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Apple Plugs Software Update Hole
hype7 writes "Apple's getting quick! Less than 5 days after the recently reported software update vulnerability was discovered, Apple have a patch plugging the hole. Apparently, packages now presented via the Software Update mechanism are cryptographically signed, and the new Software Update client 1.4.6 checks for a valid signature before installing any new packages."
A story was posted on the front page not 5 minutes ago. Damnit! YOU'RE CONFUSING THE USERS!
"Blessed are the poor in threshold: for theirs is the Kingdom of the Page-Lengthening and Page-Widening Posts.
"Blessed are they that mourn the death of *BSD: for they shall be comforted with an ultradense Linux server from VA Linux, now sold by California Digital Corporation.
"Blessed are the posters of smug one-liners: for they shall inherit an Account Capped at 50.
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after The First Post: for they shall have the Third or Fourth Post.
"Blessed are the karma whores: for they shall obtain "Score: 5, Insightful".
"Blessed are those who dismiss out-of-hand: for they shall fail to see the Point of the Original Post.
"Blessed are those who seek to associate themselves with the latest techno-fad: for they shall be called 3L33T for at least Another Half Hour.
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for their own self-righteousness' sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of "Ask Slashdot".
"Blessed are the over-eager, who believe that Open Source is a social movement heralding the rise of a new generation: for they shall not realize that There Are No Sacred Cows.
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for the sake of your Favorite Operating System.
"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD
IIRC, doesnt MS's Windows Update already do something like SHA1 (or some other algorithm) signiture checking?
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
*LONG LIVE*
So this is what you guys have resorted to?
Slashdroids have crippled this site beyond any useful functionality(url filter? 20 second wait time for posting?) that it's no wonder people have stopped coming.
Well, I've got news for you, bud. Your new filter is broken.
I haven't posted in almost a week, and my karma is just fine. Thank you for giving me another reason not to bother coming back.
And you say the MPAA is good at driving away it's own customers? Pssssh!
Just post AC and move on you're merry way. What you say doesn't need points (unless your self esteem is low or something).
Credits: onby
1. Introduction
As everyone knows, Open Source software is the wave of the future. With the market share of GNU/Linux and *BSD increasing every day, interest in Open Source Software is at an all time high.
Developing software within the Open Source model benefits everyone. People can take your code, improve it and then release it back to the community. This cycle continues and leads to the creation of far more stable software than the 'Closed Source' shops can ever hope to create.
So you're itching to create that Doom 3 killer but don't know where to start? Read on!
2. First Steps
The most important thing that any Open Source project needs is a Sourceforge page. There are tens of thousands of successful Open Source projects on Sourceforge; the support you receive here will be invaluable.
OK, so you've registered your Sourceforge project and set the status to '0: Pre-Thinking About It', what's next?
3. Don't Waste Time!
Now you need to set up your SourceForge homepage. Keep it plain and simple - don't use too many HTML tags, just knock something up in VI. Website editors like FrontPage and DreamWeaver just create bloated eye-candy - you need to get your message to the masses!
4. Ask For Help
Since you probably can't program at all you'll need to try and find some people who think they can. If your project is a game you'll probably need an artist too. Ask for help on your new Sourceforge pages. Here is an example to get you started:
"Hi there! Welcom to my SorceForge page! I am planing to create a Fisrt Person Shooter game for Linux that is going to kick Doom 3's ass! I have loads of awesome ideas, like giant robotic spiders! I need some help thouh as I cant program or draw. If you can program or draw the tekstures please get in touch! K thx bye!"
Thousands of talented programmers and artists hang out at Sourceforge ready to devote their time to projects so you should get a team together in no time!
5. The A-Team
So now you have your team together you are ready to change your projects status to '1: Pre-Bickering'. You will need to discuss your ideas with your team mates and see what value they can add to the project. You could use an Instant Messaging program like MSN for this, but since you run Linux you'll have to stick to e-mail.
Don't forget that YOU are in charge! If your team doesn't like the idea of giant robotic spiders just delete them from the project and move on. Someone else can fill their place and this is the beauty of Open Source development. The code might end up a bit messy and the graphics inconsistant - but it's still 'Free as in Speech'!
6. Getting Down To It
Now that you've found a team of right thinking people you're ready to start development. Be prepared for some delays though. Programming is a craft and can take years to learn. Your programmer may be a bit rusty but will probably be writing "hello world" programs after school in no time.
Closed Source games like Doom 3 use the graphics card to do all the hard stuff anyhow, so your programmer will just have to get the NVidia 'API' and it will be plain sailing! Giant robot spiders, here we come!
7. The Outcome
So it's been a few years, you still have no files released or in CVS. Your programmer can't get enough time on the PC because his mother won't let him use it after 8pm. Your artist has run off with a Thai She-Male. Your project is still at '1: Pre-Bickering'...
Congratulations! You now have a successful Open Source project on Sourceforge! Pat yourself on the back, think up another idea and do it all again! See how simple it is?
- poopbot: news for turds, stuff that splatters
seek. kill. destroy.
seak. ki1l. des+roy.
s3ak. ki1l. d3s+r0y.
53ek. ki1l. d35+r0y.
533k. |<i11. |)35+r0y.
533|<. |<|11. |)35+r0y.
THERE IS NO FREE SPEECH ON SLASHDOT.
It seems that the Janitors, in their infinite wisdom, have banned people who have low/negative karma from posting more than twice per day. Personally I find this completely stupid.
All the trolls will simply post AC as I am doing now. Proxies can be used to get around any ipid bans that result from AC trolls.
Surely it is better to let the trolls post at -1 where it is out of most peoples way rather than have them all post at 0 and suck up mod points and time from "legit" users?
I have tried to communicate my thoughts to the slashcode team but alas, to no avail. They are probably all sittin on their starwars bed sheets watching anime hentai tentacle rape pr0n.
Here is my proposal: All trolls that cannot post using their account post as AC. Use proxies if need be (www.antiproxy.com is a good source). I suspect this will show them how useless this idea is. Will blocking troll uid's stop trolls? NO! will ipid bans stop trolls? NO!
I seriously fail to see the point of this and consider it a stupid move by the janitors.
They want us to troll and crapflood at 0 rather than -1? Fine! So be it! No longer will we post at -1 where few people dare to visit, now we will post at 0 where we will be more visible and waste peoples time, energy and mod points! Hoorah!
The next thing you know, posting AC will be banned! Then what will you do? No more posting interesting insider tidbits! Groupthink all the way baby! oh yeah!
So logout, post shit, use proxies and above all have fun!
Let the games begin!
-- on by
That was not funny in any way, shape, or form.
The new system of banning negative karma accounts after two posts (!) is... um... working.
Right.
woooooooooooo!
As an enlightened, modern parent, I try to be as involved as possible in the lives of my six children. I encourage them to join team sports. I attend their teen parties with them to ensure no drinking or alcohol is on the premises. I keep a fatherly eye on the CDs they listen to and the shows they watch, the company they keep and the books they read. You could say I'm a model parent. My children have never failed to make me proud, and I can say without the slightest embellishment that I have the finest family in the USA.
Two years ago, my wife Carol and I decided that our children's education would not be complete without some grounding in modern computers. To this end, we bought our children a brand new Compaq to learn with. The kids had a lot of fun using the handful of application programs we'd bought, such as Adobe's Photoshop and Microsoft's Word, and my wife and I were pleased that our gift was received so well. Our son Peter was most entranced by the device, and became quite a pro at surfing the net. When Peter began to spend whole days on the machine, I became concerned, but Carol advised me to calm down, and that it was only a passing phase. I was content to bow to her experience as a mother, until our youngest daughter, Cindy, charged into the living room one night to blurt out: "Peter is a computer hacker!"
As you can imagine, I was amazed. A computer hacker in my own house! I began to monitor my son's habits, to make certain that Cindy wasn't just telling stories, as she is prone to doing at times.
After a few days of investigation, and some research into computer hacking, I confronted Peter with the evidence. I'm afraid to say, this was the only time I have ever been truly disappointed in one of my children. We raised them to be honest and to have integrity, and Peter betrayed the principles we tried to encourage in him, when he refused point blank to admit to his activities. His denials continued for hours, and in the end, I was left with no choice but to ban him from using the computer until he is old enough to be responsible for his actions.
After going through this ordeal with my own family, I was left pondering how I could best help others in similar situations. I'd gained a lot of knowledge over those few days regarding hackers. It's only right that I provide that information to other parents, in the hope that they will be able to tell if their children are being drawn into the world of hacking. Perhaps other parents will be able to steer their sons back onto the straight and narrow before extreme measures need to be employed.
To this end, I have decided to publish the top ten signs that your son is a hacker. I advise any parents to read this list carefully and if their son matches the profile, they should take action. A smart parent will first try to reason with their son, before resorting to groundings, or even spanking. I pride myself that I have never had to spank a child, and I hope this guide will help other parents to put a halt to their son's misbehaviour before a spanking becomes necessary.
1. Has your son asked you to change ISPs?
Most American families use trusted and responsible Internet Service Providers, such as AOL. These providers have a strict "No Hacking" policy, and take careful measures to ensure that your internet experience is enjoyable, educational and above all legal. If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider.
I would advise all parents to refuse this request. One of the reasons your son is interested in switching providers is to get away from AOL's child safety filter. This filter is vital to any parent who wants his son to enjoy the internet without the endangering him through exposure to "adult" content. It is best to stick with the protection AOL provides, rather than using a home-based solution. If your son is becoming a hacker, he will be able to circumvent any home-based measures with surprising ease, using information gleaned from various hacker sites.
2. Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing?
Your son will probably try to install some hacker software. He may attempt to conceal the presence of the software in some way, but you can usually find any new programs by reading through the programs listed under "Install/Remove Programs" in your control panel. Popular hacker software includes "Comet Cursor", "Bonzi Buddy" and "Flash".
The best option is to confront your son with the evidence, and force him to remove the offending programs. He will probably try to install the software again, but you will be able to tell that this is happening, if your machine offers to "download" one of the hacker applications. If this happens, it is time to give your son a stern talking to, and possibly consider punishing him with a grounding.
3. Has your child asked for new hardware?
Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request "faster" video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory. If your son starts requesting these devices, it is possible that he has a legitimate need. You can best ensure that you are buying legal, trustworthy hardware by only buying replacement parts from your computer's manufacturer.
If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well.
4. Does your child read hacking manuals?
If you pay close attention to your son's reading habits, as I do, you will be able to determine a great deal about his opinions and hobbies. Children are at their most impressionable in the teenage years. Any father who has had a seventeen year old daughter attempt to sneak out on a date wearing make up and perfume is well aware of the effect that improper influences can have on inexperienced minds.
There are, unfortunately, many hacking manuals available in bookshops today. A few titles to be on the lookout for are: "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson; "Neuromancer" by William Gibson; "Programming with Perl" by Timothy O'Reilly; "Geeks" by Jon Katz; "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling; "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland; "Hackers" by Steven Levy; and "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond.
If you find any of these hacking manuals in your child's possession, confiscate them immediately. You should also petition local booksellers to remove these titles from their shelves. You may meet with some resistance at first, but even booksellers have to bow to community pressure.
5. How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?
If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites. DOSing involves gaining access to the "command prompt" on other people's machines, and using it to tie up vital internet services. This can take up to eight hours. If your son is doing this, he is breaking the law, and you should stop him immediately. The safest policy is to limit your children's access to the computer to a maximum of forty-five minutes each day.
6. Does your son use Quake?
Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. It is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school.
If your son is using Quake, you should make hime understand that this is not acceptable to you. You should ensure all the firearms in your house are carefully locked away, and have trigger locks installed. You should also bring your concerns to the attention of his school.
7. Is your son becoming argumentative and surly in his social behaviour?
As a child enters the electronic world of hacking, he may become disaffected with the real world. He may lose the ability to control his actions, or judge the rightness or wrongness of a course of behaviour. This will manifest itself soonest in the way he treats others. Those whom he disagrees with will be met with scorn, bitterness, and even foul language. He may utter threats of violence of a real or electronic nature.
Even when confronted, your son will probably find it difficult to talk about this problem to you. He will probably claim that there is no problem, and that you are imagining things. He may tell you that it is you who has the problem, and you should "back off" and "stop smothering him." Do not allow yourself to be deceived. You are the only chance your son has, even if he doesn't understand the situation he is in. Keep trying to get through to him, no matter how much he retreats into himself.
8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?
BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.
Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional.
If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.
9. Has your son radically changed his appearance?
If your son has undergone a sudden change in his style of dress, you may have a hacker on your hands. Hackers tend to dress in bright, day-glo colors. They may wear baggy pants, bright colored shirts and spiky hair dyed in bright colors to match their clothes. They may take to carrying "glow-sticks" and some wear pacifiers around their necks. (I have no idea why they do this) There are many such hackers in schools today, and your son may have started to associate with them. If you notice that your son's group of friends includes people dressed like this, it is time to think about a severe curfew, to protect him from dangerous influences.
10. Is your son struggling academically?
If your son is failing courses in school, or performing poorly on sports teams, he may be involved in a hacking group, such as the infamous "Otaku" hacker association. Excessive time spent on the computer, communicating with his fellow hackers may cause temporary damage to the eyes and brain, from the electromagnetic radiation. This will cause his marks to slip dramatically, particularly in difficult subjects such as Math, and Chemistry. In extreme cases, over-exposure to computer radiation can cause schizophrenia, meningitis and other psychological diseases. Also, the reduction in exercise may cause him to lose muscle mass, and even to start gaining weight. For the sake of your child's mental and physical health, you must put a stop to his hacking, and limit his computer time drastically.
I encourage all parents to read through this guide carefully. Your child's future may depend upon it. Hacking is an illegal and dangerous activity, that may land your child in prison, and tear your family apart. It cannot be taken too seriously.
Once upon a time two great alliances of nations fought a long and bitter war in a clash of good against evil. Eventually the forces of light won, and all that remained was one small nation led by evil rulers that would not surrender, no matter what the cost to their nation.
In their wisdom, the greatest nation in the forces of light decided that it would be wrong to drag the battle out longer than was necessary and decimate those whose only fault was to have been duped by evil men, and so they got their mightiest wizards to rain fire upon their two of their enemy's cities, and the enemy leaders realised their folly and capitulated at once.
Knowing that prosperity encourages peace, the wise men of the great nation went into the conquered nation and helped rebuild it, letting the people rule themselves and build a future for their nation. In time, they began to prosper thanks to hard work and ingenuity, and eventually they became a mighty trading nation, far surpassing any level of wealth they might have otherwise expected.
Unfortunately the clash of old and new cultures gave rise to value system that neither culture would have been happy with. Indeed, some of these new fetishes were so virulently immoral they could be described as a plague. And like any plague, they could spread far beyond where they were spawned, infecting entirely new cultures unused and unprotected from their effects.
This is a story about one such plague, and how it has reached our shores.
In recent years there has been a growing trend amongst radical youth elements of American society for cultural relativism, the foolish belief that other cultures have something to offer. This is clearly not true, and anyone that cares to take the time to do the research will find that the US is by far the world's greatest nation in terms of any statistic that matters. Unfortunately thanks to the influence of Liberal elements in our once-great education system these individuals choose to turn away from the products our cultures produces and embrace alien ideas that are an affront to God and our Founding Fathers.
In some cases this relativism is less harmful than others; the English culture apes our own enough so that there is little harm to be had. But other so-called cultures are purely and simply alien to morality, and the cultural apologists are nothing more than a group of deceivers intent on the final replacement of Christian moral values with a Liberal credo of immorality and sin.
The worst attack on morality comes in the form of Japanese manga films, which spread a shocking message of immorality under the cover of animation, a cynical move targetting a genre typically aimed at children. These films are supposedly aimed at adults, but a moment's reflection counters this vacuous argument - what kind of grown adult watches cartoons? When we become adults we put childish things behind us, and cartoons, whilst of invaluable aid in entertaining and educating children, are of no use to a healthy adult of sound mind and firm moral base.
Upon my first encounter with this foriegn plague I was shocked at the gratuitous use of violence and anti-Christian symbolism. These films all fall into the fantasy and science-fiction genres (which are little more than a hotbed of paganism and Satanism anyway) and the stories generally involve an epic conflict between the forces of "good," who are typically inbued with obviously Satanic powers, and their enemies, also possessing such powers. Indeed, the only difference being that the forces of "evil" are more obviously demonic in their visages! These two forces engage in megaviolent battles using their Satanic powers, and at the end of an orgy of blood and dismembered limbs the forces of "good" are victorious and undoubtedly retire to give thanks to their evil master.
At this point I was shocked enough. Never before have I seen such a celebration of violence and Satanism, and to see it in a medium designed to entice children had me gripping the edge of my seat in righteous outrage. What kind of sick mind could conceive of such a vicious assault on the kind of decent Christian values that made America the greatest nation on Earth? It was clear to me at that point that this was nothing other than an insidious campaign being waged against our nation's youths, designed to blind them to the Truth and install the Liberal lies of a relativistic paradise where morality is whatever makes you feel good.
And worse yet, it was succeeding! The popularity of manga films has increased over the last decade, and yet few people have realised how many of our nation's children have been turned to the Liberals. I at once decided that something needed to be done about this scourge, and began to engage in an intense bout of research, forcing myself to watch hour after hour of this immoral filth. And slowly, something else became clear. I had been wrong. Very wrong.
No, the real agenda was not the dissemination of psychopathic and anti-Christian messages. These were nothing more than a cover for what these vile "films" were really pushing. It became clear only after watching several of the so-called classics (as if any film made less than fifty years ago could be termed a classic!) that the real agenda was truly Satanic - manga films exist solely to promote the idea that paedophilia is good!
Not content with dominance in the field of consumer electronics, it was now clear to me that the Japanese wished to bring about the downfall of our society by spreading this cancer in our midst, targetting the most naive and vulnerable segments of our population - teenagers and college students.
The evidence for this is clear to anyone not so simple-minded and deluded by a Liberal education. In a cheap trick the perverts that create manga films have stolen their animation techniques from Disney, and given all of their characters the same wide-eyed child-like look of innocence seen in such timeless children's classics as Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. This makes it clear that even when showing supposedly adult characters, they are subliminally referring instead to young children.
Of course it doesn't end here, for like all Liberal filthmongers they know no bounds to their depravity. The characters in these obscenities, especially the female ones, are drawn in a blatently sexual manner, with exaggerated sexual attributes, impossible proportions and disturbingly provocative clothing (when there is any!). Each character has been crafted to act upon the deadly sin of lust, and is an unholy masterpiece of desire. I found myself watching these succubi again and again, mesmerised and unable to comprehend such un-Christian filth.
When you combine the evidence the secret agenda becomes only too clear - that children are sexual creatures, and that it is alright to feel lust towards them. Furthermore, the graphic scenes of violence in manga films are clearly designed to incite violence against children in the furtherance of these foul desires. Clearly it is not only enough to simply instill such unwholesome thoughts in the minds of our youth, they are intent upon inciting violence of a most deviant manner upon our nation's children!
This is against everything that is decent and Christian in the world! It is clearly part of the Liberalist agenda of secular multiculturalism, and part of the drive towards their ultimate goal of One World government ruling over a homogenous, unthinking lower class devoid of the Christian ethics that separate us from savages.
Tomorrow I begin my crusade. If you too share the values that made this country the greatest in the world, I urge you to think of a generation lost to Satan, and to make a stand against the tide of filth lapping at our Christian shores.
Call It A Night, Cowboy!
Slashdot only allows a user with your karma to post 2 times per day. You've already shared your thoughts with us that many times. Take a breather, and come back and see us in 24 hours or so.
If you think this is unfair, please email jamie@mccarthy.vg with your username "Fecal Troll Matter".
you could make a beaowulf cluster of mac security holes
Apple patch! Apple patch! Cinn-a-mon toast-ty App-pple patch! It's fun and tasty but it doesn't taste like Apples! Ask mom to get yours today!
why is it making me post as AC? i told it to log in and i didn't check the AC box!
Don't call me back. Give me a call back. Bye. So yeah. But bye our, well, but alright we are on a shirt this chill.