This behavior of the keyboard cable acting as an antenna transmitting all the keystrokes that can be intercepted via radio is not new at all. I knew of work on Tempest certified terminals in the late 1970's where this was considered a major security issue and an area where some really innovative work was done to redress.
I purchased multiple Dell systems and monitors during that period. Do I get anything back for the inflated prices I had to pay? Right... That and $3.50 USD (more or less) will buy me a cup of almost-decent coffee.
Yeah. He refused to allow any networked computers on the ship. Seems they allowed the propagation of enemy (Cylon) viruses too easily... doh, really?:-)
That wasn't what I said (meant). It was the fact that the morphing DRM used by these products requires one to keep installing updates, and to my mind that is unacceptable. Also, the problem at hand is the fact that the vendor/seller shipped an unsolicited update to the purchaser of the blu-ray device. I prefer to keep control over the devices I own. That includes the ability to decide whether or not I need some firmware update, but I greatly object to the vendor REQUIRING that I install something I have not requested. If I purchase/register a car and the manufacturer issues a recall notice, it is still MY decision whether or not I get the work done. If I don't, I can still (probably) continue to use my car. In the case of blu-ray, I cannot continue to use the device, at least with newer content. I suppose you would accept it that a change in the formulation of the gas you purchased required an update to the engine of your car?
I think any vendor or bank should hold on to this data for as long as the IRS (or other tax authority) requires you to keep records for audit and other purposes. I think this is 7 years or so in the US. This data should be on-line for at least 18 months to 2 years, but near-line or off-line, but available on request of the account holder, for at least 7 years.
Sony has lost all my business forever, since the cd root kit fiasco a couple of years ago. As for Blu-Ray, I refuse to purchase any consumer device that REQUIRES me to install some so-called upgrade. The fact that you cannot play some newer media without upgrading in the case of blu-ray, just raises my hackles.
In this case, I think there is a matter of invasion of privacy. I can understand why they might send you an upgrade after registering the product, but HOW IN THE EARTH'S GOOD NAME DO THEY KNOW YOU HAVEN'T PURCHASED IT AS A PRESENT FOR SOMEONE ELSE?! Such maroons...
In any case, I personally would boycott the store that did this. This situation shows that they have absolutely no respect for the privacy rights of their customers.
I disagree. The situation was blown totally out of proportion by the airline who violated the Constitutional rights of these people. As a result, AirTran is liable for discriminatory behavior, refund be darned (I'd use a stronger term, but I don't know if someone's internet filter would remove my comment...). I hope the family sues AirTran and gets a humongous settlement out of it.
Well, AirTran has just lost forever the opportunity to sell me a ticket to anywhere... This sort of malicious idiocy should not be tolerated by anybody of any belief system and they (AirTran) should pay the price, by quietly going out of business!
After 25 years in the architecture and development of application frameworks and transaction processing systems (used by major manufacturers world-wide) I have come to the conclusion that selection of a language is not the answer to software (and framework) entropy. Over the past several (10) years, I have been exploring MDA (Model Driven Development) as a possible solution to this problem, with some positive results. Long term, I see that robust modeling tools with advanced code generation capabilities as a much more robust means of dealing with environmental and process changes. Unfortunately, current tools are just becoming useful in this regard. My current preferred tool set is Sparx Enterprise Architect, but it is still too difficult to generate a domain-specific framework model that can reflect an adaptive approach to the problem.
I do hope they got the source code to the OS (yeah, right...) to properly 'vet it. Personally, I think they are totally nuts to rely on any proprietary OS for such needs. Even Fermi Lab has their own Linux version (based on RHEL), and the cost is just the engineering time to make the mods they need for the type of HPC requirements found in particle physics, and most of that is "contributed" by physics and CS graduate students around the world. So we get several benefits here:
1. No on-going licensing fees
2. A system that enjoys 6-sigma uptime in the most demanding environments
3. Opportunities for the technical education community to work on and help design/develop cutting-edge systems
4. The community gets well-engineered enhancements (security, parallel processing, performance, etc) to the OS
If you are interested, Fermi Lab's Linux is available on their web site: www.fnal.gov
I have a dual quad-core workstation w/ 8GB of RAM, so I configured a 16GB swap partition. Why so much? Well, I don't normally use that much, but I do run one and sometimes two virtual machines that get allocated about 2GB of memory each, so there goes up to 4GB taken from the OS (CentOS 5.2) and application use. Now, having ample swap space doesn't seem so useless to me...
Another reason why I will never willingly purchase anything from Sony, ever again. They lost me forever with the CD root-kit fiasco, and all this just confirms that the company has no honor...
Well, almost any used US paper currency will have measurable traces of cocaine on them. So, as far as I'm concerned, testing a keyboard for signs of substance abuse is absurd on the face of it. It is way too easy to plant false indicators.
Also, make sure that there are full audits of random machines after the election to try and catch any localized tampering with the electronic results. If any is found, then all machines must be audited (verification of paper vs. electronic results). This can be costly, both from the time and expense perspectives, but necessary to ensure a fair, and impartial vote.
Since these are probably DCSS protected discs, what is to keep one from copying them before they "melt down"? There is no effective copy protection here and all they are doing is to pollute the environment and possibly damage the consumer's DVD player.
Yah. That leaves the smaller consulting house (like me) out in the cold. I'm also looking for decent FOSS video conferencing software so I can better collaborate with my customers - their engineers with whom I work are scattered all over the globe and getting us all together in one place at the same time is impossible.
Well, assuming they get a reasonable cell phone signal there, why not use something like Verizon or Sprint wireless broadband? I get almost DSL speeds from Sprint using a USB cell modem that can go on my desktop system or laptop when I travel. Basically, it works wherever there is cell phone coverage.
Check out the Buffalo TeraStation Pro 1TB SATA array - $449.99 w/ free shipping from Buy.com. I own a couple of these and have been quite happy with them, although they cannot fully utilize their gigabit ethernet connection in terms of throughput. That's my only gripe. Linux OS internally, but work well with Windoze. You can get units with up to 4TB of space, but they cost about 4x as much...
One of my previous employers wanted me to sign such an agreement when I was getting RIF'd, in order to get my last paycheck (talk about sleazy!). I refused without sufficient changes, unless they wanted to continue paying my salary for the time limits in the agreement (a year in my case). We finally made some compromises that made the agreement acceptable to me. In your case, if you don't want to speak with a lawyer initially, determine what you would be comfortable with, including any compensation that may be reasonable for the rights they are asking you to give up. Usually the need to pay for their egregious behavior will help mitigate their demands. If they won't compromise to a situation you do feel comfortable with, then by all means see a lawyer - one with a lot of labor rights experience.
Ditto. Anything I buy of considerable value, either online or brick-and-mortar, I use my AMEX card for just the same reason. They have always dealt with these problems quickly, effectively, and with no more hassle for me than to make a quick phone call to the 24 hour toll-free number on the back of my card. I haven't been so lucky with Visa/MC, probably because each card is handled by a different "bank" and each one has a different customer "service" policy.
The problem with services like Elicense or any other sort of online validation is the fact you have to be on line. I travel to and work with people in the hinterlands of central America where there is no reasonable internet connection, yet people do have and use computers in their daily lives and do use various sorts of commercial software. If I have to maintain a connection to the internet to run a software package, it automatically is eliminated from my portfolio. If it needs a connection just to install it, I am 75% likely to eliminate it as well since I may need to re-image my system while out of contact with the network and then would not be able to reinstall the package that I am relying upon.
My take is, no DRM or other license restrictions is the only good (acceptable) DRM. Trust your customers and they will trust you...
If they are doing traffic-based filtering, and not URI blocking, then encrypted streams should basically make this entire discussion moot, unless they decide to block all encrypted traffic as well... When are these knuckleheads get a clue and realize that they are fighting a losing battle? In any case, I am trying to boycott AT&T as I am Sony for being such idiots and violators of my trust. Vote with your pocketbook!
Slashdot Mirror
This behavior of the keyboard cable acting as an antenna transmitting all the keystrokes that can be intercepted via radio is not new at all. I knew of work on Tempest certified terminals in the late 1970's where this was considered a major security issue and an area where some really innovative work was done to redress.
I purchased multiple Dell systems and monitors during that period. Do I get anything back for the inflated prices I had to pay? Right... That and $3.50 USD (more or less) will buy me a cup of almost-decent coffee.
Yeah. He refused to allow any networked computers on the ship. Seems they allowed the propagation of enemy (Cylon) viruses too easily... doh, really? :-)
Isn't MS Antivirus 2009 an oxymoron? And wouldn't only a moron use it?
That wasn't what I said (meant). It was the fact that the morphing DRM used by these products requires one to keep installing updates, and to my mind that is unacceptable. Also, the problem at hand is the fact that the vendor/seller shipped an unsolicited update to the purchaser of the blu-ray device. I prefer to keep control over the devices I own. That includes the ability to decide whether or not I need some firmware update, but I greatly object to the vendor REQUIRING that I install something I have not requested. If I purchase/register a car and the manufacturer issues a recall notice, it is still MY decision whether or not I get the work done. If I don't, I can still (probably) continue to use my car. In the case of blu-ray, I cannot continue to use the device, at least with newer content. I suppose you would accept it that a change in the formulation of the gas you purchased required an update to the engine of your car?
I think any vendor or bank should hold on to this data for as long as the IRS (or other tax authority) requires you to keep records for audit and other purposes. I think this is 7 years or so in the US. This data should be on-line for at least 18 months to 2 years, but near-line or off-line, but available on request of the account holder, for at least 7 years.
Sony has lost all my business forever, since the cd root kit fiasco a couple of years ago. As for Blu-Ray, I refuse to purchase any consumer device that REQUIRES me to install some so-called upgrade. The fact that you cannot play some newer media without upgrading in the case of blu-ray, just raises my hackles.
In this case, I think there is a matter of invasion of privacy. I can understand why they might send you an upgrade after registering the product, but HOW IN THE EARTH'S GOOD NAME DO THEY KNOW YOU HAVEN'T PURCHASED IT AS A PRESENT FOR SOMEONE ELSE?! Such maroons...
In any case, I personally would boycott the store that did this. This situation shows that they have absolutely no respect for the privacy rights of their customers.
I disagree. The situation was blown totally out of proportion by the airline who violated the Constitutional rights of these people. As a result, AirTran is liable for discriminatory behavior, refund be darned (I'd use a stronger term, but I don't know if someone's internet filter would remove my comment...). I hope the family sues AirTran and gets a humongous settlement out of it.
Well, AirTran has just lost forever the opportunity to sell me a ticket to anywhere... This sort of malicious idiocy should not be tolerated by anybody of any belief system and they (AirTran) should pay the price, by quietly going out of business!
After 25 years in the architecture and development of application frameworks and transaction processing systems (used by major manufacturers world-wide) I have come to the conclusion that selection of a language is not the answer to software (and framework) entropy. Over the past several (10) years, I have been exploring MDA (Model Driven Development) as a possible solution to this problem, with some positive results. Long term, I see that robust modeling tools with advanced code generation capabilities as a much more robust means of dealing with environmental and process changes. Unfortunately, current tools are just becoming useful in this regard. My current preferred tool set is Sparx Enterprise Architect, but it is still too difficult to generate a domain-specific framework model that can reflect an adaptive approach to the problem.
I do hope they got the source code to the OS (yeah, right...) to properly 'vet it. Personally, I think they are totally nuts to rely on any proprietary OS for such needs. Even Fermi Lab has their own Linux version (based on RHEL), and the cost is just the engineering time to make the mods they need for the type of HPC requirements found in particle physics, and most of that is "contributed" by physics and CS graduate students around the world. So we get several benefits here: 1. No on-going licensing fees 2. A system that enjoys 6-sigma uptime in the most demanding environments 3. Opportunities for the technical education community to work on and help design/develop cutting-edge systems 4. The community gets well-engineered enhancements (security, parallel processing, performance, etc) to the OS If you are interested, Fermi Lab's Linux is available on their web site: www.fnal.gov
But ranting feels so good... at least at first, then the "Oh s**t, did I say that?!" sinks in. ;-!
I have a dual quad-core workstation w/ 8GB of RAM, so I configured a 16GB swap partition. Why so much? Well, I don't normally use that much, but I do run one and sometimes two virtual machines that get allocated about 2GB of memory each, so there goes up to 4GB taken from the OS (CentOS 5.2) and application use. Now, having ample swap space doesn't seem so useless to me...
Another reason why I will never willingly purchase anything from Sony, ever again. They lost me forever with the CD root-kit fiasco, and all this just confirms that the company has no honor...
Well, almost any used US paper currency will have measurable traces of cocaine on them. So, as far as I'm concerned, testing a keyboard for signs of substance abuse is absurd on the face of it. It is way too easy to plant false indicators.
Also, make sure that there are full audits of random machines after the election to try and catch any localized tampering with the electronic results. If any is found, then all machines must be audited (verification of paper vs. electronic results). This can be costly, both from the time and expense perspectives, but necessary to ensure a fair, and impartial vote.
Since these are probably DCSS protected discs, what is to keep one from copying them before they "melt down"? There is no effective copy protection here and all they are doing is to pollute the environment and possibly damage the consumer's DVD player.
Yah. That leaves the smaller consulting house (like me) out in the cold. I'm also looking for decent FOSS video conferencing software so I can better collaborate with my customers - their engineers with whom I work are scattered all over the globe and getting us all together in one place at the same time is impossible.
Well, assuming they get a reasonable cell phone signal there, why not use something like Verizon or Sprint wireless broadband? I get almost DSL speeds from Sprint using a USB cell modem that can go on my desktop system or laptop when I travel. Basically, it works wherever there is cell phone coverage.
Then there is that rare element found in coffee, Percolatium... :-)
Check out the Buffalo TeraStation Pro 1TB SATA array - $449.99 w/ free shipping from Buy.com. I own a couple of these and have been quite happy with them, although they cannot fully utilize their gigabit ethernet connection in terms of throughput. That's my only gripe. Linux OS internally, but work well with Windoze. You can get units with up to 4TB of space, but they cost about 4x as much...
One of my previous employers wanted me to sign such an agreement when I was getting RIF'd, in order to get my last paycheck (talk about sleazy!). I refused without sufficient changes, unless they wanted to continue paying my salary for the time limits in the agreement (a year in my case). We finally made some compromises that made the agreement acceptable to me. In your case, if you don't want to speak with a lawyer initially, determine what you would be comfortable with, including any compensation that may be reasonable for the rights they are asking you to give up. Usually the need to pay for their egregious behavior will help mitigate their demands. If they won't compromise to a situation you do feel comfortable with, then by all means see a lawyer - one with a lot of labor rights experience.
Ditto. Anything I buy of considerable value, either online or brick-and-mortar, I use my AMEX card for just the same reason. They have always dealt with these problems quickly, effectively, and with no more hassle for me than to make a quick phone call to the 24 hour toll-free number on the back of my card. I haven't been so lucky with Visa/MC, probably because each card is handled by a different "bank" and each one has a different customer "service" policy.
The problem with services like Elicense or any other sort of online validation is the fact you have to be on line. I travel to and work with people in the hinterlands of central America where there is no reasonable internet connection, yet people do have and use computers in their daily lives and do use various sorts of commercial software. If I have to maintain a connection to the internet to run a software package, it automatically is eliminated from my portfolio. If it needs a connection just to install it, I am 75% likely to eliminate it as well since I may need to re-image my system while out of contact with the network and then would not be able to reinstall the package that I am relying upon. My take is, no DRM or other license restrictions is the only good (acceptable) DRM. Trust your customers and they will trust you...
If they are doing traffic-based filtering, and not URI blocking, then encrypted streams should basically make this entire discussion moot, unless they decide to block all encrypted traffic as well... When are these knuckleheads get a clue and realize that they are fighting a losing battle? In any case, I am trying to boycott AT&T as I am Sony for being such idiots and violators of my trust. Vote with your pocketbook!