Seems like the assumption in this posting is that anything with a "poor revenue model" is "sidelined". Because, you know, if it isn't making money, it's irrelevant. Like linux, or firefox, or bit torrent. Irrelevant!
Hi, this is Julian, the long-time owner of SpamCop.net. I must say I was a bit dissapointed in the NYT coverage of this.
First of all, I was not *forced* to sell SpamCop to remain solvent. I am proud of the fact that I have been profitable since 1999. If anything, this deal makes SpamCop a charity case within Ironport. I still get paid of course;)
The NYT article quotes me as saying (referring back to my dead-tree version): "After a while, I found that this had become a job, and I had to find a way to make money from it". That quote was taken out of context - I was referring to my 1999 decision to take SpamCop commercial, not my 2003 decision to sell the *profitable* company to ironport.
It is true that the akamai bill is not cheap. But I think I would have survived the same way I have always done without selling the business. And that leads to my next point - I'm not cashing out. I will be with the company for the forseeable future, doing what I have always done - fighting spam! I sold it to ironport because I felt they would support my goals. They offered me a nice lump of cash, help with the non-spam-fighting part of the job (sysadmin, administrivia, lawyering, DDoS protection, etc.) and most important, a credible promise to let me keep it on-track.
The very fact that I am here talking about this, and expressing my doubts about bonded sender to the NYT should indicate that I'm not just rolling over here.
I don't control the bonded sender program and likewise the people who control it won't be calling the shots where SpamCop is concerned.
Oh, and BTW, I know ironport boxes are good for spamming. They're also good for sending (and also receiving) tons of legitimate mail. Noone with ironport has ever claimed that "our customers aren't spammers". Some might claim our *bonded sender members* aren't spammers, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.
Are we arming both sides? Sure! But as with all arms dealers, the real point is that we make the best weapons on the market! Don't like spam from ironport customers? Use the spamcop blacklist! If this were really some big conspiracy, would spamazon's IP be in both the spamcop blacklist and the ironport whitelist?
$ host 207.171.188.101 101.188.171.207.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer mm-outgoing-101.amazon.com. $ host 101.188.171.207.query.bondedsender.org 101.188.17 1.207.query.bondedsender.org has address 127.0.0.10 $ host 101.188.171.207.bl.spamcop.net 101.188.171.207.bl .spamcop.net has address 127.0.0.2
(Note, the blacklist changes quickly over time, it was listed when I wrote this).. and here I was coming to slashdot to read the news and relax. Little did I know I'd be spending the next half hour writing this rebuttal..
To be fair, I still use paypal as a merchant. However it's only because I haven't found the time to go somewhere else yet.
I gave money to someone w/paypal. Paypal froze the account I put the money into. Now neither I nor the intended recipient has the money. Both of us have made repeated demands that they return the money or let it clear. They refuse.
-=Julian=-
Re:Physical Attacks Are Not Good
on
Eco-Terrorism
·
· Score: 2
I take issue with calling torching a car dealership "violence". Unless you feel SUVs have some inner spirit which is hurt by the attack. Violence to me is physically hurting a human being.
Calling vandalism terrorism cheapens the term, much as calling Bill Gates a Nazi cheapens the word nazi.
Oh come on! Anyone who calls Oracle a "piece of [garbage]" is not to be trusted. Now I'm willing to admit MS-SQL may be wonderful, but I'm not going to believe it when it comes from someone who calls oracle crap in the same breath.
I'm also willing to admit Oracle is hard to use. But in terms of performance, Oracle is king. Usability is not normally the main criteria when chosing an enterprise-level system.
If this is all you have to say, I'll just assume you like MS-SQL because it's easy and you like windows in general because it's easy. Dat don't make it good. Show me the benchmarks!
Here's my (somewhat edited) original post to a 'well known' anti-spam list about my experience with this. For the non-spam-savvy, note also the first line of the spam itself (last line of this message) - a "web bug" tracking link which will notify ebay if the spam was received - without the user's permission. We should not put up with spam from big companies (mainsleaze) any more than we should spam from 'make money fast' fly-by-night spammers. This professional bulk mailer (not ebay) is already listed on ORBS.
I just got a response to a spam report I filed because ebay "forgot" my no-spam preferences again. I thought it was interesting that attached to the "fix it yourself" form letter (we won't stop spamming until you change your prefs back again) was this little note, apparently added by someone at the bulk-for-hire site as they forwarded the complaint on to ebay:
"Another spam complaint from the preferences campaign."
I found it particularly interesting that they are referring to it as the "preferences campaign". This is probably old news to most, but I don't think ebay can really deny they're spamming.
Happy new year all - I think 2001 will be the year of mainsleaze.
-=Julian=-
(spamcop owner/admin)
For reference:
[snip to avoid slashdot's lame "lameness filter"]
..
From: eBay SPAMMED Mail <spam@ebay.com>
..
If you would not like to receive notices about special offers, promotions, and other such notices please change your notification preferences. To do this first go to this web page and login:
..
James P. S.
eBay Senior Customer Support Representative
..
Original Message Follows:
Another spam complaint from the preferences campaign.
From: Julian Haight [mailto:julian.14567850@spamcop.net]
To: abuse@ann0.com; postmaster@ann0.com
..
[snip to avoid slashdot's lame "lameness filter"]
..
Subject: Important Information from eBay
From: "eBay Announcements"
..
We'd like to resolve this problem quickly and efficiently. Therefore, on 12/19/00, we returned all your Notification Preferences to the standard default of "yes" to put you in line with the rest of the eBay community.
..
Re:Kills frame-squatting dead.
on
Typosquatting
·
· Score: 5
A cleaner version of this:
<script language="JavaScript"><!--
// Break out of frames! I'm the tops!
if (window.location != window.parent.location) {
window.parent.location = window.location;
}
//--></script>
If you want a nav-bar, that's why your browser has that little toolbar at the top of the screen. Or you can implement a floating bar that sits in it's own trimmed-down browser window. Then you won't run afoul of frame-busting scripts.
At least with the move to DVD, we still get backward compatibility. So your new DVD player will still (for pete's sake, I hope) play all those old ripped CDs. So at least we're not forced, microsoft style, into using the new format.
I got one of these for under $100 at a high-end stereo store in NYC - on sale.
I much preferred my old, pioneer learning remote, because the pioneer was "modeless" and had a ton of buttons. The marintz makes you switch back and forth between pages and squint at the LCD.
Why do the good, simple things always go away? -=Julian=-
It's better to use the linux box as a real server, then configure the other machines to store *important* files on the server. Don't back up the clients, just the server. Since you have to re-install windoze every 10 minutes, this is nice too becuase you can trash the windows box, re-install everything and still have all your important files accessible. Restoring backups on windoze is a nightmare (without something like arcada (even then, I bet it's a mini-nightmare)) because of their brain-dead long filenames.
Nothing more extreme than a little sodium penethol is usually necessary to get your pass-phrase.
Crypto is nice, but if your opponent is powerful and serious (like the ATF in the waco case), you *will lose*. Piss off the gov't and they will whack you with a big bat - right or wrong, lawful or not.
Often, I think we could do with a little more prime directive in government. I think we legislate morality far too often. This is a dangerous trend. Witch hunt anyone?
-=Julian=-
Love that Ben Franklin sig.
What hardware/software does it use?
on
Digital VCRs
·
· Score: 1
Subject says it all. Anyone know what makes this thing tick? I ask because I've been looking for a way to record TV onto my hard-disk (and perhaps cut onto CDROM for archival purposes)? How can I do this in linux? Are there TV cards with good MPEG 2 recording software for linux? What about viewing a TV feed in real-time on my monitor?
I guess this is more like an 'ask slashdot' question..
So in a battle, who wins, the death-star or the enterprise? Enterprise has photon torpedos, but the death star clearly has more power (destroy a whole planet, remember)?
But can the death-star actually get close enough and target well enough to hit the big E? I think not. E can park in orbit pretty much anywhere, and as we know from episode 4, it takes the DS a long time to target the rebel base, because they can't move around the planet fast enough.
Also we have the issue of warp vs. hyperspace. Assume for the moment that both work and are different means of super-luminal propulsion. E can manuver and fight while in warp while it would seem the deathstar (and everything star-wars) can't do much except hold on during a warp jump. Could E use this to their advantage, doing super-luminal strafing runs on the DS?
Also other technological advantages for the E are transporters, which don't seem to exist in star wars.
However, the *force* might present a bit of a problem for our hyper-logical trek crews.
Try abuse@microsoft.com. Forward them the complete email with full headers. I know there is a live person living at that address. I don't know if they have the power to get you off, but they can at least point you in the right direction.
These guys do seem shady, but I gave them my address a few days ago, and have not received anything unwanted from them since (I also took the opurtunity to order over $100 worth of CDs, so I guess they're laughing all the way to the bank). I did have to negotiate a minefield of "opt me in" links, but they do seem to be basically on the right side of "the law", if a bit misleading in their stated goals.
I think it's such a marketing coup for them though. Clearly the whole recycling thing is BS - a way to attract people to their opt-in lists, and they have now been posted on slashdot and macintouch as well as CAUCE. I would never link to these guys.
I just wonder what will become of all the spam that people send them? When people submit spam to spamcop, I treat that info as confidential, and although I dispense it to the ISP involved, I first mask as much ID info from the header as I can, particularly the recipient's address. This site says they will make those spams available for R&D. How do they know the difference between a legit spam-fighter and someone who just wants to grab all the addresses found in the spam headers??
In general, I have found that organizations who are well-established like this marketing one are much better about removal, and opt-in management than other fly-by-night, "$20 for a whole CD of verified good email addresses!!!" types. They push the boundary as much as possible, but they generally do stay on the right side of it.
OK, well since it's the day of whacky metephors, I'll try and tackle this one...
A normal linux application has to obey posix rules to interface with the outside world (memory, disk, printer, etc..). Lets take memory as the normal example. An *application* has to ask nicely for whatever resources it wants. It dosn't know much of anything about the *real* state of the machine. Like a cow in it's pen, the process has no idea what the other cows are up to or even how many other cows there are or how big the ranch is. Operating systems attempt to "dial directly" to the hadware, and this is the part that VMWare must emulate. No easy job either, considering all the whacky things you can do on a PC. So if I'm an OS (or one of those old boot-me game disks like flight sim 2.0), I don't even worry about allocating memory - I just start eating it by the bucketfull. BIOS loads the kernel into memory starting at 0x00, then "jmp 0x00" (goto 0x00). Kernel executes, checks how much memory it has, and starts parcelling it out to other applications - it rules the ranch. It dosn't *ask* for more memory, it just "walks the fence" to figure out how much there is.
Clearly to make the ranch-owner behave as a simple cow, while letting him run his own little rat-ranch and never letting him have a clue that he's just a cow in a pen is a pretty neat trick.
Most of the "neat trick" is done for you by the CPU, however as some of the more advanced hackers have pointed out, there are a few weak spots in this virtualized environment. So you still have some crazy stuff to do before you can fully fool the rancher. He's always asking if there's a larger wourld out there, and you have to keep him in the dark at all costs (or he'll die of surprise and fright). Like flatland...
Basically, this is done by brain-washing the rancher into never poking his head through that hole in the wall - which we know leads to the *real* outside world. Or what we know as the outside world - but is it really? Maybee we've already been brainwashed ourselves!!
Application = cow OS = rancher computer = ranch vmware = sophisticated brainwashing for ranchers which makes them think rats are cows and keeps them from looking over the wall of the stall. Also makes them live on hay instead of beef.
The bands that could afford to distribute their live shows themselves off there site, would be large enough that they wouldn't need the exposure.
I disagree. It's easy for a small band to distribute free.mp3s. I'm going to be setting up a site for a small "bar band" that wants to serve their whole CD from the site. It should be fairly cheap ($50/month) and allow downloads galore.
Bandwidth is alot cheaper than tapes & postage. Blank CDs are cheaper than audio tapes too.
If you have to have an IDE, homesite is awsome, because it's the most non-GUI of 'em. WYSISYG is a crock. Any person can do a better job than one of those things (once they learn how).
You just have to test every f--- browser on the planet and Keep It Simple Stupid! Resist "browser sniffing" unless there is a clear reason for it. By the same token, don't ever ask the user to TELL YOU what browser they have - you should be able to sniff for that.
-=Julian=-
Astronomy picture of the day as your background!
on
2 Scoops of Quickies
·
· Score: 1
Let's chalk this one up to clueless ISP
on
ISP Sues Spammer
·
· Score: 1
This is truely a clueless ISP. Not only did they not notice on their own, but before anyone ever gets blacklisted, every attempt is made to confront the offender throught RFC (822 is it?) required postmaster@, as well as any other means available.
Blacklisting a relay is not done lightly. Moreover, the recipients of the spam no doubt sent many, many complaints to this ISP which were either BOUNCED or IGNORED. Either, way, the ISP had plenty of warning. They deserve everything they get, and although the spammer is of course the original cause of the problem, I don't think you can sue a spammer for your own ignorance/lazyness. Unfortunately, the internet is becomeing more and more of a war-zone, and if an ISP can't take the heat, then they should get out of the kitchen.
I will be extremly upset if you begin selling my data (and my clients' data). When I divulge sensitive contact information, I expect it to be kept confidential. The whois interface has always been ONE WAY - query and response. That's very different from selling a list split out by demographic. The contact info I keep in your database is to be used in case of a NETWORK OUTAGE. The last thing I need is for yahoos (excuse the pun) start calling me at all hours on the "emergency line".
Not to mention the fact that your system bites. Yahoo could do a better job of organizing a database - and keeping it secure. When is the soonest I can take my business elsewhere?
I would like all DNS entries (host, domain, contact, everything!) connected to the host sam.julianhaight.com REMOVED from any lists you are selling.
God, are you serious!?!? I didn't read all the details of the config. This is NUTS!
I had to go back and re-read this. I don't know how these test clients behave, but if they all pile on real quick-like, it could be a problem with only 1 minspare. You nail it with #2,3,4,5,6,... 100 all at once, and it has to first get them all loaded. Meanwhile it starts to backlog and you have to dig yourself out from under. I don't know why they would have done THAT - except to make it look bad for linux.
Also, MaxClients of 290 is probably shooting them in the foot. It looks like alot, but with 4G of ram it starts to look small. You gotta just keep jacking it up until the machine starts to *swap just a little* under maximum load. I've got all kinds of crazy modules, and my server weighs in at only 3.4M. Take out Perl and you probably loose alot of weight, not to mention all those other modules they took out. I think they should have had maxclients running somewhere around 3-4K, not 300.
Sigh, I don't even know why I bother.. *we* all know it's BS.
-=Julian=-
And finally, YES, f--ing 10000 is way too high for maxreq. I haven't checked recently, but I know I used to see leaks in apache (gasp, yes I know it's true - leaks). Cycling them is an evil solution to the problem, but a necessary one.
Slashdot Mirror
Seems like the assumption in this posting is that anything with a "poor revenue model" is "sidelined". Because, you know, if it isn't making money, it's irrelevant. Like linux, or firefox, or bit torrent. Irrelevant!
It certainly *could* happen. You let me know when/if it *does* and then we'll have something to talk about.
-=Julian=-
Hi, this is Julian, the long-time owner of SpamCop.net. I must say I was a bit dissapointed in the NYT coverage of this.
;)
7 1.207.query.bondedsender.org has address 127.0.0.10l .spamcop.net has address 127.0.0.2
.. and here I was coming to slashdot to read the news and relax. Little did I know I'd be spending the next half hour writing this rebuttal ..
First of all, I was not *forced* to sell SpamCop to remain solvent. I am proud of the fact that I have been profitable since 1999. If anything, this deal makes SpamCop a charity case within Ironport. I still get paid of course
The NYT article quotes me as saying (referring back to my dead-tree version): "After a while, I found that this had become a job, and I had to find a way to make money from it". That quote was taken out of context - I was referring to my 1999 decision to take SpamCop commercial, not my 2003 decision to sell the *profitable* company to ironport.
It is true that the akamai bill is not cheap. But I think I would have survived the same way I have always done without selling the business. And that leads to my next point - I'm not cashing out. I will be with the company for the forseeable future, doing what I have always done - fighting spam! I sold it to ironport because I felt they would support my goals. They offered me a nice lump of cash, help with the non-spam-fighting part of the job (sysadmin, administrivia, lawyering, DDoS protection, etc.) and most important, a credible promise to let me keep it on-track.
The very fact that I am here talking about this, and expressing my doubts about bonded sender to the NYT should indicate that I'm not just rolling over here.
I don't control the bonded sender program and likewise the people who control it won't be calling the shots where SpamCop is concerned.
Oh, and BTW, I know ironport boxes are good for spamming. They're also good for sending (and also receiving) tons of legitimate mail. Noone with ironport has ever claimed that "our customers aren't spammers". Some might claim our *bonded sender members* aren't spammers, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.
Are we arming both sides? Sure! But as with all arms dealers, the real point is that we make the best weapons on the market! Don't like spam from ironport customers? Use the spamcop blacklist! If this were really some big conspiracy, would spamazon's IP be in both the spamcop blacklist and the ironport whitelist?
$ host 207.171.188.101
101.188.171.207.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer mm-outgoing-101.amazon.com.
$ host 101.188.171.207.query.bondedsender.org
101.188.1
$ host 101.188.171.207.bl.spamcop.net
101.188.171.207.b
(Note, the blacklist changes quickly over time, it was listed when I wrote this)
-=Julian "10 hot comments" Haight=-
To be fair, I still use paypal as a merchant. However it's only because I haven't found the time to go somewhere else yet.
I gave money to someone w/paypal. Paypal froze the account I put the money into. Now neither I nor the intended recipient has the money. Both of us have made repeated demands that they return the money or let it clear. They refuse.
-=Julian=-
I take issue with calling torching a car dealership "violence". Unless you feel SUVs have some inner spirit which is hurt by the attack. Violence to me is physically hurting a human being.
Calling vandalism terrorism cheapens the term, much as calling Bill Gates a Nazi cheapens the word nazi.
-=Julian=-
Oh come on! Anyone who calls Oracle a "piece of [garbage]" is not to be trusted. Now I'm willing to admit MS-SQL may be wonderful, but I'm not going to believe it when it comes from someone who calls oracle crap in the same breath.
I'm also willing to admit Oracle is hard to use. But in terms of performance, Oracle is king. Usability is not normally the main criteria when chosing an enterprise-level system.
If this is all you have to say, I'll just assume you like MS-SQL because it's easy and you like windows in general because it's easy. Dat don't make it good. Show me the benchmarks!
-=Julian=-
Here's my (somewhat edited) original post to a 'well known' anti-spam list about my experience with this. For the non-spam-savvy, note also the first line of the spam itself (last line of this message) - a "web bug" tracking link which will notify ebay if the spam was received - without the user's permission. We should not put up with spam from big companies (mainsleaze) any more than we should spam from 'make money fast' fly-by-night spammers. This professional bulk mailer (not ebay) is already listed on ORBS.
n f=1&Unique_ID=eBay_conf_user' BORDER=0 HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1>
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 10:00:16 -0800
Sender: Spam Prevention Discussion List [munge]
From: Julian Haight <[munge]>
Subject: SPAM: ebay's "preferences campaign"
I just got a response to a spam report I filed because ebay "forgot" my no-spam preferences again. I thought it was interesting that attached to the "fix it yourself" form letter (we won't stop spamming until you change your prefs back again) was this little note, apparently added by someone at the bulk-for-hire site as they forwarded the complaint on to ebay:
"Another spam complaint from the preferences campaign."
I found it particularly interesting that they are referring to it as the "preferences campaign". This is probably old news to most, but I don't think ebay can really deny they're spamming.
Happy new year all - I think 2001 will be the year of mainsleaze.
-=Julian=-
(spamcop owner/admin)
For reference:
[snip to avoid slashdot's lame "lameness filter"]
..
From: eBay SPAMMED Mail <spam@ebay.com>
..
If you would not like to receive notices about special offers, promotions, and other such notices please change your notification preferences. To do this first go to this web page and login:
..
James P. S.
eBay Senior Customer Support Representative
..
Original Message Follows:
Another spam complaint from the preferences campaign.
From: Julian Haight [mailto:julian.14567850@spamcop.net]
To: abuse@ann0.com; postmaster@ann0.com
..
[snip to avoid slashdot's lame "lameness filter"]
..
Subject: Important Information from eBay
From: "eBay Announcements"
..
We'd like to resolve this problem quickly and efficiently. Therefore, on 12/19/00, we returned all your Notification Preferences to the standard default of "yes" to put you in line with the rest of the eBay community.
..
<BODY> <IMG SRC='http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/tr/*munge*?co
A cleaner version of this:
<script language="JavaScript"><!--
// Break out of frames! I'm the tops!
if (window.location != window.parent.location) {
window.parent.location = window.location;
}
//--></script>
If you want a nav-bar, that's why your browser has that little toolbar at the top of the screen. Or you can implement a floating bar that sits in it's own trimmed-down browser window. Then you won't run afoul of frame-busting scripts.
-=Julian=-
At least with the move to DVD, we still get backward compatibility. So your new DVD player will still (for pete's sake, I hope) play all those old ripped CDs. So at least we're not forced, microsoft style, into using the new format.
-=Julian=-
I got one of these for under $100 at a high-end stereo store in NYC - on sale.
I much preferred my old, pioneer learning remote, because the pioneer was "modeless" and had a ton of buttons. The marintz makes you switch back and forth between pages and squint at the LCD.
Why do the good, simple things always go away? -=Julian=-
It's better to use the linux box as a real server, then configure the other machines to store *important* files on the server. Don't back up the clients, just the server. Since you have to re-install windoze every 10 minutes, this is nice too becuase you can trash the windows box, re-install everything and still have all your important files accessible. Restoring backups on windoze is a nightmare (without something like arcada (even then, I bet it's a mini-nightmare)) because of their brain-dead long filenames.
-=Julian=-
Nothing more extreme than a little sodium penethol is usually necessary to get your pass-phrase.
Crypto is nice, but if your opponent is powerful and serious (like the ATF in the waco case), you *will lose*. Piss off the gov't and they will whack you with a big bat - right or wrong, lawful or not.
Often, I think we could do with a little more prime directive in government. I think we legislate morality far too often. This is a dangerous trend. Witch hunt anyone?
-=Julian=-
Love that Ben Franklin sig.
Subject says it all. Anyone know what makes this thing tick? I ask because I've been looking for a way to record TV onto my hard-disk (and perhaps cut onto CDROM for archival purposes)? How can I do this in linux? Are there TV cards with good MPEG 2 recording software for linux? What about viewing a TV feed in real-time on my monitor?
I guess this is more like an 'ask slashdot' question..
-=Julian=-
So in a battle, who wins, the death-star or the enterprise? Enterprise has photon torpedos, but the death star clearly has more power (destroy a whole planet, remember)?
But can the death-star actually get close enough and target well enough to hit the big E? I think not. E can park in orbit pretty much anywhere, and as we know from episode 4, it takes the DS a long time to target the rebel base, because they can't move around the planet fast enough.
Also we have the issue of warp vs. hyperspace. Assume for the moment that both work and are different means of super-luminal propulsion. E can manuver and fight while in warp while it would seem the deathstar (and everything star-wars) can't do much except hold on during a warp jump. Could E use this to their advantage, doing super-luminal strafing runs on the DS?
Also other technological advantages for the E are transporters, which don't seem to exist in star wars.
However, the *force* might present a bit of a problem for our hyper-logical trek crews.
-=Julian=-
heh, heh, that ought to get 'em going..
Try abuse@microsoft.com. Forward them the complete email with full headers. I know there is a live person living at that address. I don't know if they have the power to get you off, but they can at least point you in the right direction.
-=Julian=-
http://spamcop.net/
Technically, that's http://spamcop.net/
These guys do seem shady, but I gave them my address a few days ago, and have not received anything unwanted from them since (I also took the opurtunity to order over $100 worth of CDs, so I guess they're laughing all the way to the bank). I did have to negotiate a minefield of "opt me in" links, but they do seem to be basically on the right side of "the law", if a bit misleading in their stated goals.
I think it's such a marketing coup for them though. Clearly the whole recycling thing is BS - a way to attract people to their opt-in lists, and they have now been posted on slashdot and macintouch as well as CAUCE. I would never link to these guys.
I just wonder what will become of all the spam that people send them? When people submit spam to spamcop, I treat that info as confidential, and although I dispense it to the ISP involved, I first mask as much ID info from the header as I can, particularly the recipient's address. This site says they will make those spams available for R&D. How do they know the difference between a legit spam-fighter and someone who just wants to grab all the addresses found in the spam headers??
In general, I have found that organizations who are well-established like this marketing one are much better about removal, and opt-in management than other fly-by-night, "$20 for a whole CD of verified good email addresses!!!" types. They push the boundary as much as possible, but they generally do stay on the right side of it.
-=Julian=-
- SpamCop admin
OK, well since it's the day of whacky metephors, I'll try and tackle this one...
A normal linux application has to obey posix rules to interface with the outside world (memory, disk, printer, etc..). Lets take memory as the normal example. An *application* has to ask nicely for whatever resources it wants. It dosn't know much of anything about the *real* state of the machine. Like a cow in it's pen, the process has no idea what the other cows are up to or even how many other cows there are or how big the ranch is. Operating systems attempt to "dial directly" to the hadware, and this is the part that VMWare must emulate. No easy job either, considering all the whacky things you can do on a PC. So if I'm an OS (or one of those old boot-me game disks like flight sim 2.0), I don't even worry about allocating memory - I just start eating it by the bucketfull. BIOS loads the kernel into memory starting at 0x00, then "jmp 0x00" (goto 0x00). Kernel executes, checks how much memory it has, and starts parcelling it out to other applications - it rules the ranch. It dosn't *ask* for more memory, it just "walks the fence" to figure out how much there is.
Clearly to make the ranch-owner behave as a simple cow, while letting him run his own little rat-ranch and never letting him have a clue that he's just a cow in a pen is a pretty neat trick.
Most of the "neat trick" is done for you by the CPU, however as some of the more advanced hackers have pointed out, there are a few weak spots in this virtualized environment. So you still have some crazy stuff to do before you can fully fool the rancher. He's always asking if there's a larger wourld out there, and you have to keep him in the dark at all costs (or he'll die of surprise and fright). Like flatland...
Basically, this is done by brain-washing the rancher into never poking his head through that hole in the wall - which we know leads to the *real* outside world. Or what we know as the outside world - but is it really? Maybee we've already been brainwashed ourselves!!
Application = cow
OS = rancher
computer = ranch
vmware = sophisticated brainwashing for ranchers which makes them think rats are cows and keeps them from looking over the wall of the stall. Also makes them live on hay instead of beef.
-=Julian=-
The bands that could afford to distribute their live shows themselves off there site, would be large enough that they wouldn't need the exposure.
I disagree. It's easy for a small band to distribute free .mp3s. I'm going to be setting up a site for a small "bar band" that wants to serve their whole CD from the site. It should be fairly cheap ($50/month) and allow downloads galore.
Bandwidth is alot cheaper than tapes & postage. Blank CDs are cheaper than audio tapes too.
-=Julian=-
If you have to have an IDE, homesite is awsome, because it's the most non-GUI of 'em. WYSISYG is a crock. Any person can do a better job than one of those things (once they learn how).
You just have to test every f--- browser on the planet and Keep It Simple Stupid! Resist "browser sniffing" unless there is a clear reason for it. By the same token, don't ever ask the user to TELL YOU what browser they have - you should be able to sniff for that.
-=Julian=-
Put this in your .xinitrc:
xloadimage -onroot -fullscreen -border black /tmp/astro.jpg -display localhost:0
And run this daily in a cron, and you'll get the The Astronomy Picture of the Day everyday as your background automatically.
Fun with perl!
-=Julian=-
This is truely a clueless ISP. Not only did they not notice on their own, but before anyone ever gets blacklisted, every attempt is made to confront the offender throught RFC (822 is it?) required postmaster@, as well as any other means available.
Blacklisting a relay is not done lightly. Moreover, the recipients of the spam no doubt sent many, many complaints to this ISP which were either BOUNCED or IGNORED. Either, way, the ISP had plenty of warning. They deserve everything they get, and although the spammer is of course the original cause of the problem, I don't think you can sue a spammer for your own ignorance/lazyness. Unfortunately, the internet is becomeing more and more of a war-zone, and if an ISP can't take the heat, then they should get out of the kitchen.
People don't get blacklisted on a whim.
-=Julian=-
-=Julian=-
God, are you serious!?!? I didn't read all the details of the config. This is NUTS!
I had to go back and re-read this. I don't know how these test clients behave, but if they all pile on real quick-like, it could be a problem with only 1 minspare. You nail it with #2,3,4,5,6,... 100 all at once, and it has to first get them all loaded. Meanwhile it starts to backlog and you have to dig yourself out from under. I don't know why they would have done THAT - except to make it look bad for linux.
Also, MaxClients of 290 is probably shooting them in the foot. It looks like alot, but with 4G of ram it starts to look small. You gotta just keep jacking it up until the machine starts to *swap just a little* under maximum load. I've got all kinds of crazy modules, and my server weighs in at only 3.4M. Take out Perl and you probably loose alot of weight, not to mention all those other modules they took out. I think they should have had maxclients running somewhere around 3-4K, not 300.
Sigh, I don't even know why I bother.. *we* all know it's BS.
-=Julian=-
And finally, YES, f--ing 10000 is way too high for maxreq. I haven't checked recently, but I know I used to see leaks in apache (gasp, yes I know it's true - leaks). Cycling them is an evil solution to the problem, but a necessary one.
A Java client wouldn't suck. It would preserve the classic beuty of the original ANSI games. Check out this java telnet client (with ANSI color):
http://www.first.gmd.de/persons/le o/java/Telnet/
I don't care what anyone else says, Java rules.
-=Julian "It's GPL, naturally" Haight=-
I think many (if not all) of the simpson's character's heads were there.
-=Julian=-