Hasn't anyone actually learned anything from 'The Cuckoo's Egg'? If these people at least have some idea what they're doing, they aren't going to be anywhere near the computers that they used to carry out the attack.. why are law enforcement agents 'zeroing in' on California and Oregon, when these people could be anywhere in the world, and simply using computers in California and Oregon?
Now, while I often doubt the intelligence of people who find DoS attacks amusing, I still doubt that they'd have the utter lack of foresight to bother subverting other machines, modifying said machine to act as another worker in their attack, cover up their tracks, and then coordinate the whole thing.
Besides, doing as such would require much more skill than simply using machines you have access to to bombard a server. And if an individual who enjoys suck childish attacks was skilled enough to subvert other machines in such a way, would they waste their time on packetflooding?
No, that would be silly. Why knock over trees when you can steal them without anybody realizing?
The point that it isn't possible with win9x machines is also grossly flawed. I'm sure that by the time I'm done writing this, at least a dozen people will have mentioned Back Orifice, or other trojans, so I'll not go into that.
The bottom line is that this is a bunch of idiocy, and I'd not put any faith into it.
How is it that a network which nearly 'formed itself' is now becoming fragmented into different governmental domains? What are the implications of, for instance, a Russian agency monitoring incoming email, directed at a Russian citizen, which was sent by a US citizen? Is this espionage, if the email's information is of a sensitive nature? When governments begin monitoring an international network which is not centralized, they inevitably attempt to make it centralized. Perhaps the only answer to this is public availability of stronger cryptography - even that has now been restricted. And yet, in the end, you can't monitor everything, and the vault's walls break eventually. I'm just waiting for the deluge. - KMS, breaking his own rules and ranting, for a change
Call them what you will (lamers, scriptkiddies, and a host of other, more derogatory, names), the newcomers to any online community are always going to be irritating. Likewise, humans have a very weighty concern in their own self-esteem and, like it or not, have a tendency to forget their own faults.
Twenty years from now, when the greybeards won't have any hair at all, and the "newbies" are running everything, it's fairly obvious that there will be more "newbies" to irritate the former newbies. Why? Well, for one, when someone new joins a community, they aren't quite sure of their place. They either feel awkward, or superior. Either way, they're likely to annoy those already present.
I suppose that my point is that, hopefully, we can all remember when *we* were irritating people with names like "S00p3rK00L" or what-have-you, and be tolerant. Also, I'm slightly disturbed by the "private party" reference towards the end: it's my hope that many Open Source "celebrities" aren't caught up in their own image, and will remain active in the community, rather than retreating to a reclusive social pool. For surely, without guidance, the circle is broken.
Okay, okay, I give you that point. It's more likely to not have many similarities on any level between us and hyperintelligent shades of blue from 3 parsecs away.
... But I'm still not letting the buggers in my house.;)
True, and yet, many viruses frequently mutate, such as the common cold. And, as for not being similar, that depends on what theory you accept. Some would say that certain conditions must exist for a planet/whatever to develop life of any sort (I am not one of them, I'm simply playing devil's advocate). As such, it might also be argued that there is a good chance that these aliens would be quite similar to us.
However, I believe that it isn't a serious threat for an entirely different matter: the incredibly unlikelihood of aliens showing up on our doorstep, much less ones genetically similar to us, is enough to outweigh any paranoia about alien epidemics wiping us out. So, in a way, I suppose I agree with at least *part* of your point.
Well, in my opinion, I believe that this may actually be a good idea, to some degree. Imagine what happened to the native cultures when the Conquistadors landed in South America, but on a much larger scale. Any viral bodies that these "visitors" might be carrying could have devastating effects to humans.
Now, while I don't think that this is necessary legislation (if indeed it's actually in existence), I think that it may indeed be a good idea to at least ask those aliens to wash their hands before you let them in your house.
I've never truly understood the appeal of AIBOs, tamagotchis(sp?) and the like. A friend of mine had one of the latter that she carried everywhere and, quite frankly, I found its incessant beeping more irritating than a cellphone going off in the middle of a conversation. At least a cellphone is (hopefully) doing something important.
Admittedly, I've never personally used/tried/whatevered an AIBO, but from what I understand about them it just isn't clear to me why anyone would want to spend money on something like that. Then it occured to me that perhaps the appeal in these "electronic companions" was in their simulated companionship. Sure, they can be a nuisance. But then again, so can normal friends/companions!
Perhaps that's where the appeal generated by these things is coming from, perhaps not. Just my 2 * 10^-2 dollars worth.
I'm wondering if anyone has started a counter to measure not users, but companies/machines/the like that run linux? I would expect there to be more business users than personal users, since *n*x systems seem the most palatable to people when used for larger multi-user systems.
Sounds somewhat like the situation in my high-school. While the course is called "Computer Science" it focuses largely on Windows 98, and seems to be circling around Word, for the time being. I was also mildly annoyed to discover that both the ssh and the standard telnet ports were blocked.
It's always been my opinion that a course called "Computer Science" should be something which is 'spread around,' rather than just focusing on one operating system. Admittedly, it's only a sophomore course, so I shouldn't expect anything remotely amazing, but the text book seems to focus around step-by-step instructions, rather than explaining why you're selecting so-and-so to do such-and-such.
This seems to be the case with quite a few highschools, that I've heard about. Ohwell, it is as it is, and I really shouldn't be expecting *n*x in a HS compsci course.
Slashdot Mirror
Just my $2x10^-2 worth
-KS
Besides, doing as such would require much more skill than simply using machines you have access to to bombard a server. And if an individual who enjoys suck childish attacks was skilled enough to subvert other machines in such a way, would they waste their time on packetflooding?
No, that would be silly. Why knock over trees when you can steal them without anybody realizing?
The point that it isn't possible with win9x machines is also grossly flawed. I'm sure that by the time I'm done writing this, at least a dozen people will have mentioned Back Orifice, or other trojans, so I'll not go into that.
The bottom line is that this is a bunch of idiocy, and I'd not put any faith into it.
-KS
How is it that a network which nearly 'formed itself' is now becoming fragmented into different governmental domains? What are the implications of, for instance, a Russian agency monitoring incoming email, directed at a Russian citizen, which was sent by a US citizen? Is this espionage, if the email's information is of a sensitive nature? When governments begin monitoring an international network which is not centralized, they inevitably attempt to make it centralized. Perhaps the only answer to this is public availability of stronger cryptography - even that has now been restricted. And yet, in the end, you can't monitor everything, and the vault's walls break eventually. I'm just waiting for the deluge. - KMS, breaking his own rules and ranting, for a change
Call them what you will (lamers, scriptkiddies, and a host of other, more derogatory, names), the newcomers to any online community are always going to be irritating. Likewise, humans have a very weighty concern in their own self-esteem and, like it or not, have a tendency to forget their own faults.
Twenty years from now, when the greybeards won't have any hair at all, and the "newbies" are running everything, it's fairly obvious that there will be more "newbies" to irritate the former newbies. Why? Well, for one, when someone new joins a community, they aren't quite sure of their place. They either feel awkward, or superior. Either way, they're likely to annoy those already present.
I suppose that my point is that, hopefully, we can all remember when *we* were irritating people with names like "S00p3rK00L" or what-have-you, and be tolerant. Also, I'm slightly disturbed by the "private party" reference towards the end: it's my hope that many Open Source "celebrities" aren't caught up in their own image, and will remain active in the community, rather than retreating to a reclusive social pool. For surely, without guidance, the circle is broken.
Okay, okay, I give you that point. It's more likely to not have many similarities on any level between us and hyperintelligent shades of blue from 3 parsecs away.
;)
... But I'm still not letting the buggers in my house.
True, and yet, many viruses frequently mutate, such as the common cold. And, as for not being similar, that depends on what theory you accept. Some would say that certain conditions must exist for a planet/whatever to develop life of any sort (I am not one of them, I'm simply playing devil's advocate). As such, it might also be argued that there is a good chance that these aliens would be quite similar to us.
However, I believe that it isn't a serious threat for an entirely different matter: the incredibly unlikelihood of aliens showing up on our doorstep, much less ones genetically similar to us, is enough to outweigh any paranoia about alien epidemics wiping us out. So, in a way, I suppose I agree with at least *part* of your point.
Well, in my opinion, I believe that this may actually be a good idea, to some degree. Imagine what happened to the native cultures when the Conquistadors landed in South America, but on a much larger scale. Any viral bodies that these "visitors" might be carrying could have devastating effects to humans.
Now, while I don't think that this is necessary legislation (if indeed it's actually in existence), I think that it may indeed be a good idea to at least ask those aliens to wash their hands before you let them in your house.
I've never truly understood the appeal of AIBOs, tamagotchis(sp?) and the like. A friend of mine had one of the latter that she carried everywhere and, quite frankly, I found its incessant beeping more irritating than a cellphone going off in the middle of a conversation. At least a cellphone is (hopefully) doing something important.
Admittedly, I've never personally used/tried/whatevered an AIBO, but from what I understand about them it just isn't clear to me why anyone would want to spend money on something like that. Then it occured to me that perhaps the appeal in these "electronic companions" was in their simulated companionship. Sure, they can be a nuisance. But then again, so can normal friends/companions!
Perhaps that's where the appeal generated by these things is coming from, perhaps not. Just my 2 * 10^-2 dollars worth.
I'm wondering if anyone has started a counter to measure not users, but companies/machines/the like that run linux? I would expect there to be more business users than personal users, since *n*x systems seem the most palatable to people when used for larger multi-user systems.
Just my 2 x 10^-2 dollars worth.
Sounds somewhat like the situation in my high-school. While the course is called "Computer Science" it focuses largely on Windows 98, and seems to be circling around Word, for the time being. I was also mildly annoyed to discover that both the ssh and the standard telnet ports were blocked.
It's always been my opinion that a course called "Computer Science" should be something which is 'spread around,' rather than just focusing on one operating system. Admittedly, it's only a sophomore course, so I shouldn't expect anything remotely amazing, but the text book seems to focus around step-by-step instructions, rather than explaining why you're selecting so-and-so to do such-and-such.
This seems to be the case with quite a few highschools, that I've heard about.
Ohwell, it is as it is, and I really shouldn't be expecting *n*x in a HS compsci course.
... even if that would be really neat.
Ah, yes. I can just imagine...
"Please click on the banner add to notify the nearest hospital."
Isn't technology wonderful?