Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Aircraft, Dreams, Returns
OK, now all we need is Tom Clancy, Steven Segal and a bad script ... code_rage writes "Wondering why Iridium has not been deorbited yet? Still care?
There are still some parties attempting to purchase the Iridium assets for pennies on the dollar. One party is pursuing the 'aircraft black box in the sky' concept advanced by several people in various forums, including Slashdot. The Iridium case docket sheet is located [here] Items # 761 & 762 are interesting.
These rather large PDF documents are scanned images of briefs filed on behalf of a party who has been interested in buying Iridium since last year, for the purposes of creating a continuously telemetered aircraft "black box" capability, to enhance civil aircraft safety. These briefs read like a John Grisham novel (particularly 762)... "
That's one way of putting it. On the other hand, the docket reads like a catalogue of everything that could (and did) go wrong with a high-tech, high-budget business venture.
Does "Sega" mean anything anyhow? Lucianno Edwards passed on this tidbit about Sega. "As a followup to the post on your website about sega going multiplatform: Sega doesn't plan to develop games for rival consoles, but to license their hardware to rival consoles, in a bleem-like fashion, which will allow DC games to run on anything which has the DC chip in it. Technically Sony could release an add-on for PS2 and Nintendo for Gamecube.
Sega wouldnt be paying license fees yet they'd still be selling games on rival consoles. It makes a lot of sense from a bussiness prospective.
It's all official. No more rumors." One more Sega bit, same pingin' source: Fervent writes "It's going to be on a GD-ROM, and it will run ten classic Genesis games. More details are on this article at Daily Radar."
Anyong Haseyo, chin-gu. An unnamed correspondent writes: "The Guild of System Administrators has released documentation and resources related to the new multilingual domain names."
So if you want to snatch up all the cool Chinese translations of "Coca Cola," you can consult their list of Registry Services, Registries, Commercial Technical "Solutions Providers, Standards Organizations, etc. Besides which, GSA looks like a cool site to check out anyhow.
A fairly convoluted way to get some free books from O'Reilly scjody writes "You may remember Dilinger, who had his computers seized a few weeks ago. According to his webpage, it has been returned."
Perhaps the FBI has decided that waiting for years to return equipment (as they did for Steve Jackson) wasn't good for their public image. Sure sounds like a better outcome than I was expecting -- congratulations, Dilinger.
I commented on this issue the first time it was posted. I will do so again. I think what he did was completely legal, yet I can still see how what he did was somewhat suspicious.
The very fact that he got his equipment back in short order shows that not only is he not a suspect, the FBI realizes he has no involement and no evidence that will be of any use to them. This lends to me the belief that they might actually have a clue about what they're doing. The immediate sieze of "evidence" is unfortunately necessary at times because data can be eliminated in the blink of an eye.
I will say again, a violated website is a crime scene. You're perfectly welcome to gawk at a crime scene along with all the other rubberneckers hoping to get a glimpse at whatever the cause of the commotion is. However, if you cross over the yellow tape and start peeking around in things, law enforcement might be forced to make some premature assumptions about your motives. Viewing a cracked website wouldn't bring you any undue suspicion, but when you start digging into the details, well, you never know who might be casually watching you.
You can blame the script kiddies. If it weren't for the numerous cracked websites with such dubious causes displayed... if it weren't for the massive DDOS's against such popular, yet fundamentally useless websites... if it weren't for the constant barrage of random portscans, we wouldn't have to worry about the FBI busting in on someone who was expressing some innocent curiosity.
These attacks will continue until at least a significant number of brainless dorks are caught and given a substantial punishment. Of course, this is easier said than done. The great majority of attacks are not direct, but done through innocent third parties who are the unfortunate owners of unsecured servers. To track these people down, the FBI has to track through the log files of each of the servers in between. I dare say, if the FBI were to casually call me up and ask if I minded if they came over and searched through all my computers I would kindly hang up on them. Obtaining a warrant and seizing the equipment is really their only option in cases such as these. It might suck if you had no direct involvement or were just looking around, but just accept the fact that its gonna happen. Keep your systems secure so you don't get cracked, and keep your nose out of a crime scene unless you are authorized to be there.
And no, I'm not trampling on anyone's rights. I agree that making a script that demonstrates a security hole needs to remain legal, and is the best way to assure that these holes get fixed. However, you have to realize that people WILL abuse these scripts. There will be people that don't and won't patch their software even if they DO know about security holes. What can we do about this? I have no idea. Since having their systems violated doesn't seem to concern some people, how about an increasing number of law enforcement intrusions? Maybe if everytime someone sets up a new box, a week later they get raided by the FBI and get all their eqiupment confiscated, they'll take security more seriously.
Law enforcemnt is very much an "after the fact" operation. They don't concern themselves at all with how to protect yourself beforehand, they only care about catching the criminals afterwards. And any legislation they propose will not be to protect the innocent but to make the act of catching the criminals easier. From their standpoint, I don't doubt that their motives are sincere, even if the end result is that we end up with less rights than we do before.
So please be careful. If you're not among the criminally inclined, attempt to avoid presenting yourself as such.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
"...look, look, Australians, New Zealanders and Americans are friends under the one umbrella of ANZAS. The ANZAS pact. We've been in the trenches together over the years, we're very very good friends. The best friends we have in the world are the New Zealanders and the Americans. But I always say, HG, that friendship comes at a cost. And that cost is honesty. You've got to be honest to be a true friend. And while individually Americans are very enjoyable people, modest people, quite lovely people, individually they're very fine. It's just en masse... one can be slightly, I think, critical. They are loud, ignorant, self-obsessed, to the point or narcacissm. They are inward looking, baron, uninteresting, and incapable of seeing any of these qualities that puts the world against them wherever they go. They wonder why they are so disliked, they just can't see it, and that is their major stupidity, that the fatal flaw of Americans. Individually they are wonderful people, wonderful. It's just in toto, I mean get any more than 2, and I'm sorry."
And now to watch my karma drop.
While it did take SJ quite some time to get their equipment back, it wasn't the FBI who held their equipment in legal limbo. That infamy belongs to the United States Secret Service.
:)
While I'm as suspicious of the FBI as I am the USSS, let's make sure to hand out criticism fairly, okay?
Service and games, if I recall correctly.
Originally Iridium was named Iridium because it was supposed to have 77 satellites (just like Iridium atom has 77 electrons).
Of course, when Iridium went bankrupt it had only 66 satellites in the sky. Element 66, then, is Dysprosium, whose name means something like "hard to access".
Obvious, huh?
(Joke from E2...)
Umm, the US didn't win the war of 1812, unless winning the war means having your capitol burnt down, suffering 50% more casualties, then negoitiating a truce. The American goal of occupying Upper Canada was not accomplished.
Of course, in the US, the popular image of the war of 1812, if there is one at all, is the battle of New Orleans.
Specifically, in " Where's the IT angle? We never were any good at geometry... "posted there 15 November 2000 at 10:42am. (Go there if you want to see the whole thing -- this is just over half!)
On the other hand, it's good to see that other slashdotters read The Register...
"...America's great minds of today, teaching America's great minds of tomorrow. Poor bastards." -- A Beautiful Min
For radio astronomers' sake, let Iridium BURN!! its fairly impossible to listen for signals in the OH molecules 18 cm wavelength, if there are transmitters in orbit (iridium) broadcasting using that same wavelength.
Sig- http://www.dreamhost.com/rewards.cgi?ayefly
Apologies, please. Explanations, please! Elucidations, please! Goldarnit, a student was just going about his business, and he's robbed of his work. I did not notice any information about detailed receipts for his stuff - I thought that was illegal.
If anything of yours is seized by means of search warrant, request a detailed receipt!
That's great news about the Genesis emu. However, you can get a free-beer SNES emulator for the dreamcast now, from this site. It isn't super fast, but I've been playing Donkey Kong Country on my DC quite a bit lately....
~wog
Q: Are you the Judean People's Front?
A: Fuck off! Judean People's Front... we're the People's Front of Judea!