I'm a bit of a cellphone nut, and have already done quite a bit of reading on the subject.
The data streaming between the phones and towers of a GSM network is already encrypted with one of two algorithms, A5/1 and A5/2. A5/1, the "stronger" variant, is in use in virtually every GSM network currently operating.
Neither algorithm has been broken. However, the private key (Ki) stored in every subscriber's SIM (subscriber identity module) card (unique to each SIM card) has successfully been compromised by researchers for a university, I believe. This was reported in the news a while (18 months?) ago, but it can't be done over the air. As far as I know, you have to interface the SIM card with a PC and ask the SIM card to identify itself, using a slightly different salt each time. By doing this about 150,000 times (which takes about 8 hours), the private key can be computed.
If this stuff turns your crank, here are a few links to get you started:
By making Whistler incompatible with the standard MBR, this could be seen by many as another move to stifle competition in the PC market.
I am so anti-M$ that it oozes from my pores on a daily basis. However, this is the sort of shit that the Free Software® movement needs least! We keep hearkening for Microshaft to drop their FUD campaigns, yet here we have Linux zealots blatently trumpeting the same thing. (Apropos, Cliff, I hear isopropanol does wonders for cleaning FUD out of your horn.)
The MBR-style partition table has been in use for, what, fifteen years? At least? It is a roadblock in the exploding mass-storage market. The entire concept of a maximum of four partitions (there are, after all, only four slots in an MBR partition table) was smoothed out by the molestation^Wchanging of the standard to permit "extended partitions", and within those, "logical drives". However, with hard drive capacities soon to break 100 gigabytes (!), it's high time we, as members of the computing indutry, came up with something better.
I've never heard of GUID partition tables until now, and therefore know absolutely nothing about them; therefore I can't comment on whether or not GPT is truly better. But can anything be much worse than what we're currently stuck with?
That's actually *not* a goatse.cx link. (I invite you to click both links; you'll indeed see that they are different -- in fact, the one below is, IMHO, better.)
As for the email address, I obviously own the domain, and will blackhole the address once it starts collecting spam. Then I'll change my/. profile to point to a freshly-created one. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Steve Scherf and Ti Kan created CDDB in 1995 and wrote every line of code. Steve Scherf is, and has always been, the chief architect and a founder of CDDB Inc, now doing business as Gracenote.
So let me get this straight: it wasn't a nameless "them" that turned CDDB into the cash-greedy proprietary corporation it has now become, but rather it was one of the two co-founders of CDDB?!
Thanks, Steve. (I wonder what Mr. Kan has to say about this whole brouhaha?)
I run a small consulting business, so I actually have bills to pay. What I meant by "just above my cost" was something like $2.20-$2.25 for a CD that cost me $2.11, and retailed for well over $3.00.
I know this is from Rambus, but I found the following tidbit interesting:
"Rambus abided by JEDEC's rules despite the fact that these rules have been shown to be confusing, conflicting, poorly communicated and generally not complied with by other JEDEC members."
I wonder if that holds any water... perhaps Rambus is the only one that got caught, or at least the only one that has abused their JEDEC rules violations...
Yes, friends and family would have gotten -- indeed, did get -- them at just above my cost. However, friends and family only made a small dent in 1000 blank CDs...
This reminds me of the rumors about 4 years ago of increased taxes on CD-Rs being implemented in Canada to compensate the music industry. The next day we went driving around to about 6 different stores and they were all sold out. I actually suspect that they (the stores) were stockpiling their discs so they could put them back on the shelf with an increased price blamed on the tax, and make extra profit because they bought the CDs before the tax was implemented.
This reminds me of a painful memory. December 1998, I ordered 1000 pieces of Sony CDQ-74CN (really nice discs) from my distributor at the then-decent price of $2.11 per disc. I got 10 boxes of 100 CDs each, retail packaged. I figured since everyone thought the price would go up to about $3.50 at the least, I could make a nice little sum since it was said that the tax wouldn't be retroactive, so selling stockpiles amassed before the tax came in would be golden!
Pissed doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when it was revealed that the whole fscking thing was *WAAAAY* overblown by the media, and that prices would essentially stay the same.
Now my cost on the same disc is $1.06 from the same distributor, and I have more than 250 left from the original order more than two years ago. I'm selling them at a loss to get rid of them.
Speaking of Pintos, did you know that when Ford originally introduced the Pinto into Brazil, it sold *very* poorly. They couldn't figure out why until someone in the know explained it to them.
Pinto is Portugese slang for small male genitals. No joke.
Ford changed the name, and sales picked up substantially.
Loading R5900 MMU routines.
CPU revision is: 00002e14
Primary instruction cache 16kb, linesize 64 bytes
Primary data cache 8kb, linesize 64 bytes
Branch Prediction : on
Double Issue : on
Linux version 2.2.1 (master@linux) (gcc version 2.95.2 19991024 (release)) #94 Thu Apr 19 12:13:01 JST 2001
no initrd found
Console: colour dummy device 80x25
Calibrating delay loop... 392.40 BogoMIPS
Estimated CPU clock: 294.240 MHz
Memory: 30724k/32760k available (1216k kernel code, 752k data)
Checking for 'wait' instruction... unavailable.
POSIX conformance testing by UNIFIX
PlayStation 2 SIF BIOS: 0200
Linux NET4.0 for Linux 2.2
Based upon Swansea University Computer Society NET3.039
NET4: Unix domain sockets 1.0 for Linux NET4.0.
NET4: Linux TCP/IP 1.0 for NET4.0
IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP, IGMP
Linux IP multicast router 0.06 plus PIM-SM
Starting kswapd v 1.5
PlayStation 2 device support: GIF, VIF, GS, VU, IPU, SPR
Graphics Synthesizer revision: 00005508
Console: switching to colour PlayStation 2 Graphics Synthesizer 80x28
pty: 256 Unix98 ptys configured
Real Time Clock Driver v1.09
rtc: Digital UNIX epoch (1952) detected
usb.c: registered new driver usbdevfs
usb.c: registered new driver hub
usb.c: registered new driver usb_mouse
usb.c: registered new driver keyboard
usb-ohci.c: USB OHCI at membase 0x1f801600, IRQ 42
usb-ohci.c: GrowLocalMem 64K bytes
usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
usb.c: USB new device connect, assigned device number 1
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 2 ports detected
RAM disk driver initialized: 1 RAM disks of 10240K size
loop: registered device at major 7
PlayStation 2 IDE DMA driver
hda: ST340823A, ATA DISK drive
ide0 at 0xb4000040-0xb4000047,0xb400005c on irq 41
hda: ST340823A, 38166MB w/1024kB Cache, CHS=4865/255/63, (U)DMA
LVM version 0.8i by Heinz Mauelshagen (02/10/1999)
lvm -- Driver successfully initialized
scsi : 0 hosts.
scsi : detected total.
Partition check:
hda: hda1 hda2
VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly.
Freeing unused kernel memory: 48k freed
usb.c: USB new device connect, assigned device number 2
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 2 ports detected
usb.c: USB new device connect, assigned device number 3
keybdev.c: Adding keyboard: input0
input0: USB HIDBP keyboard
usb.c: USB new device connect, assigned device number 4
input1: USB HIDBP mouse
PlayStation 2 Sound driver
Adding Swap: 136516k swap-space (priority -1)
eth0: MAC address 00:04:1f:ff:fa:bc
eth0: Auto-negotiation complete. 100Mbps Full duplex mode.
PlayStation 2 SMAP(Ethernet) device driver is loaded.
Slashdot Mirror
The error encountered is:
Not a valid referer.
--
The data streaming between the phones and towers of a GSM network is already encrypted with one of two algorithms, A5/1 and A5/2. A5/1, the "stronger" variant, is in use in virtually every GSM network currently operating.
Neither algorithm has been broken. However, the private key (Ki) stored in every subscriber's SIM (subscriber identity module) card (unique to each SIM card) has successfully been compromised by researchers for a university, I believe. This was reported in the news a while (18 months?) ago, but it can't be done over the air. As far as I know, you have to interface the SIM card with a PC and ask the SIM card to identify itself, using a slightly different salt each time. By doing this about 150,000 times (which takes about 8 hours), the private key can be computed.
If this stuff turns your crank, here are a few links to get you started:
--
By making Whistler incompatible with the standard MBR, this could be seen by many as another move to stifle competition in the PC market.
I am so anti-M$ that it oozes from my pores on a daily basis. However, this is the sort of shit that the Free Software® movement needs least! We keep hearkening for Microshaft to drop their FUD campaigns, yet here we have Linux zealots blatently trumpeting the same thing. (Apropos, Cliff, I hear isopropanol does wonders for cleaning FUD out of your horn.)
The MBR-style partition table has been in use for, what, fifteen years? At least? It is a roadblock in the exploding mass-storage market. The entire concept of a maximum of four partitions (there are, after all, only four slots in an MBR partition table) was smoothed out by the molestation^Wchanging of the standard to permit "extended partitions", and within those, "logical drives". However, with hard drive capacities soon to break 100 gigabytes (!), it's high time we, as members of the computing indutry, came up with something better.
I've never heard of GUID partition tables until now, and therefore know absolutely nothing about them; therefore I can't comment on whether or not GPT is truly better. But can anything be much worse than what we're currently stuck with?
--
It's about the Iron chefs that compete against each other in this sort of intense, very theatrical, over the top, gladiator-like style," he said.
The American version will be filmed later this summer at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and will include a new panel of Iron Chefs, Valentine said.
(1) Since when do the Iron Chefs go head-to-head against each other?!
(2) No Morimoto. Perhaps as a guest Iron Chef, or a challenger, but according to the article, we'll see all-new chefs. Shame, really...
--
would-you-like-cheese-with-your-whine
Very nice, Rob. It's rare that we see sharp, biting commentary from you; please consider this to be my vote for more like it!
--
; > DiG 8.3 > www.fuckgeneralmotors.com ANY
;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch
;; got answer:
;; ->>HEADER- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 4
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 2
;; QUERY SECTION:
;; www.fuckgeneralmotors.com, type = ANY, class = IN
;; ANSWER SECTION:
www.fuckgeneralmotors.com. 23h58m44s IN CNAME WWW.Ford.com.
;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
fuckgeneralmotors.com. 1d23h58m44s IN NS NS2.ICSNET.NET.
fuckgeneralmotors.com. 1d23h58m44s IN NS PHALSE.2600.com.
;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
NS2.ICSNET.NET. 1d23h58m44s IN A 204.194.104.4
PHALSE.2600.com. 1d23h58m44s IN A 216.66.24.2
;; Total query time: 1 msec
;; FROM: machine.domain.tld to SERVER: default -- 127.0.0.1
;; WHEN: Fri May 18 16:02:11 2001
;; MSG SIZE sent: 43 rcvd: 152
--
from the whats-the-airport-code-for-space dept.
$$$
--
That's actually *not* a goatse.cx link. (I invite you to click both links; you'll indeed see that they are different -- in fact, the one below is, IMHO, better.)
/. profile to point to a freshly-created one. Lather, rinse, repeat.
As for the email address, I obviously own the domain, and will blackhole the address once it starts collecting spam. Then I'll change my
--
Hah, whatever. Proof?
--
Steve Scherf and Ti Kan created CDDB in 1995 and wrote every line of code. Steve Scherf is, and has always been, the chief architect and a founder of CDDB Inc, now doing business as Gracenote.
So let me get this straight: it wasn't a nameless "them" that turned CDDB into the cash-greedy proprietary corporation it has now become, but rather it was one of the two co-founders of CDDB?!
Thanks, Steve. (I wonder what Mr. Kan has to say about this whole brouhaha?)
--
Wait... who's the idiot?
--
Those 3D Pipes can mess you up.
Yes, they sure can. (At least, that's what students of an unnamed university claim...)
--
I run a small consulting business, so I actually have bills to pay. What I meant by "just above my cost" was something like $2.20-$2.25 for a CD that cost me $2.11, and retailed for well over $3.00.
--
I know this is from Rambus, but I found the following tidbit interesting:
"Rambus abided by JEDEC's rules despite the fact that these rules have been shown to be confusing, conflicting, poorly communicated and generally not complied with by other JEDEC members."
I wonder if that holds any water... perhaps Rambus is the only one that got caught, or at least the only one that has abused their JEDEC rules violations...
--
Yes, friends and family would have gotten -- indeed, did get -- them at just above my cost. However, friends and family only made a small dent in 1000 blank CDs...
--
This reminds me of the rumors about 4 years ago of increased taxes on CD-Rs being implemented in Canada to compensate the music industry. The next day we went driving around to about 6 different stores and they were all sold out. I actually suspect that they (the stores) were stockpiling their discs so they could put them back on the shelf with an increased price blamed on the tax, and make extra profit because they bought the CDs before the tax was implemented.
This reminds me of a painful memory. December 1998, I ordered 1000 pieces of Sony CDQ-74CN (really nice discs) from my distributor at the then-decent price of $2.11 per disc. I got 10 boxes of 100 CDs each, retail packaged. I figured since everyone thought the price would go up to about $3.50 at the least, I could make a nice little sum since it was said that the tax wouldn't be retroactive, so selling stockpiles amassed before the tax came in would be golden!
Pissed doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when it was revealed that the whole fscking thing was *WAAAAY* overblown by the media, and that prices would essentially stay the same.
Now my cost on the same disc is $1.06 from the same distributor, and I have more than 250 left from the original order more than two years ago. I'm selling them at a loss to get rid of them.
Oh, but I'm not bitter or anything...
--
-- Aaron Sherman (ajs@ajs.com) 2173541 2173709 2173793 2174069 2174087 2174239 2174329 ...?
Oh boy.
--
Man, your karmapimp must be rolling in cash... ;)
--
2 AC
Redundant power? Wow, a true geek sofa!
--
What do you wipe your butt with?
This.
--
or if it flies too high, it'll get burned by the sun!
:)
Silly people. Serves them right for sticking on the wings with wax!
--
But then again, why Is Nissan Motors entitled to that name anyway? 'Nissan' is not their name, it's Nissan Motors (or something to that effect).
For the same reason that the Honda Motor Co. of America's website is here.
--
Speaking of Pintos, did you know that when Ford originally introduced the Pinto into Brazil, it sold *very* poorly. They couldn't figure out why until someone in the know explained it to them.
Pinto is Portugese slang for small male genitals. No joke.
Ford changed the name, and sales picked up substantially.
--
Loading R5900 MMU routines.
CPU revision is: 00002e14
Primary instruction cache 16kb, linesize 64 bytes
Primary data cache 8kb, linesize 64 bytes
Branch Prediction : on
Double Issue : on
Linux version 2.2.1 (master@linux) (gcc version 2.95.2 19991024 (release)) #94 Thu Apr 19 12:13:01 JST 2001
no initrd found
Console: colour dummy device 80x25
Calibrating delay loop... 392.40 BogoMIPS
Estimated CPU clock: 294.240 MHz
Memory: 30724k/32760k available (1216k kernel code, 752k data)
Checking for 'wait' instruction... unavailable.
POSIX conformance testing by UNIFIX
PlayStation 2 SIF BIOS: 0200
Linux NET4.0 for Linux 2.2
Based upon Swansea University Computer Society NET3.039
NET4: Unix domain sockets 1.0 for Linux NET4.0.
NET4: Linux TCP/IP 1.0 for NET4.0
IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP, IGMP
Linux IP multicast router 0.06 plus PIM-SM
Starting kswapd v 1.5
PlayStation 2 device support: GIF, VIF, GS, VU, IPU, SPR
Graphics Synthesizer revision: 00005508
Console: switching to colour PlayStation 2 Graphics Synthesizer 80x28
pty: 256 Unix98 ptys configured
Real Time Clock Driver v1.09
rtc: Digital UNIX epoch (1952) detected
usb.c: registered new driver usbdevfs
usb.c: registered new driver hub
usb.c: registered new driver usb_mouse
usb.c: registered new driver keyboard
usb-ohci.c: USB OHCI at membase 0x1f801600, IRQ 42
usb-ohci.c: GrowLocalMem 64K bytes
usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
usb.c: USB new device connect, assigned device number 1
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 2 ports detected
RAM disk driver initialized: 1 RAM disks of 10240K size
loop: registered device at major 7
PlayStation 2 IDE DMA driver
hda: ST340823A, ATA DISK drive
ide0 at 0xb4000040-0xb4000047,0xb400005c on irq 41
hda: ST340823A, 38166MB w/1024kB Cache, CHS=4865/255/63, (U)DMA
LVM version 0.8i by Heinz Mauelshagen (02/10/1999)
lvm -- Driver successfully initialized
scsi : 0 hosts.
scsi : detected total.
Partition check:
hda: hda1 hda2
VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly.
Freeing unused kernel memory: 48k freed
usb.c: USB new device connect, assigned device number 2
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 2 ports detected
usb.c: USB new device connect, assigned device number 3
keybdev.c: Adding keyboard: input0
input0: USB HIDBP keyboard
usb.c: USB new device connect, assigned device number 4
input1: USB HIDBP mouse
PlayStation 2 Sound driver
Adding Swap: 136516k swap-space (priority -1)
eth0: MAC address 00:04:1f:ff:fa:bc
eth0: Auto-negotiation complete. 100Mbps Full duplex mode.
PlayStation 2 SMAP(Ethernet) device driver is loaded.
--
The only difference between NTSC3.58 and NTSC4.43 is the sound carrier frequency. The video portion of the signal is identical.
--