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Is it Just Me, Or Is Our Mainframe Missing?

Posted by timothy on from the or-is-it-an-ibm-commercial dept.

xnuandax writes "Here's a salient lesson for those system security personnel who spend their time fretting over the theoretical crack-ability of their 1024 bit encryption keys. Australian Customs have recently suffered a rather unfortunate set back in their "War Against Terror" with the admission that two of their secure mainframe servers have been wheeled out of the building by persons unknown. I'll bet my $2 that the root password on those boxes was 'trustno1'."

416 of 606 comments (clear)

  1. This is what happens ... by B3ryllium · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... when you don't do retinal scans on pizza delivery people.

    1. Re:This is what happens ... by B3ryllium · · Score: 1

      I would like to remind them that as a trusted tv personality, I can be useful in rounding up others to toil in their underground cheese and pepperoni caves.

    2. Re:This is what happens ... by B3ryllium · · Score: 1

      "Pizza for ... I.C. Weiner" *groan*

    3. Re:This is what happens ... by phagstrom · · Score: 2, Funny

      don't you mean:

      "That's what happens when you forget to tip the pizza delivery people".

      Don't underestimate the "disgruntledness" of pizza deliverly people. They will Take Over The World!

    4. Re:This is what happens ... by arb · · Score: 1

      Well, I'm plenty disgruntled when I don't get a monetary tip myself, and I deliver pizzas in Australia.

      You must be permanently disgruntled then - tipping is not the norm in Australia. Well, unless you count the 5 cents change I "tip" the delivery boy when my pizza order comes to $14.95...

    5. Re:This is what happens ... by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Informative

      US Federal law says that staff who earn part of their wages from tips must be paid at least $2.13/hr.

      Many restraunts do that. You work, you get $2.25/hr (or whatever the boss is nice enough to pay you). So in most places, the staff are very dependant on your tips.

      I tip 20%, and then adjust by service. If the service seriously sucked ass, you may get nothing. If you were really good, you may get 20% rounded up to the nearest $10. ($85 dollar meal would get a $20 tip). Knowing most people are complete idiots who don't tip for good service, it's worth it for me for two reasons. 1) they deserve decent pay if they did a good job. 2) I expect good service next time I come in, and will probably get it. Usually if I tip well and come back another day, I get better than average service. Places I go regularly, I don't have to ask for my drink, they'll have it ready by the time I'm seated.

      But, tipping doesn't excuse impoliteness. Well, you probably wouldn't get a tip if you're looking at all your customers saying "What kind of idiot....", but the polite waiter gets pleases and thank you's, and a good tip.

      But in some parts of the world, this isn't expected or acceptable. I gave a taxi driver in Europe a $10 tip for getting me from point A to point B in no time. He was polite, held the door for me, yada, yada, yada. He was completely flabergasted that I gave him anything extra.

      In New York, I gave a taxi driver $20 for getting me from Times Square to the WTC in less than 5 minutes. Of course, stop lights and lane markings are frequently meaningless, so that helped accomplish the time. :) It saved my ass though, I had to be in like 3 places at once, and got everything accomplished on a very short timetable.

      In some US cities, you may be lucky the car doesn't hit you driving away if you don't tip.

      Flight attendants don't take tips, and get offended when you offer one. I haven't quite figured that one out yet. If I buy a beer from a fight attendant, they are the bartender, and the bartender always get tipped.

      So, maybe in the UK you don't take tips, fine. In some countries it's most of the money that they make. In some jobs it's the majority of their paycheck.

      I don't tip because I have extra money. I tip because I've worked just about every shit job there is at some point in time, and can completely relate to them having to deal with asshole customers every day who think that $2.25/hr actually pays the rent in most metro areas.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    6. Re:This is what happens ... by digitalunity · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The only reason why waiters are an angry bunch is because they're such losers.

      Slow down there, you just insulted several million americans. Did you know that in some states in the US like Florida and Ohio, federal minimum wage doesn't apply? They are paid just over $2 per hour. If they weren't tipped, they would walk home with almost nothing.

      They're just doing their job, I guess you don't tip Taxi cab drivers either? The gratuity is for going above and beyond doing their job. I could just bring a person a drink and their food and probably get by with saying 20 words or less. Isn't it nice to go out to a restaurant and get nice service, someone who will help guide you through the menu while being friendly and courteous? Most people around here seem to agree with me, as 9 out of 10 people tip 10% or more on the price of their meal.

      Maybe you just don't understand the value of appreciation.

      --
      You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
    7. Re:This is what happens ... by TGK · · Score: 4, Informative

      My experiances traveling in Toyko paralell this. I've worked as a waiter in the United States and am quite familiar with the $2.13 per hour rule. Tips are a vital part of the salary. Tipping in those situations is not only appropriate but expected. Fundamentaly, waiters can't make a living at their jobs without it.

      In Japan, however, things are a little different. Japanese custom considers a gift of money to a stranger (so basicly tipping) to be the rough equivilent of giving money to a begger on the street. Thus the waiter who accepts a tip is implicitly stating that he does not make enough/have enough to support himself and his family. (The Japanese are very focused on the implicit meanings of things) This is an afront to dignity, pride, and honor. Tipping in Japan is not only unexpected, it's RUDE.

      I honestly didn't belive the tour book when I read this. However a very polite and kind waitress in a sushi bar explained this to me while I was reeling from the 16 hours of jet lag.

      --
      Killfile(TGK)
      No trees were killed in the creation of this post. However, many electrons were inconvenienced.
    8. Re:This is what happens ... by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "I could just bring a person a drink and their food and probably get by with saying 20 words or less."

      That'd suit me just fine. I worked as a waiter all through university, and made GREAT tips - but I never expected to get one, and never treated a customer any differently whether they tipped me or not. On second thoughts - we had a compulsory service charge for parties of 8 or more, but they were pretty rare, and a LOT of extra work. A waiter's job is to be a waiter, if they don't like their terms and conditions of employment it's their problem - get another job. If the minimum wage is too low, raise the minimum, the whole tipping culture is fucked up and thrives on people over tipping and tips not being taxed as income properly. It's probably one of the starkest differences between American and European ideas of capitalism.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    9. Re:This is what happens ... by Chatterton · · Score: 1

      But in some parts of the world, this isn't expected or acceptable. I gave a taxi driver in Europe a $10 tip for getting me from point A to point B in no time. He was polite, held the door for me, yada, yada, yada. He was completely flabergasted that I gave him anything extra.
      In a lot of country in Europe, tips are already included in the price of the course. If you go to France and Belgium, 2 country I well know, on the tarif who the display is mandatory you can see that a certain amount of money is already included as tip in the cost.

    10. Re:This is what happens ... by confused+one · · Score: 1

      Do you realize that Pizza delivery drivers (in my area) make $6/hr. Consider I'm operating a commercial vehicle (my car was in constant use 10-12 hours a day), paying for fuel, maintenance and insurance. The wage covered expenses. The tips are what I lived on.

    11. Re:This is what happens ... by nairb107 · · Score: 1

      Maybe instead of putting the burden on the customer, waiters should organize and demand a LIVING WAGE from their employers. Right, because unionizing is always the best way to improve the speed and quality of service for the customer.

    12. Re:This is what happens ... by DGtlRift · · Score: 1

      In Hungary (and perhaps most of Central Europe) you are not expected to tip waiters nor waitresses, but you are expected to tip physicians... If you are not a good tipper, and need multiple visits, I would expect you might not get as immediate treatment as you did before.

      --
      How about a spell checker for slashdot, or even more impressive, a spell checker for strings in C-Code? Use lint! -DG
    13. Re:This is what happens ... by Gob+Gob · · Score: 1

      Having done F&B in Oz I can tell you the pay is OK. As far as the boss don't pay us so let social obligation take over is a piss-weak argument. I tip because I want to, when I want to, to whom I want to. I tip as a sign of respect from someone who has done their job and is greatful for their work.

      No one should be obligated to do what they think is right. (psst not just tipping)

    14. Re:This is what happens ... by nolife · · Score: 1

      How's this for a verbal tip:

      "Maintain the proper air pressure in your car tires and you will get better gas mileage."

      If they drive an Explorer in the south it may have saved their life. That is a tip that keeps giving!

      --
      Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
    15. Re:This is what happens ... by nytmare · · Score: 1

      So the waiter serves 10 tables an hour, each table leaves a $5 tip, that waiter just earned $50 an hour. Why the hell do I have to contribute to that kind of salary for a low-skill job?

    16. Re:This is what happens ... by delcielo · · Score: 1

      Maybe instead of putting the burden on the customer, waiters should organize and demand a LIVING WAGE from their employers.

      If you think service is bad now, just wait until all of the wait staff make the same amount of money.

      The tips are an incentive to do good work. If you're nice to people and do a good job, you can make a fair wage waiting tables. If you ignore people or act dismissive, you won't make much.

      As an employer, I know that if a waiter of mine isn't making much money, he won't be around long, which is good. If he's not providing good service, I don't really want him around. At the same time, unless I'm getting a lot of complaints from customers, I don't really have any grounds to fire him. In the end, the better wait staff will stick around longer.

      If I pay everybody the same wage, there's no incentive for the worst waiter to do any better, and there's no incentive for the best waiter to do any better than the average waiter who is making the same wage.

      --
      Hot Damn! It's the Soggy Bottom Boys!
    17. Re:This is what happens ... by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      Ok, Mr Pink here's convinced me, give me my damned tip back.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    18. Re:This is what happens ... by DrXym · · Score: 1
      The minimum wage in most Europe countries is double or more that of the US (e.g. 4.20 pounds in the UK), so tipping is not necessary except for exceptional instances. Strangely enough, this doesn't affect the quality of service perhaps because most people in Europe consider politeness to be something they should give and receive without needing to be paid for it.


      That's not to say tipping doesn't happen, for example after a good meal, or rounding up in a taxi, but thankfully it happens nowhere near as much as in the US.


      To be expected to pay an extra dollar after a round of drinks for example amounts to a hidden charge to me. Even worse are the things you can quite easily do for yourself (e.g. turn a tap on in a public lavatory) but must endure someone fawning to 'help' you for a tip.


      Of the two ways, I much prefer the European way. I have an expectation of paying the price on the menu, not the considerably inflated one after various taxes and tips have been slapped on top of it. In other words prices are transparent. Some places do add a service charge, but they must state that on their menu. IMHO removing tipping from the equation actually makes friendly service more genuine and makes you feel more inclined to return to a place than a waitress putting on a fake smile for the dollars.

    19. Re:This is what happens ... by shepd · · Score: 1

      >So the waiter serves 10 tables an hour, each table leaves a $5 tip, that waiter just earned $50 an hour.

      Because in most restaurants that don't serve you cafeteria style, they're only busy for 4 hours a day. And out of those 4 hours, a waiter is only likely to work 2 of them.

      The other 6 hours are spent cleaning up and preparing.

      So, yes, the waiter earned $100, and also earned $20 in wages. And that's on a good day. On a slow day, like a monday, it's going to be far less. Maybe even just wages.

      Remember, you make more money sitting down than standing up. Almost always.

      --
      If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
    20. Re:This is what happens ... by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      Nice comeback.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    21. Re:This is what happens ... by Dudio · · Score: 3, Informative

      You work, you get $2.25/hr (or whatever the boss is nice enough to pay you). So in most places, the staff are very dependant on your tips.

      Also, don't forget that minimum tax withholding for waiters in the US is calculated on base salary plus a percentage of the waiter's gross sales (used to be 8%; not sure what it is now). This makes that $2.25 even smaller; when I waited tables, 2 weeks of full-time work would net me a $20-$30 paycheck. It also means that if you fail to tip your waiter you're actually costing him money because he's paying tax on income he never receives.

    22. Re:This is what happens ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you think service is bad now, just wait until all of the wait staff make the same amount of money.

      Yes, of course. We should be compelled to bribe people in order to prevent them from doing a lousy job. That makes sense.

      How about this: You pay them a wage, and if they keep fucking up, you fire them? That seems to work pretty well for every other industry out there, why not yours?

      The tips are an incentive to do good work.

      Sure, but not living in a van down by the river is an even greater incentive to do good work.

      If you're nice to people and do a good job, you can make a fair wage waiting tables. If you ignore people or act dismissive, you won't make much.

      "Please manage my employees, so I don't have to."

      As an employer, I know that if a waiter of mine isn't making much money, he won't be around long, which is good. If he's not providing good service, I don't really want him around.

      Then fire him. Really. It's not my job to discipline your employees.

      At the same time, unless I'm getting a lot of complaints from customers, I don't really have any grounds to fire him.

      You're being misleading.

      He's an employee at will. You don't need grounds to fire him. What you're really saying is "I don't have any grounds to fire him and deny giving him unemployment insurance." Well, buddy, unemployment insurance is the price you pay for making lackluster business decisions, like marketing the wrong widget, overexpanding your manufacturing capacity, and hiring any retard off the street to wait your tables. Get better at making these decisions, and your HR overhead will drop.

      If I pay everybody the same wage, there's no incentive for the worst waiter to do any better,

      ibid. van, down by the river

      and there's no incentive for the best waiter to do any better than the average waiter who is making the same wage.

      Because waitpersons are incapable of fostering their own sense of self respect and pride in a job well done, right?

    23. Re:This is what happens ... by Suidae · · Score: 1

      When I was delivering pizza for a living our delivery area covered two small towns and much of the surrounding rural area. Delivery time ran about 1 hour on average.

      We had one guy that would regularly tip 100%, sometimes better. It takes 6 minutes to get an order though the pizza oven, and we'd generally have it to his house in 12 to 15 minutes, often with some free hotwings or something.

      I think people often underestimate how effective tipping is when done right (that is, when you regularly tip about half again or better what the average tip is, and you have established yourself as a known customer).

    24. Re:This is what happens ... by ShawnDoc · · Score: 1

      The local pizza hut pays its drivers $12/hr. Not bad, considering they gets tips on top of it.

    25. Re:This is what happens ... by Jordy · · Score: 1

      The minimum wage in most Europe countries is double or more that of the US (e.g. 4.20 pounds in the UK), so tipping is not necessary except for exceptional instances. Strangely enough, this doesn't affect the quality of service perhaps because most people in Europe consider politeness to be something they should give and receive without needing to be paid for it.

      In California, minimum wage is $6.75/hour (~4.21 pounds) plus some multipliers if you work more than a certain number of hours per day/week. In bigger cities a waiter can easily make double that without tips.

      However, you are still expected to pay tip, because of the high cost of living and frankly because it is a shitty job. It takes quite a bit of effort to stand for 8 hours, be friendly, quick and polite even in the face of unruly customers.

      That doesn't mean you have to pay a tip. There have been many many times where either I had no money or the service was sub-par in which I didn't tip at all.

      Plus, for something like delivery it is also used as a bit of a bribe to get your food faster. :)

      --
      The world is neither black nor white nor good nor evil, only many shades of CowboyNeal.
    26. Re:This is what happens ... by cicho · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As one who lives in Central Europe (funny how we used to be called Eastern Europe, then were somehow moved westward!), I wish this would stop. It's not tipping, it's plain corruption. Physicians at all levels expect bribes, they actually come up to you and demand money explicitly - try not to pay when the guy is taking care of your wife who's about to give birth. (Didn't happen to me; did happen to someone in the family.)

      But it sure as hell isn't a tradition or custom to be respected, it's a corrupt practice and people should rot in jail for it. DON'T bribe doctors if you can get away with it, it only encourages this. Or pay the bribe if the bastard demands one, then IMMEDIATELY report him to the cops. Here in Poland at least, there's a new law that says if you do this, they bust his ass and you're clean.

      --
      "Only the small secrets need to be protected. The big ones are kept secret by public incredulity." - Marshall McLuhan
    27. Re:This is what happens ... by mfrank · · Score: 2

      Not only is the $2 an hour almost nothing, but the IRS assumes that they get 8% tip, and the place is supposed to keep track of how much food/beverage each waiter sells. So usually almost all of that pay goes to tax.

      Stiffing a waiter actually *costs* him money; about 2 or 3 percent of your bill will be withheld out of his paycheck as income tax. So if you *are* going to be an a-hole, at least pay with a credit card so they can prove to the man that they didn't get a tip.

    28. Re:This is what happens ... by mfrank · · Score: 1

      Get rid of tips, waiter's pay will have to go up in order to get people to do the job.

      There are countries where they don't tip. You still pay for it (they get higher wages), and the service is worse.

    29. Re:This is what happens ... by rifter · · Score: 1

      Slow down there, you just insulted several million americans. Did you know that in some states in the US like Florida and Ohio, federal minimum wage doesn't apply? They are paid just over $2 per hour. If they weren't tipped, they would walk home with almost nothing.

      Not only that, but they are taxed on their tips, and their tips seem to be taxed more than normal wages. I never figured out why, but my witholding for overtime and tips was always far more than witholding for normal wages. I guess the taxman likes to punish people who work harder. Add to this the fact that since it is always assumed tipped employees lie about their tips, many restaurants simply add an assumed gratuity and report this number to the IRS as your tips. This means if someone does not tip you you get doubly screwed, since not only are you out a tip, but you are getting dinged on your $2 an hour as well.

      At at least one waiter job I had, close to 100% of my $2 an hour got witheld for taxes on my "tips," so not getting tips at all meant not getting paid at all.

      People who don't tip are classless, bereft of culture, and completely uncivilized. I would actually place them below terrorists and child molestors in the scale of human worth, since in their case they have no excuse unless you count that their parents did not teach them any better. Basically, if you go to a restaurant, order a pizza, or take a taxi without tipping you are saying that person should do their job for free. Don't you realize taxi drivers pay something on the order of $100 a night just for the honour of driving a taxi and if you don't tip them they may not go home with anything?

      Oh and the above is still way off. Standard etiquette requires a gratuity of 15-20%. I usually give 20% rounded up when I tip people. I also do not accept the argument of "well I tip when I can afford to." If you can't afford the tip, you can't really afford the meal, and are asking your waiter to pay for it for you since you are so much poorer than them. Schmuck.

    30. Re:This is what happens ... by gotak · · Score: 1

      The pizza pizza here provides their deliver guys with a car. So that cost is non-existance for them.

      As a bunch of students we don't tip much...

    31. Re:This is what happens ... by neyneyjung · · Score: 1
      Maybe instead of putting the burden on the customer, waiters should organize and demand a LIVING WAGE from their employers.

      Yeahh..and you still going to ended up paying for that anyway in food price even when the service suck so bad.

      15% tip is a custom in the US. Just like people expect to get pay when they go to work, waiter/waitress also expect a fair tip when they do their job right. It also lower the cost of meal and encorage them to work extra hard. How do you feel if I think you should be pay just minimum wage because I feel that what's it worth . Besides, nobody force you to eat at the restaurant. If you don't like tipping, there's always a Mcdonal around the corner.

      When I go to eat at a restaurant, I always tip around %20. Most of the time is just about $2-3 more than normal and I feel that the extra service I got is worth more than a bottle of soda I can get at the same amount of money anyway.
    32. Re:This is what happens ... by mfrank · · Score: 2, Interesting

      As far as flight attendants are concerned, their main role is to assist in emergencies. They do the food and beverage thing on the side. That's why they get insulted if you tip them, and it's also why they would rather you call them flight attendants instead of stewardesses (or stewards).

    33. Re:This is what happens ... by confused+one · · Score: 1

      Must be nice. South East Virginia isn't as kind to it's drivers.

    34. Re:This is what happens ... by confused+one · · Score: 1

      Not so where I am. We had to provide our own car; provide proof of insurance (which we paid for ourselves); and proof of registration with valid state inspection. The average starting salary was around $6 for a pizza delivery driver. After 1.5 years I was making $8 + 0.50/delivery; but, I was one of three full-time drivers at my shop, reliable, hussled and generally worked my butt off (60 hour weeks). With tips, subtracting what I paid for gas, I was averaging a little over $12/hr.

    35. Re:This is what happens ... by linzeal · · Score: 2, Interesting
      We tip afterwards and it is a show of respect for the person not the other person attempting to extract anything out of you. Service jobs suck and they are the only thing I tip for.

      I also tip at fast food places, I get a 7-layer burrito and a bean burrito every night and I tip 1 dollar which brings it to $3.56. The only taco bell within 20 miles ( I live in the middle of no where) is notorious for firing people before they are supposed to get raises, accusing men randomly of sexual harrasement so they can hire cute girls when college gets back in town, and other nefarious business practices. I have talked to people there on multiple occasions about starting a union to no avail, hard to convince 19-21 year old girls of anything of substance.

      --
      An Education is the Font of All Liberty
    36. Re:This is what happens ... by dacetone · · Score: 1

      I don't tip because I have extra money. I tip because I've worked just about every shit job there is at some point in time, and can completely relate to them having to deal with asshole customers every day who think that $2.25/hr actually pays the rent in most metro areas.

      Bingo. Even though many of the waiters probably make as much as I do (I'm lucky to live in a state with a $7.01 minimum wage), I have a rule about tipping 20% unless they spit in my food or something. (It's really easy, just move the decimal point left one space, and double that. So a $20.00 tab gets a $4 tip) I know how much it sucks to be a part-time wage slave and still not make enough to pay rent. I also tipped a cab driver $20 getting me from SF International to downtown SF in about 10 minutes. People who don't tip (and tip well) have never been poor.

      --
      Just follow the day, and reach fo
    37. Re:This is what happens ... by Nept · · Score: 1

      Flight attendants don't take tips, and

      Try tipping the flight attendant right before the flight takes off. That's the accepted custom, and it's more of a "thank you in advance" as it were, and will usually grant you better service while on the flight.

      --
      "Teachers leave us kids alone ..." - Roger Waters, Pink Floyd
    38. Re:This is what happens ... by fishbowl · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Many restraunts do that. You work, you get $2.25/hr (or whatever the boss is nice enough to pay you). So in most places, the staff are very dependant on your tips."

      I've never been able to resolve this for one second with the notion of a Federal Minimum Wage.
      Period. It's been explained to me, and I understand the economics, but I can't deal with it. Either there is a Federal Minimum Wage or there isn't.

      Because restaurant people don't have to be paid the same minimum as any other labor, I am forced to conclude that "there isn't".

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
    39. Re:This is what happens ... by egork · · Score: 1

      Quite a view. Right?
      Really, moderating this thing as a troll is unfair.

      --
      ...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
    40. Re:This is what happens ... by afidel · · Score: 1

      Actually if the server is regularly getting screwed on tips and they keep good records then the employer is responsible for making up the difference between tips and the federal minimum wage. I had a friend do this, she was being worked full time on the worst shifts (overnight weekdays at an all night diner), her tips averaged out to like $2/hr, combine that with the $2.15 she was being payed and she still didn't make min wage. She was terminated without cause. She was needless to say pissed off so she sued the employer for back wages. The judge reviewed her meticulous records and forced the place to make up the difference.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    41. Re:This is what happens ... by nairb107 · · Score: 1

      First, because usually about 20% of the tip goes to the bussers and bartenders.

      Second, your server is not handling anywhere near 10 tables per hour. There might be two or three peak hours where the majority of the tips are made. But the reality is that that server worked a 10 hour shift and once you average it out.

      If you ask me, you're just a cheap, bitter bastard. I'd love to take a snapshot of what you do for a living and and make stupid assumptions as to why you should be paid half what you make now.

    42. Re:This is what happens ... by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      Wow, I'm just in floods of tears about the poor waiter having to pay income tax.

      Guess, what? I pay a SHITLOAD more than 2-3% income tax - and no-one gives me tips. Why is it not customary to tip engineers and programmers? You'r ein much bigger trouble if an engineer fucks up a 'plane than if a waiter fucks up a cup of coffee.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    43. Re:This is what happens ... by swg101 · · Score: 1

      not 2-3% income tax. 2-3% of your bill (the waitperson did not pocket that money). and if there was no tip, then the money comes out of their paycheck as "income tax" when there was NO INCOME!

      --
      Like pi? Try 10,000 digits.
    44. Re:This is what happens ... by mfrank · · Score: 1

      Do you have a problem with reading comprehension?

      You stiff the waiter on a $20 dinner. The IRS assumes he got an 8% tip, and taxes him accordingly. This will be 2 to 3% of the $20, which he will have to pay out of his own pocket because you're a cheap prick.

      If you don't want to tip, why don't you do everyone a favor and limit yourselft to eating at McDonalds and Subway, where you don't have to deal with waiters. Or better yet, tell them when you're being seated that you don't believe in tipping. Do it. You're a hypocrite if you don't.

    45. Re:This is what happens ... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      the minimum wage is too low, raise the minimum,.
      Then the owner factors it into the price (which in the US is cheap to start with), and you pay the same whether you got good service or not; your ability to pay according to performance has been removed.
      the whole tipping culture is fucked up and thrives on people over tipping and tips not being taxed as income properly.
      In some countries (including the UK IIRC) a certain amount of tips is assumed by the taxation authorities.
      It's probably one of the starkest differences between American and European ideas of capitalism.
      Yeah, the preponderance of nationalised industries, regulation, higher taxes & welfare state east of the pond are just trivial in comparison to adding a few quid on a restaurant tab.

      Funny how the business press hasn't picked up on that, maybe they're not as sharp as you, eh?

      Under which system do you get the best service? I've lived in the US, UK & Belgium and I know what the answer is.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    46. Re:This is what happens ... by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      So you're a slave to tipping culture, and you're encouraging others to be so too. Well, misery DOES love company.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    47. Re:This is what happens ... by k12linux · · Score: 1
      US Federal law says that staff who earn part of their wages from tips must be paid at least $2.13/hr. ...in most places, the staff are very dependant on your tips.

      I don't mind tipping in those cases. What bugs me are all those jobs which don't fall under that law and the employees still feel they deserve a tip. While in Chicago recently it seemed like EVERYONE expected a tip. Some of these people were professionals who were almost certainly earning a decent salary.

      Even at a clothing store, they had a tip jar by the cash register. The guy was not at all helpful and borderd on being rude. When I paid for my purchase and put away my change, he appeared visible irritated that I didn't leave a tip.

      In restaurants or other places where tips are a major part of the wage, I tip for even so-so service. Basically if it's not completely terrible service and the waiter is polite, they'll get a tip. If they are friendly and do a good job, they deserve a really good tip. But if someone already gets a reasonable wage, they'd better really go above and beyond standard service to earn a tip.

    48. Re:This is what happens ... by mfrank · · Score: 1

      I eat at a restaurant with waiters once or twice a week. Most of the time I eat at home or get fast food. Hardly a "slave" to a tipping culture.

      Tell your waiter you're not going to tip him when you first get seated. Otherwise, you're leeching off his supposition that you're a "slave" to the tipping culture.

      Let me guess, you rationalize downloading mp3s the same way, right?

  2. I bet I know where those machines are... by Capt'n+Hector · · Score: 5, Funny

    *starts looking for cheap parts on ebay*

    --
    Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
    Africus aut Europaeus?
    1. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by gregfortune · · Score: 4, Insightful

      As the article states, they were likely after information, not hardware. It's likely that hardware will be destroyed after the info is sucked off of it.

    2. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by j-pimp · · Score: 1

      Of course if they want a no questions asked buyer I'll shell out a few grand.

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
    3. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by Shimari · · Score: 2, Funny

      NO NO NO NO NO !!!

      Don't bother checking on Ebay, or even the recycle bin. It is the dream of EVERY programmer to have an IBM mainframe in the living room at home. Doesn't matter what software does or doesn't run on it. This is the ultimate conversation piece.

      Just like it was from the IS department where they stole it. Obviously.

    4. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by JWSmythe · · Score: 1


      I'll better your bid by $1,000. But the hardware has to be intact. I want a working mainframe in my livingroom.

      (Think they read /.?)

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    5. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by j-pimp · · Score: 1

      I'd love to get in a biding war, unfortunatly I am am of the pathetic still lives with my parents variety of geek and their complaining about the SparcServer 1000 sitting in my garage. If only they woul let me put a 220V outlet in the garage.

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
    6. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by asdef · · Score: 1

      Given how the IBM mainframe archectucture is constructed, in order to get data they would have needed to steal a storage device, not the mainframe itself. This is because the mainframe box itself only contains the CPU's and volitile memory, with fibre channel connections out to everything else.

    7. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by Moose4 · · Score: 1

      We don't know, those could've been the storage devices that they stole. Heck, they could've stolen a rack of Wintel servers and since it came from a room with a raised floor and a chiller going wide open, some reporter who thinks he knows IT would call it a "mainframe server."

      "Mainframe server" = "big box that lives behind the glass door and has lots of blinky lights on the front" to most people.

      --
      "Settle down, Beavis. We've got an experiment to do."
    8. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by Gob+Gob · · Score: 1

      Re-Think: The boxes were taken by a ASIO security check. Nothing else makes sense. Data worthless, hardware worthless, point priceless.

      Just like the gun checks Qantas pilots do. Per coastline mile Oz customs are the best in the world.

      I (We) get it now.

    9. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by Dudio · · Score: 1

      I'd rather have an early Cray system. Park it in front of the TV and you can get rid of the Barcalounger.

    10. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by Cramer · · Score: 1

      If you still live with your parents, then it isn't your garage.

    11. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by linzeal · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Your site if from 1999 ?

      Ok steps to getting out of your parents house

      1. Tell them that you want to move out, ask for no money at this time.
      2. Fill out your FAFSA, and apply for a college in your area.
      3. Go to said college once excepted, tell them you are interested in Federal Work Study and anything else they have. If you work for most colleges, tuition and sometimes limited housing for TA's is free. (BTW, I am a TA telling you this.)
      4. You do not need a car!!! A car will bankrupt you as a first time independent student if you are just starting out. So learn to use the Bus, subway, and cute girls for rides. You would be surprised at how easy it is to ask for a ride from a girl compared to a date, and with colleges being designated promiscous zones how often you will end up at least being allowed to make a pass at one of them. You will still be expected to initiate verbiage just read the subtle clues like pulling up of shirt to show belly, mindlessly touching her hips, etc.
      5. Once you get your financial aid pay for 3-4 months of rent!! Do not fuck up man, your parents are not piggy banks.

      6. Get a real job like taco bell if you have to. Pride = Broke ass motherfucker | Humility = Above poverty-line minimium wage warrior

      --
      An Education is the Font of All Liberty
    12. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by j-pimp · · Score: 1

      Do you have any point other than pointing out my careless use of possesive pronouns.

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
    13. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by j-pimp · · Score: 1

      Ok, I live with my parent by choice. Went to college, failed out for several reasons boiling down to laziness and passiveness. Did the "real job" at burger king. Moved on. Working as an overnight shift AS/400 Operator , general tech support bitch. Purposely staying out of school cause I feel I have to great a debt level for a person of 22 with no significant assets.

      In between Burger King and now I held the title of security guard, but auctualy wrote a VB app to automate many of the human resource functions of the business. Being the business involves renting out warm bodies this was a majority of the business proccess.

      I now use my programming skills to automate the stupid bullshhit my boss gives me. Like zipping and burning to CD IIS log files. And before you call me a VB monkey, I've also written useful apps in C, perl, and the ocassional stupis sh or vbscript app.

      I make decent money. I live with my parents because rent is free. They do laundry and sometimes I eat at home. but with my commute and overnight shift I take advantage of the toaster oven in the office kitchen.

      I don't own a car. I dont even have a license cause I dont have the time to practice. I could make the time to practice and pay a drivers ed instructor, but I'm to cheap to.

      It is a personal choice that I live at home. I'm attempting to get out of student loan debt. My parents don't mind, and the situation is temporary. Its inconvient, but it serves a purpose. You may still feel I am a loser, and are entitled to that opinion. However, I have my reasons and they are mucgh more than I'm a poor lazy bastard.

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
    14. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by j-pimp · · Score: 1

      Your site if from 1999 ?
      Almost forgot about that website. I avoid web sit like the plauge, to user interface oriented for me. I did that whole publishing thing in high school. Mostly printed stuff. Just can't do it anymore. My friends don't understand how I can own a Mac and even have photoshop installed. Its for C and unix programming. And the browsing the web.

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
    15. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by He+Schutze+He+Scores · · Score: 1

      Hey, that was almost an Haiku!

      How do you survive
      Living in your parents' house
      Dreaming of mainframes

      Ick.. browser-dependant pages. Reminds me of all the "Designed for Netscape" and "Best Viewed with Internet Explorer" buttons on web pages circa 1997. They should all have been relegated to WORM media and archived for our descendants as a warning.

      --
      He Schutze, He Scores!
    16. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by Shanep · · Score: 1

      If only they woul let me put a 220V outlet in the garage.

      220V?! That's nothin! My server only takes 415V 3 phase.

      --
      War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
    17. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by linzeal · · Score: 1

      Heh, no offense meant mate. I guess since living with my parents is not a viable option, I never think about it (parents kicked me out when I was 17).

      --
      An Education is the Font of All Liberty
    18. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by j-pimp · · Score: 1

      Yeah perhaps I should change that, or at leaste have it only pop that message up if your non running IE. Its kinda funny, now that I get pissed off when a website requires IE. Like the trouble ticket systems of my companies web site. It breaks in any other browser, and yes I telling it I was running IE.

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
    19. Re:I bet I know where those machines are... by He+Schutze+He+Scores · · Score: 1

      Yes, it seems like giving users a disclaimer has replaced good coding style for a lot of web developers.

      Bring back the whip, project managers! :D

      --
      He Schutze, He Scores!
  3. Mainframe repairmen! by tekrat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't that how they always did it on Josie and the Pussycats cartoon? They'd dress up as "computer repairmen" and then wheel the computer out the door, which would then infuriate the bad guy and they'd have the chase scene set to a song.

    I kept saying that's how I'd get my SGI Onyx that way, but it never seemed to work out. Anybody that steals a mainframe is either looking to part it out and sell it on Ebay, or they are going to melt it down for the valuable metals.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by gregfortune · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Read the article. It states that the theives were likely after information instead of hardware. The value of the hardware is nothing compared to the information that *might* be on the servers.

    2. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by GloomE · · Score: 1

      It was stolen in Australia, not New Zealand.

    3. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by Large+Green+Mallard · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have an SGI Onyx in a cupboard at work, turned off and doing nothing.

      No you can't have it, I thought I'd just taunt you tho :)

    4. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by 1u3hr · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Read the article. It states that the theives were likely after information instead of hardware.

      The article "states" that, but how does anyone know? The thieves didn't give any interviews.

    5. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by ckaminski · · Score: 1

      In a cupboard? I didn't know they made cupboards that big. I'm lucky if I can get a cereal box in MY cupboards... :(

    6. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      A local computer games company tried to impress a client by lying about the amount of SGI kit they had: when the client visited they broke into the university, took the distinctive SGI montiors, plugged them into PCs for the duration of the client's visit, then broke back in to return the monitors.

    7. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by Pxtl · · Score: 1

      Funny, me too! We call it the DataFridge, or the paperweight.

    8. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      "I have an SGI Onyx in a cupboard at work, turned off and doing nothing"

      Really? Maybe you should look again....

    9. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by Large+Green+Mallard · · Score: 1

      weirdly designed building.. there's cupboards in unusual shapes and sizes to make rooms appear square ;)

    10. Re:Mainframe repairmen! by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 1

      That's how I got my SGI Octane. Except I was wearing my normal work clothes and I didn't need to wheel it out.

      - A.P.

      --
      "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  4. Physical security by HermanAB · · Score: 5, Interesting

    is more important than anything else. Some years ago, people stole from Harrods in london, by simply taking a whole cash register, while disguised as maintenance men.

    --
    Oh well, what the hell...
    1. Re:Physical security by Gogo+Dodo · · Score: 1

      I've seen something similar on TV. One of those cop shows had video tape of a woman dressed as an ATM security company security guard take an ATM out of a convience store. Said that the machine needed "maintenance". She chatted away with the store owner and customers as her accomplice posing as a maintenance person hauled the ATM out the door.

    2. Re:Physical security by gfilion · · Score: 1

      I've seen something similar on TV. One of those cop shows had video tape of a woman dressed as an ATM security company security guard take an ATM out of a convience store. Said that the machine needed "maintenance". She chatted away with the store owner and customers as her accomplice posing as a maintenance person hauled the ATM out the door.

      I remember seeying it too. She had an accomplice complain that the ATM was not working maibe an hour before she came and took it. Pretty smart.

    3. Re:Physical security by NoCleverName · · Score: 1

      A technician friend of mine reported that at the Federal building in Boston the procedure was to walk up to the metal detector, put your tool bag on a table, walk thru the detector, and then pick up your tool bag (uninspected).

  5. PC by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Funny

    The men, described as being of Pakistani-Indian-Arabic appearance

    Thats PC for terrorist isnt it ?

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
    1. Re:PC by Edgewize · · Score: 4, Funny

      The men, described as being of Pakistani-Indian-Arabic appearance

      Thats PC for terrorist isnt it?

      That's not PC at all! It's like describing someone as Scandinavian-Russian-French.

      "All you fsckers look the same to me!"

    2. Re:PC by Zork+the+Almighty · · Score: 1

      Yeah, like Timothy McVeigh.

      --

      In Soviet America the banks rob you!
    3. Re:PC by hype7 · · Score: 4, Funny
      "All you fsckers look the same to me!"


      Ha ha! After reading the description of "pakistani/indian/arab", I'm betting that the person whose job it was to look after these things didn't see anybody at all.

      Tell an Australian that a person from any one of these three sub-cultures stole something, they'll instantly believe you.

      -- james
    4. Re:PC by net_bh · · Score: 1

      Indians have been at the receiving end of terrorism. But I guess that doesnt matter on /. since Indians are also responsible for some lost jobs here. So why not brand then in the same group?

      --
      There is no patch for stupidity

      Visit my blog

    5. Re:PC by clambake · · Score: 2, Funny

      The men, described as being of Pakistani-Indian-Arabic appearance

      No no no! It's not like that at all... These men CLEARLY came from a mixed Pakistani, Indian and Arabic heratiage (20%/15%/65%, respectivly). What else are people who majored in Physical Anthropology in Austrailia going to do if they aren't going to schlep it as security guards? They have to make a living somehow, as there are only so many days that you can eat spit-roasted kangaroo in a row before you need a decent chicken wing or two...

    6. Re:PC by NanoGator · · Score: 1

      "Thats PC for terrorist isnt it ? "

      They changed their story. Now it's a Puerto Rican man.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    7. Re:PC by Brad+Mace · · Score: 5, Funny
      A Pakistani, an Indian, and an Arab walk into a server room...

      I forget the rest, but the Australian government ends up looking like a bunch of tools

    8. Re:PC by jthorpe · · Score: 1

      But that's because it usually IS true!

    9. Re:PC by golgotha007 · · Score: 1

      it wasn't some peurto rican?

    10. Re:PC by thegoldenear · · Score: 1

      where's "here" when you're on the web?

    11. Re:PC by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
      Indians have been at the receiving end of terrorism...So why not brand then in the same group?

      Since we're talking about physical appearance, they ARE part of the same (ethnic) group.

    12. Re:PC by Trejkaz · · Score: 3, Funny

      You'd convince more Australians if they were Lebamese, but then with thinking a bit harder you'd realise that a mainframe can't be used to soup up any sort of car, and thus it couldn't be a Leb who did it.

      --
      Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
    13. Re:PC by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

      I've been to other places in the world, but I fell asleep on the plane, so I have absolutely no proof that they didn't circle for 12 hours and land me at the Euro-Simulator in bum-fuck Nebraska. :)

      Of course, I believe California was a creation of the media til I drove out here. 2000 miles due West will really remind you that maybe you shoulda hung a left at Albuquerque. :)

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    14. Re:PC by eMilkshake · · Score: 1

      Except for the assumption that if a p/i/a person came in, they wouldn't watched like a hawk as a terrorist out of biggotry -- so how could they have stolen anything?

    15. Re:PC by dfj225 · · Score: 1

      Technically, couldn't people who live in Scandinavia Russia or France look the same but only have differences of language and culture? I mean most pure Easter Europeans do have similar physical attributes just like people from other regions of the globe.

      --
      SIGFAULT
    16. Re:PC by adam872 · · Score: 1

      What exactly do you mean by that comment?? Are you implying that we Aussies are somehow *all* racial bigots?

    17. Re:PC by ozbird · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thats PC for terrorist isnt it ?

      It's a slightly more PC version of the previously used description "of Middle Eastern appearance", which non-Middle Eastern people found offensive, especially those born in Australia. A more accurate description would be "two smug looking guys, each with a server on a trolley."

    18. Re:PC by ziriyab · · Score: 1
      I'm betting that the person whose job it was to look after these things didn't see anybody at all.

      So this is like the "some Puerto Rican guy" on South Park? :)

    19. Re:PC by atallah · · Score: 1

      You obviously havn't met very many people from more than one of those places.

      Your "stereotypical Frenchman" does not look at all link your "stereotypical Russian" who also doesn't look like your "stereotypical Scandinavian".

      In fact... most Russians and "Scandinavians" don't look like your stereotypical presupposition of them.

    20. Re:PC by dfj225 · · Score: 1

      I wasn't talking about stereotypical, I was saying that isn't it possible for at least a small amount of people from those countries to at least look remotely similar? Sure they may not all look alike, but some must, at least.

      --
      SIGFAULT
    21. Re:PC by atallah · · Score: 1

      yup...

      This discussion kinda reminded me of the Sheik guy who was murdered by some rednecks after 9-11.

      Clearly what they were trying to say was:

      <QUOTE>
      They weren't your poster-boy blonde hair, blue eyes hotties, in fact they didn't have light colored skin, but they weren't dark enough to be black, so... since we're assuming that these theives were after the information on these machines, it would only be useful to them if they were terrorists - consequently, since we know that terrorists can only be Indian / Pakistani / Arab, we can safely make the assumption that these no-good types where of that variety and not Aboriginal Australians, Hispanics or any other people with darker-than-white-but-not-quite-black skin.
      </QUOTE>

    22. Re:PC by atallah · · Score: 1

      sure...

      On that note... did anyone see the Indian Miss Universe (i think it was in 2000)

      She didn't look "stereotypically Indian", but DAMN, she was hot!

    23. Re:PC by mrklin · · Score: 1
      "Tell an Australian that a person from any one of these three sub-cultures stole something, they'll instantly believe you."

      In America, tell an American that a black person stole something, they'll instantly believe you.

      Personally, I think it's an inside job!

    24. Re:PC by legojenn · · Score: 1

      Wow...every country has it's easily believed thieves. I wonder what Canada's are Aboriginals...Arabs... Somalis...Vietnamese. So many bigots...so many people to blame.

      --
      I make a reasonable middle-class wage by going to work and not spamming blogs with scams.
    25. Re:PC by cybercuzco · · Score: 1
      Thats PC for terrorist isnt it ?

      I thought it was a Mainframe? ;-)

      --

    26. Re:PC by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 1

      Actually, he just stole the hubcaps off the thing.

      - A.P.

      --
      "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
    27. Re:PC by deaddrunk · · Score: 1

      Erm tell an Australian that an aborigine (black person) stole something and they'll instantly believe you. What's your point?

      --
      Does a Christian soccer team even need a goalkeeper?
    28. Re:PC by multipartmixed · · Score: 1

      > Wow...every country has it's easily believed thieves. I wonder what
      > Canada's are Aboriginals...Arabs... Somalis...Vietnamese.

      Americans. And, of course, Politicians.

      --

      Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
    29. Re:PC by ph43thon · · Score: 1

      Equation:

      Pakistan + India + Kasmir = Indian Terrorists

      Just because they don't terrorize us (or you wherever you are) doesn't mean they aren't terrorists.

    30. Re:PC by ph43thon · · Score: 1

      Assume,
      Kasmir = Kashmir

      No, they aren't fighting over whether there should be an 'h' in Kasmir. The BBC uses 'Kasmir' so I assume that is correct.

    31. Re:PC by cpopin · · Score: 1

      Repeat after me, we are all individuals
      I'm not!

      --
      -=- Many seek good nights and lose good days.
  6. security? by chuckfucter · · Score: 2, Insightful

    yeah, that's unfortunate, but i'm sure that the fault lies with their security gaurd not the admin's

    1. Re:security? by Detritus · · Score: 2, Informative
      Blaming the guy at the bottom of the totem pole is the easy way out. What sort of guards did they hire? Minimum wage rent-a-cops? Were they properly trained and supervised, given clear orders, have the backing of management?

      At most places, security is an underfunded joke. The only serious security that I have seen is at some military installations, where sensitive areas have MPs with weapons, who actually look at IDs and access lists, and have clear orders to shoot any idiot who tries to breeze through the entrance, even if it's the commanding general.

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    2. Re:security? by Blimey85 · · Score: 1
      Where my GF used to work they had a lot of security during the day, and none at night. Made no sense at all. They checked badges of everyone coming and going and you had to use your badge to go through certain doors between areas of each floors, and to get onto and off of the elevator which meant that they could limit your access to a particular area on a particular floor.

      However, most employees needed to go to various areas and were given clearance to all areas. At night, there are no guards and the badges allow you access into the building, including the undeground parking, and then back out. So you could drive in at night, steal whatever you want, load it into your car in the underground parking, and then leave and nobody would be the wiser until they realize that lots of lab equipment is missing.

      No cameras anywhere and they don't log badge usage so a disgruntled employee could potentially make off with some equipment and get away with it.

      --
      How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
    3. Re:security? by afidel · · Score: 1

      Yep, a friend of my dad's is a Navy Captain in charge of a light destroyer. At one of the bases he regulary docks at their is a nuclear depot station. When you enter the area of the base where the depot is you must present your ID by placing it on the ground, backing up ~20 feet, placing your hands on your head, one guard checks your ID while two others cover you with machine guns. After going through this procedure and walking across the area to check some orders he went to leave the area, exact same procedure even though it was the same guards and the same captain that had completed the drill not more than 20 minutes before. When it comes to security MP's on guard do NOT screw around.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  7. Ack! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You just gave out my root password!

    1. Re:Ack! by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

      "You just gave out my root password! "

      Liar. I've seen your password. It's eight asterisks.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    2. Re:Ack! by Steinfiend · · Score: 1

      That is a genius idea, set your password to ******** and no one would ever guess it! I think I'll let the IS guys at work know that, beats their current security plan of everyone having the same password lest we forget.

    3. Re:Ack! by WeeLad · · Score: 1
      That is a genius idea, set your password to ******** and no one would ever guess it!

      Except that it would be exceptionally easy to get by shoulder surfing. Hey, I've seen "Hackers". I know.

      --
      Seriously, Don't take anything I say seriously.
  8. Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by balthan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let this be a lesson...

    When you're caught being grossly negligent and incompetant, blame terrorists.

    1. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by rudabager · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Terrorists are like Jewish people in Nazi Germany in these days (dont mean to offend the Jewish). If you screw up just blame it on them. Ill bet it was just some punk kids and the security guy is just too affraid to admit it.

      --
      If I wanted easy I wouldnt be an engineer or a patriot.
    2. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by MoonFog · · Score: 5, Funny

      Obligatory Simpson quote :
      "If something goes wrong, blame the guy who doesn't speak English"

    3. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by gujo-odori · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      If you care to visit the Chicago Manual of Style web site, you will find that in fact they do not put spaces before question marks:

      http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/

      Moreover, if you look here:

      http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosf aq /cmosfaq.Quotations.html

      You find that the editors of the CMOS do not themselves put a space before a question mark (Search for "question" in the text).

      I have yet to see any manual of style that recommends a space before any punctuation character. There are some that recommend two spaces after a colon or period (full stop, for you Brits), however, the Chicago Manual of Style recommends only a single space in both cases.

      I suspect that the CMOS has changed its standard, or you are misremembering its guidelines.

    4. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by Crayon+Kid · · Score: 1

      Or they just misplaced the machines and made up this whole story.

      --
      i ate crayons when i was a kid and now i have two braincells and the blue ones taste nicer
    5. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      And googling for the Chicago Printing Style Guide returns zero matches because why?

    6. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      And how tells that YOU are not a servant of the evil one ? Thus all your arguments would be tained and their only purpose would be to lure us into the realms of sin and damnation.

      Your failure the acknoldge the truth and wisdom of the BIBLE and the Chicago printing style guide show indeed that you are either misguided or a servant of the son of dawn.

    7. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      Or maybe the never had them in the first place, and are trying to claim off insurance?

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    8. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by Gob+Gob · · Score: 1

      Hardware = 0

      Staging device to crack HW & SW = aquired

      Tools do jobs, forget the accounts think of the tool

    9. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by superyooser · · Score: 1
      Terrorists are like Jewish people in Nazi Germany in these days (dont mean to offend the Jewish). If you screw up just blame it on them.

      The funny thing is, terrorism is now blamed on the Jews (by the terrorists).

    10. Re:Those pesky Pakistani-Indian-Arabians! by Nucleon500 · · Score: 1
      If it's not on the internet, it doesn't exist, right?

      Seriously, though, it's obviously and certainly incorrect to put spaces before a question mark.

      --
      Litigious bastards
  9. simple security procedures by erfmuffin · · Score: 5, Insightful
    .. bah.. bloody idiots. And I bet these are the same people that call me up and expect me to tell them their passwords over the phone and then get pissed off because I want their details..

    Simple security procedures.

    Didn't anyone learn anything from losers like Kevin Mitnick?

    --
    Deography Photoblog
    1. Re:simple security procedures by 1lus10n · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Didn't anyone learn anything from losers like Kevin Mitnick?

      Nope. if they did social engineering wouldnt be as easy as it is, and believe me it is EASY. i work for an outsourcing company (3000 employees, dual OC 192 connections, and two brand new V880's) and they dont employ ONE security person, they have no security policy. and we are doing work for some of the top companies in the telecom/datacom industry. amusing from my perspective anyway.

      --
      "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
    2. Re:simple security procedures by mrpuffypants · · Score: 1

      do these companies happpen to order pizza? About what time each day? Is is delivered by an Indian/Arab/Pakastani looking guy?

      Better watch out!

    3. Re:simple security procedures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      Didn't anyone learn anything from losers like Kevin Mitnick?


      Oh, I think the thieves mentioned in the article did.

    4. Re:simple security procedures by You're+All+Wrong · · Score: 1

      Surely you're not suggesting that they rename the "cargo processing and intelligence centre" at Sydney International Airport to the "cargo processing and bloody idiocy centre"?

      2003 - the year when the word "intelligence" become synonymous with "bloody idiocy".

      YAW.

      --
      Your head of state is a corrupt weasel, I hope you're happy.
    5. Re:simple security procedures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hell, I know people who work for Phillips putting ultrasound systems together, and they used to make sport of security by flashing their costco cards instead of ID, until it got old, no one ever looked.

      That's why we end up with those stories about little old ladies getting patted down at security check points. Common sense is pretty rare and other peoples judgement sucks.

      Bureaucracy doesn't just happen, people bring it upon themselves.

    6. Re:simple security procedures by jcr · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If I call up my IT help department to reset a password, they check 1) what extension I'm calling from, 2) they ask for my employee ID number, and 3) they CHECK whether they match up!

      After that, they will reset a password for me, which I am *required* to change upon my next log in.

      If I'm not calling from my own extension (which requires physical access to my office), they won't reset anything until one of their people meets me and confirms my identity.

      It always amazes me when I hear how sloppy some places are.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    7. Re:simple security procedures by AlecC · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Long ago, I worked on a military project. One of the people in the same office was an army officer. He had a picture of himself in the full uniform of his rank - in the KGB. He had the uniform made up, and a pass - right colour, right photo, but otherwise entirely in Russian. He walked right into a highly securre area and went, in full KGB uniform, to tell the Head of Security what he thought of the security precautions.

      --
      Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
    8. Re:simple security procedures by packethead · · Score: 1

      So I left my badge at my desk (it has my employee ID on it) when I went to the head and my co-workers played a joke on me....

      --
      .sig
    9. Re:simple security procedures by 8tim8 · · Score: 1

      > If I call up my IT help department to reset a password, they check 1) what extension I'm calling from, 2) they ask for my employee ID number, and 3) they CHECK whether they match up!

      I really have to say, security is probably one instance in which you WANT to have a BOFH doing the work ("You say you're Bob Kramer, huh? Prove it! If you go in right now, you should be able to get the lab tests back by tomorrow afternoon.")

    10. Re:simple security procedures by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1
      It always amazes me when I hear how sloppy some places are.

      Not so long ago, I was elected as an officer for an organisation with a significant bank balance. I was required to attend the bank in person, along with the other new officers whose signatures could access the account, to update the bank records. Some serious ID was required to prove my identity at this point. (I understand this is now a legal requirement under UK anti-laundering rules, and financial institutions are required to confirm ID by one of a few specific means before dealing with you.)

      The tragic thing is that the bank didn't require any of the outgoing officers to attend or sign anything, including the minutes of the meeting where my colleagues and I were claiming to be elected! We just took over the whole account with thousands available in it, by typing some words on a piece of paper and calling them minutes.

      Now, it happens that the meeting did happen, the minutes were accurate, and we were duly elected, but the bank has no evidence of that beyond our say-so. Sure, they have our ID, but that will only be useful if (a) we didn't provide fakes (which for this much money would be nothing to a pro thief) and (b) we're still within reach by the time they realise we've run off with the cash.

      I was stunned.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    11. Re:simple security procedures by snero3 · · Score: 1
      and two brand new V880's

      Correction, you had two V880

      --
      It said "windows 98 or better" so I installed Linux
    12. Re:simple security procedures by Kallahar · · Score: 1

      You should read up on ANI spoofing and PBX reprogramming. With minor skills you can make it look like you're coming from a different extension even if you're sitting in the lobby or a conference room. Changing the password on next login is a good feature, but it's only usefull in security once the real user tries to log in. A good social engineer picks someone on vacation or leave so that by the time they try to log in the attacker is already long gone.

    13. Re:simple security procedures by edp · · Score: 1
      "Didn't anyone learn anything from losers like Kevin Mitnick?"

      No. I worked in the VMS group at Digital when Mitnick stole a copy of the VMS sources. Digital instituted procedures requiring cumbersome and often-changed passwords. Digital did not tell employees not to give passwords over the phone or trust people they did not know, as far as I ever saw. That's like putting bars on the window after a burglar walks in the front door.

    14. Re:simple security procedures by EvilStein · · Score: 1

      Yeah, you work at a sloppy place! ;) I worked at a place that required you to come to the IT help desk *in person* with your badge and a state-issued photo ID in order to get a password reset.

    15. Re:simple security procedures by fishbowl · · Score: 1

      "He walked right into a highly securre area and went, in full KGB uniform"

      Sounds like he could have ended up in the military equivalent of a Schwartz.

      Instead of the organization considering their security issues, they could have done a court martial on your friend :-)

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
  10. stole this idea from Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights... by rokzy · · Score: 1, Funny

    we thought you'd arranged it. they were wearing overalls.

    overalls!?

  11. My IT team did that once. by paganizer · · Score: 5, Informative

    My last contract at a bank we did that; I won't mention the city, but the bank owned the buildings all around it and used them for storage. We had a bunch of contractors coming in for a workstation rollout, and the first day on the job I had them wander around the building, without ID of any kind, and just grab random computers and haul them across the street, using whatever explanation for it they felt like.

    it was the NEXT DAY before any inquiries came in.

    Oh, they also used the signs on the buildings you could see through the windows as admin passwords.

    --
    Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.
    1. Re:My IT team did that once. by Jawn98685 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh, they also used the signs on the buildings you could see through the windows as admin passwords.

      Oh, great! Thanks a pant-load there, Chet. You gave away my secret to unforgettable passwords. Now I'm gonna have to go and change my admin passwords back to my dog's birthday or something.

    2. Re:My IT team did that once. by confused+one · · Score: 1

      Someone did that once to prove a point at a department store. New security guy. Saw how bad it was. Trying to prove a point to management. Walked up to unattended cashregisters. Pulled the drawers out and walked out to his car with them. Then sat in the front of the store waiting... He got the equipment he wanted and a promotion within a month.

  12. Its not just what was taken... by PerryMason · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The big question has to be; what have they left behind? The guys who knicked the servers were floating around the Customs building for the better part of 5 hours. I'd bet a penny to a pound that they left backdoors open to get back in when they feel like it.

    From my perspective as a former sysadmin/security guy, how could someone not notice that 2 main fileservers were suddenly offline? Alarm bells should have been ringing the second they came offline. Where's the monitoring? I suppose at the very least that its a kick in the ass to anyone who thinks that physical security and good procedures are any less important than firewalls and network intrusion detection.

    --
    "I'm tired of all this 'Aren't humanity great' bullshit. We're a virus with shoes" - Bill Hicks
    1. Re:Its not just what was taken... by anthonyrcalgary · · Score: 1

      How about records from the security cameras?

      You mean it was all stored on the hard drives of the stolen computers? ...

      --
      When someone might yell at me, it has to be OpenBSD.
    2. Re:Its not just what was taken... by sk0pe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Perhaps they weren't "main fileservers". Taken from the Sydney Morning Herald:

      [The representative] said the stolen servers did not contain sensitive information.

      "They did not contain any personal, business-related or security information, and they are not servers that are used to communicate with law enforcement or security agencies," [she] said.

      --
      Tempus fugit sub anesthesia.
    3. Re:Its not just what was taken... by Bueller_007 · · Score: 1

      It's not the Australians' faults. They were probably just too tied up in a rousing game of knifey-spoony to notice.

    4. Re:Its not just what was taken... by PerryMason · · Score: 5, Interesting

      [The representative] said the stolen servers did not contain sensitive information.
      Because you'd expect them to say anything different? Hell, the theft took place on the 27th of last month and since then the very woman whose job it is to ensure physical security of the site has been involved in a Parliamentary review of National security. She managed to appear a few times and didn't mention the theft once.

      The short answer is that they'll tell you nothing if they think they can get away with it, then tell a lie when caught out telling nothing and then when caught lying, they'll claim they had to lie for the protection of "National Security".

      --
      "I'm tired of all this 'Aren't humanity great' bullshit. We're a virus with shoes" - Bill Hicks
    5. Re:Its not just what was taken... by Jose · · Score: 1

      She managed to appear a few times and didn't mention the theft once.

      maybe they just noticed that it they were missing now.....

      --
      The basic sleazeware produced in a drunken fury by a bunch of UCBerkeley grad students was still the core of BIND. --PV
    6. Re:Its not just what was taken... by O2dude · · Score: 2, Interesting

      well wrt not noticing. Many major systems are off-line so often for 'maintenance' of crap software, that the fact that the file servers were offline would have been ignored by any number of brucies searing: 'sheila! the f*cking system is off-line again.'.

      Offline systems are very much the modern day version of 'crying wolf'.

      Besides, Austrailians should stick to cricket and leave computing to the WOGs.

      --
      - It took western civilisation 2000 years to ensure popular literacy, and now we work with icon driven GUI's. Go figure.
    7. Re:Its not just what was taken... by argStyopa · · Score: 1
      how could someone not notice that 2 main fileservers were suddenly offline?

      Maybe in a business, but this is government, silly.
      a) nobody's working
      b) who would they tell if they DID notice?

      If the Australians are anything like the US Customs folks, you can't reach them during business hours 0830-and 1630, and NOBODY is working before 0829 or after 1631.
      --
      -Styopa
    8. Re:Its not just what was taken... by nolife · · Score: 1

      They have these huge very expensive mainframes with annual support contracts so they can run the maninframe version of the Quake server during off hours. Yeah..

      Either that or the storage units were not taken.

      --
      Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
    9. Re:Its not just what was taken... by acehunter · · Score: 1


      From my perspective as a former sysadmin/security guy, how could someone not notice that 2 main fileservers were suddenly offline?

      The article said they posed as EDS employees - perhaps someone DID notice. If someone had complained about the downed machines, they may have been told "yes, we know, there's a couple of EDS guys here fixing it."

      -I don't have a cool .sig for /.

      --
      -Mod how you like, we'll make more
    10. Re:Its not just what was taken... by druxton · · Score: 1

      Customs has been advised that the servers did not contain personal, business-related or national security information.
      So what exactly did they contain? Does Customs need that much porn?

  13. Missing Servers by simon_aus · · Score: 1

    I read this a few hours ago on ABC's site (abc.net.au), and I nearly laughed my nuts off.

    This is customs right, the organisation responsible for stopping all those nasty things like guns, drugs, WMD's, cheap CD's and region 1 DVD's getting in and harming the general population. And they lost two servers.

    Reminds me of an old project with up to 100 of us on it before go live. They left the project manager and a few others there to wrap up after go-live and the support period. By the time IT came to collect 100 of the newest PC's in the company, they were shells. No CPU, RAM, HDD, Vid etc.

    Anyway, aparrently I had better get back to sheep shagging. I suppose I should move to Montana, they say the sheep there don't fight back.

    --
    Stopping myself...Abort (core dumped)
    1. Re:Missing Servers by rat7307 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Region 1 DVD's not allowed??

      Since when??

      Region Free DVD players are legal in Australia (Thank you Alan Fels!!)

      --
      Burma?
  14. Re:Australia by ivanmarsh · · Score: 1

    Australia has been dealing with terrorism a hell of a lot longer than the U.S. has.

    I don't know what exactly a bunch of Indonesian communists would want with a mainframe though.

  15. Mainframes Missing? (Oblig. Simpsons Quote) by CCIEwannabe · · Score: 1

    Watch out. Someone will be getting the boot.

  16. Re:Stu-hu-pi-hid! by simon_aus · · Score: 1

    Outsourcing is a great idea. From the sites I have seen it at, they would continue charging for the lost servers...and the replacement until the contract comes up for renewal.

    --
    Stopping myself...Abort (core dumped)
  17. Biggest security hole in any corporation... by silverhalide · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This just reminds us what the greatest risks are to any secure system: social engineering and inside men. If you look authoritative and dress up in a serviceman's outfit, very few people will question your actions. You can steal furniture, computers, machinery, tools, whatever by just looking important. By imporsonating a sysadmin on the phone, you can easily talk passwords out of gullible people. With a fake service order "signed" by the right people, the odds are endless.

    On the same note, people inside an organization are often responsible for hacks, stolen information, and other things since they have the keys already!

    It just goes to show the weakest portion of any system is the people.

    1. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by cei · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Heh. I had friends who used to do A/V work at various hotel ballrooms for conventions and the like. Even when they weren't working, they could put on black t-shirts, throw a wrapped up extension cord over a shoulder, and waltz in through the service entrance, straight through the kitchen, and nab a LARGE drum of Hagen Daas from the freezer without breaking a problem.

      --
      This sig intentionally left justified.
    2. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by CGP314 · · Score: 2, Funny

      The fastest way to look like someone important: Carry a clipboard.

    3. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Act Important. Tell someone what to do. Much better.

      Besides - WTF carries a clipboard anymore? I haven't seen one in a plant in at least 10 years.

    4. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by MikeFM · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I usda be a computer tech at a girls school (nice job for a geekboy if you can get it) and they not only gave many of their staff (myself included) a copy of the master key the very first day they began working there.. they also had spares that they'd just leave out for any repair people that came in to fix something. These keys would open anything on campus. Classrooms, server rooms, shower rooms, girls dorms, etc. I can't imagine being that trusting. If the wrong person got ahold of that key they could not only damage or steal property but could rape, kidnap, or kill students. Brilliant security.

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    5. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by Bastian · · Score: 1

      At an old job I had it was easy to get away with fucking off by just milling around the building randomly as long as you have a clipboard in your hand.

      I swear, those things are a license to kill.

    6. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by scrote-ma-hote · · Score: 1
      The medical school where I study is attached to the hospital where I will do my clinical work next year. I haven't done it, but if I wanted to, I could put on a tie, put my stethescope around my neck, and run wild for hours without being found out.

      All you need is the stethescope, seriously.

    7. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by Yakman · · Score: 1

      URL 4 pics plz.

    8. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by rat7307 · · Score: 1

      The fastest way to look like someone important: Carry a clipboard.

      You also have to have that arm swing going.

      At my work we call it the 'Industry Walk'

      --
      Burma?
    9. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by Johnny+Mnemonic · · Score: 1


      Where I work, everyone is badged. Our badges are checked at the door; if we don't have a badge, we need to get a visitor pass from an employee that we know. Funny thing is: neither the FedEx nor the UPS guy have either badges or visitor badges, but they roam the campus freely. Apparently, I just need Brown polyester and I can go whereever I want to go. Perhaps they have to be personally recognized by the security guard--but I'm not holding my breath.

      --

      --
      $tar -xvf .sig.tar
    10. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by SEWilco · · Score: 1
      The medical school where I study is attached to the hospital where I will do my clinical work next year. I haven't done it, but if I wanted to, I could put on a tie, put my stethescope around my neck, and run wild for hours without being found out.

      "That's just Bob. Ignore him and he'll be gone in a few hours."

    11. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by SEWilco · · Score: 1
      stethescope

      You've obviously begun your classes on unreadable writing.
      And be sure you get that thing personalized.

    12. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by sqlrob · · Score: 1

      All you need is the stethescope, seriously.

      Hell you don't even need that.

      I was helping out as a volunteer at a hospital, no ID, no nothing. My shift was done, I got into the elevator and pressed 1. That's where the exit is of course, right? Well, no. It was a high security mental ward that I waltzed into with nary a challenge.

      And yes, they let me back out.

    13. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1
      Interestingly appropriate sig. :)

      Anyway, I've been offered master keys and such before, and have always turned them down. Why? Because things happen, and if and when the higher-ups find something missing or tampered with, it's nice for them to remember that I have no special access to the item in question.

      Were I in your shoes, there's no way in hell I would've accepted that key. It would be all too easy for one of the girls to suggest that you might have been up to something inappropriate, and there you are with the motive (assuming you're not gay) and the means. If you didn't accept the key, then your alibi is pretty simple: "of course I didn't install the camera in the shower room - I can't even get in there, remember?" That's not guaranteed to save you, but it may be enough to keep you from being skinned alive by a parent.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    14. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by Maserati · · Score: 1

      Yup. I was doing inventory (counting the Macs at HQ) for a Fortune 500 company between trouble-tickets. So I basically went everywhere, with a clipboard. Anyone asking what i was doing was told "proving a theory" and provided with a nice smile.

      That was a lot of fun in the executive suites.

      --
      Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
    15. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 2, Funny

      A friend of mine used to get into amusement parks with his College ID, a labcoat, and a clipboard.

      --
      "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
      --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
    16. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by EvilStein · · Score: 1

      Or, they could have put up a camera and started a damn cool pr0n site. :P

    17. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately having the key was required for the job as I was constantly roaming the campus installing and fixing computers. They had no other system in place to handle such a need.

      They actually had me run ethernet into the showers. I always wondered who was setting up the webcam. It's very distracting to be trying to work when you have naked wet college girls all around you. I think I was the only one embarassed by the situation. Now THAT proves I'm a geek. ;)

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    18. Re:Biggest security hole in any corporation... by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      I was tempted at times. Especially since the job of locating and removing non-offical files on the lab computers fell to me. I had a program I wrote and installed that would scrub the systems and send me any unknown files in case someone requested them (say if someone was dumb enough to save their term paper only on a lab computer).. the interesting side effect was the large number of interesting pictures and stories I collected. ICQ users were no doubt the best as students would evidently trade pics with people they knew online. That job didn't pay well and was hard work but it had the best benefits of any job I've ever had. :)

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
  18. Laughs..... by mox_ll · · Score: 1

    I wonder what devices the states have in place to stop this "terrorism"? Come on they walked out with a friggin mainframe, how is that non-cosure.

    --
    Come get some....
  19. Yeah, typical by heironymouscoward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Like for ages IBM's mainframes has a standard privileged technician account with the password "musigate", very useful when some BOFH expired my accounts. Ooops, you mean it's still musigate now?

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
    1. Re:Yeah, typical by sql*kitten · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Like for ages IBM's mainframes has a standard privileged technician account with the password "musigate", very useful when some BOFH expired my accounts. Ooops, you mean it's still musigate now?

      Oracle's default SYS password is change_on_install. You'd be surprised at how many people will type that every day, and not change it.

    2. Re:Yeah, typical by Thjorska · · Score: 1

      Not any more. Now it's "1337_m4st4m1k3_pWnz0rz_18M"

      --
      Current Karma Status: Roadkill
    3. Re:Yeah, typical by kevin_conaway · · Score: 1

      Starting with 9iR2 they require you to change it after the install is complete

  20. Possible Scenario by cybermace5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sysadmin: "HA! I have patched all my software, yelled at all the users with weak passwords, locked down every possible port and continously monitor the allowed ones, and with this keystroke I will enable UNBREAKABLE encryption on every critical data file!"

    *slams hand down to hit Enter key*

    *hits bare desk*

    --
    ...
    1. Re:Possible Scenario by NanoGator · · Score: 1
      "*slams hand down to hit Enter key*

      *hits bare desk*"


      Buahaha that's classic!

      I can't tell if that's because it's funny or because it's not another of the three Simpsons references.
      --
      "Derp de derp."
  21. Re:Australia by sk0pe · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Dunno if this is a troll but...

    Australia sent SAS troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.

    We were targeted by Jamaar Islamir in the Bali Bombing.

    Yeah, it's probable Australia is a potential target for terrorists...

    --
    Tempus fugit sub anesthesia.
  22. Well done Timothy by SYFer · · Score: 1

    I must say, that was one of the funniest, best written story summaries I've ever read here. I'm still chuckling. I'm afraid that in this case, actually reading the article would only be a let down. What a gem.

    --
    "...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
    1. Re:Well done Timothy by SYFer · · Score: 1

      Actually, I think my kudos should really go to xnuandax!

      --
      "...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
    2. Re:Well done Timothy by xnuandax · · Score: 1

      Credit to the gang at CSIRO Australia for starting the jokes as soon as that story hit the wires ;-)

  23. East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq.... by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 1

    Australia has been involved in a lot of things that would piss of extremist Muslims.

    Our army seems extremely professional. First rate SAS troops, a reasonable knack for peace-keeping and even some cool (if obvious in hindsight) gun technology.

    --
    Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
  24. Reminds me of the story by nagora · · Score: 5, Funny
    of the three guys that walked into a Belfast pub and stole the newly fitted carpet while the pub was open. They just said the wrong stuff had been delivered and apologised to the customers as they worked around them.

    TWW

    --
    "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
    1. Re:Reminds me of the story by Timesprout · · Score: 4, Funny

      Bit like the one about the guy in Dublin walked into a bar/offie just before Chrismas with two kids. Sits the kids at the bar, buy them coke and the prodeeds to order his christmas drinks list. He as asks the barman to keep an eye on his kids while he puts the two crates of spirits in the boot of his car. 5 min later the barman asks the kid where their dad is.

      "He's not our dad. He just asked us if we wanted to come in and have a coke"

      --
      Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
      What truth?
      There is no dupe
  25. Are your backups encrypted ? by OMG · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hey, why all the hassle ?

    A good sysadmin has all important stuff backed up. And if you do it properly the backup is sent to a offsite location. Isn't it easier to steal those backup tapes or discs? If you are lucky the outsourced company doesn't even notice the theft or someone who does not want to loose his job does not tell anyone.

    So my question is: Do *you* encrypt your backups?

    1. Re:Are your backups encrypted ? by nacturation · · Score: 1

      someone who does not want to loose his job does not tell anyone

      What about someone who doesn't want to tighten his job? Maybe he likes it loose.

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    2. Re:Are your backups encrypted ? by SeXy_Red · · Score: 1

      I work for a large outsourcing company, not going to say which one but it is an international company, with tens or even hundreds of thousands of employees. we currently house 1.5 million tapes onsite that anyone could get past the guards could just walk in and take without question. Getting past the guards is not that hard, all you have to do is come up with some fake "important" reason why your there and more than likely the guard will give you access to the data center.

      The only problem here is that with this many tapes, how the hell are you going to know which tape is the one with the data your looking for on it?

      --

      This sig was generated by a barrel of trained kittens for SeXy_Red (550409).

    3. Re:Are your backups encrypted ? by Twanfox · · Score: 1

      If you have that many tapes, why aren't they in a tape silo or cataloged? After all, if they're there for backup purposes, it does no good if the real admins can't locate the proper ones either.

    4. Re:Are your backups encrypted ? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Many people store their backups in fairly secure facilities. For example a company I once worked for stored its offsite backups in a retired mine of some sort (note not abandoned, just no longer used for mining.) Advantages include temperature stability, and being underground.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:Are your backups encrypted ? by pHDNgell · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So my question is: Do *you* encrypt your backups?

      I run several GB of postgres dumps through GPG before they hit the disk every night. They are then shipped off with rsync. Anyone want to receive a copy of my sensitive databases periodically (just over 2GB nightly)? :)

      And no, I don't believe it's impossible to break GPG, but the goal was to be able to put them wherever I wanted them without worrying much about how they got there or whether they leaked.

      --
      -- The world is watching America, and America is watching TV.
    6. Re:Are your backups encrypted ? by jea6 · · Score: 1

      Who had access to the tapes on the way to the storage facility? Did a company officer take them to the vault directly or did the Iron Mountain guy come by once a week to pick them up? You trust that guy? How long would it take to find out that your tapes had been swiped/substituted?

      My boss has always said (and I think Homeland Security put out a warning earlier this year) that the easiest way to bypass most security is to dress up in a FedEx/UPS uniform. Those people are waved through security all the time!

      --

      sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
    7. Re:Are your backups encrypted ? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Actually, the backups were in fact taken to the facility and stored there by a company officer, namely my boss, the head of technical wankery. (I forget what his title actually was.) You know, I don't know if this is just projection, but he looked kind of like steve jobs. Guntram, if you're out there, if you see any militant mac users, duck!

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re:Are your backups encrypted ? by SeXy_Red · · Score: 1

      Ah good question, actually we do have over a million tapes in silo at the present time (I don't know how many, I don't do my work with the silos). But the reason we have so many tapes not in silos is for one simple reason, COST. A lot of our clients find it cheaper to have stand-alone drives and pay Unisys a "few bodies" to staff it. I would think it would be cheaper in the long run to just purchase a silo and to run it, but they don't see it that way. Another possible reason is that the clients come in with only a few systems (say 2 systems and 2 drive strings, like one of our more recent customers), but later decide to bring in more systems. They keep added systems they finally decide to purchase a silo, which like some customers, never happens. But the main reason is that most companies just don't require enough tape mounts to make the purchase and use of a silo necessary.

      --

      This sig was generated by a barrel of trained kittens for SeXy_Red (550409).

  26. No official BS by jsse · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Australian Customs Service has admitted the security blunder, but told customs officers in an email that no sensitive operational information was lost.

    As we can see it's a well-planned action, and there's almost no way to sell the two mainframe for good profit. The major cost center of a mainframe lies mainly in the operational and maintanence, which are not applicable to stolen hardware.

    Obviously, their target is the data within. If the authority do not start investigating what information the thieves are looking for and the possible use of the information within the stolen hw, the consequence might be very serious.

    No more official BS. Do something before too late.

    1. Re:No official BS by wagemonkey · · Score: 5, Insightful
      They weren't mainframes, they were servers.

      1) If it was a mainframe there'd be no point stealing the CPU, there's no hard drives in it, you need to take the DASD.
      2) If it was a mainframe CPU and/or DASD 2 guys couldn't hack it - you'd need a crane or possibly a forklift- if it's a small box. They are big+heavy.
      3) Of course the bigger mainframes are water cooled as so they'd need more time for the plumbing or someone would have noticed the leaks...

      The article says they were let into the mainframe room and put the computers on trolleys, then later they refer to "mainframe servers". It doesn't add up-what a surprise the reporting is vague.

      Still, in my opinion (fwiw) the most likely thing stolen is big HP/IBM/DELL servers. These are often put in mainframe rooms to take advantage of the (ha!) physical security, air-con and halon systems. You'd also be a lot more confident of being able to actually hack in to one of these, without the dedicated power supply and other costs you mentioned.

  27. they didn't need that server anyway by stray · · Score: 5, Interesting
    qouth the fa:


    Customs has been advised that the servers did not contain personal, business-related or national security information.

    So, the servers had neither personal nor business data on it. So what's left? The server must have been empty then, good riddance.
    1. Re:they didn't need that server anyway by popeyethesailor · · Score: 1

      Could be a Testing machine, DR backup etc.
      Still a damn expensive thing to lose.

    2. Re:they didn't need that server anyway by OverlordQ · · Score: 1

      Does pr0n count as personal? Or does that fall under national security?

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    3. Re:they didn't need that server anyway by redhog · · Score: 1

      Nah, you forgot the most probable content - their staff's MP3-collection...

      --
      --The knowledge that you are an idiot, is what distinguishes you from one.
    4. Re:they didn't need that server anyway by mrpuffypants · · Score: 1, Funny

      It was either root name server or a international pr0n server. Which would be missed more?

    5. Re:they didn't need that server anyway by Mahonrimoriancumer · · Score: 1, Funny

      So are you saying that RIAA is responsible for this theft???

      --
      So climate's changing. So what? It has always changed. The big news would be if it wasn't changing. - Dr. Philip Stone
    6. Re:they didn't need that server anyway by Bastian · · Score: 1

      That or several terabytes of pr0n.

    7. Re:they didn't need that server anyway by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      dunno, maybe they had different servers for data storage?

      just a thought.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    8. Re:they didn't need that server anyway by borl · · Score: 1

      Customs has been advised that the servers did not contain personal, business-related or national security information.

      It was probably used for storing penguins.

  28. Re:Australia by lucifer_666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the last 24 months:

    Afganistan: Australia's Special Air Service was there, saved a few yanks in a downed helicopter. The American soldiers seemed to thing these Aussies were all right.

    Iraq: Australia sent 3 boats and about 2000 special forces personell. Did a lot of (if not all of) the ground based reconisance, plus about half the search and rescue missions.

    East Timor: Liberated the poor little country from the Indonesians and wiped out the resistance. Free elections were held for the first time.

    Indonesia: Sent Federal Police over who "helped" with the investigation into the recent Bali Bombing.

    North Korea: We'll Be There!
    Iran: Be a walk in the park!
    Saudi Arabia: Hey, we all like cheap petrol!

    Plus there's the fact we're all reasonably well off here in Aus, excellent education and health systems, great democratic political system, fair moral sense.

    So you can see there's a few reasons the terrorists might not like us, although, if they do come here, we can easily melt their hearts with our koala bears, or melt their skin with our radiant sun :-)

  29. Are you telling me... by coene · · Score: 1

    ... that my closet is more physically secure than the Customs department of the country of Australia? Next you're going to be telling me that it has more illeg^H^H^H^H^Hperfectly legal music too!

    1. Re:Are you telling me... by ShootThemLater · · Score: 1
      Next you're going to be telling me that it has more illeg^H^H^H^H^Hperfectly legal music too!
      Well, it does now - someone just nicked all theirs...
  30. Re:Australia by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 1

    Australia has sent peacekeepers to East Timor in 1999, and may have been involved, under rather shadier circumstances, in a 1975 "intervention" as well. Indonesia itself has played host to several terrorist groups, some with separatist intentions and others with anti-Western ideologies. And of course, paranoia can elevate the perceived risk of even the most marginal organizations.

  31. the problem... by mabhatter654 · · Score: 1
    With national security uses is the unclassified emails like the grocery list from your wife. Sure you may be blacknight62@gman.gov, but when you get[or send] an email to myhouse@myisp.com you're pretty much hosed!

    How are secure mainframes for national security without any top secret data. Do the Aussies allow their public officals to play Quake on govt machines? Come on, everything is clasified because it leads to something else! Maybe it only had names and addresses of terrorists [better yet, just the non-terrorist on the "list"] on it. After all, that wouldn't be to secret...they should know who they are?

    1. Re:the problem... by ctr2sprt · · Score: 1
      Your description of classified information is incomplete. Often a classified project can be broken up into a bunch of distinct parts, some of which might be unclassified (or at least at a lower security level). This has the benefit of allowing people with low or no security clearance to work on the project.

      This sounds silly, since if you can get all the unclassified pieces, you might be able to put them together and figure out the entire project. But the alternative is to give the highest security clearance to everybody, which is plainly not acceptable: the goal to security clearance is to keep the number of people who have it to a minimum. So we have this compromise, where the military keeps what it believes is key information confidential, but can free up the rest for average schmoes.

      And on another note, any entity that employs more than 5 workers is going to have lots of data it wants to keep on file. Payrolls, employee data, contracts, all sorts of normal things like that. Maybe that's what was on those servers. It would certainly explain why nobody noticed. If they use them for payroll, nobody would use them until the night before all the paychecks were cut.

  32. Re:Australia by cyril3 · · Score: 1

    Why is this a troll. I assumed he was an average merkin cizen.

  33. Covering their arses by Catharz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Community and Public Sector Union, which represents customs officers, has asked for guarantees that none of its members is at risk as a result of the theft.

    They've got to be kidding.

    IMHO there should be some investigation into this level of incompetence. Procedures should be in place and followed. If procedures were followed, the person responsible for security (and the procedures) should be put out on their arse with zero chance of another job in security. If procedures weren't followed, the staff that didn't follow them should get their arses kicked.

    --
    To know that you know what you know, and that you do not know what you do not know, that is true wisdom. --Scooby Doo
    1. Re:Covering their arses by cyril3 · · Score: 3, Insightful
      It's worse than that. They want guarantees that their members are not at risk from terrorists.

      No one will lose their job. Bureaucrats are good at setting it up so that everyone is doing their job perfectly well and can only be complemented on their good work even though everything is fucked up beyond belief.

      How mwny american civil servants lost their jobs because of 9/11 (except the ones who actually tried to warn people). So why would a little mainframe theft lead to dismissal.

  34. Maybe they were just for decoration? by AJWM · · Score: 1, Funny

    Customs has been advised that the servers did not contain personal, business-related or national security information.

    Okayy.... So just what was on them, then? Somebody's pr0n collection?

    --
    -- Alastair
    1. Re:Maybe they were just for decoration? by clambake · · Score: 4, Funny

      Customs has been advised that the servers did not contain personal, business-related or national security information.

      Okayy.... So just what was on them, then?

      They were completely empty. Completely. They never were used to and never inteded to be used, ever. Ever. Seriously. They were shut off since they were bought in 1982 and never, never, ever used for anything secret or anything. Especially not for anything secret at ALL... I SWEAR! This is a complete non-story, please stop asking about it. Nothing to see, nothing to write about, just normal EDS maintence contract gone wrong on some completely unused servers, pretty standard stuff. Here, look at the monkey.

    2. Re:Maybe they were just for decoration? by LeoDV · · Score: 1

      No, not the monkey.

      This is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a wookie of the planet Kashyyyk. Now I ask you, does that make sense? No. Well if that doesn't make sense, then the mainframes weren't stolen!

  35. Relax by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Funny

    It was the just RIAA removing a couple of infringing servers

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
    1. Re:Relax by stanwirth · · Score: 1

      Repeat after me, we are all individuals

      I'm not!

    2. Re:Relax by MiniMike · · Score: 1

      Don't you mean to say:

      "We're not!"

  36. Not Mainframes at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just so people dont think we are complete nutters down here....

    No mainframes were taken... they were two win32 computers taken from a semi secure? area.

    I'm a little happy that they didnt leave a bomb in place of the two bombs that they took.

    And a word of praise for the IT support staff. They had our systems back up in no time at all.

    1. Re:Not Mainframes at all by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      Thank you. I've got years of mainframe experience, and I have yet to see one that could either be removed in two hours by two people and hauled away on a trolley (much less getting *two* of them out in that time!), nor one that has disks inside of it. Mainframes are filled with CPUs and memory and usually a liquid cooling system, but they are not filled with disks.

    2. Re:Not Mainframes at all by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      Interesting. I'd never seen a Multiprise before, but a quick google was quite informative. The Multiprise 2000 w/out disk weighs in a 485 kg. With disk, it goes up to 1,083 kg (that's a lot of internal disk!).

      You're right, that's quite rare. Two guys getting one of those out of a computer room on a trolley would be rarer still :-)

    3. Re:Not Mainframes at all by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      Nope, sorry. I've got lots of experience with pallet jacks, too. Like a lot of mainframers, early parts of my career involved shlepping paper into IBM 3800-series laser printers (and also a 3211 and a 3203), which can knock off a 2500 sheet box of continuous form paper in 15 minutes.
      They're impressive machines to watch, and nice and big. The warm paper coming out feels great on your hands in a cold computer room :-)

      You could not get a mainframe out on a pallet jack easily, if at all. Most of them are too big, and a pallet jack is designed to do one thing and do it well: haul pallets around. Unless a mainframe happened to fit on a pallet (many of them don't, unless they are partly disassembled) and also happened to already be on a pallet (and there's no way two guys can wrestle a mainframe onto a pallet), you'd never have a chance. A pallet jack has two prongs that are a few centimeters off the floor a a few centimeters thick, designed to slide into a pallet and then lift it when you pump the handle.

      Of course, it's already been pretty well established that what was stolen were not mainframes, just a couple of server boxes, so why are we even talking about it? :-)

    4. Re:Not Mainframes at all by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 1
      Of course, it's already been pretty well established that what was stolen were not mainframes, just a couple of server boxes, so why are we even talking about it? :-)

      Maybe the servers were running Windows 2000 Datacenter Edition. That sort of makes them like mainframes right? *giggle*.

  37. Re:Australia by ZBM-2 · · Score: 1

    (here goes my karma)

    An Ausie was on holiday in NZ. One day he was visiting a local farm when he heard a strange noise coming from the barn. Curious as to what it was,he entered the barn and was presented with the spectacle of a Kiwi farmer shagging a sheep. When the farmer looked up he turned away and said,"you know,in Australia we shear are sheep". The indignant Kiwi responded,"well,I'm not sheer-ring this sheep with anybody!".

    --
    ==== Warning:this poster contains subject matter that may be offensive. Flaming discretion is advised.
  38. I'm Kevin Mitnick...or am I??? by teamhasnoi · · Score: 1, Funny
    1. Post classified in paper - ad reads: "Wanted: People to test our security. Great pay, benefits, and excitement." (blah blah blah)

    2. Meet with people. Hire everyone (especially Austrailian Customs agents). Wear a fake mustache. Give each person a different assignment. "You are to go in to our bank/store/house/hospital/police station and using any uniform/disguise and verbal means, physically take our hardware. Do not get caught. If you do, hand them this card - they know this card as Phsyical Security test E8T-m3 - we are contracted with them to to this test."

    3. Promise bonuses for high-priced items. Take items, have them load your (rented) car. Congratulate them on their first day. Hand them a schedule for next week & note high performers. Leave.

    3a. If your employee gets caught, remove mustache and look nonplussed. Walk away.

    4. Profit!!!

  39. nothing to worry about by HornyBastard77 · · Score: 1
    from the article:

    Customs has been advised that the servers did not contain personal, business-related or national security information.

    so those were just porn/game servers. no big threat to security, national or otherwise.

  40. How is this unusual? by bertok · · Score: 5, Informative
    I can relate to this with personal experience. One of my first IT contracting jobs was a two week Windows 2000 rollout at a 110 user company. My job was to pick up every desktop one by one, take it up to the IT cubicle, Ghost six of them at a time, then return the computers. I liased exlusively with the sole IT administrator there.

    It was only on the second last day that someone questioned my actions. Until then, nobody thought twice about an unfamiliar person sauntering up their desk, unplugging their desktop PC, and walking off. Because the old PCs were so dusty, I wasn't even wearing my normal business attire -- instead, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

    This is by no means unusual. I've been to places where the IT employees did not know which servers do what, how many servers they actually have, or what the passwords are. In a place like that, a missing server may not be noticed for days!

    1. Re:How is this unusual? by marcushnk · · Score: 1

      Its a common problem in Perth Western Australia for people to wander into a high rise, walk into an office, unplug the laptop and wander away with it.
      these days the pick ones without CCTV..

      --
      "Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far
    2. Re:How is this unusual? by s.fontinalis · · Score: 1

      It's also common in most American universities. When everyone's carrying a backpack - who're you going to check?

    3. Re:How is this unusual? by RedWizzard · · Score: 1
      How is this unusual?
      This is unusual because this involves the theft of two servers for the top security mainframe room of a secure customs facility at an international airport. It's a bit different to lax security at a small company with a single administrator.
    4. Re:How is this unusual? by jamespharaoh · · Score: 1

      This is by no means unusual. I've been to places where the IT employees did not know which servers do what, how many servers they actually have, or what the passwords are. In a place like that, a missing server may not be noticed for days!

      Or where most of them were, presumably ;)

    5. Re:How is this unusual? by 0123456 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      True, in a previous job the office was broken into at night and a few computers were stolen: took us about a week before we discovered that one of the obscure, rarely used Mac servers was among them.

    6. Re:How is this unusual? by MKalus · · Score: 2, Insightful
      This is by no means unusual. I've been to places where the IT employees did not know which servers do what, how many servers they actually have, or what the passwords are. In a place like that, a missing server may not be noticed for days!


      Oh,

      that sounds like a place I worked once. The DBA and I were joking that we could just roll out the main database server and put something cheap like a desktop PC in the backend, nobody would know, because besides him and me none knew what we were doing nor on what hardware.

      --
      If you want to e-mail me, use my PGP Key.
    7. Re:How is this unusual? by surprise_audit · · Score: 3, Funny
      I seem to remember a while back reading about some college (don't remember which one) where they couldn't find a server. The server was up and running, they just couldn't locate it... Turned out that part of the server room had been walled off, and the server was completely enclosed in a room with no doors or windows. Apparently the wall had been put up some 4 years previously and nobody had had to touch the server in that time.

      Not in quite the same league as walking out the building with a server, but it still took a special brand of stupidity to forget to put a door in the new wall... :)

    8. Re:How is this unusual? by tuffy · · Score: 2, Informative
      I seem to remember a while back reading about some college (don't remember which one) where they couldn't find a server. The server was up and running, they just couldn't locate it... Turned out that part of the server room had been walled off, and the server was completely enclosed in a room with no doors or windows. Apparently the wall had been put up some 4 years previously and nobody had had to touch the server in that time.

      This is probably the article you're thinking of. It was posted on Slashdot at the time, though navigating /.'s search feature is a bit painful so I haven't found the original article.

      --

      Ita erat quando hic adveni.

    9. Re:How is this unusual? by holzp · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I worked at one of the big dot-coms just as things started to sour. After layoffs I would grab another techie, wander from floor to floor and grab all the higher end PC's that belong to the fired persons. Nobody ever questioned what happened to them. I hade a sweet sweet cluster for about two months. Then I quit before the axe came for me.

    10. Re:How is this unusual? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Someone once told me a highly amusing story about serving on a new US naval ship of some sort, something large. They were building their own floor plan to see how the ship had changed from the blueprints they were provided and ended up finding a sizable room which had no entrances (nor, put another way, exits.) So they cut through a bulkhead (fun fun) and discovered a fully equipped machine shop.

      Screw a server, we're talking probably a quarter million dollars in equipment, given how the military does business.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  41. They don't even know what was on these computers by Brad+Mace · · Score: 3, Funny
    Customs has been advised that the servers did not contain personal, business-related or national security information.

    Really? Then what the hell were they for?

    They say

    "They would have personal internal email accounts, probably the passwords for those accounts, and any information harboured within them.

    hmm. 'personal email' sounds like personal information, and probably business and security related too. But then say:

    The Australian Customs Service has admitted the security blunder, but told customs officers in an email that no sensitive operational information was lost.

    So I guess they're just using their mainframes to advertise penis enlargement pills

    "Customs officers use the accounts to communicate volumes of sensitive operational material and intelligence to each other, including information from other agencies such as AFP and ASIO. This would be at risk."

    I give up.

  42. Re:1999 Stats I could get,, by lucifer_666 · · Score: 1

    Only a true New Zealander would know the actual number of sheep both in his country, and others :-)

  43. Well even Microsoft... by insecuritiez · · Score: 2, Informative

    I hate to give MS any credit, but even they figured that one out. Check out their Ten Immutable Laws of Security. -- "Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, its not your computer anymore."

    1. Re:Well even Microsoft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      You realise they didn't actually come up with any of those laws. I doubt they were even the first to compile that list of ten. Well arguably anyone else's would replace one item with "if you're running windows, you may as well skip the rest of this list because you have bigger problems" but other than that.

    2. Re:Well even Microsoft... by You're+All+Wrong · · Score: 1

      The link needed hand-editing (I just trimmed between the /technets/), but eventually I got to something like this:

      """
      Law #1: If MS can persuade you to run its program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore.

      Law #2: If MS can alter the operating system on your computer, it's not your computer anymore. ...
      """

      Which is exactly why I don't let either of the above happen.
      Nice to see them damning themselves by their own hand

      YAW.

      --
      Your head of state is a corrupt weasel, I hope you're happy.
    3. Re:Well even Microsoft... by evilviper · · Score: 1

      Just because they say that physical security is important (duh!) doesn't mean they practice what they preach.

      You have no idea how many instructors I've had that tell you to use a secure password, when they use their last name, spelled backwards, as their own Admin password.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  44. Re:I wonder... by ComaVN · · Score: 1

    Don't forget to pay $699 on the way out.

    --
    Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
  45. Testra IT savings by mokeyboy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now we know how Telstra will save all that money...

  46. It's been a while hasn't it? by Mulletproof · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine a beowolf cluster of-- FUCK, they're gone!!!!/I>

    --
    You need a FREE iPod Nano
    1. Re:It's been a while hasn't it? by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 1

      Imagine a beowolf cluster of-- FUCK, they're gone!!!!

      That reminds me of the old standard answer to someone who asked why Opus and Binkleyterm (two Fidonet-compatible BBS programs) would reinitialize the modem every several minutes when the BBS's were otherwise idle. "Just checking to see if the modem is still there. Crime is rampant, you know."

      --
      If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
  47. Encryption by jabbadabbadoo · · Score: 1
    Which is another reminder that not only the communication should be secured, but the physical access to the hardware -and- software, as well.

    Biometrics will help, but I'm afraid there will be some bizarre head'n'thumb-cutting activities in the future...

    1. Re:Encryption by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

      You dont really need biometrics, just some security cameras and alarms, trusted security guards who know whats going on and a call to the bloody company that the technicians claim to be from!

      --
      This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  48. The article from a Sydney paper can be found here: by nighty5 · · Score: 1

    http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/05/10625490 00698.html

    (Remove the space between the two zeros in the URL - Don't know, some slashdot phenomenon

  49. They sold on eBay last nighr by Lucas+Membrane · · Score: 1

    I think. Does this mean I don't get to keep them?

  50. You know, as funny as this story is... by NanoGator · · Score: 1

    ... it still scares the shit out of me.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  51. Fosters teaches you how to speak Australian: by Mr_Cheeky · · Score: 1

    [Cut to picture of an empty server rack] "Missing" You get the rest...

  52. Re:Australia by lucifer_666 · · Score: 1

    Correction... we have a record defecit, our kids can't read and write (my parents are teachers), our health system has been gutted (hospitals a plenty, but no nurses to staff them!!), a hybrid political system bastardised from the brits designed to maintain our corporate slavery to the crown (do some digging), and a general hatred for anybody who looks or smells different. Remember, tolerance is not acceptance. Tolerance is hatred with a smile.

    You can always make a good thing better, sure. But compared to "terrorist nation's?"

    PS. I don't mind be subservient to the crown. I think as far as rulers go, the Queen is pretty dammed good. She doesn't even tell us what to do!

  53. Are you sure... by fwc · · Score: 4, Funny
    The tech guy didn't just replace them with one of IBM's linux servers?

    (Google for heist60.mpeg if above if slashdotted)

  54. Im a New Zealander by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    So i reserve the right through inter-tasmin rivalry to say...

    Typical Aussies

    joke its just a joke..

  55. Re:Australia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    If I were a terrorist I'd mainly be afraid of drop bears. Because at the moment, I'm mainly afraid of drop bears, and I can't really see why that would change.

  56. Mainframes or file servers? by klevin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If, as described, they were actual mainframes, the Customs people's statement that no sensitive info was lost/stolen might not be too far from the truth. In servers & other high end systems, it's not uncommon for the hard drives in the computer to contain only the OS & applications. The data used/created by the applications would be on a RAID attached to the computer. If that was the setup of the systems, the only actual data would system passwords and possibly temp data currently in use at the time of shutdown.

    If, however, one or more of the systems was a RAID or some such data storage system, then the Custom's people are (as expected) lying through their teeth. The next question would be whether or not some form of encryption was in use (fs or application level).

  57. Check for neck-mounted bomb collars too... by dekashizl · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Do not forgot -- you now must check all pizza delivery people for neck-mounted bomb collars as well. The risk for data loss is more severe, for it generally cannot be recovered. ...
    1. Re:Check for neck-mounted bomb collars too... by prgammans · · Score: 1

      This is just bazzair!

      Has someone been reading 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson?

    2. Re:Check for neck-mounted bomb collars too... by kacp · · Score: 1

      This link also gives the local Erie paper website. Here in Erie, PA, we're really not talking much about it, we're more shocked over all the attention it's getting.

      --
      To write a haiku - all you need is the correct - number of syli...
  58. Re:They don't even know what was on these computer by stray · · Score: 1

    yo

    So I guess they're just using their mainframes to advertise penis enlargement pills

    No go, that would be business related then :-)

  59. they took the backup too... by gears5665 · · Score: 1

    Thats why they took both mainframes...they wanted the backup in case the first one broke...

  60. insider job... by Submarine · · Score: 1

    My usual thought when I hear of stories such as this one is that there are accomplices at the location. There's no way that total outsiders could have pulled out such a theft.

    The usual suspects are the cleaning personnel, but I'd also add the security guards. At my workplace and other locations, there have been thefts of electronic hardware during the night by someone who had the keys. Who goes around the offices at night when nobody's there? The guards.

    In this case, those who stole the hardware are probably outsiders extensively briefed by insiders about the location of the systems and the security procedures in place.

    1. Re:insider job... by afidel · · Score: 1

      During one large layoff wave at a Cisco location the head of security found out he was going to be let go because the facility was going to be scaled back so far that they were going to simply outsource security to some outside firm. So he started to grab laptops from layedoff employees. Eventually someone noticed and when the police arrested him in the parking lot he had almost filled the trunk of his car, a Crown Victoria! (for non-American's these are cars with trunks large enough for about 4 people to lay in)

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  61. advertising secrets by Submarine · · Score: 1

    Sometimes, hardware containing sensitive information is stolen by people who are only interested in the resale value of the hardware and are not aware of the presence of this information. In this case, isn't it preferrable to keep a low profile and refrain from discussing possible breaches of security in the public?

  62. Re:Australia by Placido · · Score: 1

    Hah hah! That so tipifies Aussie optimism and enthusiasm! :)

    Go you big red fire engine!!!

    --

    Pinky: "What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain?"
    Brain: "I would tell you Pinky but this 120 char limi
  63. Australia, eh? I know what happened to them... by metrazol · · Score: 1

    Seen any dingos in the area?

    They might also be carrying a baby...

    --
    "Life's funny sometimes." "And sometimes it isn't." --Cat's Cradle
  64. Hey Look It Wasn't Stolen by pyrrho · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's just been replaced by this little linux server over here.

    --

    -pyrrho

  65. Don't let the truth get in the way of the story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OK to quote from the article:

    After supplying false names and signatures, they were given access to the top-security mainframe room. They knew the room's location and no directions were needed.

    Inside, they spent two hours disconnecting two computers, which they put on trolleys and wheeled out of the room, past the security desk, into the lift and out of the building.

    Nowhere does it say that two mainframe computers left the building, only that tey got access tothe mainframe room. All the mainframes I ever worked on had their own wheels they were so big.

    This is just typical lazy and/or sensational reporting by the original journalist.

    Someone should read these before they get posted here. The Story is about lax access for the computer room - not about mainframes being stolen.

  66. Maybe they were repossesed? by harlows_monkeys · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Repo men can do amazing things. I worked once at a small Unix workstation company in the early 80's (Callan Data Systems, if anyone remembers them). We were having some financial trouble, and our blueprint machine was repossesed. That thing was huge...about the size of a small piano (acoustic, not digital).

    It was in a central room, which had one door and no windows. The door opened to a hallway. From that hallway, you could either go out past the receptionist, past one of the company founder's office, to get out the front door, or you could go the other way, past my office, and the offices of a couple other programmers.

    We noticed the machine missing at noon. It had last been used at 11am. Between that time, the receptionist had been on duty, the founder had been at work in his office with the door open, and four programmers had been at work with their doors open, facing the hallway.

    There had been the usual bathroom breaks, trips to the printer, and stuff like that, but still...it seems like it would require amazing timing to find an opportunity in there to sneak the thing out...and there was no vantage point outside the building from which one could see that the route would be clear.

    1. Re:Maybe they were repossesed? by aziraphale · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When you've eliminated the impossible, what remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. So...

      I'd say the repo guys had access to a fully functioning matter transporter.

    2. Re:Maybe they were repossesed? by fishbowl · · Score: 1

      In one server room environment I worked in, two of the admins were bikers, two were gun nuts that routinely packed heat in the office, and it was in a state where taking the law into your own hands against a trespasser or burglar is accepted.

      Your repo men would have been turned into a bloody pulp, and then begging for their lives :-)

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
  67. Re:Physical security-Welded down. by thegoldenear · · Score: 1

    perhaps they were, it took 2 hours to get the things ready to wheel out the building

  68. At Hamburg University... by Hanno · · Score: 1

    ...at my former computer science department, a whole room of SUN server equipment was emptied over a long holiday weekend in 1998.

    One does wonder who steals servers and where these stolen goods end up later.

    --

    ------------------
    You may like my a cappella music
    1. Re:At Hamburg University... by isbhod · · Score: 1

      where these stolen goods end up later

      one word: ebay. the ultimate fence

  69. Heh... by BJH · · Score: 4, Funny

    This reminds me of a story...

    I live and work in a certain large Far Eastern city, which has quite a few major financial institutions.
    Several of these institutions use Sun hardware.
    One of these institutions found that on Monday morning, their production system didn't work.
    A bit more investigation found that the CPUs (8, IIRC) had all been removed. Apparently, someone walked in over the weekend and then walked out with several thousand dollars worth of UltraSPARC IIs under his arm.
    They made a bit of fuss about this, boosted their security, and bought a bunch of new CPUs.

    Then, a couple of months later, they found that their production system wasn't working on a Monday morning...

    1. Re:Heh... by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      I think I may know you :-)

      Is this certain city home to what is probably the oldest English-language LUG in Asia?

    2. Re:Heh... by BJH · · Score: 1

      Quite possibly. Indeed, it may even be likely ;)

    3. Re:Heh... by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      And did you have impressive numbers in that LUGs RC5-64 effort?

    4. Re:Heh... by BJH · · Score: 1

      Ah... that's not me, no.

  70. Looks like some inside info by toofanx · · Score: 1
    This seems to be a plausible explanation by someone who knows the incident. Pity s/he didn't identify him/herself.

    It is entirely believable, knowing how journalists tend to exaggerate things.

  71. This means that by poemofatic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    to access your data, I have to know your publicly available ID and I have to have access to the phone in your (unlocked) cubicle.

    How well does your company pay their cleaning/janitorial staff? Suppose a coworker went into your cubicle and called IT from your phone -- how would security find out who did it?

    I would assume that they would need to see your ID (as well as you) before resetting your password. If that is too burdensome, then have a system in which you contact your manager or HR. One of these can then log in through a secure connection and file a password reset request with your ID to the remote IT support site. The fact that they are logged in (with their password) at least ensures there is a starting point for an audit, and the odds of impersonation are less likely.

    --

    When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.

    1. Re:This means that by Jerf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      to access your data, I have to know your publicly available ID and I have to have access to the phone in your (unlocked) cubicle. etc. etc. etc.

      He didn't claim his security was perfect. There's always a way around security; mere existance of a way around it does not automatically mean its worthless. It raises the bar, I'd bet money it provides a paper trail, and as long as the employee isn't on vacation, the employee will detect it when they try to login next and can't because the password changed. (Detection isn't instant but should average less then a day.)

      I post this because this is one of the common mistakes made in security, not doing a risk analysis and just assuming you need "more". I strongly suspect that unless the grandparent poster is working for the NSA, that they've successfully raised the bar past what anybody who cares can hurdle. Spending more on a more restrictive regime would just be a waste of money.

    2. Re:This means that by jcr · · Score: 1

      to access your data, I have to know your publicly available ID and I have to have access to the phone in your (unlocked) cubicle.

      1) I have an office, not a cubicle. You'd have to pick the lock to get into it.

      2) my employee # isn't publicly available.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    3. Re:This means that by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      1) I have an office, not a cubicle. You'd have to pick the lock to get into it.

      hah. It always amazes me that people put any trust at all in physical security in the form of locked doors. Chances are your office is one of many opened by a floor/suite master key. So really, the only people who have access to your office are you, your supervisor(s), the cleaning/maintenance crew, the locksmith who maintains your key system, or anyone who knows any of the preceding people and/or otherwise has access to their keys.

      Also, didn't we have an article here on /. about how one can deduce the master key from a sub-key via "file-and-error"? Count those people in too.

      As to employee ID#, I can't really comment as I know nothing about your company.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    4. Re:This means that by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      1) I have an office, not a cubicle. You'd have to pick the lock to get into it.

      hah. It always amazes me that people put any trust at all in physical security in the form of locked doors. Chances are your office is one of many opened by a floor/suite master key. So really, the only people who have access to your office are you, your supervisor(s), the cleaning/maintenance crew, the locksmith who maintains your key system, or anyone who knows any of the preceding people and/or otherwise has access to their keys.

      Aditionally, don't forget that your telecom people control your extension number, so add them as well to the list of people who can appear to be you calling in from your office on your phone.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  72. You think people would learn! by Newer+Guy · · Score: 1

    If I recall, something even worse than this happened about 15 years ago in Nevada. A couple of people posing as computer technicians came in to a casino/hotel in Lake Tahoe with a large canvas covered box and left it right under the nose of security personnel. It turned out to be a large bomb that they had left for ransom. A couple of days later it went off. Though no one was hurt (the casino and half the town had long been evacuated) it still blew the side off the multi story building, destroying it. I'll bet that despite tighter security, you could do this all over again. There's a saying that those who can't learn from mistakes are destined to repeat them. I guess it remains true post 9/11.

  73. They aren't the only one ... by Kajakske · · Score: 1

    Here we have a state of the art server room, with security and all ...

    Guess where our servers are standing now ? Right there in the storage room, no keys on the door ... The server rack isn't even closed.

    At least they close the front door at night.

    --

    Linux hosting for $2.50/mo

    1. Re:They aren't the only one ... by borgboy · · Score: 1

      Where do you work?

      --
      meh.
  74. Re:The article from a Sydney paper can be found he by Large+Green+Mallard · · Score: 1

    url is you friend.

  75. What about the DASD? by Corrado · · Score: 1

    Screw the CPU boxes, they don't have any|much local storage, just a bunch of I/O lines and Engines. The data lives in attached storage (DASD) hardware. Did they take that? Was one box the CPU and the other the DASD?

    And why the hell didn't all kinds of monitoring tools go balistic?!? I can't even reboot my own server at work without some support person calling me - "Hey, we noticed that your server rebooted. Do you want us to take a look at it?". :/

    --
    KangarooBox - We make IT simple!
  76. Australians always one better by BenjyD · · Score: 1, Funny

    The Ozzies always have to do things that bit bigger, don't they? UK intelligence services has laptops with sensitive information stolen (well, left in a pub after a drinking binge and then stolen), so the Ozzies have to get a mainframe stolen.

  77. crosshead screwdriver and a coil of cat5 by RMH101 · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...you can get in *anywhere* with them if you frown hard enough

  78. The rubber hose method by Sindri · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of all the possible password attacks mentioned in my favourite cryptography book the rubber hose method is my favourite.

    The rubber hose method consists of kidnapping someone who knows the password and beating him with a rubber hose till he tells you the password.

    Guess this could be called the wheel out method.

    --
    Sindri Traustason.
  79. Three words by Erik+Hensema · · Score: 2, Funny

    Encrypted root filesystem.

    --

    This is your sig. There are thousands more, but this one is yours.

  80. Like I've always said: by bobv-pillars-net · · Score: 1
    If it's cheaper and easier to break in and steal the physical computers than to hack in over the wire, then the IT security guy has done his job at least.

    I use this rule-of-thumb mainly to set limits on my own paranoia...

    --
    The Web is like Usenet, but
    the elephants are untrained.
  81. Re:Australia by kaluta · · Score: 1
    Also, koala bears are vicious bastards.


    Also, koalas aren't bears... they're marsupials, females having a pouch in which their young first develop. Their pouch faces the rear and has a drawstring like muscle that the mother can tighten. They are the sole member of the family Phascolarctidae (and yes, it does really bug me when people call them bears).

    --
    All generalisations are wrong... including this one.
  82. Re:Australia by WasterDave · · Score: 1

    Iraq: Australia sent 3 boats and about 2000 special forces personell

    I think it's safe to say that the Australian military know a hell of a lot more about crawling around roasting hot deserts than most too.

    Dave

    --
    I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
  83. holy shit by flacco · · Score: 1

    at least we'll be able to identify the perpetrators on sight: they'll be dragging their gigantic balls behind them as they walk.

    --
    pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
  84. Well...., judging from the rest... by theolein · · Score: 1

    You obviously have a lot of faith in IT data security and it's possiblities, but judging from the rest of the article, these servers were probably backed up onto floppy disks, which were then left lying on top of the cabinets.

  85. This happened to a customer of ours. by shippo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    At a previous employer, one of our customers had their main Netware server stolen during the working day.

    Two men dressed as couriers wandered into the reception, said that had a faulty machine to pick up, were let into the machine room, and walked out with the 3000 file server.

    It took the network admin over an hour to realise that the server had been taken - they had even logged a fault call with us stating that users were having problems accessing their data.

    1. Re:This happened to a customer of ours. by Maserati · · Score: 1

      I'd love to see the 'resolution' on that trouble ticket !

      --
      Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
  86. Re:Australia by Zeddicus_Z · · Score: 1

    Considering we (Australia) doesnt actually *have* 2000 SAS personnel, but only around 300 at last count... We deployed deployed 80 ATCers, 16 WMD location personnel, ~75 "security" personnel doing explosives ordinance and VIP protection, 6 guys to train IDF (iraqi defence force) after the war, 3x CPA reps, 3x light armoured vehicles + crew, comms and logistics guys and a bunch of Military cops. Add to this 2x C130 plus crew and support (totalling 140), 1x "military liason" *cough* ASIS *cough*, 3 blokes from Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, ~90 "Army HQ" staff. Also making an appearence were HMAS Sydney + support group, HMAS Kanimbla, HMAS Newcastle and 2x P3 Orion aircraft for a total of 270 Naval personnel and 160 for the orions + support elements. We also sent over a gaggle of F-18's, though I can't find any mention of numbers for these. Last but not least, our SAS deployement. Being SpecForces there isn't much information running around, but best guesses put the number at somewhere between 60 and 130 deployed in total. So, while we had a total of almost 2000 troops in Iraq over the past six months or so, most of them were definately NOT SAS.

    --
    Janie took my gun...
  87. So much for the vaunted security of mainframes... by Sun+Tzu · · Score: 1

    This is proof that even without running network services and without a bunch of lusers with accounts on it, a mainframe still isn't secure.

    I can't wait to see what IBM's patch for this little security problem is, heh. ;)
    --
    Send us your Linux Programming articles

    --
    Geeky modern art T-shirts
  88. So a mainframe was stolen?? by BeemerBoy · · Score: 2, Informative

    If this really was a mainframe, then the thieves essentially just got the CPU and no sensitive data was taken. Unlike a Win32 machine, a mainframe does NOT have any data (beyond configuration information) stored inside the box. All data exists on external DASD or tape devices. Unless the thieves wheeled those out, too, they didn't get anything sensitive.

    --
    Buzzing the information Superhighway at Warp speed
  89. ROFL by Bruha · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Reminds me of that ATM machine that was stolen from Snow Hall on military base, they didnt find it for 2 years until a long dry spell let a pond get real low.

    For those that dont know Snow Hall is a tech training center and has 24 hour security and video cameras. The machine was quite large and bolted to the floor and since it was the day before payday it was full also. 250k was in it I believe.

    Only bank robbers I know of that got away with it AFAIK.

    1. Re:ROFL by badnews · · Score: 1

      just down the road from me, an ATM machine was stolen from inside a convenience store. (Johnson Creek Market, Portland Oregon, 2 or 3 years back). the thieves gained entry by backing a truck through the front door. They chained the ATM to the back of the truck and drove off, dragging their prize for two blocks, where they stopped and loaded the machine into the back of the truck.

      no suspects, and the carcass has not been recovered. I've heard of other similar ATM heists.

      Another one, but i think suspects were eventually arrested: man in uniform with clipboard has clerk sign a form, gives her a receipt, and wheels the ATM out to the waiting truck.

    2. Re:ROFL by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 1

      I prefer the opposite theft. IIRC, two guys in grey coveralls wheel a new ATM into the local mall and lock it to a lamp post in a main courtyard. After weeks of complaints that the damn thing doesn't work, two guys in grey coveralls come and unlock it to cart it away.
      In the meantime, the PC and card reader inside (programmed to do the usual ATM dialog, then print "Your transaction cannot be completed at this time") has been gathering mag-strip data and PINs for hundreds of cards.
      One mag-strip writer later, you've got access to hundreds of accounts.
      See ATM Spoofing here for something along those lines.

      --

    3. Re:ROFL by Sandcastle · · Score: 1
      I'm sorry to do nothing but nitpick, but I figured Slashdot would be one of the few places that realised the stupidity of "ATM Machine"...

      WTF does ATM stand for???

      --
      The fact that a fish swims in water does not make it an expert in fluid dynamics. GogglesPisano (199483)
  90. Re:So much for the vaunted security of mainframes. by ckaminski · · Score: 1

    300,000 volt step-up transformer that smacks anyone who attempts to unplug the machine without entering the 32 character password while dancing on one foot singing "mary had a little lamb".

  91. as an Australian I find this by Grizzlysmit · · Score: 1

    soooo sooo reasuring, hee heee, isn't it nice to know customs is being looked after by such competent people, :-D, Good job lads. lol

    --
    in my life God comes first.... but Linux is pretty high after that :-D
    Francis Smit
  92. Re:Australia by fsmunoz · · Score: 1

    East Timor: Liberated the poor little country from the Indonesians and wiped out the resistance. Free elections were held for the first time.

    ROFL!!!!!

    It takes a special talent to say that after decades of active cooperation with Indonesia and diplomatic support to Indonesia's position. Australia liberated East-Timor the same way Hitler liberated Belgium.

  93. Outsourcing and security by Badgerman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They presented themselves to the security desk as technicians sent by Electronic Data Systems, the outsourced customs computer services provider which regularly sends people to work on computers after normal office hours.

    Another reason you should be damn careful about how you outsource, who you outsource with, and the security involved. People need to know who they're really dealing with and how to check.

    --
    "The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
    1. Re:Outsourcing and security by Syberghost · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I fail to see how it's EDS' fault that the security guard didn't ask to see ID.

  94. No really it wasn't stolen... by Monofilament · · Score: 1

    Manager: "Where is the mainframe?"

    IT Guy: ".. Uh..." ..

    Manager:

    IT Guy: "No wait...."

    Both the Manager and the IT Guy peer throught the window to see both of the mainframes duking it out in the parking lot (one with treds attached to the bottom the other with 12 rover wheels attached) with the rest of the IT staff and programmers standing in a large circle around with cash in their hands throwing down bets.

    just to blatantly steal a good IT commercial i can't remember who did it...

    --


    Who makes you Sig?
  95. Priceless... by dstutz · · Score: 1, Funny

    Implementing stricter airport security standards - $800,000
    After hours security guards - $2,000
    2 Mainframes - $2,000,000
    Having your machines wheeled out by Islamic terrorists - Priceless

  96. This is just the beginning.... by zerofoo · · Score: 1

    As more and more companies outsource their IT services, this type of activity will become more frequent. Companies that care about their IT systems should keep trusted people in-house to maintain their data security.

    -ted

  97. You just got to laugh (or cry). by tiger_omega · · Score: 1

    And after all the political speechs, the fanfare, the total information awareness programs, the $ billons spent of defence about how our freedom is being sacrificed in the name of increased security measures to protect us from terrorist attacks.

    Yet this sort of this thing goes on when a bit of time spent on the security policy could have stated "No computer equipment should be removed from its place without written authorization from the head of secuirty" or something to that effect.

    Its not really that difficult, it just requires a bit common sense.

  98. What would Steve Erwin say (WWSES)? by AbbyNormal · · Score: 1

    CRICKEY!

    Note to Australians, Us yanks know that Steve Erwin does not represent all of the population of Australia. But he's just so cool.

    --
    Sig it.
    1. Re:What would Steve Erwin say (WWSES)? by angle_mark · · Score: 1

      And then probably for no reason

      CROCS RULE!

  99. OT: Jet lag by Boing · · Score: 1

    Completely unrelated to the tipping issue, isn't the idea of 16 hours of jet lag contradictory? One it's more than 12 hours, aren't you just getting closer to your "base" time?

    1. Re:OT: Jet lag by WeeLad · · Score: 1
      Y'know, That's an interesting thought, but there are people who complain of jetlag after flying north or south (not even crossing a timezone). Maybe they have a different definition of jetlag, or maybe they somehow use their ever so tiny approach to the speed of light as reason for messing up their internal clocks. Or maybe its just a great excuse to not show up for work the next day.

      --
      Seriously, Don't take anything I say seriously.
    2. Re:OT: Jet lag by SEWilco · · Score: 1

      But on the hotel cable TV they're showing the David Letterman show from tomorrow and the monologue doesn't make sense because they're referring to news events that haven't happened yet.

  100. The bomb-collar was a plot element in this book... by Threed · · Score: 1

    Infectress

    It was actually quite an engaging story, dealing with bio-terror, AI, the global police state, the middle east, etc..

  101. Re:Trump Card by MickLinux · · Score: 2, Funny
    Well, I know a guy who pulled something almost like that. But it was Christmas, so instead of dressing up in a workman's outfit, he actually went in dressed in a Santa Clause suit; and when someone challenged him about the loot he was carrying, he just said "Well, thars a laht balb that won't laht up on one side. I have to take it back to my workshop; I'll fix it there and bring it back." The amazing thing is that it actually worked. He was extremely slick.



    Fortunately, he had a change of heart later, though. The world would be a much riskier place with more people like him around, I think.



    By the way, I kindof wonder just what my kid is learning in 2nd grade, nowadays. Some of those Dr. Seuss' Crime for Kids series are a little extreme, don't you think?

    --
    Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
  102. Experience in post 9/11 NYC by Halo- · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I had to visit the data center for a major financial center in Jersey City, NJ shortly after WTC. (A lot of the big iron is across the river from Manhattan... for price reasons more than security) Because of the sudden lack of available downtown office space, every available empty space in Jersey City was suddenly rented out.

    So... I walked into see my customer. I was surprised a the new security in place. I showed my company badge, signed in, and was lead to a desk under a sign marked "High Value Transactions". Plopped me right down in front of a terminal. I was really confused. The setup was totally different than what I was expecting from previous visits. So I started looking around for people I knew, etc... After about 10 minutes I realized I was in the data center for the WRONG company!

    So I got up and left. I have no idea how long I could have stayed there, or what I could have done. I suspect that if I had gotten out a screwdriver, I could have likely started shopping for hardware.

    Moral of the story: chaos breeds insecurity, and an "official" plastic badge with your picture on it is shockingly powerful.

  103. Couldn't it be that the criminals... by MickLinux · · Score: 1

    ... wanted the Customs to lose some important data? For example, if they were to lose all records of a certain recent import ...

    --
    Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
  104. who cares if their mainframes are missing..... by Cnik70 · · Score: 1

    all they really need are the machines that go PING

    --
    -Cnik
  105. More to the point... by Halo- · · Score: 1

    Okay... encrypting backups is a Good Thing(tm) but if the backups came from is reasonably high-end, then you still have a problem. Big-iron doesn't sit around at the local Fry's. The lead time required to buy a million dollar server is substantial. And this assumes you have the capital to do so... And what do you say in the mean time? "We're sorry, Customs is closed for 6-8 weeks. Our new server is in the mail".

    I'm not bashing your point, the number of people burned by lacking backups is a LOT larger than the number burned by someone walking (rolling) out with a mainframe. Backups are good. Encrypting them is better. But losing hardware, especially hard-to-replace hardware, is pretty stupid.

  106. Re:So much for the vaunted security of mainframes. by DGtlRift · · Score: 1

    Ahh yes, but you forget that they can just cut the power to building. Granted that in order to do this they would have to cut the power for 27 city blocks... and of course you will have 5 minutes and 13 secods to get the mainframe out of there before the backup systems come online, but hey it can happen, right?

    --
    How about a spell checker for slashdot, or even more impressive, a spell checker for strings in C-Code? Use lint! -DG
  107. EDS? Isn't that the company owned by... by MickLinux · · Score: 1

    You wanna know how it is? I'll tell you how it is. Giant sucking sound, that's how it is. When two servers disappear, it doesn't happen without a sound. Nosir, there's a giant sucking sound. I'll tell you, cause I've got big ears, that it's a conspiracy. Conspiracy, that's what is. When they send people to invade your daughter's wedding, and watch her, why, that's a conspiracy. And when they send three men in, claiming to be EDS, my own company, I built that company from scratch, why that's a conspiracy.

    (Ross Perot)

    Actually, now that that's done, I have to say, (1) I actually respect the guy on every count, and (2) I strongly suspect that there *was* a conspiracy involving his daughter's wedding and the Bushes; but I don't know. Knowing the rest of the history of the Bushes as it has appeared in the news, though, I don't discount the possibility.

    --
    Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
  108. What kind of mainframe? by wandazulu · · Score: 1

    If they're talking a real "sure-it-can-run-CICS" mainframe, they must've gotten some help from the security staff to move them...I've never seen any mainframe that weighed less than 300lbs. Even the IBM zSeries is the size of a couple of fridges lashed together.

  109. Investigation has been compromised! by amcguinn · · Score: 1

    Lovely quote from The Register:

    An MP was wanting to know why Customs representatives hadn't mentioned this incident when reporting to a Parliamentary inquiry into government IT security. A customs agent said:

    she didn't want to compromise the ongoing police investigation by making the thefts public.
    That is quite impressive. She seems to be implying that police were hoping that the thieves would think the machines hadn't been missed and therefore the thefts weren't being investigated, and that admitting the thefts to Members of Parliament would let the cat out of the bag that sharp-eyed customs agents had in fact got round to noticing that the machines were gone.
  110. The Heist by NetFusion · · Score: 1

    Video footage of the aftermath.

    The Heist

  111. Oh, shit. Sorry! by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1
    I meant to have them back by Monday, but I woke up late. . , and then on Tuesday, my sister had a doctor's appointment which was moved up and I was supposed to drive her to. And then on. . ,

    -Well, you know how it goes.

    I'll try to have them back tomorrow. Are you open Saturdays?


    -FL

  112. What really happened by bahamat · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, no, no, you've got it all wrong.

    This is what really happened to them.

    (That's a link to a 5MB mpeg, please be gentle, mirror and post a link!)

  113. Mirror 1, please don't kill me by bahamat · · Score: 2

    Heist

  114. Lucky you! by holstein · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am not allowed to change my password! Seriously!

    I'm just waiting for _the_ major security incident...

  115. They are NOT part of the same (ethinc) group by Vedanti · · Score: 1
    In what sense do Arabs, Indians / Pakistanis they belong to the same ethnic group ? What do they have in common ?

    Arabs are bound by the language they speak, rather than their "looks" or race. So, when you talk about physical appearence of Arabs, which arabs are you talking about ? North Africans or people from the middle east ? Palestinian arabs look no different from Israeli jews. But they look quite different from "typical" Indians or Pakistanis.

    Interestingly, Arab Americans were apparently told to chose "white" as their race in US census (http://www.allied-media.com/Arab-American/census. html).

    Arabic is a semitic language like Hebrew. North Indian languages are closer to German than Arabic, since they belong to Indo-European family of languages. They don't practice the same religion. Culturally too they are very different ... just listen to the music or see their traditional dresses.

    If you say Pakistanese and Indians belong to the same ethnic group, there would be a some truth to that.

    --
    karma : former act as leading to inevitable results
    1. Re:They are NOT part of the same (ethinc) group by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
      If you say Pakistanese and Indians belong to the same ethnic group, there would be a some truth to that.

      Thanks. Considering they were the same country till 1947 it would be amazing if new races had evolved.

      As for language and culture; that's obviously not what was being discussed, just physical appearance, especially since the gentlemen in question were wearing overalls and speaking English.

  116. this is hillarious by BoneFlower · · Score: 1

    Never underestimate the ability of a pickup truck to plow right through your firewall.

  117. Ah, young skywalker by The+Tyro · · Score: 1

    You will find that a set of scrubs, a lab coat, and the trademark surgery-resident scowl will set you in far better stead (particularly if you're too young to be an attending). Also, if you carry a stethoscope, you'll need a very well-worn stethoscope... nobody but a med student carries a brand new Cardiology II (many attendings, particularly surgeons, don't carry one at all... they just borrow one)

    Just cultivate the I'm-so-tired-I-could-kill-you-gut-you-and-sleep-li ke-a-baby look...

    If you're in resident disguise, avoid the nurses... some of them delight in giving residents a hard time. Ironically, they forget that residents remember those slights when they actually become staff... and some nurses have the gall to wonder why the attending surgeon is such a curmudgeon to the nurses. As the saying goes, paybacks are a bitch).

    You will learn all of this in time.

    --
    Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
  118. My personal experience by eaddict · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When I was in college I worked for the computer lab. One day we set out to upgrade all the PCs. What we had to do first was get the old ones out of the way. We backed an unmarked white van up to the computer lab, opened the doors to the lab, and started taking the machines. It was during a school day. Students and faculty were walking by watching us. Occasionally one would even lend a hand (hold a door open a bit more, pick up a dropped mouse, etc... ) No one questioned us. Not even the student worker running the lab. We had not even made conversation with the worker during the entire time. After we loaded up the 20+ PCs and headed out our boss decided to call the lab and 'warn them against people stealing PCs'. The worker freaked! He said he was there when it was happening but since "they looked like they knew what they were doing so I didn't question them." The boss then let him in on the real story.

    The key: just look like you know what you are doing.

    --
    "If you are on fire you can just stop, drop, and roll. If you fall into Lava you are just dead." - my 5yr old daughter
  119. Two words by 42forty-two42 · · Score: 1

    Unattended boot

  120. dumb thieves by wannasleep · · Score: 1

    pretty dumb thieves.. next time just copy the content of the hard disks and you can pull the trick over and over, since now the security desk guys know your familiar face

  121. Another work story by phorm · · Score: 1

    Where I used to work, we had a case where somebody walked in with a delivery person uniform... struggling with a heavy box for "Joe XXX".

    He got the security personnel to card the elevator so that he could get up to the floor wher "Joe XXX" worked. In a short while, he came back down... Joe wasn't there to sign so he said he'd left a note, and was bringing the supplies back to the office.

    He got one of the security people to help him move the heavy box outside.

    What's wrong with this story? Well, it turns out that the box was fairly light when it came in... think about it for a second.

    1. Re:Another work story by afidel · · Score: 1

      Boxed up a Sun V880 did he =)

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    2. Re:Another work story by phorm · · Score: 1

      Actually, I believe it was a laptop or two and perhaps some desktops. We had a lot of issues with laptops walking, all sorts of interesting security protocols got initiated.

      You'd think that on a building where you need a keycard to use the elevator, front-desk security is present, etc these things wouldn't happen... but nothing beats social engineering.

  122. Think some more by iii_rjm · · Score: 1

    Perhaps the reason no one questioned you is because they got a memo the week before detailing what was going to happen.

  123. Wait a minute here... by temojen · · Score: 1
    ... the outsourced customs computer services provider...
    ...the extent to which their top-secret operations have been compromised.

    They outsourced maintenance on a computer with top-secret data? That sounds extremely stupid.

  124. Re:OT, but the moral of that story... by rifter · · Score: 1

    .. is that if you get caught in such a situation, don't go through with the bank robbery.

    Rather, stop at the nearest police officer you see; and if you don't see a police officer before you see a bank or a government building with security, go into the building and ask them to call the bomb disposal squad for you. Rip off your shirt to prove it, and say "I'm going out to the parking lot. This isn't a bank robbery, but someone wants it to be; and if I don't get help quick, I'm going to die."

    The problem with that scenario is that it probably would mean you and the police die, since the real bank robber would be watching you and ready to detonate the device remotely if you deviated from his plan. Alternately, it would be possible for mr evil terrorist bank robber to rig a device with a gps such that if you deviated from a preset course mr bomb blows up and kills you.

  125. Thoughts... by JMZero · · Score: 1

    While all security problems should be addressed, one should be realistic in assessing the kinds of attacks likely to be faced. While someone could certainly brave our cheap security system to steal our computers in a night time raid, such an action is not worth spending a lot of time worrying about - our data/hardware is just not valuable enough that many would take the risk of being caught.

    We, and many other businesses, should continue to focus our security efforts mainly on preventing by-wire attacks from random outsiders, simply because the lack of personal commitment/risk makes these attacks the most likely to be faced.

    --
    Let's not stir that bag of worms...
  126. I'll say it again by Cyno · · Score: 1

    There is no spoon. Security is an illusion.

    You can never be secure because you can't afford the resources it would require, ever. You need a person to monitor a system physically as well as virtually at all times. And even then there are ways to transmit data that are not obvious. So unless you are God you are not secure.

    Just when you think you have a system locked down someone walks it right out your front door with a big smile on their face. Social engineering perhaps is the cause of this insecurity as Kevin Mitnick pointed out in his latest book. Its like trying to hold a dam together as more and more holes sprout open. You run out of fingers, then toes, then what do you do? Do you still believe you can be secure? Ha!

  127. unused SGIs by mbolding · · Score: 1

    we have a lot of unused SGIs around here too. I wonder what percentage of them are just sitting there unused?
    Does anyone have one they use?

    1. Re:unused SGIs by Large+Green+Mallard · · Score: 2, Funny

      I live in Perth, Australia. Remote place.. in most cases, the cost of shipping an oldish SGI out of here is more than they're worth. Somehow tho, I seem to have become known as the old-sgi-man. People come to me and say "Don Alex, I have these old SGIs that need to be gone", I take them, then mysteriously others come to me and say "Don Alex, my poor family needs an SGI". I charge and take no money for this service. Mostly they've gone to students who are after some non-intel hardware to play with a unix on. Indys run Linux particularly well.

      In the last 6 months, I think I've helped dispose of about 40 unwanted SGIs to good or better homes. Mostly Indys (about 30), but some O2s and Indigos as well. i'm working on the Onyx still...

  128. Re:Like my sneakers? by blair1q · · Score: 2, Informative

    > "TOO MANY CASTERS" (referring to how they wheeled the servers out?)

    Yes!

    You win the prize, a decrypted 8-bit character!

    Here you go: @

    And everyone's right about the moderators. They screwed the pooch on this one. Metamods, go remove their mouse fingers.

  129. Re:So much for the vaunted security of mainframes. by SacredNaCl · · Score: 1

    This is proof that even without running network services and without a bunch of lusers with accounts on it, a mainframe still isn't secure.
    I can't wait to see what IBM's patch for this little security problem is, heh. ;)
    --

    The patch is simple: We just go back to mainframes that take several rooms of space, weight tons, and are impossible for 2 people to move without taking many many days and knocking out walls. It needs to be big enough to take more than a weekend to remove. ;-)

    --
    Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by one and all.
  130. dude... by ed1park · · Score: 1

    Dude... Where's my mainframe?!

  131. All it takes is the right look by MoneyT · · Score: 1

    When I was working for the tech department for my university, one of my many jobs was to go through and perform routine matinence and such. Being a college kid, jeans and a t-shirt was my usual attire, and whenver I was in a sensative area ("important research") someone always made a call down to my boss to verify that I was supposed to be there and wasn't just some stupid kid pulling a prank.

    What I always found amusing though, was what would happen on the days when I was required to wear my ROTC uniform to work. Nothing big, just your standard BDUs (cammos) and the cadet rank pins (which are not the same as official rank pins). No matter where I went on those days, I was always allowed in without a hitch or a second glance. People are far too trusting of nice clothes.

    --
    T Money
    World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
  132. The question someone should be asking by Misiko · · Score: 1

    Dude, where's my mainframe?

  133. What Indeed... by virg_mattes · · Score: 2, Funny

    I imagine he'd say, "Crikey! My last name starts with an I, not an E!"

    Then he'd problably add, "Crocs rule!"

    Virg

  134. looks like by butane_bob2003 · · Score: 1

    al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiah are the proud new owners of a customs mainframe. Can't imagine what they are planning to get out of that data. Maybe they are just looking for some nice boxen to run their CRM and ERP systems on?

    --


    TallGreen CMS hosting
  135. Re:Australia by mfrank · · Score: 1

    Hell, let them go swimming the wrong time of year and let the jellies get them. Or let them play with some of your spiders :)

  136. It works for the Bush administration... by bwcbwc · · Score: 1

    So why not?

    --
    We are the 198 proof..
  137. Where's the Data? by MrPCsGhost · · Score: 1

    If this is a mainframe, then the data (DASD) is probably elsewhere. I didn't catch anywhere exactly what was taken, but unless one was a Shark or EMC box, there's no data in danger. It's like someone stealing your motherboard.

    Thanks,
    Aaron

  138. Re:What really happened by Sri+Lumpa · · Score: 1


    Actually, I was thinking that this story would make a good rebuttal for that ad. Just run a similar ad and at the end add a "The same evening" screen and show two guys wheeling out the mainframe much more easily than if they had had to get dozens of Wintel servers out.

    --
    "The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
  139. How about this.... by T-Ranger · · Score: 1
    If you cant make a living doing that job.. GET ANOTHER JOB.

  140. Reminds me of the time I didn't tip an NYC cabbie by SnappingTurtle · · Score: 1
    As we were weaving through NYC traffic, he damn near hit a bicyclist. As he drove past, the cyclist told him to slow down. The cabbie just said "fuck you". I decided I damn well wasn't going to tip him for behavior like that.

    After we got out of the cab (yes, AFTER) I leaned in and gave him exact change. Then I told him that I wasn't tipping him because of what he said to the cyclist.

    I wish I could have stuck around to listen to the impressive string of incoherent cussing he yelled at me, but I was busy hustling my wife into the restaurant before she got scared. I just might have tipped him for an impressive performance.

    --
    I've found that my posts don't format quite right w/o a sig.
  141. "assuming you're not gay"? by jabber01 · · Score: 1

    It would be all too easy for one of the girls to suggest that you might have been up to something inappropriate, and there you are with the motive (assuming you're not gay) and the means.

    Aha! So, if I am ever accused of rape, sexual assault, or sleeping with some other man's wife, I'll just claim to be gay and flounce away scott free. Time to brush up by watching "Queer Eye" on Bravo!

    +1 Insightful! Why didn't *I* think of this?

    --

    The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
    What you do today will cost you a day of your life

    1. Re:"assuming you're not gay"? by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1
      I'll just claim to be gay and flounce away scott free.

      Well, the problem is that you'd need to establish a rather public body of evidence to back up your claim. Just like if you're accused of robbing a bank, you'd darn well better be a well-known Trappist monk if your sole defense is "I have no need or desire of money".

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    2. Re:"assuming you're not gay"? by jabber01 · · Score: 1

      I have a nice wardrobe, keep in shape AND work with computers. I must be gay! I even have a girlfriend to cover up my shame. :)

      --

      The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
      What you do today will cost you a day of your life

  142. Tres cyberpunk by lysium · · Score: 1
    Looks like we get all the down sides of the cyberpunk future with none of the attendant benefits. No wetware, orbital habitats, or arcologies -- but man, we do have the Sprawl, megacorps, and cortex bombs...

    ========

    --
    Together, we will drive the rats from the tundra.
  143. Stolen cash register by SnappingTurtle · · Score: 1
    Someone did the same thing to a pizza joint in Pennsylvania in the mid-80's. The reason it got so much attention was that President Reagan was "meeting with the people" just a few feet away.

    Man, that takes real balls.

    --
    I've found that my posts don't format quite right w/o a sig.
    1. Re:Stolen cash register by Syrrh · · Score: 1

      Not balls, that's some smart criminality. Wheel out everything that isn't bolted down while everyone's busy crowding around the cameras and the talking 6' jerky stick. If you wanted to be *really* ballsy, you'd imitate the TV crew's outfits, and act like you're moving the arcade games out of the way so you can bring in more broadcasting equipment.

  144. P/390 by LinuxHam · · Score: 1

    I have one of these these "mainframes on a card". I asked around the office if anyone had one, and a mainframe developer in Harrisburg wanted to get rid of one for a couple of years. So I drove out and picked it up. It runs OS/2 and has a real S/390 chip on a microchannel card. He had it way tweaked, and now I need to find out how to reload VM on it :( I got the installation media from someone at work, but he said it was for a newer version and would not work on the original P/390 I have.

    It is a *totally* different kind of beast, but I really need to learn it.

    Does anyone have a version 1 P/390 based on the PC Server 500, not the 330 with installation media? TiA

    --
    Intelligent Life on Earth
  145. Screw a machine shop... by SnappingTurtle · · Score: 1

    ... Congress did some hearings a few years ago on entire ships that have been lost. One of the congressman had a large photo of an entire ship that is listed in the Navy's inventory but nobody knows where it is.

    --
    I've found that my posts don't format quite right w/o a sig.
  146. UNC, 'twas a Novell server, back in 2001 by ehintz · · Score: 1

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/18265.html

    --
    ehintz
  147. Re:Reminds me of the time I didn't tip an NYC cabb by I_M_Noman · · Score: 1
    After we got out of the cab (yes, AFTER) I leaned in and gave him exact change
    That may be the way it's done in the UK, but here in NYC you pay before you exit the taxicab. Attempting to leave said cab without paying might result in bloodshed as many cabbies are packing heat. It's OK to pay exact change, but always pay while you're still in the cab.
  148. Re:OT, but the moral of that story... by murdocj · · Score: 1

    Even better, how about you become the "close friend" of the bank robber and stick to him like glue until he gets nervous and disarms the bomb. What's he going to do, blow you up?

  149. selfish reasons to tip by David+Jao · · Score: 1
    For restaurants, at least, there are actually some very good reasons why you should tip the waiters when considered from a purely selfish point of view.

    Eating out in the US is on average enormously cheaper than in any other first world country. Yeah, sure, there are some expensive restaurants, but in general the menu prices are far lower than in other countries with comparable standard of living, and the prices remain competitive even with the tip factored in.

    The whole reason menu prices are so low in this country is because the tipping system works.

    Now why does this help, you might ask? After all, don't you always "have" to pay the tip? Well, that's the thing: you don't always have to. For example, most restaurants accept take out orders, and you're not generally obliged to tip for take out orders. I'm not exactly suggesting that everyone rely on take out from now on, but it sure is nice to have the option.

    It's like price discrimination, except that the customer gets to choose the price. We should be propping up this system, because it's very advantageous from our point of view to be able to choose our own price.

  150. Tipping flight attendants by hashashin · · Score: 1
    Flight attendants don't take tips, and get offended when you offer one.

    That has not been my experience. In my experience, I try to tip flight attendants when I order drinks on the plane, and they have always said "thank you" and accepted the tip. Sometimes they show up, drop off the drink and split before I can give them the tip, but I assume that's because they don't expect the tip, not because they don't want it.

  151. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1

    Let's here it for government security!

    Reminds me of Rutger Hauer in the Stallone movie, "Nighthawks" - "Remember, there is no security!"

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

    Now can someone in the US wheel Bush out of the White House?

    BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  152. Re:Australia by Placido · · Score: 1

    Ahhh... you've stumbled on the mystery of "Go you big red fire engine!!"

    Go forth and multiply!!

    --

    Pinky: "What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain?"
    Brain: "I would tell you Pinky but this 120 char limi
  153. ATM stolen from police headquarters by Tech · · Score: 1

    A few months ago local newspapers were reporting that an ATM had been physically stolen from C.R. Swart building. Now theft of an ATM, as odd as it sounds, is one thing, but what makes this story particularly bizarre is the fact that C.R. Swart building happens to be the central headquarters of the South African Police Service in Durban, South Africa. The cash machine in question was installed inside the building, not even on the ground floor if I remember correctly, for the benefit of the local police men and women.

    Now I'm curious to know who they called when they discovered the theft.

  154. Out of Order by SagSaw · · Score: 1

    Another thing to look out for is to make sure that hardware marked Out-of-Order has been reported to the help-desk as such. My sophemore year of college, there was an incident in which a few students hid in a lab until security came an locked the door. They then went around and took all of the hardware out of three or four computer cases, leaving the case itself externally intact. Once they were finished, they printed official-looking out-of-order signs and placed them on the computers they had just stripped. The theft wasn't noticed until the faculty repsonsible for the lab called the help desk several days later to ask when the computers would be fixed.

    --
    Come test your mettle in the world of Alter Aeon!
  155. Put simply... by cpopin · · Score: 1

    ...The thieves have a lot of balls, and security has no teeth.

    Sounds a lot like 9/11.

    --
    -=- Many seek good nights and lose good days.
  156. Minor League by Lucas+Membrane · · Score: 1

    Look at all the stuff that Tony Pino stole before he got greedy and did the Brinks job. According to his standards, it's no big deal unless you can get at least one unknowing employee to help you carry the stuff out. He often did that. His wife wouldn't let him bring home a piano or a refrigerator without a receipt, so he'd steal those, too, or talk an employee into writing him one.

  157. Or... by soliaus · · Score: 1

    ...they just didnt get the memo.

    --
    Speaking at Defcon 12 - Credit Card Networks Revisted: Pen
  158. Re:So much for the vaunted security of mainframes. by afidel · · Score: 1

    After taking the mandatory electrical safety course for IBM field technicians I can tell you that IBM's tech writers already make it sound like that is a standard feature. The amount of time devoted in that course to electrical safety and lockout procedures is around 40 pages. Since the number of PC tech's outnumber techs who work on hardwired mainframes is probably 1,000:1 this fact amused me. And then I realized that I had just lost 2 hours of my life that I would never get back.

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  159. it went like this...... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    "Well Damn! You can't hack them, Joe, you loser! Hey, why don we just swipe th' fucken boxes instead? Shit this hightech dance."

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  160. It's times like these by msim · · Score: 1

    I'm proud to be an australian!

    --

    Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know when your gonna get food poisoning.
  161. Re:What I want to know... by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

    Usually an $85 meal includes more food and/or more people, or we lingered at the table longer and they had to bring us more drinks, or whatever. At least that's the way it works with us. I'm definately not much of one to go for $100/plate dinners.. :)

    --
    Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  162. My Theory by nocomment · · Score: 1

    It was replaced with just one server. ;-)

    --
    /* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
    /* http://allyourbasearebelongto.us */
  163. Re:OT, but the moral of that story... by rifter · · Score: 1

    Even better, how about you become the "close friend" of the bank robber and stick to him like glue until he gets nervous and disarms the bomb. What's he going to do, blow you up?

    Well, he could always shoot you in the head, or otherwise kill you; then he could call and complain that his pizza has not shown up yet and can they please send another driver... ;)