very large values of 2
...has tried that and it did not work.
He's getting a few retail processors and is going to try it again, but apparently changing the contacts did absolutely nothing to the prerelease processors. Go fig.
Is this post not nifty? Sluggy Freelance. Worshi
Heh. I hope you (and everybody else) realise that the blue LED is probably there just because the PlayStation 2 happens so have one. ObAnecdote: I had the pleasure of listening in to Phil Harrison's (VP of SCEA) key note at the GDC in March, and he made a point of the fact that the blue LED on the machine seems to be the most successful part of its design. ;^) Apparantly, people couldn't care less for Emotion Engines, Graphics Synthesizers, and analog controller buttons -- just give them a nice blue LED to look at and they're happy! ;^)
main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
Randolph said the probation office specifically approved four gigs for the 36-year-old Mitnick.
So I said, they wont let him have a computer, but they'll let him have a hard disk? Sheesh!
Followed by the thought "And 4 gigs isn't that much nowadays... he must be disappointed."
Keith "1.21 Gigabytes!" Tyler
--
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
I don't justify what Mitnick did, but when I hear about this case, I am reminded of the ancient Roman punishment "aqua et igni interdictus" ("to be denied water and fire", a form of ostracism that was more common in Greece, but I'll be damned if I can remember the Greek name for it)
In under six months, we'll be in the 21st century (no flames, we're all sick of that debate, and either way you look at it, the statement is true) and Mitnick's parole conditions will pass into history as a testament to our irrationality.
If a mechanic with several DUIs plows into a crowd and kills several people, we may take away his license (to prevent further deaths) and sentence him to prison (for his reckless disregard, etc.), but we don't prevent him from ever working on cars, buying or selling cars, being a paid anti- drunk driving activist, or examining the car being used as evidence against him during his trial. [the link above includes many articles about the unusual handling of his case]
We wouldn't do such things even if he was a vehicular serial killer. I think using a car or computer are roughly comparable in the coming decades. many might argue that the computer would be even more omnipresent and valuable.
Are we so messed up that the courts are actually willing to openly state that corporate damages and evading the police are worse crimes than sniffing out than several human lives?
"But, it is well known, what strikes the capricious mind of the poet is not always what affects the mass of readers." -
What if a doctor raped patients when they were under anesthetic? Would it be right to deny him his medical practice when he got out of jail? well, yes. I don't really find the restriction that bizzare.
-Kahuna Burger
...will work for Chick tracts...
Wow, man, I like it! Hey everyone, new Jargon proposed here:
Aqua et igni indterdictus adj. [Latin, "to be denied water and fire"] Barred or otherwise prevented from connecting to the Internet, or (worse) using a computer at all, esp. as a result of legal action.
-JD
OK....I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but please, read, stop and think before doing so.
All societies work because the members of the society agree, either explicitly or implicitly to follow the rules of that society. A person's "rights" are often compromised to achieve this goal. There must be compromise for the civility of the society in general. This is not a bad thing folks. It is what stops society from being survival of the fittest. American society is far from perfect, but it does a fairly decent job at it, at least better than a lot of them out there.
This being said, realize that when a member of society chooses not to abide by the rules of that society, that society needs to censure them. They are criminals, and loose many of what we consider to be "rights" They have chosen to live outside of the society and their wish to be outside comes true, they are stripped of some of the rights and privileges that the greater society allows its members. This is not a bad thing either folks. Its part of the deterrent factor. It might not work in all cases, hell it might not work in the majority of cases, but it does work in some.
Ragardless of what you personally think of Mitnik, realize this, he was a criminal. He violated the rules of society. He choose to live outside the rules and believed that his "rights" superceeded yours and mine and those of the rest of society. For this he NEEDS and DESERVES to be punished.
The purpose of punishment folks is to hurt the person who offended. This is/was the meaning of the penal system, the PENALIZE those who break the rules of society, and just like when you were a child, and your parents grounded you, something important must be taken away to accomploish this goal. In the case of Mitnik, its access to computers and electronic devices.
The fact that he is out of probation at all is not his right, it is a provilege that comes with a condition, the condition that he follow society's rules (the terms imposed by his probation) Look at this as a way for him to attempt to show that he can.) If he can not follow the rules imposed by society (or by the courts in proxy for society) then he should be back in prison. He has already been afforded more than his rights demand. If he or anyone else wants to claim that his rights have been violated, then send him back to prison, where he no longer gets the opportunity to proove that he can live within society's guidelines.
Those are the two options, don't talk about his rights...... He voluntarily signed those away, by choosing not to follow society's rules. It was a gamble and he lost. Now its time to pay the debt. Considering all things, he is being given the opportunity to pay part of that debt in a much more relaxed way than it could have been. He should be thankful for the opportunity, and those who support him should be glad he was given the opportunity to proove he can once again exist within society and follow its rules rather than serving more prison time. Not griping about it.
I reject your reality
That is a great point. I'd mod you up, but I notice that you're at 5 already, and I don;t have any mod points anyway. But here you go, you receive the smart post of the day award. Wear it with pride.
The best part of the apple disk was the dancing guy. By Bishop, IIRC.
It played some little ditty (I belive it is the "turkey jig" or some silly name) and had some guy dancing on the screen (simple page flipping, no doubt) in tune to the music, but it was molto impressive at the time.
Molog
So Linus, what are we doing tonight?
So Linus, what are we going to do tonight?
The same thing we do every night Tux. Try to take over the world!
I know I'll be expecting to see him there...
--Cycon
Your Brain + EEG + LEGO Robots = Brainstorms
g-CUPS?
It boggles the mind, don't it boys!
--
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
That Idrema box looks like so many other psuedo-futuristic modern gadget designs, like some sleek underwater device, or a handy tray to keep your marble collection in.. What I want to see is some good-old-fashioned future noir design in some settop boxes.. Something more sid mead/bladerunnerish. Something that looks a little more dangerous.
Uh, yeah, but I'd take one in a pinch..
air and light and time and space
From what i understand, a Laser etched chip would be way to small for a home user to modify. but, what about those in university labs or other semi-commonly accessable Equipment.
Well, which company paid off the probation office?
I know that alot of people here are going to put me on the sh*t list, but he was convicted and serving a sentence. Why whould there be a 180-degree reversal. Something just sounds fishy.
still, it is good to see some justice from absurd rulings.
geek = chic, but does CAD = geek
Did AMD engineers really think this would stop fraud? This looks simpler than SMP with celerons. It's almost like the engineers are secretly catering to the hackers with all these "riddles" and backdoors to solve. kewl!
... bottom of the page
Q: Exactly what parts of IES are Open Source?
A: Much of the driver level code, API implementations and all kernel code is Open Source. The only exceptions are components of drivers, which must be preserved in a binary library file for security or copy protection integrity and the Xtrema API implementation. Some application components such as the Gecko HTML rendering engine and Necko transport engine are also Open Source. Many application components of the IES, such as the personal video system, will not be Open Source
--
If Solomon was alive today, he would propose the child be cut in two, the child would be cut in two, then the lawyars would come in and sue Solomon. Solomon was supposed to be wise, so I doubt he would be caught anywhere near a courtroom these days.
--- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
The copyright office has posted the post-reply hearings regarding the DMCA circumvention rulemaking. Have you hugged your Librarian of Congress recently? I hope so, because his office is going to decide the fate of publication and fair use as we know it... Unless Orrin Hatch gets entirely fed up with the RIAA and fixes the DMCA singlehandedly.
Also, 2600, the EFF, the MPAA, and the Harvard Open Law discussion list prepare for the trial over the publication of DeCSS, in which a preliminary injunction that constitutes a prior restraint on the defendant's speech will be decided simultaneously with the merits of the trial on July 17th.
I don't need large brains to have a good time.
::Point::
At 4MHz/dollar on such a nice, well-designed part, why bother? For reference, my Celeron-II 566 @ 850MHz gave me 7MHz/dollar when I bought it, and that's a 150% overclock, but it's a piece of junk with no SMP and 4-way set-associative cache (opposed to Thunderbird's 16-way). I've always "rationalized" (why is it that [geeks] feel they can rationalize [overclocking]?) my overclocking madness by saying that I "have a lot to get Intel back for," the 8088, the 486SX, the Pentium MMX, etc. But at this point in the game, AMD isn't trying to saturate the market, or confuse us, or bleed us for every cent we're worth [like Intel]. Let's buy their silicon and run with it.
::Counter-Point::
On the other hand, only a select few people overclock their computers. I would say less than 1% of all the people who purchase new computers yearly and that's probably generous. Was it really worth the time and effort of AMD, Tom Pabst, et cetera to stop 10,000 or so people from getting an extra 100 or 150MHz out of their shiny new AMD CPU?
::Inference::
If anything, overclocking HELPS the market. Look at how many mainboards Abit and Soyo have sold over the last three years because of the incredible overclocking goodness of the i440BX chipset. People with a Pentium II 300 decided to go ahead and make that upgrade to 600MHz because they could do it for $200 or $300 instead of $500 like it would to buy all `kosher' parts. Otherwise they may have waited another year. Cheaper prices, more CPU purchases, more mainboards, more fans, more slotkets, etc. Basic economics, right?
::Hypothesis::
Would AMD have ever made it this far had their loyalists not bought the AMD 586 to overclock it, the K6-2 to overclock it, and the Athlon Classic to overclock it for less than it would cost to buy an Intel part?
Humm, humm.
Alakaboo
Be ot or bot ne ot, taht is the nestquoi.
Thank you. I was getting pretty sick of all this over the top "so he can't were a wristwatch" silliness. You can claim that there's a slippery slope to what he can and can't do, but its really not that hard - You could take 10 people and give them a list of things to decide if they did or didn't fit the probation and as long as none of them were being deliberately dense, you'd get at least 8 or 9 agreements on every item. 10 for 10 on most.
Don't make things harder than they. It just makes you look silly.
-Kahuna Burger
...will work for Chick tracts...
-I meant to say "post-hearing replies"
-Take a close look at the comments submitted. I encourage everyone to even just skim them, if they have the time. There were a total of 28.
-9 were clearly against any exemptions to the anti-circumvention provision, all submitted by big media (one co-signed by ASCAP, Association of American University Presses [ironically in direct opposition with the comments of the Association of American Universities, The American Council on Education, and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges], the BSA, The McGraw-Hill Companies, the MPAA, and the RIAA.
-One has an informative illustration of the flawed nature of CSS and how it inhibits non-infringing use of copyrighted materials.
-Most of the arguments against exemption lean on the fact that nobody "adequately" testified to current hinderance of fair use... totally ignoring the arguments of CSS and misdirecting the purpose of the rulemaking (to prevent hinderance).
-I didn't notice a single comment by a self-proclaimed artist. You know, the people that copyright is supposed to protect? Sure, there were a few clearinghouses that represent the copyright interests of artists--but that's a bit disconnected from what the artist actually wants. After all, these clearinghouses have their own financial stake in the DMCA, separate from the interests of the artists they represent. Of course, let's not forget that we are all protected by copyright, self-proclaimed artist or not. Yet the overwhelming majority of us copyright holders are for exemptions to 1201(a)! Why is that?
-On to the trial: The final depositions are wrapping up. The judge has consolidated the motion to expand the preliminary injunction, as well as the motion to vacate the PI, with the trial itself. He moved the trial date up because of the first amendment implications of banning the distribution of DeCSS on a 1201(a) case, rather than on a pure copyright basis, among various other reasons.
-The DVD-discuss list is preparing an amicus brief... hopefully it will address basic flaws in the MPAAs pursuit of the lawsuit over circumvention, my favorite being that circumvention does not exist under 1201 if the copyright owner's authorization scheme to access the material is not well defined. There are many more, so review the archive, take note in particular of the proposed outlines for the brief, and see exactly why the MPAA will lose before it actually happens. The list is generally the best place to catch wind of current developments, as most filings and transcripts don't make it to wide distribution and those that do might just make it to 2600 and cryptome.
-Don't forget to donate to the EFF (I haven't sent my check either, yet), because they're footing the bill for this.
I don't need large brains to have a good time.
Under the new (and I would say, more enlightened) interpretation of Kevin's parole, your analogy with the DUI person is excellent, though not in the manner you intended. Once convicted of a DUI, I lose the ability to operate the device that I abused. Oops. That sounds exactly like what Kevin's parole is: he can't use computers. The harsher restrictions regarding computers for Kevin reflects the reality that it's very hard to control someone once they have access to a computer. While the DUI person could reasonably be expected to abide by his parole and still work as a mechanic, is it really realistic to allow Kevin to work as a PC tech at CompUSA and not actually use a computer? He would easily be able to violate his parole, and it would be very difficult to detect that violation. Therefore, he is banned from being in situations that provide this temptation.
Now, in both cases, after a period of time, the offender may be able to get back the privilege (and, yes, operating a computer is privilege - you can certainly survive without using a PC) that was lost.
I don't consider his (new) parole conditions onerous, or outlandish, given the crime he was convicted of (pleading guilty is a conviction).
As far as your last statement reguarding "white collar" crime vs. violent crime, I'm of the opinion we seriously underpunish white-collar crime. Look at it from a societal standpoint (which is what the punishment is supposed to take into account):
A violent crime causes almost unlimited damage to a single (or at most, a tiny number) of individuals. The biggest damage to society is that it undermines the faith we have in your society to protect us from bodily harm.
White-collar crime (extortion, embezzelment, fraud, cracking, et al.) tends to adversely affect a huge number of people. And while the individual impact might be less (though try to explain that to an 80-year-old grandma whose life savings were just fleeced), it does far, far, far greater societal harm. For white collar crime gnaws at the fundamental societal illusions that keep our country from reducing to total anarchy: you're screwing with the trust in the financial system, and in the trust of the consumer->producer relationship.
Honestly, I have no problem with a cracker who steals 100,000 credit card numbers getting a harsher sentance than a DUI-induced involuntary vehicular homocide. Not that the DUI person should get off lightly, but I can't stomache the people who cry "But nobody got hurt!" at the white-collar criminal's trial. That's just bullshit.
-Erik
There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.
Molog
So Linus, what are we doing tonight?
So Linus, what are we going to do tonight?
The same thing we do every night Tux. Try to take over the world!
Banning the use of a computer is a heck of a lot more restrictive than banning the use of anaesthetics. The hypothetical doctor (who has committed a far more serious offence) could still make a living (admittedly not in their chosen profession) once they got out of gaol, but it's getting to the point where you can't hold any job if you can't use a computer.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
The decleration of independence has that bit about "freedom to persue happyness" (which is not the same as a right to be happy, just the right to try). That is pretty broad. Let's see playing by the rules I'm not sure the constitution says anything, but the Bill of Rights says "Amendment IX The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
In other words the framers of the bill of rights may have come 150 years too early to grant an explicit right to use a computer, but they still found a big middle finger to wave at your argument.
Why? It seems more like elitism to deny someone's right to do a thing. That is to say to restrict a thing to a privlaged class, an elite if you will.
Of corse this is irrelivant to Mitnick's case. He is a convicted (by his own plea) felon. Convicted felons have restricted rights. For example the first amendment right "of the people peaceably to assemble" is not granted to a felon.
I'm not sure if he is restored of those rights after his jail term would be up, or if it is totally up to the judge/probation officer.
I would hope a continued show of "reform" would allow him his rights to be restored. (I quote reform since ou can't really show that you are no longer a nasty cracker if you can't use a computer -- much like one couldn't show themselves to no longer be drive faster then the speed limit until one is allowed to drive again!)
I won't even comment on whether I think the punisment is too harsh or not. There are lots of harsh punishments doled out by our goverment. I would be foolish to single out this particular one to wine about.
Things like McIntosh componentry, and Wadia, some Arcam ... they look utterly, ruggedly functional ... like something out of a 50's space command center. Scientific, even.
The best thing about the new indrema look (to me) is the blue LED. I don't really like the asymetrical, lozengy, "swallowed by a large slug" look of this. It's sleek, but as Charlie Brown once asked Lucy, "How can a jumprope be hi-fi?"
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
The day they require you to earn a doctorate and get a license to be able to use a computer is the day your analogy is correct.
The restriction is bizarre because using a computer is something akin to a "natural right" - and the kazoo analogy is thus closer to the mark.
How to deal with someone like Mitnick? I don't know, but inventing weird kinds of punishment and violating the Bill of Rights several times along the way just doesn't seem like the way to do it.
~ radiographite: art by john shepard
If you read through the FAQ, you'll notice that Indrema has an architecture for playing DVD's on their DV Linux. Now, using the following assumptions:
(1) The encryption stuff is binary-only, and they have (what they claim) is a safe way to show the stream without 'progmatic' access to it.
(2) Their box is x86, mine is x86
(3) They also mention that it's fully based on X.
(4) It's DVD Video on Linux (!)
They could easily sell the DVD portion to desktop users as well. I understand that everyone is supposed to hate DVD's, but I love my movies, and I'd love to be able to run Linux on my notebook AND watch my DVDs.
All politics and DeCSS stuff aside, this could be a Good Thing(tm).
----------------- "I have a bone to pick, and a few to break." - Refused -------------------
It's good to see that the probation office took a more reasonable stance on his lecturing and consulting. Though I suspect that he'll be carefully watched at the consulting gigs.
However, the comment about not allowing Kevin to use any computers is grossly misleading. The limitations are against any Programmable electronic device, and even then, it's up to the probation officer about what is or is not allowable. Kevin can use an HP calculator, a microwave, an even (i'm pretty sure) an ATM machine. Anything that he can reprogram for dastardly ends (or use to reprogram an otherwise "legal" device) is out. Given the crime he's on probation for, this is logical, reasonable, and appropriate.
Also, a note to those crying about restriction of his Inalienable Rights: as a convicted felon, he has lost the right to many of his "Rights". He may get them back over time (e.g. when his parole is up), but right now, as part of his punishment (and ALL FELONS are subject to this), he loses many of the rights normal citizens enjoy:
I've missed a few, but you get the point.
Believe me, you don't want to be convicted of a Felony in the U.S. - it's a serious cramp on your future.
-Erik
There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.