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Boston Perl Monger Plays With the Big Leagues
babbage writes "Chris Nandor tried to help out the Red Sox by stuffing the MLB All Star Ballot. Baseball says they were on to him all along. He says he'll be back
next year. " Ah, yes, that wonderful point where sports and computer connect, probably sans changing IPs, but with the mis-use of "hacker".
All of you who don't have to sit through a season watching the Twins play budget-ball should consider yourselves lucky, regardless of who's representing who in the All-Star game... I'd be overjoyed if our Twinkie's owner wasn't such a total tight-wad and decided to allow us be just a little more competitive with the rest of the league. So enjoy your high-priced baseball for all it's worth, baseball could be much much worse for those of you in the Northeast.
keep acting shocked and move slowly towards the cake.
A much better way to stuff the ballot box would have been to get the perl script posted to slashdot. ;-) That way every slashddot reader could easily and legitimately "stuff" the box 22 times.
This is assuming, of course, that the ballot stuffing detection software is looking at IP addresses. I wonder what they do about proxies, though. Obviously, they must have some support for proxies, otherwise ALL of the AOL users could only vote 22 times the number of AOL web proxies.
I wonder if we simply mined one of the on-line phone books for valid name/address/phone #s if that would be enough to spoof the system.
How much time is left to vote?
All true geeks (and their perl scripts) should be voting for Weird Al's "The Saga Begins"!
See? This is why I love slashdot so much. A seeminly innocuous post like mine can turn into a learning experience for me and others. I had no idea that the NY Times bought the Boston Globe or for what reason. Now I know, and that's damn cool. Thanks, babbage, and thanks, Rob.
"I'd like to live in theory, because everything works in theory, in theory." - Can't remember who said this.
I made a sandwich.
Free Mac Mini. Yes, I'm
Im going out on a shaky limb here, being as my programming skills are lightweight to say the least... but.
:)
What would happen if someone used a "Melissa" like delivery system to utilize perl installed on other systems?
Wouldn't that bypass the normal logging procedures at contest sites? As I said before, I have absolutely no idea if this is even possible, but it's an interesting concept, eh?
And yes, I realize that at this point, Outlook using (MS) systems aren't likely to have Perl installed, but look at the MS/Activesoft deal, could be something to look for? (I dunno
I apologize in advance for any holes in my idea that you could drive a truck through, I only mention it out of curiousity.
~Grell
...when it gets down to fundamentals, do what you have to do and shed no tears. Dr. Matson in Tunnel in the Sky
And what if the guy purposefully used easily identifiable addresses to throw the authorities off his trail? The sysadmins think they have caught the hacker while his second program steathily filled out the form with random but apparently valid data and racked up even higher votes? You know, the old "watch my left hand while I reach into my pocket with my right hand:" trick.
Heh heh heh ... of course, what *you* are suggesting is totally mature, and something that people with something better to do would.
"Those who would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin,
i got that on videotape. how can i turn it into a quicktime movie or the like?
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i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
Discuss
But that's okay, because you can re-insert #2 in each of their places.
I've learned stuff harder and more dangerous than Perl, and nothing comes close to the "you can't drown, you fool, you're immortal!" technique.
Besides, as Master Chief Stewart might say, "Washouts are a GOOD thing."
Come on, Boston Globe. Before going to press, you would think that you could at least check and see if all the URLs in your stories are correct. If you did so, you would realize that the web site for Major League Baseball is not mlb.com, as stated in your article:
:)
The computer police entrusted with sniffing out corruption did their job, according to Alex Tam, director of Major League Baseball's web site (mlb.com).
It is, in fact, majorleaguebaseball.com. I could maybe expect something like this from the NY Times, but not from an organization as good as the Boston Globe
"I'd like to live in theory, because everything works in theory, in theory." - Can't remember who said this.
Nevertheless, his mistakes were quite apparent. to use the same e-mail one time, and use the same phone number & zip code another time? Even *I* could see the stupidity in that. And I haven't figured out my signature yet, gimme time.
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i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
Discuss
So was that guy. But he could have made it work *right*, then ran off to do some BBQing like he did.
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i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
Discuss
In the NBA, its possible for the team coming from the smallest market (that would be San Antonio) to go and win it all. In MLB, the teams with the biggest payrolls tend to win it all.
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Eh, just words from a basketball fan. Basketballs faster paced than baseball, and therefore better to watch for those of us with short attention spans.
i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
Discuss
Oh, the irony. Who's "that guy" again? :)
# Oh, the irony. Who's "that guy" again? :)
I wish I knew.
Does anyone know of any similar scripts that one may use for voting on MTV's Total Request live. I believe that it is our god-given duty to dislodge crap pop bands such as Backstreet boys and 98 degree's from #1? If there are any perl hackers out there willing to help e-mail me, and we'll get something going...
I love it....although I still think that Derek Jeter deserved the start at SS over Nomar...but hey, I'm biased being a lifelong Yankee fan from NY.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"SMITH&WESSON: The Original Point-N-Click Interface"
"the sky above the port is the color of a television, tuned to a dead channel"
- A.P.
--
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
? They got where they are using legally questionable tactics ?
I'd say that the recent editions are more like the Linux of baseball: without any really big superstars (yeah, they're all good, but not like a Bonds or a McGwire) they had a near-record breaking year and won the World Series through hard work and teamwork.
If you want a Microsoft of baseball, check out the departed Florida Marlins championship team. They won through superior spending power.
from someone who's a hockey fan, anyhow
"Oh, I hope he doesn't give us halyatchkies," said Heinrich.
Well, I've given up on my quest to restore 'hacker' to the clever man, 'cracker' to the clever user breaking in to systems or software, and 'moron' to script kids.
However, This poor misguided soul is what even crackers hate... a person who isn't breaking in to show it can be done, but to mess with the results of a vote that was put on the web in a wonderful show of internet trust. The league didn't have to put the ballots on the web... they could have made me go to wall-mart. But, in recognizing that the internet is a global community that counts, they made it so I don't have to work off those last two Ho-Ho's to vote for some stupid player.
So, when Joe BuisnessOwner hears about this, and then is faced with the decision to web or not to web, what do you think he'll do?
Oh, and not changing the data sent in the form? was that just lazyness or what? (not that I can talk... I used the web to vote)
With all the fighting and flamming an these and other pages about relatively 'unimportant ' matters such as KDE v. Gnome, Debian v. Redhat, MS v. Linux, lets not get into depths of true hatred and real life matters such as the Red Sox v the Yankees.
Ps. The Yankees are the Microsoft of Baseball.
;P
a man, a plan, a canal, panama
Hey, Buffy and Muffy, you're beloved Fenway has housed plenty of all-stars. What your problem is ... is that you are losers. The Red Sox always choke in the big game and always will. So go ahead, jam the ballot box. Just remember, if you win the ALCS, you still blow the series. "Oh well", you say, "at least our bond portfolios are holding up this year".
Posted by FascDot Killed My Previous Use:
If you can't figure it out yourself, maybe you deserve to listen to Backstreet Boys...
Besides, what are you going to vote for: Pearl Jam?
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
For his next exploit, he'll rig the 'rate it' votes on Deja!
Oh, wait... hrm.
(Really, putting in the same e-mail address for each vote? Duplicate information such as phone number, zip code, etc? Must not have put too much effort into it.)
--- Where's my X.400 protocol decoder?
I hardly think mucking with something as arbitrary as the democratick of baseball can be considered "evil." It's clear that he wasn't even trying very hard.
Yay! i'm "officially" a hacker!
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i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
Discuss
The voting for the all-star game is screwed up anyway. How on earth can Tony Fernandez and Shawn Green not be starting?
I've always wondered what those "programming languages" were good for anyways.
Other highlights were the "average high-end hacker" . Hrm. How many self contradictions can you get into one sentence?
I lurve sports writing. Makes me smile every time.
Johan
seen on a house in north cambridge:
"the center for high-energy meta-physics"
So what does that make the Cubs? (besides the 1908 World Champions Baby!)
loyal Cub fan
then, doesn't it? Doesn't surprise me... I've negotiated these idiots' salaries...
Sign me, Happy to Be PHB
Easy steps:
/. deity here) would get the honor. /.
1) Pick a song. Maybe Linus or JWZ or Larry Wall or (insert
2) Post it as an article on
3) Watch as MTV VJ with impossibly perfect hair tries to explain to zillions of tennyboppers why, say, Sisters of Mercy is the #1 video.
Nobody hates the Cubs, and everyone hopes they will win it again someday, they just haven't.
Plus they're not cursed...
The curse of the Bambino=The curse of Steve Jobs?
hey mr. potato-head....
the perl script was on HIS side... he could have done the same exact thing with a C++ program. Perl had 100% NOTHING to do with the piss poor security of the MLB site.
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
GO NEW YORK YANKEES - WORLD SERIES BOUND IN '99!!!
I am one to discourage such use of computers. What if I "stuffed the ballots" to vote in Bernie rather tha Junior? Sure I can do it but it'd be wrong.
Today's English Lesson: Oxymorons
Sanity.html - Error 404 not found
Bucky Dent to play one more game at Fenway Park
You can do anything with Perl . . .
You just have to make sure not to get caught.
I'd say that their use of hacker in this article is alot closer to the normal use in the media to describe every little script weenie or port scanner. At least this guy wrote some code to try to accomplish his goal.
It was pretty dumb not to randomize the information and at least lookup real zipcodes from a database.
As for checking for perl scripts, it probably looks for the browser type in the header. I'd be he and alot of others will have success at hacking this voting system next year.
They are idiots if they use online voting to make any real decisions anyway!
In somewhat related All-star voting news:
While this guy's scam didn't work, the Indians' method did -- they got four players in the starting lineup! And it seems to be due to more than just a good team and sellout crowds. When they handed out the ballots in person at the ballpark, they apparently made no attempt at all to make sure people didn't vote multiple times. To quote, "the ushers came to pick up the All-Star ballots handed out earlier and immediately passed out fresh ones." One guy says he voted 25 times in one game! There aren't many "votes" that allow that kind of abuse.
For more, check out this page on ESPN. You have to scroll down to Monday's entry, but it's very interesting.
Anyone feel up to sending this a--hole a bunch of mail? He feels justified by the fact that the game will be at Fenway Park. Sounds like a very immature 25-year-old who has nothing better to do.
Blah!
-- Error: Cannot find file REALITY.SYS - Universe halted, please reboot!
i.e. they never win but their fans are rabid
I'm one of them btw
- A.P.
--
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
So, is this a game between two baseball teams composed of top players (All-Stars) as voted by the fans?
How often does this happen?
open source it and we'll make it perfect.
-- your Web browser is Ronald Reagan
from the Globe
"But what apparently did in Nandor was a certain amount of laziness uncharacteristic of his hero, Garciaparra."
Clearly, They understand niether "Laziness"
or his "Hero". Hunger is a different thing though. Next they'll accuse him of Hubris...
garyr
-- your Web browser is Ronald Reagan
what safegards do you think they had? maybe they check for patterns in fields such as email and name, but also maybe, do you think they would check for the ip addresses? and how would they see if it was a perl script being used?
-DAVEO
Is in this "internet world" article. http://www.in ternetworld.com/print/current/news/19990628-critic s.html
The author basically calls people who lie on web-forms "hackers." Truly astonishing. :]
It's not actually the author of the article who misuses "hacker." The word is present in a quotation. The author of the quotation is the clueless one :]