Moderators, please forgive me. If there were a/. topic for funny pictures of Bill Gates (there ought to be!) this is the perfect candidate for the icon.
Re:s/NT/stupidly trojan-enabled software/
on
Microsoft Cracked
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· Score: 2
y'all better try again. Here is the registry hack to DISABLE this oh so useful (to virus spreaders) feature:
delete the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ShellScrap\NeverShowExt
Re:Imminent death of SomeBigCompany predicted
on
Is Novell Doomed?
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· Score: 3
I agree with you that NDS is the greatest thing since sliced bread (to the enterprise).
However, when you've got to go to the client side, and install the Novell Client everywhere, and different versions of Novell Client break stuff left and right, it quickly becomes a nightmare in an NT environment.
I'm not saying that Novell writes crappy clients. In fact, I believe the opposite is true, when you look at all the cool stuff you can configure on these clients, the Microsoft Networking client doesn't come close. But Microsoft is constantly changing stuff with their OS, and while MS can manage to keep versions from Win95, 98, ME, NT 3.5 4.0, W2k, more or less working, you add NDS and Novell Clients to the mix and the result is an unsupportable nightmare. It's just a sad fact that Microsoft out-flanked Novell on the desktop. (Novell realized this when they bought DRDOS, and WP, but it was too late, by that time, Win95 was almost nigh - Novell DOS 7 kicked ass, but it didn't kick enough ass against Win95). Once Microsoft controlled the desktop, and kept Novell scrambling by constantly breaking the client, the battle was all over. My CNE is toilet paper now.
Re:See what happens when you rely on NT
on
Microsoft Cracked
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· Score: 2
Outlook's preview-mode and auto-running of attached code takes the human link out of the chain.
This stuff is enabled by default. that, along with the shell scrap crap (that hides the executable code inside what looks, to the user, as a plain text file), is an inexcusable lack of conscientious software design.
Re:s/NT/stupidly trojan-enabled software/
on
Microsoft Cracked
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· Score: 2
um not so simple. Windows Shell Scrap allows an author to "hide" executable code in a file that looks like a text file -
For instance, stages virus was actually Stages.txt.vbs. In Outlook, it looks like Stages.txt. If you save it, in explorer, it looks like Stages.txt (even if you told explorer to show all extensions - this is a hidden exception, even Windows Power Users are fooled by this, ironically, your only saving grace is erp! DOS!).
So you see this innocent looking.txt file, you know better than to view.doc files, because you know they have Macros that can be viral. But you open this.txt file, in Notepad, no less, and it executes. You see a little system activity for a few moments, and nothing else, you're infected, and you've just emailed 150 of your closest colleagues the same garbage.
No other mail client will hide the.vbs extension.
Now, you CAN tell Outlook to warn you when it runs executable content from an untrusted source, but the problem is, it SHARES these security settings with Explorer, so if you do this to secure Outlook, you hobble Explorer, which will no longer run javascript from untrusted sources, which amount to like 90% of the websites you're likely to visit.
This is complete horseshit, and there's no excuse for a feature like this.
Re:See what happens when you rely on NT
on
Microsoft Cracked
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· Score: 2
actually, it's not Outlook's fault at all. It is the fault of the architect who decided what Outlook's default security settings are. By default, they're wide open. (stages.vbs proved that), but if the security settings are tweaked a bit, this kind of exploit is impossible. But then again, if they enable those settings, widespread use of this so-called "feature" is DISabled. And if widespread use of this so-called "feature" is threatened, it threatens the feature's usefulness, and hence, the feature itself may as well not exist (yay!).
So basically, the choices are;
1) Develop a feature which allows Outlook to run executable code - so administrators can email software updates to their employees, etc. By default, leave it wide open, so support of this feature is ubiquitous, and so that people actually USE it, and it's touted as a great reason to use Outlook instead of Eudora, etc.
2) Develop this feature, add it to Outlook, but effectively hobble it by setting the security defaults high enough to eliminate the threat of email viruses. If anyone wants to actually USE this feature, designed to aid complicated administration tasks, they'll be required to train all endusers in how to set the security settings so that this feature can be used (has anyone here actually tried to tweak these settings in Outlook? Talk about obscurity!)
3) Leave the feature out, and give consumers NO features that appeal in Outlook over Eudora.
Re:The "Truth" about who Microsoft really is
on
Microsoft Cracked
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· Score: 2
It is, and always has been in Microsoft's best interests (as far back as Bill Gates' Micro-soft open letter to the hobbyist community regarding "software piracy") to raise public hysteria against hacking and piracy to a fever pitch, in order to justify laws like UTICA and DMCA, which put all the cards in their hands, and out of our hands.
We stand at the brink of the beginning of a dark, dark, age. I don't believe there is anything that can be done about it. Those of us who want to preserve our freedom are going to necessarily have to become outlaws, and perhaps fight a guerilla war, or possibly fight from inside. (the stories I've read about the whole Intel/Rambus fiasco, and internal rebellion have kind of made me feel less pessimistic).
At least crypto is free. We have that small victory. But everything else seems to be going to hell.
It's worse than that, what if they not only stole the Windows source code; what if they MODIFIED it? What if they put a back door into it? Who knows? What if Microsoft doesn't locate the back door? What if products have already shipped with back doors?
What if the hackers find MORE exploits in their stolen source code, and instead of publishing them to NTBugTraq or 2600 (who will make them public - so everyone can know about the dangers, and take precautions, and so that Microsoft might fix them), they pass them around to terrorists or other "black-hat" hackers, and they are used nefariously?
There is no stronger argument for Open Source software.
Re:Win-Win? Not so sure...(Kevin Mitnick)
on
Microsoft Cracked
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· Score: 2
Oh, there's TONS of security built into Outlook, and VBS is not a threat to someone who knows how to set things up right. There's all kinds of deeply buried dialog boxes and registry hacks that can put a stop to this stuff.
But for 99% of Outlook users out there who use the defaults, (and NONE of the features that the defaults enable) they're screwed.
how about this for a power-supply?
A tiny laser, possibly IR or some other frequency, positioned on the rim of a pair of glasses, pointed through the iris to a photocell receiver inside the eye? No messy cables or paralysis.
damn! My 6 year old son can name both candidates and their running mates, although he still thinks he should vote for Bush because "Bush is famous" - I guess that's what 90% of Bush's supporters must be thinking. . .
You think the IT labor shortage is rough now?
We're raising a whole generation of technical cripples.
How?
I spoke to my son, and several other members of his class, ages range from 12-13yrs. They all have nice computer in the lab, and decent internet connections, and N2H2 filtering software. Every single one of these kids said that the internet was a useless waste of time, there was nothing on it worth seeing or reading that wasn't filtered. There were a few lame "educational" and commercial sites, and that was it.
In other words, kids aren't using computers, (except to learn Word and Excel). They aren't interested in the internet, only a few, and I'm guessing those are the ones who have access at home to unfiltered connections, who may or may not be looking at goatse.cx, but at least have the wide world of news and information at their disposal through the web.
Basically, all these billions we're spending to wire the schools and libraries is a big waste of money and time.
what happens when someone writes a virus that modifies the virus scan file to remove itself, and propagates that file across the p2p network as the latest update?
I don't even understand how it could be of political benefit to anyone other than a Sailor Scout whether Pluto is a planet or not. But if this new object IS a planet, then we better alert Buckaroo Banzai, because that means Pluto is Planet 10!
Well, after that earlier article about "sneaking Linux installations", which was VERY inflammatory, it just seems like almost all of the Linux-article postings on/. lately have been aimed at provoking heated zealous defense of the platform.
I guess the same goes for the Apple articles as well.
I dunno, some kind of zapper, or virtual reality hologram, - some kind of technology that gives it's wearer an advantage over the slobs who went to the bar *not* wearing a 20 pound backpack. ..
Slashdot Mirror
the psychological effect of "blue" may have been overridden by the fact that "blue is high-tech".
Or did you miss the fact that Apple's most popular iMac color was the Blue one (prior to graphite being available).
I know it's offtopic, but it's not every day you run across a picture like this!
0 27/mdf126161.jpg
/. topic for funny pictures of Bill Gates (there ought to be!) this is the perfect candidate for the icon.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20001
Moderators, please forgive me. If there were a
y'all better try again. Here is the registry hack to DISABLE this oh so useful (to virus spreaders) feature:
delete the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ShellScrap\NeverShowExt
I agree with you that NDS is the greatest thing since sliced bread (to the enterprise).
However, when you've got to go to the client side, and install the Novell Client everywhere, and different versions of Novell Client break stuff left and right, it quickly becomes a nightmare in an NT environment.
I'm not saying that Novell writes crappy clients. In fact, I believe the opposite is true, when you look at all the cool stuff you can configure on these clients, the Microsoft Networking client doesn't come close. But Microsoft is constantly changing stuff with their OS, and while MS can manage to keep versions from Win95, 98, ME, NT 3.5 4.0, W2k, more or less working, you add NDS and Novell Clients to the mix and the result is an unsupportable nightmare. It's just a sad fact that Microsoft out-flanked Novell on the desktop. (Novell realized this when they bought DRDOS, and WP, but it was too late, by that time, Win95 was almost nigh - Novell DOS 7 kicked ass, but it didn't kick enough ass against Win95). Once Microsoft controlled the desktop, and kept Novell scrambling by constantly breaking the client, the battle was all over. My CNE is toilet paper now.
Outlook's preview-mode and auto-running of attached code takes the human link out of the chain.
This stuff is enabled by default. that, along with the shell scrap crap (that hides the executable code inside what looks, to the user, as a plain text file), is an inexcusable lack of conscientious software design.
um not so simple. Windows Shell Scrap allows an author to "hide" executable code in a file that looks like a text file -
.txt file, you know better than to view .doc files, because you know they have Macros that can be viral. But you open this .txt file, in Notepad, no less, and it executes. You see a little system activity for a few moments, and nothing else, you're infected, and you've just emailed 150 of your closest colleagues the same garbage.
.vbs extension.
For instance, stages virus was actually Stages.txt.vbs. In Outlook, it looks like Stages.txt. If you save it, in explorer, it looks like Stages.txt (even if you told explorer to show all extensions - this is a hidden exception, even Windows Power Users are fooled by this, ironically, your only saving grace is erp! DOS!).
So you see this innocent looking
No other mail client will hide the
Now, you CAN tell Outlook to warn you when it runs executable content from an untrusted source, but the problem is, it SHARES these security settings with Explorer, so if you do this to secure Outlook, you hobble Explorer, which will no longer run javascript from untrusted sources, which amount to like 90% of the websites you're likely to visit.
This is complete horseshit, and there's no excuse for a feature like this.
actually, it's not Outlook's fault at all. It is the fault of the architect who decided what Outlook's default security settings are. By default, they're wide open. (stages.vbs proved that), but if the security settings are tweaked a bit, this kind of exploit is impossible. But then again, if they enable those settings, widespread use of this so-called "feature" is DISabled. And if widespread use of this so-called "feature" is threatened, it threatens the feature's usefulness, and hence, the feature itself may as well not exist (yay!).
So basically, the choices are;
1) Develop a feature which allows Outlook to run executable code - so administrators can email software updates to their employees, etc. By default, leave it wide open, so support of this feature is ubiquitous, and so that people actually USE it, and it's touted as a great reason to use Outlook instead of Eudora, etc.
2) Develop this feature, add it to Outlook, but effectively hobble it by setting the security defaults high enough to eliminate the threat of email viruses. If anyone wants to actually USE this feature, designed to aid complicated administration tasks, they'll be required to train all endusers in how to set the security settings so that this feature can be used (has anyone here actually tried to tweak these settings in Outlook? Talk about obscurity!)
3) Leave the feature out, and give consumers NO features that appeal in Outlook over Eudora.
I like your .sig.
what do they need laser guidance for?
It is, and always has been in Microsoft's best interests (as far back as Bill Gates' Micro-soft open letter to the hobbyist community regarding "software piracy") to raise public hysteria against hacking and piracy to a fever pitch, in order to justify laws like UTICA and DMCA, which put all the cards in their hands, and out of our hands.
We stand at the brink of the beginning of a dark, dark, age. I don't believe there is anything that can be done about it. Those of us who want to preserve our freedom are going to necessarily have to become outlaws, and perhaps fight a guerilla war, or possibly fight from inside. (the stories I've read about the whole Intel/Rambus fiasco, and internal rebellion have kind of made me feel less pessimistic).
At least crypto is free. We have that small victory. But everything else seems to be going to hell.
It's worse than that, what if they not only stole the Windows source code; what if they MODIFIED it? What if they put a back door into it? Who knows? What if Microsoft doesn't locate the back door? What if products have already shipped with back doors?
What if the hackers find MORE exploits in their stolen source code, and instead of publishing them to NTBugTraq or 2600 (who will make them public - so everyone can know about the dangers, and take precautions, and so that Microsoft might fix them), they pass them around to terrorists or other "black-hat" hackers, and they are used nefariously?
There is no stronger argument for Open Source software.
Oh, there's TONS of security built into Outlook, and VBS is not a threat to someone who knows how to set things up right. There's all kinds of deeply buried dialog boxes and registry hacks that can put a stop to this stuff.
But for 99% of Outlook users out there who use the defaults, (and NONE of the features that the defaults enable) they're screwed.
It's not the money that Sony is after. It's publicity.
More publicity = more mindshare.
more mindshare = more marketshare
more marketshare = more developers
Which is what we've been reading has been Sony's weak point, right?
Gee, how come that didn't work for 600MHz Motorola G4 chips?
how about this for a power-supply?
A tiny laser, possibly IR or some other frequency, positioned on the rim of a pair of glasses, pointed through the iris to a photocell receiver inside the eye? No messy cables or paralysis.
damn! My 6 year old son can name both candidates and their running mates, although he still thinks he should vote for Bush because "Bush is famous" - I guess that's what 90% of Bush's supporters must be thinking. . .
it's worse than "doesn't work".
You think the IT labor shortage is rough now?
We're raising a whole generation of technical cripples.
How?
I spoke to my son, and several other members of his class, ages range from 12-13yrs. They all have nice computer in the lab, and decent internet connections, and N2H2 filtering software. Every single one of these kids said that the internet was a useless waste of time, there was nothing on it worth seeing or reading that wasn't filtered. There were a few lame "educational" and commercial sites, and that was it.
In other words, kids aren't using computers, (except to learn Word and Excel). They aren't interested in the internet, only a few, and I'm guessing those are the ones who have access at home to unfiltered connections, who may or may not be looking at goatse.cx, but at least have the wide world of news and information at their disposal through the web.
Basically, all these billions we're spending to wire the schools and libraries is a big waste of money and time.
what happens when someone writes a virus that modifies the virus scan file to remove itself, and propagates that file across the p2p network as the latest update?
no no no! Planet X is where Apple's Human Interface group did it's usability testing for Mac OS X!
(No humans on Planet X, hence, no humans used in testing - only engineers).
I don't even understand how it could be of political benefit to anyone other than a Sailor Scout whether Pluto is a planet or not. But if this new object IS a planet, then we better alert Buckaroo Banzai, because that means Pluto is Planet 10!
um - I think that was a /. article a few months back. . .
the funny thing about this definition is that Earth isn't even a planet. It's not a sphere. It's flat!
No just kidding, but it IS an oblate spheroid!
very poetic, but we're not even a footnote in the long run.
In the long run, the book gets swallowed by a black hole, and evaporated as hawking radiation until there's nothing left.
Well, after that earlier article about "sneaking Linux installations", which was VERY inflammatory, it just seems like almost all of the Linux-article postings on /. lately have been aimed at provoking heated zealous defense of the platform.
I guess the same goes for the Apple articles as well.
I dunno, some kind of zapper, or virtual reality hologram, - some kind of technology that gives it's wearer an advantage over the slobs who went to the bar *not* wearing a 20 pound backpack. . .