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Slashback: Unstranding, Xecurity, Spurning

Slashback tonight with words on the real-life security level of Mac OS X, the fate of stranded polar adventurer Jon Johanson, poetry for JenniCam, more on the Wright brothers & Co, and more. Read on for the details.

Multi-player markets are a good thing. Indiana University seems to be one of the first big fish to publicly announce a license agreement with Progeny's Transition Service. This service provides updates for RedHat 7.2, 7.3, and 8.0 beyond January 1st 2004, and RedHat 9 after May 1, 2004. According to the press release, this will allow for 'a flexible migration path as the University considers various options regarding Linux distributions during the coming year.'"

But I thought MPlayer ... Simon Bysshe writes "In response to some complaints about the WMV encoding of the recent pro-gaming film 'Intel Extreme Edition Challenge' (featured here on Slashdot). Intel have requested that the film also be encoded as a DIVX file especially for Slashdot. This divx file can now be downloaded here."

More on (At Least) 100 Years Of Powered Human Flight relbs was one of many to submit word (as reported by MIT News) of a replica of the Wright brothers' Flyer perched above the Great Dome early yesterday morning, and relbs adds a link to additional photos, too.

They had better luck getting off the ground than did those trying to actually fly a Wright flyer: CrazyTalk writes "As a follow-on to the earlier story, the much-ballyhooed attempt to recreate the first flight of the Wright's literally fell flat."

Maltese Falcon writes with another candidate for First Powered Flight. "Or was it Gustave Weiskopf (aka Gustave Whitehead)? There are many claims that he flew up to 2 yrs before the Wright Bros. NPR's report yesterday seemed to imply almost paranoia as far as a conspiracy to why the NASM only recognizes the Wrights, but this link provides more info on why this could be true. Look here for another article."

Speaking of audacious pilots, jcenters writes "An earlier Slashdot story reported that Australian adventurer Jon Johanson was trapped in Antarctica, and scientists stationed there refused to sell him fuel. Reuters is reporting that Johanson has now obtained fuel from a British rival, but weather conditions are preventing his departure. Johanson hopes to leave by the end of the weekend."

BlameFate writes that "British adventurer, Polly Vacher has allowed Johanson to use her pre-stored fuel at the base after her expedition was forced to be cancelled. Fox News has the scoop. Choice quote from the head of NZ's Antarctic Research dept: 'Polly's trip was well organized and properly planned,' he said. 'It is ironic that she is now assisting a stranded pilot who embarked upon an ill-prepared and secret flight over the South Pole.'"

If something happens in Berkeley, does it count as a "real world" experience? codythefreak writes to deflect certain barbs lately directed at the security level of Mac OS X: "Working as a sysadmin at UC Berkeley's Residential Computing, since we serve more than 6,000 clients living in the dorms, we tend to know the major computing trends. There are 5,120 registered Windows XP machines in our system, and our staff have logged 2,452 duty logs to assist them (about one in two). On the other hand, there are 341 Mac OS X machines, and only 56 duty logs (about one in six). If we restrict these to virus and security related duty logs: Windows XP has 491 (about one in ten) and OS X has 2 (less than one in a hundred)!"

(See also this well-reasoned response to the recent OS X criticism.)

Was it the tail? Really, is the pointy tail a deal-breaker? Mister.de points out this Seattle Post-Intelligencer story which says "VMware Inc., a business-software maker that is being acquired by EMC Corp. for $635 million, turned down an offer last year from Microsoft Corp.

'"We were unable to come to terms, so they bought out our distant competitor, Connectix" Corp., said Diane Greene, VMware's chief executive officer and co-founder.'"

Alas, we hardly knew ye. dlc3007 writes "The Register has published the results of the JenniCam Poetry Competition. There is little funnier in the world than creative geeks pouring their hearts and souls into 'a haiku or limerick lamenting the demise of JenniCam.'" I can think of some things ...

Battlestar Galactica 2003: Series Highly Likely, Say Recent Rumors Cliff writes: "Syfy Portal reports that officials for the Sci-Fi channel are likely to announce that the new Battlestar Galactica will become a series, most likely to air as early as Summer of 2004. No official announcement has yet been made, but since the 'mini-series' is Sci-Fi channel's third highest rated program, it is assumed that such an announcement will be made before the end of 2003, if they are going to keep options on the major actors. Personally, I'm looking forward to the show, as long as they stay away from monkeys in robot-dog suits!"

228 comments

  1. And let's not forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The news of the day:

    Real is suing Microsoft for abusing its OS monopoly in digital audio/video markets

    1. Re:And let's not forget by bigjocker · · Score: 1

      How is the parent a Troll?

      Please somebody mod this up, it's a great read

      --
      Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.
    2. Re:And let's not forget by NanoGator · · Score: 1

      "How is the parent a Troll?"

      Probably because these cases only seem to pop up when a company is teetering on the edge of going out of business.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    3. Re:And let's not forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
      Without suggesting Real is or isn't in the right in this, wouldn't you generally expect a victim of antitrust behaviour to be teetering on the brink?

      I mean, someone with a high market share raking in the dough is clearly not being damaged by antitrust behaviour. Likewise, you wouldn't expect a mugging victim to have a wallet full of cash.

      Apologies. Logic and reason on Slashdot when I'm supposed to quote Ann Rand and whine about big bad government regulating the tech industry. I know.

      Whine whine whine. Hey, do you want to hear a joke?

      An Australian ventriloquist visiting Kentucky, walks along a country road and sees a local farmer on his porch patting his dog. He figures he'll have a little fun.

      Aussie: "G'day Mate! Good looking dog, mind if I speak with him?"

      Farmer: "Don't be stupid, the dog doesn't talk"

      Aussie: "Hello dog, how's it going mate?"

      Dog: "Doin' all right."

      The farmer is astonished.

      Aussie: "Is this guy your owner?"

      Dog: "Yep"

      Aussie: "How does he treat you?"

      Dog: "Real good. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food and takes me to the lake once a week to play."

      The farmer's mouth falls open in utter disbelief.

      Aussie: "Mind if I talk to your horse?"

      Farmer: "Uh, the horse doesn't talk either... I don't think."

      Aussie: "Hey horse, how's it going?"

      Horse: "Cool"

      Now the farmer is absolutely dumbfounded.

      Aussie: "Is this your owner?"

      Horse: "Yep"

      Aussie: "How does he treat you?"

      Horse: "Pretty good, thanks for asking. He rides me, brushes me down often and keeps me in the barn to protect me from the elements."

      Farmer: Stagger back in amazement.

      Aussie: "Mind if I talk to your sheep?"

      Farmer: "The sheep's a f**king liar."

    4. Re:And let's not forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about it's in the fucking slashback itself?

    5. Re:And let's not forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't get it.

    6. Re:And let's not forget by Per+Wigren · · Score: 1

      Well, Real would probably have a lot more happy users if they didn't abuse their users by screwing up the whole fucking OS when installing it on Windows..

      --
      My other account has a 3-digit UID.
    7. Re:And let's not forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sorry, call me dumb if you want, but this joke makes no sense. Could someone explain it to me? Obviously there are people out there who find it funny, otherwise it'd not be modded +5, but I don't understand it. Is the ventriloquist making the farmer talk at the end or what exactly?

    8. Re:And let's not forget by Anonymous+Slacker · · Score: 1

      Agreed. That and it's constant requests to "correct" the fact that I did not let it be the default program for most media types are the reason I removed it from my system a couple years back and have refused to allow it on since. (I only gave it .rm and .ram files, since those are the only ones I can't play with something else. And since that time, I've hardly missed anything useful by not viewing .rm or .ram files)

      --
      "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!" -Rush
    9. Re:And let's not forget by Anonymous+Slacker · · Score: 1

      After making the dog and horse "talk," the farmer becomes nervous of what the sheep might say, possibly revealing some indecent behaviour on the farmer's part toward certain animals, so the farmer attempts to discredit anything the sheep might say before it has the chance, by calling it a liar.
      What are the odds, a farm joke on /. about FUD?

      --
      "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!" -Rush
  2. Pollys quote was a little different... by Space+cowboy · · Score: 4, Informative

    The BBC had her standing up for the stranded Jon, although interestingly enough, the new page (just checked it) hasn't got the quote on it any more. It went something like "Jon's flight was as carefully planned as mine, and it was the highly unseasonal winds that caused us both problems".

    It just seems to me as though there's a lot more going on behind the scenes than the scientists out there are all admitting to...

    Simon.

    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
    1. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by Nasarius · · Score: 1

      Or it's just the usual Fox News idiocy. They're not a source I would trust to properly present any kinda of news. Even someone who agrees with their politics has to admit they run a lot of junk news.

      --
      LOAD "SIG",8,1
    2. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by dcam · · Score: 1

      The quote is:
      Of Mr Johanson's predicament, she added: "There are no rules to prevent you flying non-stop over Antarctica.

      "He had enough fuel and reserve fuel based on the weather forecast and all the planning that we had done but what he encountered were winds that were not forecast by anybody."

      Story here

      --
      meh
    3. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by andynz · · Score: 2, Interesting
      We saw a lot of coverage of this in NZ. He struck head winds soon after he left NZ, and would have known very early on that there was no way he was going to make it to Argentina. He planned to land at Scott Base the whole time.

      Also, he was scarcely stranded. He had been offered a ride back to NZ in an Air Force Hercules, and he could have arranged to have the plane shipped back later.

      When he did get the fuel, it is telling that he did not continue on to Argentina as per his 'plan', but went straight back to NZ. I had no sympathy for this individual and applaud the stance of the NZ and US governments.

      I am sick and tired of so-called 'adventurers' depending on other people to help when they almost invariably get into trouble (another adventurer recently got into trouble and had to be rescued by a NZ government ship at considerable taxpayer expense).

    4. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by evil_roy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why do people always swallow the "at considerable taxpayer expense" line that is thrown about whenever an adventurer is rescued at sea?

      Naval vessels cost a lot to run whether they are at sea or not. Salaries are paid, maintenance is carried out. More often than not these rescues provide real life training for the crews that is not possible in simulations. Actual cost is nil, it means things are done (eg training) out of schedule - but they would be done anyway.

    5. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think Jon should stick to removing DRM schemes like CSS and Apple's protected AAC. It's much safer than ballooning across the poles, IMO. Much, much, safer.

    6. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by andynz · · Score: 2, Informative
      The ship was not Naval. It was a NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) vessel. Rescuing morons with too much time/money on their hands is not part of NIWAs job. They were guided there by an Air Force plane. NZ's overstretched and underfunded Air Force has enough on their plate and finding the 'adventurer' was scarcely a challenging training exercise for them (especially seeing as he phoned for help on a satellite phone and had a GPS on him).

      The idiot had no business being there and was previously warned not to attempt his expedition due to the high risk (he had already been rescued once).

      It is getting ridiculous, his expedition cost NZ$500,000. Couldn't the money used by these ballooning/rowing/dogsledding/flying dickheads be used for useful purposes instead?

    7. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by norweigiantroll · · Score: 2, Funny

      What is Jon Johansen doing way down there in Antarctica anyways? I thought he was in trial in Norway?

    8. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by nathanm · · Score: 1
      Why do people always swallow the "at considerable taxpayer expense" line that is thrown about whenever an adventurer is rescued at sea?
      Did you read this part of the article the parent poster linked to?
      It was Mr Shekhdar's second rescue in four weeks and will cost around $100,000.
      I'm glad governments have search and rescue capabilities, but this guy doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes. His second rescue was within a month of being rescued for the same reason!
      Naval vessels cost a lot to run whether they are at sea or not. Salaries are paid, maintenance is carried out. More often than not these rescues provide real life training for the crews that is not possible in simulations. Actual cost is nil, it means things are done (eg training) out of schedule - but they would be done anyway.
      Again, did you read this part?
      National Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokesman Paul Harrison said the 10-hour Orion flight would cost about $100,000, which was not recoverable.
      The ship may have been at sea regardless, but a 10 hr flight in any aircraft is expensive and would've been unnecessary. I wouldn't be surprised if rescuers ignore his calls for help in the future.
    9. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Scientists? Fight like preschoolers? Nah, ya don't say.

    10. Re:Pollys quote was a little different... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I sat by the fire
      Isn't it good
      Norwegian wood

  3. / back! by Metallic+Matty · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well folks, that's it for Slashback Forum. Now standby for Battlestar Galatica Forum.

    Puts on Robot Helmet.

    (Robot Voice) Welcome to Battlestar Galatica Forum.

    1. Re:/ back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is what happens when you have karma to burn.

    2. Re:/ back! by oldwolf13 · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding?

      All Family Guy related quotes shood be modded up +6

      --
      If I can't smoke and swear I'm fucked.
    3. Re:/ back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      by your command

    4. Re:/ back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah....and KISS sucks!

  4. Ack by cscx · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Polly reminds me of my 12th grade English teacher... creepy!

    1. Re:Ack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pollard perhaps?

  5. JenniCam Winners by radicalskeptic · · Score: 5, Funny

    They have about 20 or more poems up on the Register website, so for those of you who are too lazy to wade through to the two winners:

    Jennicam is dead
    good. For so many reasons
    voyeurs sob. goodbye.

    Jennicam is dead.
    Good for so many reasons.
    Voyeurs sob goodbye.

    and...

    We wanted to see Jenni's muff
    But PayPal's now said that's enough
    So no view of the rug
    'Cause they've pulled the plug
    Fuck PayPal, they can get stuffed

    --
    WARNING: If accidentally read, induce vomiting.
  6. DIVX != MPEG4 by MobyDisk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can we stop calling all MPEG4 video "DIVX?" It is quite annoying. It would be like calling all operating systems "Windows." I am downloading the file now, and it may indeed be compressed with DIVX, but it should be called an MPEG-4 video since that is the final output format, regardless of the AVI FOURCC marker. Maybe we should call "HTML" "MicroSoft Web Content" if I use Microsoft Notepad to generate it, but "Emacs Markup-language" if I use Emacs.

    Sorry, pet peeve, I'm done now.

    1. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok....

      as long as we can call all phags 'Mobydisks' ... /AnalDiamondProducer

    2. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh your just jealous of how uber MPEG-4 is.

    3. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by devphil · · Score: 1


      Actually, I'm glad you mentioned this, because I had no clue what DIVX was. I read the article and was like, "I don't have a DivX player, oh well ."

      If the /. "editors" actually lived to to their claimed titles, they could correct these things.

      --
      You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
    4. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Slashdot editors do not modify the content of submissions. They never have and never will.

    5. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Informative

      "I am downloading the file now, and it may indeed be compressed with DIVX, but it should be called an MPEG-4 video since that is the final output format, regardless of the AVI FOURCC marker."

      MPEG4 files (i.e. files generated so that any MPEG4 compliant viewer can play them) have the extension MP4. DivX is a mutated version of MPEG4, thus it deserves the seperate distinction.
      In other words, I'm having trouble seeing the justification of your nitpick here.

      "Maybe we should call "HTML" "MicroSoft Web Content" if I use Microsoft Notepad to generate it, but "Emacs Markup-language" if I use Emacs."

      This is a bad example. There is, however, code that only works in IE and not in other browsers. It's code that only works in IE, so it wouldn't be all that improper to informally call it MSML. Nobody's doing that, but it'd be hard to nail them on it.

      It's all about standards compliance here, and DivX does not conform to Mpeg4. You have to tell it specifically to make an MPEG4 file, and when it does, it saves it with the MP4 extension.

      So, yeah, save it for when somebody calls an MP4 file DivX.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    6. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by parkanoid · · Score: 2, Informative

      Uhm, what? DivX is a derivative of MPEG4, not just a tool for producing open standard-compliant files - as a text editor would be in your case - as you can see on DivX networks' page.

    7. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by evilviper · · Score: 3, Informative
      Can we stop calling all MPEG4 video "DIVX?"

      I don't think anyone is calling MPEG4 video (in a modified MOV/MP4 container with AC3 audio) a Divx file.

      OTOH, what everyone *is* calling a Divx file, is very specific... Divx is MPEG4 video, fit into an AVI container, and almost always with MPEG-1 Layer3 audio. I think the designation "Divx" is quite appropriate for that.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    8. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by evilviper · · Score: 1
      as you can see on DivX networks' page.

      Hey, that's a pretty good link!

      Scroll to the bottom, and you see the link to the old Circuit City "Divx" players is "the-doa.com"... It's a wonder anyone invested in it with a foreshadowing name like that! :-)
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    9. Re:DIVX != MPEG4 by devphil · · Score: 1


      Then what are they editing? Fixing wrong things is what editors em>do. Or at least, add some commentary.

      --
      You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
  7. Battlestar Galactica by Goo.cc · · Score: 1

    I expected to hate SciFi's Battlestar Galactica but I ended up loving it. Still, I would prefer SciFi to do Battlestar Galactica as a series of miniseries rather than a regular series, since I feel that the quality of the show could not be maintained as such.

    1. Re:Battlestar Galactica by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 1

      I'm actually pretty optimistic. I was blown away by the BG miniseries, after expecting it to be absolute shit -- but the things I didn't like about it were mainly rough edges that I suspect will be nicely worn away in a series format, as the actors get more comfortable in their roles.

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    2. Re:Battlestar Galactica by snilloc · · Score: 1
      Ditto.

      Actually, it would be nice if they just finished the miniseries. (Is two shows a "series"?)

      The second ep really left me hanging...

  8. These nerds have nothing better to do than stay by unterderbrucke · · Score: 0

    home and write poems to some internet girl.

    Whoa.

    1. Re:These nerds have nothing better to do than stay by cscx · · Score: 0
  9. BitTorrent link for Extreme Edition Challenge? by DrunkenTerror · · Score: 1

    Who got the goods?

  10. Isn't it ironic?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Actually, it isn't ironic. It makes sense that someone who planned their trip well would have the capacity to help out some who was ill-prepared.

    As usual, they completely misused the term "ironic".

    Alanis Morrisette: +1
    English language: -1

    1. Re:Isn't it ironic?? by El · · Score: 1

      You're saying the song should have been named "Isn't it pathetic" instead?

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    2. Re:Isn't it ironic?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From the point of view of the fuel, to have sat there for so long only to be gifted to someone so unworthy is somewhat ironic. If I were fuel that had so meticulously been delivered to the south pole, it would be contrary to my expected outcome to be consumed by such an unprepared imbecile.

      That said, I doubt the poster truly meant to anthropomorphize the fuel.

  11. Dodgy data by m00nun1t · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They are using the number of support calls to determine the security of an OS? Maybe the fact that they are using OSX immediately indicates that in many cases they are a more technical user and so are less likely to need support.

    The unwashed masses don't make a choice, and thus get WinXP by default - of course they will need more support.

    1. Re:Dodgy data by Eyes666 · · Score: 1

      Uh...aren't Macs known for their ease of use? I would guess that is more of a factor than having a more 'technical' ownership group.

    2. Re:Dodgy data by Carnildo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      They are using the number of support calls to determine the security of an OS? Maybe the fact that they are using OSX immediately indicates that in many cases they are a more technical user and so are less likely to need support.

      Macintosh computers are marketed towards people who are new to using computers, and to the casual user. If anything, Mac users tend to be less technical than the general population.

      --
      "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
    3. Re:Dodgy data by Grimster · · Score: 1

      Yeah both people I know who use Macs are total newbies to computers so there's your proof!

      --
      --- www.f-theocean.com
    4. Re:Dodgy data by Night+Goat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Since when are Mac OS X users assumed to be more technical? You don't need to know shit about computers to use OS X. Sure, you CAN do some pretty technical stuff with it, but your average college student is going to be writing papers and, if they're art students, doing some Photoshop or using some other specialized programs. They're not going to be any more technically inclined than their Windows-using classmates.
      OS X is as easy to use (in my opinion) as the previous Mac OSes were. There's just a lot more going on behind the scenes in OS X.

    5. Re:Dodgy data by Tadrith · · Score: 1

      One could also make the statement that because Macs are marketed toward (and purportedly purchased by) those who know nothing about computers, they are less likely to go on wild adventures in their operating systems, unlike those who use Windows who may or may not be technically savvy.

    6. Re:Dodgy data by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Interesting

      " Maybe the fact that they are using OSX immediately indicates that in many cases they are a more technical user and so are less likely to need support."

      I would add that if they're using OSX, they're probably using it for a very specific reason, illustration for example. If all that Mac does is run Illustrator all day, then no, you're not going to need a lot of support calls on it unless something fails.

      Anyway, the point of my post isn't to defend XP, but merely to point out that these numbers aren't qualified well enough to draw any real conclusions. An OSX zealot could bend them into the shape of "Windows is a crappy bug riddled OS", whereas a Windows zealot could spin it like "OSX has less software, therefore it has fewer chances to break." The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but since we don't know much more than the most drastic numbers in the vaguest sense, it would be ill advised to take this data and try to win an argument with it.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    7. Re:Dodgy data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think when it come's down to it more MAC user's that I still know are useing OS9.

      I wouldnt be surprised if almost all non technical MAC user's immediately switch there machine's over to 9 as soon as they arrive.

      os9 is for non technical user's and osx is for the geek's

    8. Re:Dodgy data by BlueSteel · · Score: 1

      Mac users more technical? HA! I happen to remember when our Creative Director called me at home because he couldn't get on the internet. His description of the problem?
      "Uh, the big blue 'e' went away"
      ... Apparently he had pulled IE out of the dock.

    9. Re:Dodgy data by weston · · Score: 1

      I would add that if they're using OSX, they're probably using it for a very specific reason, illustration for example. If all that Mac does is run Illustrator all day, then no, you're not going to need a lot of support calls on it unless something fails.

      Fair enough, but to be equally fair enough, you need to consider:

      (1) Almost no one doesn't use email and a web browser these days. Even if they are mostly doing design work.

      (2) It seems likely to me that most PC users stick to a small subset of applications as well (Office + Web browser and Email).

      The designers where I work are also usually running several other applications to boot: Photoshop, Flight Check, Indesign or Quark,

    10. Re:Dodgy data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "more technical user"?

      last time I looked the only qualification you need to use a mac is a huge pile of cash....

    11. Re:Dodgy data by oscarm · · Score: 2, Funny

      or could it be that their (Mac owners) OS is less likely to go on wild adventures without them?

    12. Re:Dodgy data by Tadrith · · Score: 1

      That's pretty funny, actually. :P

    13. Re:Dodgy data by mj_1903 · · Score: 1
      I would argue against this actually, especially with these new switchers appearing on the platform. Take for instance, myself.

      I used to struggle to achieve anything on Windows simply due to the fact that it was so unbelievably unstable. Sure, I could get my work done (coding) but I always had issues.

      Step forward to Linux. I could do my coding more effectively, but couldn't do the simple things that I took for granted on Windows as well, so I moved back (I don't want to fuss around with my computer, I want to use my computer and yes, Linux has improved massively since then).

      Fast forward to today. I use my PowerBook for more than just coding now. I have all the coding wonders at my fingertips and use them heavily, but on top of that I have broadend my horizons. I now do some digital photography, some illustration work, and most importantly I make home movies. These type of things I just couldn't achive on the Windows and Linux boxen. Now, thanks to Mac OS X I am doing more with my computer (which is in the long run a bad thing).

      Now I am not saying I am normal, but I have certainly seen this among switchers. They can achieve more with less so they do more. And no, I am not defending OS X, I am simply giving my point of view, and yes, I have used Windows XP in the last year and found it was really good for one thing, games.

    14. Re:Dodgy data by 0racle · · Score: 1

      I remember that an instructor of mine once said "Mac's are great for the beginner and for the advanced user, but not in between." So, who knows, he was also thinking OS 7-8 at the time. Damn its hard to type with a band-aid on your index finger.

      --
      "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
    15. Re:Dodgy data by russellh · · Score: 3, Insightful
      One could also make the statement that because Macs are marketed toward (and purportedly purchased by) those who know nothing about computers, they are less likely to go on wild adventures in their operating systems, unlike those who use Windows who may or may not be technically savvy.

      It could be... but in my experience the average Windows user knows they are always one click away from disaster and really don't want to reinstall the OS again. Although XP sucks less, as the saying goes, non-newbies still have deep psychological wounds from previous versions of Windows.

      --
      must... stay... awake...
    16. Re:Dodgy data by crayz · · Score: 1

      New Macs don't even support OS 9, and if these people are so damn non-technical, they probably would have no idea how to wipe their HD and go back to OS 9.

      Besides....*shudder*

    17. Re:Dodgy data by delmoi · · Score: 1

      They are using the number of support calls to determine the security of an OS? Maybe the fact that they are using OSX immediately indicates that in many cases they are a more technical user and so are less likely to need support.

      What, mac users are more technical now? Dispite OSX's unix core, Apple still appeals to non-techies, and is marketed twards them.

      Even if you excluded viruses, there are a lot more 'scripts' for the script kiddies to use against windows. Even if their theoretical security is equal, their practical security is much, much worse.

      You need a better lock on your door if you live in the Brox then you do if you live in Ames, IA.

      --

      ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
    18. Re:Dodgy data by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
      If all that Mac does is run Illustrator all day, then no, you're not going to need a lot of support calls on it unless something fails.

      But we can be pretty sure that they are browsing the web, sending email, and using word processors. These same activities on Windows expose you to viruses, trojans, etc.

      And you're more likely to have problems runing DTP all day than with simple office apps, malware aside. (Problems importing files, colour space, printing, scratch space, fonts, fonts and fonts.)

    19. Re:Dodgy data by osu-neko · · Score: 1

      That was definately true in the System 6 and 7 says, but frankly with OS X I think it's truer (truer? or more true?) now than it ever was. Still really great for beginners, totally awesome for Unix wonks, and leaving intermediate users wanting more than they get as beginners but not savvy enough to deal with the dark underbelly of Unix...

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
  12. Berkeley by SpacePunk · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nothing there counts as a 'real world' experience.

    1. Re:Berkeley by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so that time at that party when i was really drunk and gave some dude a handjob doesn't count?

      sweet. heterosexuality, here i come!

    2. Re:Berkeley by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bruce!

  13. Pointy Tail? by kramer2718 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Was it the tail? Really, is the pointy tail a deal-breaker?

    Hmmm. I don't get it? The header seemed to refer to some potential BSD deal that was quashed, but the story is talking about VMWare, Microsoft and EMC Corp.

    What gives? Did I miss something?

    1. Re:Pointy Tail? by applef00 · · Score: 1
      Was it the tail? Really, is the pointy tail a deal-breaker?
      Hmmm. I don't get it? The header seemed to refer to some potential BSD deal that was quashed, but the story is talking about VMWare, Microsoft and EMC Corp.
      What gives? Did I miss something?
      I don't know if you're being serious or not. So I'll answer seriously. I believe that they are referring to the fact that many on Slashdot view Microsoft in general and Bill Gates in particular, as Satan. Satan is generally depicted as having a pointy tail.
    2. Re:Pointy Tail? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      sigh...
      Microsoft=Satan joke

    3. Re:Pointy Tail? by Fishstick · · Score: 1

      Yep, would have been funnier/more obvious if there was some reference to grey-greenish skin, cybernetic implants and nanoprobes.

      Afterall, Bill & Co are no longer more evil than Satan

      --

      There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
      Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.

    4. Re:Pointy Tail? by aminorex · · Score: 1

      I think the poster mistook the 666 tattoo
      as an indicator that there was a tail stuffed
      in monkeyboy's pants.

      --
      -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
  14. Steam powered engines? by stubear · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to the piece Discovery Channel was running on the Wright Flyer yesterday (Dec. 17th), the Wright Brothers specifically steered away from steam powered engines because it took roughly 100 lbs. per horsepower and tehy wanted 8 horse power from each engine. That would have been a whopping 1600 lbs. for the engines alone. They wound up developing an gas powered aluminum engine similar to the ones Henry Ford was developing at the time as well. The engines painstakingly recreated for the replica weighed in at 170lbs. a piece and produced about 14 horse power each. Either Whitehead discovered a way to magically make significantly lighter steam-powered engines or the Discovery Channel show was grossly wrong in their estimates.

    1. Re:Steam powered engines? by Lars+T. · · Score: 1
      In case you missed it, the Wright plane replica didn't fly. So lighter engines is obviously not the panacea here, but good aerodynamics may well be.

      Of course, that steam engine was used (or not) in the flight that supposedly took place 4 years before the Wright's first flight. The much better documented flights 2 years later "were made by Whitehead in a monoplane powered with a kerosene burning engine.", using something like this three-cylinder, 18 horsepower, four-cycle motor constructed by Whitehead, approximately 1901. But actually "(Number 22) is run by a 40-horsepower kerosene motor of my own design, especially constructed for strength, power and lightness, weighing but 120 pounds complete... Ignition is accomplished by its own heat and compression; it runs about 800 revolutions per minute, has five cylinders and no fly-wheel is used. It requires a space 16 inches wide, 4 feet long and 16 inches high...".

      All in all, this story shows how some things change (the way the patent office hands out patents), and soma things don't (like how theWrights use the same tactics as Microsoft when dealing with "partners"). Wait, strike that - what better way to show that an invention doesn't "contravene the known laws of science" than to have prior art? So nothing really changed.

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

    2. Re:Steam powered engines? by jrstewart · · Score: 1
      In case you missed it, the Wright plane replica didn't fly. So lighter engines is obviously not the panacea here, but good aerodynamics may well be.

      Actually, it did fly. Three times earlier this month. Just not today. It had been raining all morning on the anniversary and the humidity was too high for the finicky engine.
  15. Funnier than a... by pixelgeek · · Score: 5, Funny

    -- -- There is little funnier in the world than creative geeks pouring their hearts and souls into 'a haiku or limerick lamenting the demise of JenniCam.'"

    -- I can think of some things ...

    "Full body cavity searches" is an easy start to what would turn out to be a pretty lengthy list.

  16. Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned..." by mellon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So the well-reasoned article explaining why Apple's way of doing things is okay basically says "they're following RFC2131, so they're okay." But it is a well-known and much-lamented fact that DHCP provides no security. So if you depend on DHCP to be secure, you are not secure. At all. That's not well-reasoned, at least in my book.

    I'm sorry, but saying "but the RFC doesn't provide security, so it's not our fault that our setup isn't secure" is no good. The mistake Apple is making is precisely that if you try to build a secure system whose security depends on a non-secure protocol, you can't possibly wind up with a system that's secure.

    This has nothing to do with Microsoft, and everything to do with bad system design. It'd be fine if Apple was using DHCP to get the address of the LDAP server, and then verifying the identity of the LDAP server, but they aren't currently doing this. This is what's missing. It is really, honest to god, a problem that Apple is shipping systems wide open like this. It is easy for me to get root on your laptop if you haven't disabled LDAP passwords (which are enabled by default) and you bring it onto an open network.

    I agree with the general idea that the PC guy who wrote the article was out of line, but that doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye to an actual security problem just because it's on MacOS X and not on Windows. If we do that often enough, we'll be fulfilling this guy's prophecy.

    And I'm sorry, but I don't care if leaving this security hole makes Macs a tiny bit easier to administer. Get over it. The first time someone compromises all the Macs on your network by setting up a fake LDAP/DHCP service, you'll be wishing you'd had the opportunity to spend a minute longer setting up each shiny new Mac in exchange for spending an hour less rebuilding each compromised Mac.

  17. Re:HOW THE FUCK IS THE PARENT COMMENT A TROLL? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nothing is offtopic on Slashback, that's why they have Slashback.

  18. Re:Saddam? by erlenic · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Does anyone really give a shit what the catholic church has to say about it? They're not even in the UN.

  19. DivX vs. Ogg Media by Noksagt · · Score: 3, Funny

    They made a DivX file just for slashdot? I would have thought this crowd would rather have had Ogg Media files.

    1. Re:DivX vs. Ogg Media by DeltaSigma · · Score: 1

      Uhm... Vorbis is ready, I don't think the overall media project is...

    2. Re:DivX vs. Ogg Media by evilviper · · Score: 1
      I would have thought this crowd would rather have had Ogg Media files.

      Theora is still only in Alpha.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    3. Re:DivX vs. Ogg Media by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Actually, people are already making Ogg media files, except they're using XviD for the video codec instead of Theora. It's getting pretty popular in the DVD *ahem* backup scene, especially for foreign movies, since the Ogg container format handles things like multiple audio and subtitle tracks a little more gracefully than AVI does.

    4. Re:DivX vs. Ogg Media by evilviper · · Score: 1
      people are already making Ogg media files, except they're using XviD for the video codec instead of Theora.

      I'm well aware of that... I've made many of them myself, although I mainly stick with AVIs, since Ogm support is poor, and tools for working with ogg files just aren't available.

      the Ogg container format handles things like multiple audio and subtitle tracks a little more gracefully than AVI does.

      The container does, but since all the players that support Ogms are practially stone-aged, the benefits are far outweighed by the problems.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  20. OS X Xecurity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know what that say about statisticX?

  21. WTF? by NanoGator · · Score: 1

    "Personally, I'm looking forward to the show, as long as they stay away from monkeys in robot-dog suits!"

    What was wrong with the daggit? Was this an attempt at humor, or did people genuinely hate that machine?

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  22. Simillar experience with Mac security. by n()_cHIEFz · · Score: 3, Informative

    I worked at the technical support desk for the university I attend. I don't have any hard numbers to give but from my experience there about 99% of the calls for assitance were for machines running Windows. I never once in the two years I worked for the help desk had a call about a Mac virus, or worm. Almost all calls concerning Mac were problems with our long range etherenet and OS X computers not getting an IP address properly from the DHCP server without a reboot. There just wasn't anything to troubleshoot with Mac's they just seemed to work.

    And no I'm no Mac zealot, although I use them quite a bit (I now work for the UNIX System Admin group and there are quite a few Xserves popping up around campus).

    --
    -- Is it a right to remain ignorant? -- Calvin
    1. Re:Simillar experience with Mac security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Where I work there are 20x Windows IT people to Mac IT people, yet the number of macs and windows machine is around a 1:3 ratio. The mac people also double as Linux support since they are more intelligent. So what happens when they have meetings?

      the windows people argue that we need to standardize on one platform and want to take a vote. Of course they outnumber the mac people so the vote always comes down to Windows, for exactly the wrong reasons!

      Fortunatley despite several orders to standardize the endusers ignored them. The reason the end users could do this is that the mac people can live in environments where they get little to no IT support. Not true of windows people who poop their pants trying to network a computer in place where win98, win200 and XP all keep trying to overwrite the printers configurations and no one can find a driver that works with all their software.

    2. Re:Simillar experience with Mac security. by SpacePunk · · Score: 1, Troll

      If Mac's were as popular as windows boxes, Macs would have as much or more problems with virii and other malicious programs.

    3. Re:Simillar experience with Mac security. by repetty · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      "If Mac's were as popular as windows boxes, Macs would have as much or more problems with virii and other malicious programs."

      Got some statistics to support that wild assertion? Any at all? Not even one fucking number?

      I thought not. Troll.

    4. Re:Simillar experience with Mac security. by n()_cHIEFz · · Score: 1

      I seriously doubt that. Mac's by default don't have as many exploitable services turned on. Also seems like patches are addressed quicker than with windows, but patches are for nothing with out an admin that applies them.

      --
      -- Is it a right to remain ignorant? -- Calvin
  23. Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by goombah99 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Mac's are so simple your grandma can use them. Heck even a theater arts major or political sci major can use them. Arguing that only sophisticated users use macs is oddly both crazy....and true. Its the same reason that both diserning car owners/racers and people who know nothing about car owners exept they want something sexy that works buy BMWs, mercedes and volvos.

    Windows people buy Pontiac Firebirds thinking they are powerful but really getting 4 cylinder peice of maintinence hell.

    linux users are like fiat owners. And people who re-program their honda's computers. Fun cars if you can keep up with the tweaking and constant search for parts.

    by the way did any one read that rebuttal on the DNS security hole. After you get past the neener neener bit the discussion on the DNS protocol makes the guy who reported it and the Slashdotters who slammed mac look like total idiots.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Mac's are so simple your grandma can use them. Heck
      > even a theater arts major or political sci major can use
      > them.

      Persenally Ive had to teach many people how to use computer's, and the one that everyone turns out as likeing more is KDE. Not Windows or supposed to be simple 'OSX' but KDE on LINUX!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe all the MAC user's just like it because it work's the same as other OS9 and before but when it come's to real ease of use I'll take KDE ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    2. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by bjarvis354 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      by the way did you read that rebuttal on the DNS security hole? If you had you might have noticed that it is a DHCP problem not a DNS security hole.

    3. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by Hillman · · Score: 1
      political sci major can use them


      I take offense. Take that back.

    4. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by snilloc · · Score: 1

      Ditto. I resent being compared to a theater arts major. Maybe somebody just isn't aware of good poli sci programs, or what might distinguish a good program from a lousy one.

    5. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      KDE is crud. Well, it's much less crud than many other desktop environments, but compared to OS X and in many areas, Windows, KDE and Gnome both leave a lot to be desired. I can't believe any newbies preferred KDE unless the example is heavily weighted towards it (and I assume NONE of them spent any real comparison time with OS X if they had an Intel machine...)

      However, KDE steadily improving and has made tremendous progress. It will eventually be usable by "average" desktop users (sooner than later). For now, even 3.2 is *still* an environment for the mostly technical snobs (I'm sorry, I want to hack around with my computer because I WANT to, not because I'm FORCED to).

      BTW, you can fairly easily run KDE on OS X, if you really prefer it...

    6. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay macs aren't that trivial I guess, perhaps a poli-sci major cant use one afterall.

    7. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 1

      I'm going to slap a VTEC sticker on my laptop, and maybe add an aftermarket spoiler.

      On a side note, the HD on my server fried the same week I've been taking the bus. Coincidence?

      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
    8. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by shking · · Score: 1
      linux users are like fiat owners.

      ROTFLMAO!

      Fix
      It
      Again
      Tony

      ...and yet, I bought an Alfa after I crashed the 124 spider

      --
      -- "At Microsoft, quality is job 1.1" -- PC Magazine, Nov. 1994
    9. Re:Uh dude, mac's selling point is simplicity by Haeleth · · Score: 1

      Mac's are so simple your grandma can use them.
      ...
      Windows people buy Pontiac Firebirds thinking they are powerful but really getting 4 cylinder peice of maintinence hell.


      My grandmother uses Windows, and to the best of my knowledge she doesn't own a Pontiac Firebird. Of course, it doesn't help that I wouldn't recognise a Pontiac Firebird if I saw one (despite using Windows myself).

      Nice troll, though.

  24. Completely outdated article by quinkin · · Score: 3, Informative
    Outdated article - see ABC News for the latest, and even that is a few days old.

    Q.

    --
    Insert Signature Here
    1. Re:Completely outdated article by loddington · · Score: 4, Informative

      He left the antartic days ago.
      ninemsn

      Wow. Slashdot is really on the ball today.

      --
      --- Who put this sig here? ---
  25. Berkeley and "real world" experience by User+956 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    codythefreak writes to deflect certain barbs lately directed at the security level of Mac OS X: "Working as a sysadmin at UC Berkeley's Residential Computing, since we serve more than 6,000 clients living in the dorms, we tend to know the major computing trends. There are 5,120 registered Windows XP machines in our system, and our staff have logged 2,452 duty logs to assist them (about one in two). On the other hand, there are 341 Mac OS X machines, and only 56 duty logs (about one in six). If we restrict these to virus and security related duty logs: Windows XP has 491 (about one in ten) and OS X has 2 (less than one in a hundred)!"

    I was a sysadmin at Berkeley for 5 years.

    I have the following observations: 1. The attitude of Windows users was less snobbish (i.e., they viewed their computer as a tool, not a fashion accessory),

    2. There were less Macs, resulting in less assistance tickets for that platform, but the amount of time we spent dealing with each Mac issue was far greater than the amount of time. This was usually due to the fact that Apple had made some change, rendering recent hardware (~2 years) useless. (i.e. changes like dropping floppies, dropping SCSI, extremely poor hardware support with the launch of OS X, the OS 9/OS X dual boot requirement, shoddy DVD/USB support in OS X.0, etc)

    3. We kept all machines patched, firewalled, and up-to-date with antiviral software, so viruses were not an issue.

    Your Mileage May vary, of course.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
    1. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have insulted the almighty APPLE. Prepare to be modded down into oblivion!

    2. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      1. The attitude of Windows users was less snobbish (i.e., they viewed their computer as a tool, not a fashion accessory)

      Yeah, there's no such thing as a computer user who actually thinks that the Mac is a *better tool*, most of them just buy the mac and then don't even plug it in or anything.

      2. There were less Macs, resulting in less assistance tickets for that platform, but the amount of time we spent dealing with each Mac issue was far greater than the amount of time. This was usually due to the fact that Apple had made some change, rendering recent hardware (~2 years) useless.

      Well, I've seen the opposite with incoming freshmen: they mostly bought *new* computers, so your issue didn't apply.. and the Apple kids had far fewer problems.

    3. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by tgibbs · · Score: 1
      This was usually due to the fact that Apple had made some change, rendering recent hardware (~2 years) useless. (i.e. changes like dropping floppies, dropping SCSI


      So which Mac's are incompatible with SCSI? Or are you simply referring to the fact that Apple stopped including
      SCSI on every single system, and started doing what Windows machines have always done--i.e. if you wanted SCSI, you needed to order a system with a SCSI card installed. As for floppies, I still have floppy drives on some of our recent Macs. I don't know of any Mac that won't take a floppy drive--you just have to buy one.
    4. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      User: Hey, why doesn't my Apple scanner work with my new Macintosh?

      Tech: Apple discontinued SCSI as a configuration option on non-Powermac models

      User: I just bought this scanner two years ago! Why doesn't it work with my new Mac? It worked with my old mac! I thought Apple stuff was supposed to Just Work!

      Tech:

    5. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      2. There were less Macs, resulting in less assistance tickets...

      All right damn it, that's it!

      I've had it up to HERE with you nerds and your atrocious grammar!

      There were FEWER Macs, resulting in FEWER assistance tickets...!

      Less means "not as much"; fewer means "not as many."

      And another thing... it's "losing" not "loosing."
      As in, "I'm reading Slashdot, therefore I'm losing my ability to tell the banal from the ridiculous."

      Thanks, I feel a lot better now.

    6. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by demon · · Score: 1

      Several early versions (and several prereleases) of OS X had really broken SCSI support. A coworker at my previous job was always trying the latest OS X version, and had an Adaptec SCSI controller with a SCSI drive hanging off it. She was always having problems with OS X chewing up and spitting out partitions on the SCSI disk.

      --

      Sam: "That was needlessly cryptic."
      Max: "I'd be peeing my pants if I wore any!"
    7. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by tgibbs · · Score: 1

      User: Hey, why doesn't my Apple scanner work with my new Macintosh?

      Tech: Apple discontinued SCSI as a configuration option on non-Powermac models


      Wrong answer. Correct answer: "You have a SCSI scanner that requires a SCSI port. You bought a computer without a SCSI port. Your choices are to 1) send the computer back and buy a model with a SCSI port, 2) Buy a USB to SCSI adaptor for your computer, 3) Buy a new USB scanner. Considering the fall in scanner prices, your cheapest and most reliable option is probably #3)". Note that this is exactly the same answer one would give if asked, "Why doesn't my SCSI scanner work with my new Windows laptop?"

    8. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by tgibbs · · Score: 1
      Several early versions (and several prereleases) of OS X had really broken SCSI support. A coworker at my previous job was always trying the latest OS X version, and had an Adaptec SCSI controller with a SCSI drive hanging off it. She was always having problems with OS X chewing up and spitting out partitions on the SCSI disk.
      Prerelease versions of software, and especially operating systems, are generally pre-release for a reason. If you use them, you should have the sense to expect that some things won't work. If your setup is anything other than absolutely stock, and you don't have time to futz around, it's a good idea not to be an early adopter of new software releases. This is true for all software, no matter who makes it. I've been using OSX with SCSI disks and scanners since the early days. I recall hearing about some problems with the very first release, but they were rapidly cleared up.
    9. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by demon · · Score: 1

      I'm talking about 10.2 (Jaguar) prerelease builds, but I know 10.0 (and possibly some early 10.1 releases) dealt poorly with SCSI. Apple had kind of given up on SCSI for awhile, which is kind of funny, considering it was their mainstay for a long time - not to mention the fact that SBP-2 is just SCSI-3 protocol over a serial bus, so they have to implement some SCSI support code anyway.

      Yes, I understand that prerelease software may have bugs, but the fact that it would chew up partitions on SCSI disks to the point where the automount bit got cleared, and then both OS 9 and OS X would just not see them anymore - that's getting a little ridiculous.

      --

      Sam: "That was needlessly cryptic."
      Max: "I'd be peeing my pants if I wore any!"
    10. Re:Berkeley and "real world" experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jaguar prerelease builds had many problems and hence they were prereleases. I had several machines where Finder didn't work correctly abd you couldn't do the basic drag and drop. Saying that SCSI wasn't working correctly in a prerelease build where they overhauled much of the OS isn't exactly a surprising thing.

      Anyhow, I'll admit that 10.0 probably didn't have very good support for SCSI, but as for 10.2 prereleases, all bets are off.

      If you want to continue anyhow, a release version of Win2k repeatedly nuked any drive that wasn't Ultra33 or faster on my Athlon. Sure, operating systems may have bugs, but the fact that it would chew up partitions on basic EIDE disks to the point where all the filenames were garbage and irrecoverable by any disk repair utility - that's getting a little ridiculous.

  26. Spare us the lecture by festers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    the head of NZ's Antarctic Research dept: 'Polly's trip was well organized and properly planned,' he said. 'It is ironic that she is now assisting a stranded pilot who embarked upon an ill-prepared and secret flight over the South Pole.'"

    First of all, DAD, that's not ironic. I guess English skills are suffering down in the NZ research department? Second, she did the moral thing while the rest of you stood around with an over-inflated parent complex. Even Polly admitted that Jon's trip was not any worse planned than hers, but that crap happens and you have to deal with it. It's not like he was asking for a free handout. Next time, save your lectures for your kids.

    --


    -------
    "Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief."
    1. Re:Spare us the lecture by moncyb · · Score: 3, Funny

      Next time, save your lectures for your kids.

      Oh yeah, I can imagine.

      8 year old son: Dad, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten for three days.

      "Dad": Well son, you should've been more prepared. See? Look, I have all this food because I came into this world prepared. You don't have any because you didn't bother to prepare. Lazy bum.

    2. Re:Spare us the lecture by Bitsy+Boffin · · Score: 1

      They didn't have fuel (100LL) to give him even if they wanted to, the only avgas there was Polly's and not thiers to sell.

      This guy was ill prepared he didn't even notify McMurdo that he was going to be attempting a polar overflight and that he would be using thier strip in an emergency. He didn't even call to McMurdo as he passed overhead on his way to the pole.

      He may have thought he was prepared, but by the fact that the situation became what it was, he was decidedly unprepared.

      I'm not saying he wasn't a good pilot, or his plane wasn't up to the task (it certainly was), or even that he didn't know what he was doing. But he sure as hell didn't let the right people know of his intentions.

      --
      NZ Electronics Enthusiasts: Check out my Trade Me Listings
    3. Re:Spare us the lecture by DerekLyons · · Score: 1
      Polly admitted that Jon's trip was not any worse planned than hers,
      Right. That's why she had spare fuel stashed, and a contingency plan, while he had niether.
    4. Re:Spare us the lecture by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      You must have a great relationship with your parents ... ;) Sounds like you could have benefited from more lectures, not fewer.

      And actually, it is ironic that someone who planned so poorly is rescued by the good planning of another.

      2: characterized by often poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is; "madness, an ironic fate for such a clear thinker"; "it was ironical that the well-planned scheme failed so completely"

    5. Re:Spare us the lecture by FurryFeet · · Score: 1

      Yep. Just give the damn kid the fuel, so next thing you know 300 idiots decide to go flying over Antartica, comfty in the knowledge that the scientists oly job is to rescue and assist them.
      You know, maybe you should take your own advice about lectures.

  27. First to fly.. by zcat_NZ · · Score: 2, Interesting

    God forbid that anyone outside of the USA might have ever been first at anything

    --
    455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
    1. Re:First to fly.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps if they worked together? "If I see farther than anyone else, it is only because I stand on the shoulders of Giants" -???

    2. Re:First to fly.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank-you, Mr. GNAA President.

    3. Re:First to fly.. by zulux · · Score: 1

      It all depens on what you think of a "Fligh":

      If you think flight = "Man bouncing around the air, followed by a horrable crash into the ground" then Richard William Pearse is your man.

      If you think flight = "Man in a controlled flight followd by a gentle landing" than the Writes are your men.

      --

      Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

    4. Re:First to fly.. by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Nothing in there gives any provenance to the preexisting flight. Dick himself says it was in 1905. I suspect dingoes at his camera.

    5. Re:First to fly.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "God forbid that anyone outside of the USA might have ever been first at anything"

      It often seems that way, doesn't it?

    6. Re:First to fly.. by zcat_NZ · · Score: 1

      If you think flight = "Man in a controlled flight followd by a gentle landing".. then you probably haven't been reading the articles. The Wright's design is by all accounts damn near impossible to fly, and it's not like they took flying lessons beforehand. They almost certainly had plenty of crashes of their own before achieving their first 'sucessful' flight.

      --
      455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
    7. Re:First to fly.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      True. Did you realise that it was an American who first worked out where babies come from? That's right - the whole rest of the world was puzzled about it right up until the foundation of the glorious Republic!

  28. This should have been the winner.. by utahjazz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Evening shadows fall
    Heart! betray me not again!
    Will I see a tit?

    1. Re:This should have been the winner.. by Negatyfus · · Score: 1

      Yes, you will. I didn't spend hours looking for this, I swear!

    2. Re:This should have been the winner.. by DansnBear · · Score: 1
      --

      -= Who are The Headlocks? =-
  29. That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's take a poll. State below the OS you prefer, the car you most admire, and the car you actually drive.

    1. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mac OS , BWM, 97 pathfinder.

    2. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Linux, prowler, Electric Scooter

    3. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by WinterSolstice · · Score: 1

      OS X, Corvette Stingray, Corvette Stingray

      Some of us are just lucky, I guess :) I bought precisely what I wanted... in both cases.

      -WS

      --
      An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
    4. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gentoo linux, honda insight (gas/electric hybrid), 12-speed

    5. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OSX, Falcon GT, Falcon GT.

    6. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by curious.corn · · Score: 1

      OS X; Alfa Romeo 147; Renault Clio (sigh...)

      --
      Mi domando chi à il mandante di tutte le cazzate che faccio - Altan
    7. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      MacOS X, Saab, Subaru

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
    8. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by BCoates · · Score: 1

      Windows, ?, Pontiac Firebird (a 6 cylinder, though)

    9. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by jc42 · · Score: 1

      linux (with OSX a close second); Mini Cooper; Mini Cooper (except that my wife gets to drive it more because I'm doing mostly telecommuting work from home ;-)

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    10. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by bossesjoe · · Score: 1

      Mac OS X, Saab 900 Turbo, BMW M3, Subaru WRX

      --
      There is no replacement for displacement.
    11. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by crayz · · Score: 1

      OS X, don't know enough about cars or have enough money to care, '89 Chevy Celebrity ;)

    12. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      AmigaDOS (I think) - but OS X if I'm supposed to choose something to work with right now, Jaguar XJS Conv, Mercury Grand Marquis.

      If I can't get comfort, I get style. If I can't get style, I get comfort. Interesting how that works...

    13. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoa, now that's funny.

    14. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Quelain · · Score: 1

      A friend of mine runs Debian, and owns, drives and races Fiat 500s =)

      Myself though, Debian, VW Karmann Ghia, Hyundai.

      Didn't have much choice on the Hyundai, but I used to drive a '67 VW type III, and identify with that a lot more. Fun to drive, well engineered and easy to fix.

      --
      Cthulhu loves you.
    15. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Chuqmystr · · Score: 1

      OS X and Linux (Slackware, thanks very much!), Honda Element (basic, simple utilitarian truck-like thing, Dodge Dakota 4X4 (Thought it was a nice little truck utilitarian thing but is hungry gas fiend that doesn't get from A - B any better than the Honda would've...)

    16. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by Dr.+Descartes · · Score: 1

      Linux, Saab, Saab. I didn't buy exactly what I wanted but a very reliable '86 900. What can I say? I'm a college student with more time than money and almost no time at that. Maybe when I'm done I'll get a sexy new Saab. Probably not.

    17. Re:That's hillarious: fiat = linux by irokitt · · Score: 1

      Dual boot Windows/Red Hat (Although Red Hat isn't on my new box yet-next week), BMW, 1985 Ford F-150 that still refuses to die (and it's a bitch to paralell park-crew cab, long bed).

      --
      If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
  30. Re:Saddam? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    what were they supposed to say?

    "Sadam still in custody. US still violating human rights by making a spectacle of him." ?

  31. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by ahunter · · Score: 3, Informative

    If someone can install DHCP servers on your network, then it's *ALREADY* *COMPROMISED*. In short, your security is already crap, so a couple of extra compromised macs is not going to make a huge amount of difference.

    Plus, if you're willing to spend an extra minute setting up security, you could always use it to turn the damn option off. It's not exactly hard. You get a whole 55 seconds left over to do other things. Like maybe securing that damn XP box that people keep installing rogue DHCP servers on. Yeesh, treat the cause, not the symptoms.

  32. Engine_s_? by ldspartan · · Score: 1

    ...

    The 1903 flyer had one engine. The props were counter rotating and chain driven. They were bicycle guys, remember? :)

    --
    lds

    1. Re:Engine_s_? by stubear · · Score: 2, Informative

      You're right. I forgot they linked the two props via chains to a single engine. Regardless, this would have been an 800 lbs. engine and even that was far too heavy.

  33. The wonders of statistics. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It sure would be nice if when mentioning "Mac Security" they noted that their are also a serious lack of security professionals doing vulnerability research on "Mac OS X". I think this is probably more of a factor than some random person's anecdotal experience.

  34. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by Lars+T. · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, why does Apple use open standards, when everybody knows they are not secure. In case you've missed the point of the article, it was "DHCP is known to be insecure".

    --

    Lars T.

    To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  35. The Year That Made Larry Lessig an Optimist by Stirling+S+Newberry · · Score: 1

    Lessig audio interview here: http://www.bopnews.com/archives/000093.html

  36. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by mellon · · Score: 3, Informative

    DHCP is a broadcast protocol. Any device connected to the network can be a DHCP server, and there is no way to prevent it unless you have a really smart managed network. Smart managed networks are nice, but by no means ubiquitous. BTW, I actually wrote the book on this... :')

    The problem is that the average user never reads bugtraq, and has no idea that s/he needs to do something special to avoid getting rooted while drinking a latte at Starbucks.

  37. im shocked by kemapa · · Score: 2, Funny

    Usually anytime there is an apple bashing article or a response to an apple bashing article (as seen in the last few days and in this slashback), there is at least one person who claims to work for apple and is posting anonymously. So anonymous apple informant, did anyone get fired this time? did apple find weapons of mass destruction? i know this will get modded down, but seriously, some fanboys really need to get a grip... i mean when was the last time you saw some who supposedly worked for microsoft anonymously posting? Or someone saying "I work for Linus and the volunteer programmer has been fired"

    1. Re:im shocked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No worries. I work(ed) at Apple AND I work(ed) at UCB Residential Computing.....and..... oh hell, you guys already know what I would say so why do I bother? .....And so now you wonder, am I for reals? :)

  38. Re: Daggit Sucked? by Jonah+Hex · · Score: 1
    "Personally, I'm looking forward to the show, as long as they stay away from monkeys in robot-dog suits!"
    What was wrong with the daggit? Was this an attempt at humor, or did people genuinely hate that machine?
    I was 7 when BSG first came out, definately one of the viewers targeted by Boxey and the "stupid daggit". It definately was one of my least favorite things about the shows, hell I knew real dogs were faster, more agile, and in thier own way smarter than the robot dog. So whenever it got any screen time I'd get annoyed, and when he played a major part in any plot (the Lassie schtich) I'd get pissed; and I pretty much still feel that way.

    I will say that the new Boxey seems like a decent enough choice, and I liked his performance in the mini, however I may change my mind once the series gets going and he inevitably gets a new robot dog.

    Jonah Hex
  39. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by mellon · · Score: 2, Informative

    Kerberos is also an open standard. Apple actually supports Kerberos, but configures its systems to use LDAP for security by default, thus unfortunately not taking advantage of the secure open standard that they could be using. :'(

  40. Re: Daggit Sucked? by NanoGator · · Score: 1

    "hell I knew real dogs were faster, more agile, and in thier own way smarter than the robot dog. So whenever it got any screen time I'd get annoyed, and when he played a major part in any plot (the Lassie schtich) I'd get pissed; and I pretty much still feel that way."

    You do realize that the reason he has that machine is because his real daggit (much like a dog from what I understand) died back at the home colony? From what I remember, they gave it to him so he wouldn't miss his dog so much, but they didn't have any live daggits to give him.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  41. Re:Saddam? by rossz · · Score: 1

    The Vatican has a sort of ambassador to the UN.

    I still don't give a rat's ass about the opinion of an organization guilty of coverying up numerous cases of child molestation.

    I bet I get moderated down for this.

    --
    -- Will program for bandwidth
  42. Re: Daggit Sucked? by soft_guy · · Score: 1

    I didn't post the parent to this - but I could have. I am about the same age and felt the same way about the stupid robot dog. Yes, I did know why he had the dog according to the plot. Yes, I did think the dog was stupid anyway. I could have done without the dog and without the kid.

    What I wanted (and still want) more of in BSG:
    - A prequelle that explains the origins of the cylons, how they got out of control, their motives for killing humans, etc.
    - More episodes that show how cylons live, more insight into how their ships are designed, etc.
    - A revisit to the (destoryed) colonies to look at the ruins
    - Some resolution for the fate of the fleet.

    --
    Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
  43. Look by geekoid · · Score: 1

    I've been in this indstry for along time.
    Sometimes a term gets used which isn't really correct, but give the same information to 99% of users.

    Divx is becoming the way that people say MPEG-4.
    Now you can complain, and you would be correct, but it would be to no avail.

    You'll only give yourself hypertension, and an ulcer.

    again you are correct, I know you are correct, and I agree with you. However somtime popular usage becomes the defacto standard.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:Look by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The main problem I have is that a lot of divx's are infected by virii. These have taken down quite a few of my boxen. A friend of mine literally exploded when he found his file's had, for all intensive purposes, been decimated by some divx virii. Its a rediculous situation when where loosing files because of divx.

  44. Re:Saddam? by kiwipeso · · Score: 1

    Yeah, they are : The Vatican.
    However, I still don't give a shit what they have to say.

    --
    - Kaos games and encryption systems developer
  45. OS X is *more* secure than windows. period. by valmont · · Score: 3, Insightful

    emphasis on more. No computer system is ever secure in absolute terms.

    while security surrounding DHCP has been and will continue to be a non-trivial issue, that one DHCP/directory issue that'd allow a malicious user on a LOCAL network to root a few boxes are still not the kind of vulnerabilities that'd allow worms to wreac wild havoc on the internet. In the case of this vulnerability, an exploit could spread to a local network and stop right there. There is just no way some worm could be written to spread outside of that local network. And worst, the exploit still needs to rely on the victim's machine actually DOING SOMETHING to be potentially vulnerable, in this case, rebooting, or renewing a DHCP lease, which are actions that seldom happen, especially on a network full of idling desktop boxes.

    that exploit was interesting, needs to be addressed, requires more than a mere patch to a piece of C code and will require Apple and many Darwin/BSD developers to come-up with a complex solution that could involve user-interface updates or the development of certificates mechansisms which have been in discussion since 2001 in some rfc.

    but this is hardly grounds for a windows user to gloat. and if the above didn't make sense, here are concepts that are simpler to understand:

    Ever since OS X came out in its 10.1 version in late 2001, has any worm managed to spread thru OS X machines?

    answer: no. Regardless of potential security holes found here and there, all OS X boxes ship by default with ALL NETWORK SERVICES TURNED OFF. Run nmap against a freshly installed OS X system, and guess what you get: NOTHING. NOT A SINGLE PORT OPENED. Hi there. Security 101 anyone? Even if OS X was the #1-used operating system in the world by millions and millions of people connected thru always-on broadband internet, any infection would stem from marginal power-users enabing certain remote services, at which point an infection or worm still wouldn't manage to reach the rest of the populace.

    This is a far cry from windows boxes who have shipped for many years with services turned-on by default such as IIS and SMB, which allowed silly worms such as CodeRed and Nimda to make their initial way in, while further exploiting many exotic windoz system-level vulnerabilities surrounding Outlook and Internet Explorer, whereby previewing an e-mail or stumbling upon a malicious web page after pasting a URL found in an IRC chat room could get your computer thoroughly owned by inferior lifeforms also known as script kiddies, as your computer would secretly become one among thousands of unwitting drones awaiting their commands from a hidden IRC chatroom to launch DDoS attacks against some web sites, while seriously congesting the Internet. Hey Ulanoff, kinda sounds like what has happened at your office? thought so. Go Windoz.

    Since System Mac 7.6 aka harmony with Open Transport which actually made internet access via dial-up and DHCP actually practical and easy-to-use circa 1996, has any internet-connected mac user running the default operating system as it was first installed from the Apple CDs ever gotten infected by a worm from just sitting on an un-NAT'ed, unfirewalled internet connection?

    NO. That's because prior to OS X, Apple stuck to doing what they were good at: building an out-of-the-box single user, narrowly focused operating system targetted at your average joe-user and graphic designer, that had the ability to be extended thru 3rd-party software or other system configuration to better interoperate within, say, a corporate network. "Dave Client" comes to mind.

    On the other hand Microsoft thought it would be fun to create worthless pieces of ass-ware such as windoz 95, NT, 98, ME, 2000 which they'd sell to BOTH enterprises and average joe-users, and enable, out-of-the-box, by default, a slew of services and features most users would never ever need or use, just so regardless of who the customer was, the operating syste

    1. Re:OS X is *more* secure than windows. period. by MagnusDredd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Apple did not *create* OS X, they bought it. In actuality it is NeXTStep 6.4 or so (depending on how you like to version things.)

      And a little known thing happened at Apple that apparently most of those not familiar with NeXT/Apple are not aware of: The purchase of next was in fact a sort of reverse takeover... That is, most of the people in charge of the low level stuff in OSX are old NeXT engineers.

      So while most people consider OSX a new OSX, only a few years old. The core of the system is in fact more than a decade old.

      Note: Cocoa is in fact made up of the original programming calls for NeXTStep while 90% of the old stuff was rolled into Carbon.

  46. Re:Saddam? by soft_guy · · Score: 0, Troll

    The Vatican is in the UN. They are the only non-arab state always siding with the Palestinian terrorists.

    --
    Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
  47. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by One+Louder · · Score: 1
    The first time someone compromises all the Macs on your network by setting up a fake LDAP/DHCP service, you'll be wishing you'd had the opportunity to spend a minute longer setting up each shiny new Mac in exchange for spending an hour less rebuilding each compromised Mac.
    Be sure to let us know when that happens. I'll have a jacket with me in Hell just in case.
  48. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by mellon · · Score: 1

    Never run a university network, have you?

  49. Jon Johanson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Same name as the deCSS guy, is it not?

    Hope it's not the same fellow, no-one deserves that much bad luck, being dragged back into court for the same bullshit case AND being trapped in the Antarctic - although this would be a fairly convincing reason for not attending court, I suppose...

    It seems that being called Jon Johanson makes you a lightning-rod for misfortune these days..

  50. On video quality by waaka! · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I downloaded the DivX version of Intel Extreme Edition Challenge to see how the quality compared to the WMV version. However, the conclusions that I've drawn come from the encoding process itself, and really don't concern the particular codec choices themselves. (I should note that Ben Waggoner voiced the same concerns when Modern Day Gamer 2 was released.)

    The video could have been compressed a lot smaller (and quite possibly with an increase in quality, to boot), if it had been deinterlaced first--after all, PC monitors are progressive scan--and resized to something smaller and in the proper aspect ratio, like 640x480, instead of leaving it in native PAL resolution as it was here. Also, using non-square pixels requires user intervention to correct during viewing, unless the video was encoded with the pixel aspect ratio stored in the file, which is possible--but not used in this case--for WMV, but not AVI.

    Just the small changes of not having to deal with all the little lines created by interlacing, and also having fewer pixels in general to encode would result in a lighter download and less artifacted video for all.

    These films have all been great, content-wise, even for a non-team-oriented gamer such as myself, but once in a while, I can't help but wonder what would have been possible at the same download size with just a little bit of filtering and resizing.

  51. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by afidel · · Score: 1

    This is one of the nice things about managed switches. On our network we block everything but the real DHCP servers from responding to DHCP queries so that rogue or misconfigured machines can't f' up the network intentionally or unintentionally. We instituted these rules after a building move resulted in a day of looking for the appliance that was responding to DHCP request with bogus addresses.

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  52. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by bjarvis354 · · Score: 1

    Then how would you explain hauling your laptop around and logging onto cyber cafe networks? They are usually using DHCP. Why don't I get rooted when I trust this *insecure* protocol on a network I did not setup? The point is that the Apple defualts are not safe for roving computers...You "Already Comprimised" argument only flys so far.

  53. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by One+Louder · · Score: 1

    No - have you ever actually rebuilt a *compromised* OS X machine? Not one that crashed or got corrupted, but one that someone actually broke into due to an exploit?

  54. Planning, etc by rv8 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Many people somehow think that Polly Vacher's flight around the world is better planned and organized than Jon Johanson's trip.

    She, like Jon Johanson, had made sure that fuel was available at all her planned stops, but she did not make sure that fuel was available at all possible diversion airfields (the list of planned legs on her web site shows that McMurdo was a planned fuel stop).

    She, like Jon Johanson, ran into higher than expected winds over Antartica, and had to divert. She, like Jon Johanson, diverted to an airfield that did not have fuel for her (she went back to her destination, but she had already used all the fuel in her fuel cache).

    http://www.worldwings.org/route.htm
    http://worldwings.mantaur.co.uk/diary.aspx?mode=D& ID=226
    http://worldwings.mantaur.co.uk/diary.aspx?mode=D& ID=228 http://worldwings.mantaur.co.uk/diary.aspx?mode=D& ID=230 http://worldwings.mantaur.co.uk/diary.aspx?mode=D& ID=232

    --
    Kevin Horton
  55. Re:Spare us the lecture [+5, n/t] by serial+frame · · Score: 1

    mod this up!

    --

    -
    And the Angel said unto me, "These are the cries of the carrots! The cries of the carrots!"
  56. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by DA-MAN · · Score: 1

    Well I'll be damned, you really did write the book, hehe I bet you've been hoping for something like this to happen just to state that comment.

    --
    Can I get an eye poke?
    Dog House Forum
  57. Re:Dodgy data (Karma to Burn) by cyt0plas · · Score: 1

    Ok, so you can write code easier, but most of the computer users can't run it? Or perhaps you use java, requiring a slow, bloated VM? Or perhaps you write it in ANSI C, but are careful to avoid use of the APIs, limiting you to a serious subset of either OSes potential.

    If this is for in-house uses, or for unix/linux machines, then it would make some sense. Otherwise, it just sounds dumb.

    Kind of like learning .NET and writing .NET applications, when nearly 70% of the web servers out there use Apache. Sure, in some cases it makes sense. In most instances, it's just less compatible, while a lot more expensive.

    Besides, what can you do in MacOS that you can't do in linux? Photoshop, perhaps, hut what else?

    Yeah, I have karma to burn.

    --
    Contact Me (got tired of viruses emailing me).
  58. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by mellon · · Score: 1

    If you keep dodging, you'll probably be able to keep missing my point indefinitely. The point is that I don't want to have to rebuild a compromised machine. The level of sophistication of hacks has gone up a lot recently. We can't just rest on our laurels and say "because nobody's exploited this *yet*, we're safe."

    Security's about stopping The Bad Thing from happening. The way to do that is to engineer out known hacks before they get exploited, not to laboriously rebuild after the exploit.

  59. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by mellon · · Score: 1

    Totally. It's like a dream come true! It makes all the years of sacrifice suddenly worth it. I'd like to start by thanking the little people who helped me over the years, and of course my mother and father, and my lovely wife... :')

  60. Look at picture in link by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    The link literally takes you to a picture of a guy putting a robo-daggit outfit around a real live monkey. I don't know what that was from as I doubt the real show used moneys in daggit suits!!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Look at picture in link by vortex_nz · · Score: 1

      Ummm actualy they did. The DVD extras have a short featurette about it.

    2. Re:Look at picture in link by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      I though that costume looked pretty real! That is way too wierd to believe.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  61. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by mellon · · Score: 1

    Aside from the "bored, lonely young geek in a dorm" scenario, I think the most likely scenario for this attack is a targeted attack, so we're not likely to hear about it unless the result of the attack is that someone's ssh keys to some important repository get grabbed. Even then, it probably won't be clear how they got grabbed. This particular attack isn't really conducive to a Blaster-style worm, fortunately, although you could use a virus to hop the firewall and plant the attack in the chewy interior...

  62. Times have changed. by jstockdale · · Score: 2, Informative

    For the record ... I happen to currently be a residential network administrator at Stanford, as well as ResComp support. I also work closely with a ex Berkley ResComp admin.

    If anything, your first point is outdated. I have to deal with both Windows and Mac users on a regular basis, and if anything PC users are the ones with tweaked out (either software or hardware) computers, with 1001 different accessories making their computer less and less useful as a tool. Mac users on the other hand, usually have a core application suite (ie. Safari, Mail or Entourage, Word Proc / Graphics / Coding IDE depending on use) and no gimmicks. Sure Apple's design phase is more indepth to begin with and more asthetically pleasing, but I wouldn't call that snobbish. I'd classify it as stylish and functional.

    As for your second point. I'm not even gonna touch the majority of that. Let me just say that your example may have been Apple in the Pre-OS X days, but now we don't see those problems.

    The post clearly referes to the number of trouble tickets per system on campus being an order of magnitude different. I don't see how less Macs would explain a difference in ratio.

    As for your third point, so do we. All machines are patched and users are recommended to patch their machines as often as possible. Even with that, the fall RPC exploit managed to infect over 6000 machines, with a maximum infection time of 10 seconds during the peak (ie. plug your machine in while running, 10 seconds later it was infected). Yep, keeping up to date sure helped there, especially since Microsoft kept sending out different patches, resulting in several custom patch packages which our coding team had to spit out, none of which were compatable.

    As for my own experience with OS X users ... they don't take any longer (and usually less time) than a Windows user. Another thing to note: every time I sit down at a OS X machine, I ask, what's wrong? Everytime I sit down to a
    Windows machine, I run Ad-Aware, find between 30 and 800 spyware objects, clean the machine repeatedly, and then try to see if the behavior has stopped, if it hasn't _then_ I start troubleshooting. Don't even start to lecture me about the ease of administrating Windows.

    --
    **AA: a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes
  63. Battlestar Galactica 2003 Series? by macemoneta · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Battlestar Galactica 2003: Series Highly Likely, Say Recent Rumors

    And, since the series will be on the SCI-FI channel, might as well note that the series is canceled (just as soon as you decide you like it) while you're at it.

    --

    Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.

  64. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by One+Louder · · Score: 1
    Perhaps you might consider that I was making a joke in my original response.

    Here, I'll explain it to you: yes, there might be an exploit someday, but if the past is any indication, I might be long dead and buried - and in Hell, you see, because I've been a very, very bad person. Though Hell is very hot at the moment, it might cool down when a Mac running OSX actually gets exploited because that may be a long time from now. Hence the jacket. Because jackets will warm you up when it's cold. It's not comfortable to be cold - for me, anyway.

    Hope that clears things up for you. Merry Christmas (<-- not a joke)

  65. What? by delmoi · · Score: 1

    Can you even get a mac with OS 9 on it anymore? If you could, why would yow want to? People who run Mac OSX use their computers as general purpose machines. Do you think they keep an extra windows box around for surfing the web or something? Whatevs.

    If you've followed my posts, you'd know that I'm a regular apple basher. But the fact is, Microsoft's security sucks ass. And it needs to be a lot better then Apple's security in practice because so many attacks are targeted towards windows.

    Think about it this way. If P(A) is the probability of an attack, and P(S | A) is the probability of an attach succeeding, then P(S|A)/P(A) is the probability of your machine being Ownx0rd. If you are likely to be attacked because of who you are (say yahoo, some bank, etc) then P(A) goes up, but for a regular using, running windows massively increases their chance of being attacked. According to this report, you're 10 times more likely to have a 'security related problem' if you're a collage student running windows. then a collage student running Mac OSX.

    In order to be considered equivalent, P(S|A,mac)/P(A|mac) == P(S|A,win)/P(A|win). In other words, the probability of a Mac being attacked and that attack succeding times the probability of a windows box being attacked P(S & A)*P(A|Win).

    I use windows, out of laziness. But I know how to keep my box secure. Given the amount of Spy ware on people's machines these days I honestly don't think the average person should be using windows at all

    --

    ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
    1. Re:What? by Minna+Kirai · · Score: 1

      Keep it up. That kind of gratuitous mathmatical digression is exactly what you need to master before cranking out Stephenson-like cyberpunk.

    2. Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you're 10 times more likely to have a 'security related problem' if you're a collage student running windows.

      Mind you, most of the people I know who majored in collage were definitely at the dimmer end of the art class. Oils specialists tend to be much better at securing their systems.

  66. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by tgibbs · · Score: 1
    So the well-reasoned article explaining why Apple's way of doing things is okay basically says "they're following RFC2131, so they're okay." But it is a well-known and much-lamented fact that DHCP provides no security. So if you depend on DHCP to be secure, you are not secure. At all. That's not well-reasoned, at least in my book.
    So Apple should do what? Design their systems not to work with DHCP, even though it is virtually universal and often required for network compatibility? All security is a compromise. When one uses DHCP, one is implicitly accepting the fact that one's security depends upon the ability of system administration to make sure that there are no rogue servers. There are certainly some contexts in which DHCP spoofing can be a concern--using public WiFi networks, for example--but under the circumstances encountered by most users, allowing DHCP provides a massive increase in ease of use and a negligible loss of security.
  67. OS X DHCP Exploit... by singularity · · Score: 1

    From my reading of the exploit, it seems that the OS is set up the way it is by default so that techs using certain services (LDAP configured through DHCP, and so on) can simply plug in the computer to the network, start it up, and have everything configured.

    Makes sense to me.

    The problem comes from the fact that this is open by default, and left open (so that while I do not use DHCP configured LDAP on my Mac, it is still open to that attack anytime I rebooted).

    It seems like there is an easy solution - Anytime someone starts up a new Macintosh, it starts up a Configuration Wizard. I would think it would not be too difficult to have that wizard then turn off the configurations allowing the exploits.

    This would open the computer up to the exploit on the start-up (when the computer has nothing on it worth taking).

    Does this make sense?

    --
    - (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman
  68. Re:Dodgy data (Karma to Burn) by mj_1903 · · Score: 1
    Didn't really need a reply like that as I wasn't really attacking anyone, I was giving my experience.

    Yes, I write ANSI C and C++ and of course I am careful of the APIs. I might add that I have enjoyed dabbling in Obj-C/Cocoa. Its quite fun. I could write in Basic and port that, but then I don't really want to make Microsoft Office.

    I don't use Photoshop. I use, just scanning my dock right now, XCode for development, Mail, Safari, Address Book, iSync, iTunes, iChat, Proteus (for MSN and ICQ), iPhoto, iMovie, iPodRip, Sherlock, OmniOutliner and a beta build of Adium.

    I'm content for now. Life is much easier than Debian, and yes I know there are other better distro's, but I just don't have the urge to run out and get a PC to run Linux again. Still too much fiddling to get my work done.

  69. Mod Parent Up (Funny) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hahahahaaaaa, that was pure gold. Nice one!

  70. OSX, Volvo, Volvo by WiseWeasel · · Score: 1

    MacOS X 10.3.2 (on a shiny new 2x2GHz G5), Volvo V70 XC, Volvo V70 XC.

    --
    "I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
  71. Mod Parent Up (Funny) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh my god, I almost fell out of my chair. . . thanks for that laugh!

  72. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 1

    You're killing me! =)

    --
    It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  73. Re:Saddam? by Animats · · Score: 2, Informative

    The Vatican is not a member of the United Nations. It has a non-voting observer to the UN.

  74. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by Minna+Kirai · · Score: 1

    So Apple should do what? Design their systems not to work with DHCP, even though it is virtually universal and often required for network compatibility?

    They should design them to use DHCP, but they shouldn't ship with a default configuration where the DHCP server on your network can takeover root on the Mac.

    There are well-known, accepted vulernabilities with DHCP: anyone on the LAN who responds to your address request can man-in-the-middle any data you send. Everyone (who cares about security) knows this, and understands the risks.

    But the OS X hole is much worse: simply powering on your the computer on a strange LAN, without attempting to run any network-based program, puts you at risk. (That can be hard to avoid! Powerbooks with built-in Airport will do it automatically!)

    Apple would never have shipped it like this if they'd thought it through, and they'll surely turn it to a safer configuration for future releases. Of course, it'll still use DHCP- just correctly.

  75. informative? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    are you fucking kidding me? parent is specious.

  76. MOD PARENT DOWN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nm.

  77. Re:Saddam? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Howard Dean is doing fine. He's still leading with 23%, against 10% each for Joe Leiberman and Wesley Clark his current closest rivals. (So if Joe and Wesley joined forces - an unlikely scenario - they still wouldn't beat him.)

    Saddam's capture didn't really change anything politically - the criticism of the war that wasn't political goal scoring really concerned the false premise (the WMDs - which have still not been found), the continuing attacks and lack of democracy (this may still be fixable), the extent to which an invasion of an Arab country promotes hostility and encourages terrorism (according to the CIA, this is actively happening as predicted), and the false presentation of the war as somehow being part of the War on Terror, which it isn't.

    Saddam's capture removes one bit of meaningless political goal scoring against the current administration. An anti-war candidate ultimately may end up strengthened by it.

  78. From a certain point of view? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I imagine those are only funny if you're not on the recieving end....

  79. outside the usa? by airdrummer · · Score: 0

    poster obviously doesn't know where connecticut is;-)

    as to the eyewitnesses:

    "In the 1930s more than 30 people signed affidavits saying they witnessed Whitehead's flights before 1903."

    hell, i can find hundreds of people, decades after the fact, who can swear they _never_ saw whitehead fly;-)

  80. Jennycam by eadint · · Score: 1

    So whats the stroy. i just found out about jennycam. funny i lived down the street from her for 3 years. why is it closing and why dosent another site host it.
    im kinda confused on this one.

  81. Re:Must be some new definition of "well-reasoned.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I sincerely hope you never ever get a job as a network admin. *shudder*

  82. Re:Saddam? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does anyone really give a shit what the UN has to say about it?