Perhaps. I personally would give a bottle of Scotch to the guy who could make the bad guy's PDA list "0300 - Prepare to meet Maker" on his calendar.
Interesting Military Application
on
Ready, Aim, HACK!
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
If deployed in the field, special ops soldiers can approach a terrorist safehouse, and activate this device to hack into any cell phone that may be vulnerable. Then they could simply listen in on the safehouse without ever being even 500 feet away, and can discern their movement if necessary.
All this translates into being able not to tip off the bad guys that you are coming, and still able to glean important intel.
In fact BayStar has been whining and moaning that SCO is not doing enough policing of their IP rights. It came alongside a list of grievances that BayStar had, right up to the time when they demanded that their stocks be bought back.
So this news is interesting in that SCO may feel that it is rapidly losing BayStar as its last champion, so it is trying to kill two birds with one stone:
1) Instill more FUD, this time aiming at AIX, 2) Demonstrate that it is complying with BayStar's wishes and "policing" its IP rights more rigorously (so BayStar has a reason to continue funding SCO).
Unfortunately, the "smoking gun" was aimed squarely at SCO's own head, and the "POP" you just heard was not the uptick in their stock price - it was the sound of that gun being fired.
"Lawyer has claimed the sun..."
on
Lawyers In Space...
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I really don't see the need to add hot gas to more hot gas.
When I was in high school, I tested at 96 wpm using a manual typewriter. If we continue to use keyboards instead of other HIDs (such as voice recognition, optical, etc.), then other muscles would be more important than fingers.
Perhaps having a background as an auctioneer would finally be useful for something.
Your points are well taken. However, SCO should have made these decisions from the onset, when they were still testing the water - not right now, when anybody can play the "should have, would have, could have" game. The damage is already done to their reputation, and their existing customers will think twice about continuing their relationship with a vendor who, in your words, lacks perspective to such an extent that they have thrown all caution and reason (as well as money that could have been better spent on development) to the wind.
I would agree with you in that the Feds are looking for those who are generally upstanding citizens who are not, and have not been, career criminals, before they filled out the application forms.
What they leave out the picture are grayer operations, where they do in fact work with criminals. But such actions are almost always intended to catch bigger fish and not to compromise the security of the country as a whole. Recall the American truck driver who was a foot soldier for al Qaeda. (This was in the last year or so; I don't have exact dates.) They had caught the guy, then offered him lighter dealings in exchange for information of and with his superiors. They had in fact been privy to a lot of communiques between the low-level operative and his handler, and that was how they got a peek into the actual language (i.e. code words and phrases) that was used in their emails.
So when the Feds work with blackhatters, it is virtually always the case that they (the Feds) believe they can come out ahead in the endgame, not necessarily because they think breaking into things is cool.
The article indicates that this technology may one day be used in high-end surveillance systems or (further down the road) in retail stores where retailers track what you look at the most.
I wonder if an evidence extracted using this technology can be used in a court of law. Specifically, if this technology can say, "Yes, you were picking out the face of our undercover cop in the crowd whom you thought was your dealer", versus "No, you were just sort of looking over the crowd but not at anyone particular." On one hand, the judge could admit the evidence since it was not extracted by coercion or by torture (you may not even be aware that you were under surveillance). But the judge could also throw it out based on privacy laws and "unreasonable search and seisure".
Perhaps, but let's not confuse that with "Must have a heart".;-)
Where Is The Cash for the Fight Ahead???
on
SCO Playing Name Games
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Someone earlier on another thread suggested that this move might be a prelude to their bringing the war to the BSDs (Free, Net, and Open). If Baystar manages to wring their $20 million out of SCO, then it's hard to see how SCO is going to get the cash they need to continue the fight. They may be able to re-register USL, but won't be able to do much with it. Any judge worth his/her salt is going to see that this is a different USL that had nothing to do with the old USL. All of this is of course *before* IBM (and anyone else interested) turns around and incinerates them in countersuits.
Note that the article points out that being in the position to dictate file formats and to control the flow of data is far stronger than what Redmond envisions now. I would say that if they really want to tighten their grip on the global market, they can do one better and stop thinking of "products" as their cash cow and start thinking of "services". Back in the days when the software cost was a small fraction of a PC, they could get away with it. But in light of a study a few years ago that indicated that they could slash prices across the board by 90% (yes, that is EVERYTHING) and still make money, and in light of the fact that price erosion of PCs has commoditized the market, they must shift their direction to providing software services (i.e. customized solutions for businesses). It doesn't really go against their overall strategy (in fact, you hear faint echoes of it in the ".NET" framework), but they have to adapt quickly to lock steps with Linux and other open-source initiatives.
That's pretty good. I haven't heard of this one before. I first heard of this "Generalization of Asian" in a little seminar where the speaker was just a bit too eager to make a point (I don't recall what point now - this was years ago).
This is about as useful as saying...
on
IT's Musical Habits
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
...that the Chinese have great food, the Japanese have great swords, and the Koreans are all cross-eyed.
I do agree that the functions of the brain that enable logical and organizational thinking somehow also enable either strong inclination for music or strong musical abilities. But to say that developers or *nix admins tend to like different kinds of music is going a bit far.
Somewhere down the line one of these inflatable hotels is going to suffer a "seal integrity failure". The burst that would follow would mark the end of this bizarre venture.
Of course, someone might be worried about profitability, too, but that's a different issue.
Actually, in the Greek language a double negative is not a sign of incorrect grammar or even "street Greek": It turns the statement into an emphatic negative.
This idea is of course not new. Microsoft has been offering money for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of virus/worm writers, and yet has seen relatively few leads.
There was an article recently on Slashdot that talks about the motivation of spammers as being primarily "money" - for college, for a late loan payment, or for just a quick financial pick-me-up. But in order for this type of "vigilante justice" to work for the government and ultimately for everyone, the motivation has to go much deeper. On one hand you could argue that few people volunteer to fight cybercrime because there is little or no money involved - so let's throw some money into it and entice people to do right. But I wonder if the ones who can are simply not doing it because there is a lack of worthwhile motivation. Money seems mundane, even insulting at times, as reward. Contrast this with the h4x0r culture, a meritocracy where your reward is respect and even deferential treatment from your peers when you demonstrate real skills.
It's fine if you want to resort to this type of measure, but what are the motivation and reward of doing good and getting rid of those who do bad things for rewards as trivial as money?
Hmm, that reminds me of a cartoon character sometime back called "The Tick". Maybe that describes McBride perfectly: A bloodsucking, parasitic low-life.
Until recently, some people advocated IPSec over wi-fi as a stop-gap solution. But that's just that: A stop-gap. I for one am glad to see that the standard takes into consideration lower layer security (and tosses WEP out the window).
Nothing in this article technically prohibits an array of rail guns arranged in a Gatling gun fashion. Of course, the energy requirement will be incredibly high, to say nothing about the kick-backs. An interesting idea, nevertheless.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps. I personally would give a bottle of Scotch to the guy who could make the bad guy's PDA list "0300 - Prepare to meet Maker" on his calendar.
If deployed in the field, special ops soldiers can approach a terrorist safehouse, and activate this device to hack into any cell phone that may be vulnerable. Then they could simply listen in on the safehouse without ever being even 500 feet away, and can discern their movement if necessary.
All this translates into being able not to tip off the bad guys that you are coming, and still able to glean important intel.
In fact BayStar has been whining and moaning that SCO is not doing enough policing of their IP rights. It came alongside a list of grievances that BayStar had, right up to the time when they demanded that their stocks be bought back.
So this news is interesting in that SCO may feel that it is rapidly losing BayStar as its last champion, so it is trying to kill two birds with one stone:
1) Instill more FUD, this time aiming at AIX,
2) Demonstrate that it is complying with BayStar's wishes and "policing" its IP rights more rigorously (so BayStar has a reason to continue funding SCO).
Unfortunately, the "smoking gun" was aimed squarely at SCO's own head, and the "POP" you just heard was not the uptick in their stock price - it was the sound of that gun being fired.
I really don't see the need to add hot gas to more hot gas.
When I was in high school, I tested at 96 wpm using a manual typewriter. If we continue to use keyboards instead of other HIDs (such as voice recognition, optical, etc.), then other muscles would be more important than fingers.
Perhaps having a background as an auctioneer would finally be useful for something.
Your points are well taken. However, SCO should have made these decisions from the onset, when they were still testing the water - not right now, when anybody can play the "should have, would have, could have" game. The damage is already done to their reputation, and their existing customers will think twice about continuing their relationship with a vendor who, in your words, lacks perspective to such an extent that they have thrown all caution and reason (as well as money that could have been better spent on development) to the wind.
I would agree with you in that the Feds are looking for those who are generally upstanding citizens who are not, and have not been, career criminals, before they filled out the application forms.
What they leave out the picture are grayer operations, where they do in fact work with criminals. But such actions are almost always intended to catch bigger fish and not to compromise the security of the country as a whole. Recall the American truck driver who was a foot soldier for al Qaeda. (This was in the last year or so; I don't have exact dates.) They had caught the guy, then offered him lighter dealings in exchange for information of and with his superiors. They had in fact been privy to a lot of communiques between the low-level operative and his handler, and that was how they got a peek into the actual language (i.e. code words and phrases) that was used in their emails.
So when the Feds work with blackhatters, it is virtually always the case that they (the Feds) believe they can come out ahead in the endgame, not necessarily because they think breaking into things is cool.
Maybe they could come up with a man who doesn't need a brain, and who lives without a pulse.
Oh, wait, they did. Sorry, Darl.
Well, except the one to whom I am married... after I got kicked in the teeth by several.
The article indicates that this technology may one day be used in high-end surveillance systems or (further down the road) in retail stores where retailers track what you look at the most.
I wonder if an evidence extracted using this technology can be used in a court of law. Specifically, if this technology can say, "Yes, you were picking out the face of our undercover cop in the crowd whom you thought was your dealer", versus "No, you were just sort of looking over the crowd but not at anyone particular." On one hand, the judge could admit the evidence since it was not extracted by coercion or by torture (you may not even be aware that you were under surveillance). But the judge could also throw it out based on privacy laws and "unreasonable search and seisure".
Perhaps, but let's not confuse that with "Must have a heart". ;-)
Someone earlier on another thread suggested that this move might be a prelude to their bringing the war to the BSDs (Free, Net, and Open). If Baystar manages to wring their $20 million out of SCO, then it's hard to see how SCO is going to get the cash they need to continue the fight. They may be able to re-register USL, but won't be able to do much with it. Any judge worth his/her salt is going to see that this is a different USL that had nothing to do with the old USL. All of this is of course *before* IBM (and anyone else interested) turns around and incinerates them in countersuits.
Note that the article points out that being in the position to dictate file formats and to control the flow of data is far stronger than what Redmond envisions now. I would say that if they really want to tighten their grip on the global market, they can do one better and stop thinking of "products" as their cash cow and start thinking of "services". Back in the days when the software cost was a small fraction of a PC, they could get away with it. But in light of a study a few years ago that indicated that they could slash prices across the board by 90% (yes, that is EVERYTHING) and still make money, and in light of the fact that price erosion of PCs has commoditized the market, they must shift their direction to providing software services (i.e. customized solutions for businesses). It doesn't really go against their overall strategy (in fact, you hear faint echoes of it in the ".NET" framework), but they have to adapt quickly to lock steps with Linux and other open-source initiatives.
I hope Darl McBride is looking at the Help Wanted section... under "Toilet Bowl Cleaners".
That's pretty good. I haven't heard of this one before. I first heard of this "Generalization of Asian" in a little seminar where the speaker was just a bit too eager to make a point (I don't recall what point now - this was years ago).
...that the Chinese have great food, the Japanese have great swords, and the Koreans are all cross-eyed.
I do agree that the functions of the brain that enable logical and organizational thinking somehow also enable either strong inclination for music or strong musical abilities. But to say that developers or *nix admins tend to like different kinds of music is going a bit far.
Of course, someone might be worried about profitability, too, but that's a different issue.
Recall the little incident a little while involving a mere 800 MB of Cisco IOS source being leaked to some dimwit Russians.
Actually, in the Greek language a double negative is not a sign of incorrect grammar or even "street Greek": It turns the statement into an emphatic negative.
Sorry, but I really thought that said "social engineering".
This idea is of course not new. Microsoft has been offering money for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of virus/worm writers, and yet has seen relatively few leads.
There was an article recently on Slashdot that talks about the motivation of spammers as being primarily "money" - for college, for a late loan payment, or for just a quick financial pick-me-up. But in order for this type of "vigilante justice" to work for the government and ultimately for everyone, the motivation has to go much deeper. On one hand you could argue that few people volunteer to fight cybercrime because there is little or no money involved - so let's throw some money into it and entice people to do right. But I wonder if the ones who can are simply not doing it because there is a lack of worthwhile motivation. Money seems mundane, even insulting at times, as reward. Contrast this with the h4x0r culture, a meritocracy where your reward is respect and even deferential treatment from your peers when you demonstrate real skills.
It's fine if you want to resort to this type of measure, but what are the motivation and reward of doing good and getting rid of those who do bad things for rewards as trivial as money?
Hmm, that reminds me of a cartoon character sometime back called "The Tick". Maybe that describes McBride perfectly: A bloodsucking, parasitic low-life.
...and let's see if people like Bernard Shifman and Scott Richter can spam me with an Etch-n-Sketch.
Until recently, some people advocated IPSec over wi-fi as a stop-gap solution. But that's just that: A stop-gap. I for one am glad to see that the standard takes into consideration lower layer security (and tosses WEP out the window).
Nothing in this article technically prohibits an array of rail guns arranged in a Gatling gun fashion. Of course, the energy requirement will be incredibly high, to say nothing about the kick-backs. An interesting idea, nevertheless.