PCI = PITA (but in a good way)
on
PCI Compliance
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· Score: 1
I do server admin and light coding work for a small company that has a primarily web-based business. Going through ScanAlert not only do we have a nice logo to put on the website but we also get a list of stuff that could cause problems such as XSS and software package vulnerabilities (and can check to see if problems are fixed after we've patched the problem).
The thing is, obtaining PCI certification is not that hard. Any decent web admin should already be halfway there, the rest is just locking down applications and making sure you keep on top of the software installed on your server(s).
While their port requirement is somewhat absurd for anyone trying to run everything (web, email, dns) on one box (no more than 10 open ports, tcp and udp are counted separately) it is a pretty nice service and makes my employer more comfortable with their business, if the credit card companies get a kick out of it then all the better.:)
It's a pretty cool story though (shock, someone actually read TFA). I'm sure that we've learned a lot more about oceanic patterns from those plastic toys than we have from a lot of other (more expensive) methods employed in the past.
I stopped buying anything from Sony/BMG after the rootkit fiasco and eventually my purchasing has tapered off all together. I have more important things to spend my money on, like food.
In other news, the rest of the world released a huge sigh of relief as the Doomsday Clock was turned back. A spokesman for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was quoted as saying "A Starcraft MMO could have ended it all. We may never know how close we came to the complete and utter destruction of society as we know it."
All true, but the fact that people wait until the deadline is not news. If you're going to get into the online tax-prep business, you'd better have a stout server. This kind of failure can kill a business.
Or a stout series of servers, God knows you shouldn't be relying on a single box to handle that information with that liability.
I work for a public library and am always surprised at the number of people who wait until the day before taxes are due to even obtain the tax forms, much less spend the time filling them out. The other thing that amazes me is that we have a gigantic impossible to miss bright yellow sign in the middle of the building announcing where the tax forms are and most of these people still make the trek to the circulation desk to ask where the forms are. Perhaps there is some correlation here.
This story does explain the two separate people asking me about why TurboTax wasn't accepting their return though. It sure as heck beats the BOFH Excuse of the day.:)
Re:Does anyone even use this OS?
on
CentOS 5 Released
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I used to use CentOS for my server boxes, however version 3 left a very bad taste in my mouth. I then attempted to roll out CentOS 4 on a new box I was preparing for a customer (seeing if it was any improvement over version 3) and it had some problem that prevented it from rebooting for the first time after the install. I've switched to running Fedora 5/6 on my servers and everything has been much more stable.
I can block myspace using the $50 Linksys router I use at home, it doesn't require much equipment or knowledge. As far as I can tell, myspace also does not have very many IPs and from what I have seen they are all located in the same range. Though flat out blocking 255 addresses to eliminate one site isn't generally a good idea, it gets the job done if you're in a hurry or are an unskilled IT administrator.
If you have access to a linux box, I like to use iptables to redirect myspace to something more interesting, such as KittenWar. Yeah you will still get a few complaints, but the odds are that your average myspace user has spent the last 15 minutes or so looking at pictures of cats, giving them time to calm down a bit.:)
Disclaimer: I don't like censoring websites, but have been required to do so in the past. Sometimes it's necessary, most times it's just some person higher-up using "the children!" as an excuse for their holy crusade. Ain't life fun...
Off of the top of my head I can think of many worse things that could have been used to replace that image, at least he was civil and used a political joke instead of picking an image from a popular domain with a Christmas Island TLD.:)
"This deal just keeps getting worse all the time."
"Attention! This is Lando Calrissian, Microsoft has taken control of the city. I advise everyone to leave the city before more copies of Vista arrive."
RFC 2549 combined with this routing upgrade should finally get me an Internet connection that is faster and more reliable than Comcast Cable! Granted that this isn't exactly a very high standard, but it's a start!
So, when will I be able to sign up for IPOP in my area (IP Over Pidgeon)?
My guess is that adding power regulation circuitry would make the board less compact and add more potential for failure.
If these eventually get to the point where they are priced reasonably I could see getting one and sticking it in a cdrom bay, would make for a nice small internal server.:)
"In order to scan the Earth's magnetic field and pinpoint the origin of substorms, THEMIS researchers plan to stagger their spacecraft in different orbits that range in altitude from 10 to 30 times the radius of the Earth (the planet's radius is about 3,962 miles, or 6,378 kilometers)."
Due to what happened with the Mars Polar Lander could we get those figures in just one measurement system, if for no other reason just to avoid possible confusion and the possibility of sending a spacecraft hurtling into the surface of a planet I live on? Thanks.:)
"The artifacts would be designed to make the process of accessing the information clear with instructions in multiple languages or hieroglyphics"
This is Microsoft we're talking about, their idea of clear seems to be a bit muddy at best. Besides, doesn't Windows already come with unintelligible hieroglyphics, otherwise known as "error messages?"
In comparison to the PayPal website, the Google Checkout site is not very user friendly at all. The PayPal site is very easy to understand and very well designed, providing a lot of useful information that's easy to access. The Google Checkout site is maybe a little too simple and very lean on helpful information. Also, resellers like Buy.com maintaining separate invoice systems for Google Checkout is a pita.
I was one of the many who signed up for a Google Checkout account due to the $20 off $50 discounts avaliable through some merchants over the holidays and have since stopped using it. It's nice, but I definitely prefer PayPal.
...a relatively low number of computer users are likely to get Vista by downloading it from the Internet...
I would say that is accurate. If you're smart enough to be able to download Vista you can download your favorite Linux distro instead with less effort. It also stands a good chance of working with your hardware, unlike Vista.:)
Japan will now scrap the mission but finish development of the penetrator probes and offer the technology to other space programs, including Russia's, Kanazawa said.
Slashdot Mirror
I do server admin and light coding work for a small company that has a primarily web-based business. Going through ScanAlert not only do we have a nice logo to put on the website but we also get a list of stuff that could cause problems such as XSS and software package vulnerabilities (and can check to see if problems are fixed after we've patched the problem).
:)
The thing is, obtaining PCI certification is not that hard. Any decent web admin should already be halfway there, the rest is just locking down applications and making sure you keep on top of the software installed on your server(s).
While their port requirement is somewhat absurd for anyone trying to run everything (web, email, dns) on one box (no more than 10 open ports, tcp and udp are counted separately) it is a pretty nice service and makes my employer more comfortable with their business, if the credit card companies get a kick out of it then all the better.
But they used the Doppler effect to explain it, surely that little scientific reference counts for something?
Will it be a DX10/Vista only title?
(Said in jest, not out of ignorance)
Mira is traveling faster than a speeding bullet
I would have thought "Clark Kent" or "Superman" to be more appropriate...
What a bunch of quacks...
It's a pretty cool story though (shock, someone actually read TFA). I'm sure that we've learned a lot more about oceanic patterns from those plastic toys than we have from a lot of other (more expensive) methods employed in the past.
I stopped buying anything from Sony/BMG after the rootkit fiasco and eventually my purchasing has tapered off all together. I have more important things to spend my money on, like food.
Though there is still the question, would you take a free Model T over a BMW at full price?
:)
Heck yeah. If the Model T is in good condition you can sell it and use it as a down payment on that BMW.
In other news, the rest of the world released a huge sigh of relief as the Doomsday Clock was turned back. A spokesman for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was quoted as saying "A Starcraft MMO could have ended it all. We may never know how close we came to the complete and utter destruction of society as we know it."
I've got the first two covered but unfortunately the last one is simply not possible by today's science.
All true, but the fact that people wait until the deadline is not news. If you're going to get into the online tax-prep business, you'd better have a stout server. This kind of failure can kill a business.
Or a stout series of servers, God knows you shouldn't be relying on a single box to handle that information with that liability.
I work for a public library and am always surprised at the number of people who wait until the day before taxes are due to even obtain the tax forms, much less spend the time filling them out. The other thing that amazes me is that we have a gigantic impossible to miss bright yellow sign in the middle of the building announcing where the tax forms are and most of these people still make the trek to the circulation desk to ask where the forms are. Perhaps there is some correlation here.
:)
This story does explain the two separate people asking me about why TurboTax wasn't accepting their return though. It sure as heck beats the BOFH Excuse of the day.
I used to use CentOS for my server boxes, however version 3 left a very bad taste in my mouth. I then attempted to roll out CentOS 4 on a new box I was preparing for a customer (seeing if it was any improvement over version 3) and it had some problem that prevented it from rebooting for the first time after the install. I've switched to running Fedora 5/6 on my servers and everything has been much more stable.
I can block myspace using the $50 Linksys router I use at home, it doesn't require much equipment or knowledge. As far as I can tell, myspace also does not have very many IPs and from what I have seen they are all located in the same range. Though flat out blocking 255 addresses to eliminate one site isn't generally a good idea, it gets the job done if you're in a hurry or are an unskilled IT administrator.
:)
If you have access to a linux box, I like to use iptables to redirect myspace to something more interesting, such as KittenWar. Yeah you will still get a few complaints, but the odds are that your average myspace user has spent the last 15 minutes or so looking at pictures of cats, giving them time to calm down a bit.
Disclaimer: I don't like censoring websites, but have been required to do so in the past. Sometimes it's necessary, most times it's just some person higher-up using "the children!" as an excuse for their holy crusade. Ain't life fun...
Off of the top of my head I can think of many worse things that could have been used to replace that image, at least he was civil and used a political joke instead of picking an image from a popular domain with a Christmas Island TLD. :)
At least it's better than the magic 8 ball method the RIAA seems to have been using. :)
...a Japanese mental health counselor who last fall recited 100,000 digits, but did not choose to submit proof to the record book.
:)
Shouldn't that read "Mental health patient ?"
None the less, that is still very impressive. I wish I had a memory for that kind of thing.
"This deal just keeps getting worse all the time."
"Attention! This is Lando Calrissian, Microsoft has taken control of the city. I advise everyone to leave the city before more copies of Vista arrive."
RFC 2549 combined with this routing upgrade should finally get me an Internet connection that is faster and more reliable than Comcast Cable! Granted that this isn't exactly a very high standard, but it's a start!
So, when will I be able to sign up for IPOP in my area (IP Over Pidgeon)?
It looks like the DNA has been Slashdotted.
:)
Hopefully the next version will have developed a natural defense mechanism to handle the strain Slashdot puts on servers.
My guess is that adding power regulation circuitry would make the board less compact and add more potential for failure.
:)
If these eventually get to the point where they are priced reasonably I could see getting one and sticking it in a cdrom bay, would make for a nice small internal server.
"In order to scan the Earth's magnetic field and pinpoint the origin of substorms, THEMIS researchers plan to stagger their spacecraft in different orbits that range in altitude from 10 to 30 times the radius of the Earth (the planet's radius is about 3,962 miles, or 6,378 kilometers)."
:)
Due to what happened with the Mars Polar Lander could we get those figures in just one measurement system, if for no other reason just to avoid possible confusion and the possibility of sending a spacecraft hurtling into the surface of a planet I live on? Thanks.
"The artifacts would be designed to make the process of accessing the information clear with instructions in multiple languages or hieroglyphics"
This is Microsoft we're talking about, their idea of clear seems to be a bit muddy at best. Besides, doesn't Windows already come with unintelligible hieroglyphics, otherwise known as "error messages?"
In comparison to the PayPal website, the Google Checkout site is not very user friendly at all. The PayPal site is very easy to understand and very well designed, providing a lot of useful information that's easy to access. The Google Checkout site is maybe a little too simple and very lean on helpful information. Also, resellers like Buy.com maintaining separate invoice systems for Google Checkout is a pita.
I was one of the many who signed up for a Google Checkout account due to the $20 off $50 discounts avaliable through some merchants over the holidays and have since stopped using it. It's nice, but I definitely prefer PayPal.
...a relatively low number of computer users are likely to get Vista by downloading it from the Internet...
:)
I would say that is accurate. If you're smart enough to be able to download Vista you can download your favorite Linux distro instead with less effort. It also stands a good chance of working with your hardware, unlike Vista.
Japan will now scrap the mission but finish development of the penetrator probes and offer the technology to other space programs, including Russia's, Kanazawa said.
Only in Japan...