User: SethJohnson

Re:Good

On: "Buffalo Spammer" Gets 3.5 to 7 Years

All the ill effects you're describing are because the credit tracking system doesn't do an efficient job of cleaning up after an identity theft. So because of this inefficiency, you are advocating that somebody be killed. Wow. I think some members of the Taliban must still have accounts on Slashdot.

thanks for the info

On: Oracle To Finish Linux Makeover This Year

Yes. I understand that Oracle is 'serious enterprise software'. I've used it for more than five years on Sun hardware.

I'm really curious how you got Oracle to install on Mandrake 9.x (specifically 9.2). I probably spent 36 hours working on that and finally found that I would need a special patch that only people with support contracts have access to. How did you do it?

same is true for tivo

On: Review of the Roku HD1000 Media Player

When I cycle the power on my TiVO, which is very infrequently, it probably takes a minute or so to start up. Regardless of what type of Linux used, there's something to be said for disk checking at boot. These devices are doing a constant read and write to the hard drive(s).

only old Linux Distros currently supported

On: Oracle To Finish Linux Makeover This Year

The thing that has really sucked as of late is that Oracle hasn't updated its linux binaries to install properly on any current linux distributions. Trying to get it to run on Mandrake after 8.2 is impossible.

Hopefully now that the developers are using linux desktops, there will be some attention given to supporting modern linux distros.

I'm pointing this out here because this AC is running an oracle DB on Redhat 8 and it illustrates my complaint perfectly.

you're on the right track

On: Rendering Shrek@Home?

I agree with you that accessible CGI will make it possible for unknowns to generate very interesting movies.

I suspect that it's going to take more than just raw processing power + rendering software. Along with that is the overhead of artists, story crafters, animation experts, etc. To help destroy all these hurdles, though, could be an engine. Something like a cross between Machina and the Sims.. If an engine could be created like a 3-d shooter, but with more flexibility in the character models' movements (not just standing, crouching, or backflipping) and facial expression extensibility, then this could really take off. Artists could turn out all kinds of different 3-D characters and objects for other people to use in their movies.

Imagine Red v. Blue, but where people could really create short films with all kinds of settings, props, scenery, etc. Now that would be cool as hell.

poor moderation

On: Mandrakelinux 10 Now Available To All

How in the crap is this a troll post? I'm referencing a real issue that affected earlier mandrake releases and simply asking if it continues to exist. Obviously I'm a Mandrake supporter, I'm using the OS on two of my computers.

Re:Solar Power

On: Renewable Energy From Algae?

SOunds like you're pretty gung-ho for biodiesel. Hey, I'm all for alternatives, too. The thing about the comparison of solar vs. biodiesel is that solar is clean. Biodiesel still releases CO2 into the atmosphere and we really need to avoid that.

open proxy installed by default?

On: Mandrakelinux 10 Now Available To All

I'm running Mandrake 9.2 at work and home. In both cases, the default Apache config runs an open http proxy on port 80. This is a pretty bad security model. It also prevents you from posting to Slashdot. Is this a problem in Mandrake 10?

Here's how you fix this.

Chinese control manufacturing

On: China Developing own Standards

China will easily be able to dictate their own standards to the rest of the world. They control manufacturing. If they come up with a competing DVD standard, you'll see hybrid players on the market immediately that will play both DVD and cDVD. Probably, these will be made by APEX and will be just as cheap as all the other DVD players. Apply this example to everything else.

phpNuke exploits are faster

On: Weblog System Features Compared

Again, I'm going to advocate that security through obscurity is superior to phpNuke.

With OS exploits, an admin can afford to be a few days, weeks, even months late in patching. Why? Well, unless the exploit is worm-capable, it takes the script kiddies a while to find all the servers that are running the exploit-prone OS. And even then, their attack will require a two-step approach if they have to have shell access to compromise the kernel.

If the exploit is in a phpNuke module, the script kiddies will simply google for the text in the module and hit your site right away.

Thanks for the recommendation of plone. I'll check it out!

here's the problem with phpNuke

On: Weblog System Features Compared

As I mentioned above, the key weakness isn't the CMS (which is also what you are saying), but it's the third-party modules.

My site was running phpNuke 6.9 before some brazillian script kiddies showed up with an exploit that was found just three days prior in Coppermine (third-party photo album module).

phpNuke's architecture depends on the third-party modules to do their own input-checking & cleaning. It has a tremendous user community that is scrubbing the core CMS code, but the modules frequently are just coded by one or a few programmers, and then they lose support (eGallery). phpNuke would be much more robust if it provided libraries for the modules to access for checking input and also required text to go through this before the module code could work with it.

Finally, I would say that phpNuke is an example of where security through obscurity helps. phpNuke is SO common, that whenever an exploit is found, suddenly those brazillian script kiddies have a skeleton key that unlocks thousands of sites across the net. If your site DOESN'T use phpNuke, I'm not saying you won't get cracked, but at least you won't be on the radar screen of these kids.

stay away from PHPnuke

On: Weblog System Features Compared

Not that it's expressly a weblog system... it's frequently used as such, though.

I just wanted to drop in a slam on phpNuke because of all the security problems I've had with it. The modules created by third-parties frequently haven't had rigorous security testing and are prone to exploits. If you want to increase your chances of your server being hacked, publish using phpNuke and a few modules. The brazillian script kiddies rabidly chase servers running phpNuke everytime a new exploit is found.

paid placement

On: X-Arcade MAME Dual Controller Rated

This article is clearly paid placement. The VL website is nothing more than a faux review website. These are ads that companies are paying for masquerading as content.

how about a useful contest...

On: PHP Contest: Revenge of the Apple Eating Robots

How about a contest to see who can make PHPnuke impervious to brazillian script kiddies? I'd put up $500 cash to see that accomplished.

what are some good books on the topic?

On: Schizophrenia Experiences and Suggestions?

Thanks for this insightful description of schizophrenia. I'd appreciate it if you could suggest some introductory-level books on this topic.

I also would back you up on the meds issue. I lived above a fellow who was mentally ill. He was a college student who was functioning normally until he stopped taking his medicine. We didn't ever really meet or know each other, but he became convinced that my roommate and I were sending electric shocks to his brain with equipment we had in our apartment. He would slam a basketball at 4:00am against the floor and ceiling until the police came. They would ask him what the problem was and he'd tell the cops to search our apartment for our electric shock equipment. The cops would tell him he needed to get back on his medicine. His response? "You (the cops) are in league with THEM! (us)" Eventually, he set his apartment on fire to try to kill us and make the electric shocks stop.

That experience helped me better understand how mental illness is a very undertreated problem in our society. I wish the government would empty the prisons of non-violent drug offenders and use the money spent on their incarceration to build more mental health facilities and fund more research.

when I worked at Apple Computer as a support tech

On: Worst Explanation From Tech Support?

I used to do phone support at the Apple Computer support center here in Austin, TX. I was really working to help people and support apple, etc. Invariably, though, the wait for support was long. Real long. Keeping people on hold meant there was never a support agent who wasn't busy. But callers didn't understand that and they'd always complain about how long the wait was. I pretty much blew it off because it wasn't my fault. It's the nature of any call center.

But because my job was a total grind, I needed entertainment. I would try to come up with absolutely ridiculous reasons for the long hold times. For instance, I would tell people, "You know the license agreement that you see when you install your operating system? Well, when we guide people through a reinstall of their OS, now we have to ask them to read that out loud. Some people can't read very fast, you know?" Another favorite of mine was, "You know how the UPS strike is backing up everything? Well you wouldn't think technical support would be impacted, but it is!"

No lie. A lot of people would laugh but some people would say, "Really?"

ride a damn bike

On: AgroWaste Oil Plant Starts Production

Or, we could each ride a bike for one errand a week and reduce our country's dependency on foreign oil. Sheesh! Do we each really NEED an SUV? no.

small town effect?

On: Can Star Wars Episode III Be Saved?

I'm not trying to disrespect Columbus, or you. But please try to remember that back then smaller towns didn't get movies until after they had shown in the bigger towns and cities. I'm guessing that by the time it got to Columbus, it had already proven itself in the bigger cities and the hype preceded it in Columbus on TV and in the newspaper. You had seen images of the long lines in the bigger cities, so when Star Wars was released in Columbus, everybody wanted to see what it was all about, and bingo! Long lines!

The ironic aspect of this is that Luke basically lived in a rural community, also. So Luke was probably also used to not 'getting stuff' until other planets had already gotten it. I grew up in a small town, also, so I'm pretty in-tune with how pre-walmart distribution worked and how you'd see stuff on TV that kids in other places got, but we wouldn't get for another six or more months.

excellent disection of these crap movies

On: Can Star Wars Episode III Be Saved?

MS has cut to the heart of what makes EP 1&2 stupid and what makes 4-6 great.

MS is totally correct. As Lucas has aged, he's lost the voice that speaks respectfully to kids. He talks down to kids like any adult who is 'out-of-touch' with what it's like to be a kid. Think back to Luke in EP 4. His first moments onscreen set the relationship he has with other adults. He's a "kid" that has to do all kinds of chores and they are dictating whether he can go to the academy or not. So then the whole story takes him away from that and empowers him with cool stuff kids fantasize about being able to play with- light sabers, laser rifles, flying space ships, etc.

Young vader, however, is just a kid. Sure, he can drive those pods pretty well and build robots (which he can't recognize later in life) from scratch, but the rest of the characters still treat him like a little kid.

Therein lies the critical error-- kids don't like to be reminded of what they CAN'T do because of their age. Look at the phenomenal success of the 'spy kids' series. Director Robert Rodriquez empowers kids in these movies. In Spy Kids, the kids are running the whole shebang. In new Lucas films, kids sit in the child seat while the adults drive.

The best thing that could happen to this next movie would be for Lucas to be taken off the project.

that would be spurts of progress..

On: Microsoft's Real Plan For XNA Gaming Domination?

DP, please allow me to paraphrase the picture you are describing here...

You are predicting that consumers will migrate to the XBOX (or console) platform because like you, they are sick of the upgrade cycle of hardware to keep up with the gaming titles. So you are advocating that consumers allow hardware to dictate software development. So games would be written specifically to whatever version of console Microsoft last released.

After each new version of XBOX comes out, gamers would be very excited by all the new eye candy to be seen in games then after the first two years, stagnation sets in and the games have pushed the hardware as far as it can go. Boredom sets in for gamers. Nothing visually exciting will come out until the next XBOX will be released. OH, but in this world we're contemplating, Microsoft would want to slow the lifecycle of the XBOX because it's in the later few years when production costs lower and they don't lose so much on each unit sold. It's in their interest to stretch that part of the product lifespan the longest they can. If there weren't competition from the PC market and also the other console vendors we would see a very stagnant market for gaming.

Re:Question

On: Gmail Users Get A Storage Boost [updated]

Hey, just wanted to toss some ideas at you.

Sending 20MB emails is a less-than-elegant solution to moving data between home and office. It's prone to failure, and not only that, but if you're sending 20MB, you are creating more of a burden for the Department of Homeland Security's mail filtering capabilities. I personally try to keep all my emails brief to minimize the amount of work they'll have to do.

As an alternative, you might want to consider getting one of those USB flash drives. They're only about $15. Or, you could use FTP. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

how to fix this

On: Anti-Spammers Infiltrate Private Online Spam Clubs

I didn't have time to adequately post earlier, and since there seems to be interest, I'll follow up with a solution.

To close the proxy that is left open in a default installation of Mandrake 9.2, you can add these lines to /etc/httpd/conf/httpd2.conf

<Proxy *>
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 192.168.0
</Proxy>

After you've edited the file, you'll need to reload the config files in apache.

apachectl reload

why does Mandrake open a port 80 proxy?

On: Anti-Spammers Infiltrate Private Online Spam Clubs

I just noticed the other day, when Slashdot stopped accepting my posts due to an open proxy on my IP, that my Mandrake 9.2 installation had some kind of proxy configured in Apache. What in the hell? Why does the default installation of Makdrake do this? Absolutely ridiculous. I had also installed it at work and had to disable it there, too.

Not that this is directly pertinent to spamming, but it is a built-in security hole that allows criminals to use default mandrake webservers as conduits for nefarious deeds.

kudos to you..

On: The Windows Security Nightmare

I am very impressed by your anecdote of playing music to retirees. That was a wonderful thing you did. I bet those folks really appreciated you bringing something new into their lives. Good job.

don't analyze the third one too much

On: Manure-Powered Generators On The Rise

All of that symbolism is just ridiculously forced into the story of Beyond Thunderdome. I personally think the first two are worthy of close inspection, but the third one was absolute garbage. Basically, the lesson here is, ' don't put kids in movies.' Plain and simple.