I'm betting the USG could also deliver a (deliberately fuzzy) list of requirements to them and get back something that'd do what they wanted
I'm betting that these 'very good people' will either:
See through the fuzz within n minutes of reading the brief, or:
Get pissed off and go do something else more interesting, because its frustrating to try and give something to someone who won't tell you what it is that they want.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the authors personal rantings only, and do not reflect the position of his employer, Google, or the USG
The other reason that trojans are more popular than 'real viruses' is that they're (like STDs) the gift that keeps on giving.
No matter how much of a clueless gumby you are, you're always going to realise and react sooner to a virus that destroys data than malware that spys/keylogs/proxies/spams etc. If the virus destroys its host, or is obnoxious enough that the luser removes it promptly, there is far less opportunity for it to spread.
Blaster(TM) is a good illustration.... how often do you hear about a hard-drive-deleting type virus that is so prevalent on some universitie's network that an unpatched workstation gets infected after 16 seconds?
New Zealand suffers from the same high pricing for international bandwith. The service I subscribe to provides a 256k/128k (so called "Broadband") connection with a 10Gb monthly traffic limit. Traffic that doesn't flow through my ISP's international connection is 'charged' against my traffic quota at 1/10th of the rate as the stuff I get from overseas. ie: 10Gb international = 100Gb domestic, or - in the real world - somewhere between the two.
As far as I can see, this system works pretty well. The customers that use 5% of their connection to surf the web, write emails, and etc, rarely need worry about the 10Gb cap. 'Power' users have an incentive to (at least attempt) locate content domestically , or at least moderate somewhat the amount of data they leech through NZ's somewhat constrained international pipes. On a personal level, it means that when I get up in the morning and see that I've finished downloading shrike2.iso via BitTorrent, I'd best stop acting as a seed for other users, or I'll have no traffic allowance left for shrike3.iso
I'll admit that for some, this comes after having a painfully large bill after running over the 10Gb cap and paying NZD$1 (roughly=USD$0.65) per international Mb (again, divide by 10 for domestic) for traffic in excess of the quota. The same shocking bills have also prompted some users to make a better effort at securing their boxen than they would otherwise have. Paying NZD$500/month to squirt out a squigajillion copies of Blaster is a powerful incentive for that regular visit to windowsupdate.
The other nice thing here, though - is that NZ ISPs have managed to get it right with both their advertising and their contracts, and all details are explained up front before you are connected.:)
Nope, no racism, just lots and lots of 'patriotism'..... which (particularly as is demonstrated here) can sometimes be better named parochialism or nationalism.
And remember kids.... never play leapfrog with your unicorn.
Slashdot Mirror
That just because you're too obscure to get yourself a C & D order, you're coming looking for a /. DDOS instead?
- Google has some very good people working for them
- I'm betting the USG could also deliver a (deliberately fuzzy) list of requirements to them and get back something that'd do what they wanted
I'm betting that these 'very good people' will either:- See through the fuzz within n minutes of reading the brief, or:
- Get pissed off and go do something else more interesting, because its frustrating to try and give something to someone who won't tell you what it is that they want.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the authors personal rantings only, and do not reflect the position of his employer, Google, or the USGThe other reason that trojans are more popular than 'real viruses' is that they're (like STDs) the gift that keeps on giving.
No matter how much of a clueless gumby you are, you're always going to realise and react sooner to a virus that destroys data than malware that spys/keylogs/proxies/spams etc. If the virus destroys its host, or is obnoxious enough that the luser removes it promptly, there is far less opportunity for it to spread.
Blaster(TM) is a good illustration.... how often do you hear about a hard-drive-deleting type virus that is so prevalent on some universitie's network that an unpatched workstation gets infected after 16 seconds?
New Zealand suffers from the same high pricing for international bandwith. The service I subscribe to provides a 256k/128k (so called "Broadband") connection with a 10Gb monthly traffic limit. Traffic that doesn't flow through my ISP's international connection is 'charged' against my traffic quota at 1/10th of the rate as the stuff I get from overseas. ie: 10Gb international = 100Gb domestic, or - in the real world - somewhere between the two.
:)
As far as I can see, this system works pretty well. The customers that use 5% of their connection to surf the web, write emails, and etc, rarely need worry about the 10Gb cap. 'Power' users have an incentive to (at least attempt) locate content domestically , or at least moderate somewhat the amount of data they leech through NZ's somewhat constrained international pipes. On a personal level, it means that when I get up in the morning and see that I've finished downloading shrike2.iso via BitTorrent, I'd best stop acting as a seed for other users, or I'll have no traffic allowance left for shrike3.iso
I'll admit that for some, this comes after having a painfully large bill after running over the 10Gb cap and paying NZD$1 (roughly=USD$0.65) per international Mb (again, divide by 10 for domestic) for traffic in excess of the quota. The same shocking bills have also prompted some users to make a better effort at securing their boxen than they would otherwise have. Paying NZD$500/month to squirt out a squigajillion copies of Blaster is a powerful incentive for that regular visit to windowsupdate.
The other nice thing here, though - is that NZ ISPs have managed to get it right with both their advertising and their contracts, and all details are explained up front before you are connected.
Nope, no racism, just lots and lots of 'patriotism'..... which (particularly as is demonstrated here) can sometimes be better named parochialism or nationalism.
And remember kids.... never play leapfrog with your unicorn.