I have been a loyal Dell customer for many years. I am also a Dell Partner. Between this event (hardware malware), their bogus denial of system design and manufacturing faults on millions of Optiplex systems, battery failures on their laptops (I've had 2 fail in 18 months on my D630), and other design/manufacturing issues, I have finally decided that I will NEVER (never being a really long time) purchase another Dell, or recommend one to my clients. A reputation is hard to gain, but easy to lose. I've been patient with Dell, but this is the final straw. Sorry Dell, but you have caused what may be your own demise.
Myself, I use terms that are meaningful to me (but not derived from personal information or relationships) and not guessable or subject to dictionary attacks. I think that these sort of passwords are easy to remember, but reasonably secure. I use different base terms depending upon the security (perceived or otherwise) of the site I am accessing. Ones for financial sites are longer, more complex, and convoluted than the ones I use for more public sites, like this one. So far, after 15+ years on the internet, I've never had one of my accounts hacked (knock on wood).
I also hate glossy screens, for most of the same reasons, and simply won't buy a computer with one. Sometimes you can get a non-glossy display if you select the "non-glare" screen option.
Bluetooth devices can be up to 350 ft or so if they are class 1 extended range devices. Normal enhanced bluetooth has about a 50 ft range. My headset works all over my house with the computer down in the basement. With extended range capabilities, it can easily reach next door. So, the perps of these crimes could be across and down the street and still skim the card data.
All rocks are hazardous if applied to one's head at an excessive speed. I think that's what happened to all those California legislators - they all got whacked upside the head by one of those rocks they are going to ban.
So, instead of keyboards with integrated mice/trackballs/touchpads, we are getting mice with integrated keyboards! Thanks, but no thanks! I'll stick with my wireless trackball.
What cruft! The number one reason why I am boycotting Microsoft and Apple is that they seem to think that they own my computing and communication devices and can install anything they want on them without my explicit permission. To heck with that! When are these pinheads going to get with the program, that doing so compromises the integrity and security of our systems and personal or proprietary information. I can accept auto-updates of already installed components, provided I opt-in to that, but if they are going to install ANY new components for whatever reason, I want to know what and why as well as what the possible side-effects of it may be to the operation and integrity of my system.
So, I have totally migrated to Linux on my workstations, laptops, and mobile devices. I run Windows XP SP2 in a virtual machine solely to run one stock/options trading application that isn't available for Linux and incapable of running with Wine. I don't update it except infrequently, and then only manually.
In any event, there could conceivably be made a case that Microsoft has violated any number of laws related to installation or operation of unauthorized software on a system that you do not own (hacking). That is a criminal offense, and should be treated as such. Fines should be levied and penalties should apply... That's how angry I am about this sort of behavior.
Speaking as a vegetarian for 2/3 of my life I have to say... yech! I dislike the smell of burnt animal flesh immensely! I don't have to stay inside when my neighbors are barbecuing, but my toleration levels are stretched come 4th of July.
I think some little green persons from another planet/galaxy/universe found our toy and reprogrammed it to respond in their own language. Now, we just need to decode it in order to learn the secrets of FTL and inter-dimensional travel, as well as the question to the answer "42"!
I made the change over about 5 years ago when Comcast altered the programming on my cable service and turned my cable modem into a brick effectively by having service problems at least 1/3 of the day that made it impossible for me to work from home since VPN connections don't survive disconnections of service. Screw that! A fast connection doesn't make up for NO connection! My wife and I don't miss it a bit. We are too far out in the boondocks to get decent broadcast service and satellite service is too expensive.
Shades of Zaphod Beeblebrox! Not only can I now be twice as confused, but I can also spend all my time arguing with myself! No you wont! Yes I will! No! Yes! No!
OK. I give up now...:-)
I imagine this has already been said, in some form or other, but if their systems were SO insecure that an 8 year old could compromise them, then the school officials themselves should be charged with gross incompetence and fired summarily!
What's next? Patents on random numbers? This is getting so bogus! My guess is that a large part of the reasons for all these "trollhouse good" patents is that companies give bonuses and promotions to the scientists and engineers who generate patents. I know that the company I worked for for almost 20 years did.
This is not new, though it is hard to do. I've been designing and implementing cross-platform systems for almost 30 years. A major application framework and transaction processing manufacturing execution system I was a principal architect and engineer on (initial deployment in 1995) runs with the exact same C++ code base on every known Unix variant as well as Windows with no changes in code between any of them. This is not simple to do - the design of the framework was the key in the abstractions it presents to the developer. The Qt framework is something akin to this, in that you can write code for one platform in C++ and simply do a recompile to run on another, including Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.
I did some research into this back in the early 80's, using a person's typing patterns to identify them and worked up the algorithms necessary to implement a 2-factor authentication system, a passphrase in combination with an analysis of the typing pattern as the user inputs the phrase. The main obstacle (human factors) was the training necessary to get a good pattern to compare against. Computers at the time were a lot slower and less capable than they are now. This can work, but it has a LOT of gotchas, such as
what happens when you are injured in the extremities and your pattern changes significantly?
I have one inviolable principle I hold to when purchasing computer software and e-books - absolutely no DRM is acceptable, EVER! I don't care if it's the neatest thing since sliced bread. I can live with a license key that I can move with the software from system to system, but online authentication (I might want to run it somewhere there isn't an internet, like at my sister-in-law's house in the back-of-beyond mountains of Chiapas Mexico) has made me drop products that I used to use. They now get no update fees from me, and I no longer recommend their products to friends, family, colleagues, etc.
I think Cablevision is going to seriously regret this shafting of their customers. ABC is going to regret losing the advertising revenues those millions of households represent. Cablevisions viewers are not getting what they paid for and should file a class action suit against Cablevision and demand refunds as long as this situation continues. There are no "winners" here...
That is still no guarantee that this will work under all road/driving conditions. Simply speaking, it takes a leap of faith to believe that any such a "fix" will result in a system that is resistant to such failure scenarios. I am of the opinion that all such automotive control software should be placed in the public domain for examination by as many experts as possible. However, like sausage, one generally doesn't want to know what went into the product in the first place!
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I have been a loyal Dell customer for many years. I am also a Dell Partner. Between this event (hardware malware), their bogus denial of system design and manufacturing faults on millions of Optiplex systems, battery failures on their laptops (I've had 2 fail in 18 months on my D630), and other design/manufacturing issues, I have finally decided that I will NEVER (never being a really long time) purchase another Dell, or recommend one to my clients. A reputation is hard to gain, but easy to lose. I've been patient with Dell, but this is the final straw. Sorry Dell, but you have caused what may be your own demise.
Myself, I use terms that are meaningful to me (but not derived from personal information or relationships) and not guessable or subject to dictionary attacks. I think that these sort of passwords are easy to remember, but reasonably secure. I use different base terms depending upon the security (perceived or otherwise) of the site I am accessing. Ones for financial sites are longer, more complex, and convoluted than the ones I use for more public sites, like this one. So far, after 15+ years on the internet, I've never had one of my accounts hacked (knock on wood).
I also hate glossy screens, for most of the same reasons, and simply won't buy a computer with one. Sometimes you can get a non-glossy display if you select the "non-glare" screen option.
Bluetooth devices can be up to 350 ft or so if they are class 1 extended range devices. Normal enhanced bluetooth has about a 50 ft range. My headset works all over my house with the computer down in the basement. With extended range capabilities, it can easily reach next door. So, the perps of these crimes could be across and down the street and still skim the card data.
All rocks are hazardous if applied to one's head at an excessive speed. I think that's what happened to all those California legislators - they all got whacked upside the head by one of those rocks they are going to ban.
Re: dihydrogen monoxide - I hear that it is the principal cause of drowning...
So, instead of keyboards with integrated mice/trackballs/touchpads, we are getting mice with integrated keyboards! Thanks, but no thanks! I'll stick with my wireless trackball.
What cruft! The number one reason why I am boycotting Microsoft and Apple is that they seem to think that they own my computing and communication devices and can install anything they want on them without my explicit permission. To heck with that! When are these pinheads going to get with the program, that doing so compromises the integrity and security of our systems and personal or proprietary information. I can accept auto-updates of already installed components, provided I opt-in to that, but if they are going to install ANY new components for whatever reason, I want to know what and why as well as what the possible side-effects of it may be to the operation and integrity of my system.
So, I have totally migrated to Linux on my workstations, laptops, and mobile devices. I run Windows XP SP2 in a virtual machine solely to run one stock/options trading application that isn't available for Linux and incapable of running with Wine. I don't update it except infrequently, and then only manually. In any event, there could conceivably be made a case that Microsoft has violated any number of laws related to installation or operation of unauthorized software on a system that you do not own (hacking). That is a criminal offense, and should be treated as such. Fines should be levied and penalties should apply... That's how angry I am about this sort of behavior.
Speaking as a vegetarian for 2/3 of my life I have to say... yech! I dislike the smell of burnt animal flesh immensely! I don't have to stay inside when my neighbors are barbecuing, but my toleration levels are stretched come 4th of July.
Not to mention that Cisco's most secure IOS operating system is an OEM version of QNX. No Windoze there...
I can just see it now, a guy is in a bar drinking his beer and smoking when suddenly... "Hey mister! Your beer's on fire!".
I think some little green persons from another planet/galaxy/universe found our toy and reprogrammed it to respond in their own language. Now, we just need to decode it in order to learn the secrets of FTL and inter-dimensional travel, as well as the question to the answer "42"!
I made the change over about 5 years ago when Comcast altered the programming on my cable service and turned my cable modem into a brick effectively by having service problems at least 1/3 of the day that made it impossible for me to work from home since VPN connections don't survive disconnections of service. Screw that! A fast connection doesn't make up for NO connection! My wife and I don't miss it a bit. We are too far out in the boondocks to get decent broadcast service and satellite service is too expensive.
Shades of Zaphod Beeblebrox! Not only can I now be twice as confused, but I can also spend all my time arguing with myself! No you wont! Yes I will! No! Yes! No! OK. I give up now... :-)
I imagine this has already been said, in some form or other, but if their systems were SO insecure that an 8 year old could compromise them, then the school officials themselves should be charged with gross incompetence and fired summarily!
I wasn't referring to the RNG's. I figured there were a raft of (also bogus) patents on them. It's the number themselves! :-)
What's next? Patents on random numbers? This is getting so bogus! My guess is that a large part of the reasons for all these "trollhouse good" patents is that companies give bonuses and promotions to the scientists and engineers who generate patents. I know that the company I worked for for almost 20 years did.
This is not new, though it is hard to do. I've been designing and implementing cross-platform systems for almost 30 years. A major application framework and transaction processing manufacturing execution system I was a principal architect and engineer on (initial deployment in 1995) runs with the exact same C++ code base on every known Unix variant as well as Windows with no changes in code between any of them. This is not simple to do - the design of the framework was the key in the abstractions it presents to the developer. The Qt framework is something akin to this, in that you can write code for one platform in C++ and simply do a recompile to run on another, including Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.
A site that I have used to great effect is this: http://www.phy.ornl.gov/csep/CSEP/BMAP.html
Here we have BOB, reincarnated as The Borg! And people wonder why I HATE Microsoft products and refuse to use them, except under extreme duress...
I did some research into this back in the early 80's, using a person's typing patterns to identify them and worked up the algorithms necessary to implement a 2-factor authentication system, a passphrase in combination with an analysis of the typing pattern as the user inputs the phrase. The main obstacle (human factors) was the training necessary to get a good pattern to compare against. Computers at the time were a lot slower and less capable than they are now. This can work, but it has a LOT of gotchas, such as what happens when you are injured in the extremities and your pattern changes significantly?
I think this device will go up on the shelf right next to my virus infected picture frame...
I have one inviolable principle I hold to when purchasing computer software and e-books - absolutely no DRM is acceptable, EVER! I don't care if it's the neatest thing since sliced bread. I can live with a license key that I can move with the software from system to system, but online authentication (I might want to run it somewhere there isn't an internet, like at my sister-in-law's house in the back-of-beyond mountains of Chiapas Mexico) has made me drop products that I used to use. They now get no update fees from me, and I no longer recommend their products to friends, family, colleagues, etc.
I think Cablevision is going to seriously regret this shafting of their customers. ABC is going to regret losing the advertising revenues those millions of households represent. Cablevisions viewers are not getting what they paid for and should file a class action suit against Cablevision and demand refunds as long as this situation continues. There are no "winners" here...
That is still no guarantee that this will work under all road/driving conditions. Simply speaking, it takes a leap of faith to believe that any such a "fix" will result in a system that is resistant to such failure scenarios. I am of the opinion that all such automotive control software should be placed in the public domain for examination by as many experts as possible. However, like sausage, one generally doesn't want to know what went into the product in the first place!