From TFA, (WRT why terminal interaction is flawed):
This has lead to "somewhat parseable text" being the default interchange format of choice. This seems like an okay choice, until you start to factor in the biggest lesson learned on the web: there is no such thing as plain text. Text is messy. Text-based formats lie at the basis of every SQL injection, XSS exploit and encoding error. And it's in text-parsing code where you'll likely find buffer overflows.
?
Thus says the guy who's implementing a HTML5 + CSS + JS client / server terminal wrapper. Hey, FYI, your whole TermKit stack is made of parsed text. Indeed, the only way to access your API is via parsed text. As if Webkit (that TermKit is build on) never has any "buffer overflows". Pffffft. Added complexity, more surface for bugs to appear, 'nuff said.
Also -- No thanks. I already have a window manager. I agree that occasionally mouse input is the right choice, and an environment that embraces both text terminal and GUI elements is neat, but I just couldn't stand to read any more of the Hypocritical remarks...
He talks about displaying objects and passing them around as JSON objects -- Yeah, JSON is a textual representation of an object that must be parsed to be displayed.
P.S. Only available on Mac? What the duce? It's just a HTML / CSS + JS interface -- If the guy had any brains you could just point any browser at it and he'd have saved the time of writing a complete client... unless... the goal is to take some elitist (noob) stance regarding UI.
More "Text is Sloppy" hypocrisy:
TermKit's input revolves around tokenfield.js, a new snappy widget with plenty of tricks. It can do auto-quoting, inline autocomplete, icon badges, and more. It avoids the escaping issue altogether, by always processing the command as tokens rather than text. Keys that trigger special behaviors (like a quote) can be pressed again to undo the behavior and just type one character.
The behaviors are encoded in a series of objects and regexp-based triggers, which transform and split tokens as they are typed.
I think that the only way forward is via a truly dystopian copyright regime. Face it: it's past the tipping point now. Copyrights are extended retroactively when works owned by powerful corporations are about to expire. The punishments for sharing information are getting more severe.
To stop making copyright laws worse at this point is like shutting the door after the horse has escaped its slavery. It's too late -- The laws need a major overhaul; Any small reversal or step in the right direction would do to little to fix the situation. The general public is too complacent to care when you inform them that their "bath" is slowly coming to a boil. People need to have the air pressed from their lungs while under the thumb of the mega-corporations and their federal copyright police before they will realize that drastic action is required to regain our freedom to speak.
In The US Constitution copyrights are allowed to exist for the benefit of society as a whole, not for the primary benefit of a select rich and powerful few. The ability to share information is a fundamental human capacity that got us where we are today. Patent laws are just as bad as the copyright laws. Imagine where we would be today if Oog and his goons had enforced his patent monopoly of the fire-making "invention", or if the first utterances of language could not be repeated until 70 years after the speaker was dead.
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Personally, I think the existence of a separate SIM card tech is a bug. SIM cards should be replaced with SD and MMC memory technology, with a standard format, subscriber data protected by the DRM feature of the cards, and digitally signed with the subscriber block and SD card serial number.
Well, I'd like the opposite. Give me an open API that allows me to enter my account credentials into any/multiple capable devices so that I can use whatever mobile hardware I want on my plan, including a stationary antenna connected to my computer.
Maybe it's just me, but there's just something offensive about knowing that something nifty would be possible, if not for the Digital Restriction Managers.
Mod parent up! When it comes to recreating the sound-effects and music of the classics, nothing beats the original hardware... Chiptune is officially a thing now.
Epic, as in Epic Megagames (sorry, forgot they dropped the mega).
Just got 1 copy of Bullet Storm. We have 2 XBoxes. Only one player at a time can load the game in their personal Xbox. However, to access any of the online play features the second player has to purchase a $10 "online pass". Hint: XBL is largely a peer to peer network, hence "Selecting New Host" -- We're not playing on their dedicated servers, only the player's own XBoxes and the MS sponsored matchmaking is needed -- both I've already pay for twice (once for each player in the house). Granted, some in-game stats & ranking may be an excuse to run a separate server and charge for hosting -- but an additional mandatory $10 just to play online? Inexcusable (note: MS servers store the achievements).
From MS Game Studio Docs:
Any matchmaking scenario involves the creation of a network session. Network sessions give XNA Framework games access to profile data on all the gamers in a potential game.
Perhaps they don't use XNA, and roll their own instead -- whos fault is that?
Seems like a non-issue to me as long as this type of XBL lock-out extortion racket is allowed (Even moreso a non issue for me since I've added Epic Games to the list of abusive companies I boycott).
Staying with a main central repository is the greatest weakness of all.
GNU/Linux & Open Source BSD/Unix varieties allow you to use a source code repository instead of binaries -- Although, I use binaries, and every time I've seen news about an exploit, the patch has either already been applied via auto-update, or it arrives within a week or so (this may not remain true as Linux gets more popular).
However, with a source code based distro, you can easily patch your own code as soon as the exploit is fixed -- I imagine I'll continue to see "ZOMG! Linux Exploit" headlines that have a link to the patch in the article.
Even with binary repositories it's easy to download the source for a component, patch & build & install your own new binary -- I have this down to just one click each for my bleeding edge Firefox & Chromium builds...
Compare that kind of response time to binaries released by Apple/OSX, MS/Windows, Google/Android, Adobe/PDF|Flash, etc... it just doesn't exist at anywhere near the same speed as on Free (Libre) Open Source Software OS's -- (note, if your mfgr. locks down your Android install, it's less secure, and not exactly "free").
Also note that the petri dish for binary exploits is vastly different with Free OSs than with Mac or Win. Many bug exploits rely on a specific binary versions, compiled with exactly the same source with exactly the same complier and exactly the same architecture and optimization options in order to inject the machine code & run. With Windows & Mac this is not a big problem for malware writers since there is a huge install base of common binary releases. For the most part, each Linux binary repository contains slightly different executables.
Some exploits do rely on data structure layout or other infection vectors which makes them easier to exploit in a "cross platform" way, but this subset of exploits is more rare, by definition, than the average exploit.
The combined effect is that Linux malware faces a much more harsh environment than that of OSX, or Windows malware. Only time will tell if this leads to a more secure OS, or ever more clever malware due to natural selection forces.
P.S. For the most part: Responsible disclosure only relieves pressure from the distributor and gives malware writers more time to infect more machines... Nothing pisses off a Hacker more than refusing/delaying the inclusion of their code.
So much robotics research is to make machines do what people already do. How self-centered. Most of the time this is not useful to solve real problems. But it does get funded, because those with the pursestrings can understand what humans do, but not the best solution for a robot to do a specific task.
In this case, a simple serial port between the machines would have them communicating and finding common ground much more efficiently than all the mics, speakers, and other mechanics needed to emulate speech.
I find it a bit comforting that with enough research, and effort, our robotic creations -- that carry our human signature if not in form, then in design -- will be self replicating out in the asteroid belt and beyond. Long after we've been extincted by a medium sized asteroid collision (due to lack of funding for human extra-planetary exploration), the machines we build in the near future may someday encounter another race (that was less concerned with economics), and allow the forgotten footprints of our existence to be re-discovered, archived, and perhaps preserved for posterity.
P.S. Please inscribe our DNA, and it's chemical makeup on all future space probes.
Yours truly,
Member of a soon to be extinct species.
I'm actually one of the apparently few people who really likes 3D tech of all kinds, and could have possibly bought it just for that (I don't really play games much anymore). Still I figured it could be fun to play with.
But this crap sucks all the enjoyment out of it. If I'm not going to have control over what I buy, then I'm not going to buy it at all.
I take it that you only use Free Software then? According to the EULA You don't own Windows, the XBox, the Playstation, any of their respective games, and add to the list nearly all proprietary software. Next time, before you click "accept", scroll through and see exactly what rights you're giving up. (At work, I recently clicked "accept" and agreed to waive my company's rights to a jury trial, and allow the software developer to choose the arbitrator.)
Even with the GPL you are giving up some right -- Specifically: The right to use the source code to make a closed source product, and the right to contribute to the software while keeping a non-permissive patent on the contribution. To me, this is an acceptable trade for being able to distribute the Free Software, and I know my competitors will have to make the same concession WRT our contributions.
The rights to benefits trade is often much less agreeable for many, if not all, proprietary software products or software that can be made into proprietary software eg: BSD/MIT licensed code -- My company recently had to stop distributing a product because it contained patent encumbered BSD licensed code.
If the original authors had used the GPL, their later contributors would likely not have been able to prevent the software's use. In this case, the more permissive license enabled the software to be used in a patent troll trap and its "permissive" rights yanked away after becoming dependent on the software's functionality.
I recently discovered that several of our large printers will not have drivers released for Windows Vista / 7. The manufacturer has End of Life'd the products several years ago -- Our warranties remain valid for another 4 years, and we may purchase another extension; Thus, mechanically they are fit and will continue to be fit for use.
However, the XP OS that spools for these printers will be EOL'd in just 1056 days. Without the source code to the printer drivers we have given up our right to use the printers with any other OS than the MFG supports -- We don't truly own the printer, we don't have "control over what we bought" since we do not have the control to make it work with Windows 7 or Linux.
Note: We didn't buy the hardware because it had great drivers, we bought it because it was good hardware. The proprietary software has allowed us to be subjected to artificial obsolescence, and expressly forbids reverse engineering to enforce this -- Lesson learned.
Except in the USA; Where the government can authorize itself to exploit your system, further, if we think it's already been exploited -- Like say, when it's thought to be part of a Bot-Net. Oh, but that's OK; They're only executing arbitrary code on end user's machines without prior consent... so you're statement isn't exactly true, well, you see, it depends on who you are employed by.
Victimized computers that have not been disinfected using anti-virus software updates will continue to attempt to contact the Coreflood botnet servers. When this happens, we will respond by issuing a temporary stop command to the virus
So -- The FBI can use the bot-net controls, but if I, a security researcher, did that same very thing for the exact same very reason it would be very very illegal -- additionally, if I report the bot-net to the proper authorities I get investigated.
OTOH, I can give you my password and let you show me how to fix my computer, then sue you for remotely accessing my computer without my consent. We'll have to fight it out in court to determine what actually happened. Meanwhile, cops may confiscate any hardware you may have, and archive the data that's on it as well.
Not saying that this is what happened in TFA, just that "permission" better be via notarized written consent, or else... That said: "Hey, can you fix my computer?" Sure! "Let's go to the notary-public, and get permission from the government to ensure no-one get's sued, OK?" Nah, I'll pass -- take it to a government authorized repair shop they have all the forms there, and report your possibly illegal data to the proper authorities (Let's hope the malware didn't download child porn, distribute it for a while, then delete itself leaving behind the CP).
Also: Didn't the BBC just outright buy a bot-net, and use people's computers illegally (sans permission) to send out spam to themselves? Yep.
Please, don't apply your uninformed simple legal opinions to the world -- You clearly fail to consider the many occurrences like the above hypocrisies. Either it's illegal or it's not -- to me it looks like the question is still unanswered, and the punishment varies widely by how much the government likes you.
I would show you where the weakspots are in your (home's | business' | network's | Facebook profile's) security systems that any malcontent may exploit, if only for the fact that it was made illegal to do so... In short: Good luck, you clearly need it.
If you outlaw exploits, only outlaws will have exploits.
It may not be as small, but just about -- and a kit is $1299US, cheaper than $1707US ($1200EU), but some assembly is required, and it doesn't harden a bath of patented chemical liquid with LEDs -- Makerbot builds things using a plastruder (high res hot glue gun) and a spool of "lego" plastic.
Still waiting for the "revolution".... I feel that it's just around the corner.
What isn't unconstitutional? Why, I'd find it hard to believe my morning constitution was unconstitutional...
I'm just waiting for the Constitution to be declared unconstitutional, at which point a dark vortex will begin swirling underneath Washington D.C. and devour the National Mall...
I achieve a similar effect via a process I call "Flushing". I think clearing the shit from DC may be a good start; Unfortunately the lever works, but the tank is empty, thus, we just end up with the same smelly shit even after a flush.
My Grandma uses Linux. I installed it for her, yes, but I wouldn't expect her to install Windows or any OS for that matter.
I didn't have to touch the CLI to install it. I enabled auto-updates, showed her how to "open the Internet", and where the "app store" is. It's been 2 years. She "accidentally" upgraded to the next LTS release by herself, with no CLI -- A single button click...
My Brother, Uncle & Aunt all use Windows. In the same space of time, They've each gotten infected with malware at least twice, some more than others. Two of them have shelled out cold hard cash for Win7 because "it's more secure than Vista", had to take the computer to a technician to do the "upgrade" for them, and both of them have been infected with malware on for Win7.
Grandma tried to use my Uncle's computer -- She said, "Can you make the mouse less shaky, dear, I have shaky hands and I end up making the files disappear" (she means accidentally dragging them into adjacent folders) -- Gnome has drag & drop threshold... My Uncle's OS's window manager doesn't... her response: "Well, just turn it off and on again and go into the Linux." -- She was a bit upset that my Uncle B. didn't have "the Linux"... "Well why don't you have it? It doesn't cost anything, and the whole screen can zoom in when it's hard for me to read..."
She has a point -- it is free, why not have a dual boot just in case the other OS gets hosed?
My 75 year old neighbor started using Linux last year. He couldn't use a CLI to save his life. Same story as my Grandma -- Now they call me to shoot the shit, not guiltily ask me to remove malware -- My brother and uncle have both asked me to install Linux on their computers at the father's day family get together.
Please -- Stop spreading FUD. If these barely computer literate people can use Linux just as well as they can use Windows, I don't see what all the fuss is about.
I use a GIT repo to sync my personal changes between all my PCs constantly. Literally, I have a cron job doing git commit & git push, and use the auto-save feature of my document editors in order to provide "ChromeOS" like synchronization.
I have over 80,000 on this current repo -- I'll back it up and start a new one next month.
So, you'd rather toil away for eons in fear, ignoring the doomed hope that we can someday explore and populate the cosmos because we'll be exterminated once we've been noticed.
I say: Let's scream our bloody heads off -- At worse, we were doomed anyway, fuck it. However, it's possible we had nothing to fear at all. At best our neighbors are just waiting for us to exhibit good will and adequate technology before they visit and help expand our race across the universe.
This is the plot of Julian May's Intervention & Metaconcert books of the Galactic Milieu Series. Perhaps, it's best to let some species die of self immolation if they don't survive the trial by fire that is the discovery of atomic and/or quantum power. It may be better to wait until we are mentally mature rather than risk a pre-mature induction into the galactic society.
TL;DR: One solution to the "Fermi Paradox" is that the "aliens" are benevolent and mark primitive worlds as off limits; Would you trust us with a warp-drive?
P.S. Pussy. Whatever happened to Live free or Die? It's your fearful ilk that hamper progress and allow corrupt governments to control the masses by fear.
When abroad with my laptop/phone/tablet I use open unencrypted wifi, but I tunnel all of my data through an encrypted VPN connection to my home network, then out from there. Thus, the jag-off running "ssl-strip" or "script-kiddie sheep" on the local LAN can see only my encrypted stream even if the sites I visit are not using SSL.
I thought we had all learned this lesson a long time ago -- Encrypted data BEFORE it leaves your computer, especially when connecting via untrusted WIFI.
If you can come up with a business model that lets people give out something that is infinitely reproduceable - AFTER it is produced, and get paid for the non-scarce talent/time investment... well, I'd like to hear it.
Well, I don't currently have a business model like this that I can show you, but if you pay me a bit of money, I'll design one for you -- We can share the plan with everyone once I'm done.
To make it easier to smuggle pot, copyright infringing bootlegs & child porn; Does anyone do anything for any other reason? --Friendly neighborhood MPAA/RIAA Goon
So, the malware has executable payload chunks that are encrypted and spread around (locations obscured) that must be decrypted prior to execution of said payload.
I get that this makes it a little bit harder to figure out what the program is about to do (hint: allow it to decode, breakpoint & step), but isn't the point to simply identify that the malware is present? Unless the malware is capable of executing encrypted code on the chip, the code that decrypts the remaining payload code must be stored in plain machine code.
The machine code that initiates the brute force will be identifiable, and a signature can be made. Nothing to see here folks. The shitty encryption system doesn't even use asymmetric keys, and the very fact that it only takes 255 tries for it to brute-force one of its "chunks" is laughable. I mean -- I wrote better cipher systems when I was 12... Are they trying to avoid breaching US encryption export laws?!
Who cares how good it is at hiding its payload if the code that decodes the payload has a fingerprint...
P.S. What really scares the shit out of me is new processor tech that enables public key crypto at the machine instruction level. Not only will the "good" guys use it to "protect" their code from their user's prying eyes, the malware writers will use this to actually design code that has no fingerprints. Each copy will be indistinguishable from pseudo random noise -- So much for "signatures" at that point.
P.P.S. Once you know malware has executed on the system, it's time for a full wipe, BIOS re-flash, and OS re-install -- There is no "removing" malware.
I expect that any government that is not technologically backward will end up wanting to try to break the system rather than prosecute against it. The likely hood of someone figuring out how to generate counterfit bitcoins will approach 1 as the potential profit for doing so increases. It will only take one person breaking the system for the entire system to be rendered useless.
Arresting people will cost money. But generating counterfit bitcoins is profitable in the short term and will acheive the longer term goal of getting rid of the system.
END COMMUNICATION
Go Go Gadget -- Reductio ad absurdum argument.
I expect that any government that is not technologically backward will end up wanting to try to break the system rather than prosecute against it. The likely hood of someone figuring out how to generate counterfit SSL Certificates will approach 1 as the potential profit for doing so increases. It will only take one person breaking the system for the entire system to be rendered useless.
Arresting people will cost money. But generating counterfit SSL Certificates is profitable in the short term and will acheive the longer term goal of getting rid of the system.
Slashdot Mirror
This has lead to "somewhat parseable text" being the default interchange format of choice. This seems like an okay choice, until you start to factor in the biggest lesson learned on the web: there is no such thing as plain text. Text is messy. Text-based formats lie at the basis of every SQL injection, XSS exploit and encoding error. And it's in text-parsing code where you'll likely find buffer overflows.
?
Thus says the guy who's implementing a HTML5 + CSS + JS client / server terminal wrapper. Hey, FYI, your whole TermKit stack is made of parsed text. Indeed, the only way to access your API is via parsed text. As if Webkit (that TermKit is build on) never has any "buffer overflows". Pffffft. Added complexity, more surface for bugs to appear, 'nuff said.
Also -- No thanks. I already have a window manager. I agree that occasionally mouse input is the right choice, and an environment that embraces both text terminal and GUI elements is neat, but I just couldn't stand to read any more of the Hypocritical remarks...
He talks about displaying objects and passing them around as JSON objects -- Yeah, JSON is a textual representation of an object that must be parsed to be displayed.
P.S. Only available on Mac? What the duce? It's just a HTML / CSS + JS interface -- If the guy had any brains you could just point any browser at it and he'd have saved the time of writing a complete client... unless... the goal is to take some elitist (noob) stance regarding UI.
More "Text is Sloppy" hypocrisy:
TermKit's input revolves around tokenfield.js, a new snappy widget with plenty of tricks. It can do auto-quoting, inline autocomplete, icon badges, and more. It avoids the escaping issue altogether, by always processing the command as tokens rather than text. Keys that trigger special behaviors (like a quote) can be pressed again to undo the behavior and just type one character.
The behaviors are encoded in a series of objects and regexp-based triggers, which transform and split tokens as they are typed.
Uhhhggg.
I think that the only way forward is via a truly dystopian copyright regime. Face it: it's past the tipping point now. Copyrights are extended retroactively when works owned by powerful corporations are about to expire. The punishments for sharing information are getting more severe.
To stop making copyright laws worse at this point is like shutting the door after the horse has escaped its slavery. It's too late -- The laws need a major overhaul; Any small reversal or step in the right direction would do to little to fix the situation. The general public is too complacent to care when you inform them that their "bath" is slowly coming to a boil. People need to have the air pressed from their lungs while under the thumb of the mega-corporations and their federal copyright police before they will realize that drastic action is required to regain our freedom to speak.
In The US Constitution copyrights are allowed to exist for the benefit of society as a whole, not for the primary benefit of a select rich and powerful few. The ability to share information is a fundamental human capacity that got us where we are today. Patent laws are just as bad as the copyright laws. Imagine where we would be today if Oog and his goons had enforced his patent monopoly of the fire-making "invention", or if the first utterances of language could not be repeated until 70 years after the speaker was dead.
My password manager types my password the same way every time.
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Personally, I think the existence of a separate SIM card tech is a bug. SIM cards should be replaced with SD and MMC memory technology, with a standard format, subscriber data protected by the DRM feature of the cards, and digitally signed with the subscriber block and SD card serial number.
Well, I'd like the opposite. Give me an open API that allows me to enter my account credentials into any/multiple capable devices so that I can use whatever mobile hardware I want on my plan, including a stationary antenna connected to my computer.
Maybe it's just me, but there's just something offensive about knowing that something nifty would be possible, if not for the Digital Restriction Managers.
Mod parent up! When it comes to recreating the sound-effects and music of the classics, nothing beats the original hardware... Chiptune is officially a thing now.
Wrong kind of "embedded" -- The Lua devs meant "easily accessed from within the host language ( C / C++ )".
So, if you design your DSL based on the D, it will effect the S of your L?
Who'da thunkit?
Epic, as in Epic Megagames (sorry, forgot they dropped the mega).
Just got 1 copy of Bullet Storm. We have 2 XBoxes. Only one player at a time can load the game in their personal Xbox. However, to access any of the online play features the second player has to purchase a $10 "online pass". Hint: XBL is largely a peer to peer network, hence "Selecting New Host" -- We're not playing on their dedicated servers, only the player's own XBoxes and the MS sponsored matchmaking is needed -- both I've already pay for twice (once for each player in the house). Granted, some in-game stats & ranking may be an excuse to run a separate server and charge for hosting -- but an additional mandatory $10 just to play online? Inexcusable (note: MS servers store the achievements).
From MS Game Studio Docs:
Any matchmaking scenario involves the creation of a network session. Network sessions give XNA Framework games access to profile data on all the gamers in a potential game.
Perhaps they don't use XNA, and roll their own instead -- whos fault is that?
Seems like a non-issue to me as long as this type of XBL lock-out extortion racket is allowed (Even moreso a non issue for me since I've added Epic Games to the list of abusive companies I boycott).
Staying with a main central repository is the greatest weakness of all.
GNU/Linux & Open Source BSD/Unix varieties allow you to use a source code repository instead of binaries -- Although, I use binaries, and every time I've seen news about an exploit, the patch has either already been applied via auto-update, or it arrives within a week or so (this may not remain true as Linux gets more popular).
However, with a source code based distro, you can easily patch your own code as soon as the exploit is fixed -- I imagine I'll continue to see "ZOMG! Linux Exploit" headlines that have a link to the patch in the article.
Even with binary repositories it's easy to download the source for a component, patch & build & install your own new binary -- I have this down to just one click each for my bleeding edge Firefox & Chromium builds...
Compare that kind of response time to binaries released by Apple/OSX, MS/Windows, Google/Android, Adobe/PDF|Flash, etc... it just doesn't exist at anywhere near the same speed as on Free (Libre) Open Source Software OS's -- (note, if your mfgr. locks down your Android install, it's less secure, and not exactly "free").
Also note that the petri dish for binary exploits is vastly different with Free OSs than with Mac or Win. Many bug exploits rely on a specific binary versions, compiled with exactly the same source with exactly the same complier and exactly the same architecture and optimization options in order to inject the machine code & run. With Windows & Mac this is not a big problem for malware writers since there is a huge install base of common binary releases. For the most part, each Linux binary repository contains slightly different executables.
Some exploits do rely on data structure layout or other infection vectors which makes them easier to exploit in a "cross platform" way, but this subset of exploits is more rare, by definition, than the average exploit.
The combined effect is that Linux malware faces a much more harsh environment than that of OSX, or Windows malware. Only time will tell if this leads to a more secure OS, or ever more clever malware due to natural selection forces.
P.S. For the most part: Responsible disclosure only relieves pressure from the distributor and gives malware writers more time to infect more machines... Nothing pisses off a Hacker more than refusing/delaying the inclusion of their code.
So much robotics research is to make machines do what people already do. How self-centered. Most of the time this is not useful to solve real problems. But it does get funded, because those with the pursestrings can understand what humans do, but not the best solution for a robot to do a specific task.
In this case, a simple serial port between the machines would have them communicating and finding common ground much more efficiently than all the mics, speakers, and other mechanics needed to emulate speech.
I find it a bit comforting that with enough research, and effort, our robotic creations -- that carry our human signature if not in form, then in design -- will be self replicating out in the asteroid belt and beyond. Long after we've been extincted by a medium sized asteroid collision (due to lack of funding for human extra-planetary exploration), the machines we build in the near future may someday encounter another race (that was less concerned with economics), and allow the forgotten footprints of our existence to be re-discovered, archived, and perhaps preserved for posterity.
P.S. Please inscribe our DNA, and it's chemical makeup on all future space probes.
Yours truly,
Member of a soon to be extinct species.
Now I'm definitely not doing it.
I'm actually one of the apparently few people who really likes 3D tech of all kinds, and could have possibly bought it just for that (I don't really play games much anymore). Still I figured it could be fun to play with.
But this crap sucks all the enjoyment out of it. If I'm not going to have control over what I buy, then I'm not going to buy it at all.
I take it that you only use Free Software then? According to the EULA You don't own Windows, the XBox, the Playstation, any of their respective games, and add to the list nearly all proprietary software. Next time, before you click "accept", scroll through and see exactly what rights you're giving up. (At work, I recently clicked "accept" and agreed to waive my company's rights to a jury trial, and allow the software developer to choose the arbitrator.)
Even with the GPL you are giving up some right -- Specifically: The right to use the source code to make a closed source product, and the right to contribute to the software while keeping a non-permissive patent on the contribution. To me, this is an acceptable trade for being able to distribute the Free Software, and I know my competitors will have to make the same concession WRT our contributions.
The rights to benefits trade is often much less agreeable for many, if not all, proprietary software products or software that can be made into proprietary software eg: BSD/MIT licensed code -- My company recently had to stop distributing a product because it contained patent encumbered BSD licensed code.
If the original authors had used the GPL, their later contributors would likely not have been able to prevent the software's use. In this case, the more permissive license enabled the software to be used in a patent troll trap and its "permissive" rights yanked away after becoming dependent on the software's functionality.
I recently discovered that several of our large printers will not have drivers released for Windows Vista / 7. The manufacturer has End of Life'd the products several years ago -- Our warranties remain valid for another 4 years, and we may purchase another extension; Thus, mechanically they are fit and will continue to be fit for use.
However, the XP OS that spools for these printers will be EOL'd in just 1056 days. Without the source code to the printer drivers we have given up our right to use the printers with any other OS than the MFG supports -- We don't truly own the printer, we don't have "control over what we bought" since we do not have the control to make it work with Windows 7 or Linux.
Note: We didn't buy the hardware because it had great drivers, we bought it because it was good hardware. The proprietary software has allowed us to be subjected to artificial obsolescence, and expressly forbids reverse engineering to enforce this -- Lesson learned.
Victimized computers that have not been disinfected using anti-virus software updates will continue to attempt to contact the Coreflood botnet servers. When this happens, we will respond by issuing a temporary stop command to the virus
So -- The FBI can use the bot-net controls, but if I, a security researcher, did that same very thing for the exact same very reason it would be very very illegal -- additionally, if I report the bot-net to the proper authorities I get investigated.
OTOH, I can give you my password and let you show me how to fix my computer, then sue you for remotely accessing my computer without my consent. We'll have to fight it out in court to determine what actually happened. Meanwhile, cops may confiscate any hardware you may have, and archive the data that's on it as well.
Not saying that this is what happened in TFA, just that "permission" better be via notarized written consent, or else... That said: "Hey, can you fix my computer?" Sure! "Let's go to the notary-public, and get permission from the government to ensure no-one get's sued, OK?" Nah, I'll pass -- take it to a government authorized repair shop they have all the forms there, and report your possibly illegal data to the proper authorities (Let's hope the malware didn't download child porn, distribute it for a while, then delete itself leaving behind the CP).
Also: Didn't the BBC just outright buy a bot-net, and use people's computers illegally (sans permission) to send out spam to themselves? Yep.
Please, don't apply your uninformed simple legal opinions to the world -- You clearly fail to consider the many occurrences like the above hypocrisies. Either it's illegal or it's not -- to me it looks like the question is still unanswered, and the punishment varies widely by how much the government likes you.
I would show you where the weakspots are in your (home's | business' | network's | Facebook profile's) security systems that any malcontent may exploit, if only for the fact that it was made illegal to do so... In short: Good luck, you clearly need it.
If you outlaw exploits, only outlaws will have exploits.
It may not be as small, but just about -- and a kit is $1299US, cheaper than $1707US ($1200EU), but some assembly is required, and it doesn't harden a bath of patented chemical liquid with LEDs -- Makerbot builds things using a plastruder (high res hot glue gun) and a spool of "lego" plastic.
Still waiting for the "revolution".... I feel that it's just around the corner.
What isn't unconstitutional? Why, I'd find it hard to believe my morning constitution was unconstitutional...
I'm just waiting for the Constitution to be declared unconstitutional, at which point a dark vortex will begin swirling underneath Washington D.C. and devour the National Mall...
I achieve a similar effect via a process I call "Flushing". I think clearing the shit from DC may be a good start; Unfortunately the lever works, but the tank is empty, thus, we just end up with the same smelly shit even after a flush.
My Grandma uses Linux. I installed it for her, yes, but I wouldn't expect her to install Windows or any OS for that matter. I didn't have to touch the CLI to install it. I enabled auto-updates, showed her how to "open the Internet", and where the "app store" is. It's been 2 years. She "accidentally" upgraded to the next LTS release by herself, with no CLI -- A single button click...
My Brother, Uncle & Aunt all use Windows. In the same space of time, They've each gotten infected with malware at least twice, some more than others. Two of them have shelled out cold hard cash for Win7 because "it's more secure than Vista", had to take the computer to a technician to do the "upgrade" for them, and both of them have been infected with malware on for Win7.
Grandma tried to use my Uncle's computer -- She said, "Can you make the mouse less shaky, dear, I have shaky hands and I end up making the files disappear" (she means accidentally dragging them into adjacent folders) -- Gnome has drag & drop threshold... My Uncle's OS's window manager doesn't... her response: "Well, just turn it off and on again and go into the Linux." -- She was a bit upset that my Uncle B. didn't have "the Linux"... "Well why don't you have it? It doesn't cost anything, and the whole screen can zoom in when it's hard for me to read..."
She has a point -- it is free, why not have a dual boot just in case the other OS gets hosed?
My 75 year old neighbor started using Linux last year. He couldn't use a CLI to save his life. Same story as my Grandma -- Now they call me to shoot the shit, not guiltily ask me to remove malware -- My brother and uncle have both asked me to install Linux on their computers at the father's day family get together.
Please -- Stop spreading FUD. If these barely computer literate people can use Linux just as well as they can use Windows, I don't see what all the fuss is about.
I use a GIT repo to sync my personal changes between all my PCs constantly. Literally, I have a cron job doing git commit & git push, and use the auto-save feature of my document editors in order to provide "ChromeOS" like synchronization.
I have over 80,000 on this current repo -- I'll back it up and start a new one next month.
So, you'd rather toil away for eons in fear, ignoring the doomed hope that we can someday explore and populate the cosmos because we'll be exterminated once we've been noticed.
I say: Let's scream our bloody heads off -- At worse, we were doomed anyway, fuck it. However, it's possible we had nothing to fear at all. At best our neighbors are just waiting for us to exhibit good will and adequate technology before they visit and help expand our race across the universe.
This is the plot of Julian May's Intervention & Metaconcert books of the Galactic Milieu Series. Perhaps, it's best to let some species die of self immolation if they don't survive the trial by fire that is the discovery of atomic and/or quantum power. It may be better to wait until we are mentally mature rather than risk a pre-mature induction into the galactic society.
TL;DR: One solution to the "Fermi Paradox" is that the "aliens" are benevolent and mark primitive worlds as off limits; Would you trust us with a warp-drive?
P.S. Pussy. Whatever happened to Live free or Die? It's your fearful ilk that hamper progress and allow corrupt governments to control the masses by fear.
I thought we had all learned this lesson a long time ago -- Encrypted data BEFORE it leaves your computer, especially when connecting via untrusted WIFI.
Android > Wireless And Network settings > VPN Settings > Add VPN.
"Yeah, but it's difficult to set up my own VPN. What about computer illiterate users?"
"You expect my grandma to do this?"
No. I don't care about anyone else's competency or security. Use VPN or only SSL websites on untrusted WIFI or face the consequences.
This story just proves what I've been saying all along: If you don't know shit about it, leave it the fuck alone.
If you can come up with a business model that lets people give out something that is infinitely reproduceable - AFTER it is produced, and get paid for the non-scarce talent/time investment... well, I'd like to hear it.
Well, I don't currently have a business model like this that I can show you, but if you pay me a bit of money, I'll design one for you -- We can share the plan with everyone once I'm done.
Now hand me a 'nuther beer. *hic*
Seriously though, I guess they outright ignored the twist off variety of bottle caps.
Why they drilled that tunnel.
To make it easier to smuggle pot, copyright infringing bootlegs & child porn; Does anyone do anything for any other reason?
--Friendly neighborhood MPAA/RIAA Goon
I get that this makes it a little bit harder to figure out what the program is about to do (hint: allow it to decode, breakpoint & step), but isn't the point to simply identify that the malware is present? Unless the malware is capable of executing encrypted code on the chip, the code that decrypts the remaining payload code must be stored in plain machine code.
The machine code that initiates the brute force will be identifiable, and a signature can be made. Nothing to see here folks. The shitty encryption system doesn't even use asymmetric keys, and the very fact that it only takes 255 tries for it to brute-force one of its "chunks" is laughable. I mean -- I wrote better cipher systems when I was 12... Are they trying to avoid breaching US encryption export laws?!
Who cares how good it is at hiding its payload if the code that decodes the payload has a fingerprint...
P.S. What really scares the shit out of me is new processor tech that enables public key crypto at the machine instruction level. Not only will the "good" guys use it to "protect" their code from their user's prying eyes, the malware writers will use this to actually design code that has no fingerprints. Each copy will be indistinguishable from pseudo random noise -- So much for "signatures" at that point.
P.P.S. Once you know malware has executed on the system, it's time for a full wipe, BIOS re-flash, and OS re-install -- There is no "removing" malware.
I expect that any government that is not technologically backward will end up wanting to try to break the system rather than prosecute against it. The likely hood of someone figuring out how to generate counterfit bitcoins will approach 1 as the potential profit for doing so increases. It will only take one person breaking the system for the entire system to be rendered useless.
Arresting people will cost money. But generating counterfit bitcoins is profitable in the short term and will acheive the longer term goal of getting rid of the system.
END COMMUNICATION
Go Go Gadget -- Reductio ad absurdum argument.
I expect that any government that is not technologically backward will end up wanting to try to break the system rather than prosecute against it. The likely hood of someone figuring out how to generate counterfit SSL Certificates will approach 1 as the potential profit for doing so increases. It will only take one person breaking the system for the entire system to be rendered useless.
Arresting people will cost money. But generating counterfit SSL Certificates is profitable in the short term and will acheive the longer term goal of getting rid of the system.
END of SECURITY