Road Rage takes on a whole new meaning after the first couple of "hot teen xxx site" "enlarge your %RND_BODYPART%" spams
No thanks, I'm happy with my handleld mapping GPS. If I really need to get on the net that badly while I'm traveling, I can always use that and the laptop to wardrive for a convenient unencrypted wap. (just kidding*)
I just have to laugh at how much hyping up is being done to the whole "using USB to steal data"
I mean, yeah, some companies and most government agencies are all paranoid about what goes in and out, but every place I've worked since '96 or so has just about insisted that I take my laptop home with me so I can work nights and weekends.
I'm not saying that it isn't being misused, but my point is that there are a zillion ways to "steal data" but for the vast majority of home users, and probably a large percentage of business users, the much MUCH greater threats are VBS, IE vulnerabilities, Stupid users opening unknown attachments, and lost productivity from spam.
It seems like a big, expensive, invasive solution looking for a problem.
Yeah, I know, but I've been bitten one too many times by having some update break something on a client or a server... Your point it valid though. I guess since its my choice, I shouldn't whine so much. *grin*
I read the post and immediately thought "oh gosh, here we go again" and went to MS windows update to update my workstation while I downloaded the patch. Then I realized that I'd already updated everyone here at the office back when the patch first came out.
Damn, I gotta rtfa *grin*
Seriously though, even though I check for new updates religously and try to keep all the users on my network up to date, I guess I'm still a little gun-shy.
Man, this guy really strikes me as the scum of the Earth. It's too bad the law doesn't allow a stiffer penalty for what he's done. Still, at least they were able to apply an existing law to the case.
I really do get sick and tired of kneejerk lawmaking by politicians who really don't understand the technology they are regulating/outlawing. If I were to scream bloody murder that spammers should get the death penalty, I'm part of the same mentality that gave us the patriot act and the department of Homeland Security, and calls for criminal suits against P2P users.
I used to scan/ocr typewritten hard-copy manuscripts for a technical publisher. I would get a 500+ page manuscript on Friday and have to deliver ASCII text files for all of it by Sunday evening.
I used a Hewlett Packard 4C scanner with 50 page doc feeder.
It wasn't too bad - drop in 50 pages, hit scan... go do something for 30 to 50 minutes, come back, repeat. (You aren't really asking about OCR, so I'll skip the gruesome details)
Of all the scanners in the consumer market ($1000 or under ish), past and present, that I've tried I've always liked the HP 4C and its replacement series (6200c or somesuch?). They would handle about 1 page every 30 to 50 seconds with the doc feeder at the resolution I was using.
I always set up my email client to send only Plain Text, and to strip HTML from incoming email (noHtml for Outlook, or for Outlook 2002 SP-1, the Microsoft Registry Fix)
I realize I'm going to sound like a Luddite here, but I just don't have the overwhelming need to send people emails with lightly shaded text over a really busy background, and I certainly HATE it when people send those to me.
That in itself is reason eoungh to strip out all HTML and/or convert to plain text, but I notice that spammers use nonsense markup tags, or even just lots of FONT tags to break up words invisibly. My current spam filtering is no help because it only filters the source code. (I'd love them to add a "post-render" phase of scanning where it checks through the message contents that are viewable by the user)
On Mondays when I go in to work, I will often have 800 to 1000 emails, 98% of which are junk. I've got spam filters which are about 95% effective. So my actual inbox gets very few, but I still have to skim through a LOT of junk in the "killed" box just in case my filter got a false positive (happens a couple times per week). I'd say that is a problem.
Back in 1998/1999, I used to get pissed off when I got spam... I had several friends who said "oh, just delete them - it's no big deal" They're singing my old tune nowadays. I never asked for this crap... and if I had a face-to-face meeting with one of those spammer scum, it would quickly degenerate into a (my)fist-to-(their)face and (my)boot-to-(their)head meeting.
I recently picked up a $39 Coby at a local supermarket. I already own 4 DVD players, but I bought this one the second I heard about it because an English friend said it was region-free out of the box and played their Region 2 PAL DVDs. At this point, getting a region-free unit is far more important to me than having some brand name.
You know, it used to be that I eagerly awaited every new technology and gadget. Things just got cooler and cooler, as technology enabled more and more new and exciting things.
Nowadays, I seem to be filled with fear and uncertainty every time I hear a story about some new format or digital media thingamee.
Why? well, it's pretty obvious isn't it? We've gotten to the point where every advancement in media technology is just looked at by the content producers as a way to "correct" for "past mistakes" (like consumers having the ability to record stuff to time shift or GOD FORBID, share a show with a friend who missed it, etc...)
Newer Replay TVs have a really neat "detect and skip commercials" option that the networks HATE. Their business model is threatened if everyone does that. Since they really don't have a leg to stand on if they fight that directly, they will certainly be thinking about DMCA applications when the content goes digital. The new DVD format will offer better picture quality, but most likely at the cost of more draconian copy/share protections and menu lockouts. (How long before TV series shart inserting commercials? and dvds locking you out of skipping them?)
Facts is facts... people will skip commercials, don't want to sit through 5 minutes of nifty DVD opening sequences, share stuff with friends, and copy their content to every new type of device they buy.... but the likes of the RIAA, MPAA, and Television networks are much happier with using the force of law and of cripling potentially ground breaking technological advances to keep their tried-and-true business models.
So, I'm worried that we'll get some nice picture improvement, but there will be more and more strings attached. I hate that something new comes out and I get worried about how they'll cripple it.
Originally, I just kept buying the same form-factor 33 Gallon green Rubbermaid boxes and threw stuff in those. The problem I had was that I would try to keep an inventory taped to the lid of each box, but it really never worked out too well. I ended up having to root through every box each time I needed something.
I finally went with these translucent/transparent boxes I found at CostCo. They're considerably smaller than the Rubbermaid containers, but I find that the smaller size and the ability to get a general idea of the contents by looking at them has led to a better organization. I group similar-items in boxes and because they're smaller, I don't worry if I am "wasting space" in one if it's only half of quarter full.
I've got 1 full of ribbon cables, 1 full of scsi cables, 1 for serial, 1 for parallel, 1 for random ready-to-use network cables, 1 for random un-finished raw cat 5 cables, 1 for coax cables, 1 for PC power cables, 1 for general extension chords, and so-on.
The boxes stack nicely, and I can generally find the box with the thing I'm looking for on the first try, but because the system's all in subdividing where I put things, I don't have to actually keep an inventory. (not to mention, I don't break my back lifting 4 or 5 full-to-the-brim 33 gallon Rubbermaids off the stack, rooting through them, and putting them back when I'm done)
Too true. People are almost always the weak link in security. When a sysadmin tries to use technological measures to overcome some of the more predictible ones (strong passwords, blocked attachments and ports, etc...), users revolt. (okay, they actually whine, but you get the idea)
hmmm... if you are going to a doctor that is part of a hospital or big practice, that could be true. What about smaller offices/practices that are not hospital associated?
I work for a company that deals with clinical notes and insurance forms - an awful lot of the doctors that we take notes from are sending us scans/faxes hand-written pages. I don't work with hospital stuff... that's why it occurred to me to make the original suggestion.
For greater medical privacy, forget insurance and pay in cash.
I realize it's not really practical with medical costs nowadays, but the reason medical records, information, and clinical notes leave the doctor's office in the first place is because the ones paying for it (insurance usually) need to know certain details about your treatment and diagnosis to determine your level of reimbursement. If you pay out of your own pocket, your data stays where it is (unless there is a medical need for your doctor to consult another, or to check old records, but that is because it's necessarry for TREATMENT.)
Paying in cash means that nobody can look at your credit card receipt/statement or bank records/canceled cheques and see that you've been to the doctor.
Yeah... Since the interface on the controller they sell has RS-232, it's not like you'd need to write device drivers... just open the serial port and read& write the right values to it. They don't elaborate on the specific signals in their faq, but it does contain enough information to make me believe that such control would be fairly trivial
because the content is digital and the flag could be considered a "copy protection device" by the DMCA... build/use some form of bypass and it's jail time for you.
Friends told me I was being paranoid when I would go off about how stupid and dangerous things like the DMCA and Patriot Act were... I'm really very sad that I'm going to get an "I told you so" on them. I sooo wish I was wrong about it.
Yeah, or even just connect to their unprotected wlan and download stuff to a laptop in their car as they sti parked out in the street.
In my mind it's very close to someone connecting a lineman's set to your telephone network interface and calling 900 numbers. And in that vein, I would not object to ISP billing for something so much if I could opt out... have them put a block on.
Of course, it wouldn't be fair to the ISPs to try and make them the "net cashier" without cutting them in for a percentage. I wonder if some ISPs wouldn't refuse to take the RIAA's blood money.
Okay granted, the "users give consent in some form to spyware" but you and I both know that in reality, most users are completely unaware that they have done so. It's just a form of social engineering or misdirection.... just like the magician who gets you to look that-a-way for the split second it takes to pull the pigeon out of his sleeve.
That being said, I will conceede that an AV company might just get itself embroiled in a lot of lawsuits exploring that very issue... not a really great way to stay profitable.
What I've never gotten a satisfactory answer on is: Why is it that a program that silently installs itself and is written by j.random is quickly added to the antivirus program updates, but yet if a coprpoation writes something similar, it never makes the list. Politics anyone?
Don't believe me, two words:
Comet Cursor
Nowadays, I scan with antivirus software AND AdAware on a regular basis
the official says. "We're just not going to pursue it. It is the policy of the Justice Department to exhaust all other means before seeking information from members of the media."
That perfectly coincides with my own personal policy...
(I used to work in television news, and as a result, I don't think I will ever trust anything the media has to say.)
I've spent a bit of time in Canada, and they've completely replaced $1 and $2 bills with coins. The hardest part about getting used to them is thinking of a $2 denomination. ($2 bills never really caught on here, did they?) I'd happily trade away my pennies - I almost always throw them in that little cup on the counter.
(a little off on a tangent, but it's also not at all difficult to get used to Metric road signs and weights/measurements when everything is metric - The metric movement in the US died off because
a: we don't like change... not really... even if we say we do
b:because of a, they tried to inch it along incrementally, causing more confusion than if we just went cold-turkey.
The new paper money will probably go more smoothly than getting rid of pennies or replacing $1s and $2s with coins when all is said and done though.
mp3.com has managed to "screw the pooch" themselves... They are still free to listeners, but as a long-time artist on there myself (not incredibly popular, but all my stuff was free to download) I was shocked at the beginning of this year to find out that they had hidden all but 3 of my songs and are CHARGING artists who want more than 3 of their songs up. It's the artists contributing original music and making it available for download & streaming that made the site so great.
My point is: Even stuff that starts out great for music listeners and non-major bands/musicians gets corrupted and co-opted sooner or later. My guess is that mp3.com will follow suit sooner or later.
Re:NBC altering programming to fsck with PVR owner
on
TV's Tipping Point
·
· Score: 1
Those of us who are REALLY into PVRs have at least two in the house to cover the occasional overlap (like when TLC was running Junkyard wars at the same time as Comedy Central was running South Park)
It will be more annoying to have to constantly do the stagger thing, but if I need another PVR, they're getting cheap and coming out with new features all the time.
In my little corner of the universe, I've been quite content the last few years simply by telling my ReplayTVs to watch the shows I might find interesting. I only ever really sit down in front of the TV on weekends anymore, and now it's more "What am I in the mood for" instead of "let's see what's on right now" It's amazing how much that alone has changed my relationship with Television. I'm no longer a slave to "oh my god, I can't miss tonight's episode of FooBarBaz".
And to continue that line of thought, I do the same with Series on DVD or VHS... if I like a show, Im starting to feel safe in the idea that they will eventually release the whole thing on DVD. A friend and I tend to have similar enough tastes that we sort of seasaw back and forth on who is collecting which show and we have weekend marathons when they come in.
All this has resulted in a TV-watching style that is very targeted. I sit down to watch a particular show or set of shows, not to blow the evening watching "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" (okay, so maybe I watched that one once or twice, but I was over at a friends house.. yeah, that's it)
Slashdot Mirror
d00d,I just r00t3d y0ur C4r
or even worse...
Road Rage takes on a whole new meaning after the first couple of "hot teen xxx site" "enlarge your %RND_BODYPART%" spams
No thanks, I'm happy with my handleld mapping GPS. If I really need to get on the net that badly while I'm traveling, I can always use that and the laptop to wardrive for a convenient unencrypted wap. (just kidding*)
*sort of
I just have to laugh at how much hyping up is being done to the whole "using USB to steal data"
I mean, yeah, some companies and most government agencies are all paranoid about what goes in and out, but every place I've worked since '96 or so has just about insisted that I take my laptop home with me so I can work nights and weekends.
I'm not saying that it isn't being misused, but my point is that there are a zillion ways to "steal data" but for the vast majority of home users, and probably a large percentage of business users, the much MUCH greater threats are VBS, IE vulnerabilities, Stupid users opening unknown attachments, and lost productivity from spam.
It seems like a big, expensive, invasive solution looking for a problem.
Yeah, I know, but I've been bitten one too many times by having some update break something on a client or a server... Your point it valid though. I guess since its my choice, I shouldn't whine so much. *grin*
I read the post and immediately thought "oh gosh, here we go again" and went to MS windows update to update my workstation while I downloaded the patch. Then I realized that I'd already updated everyone here at the office back when the patch first came out.
Damn, I gotta rtfa *grin*
Seriously though, even though I check for new updates religously and try to keep all the users on my network up to date, I guess I'm still a little gun-shy.
Man, this guy really strikes me as the scum of the Earth. It's too bad the law doesn't allow a stiffer penalty for what he's done. Still, at least they were able to apply an existing law to the case.
I really do get sick and tired of kneejerk lawmaking by politicians who really don't understand the technology they are regulating/outlawing. If I were to scream bloody murder that spammers should get the death penalty, I'm part of the same mentality that gave us the patriot act and the department of Homeland Security, and calls for criminal suits against P2P users.
I used to scan/ocr typewritten hard-copy manuscripts for a technical publisher. I would get a 500+ page manuscript on Friday and have to deliver ASCII text files for all of it by Sunday evening.
I used a Hewlett Packard 4C scanner with 50 page doc feeder.
It wasn't too bad - drop in 50 pages, hit scan... go do something for 30 to 50 minutes, come back, repeat. (You aren't really asking about OCR, so I'll skip the gruesome details)
Of all the scanners in the consumer market ($1000 or under ish), past and present, that I've tried I've always liked the HP 4C and its replacement series (6200c or somesuch?). They would handle about 1 page every 30 to 50 seconds with the doc feeder at the resolution I was using.
I was wondering about that one until I spied the date in the lower right hand corner - 11-17-49.
You'd think that nowadays, they'd just drop off a porta-john
I always set up my email client to send only Plain Text, and to strip HTML from incoming email (noHtml for Outlook, or for Outlook 2002 SP-1, the Microsoft Registry Fix)
I realize I'm going to sound like a Luddite here, but I just don't have the overwhelming need to send people emails with lightly shaded text over a really busy background, and I certainly HATE it when people send those to me.
That in itself is reason eoungh to strip out all HTML and/or convert to plain text, but I notice that spammers use nonsense markup tags, or even just lots of FONT tags to break up words invisibly. My current spam filtering is no help because it only filters the source code. (I'd love them to add a "post-render" phase of scanning where it checks through the message contents that are viewable by the user)
On Mondays when I go in to work, I will often have 800 to 1000 emails, 98% of which are junk. I've got spam filters which are about 95% effective. So my actual inbox gets very few, but I still have to skim through a LOT of junk in the "killed" box just in case my filter got a false positive (happens a couple times per week). I'd say that is a problem.
Back in 1998/1999, I used to get pissed off when I got spam... I had several friends who said "oh, just delete them - it's no big deal" They're singing my old tune nowadays. I never asked for this crap... and if I had a face-to-face meeting with one of those spammer scum, it would quickly degenerate into a (my)fist-to-(their)face and (my)boot-to-(their)head meeting.
Exactly...
I recently picked up a $39 Coby at a local supermarket. I already own 4 DVD players, but I bought this one the second I heard about it because an English friend said it was region-free out of the box and played their Region 2 PAL DVDs. At this point, getting a region-free unit is far more important to me than having some brand name.
You know, it used to be that I eagerly awaited every new technology and gadget. Things just got cooler and cooler, as technology enabled more and more new and exciting things.
Nowadays, I seem to be filled with fear and uncertainty every time I hear a story about some new format or digital media thingamee.
Why? well, it's pretty obvious isn't it? We've gotten to the point where every advancement in media technology is just looked at by the content producers as a way to "correct" for "past mistakes" (like consumers having the ability to record stuff to time shift or GOD FORBID, share a show with a friend who missed it, etc...)
Newer Replay TVs have a really neat "detect and skip commercials" option that the networks HATE. Their business model is threatened if everyone does that. Since they really don't have a leg to stand on if they fight that directly, they will certainly be thinking about DMCA applications when the content goes digital. The new DVD format will offer better picture quality, but most likely at the cost of more draconian copy/share protections and menu lockouts. (How long before TV series shart inserting commercials? and dvds locking you out of skipping them?)
Facts is facts... people will skip commercials, don't want to sit through 5 minutes of nifty DVD opening sequences, share stuff with friends, and copy their content to every new type of device they buy.... but the likes of the RIAA, MPAA, and Television networks are much happier with using the force of law and of cripling potentially ground breaking technological advances to keep their tried-and-true business models.
So, I'm worried that we'll get some nice picture improvement, but there will be more and more strings attached. I hate that something new comes out and I get worried about how they'll cripple it.
Yep, Rubbermaid was my old standby...
Originally, I just kept buying the same form-factor 33 Gallon green Rubbermaid boxes and threw stuff in those. The problem I had was that I would try to keep an inventory taped to the lid of each box, but it really never worked out too well. I ended up having to root through every box each time I needed something.
I finally went with these translucent/transparent boxes I found at CostCo. They're considerably smaller than the Rubbermaid containers, but I find that the smaller size and the ability to get a general idea of the contents by looking at them has led to a better organization. I group similar-items in boxes and because they're smaller, I don't worry if I am "wasting space" in one if it's only half of quarter full.
I've got 1 full of ribbon cables, 1 full of scsi cables, 1 for serial, 1 for parallel, 1 for random ready-to-use network cables, 1 for random un-finished raw cat 5 cables, 1 for coax cables, 1 for PC power cables, 1 for general extension chords, and so-on.
The boxes stack nicely, and I can generally find the box with the thing I'm looking for on the first try, but because the system's all in subdividing where I put things, I don't have to actually keep an inventory. (not to mention, I don't break my back lifting 4 or 5 full-to-the-brim 33 gallon Rubbermaids off the stack, rooting through them, and putting them back when I'm done)
Too true. People are almost always the weak link in security. When a sysadmin tries to use technological measures to overcome some of the more predictible ones (strong passwords, blocked attachments and ports, etc...), users revolt. (okay, they actually whine, but you get the idea)
STRONG SECURITY || USABILITY
Take your pick... you can't have 'em both
hmmm... if you are going to a doctor that is part of a hospital or big practice, that could be true. What about smaller offices/practices that are not hospital associated?
I work for a company that deals with clinical notes and insurance forms - an awful lot of the doctors that we take notes from are sending us scans/faxes hand-written pages. I don't work with hospital stuff... that's why it occurred to me to make the original suggestion.
Definately food for thought.
For greater medical privacy, forget insurance and pay in cash.
I realize it's not really practical with medical costs nowadays, but the reason medical records, information, and clinical notes leave the doctor's office in the first place is because the ones paying for it (insurance usually) need to know certain details about your treatment and diagnosis to determine your level of reimbursement. If you pay out of your own pocket, your data stays where it is (unless there is a medical need for your doctor to consult another, or to check old records, but that is because it's necessarry for TREATMENT.)
Paying in cash means that nobody can look at your credit card receipt/statement or bank records/canceled cheques and see that you've been to the doctor.
Yeah... Since the interface on the controller they sell has RS-232, it's not like you'd need to write device drivers... just open the serial port and read& write the right values to it. They don't elaborate on the specific signals in their faq, but it does contain enough information to make me believe that such control would be fairly trivial
http://www.roboteq.com/faq.shtml#serialfaq
because the content is digital and the flag could be considered a "copy protection device" by the DMCA... build/use some form of bypass and it's jail time for you.
Friends told me I was being paranoid when I would go off about how stupid and dangerous things like the DMCA and Patriot Act were... I'm really very sad that I'm going to get an "I told you so" on them. I sooo wish I was wrong about it.
Yeah, or even just connect to their unprotected wlan and download stuff to a laptop in their car as they sti parked out in the street.
In my mind it's very close to someone connecting a lineman's set to your telephone network interface and calling 900 numbers. And in that vein, I would not object to ISP billing for something so much if I could opt out... have them put a block on.
Of course, it wouldn't be fair to the ISPs to try and make them the "net cashier" without cutting them in for a percentage. I wonder if some ISPs wouldn't refuse to take the RIAA's blood money.
Okay granted, the "users give consent in some form to spyware" but you and I both know that in reality, most users are completely unaware that they have done so. It's just a form of social engineering or misdirection.... just like the magician who gets you to look that-a-way for the split second it takes to pull the pigeon out of his sleeve.
That being said, I will conceede that an AV company might just get itself embroiled in a lot of lawsuits exploring that very issue... not a really great way to stay profitable.
What I've never gotten a satisfactory answer on is: Why is it that a program that silently installs itself and is written by j.random is quickly added to the antivirus program updates, but yet if a coprpoation writes something similar, it never makes the list. Politics anyone?
Don't believe me, two words:
Comet Cursor
Nowadays, I scan with antivirus software AND AdAware on a regular basis
That perfectly coincides with my own personal policy...
(I used to work in television news, and as a result, I don't think I will ever trust anything the media has to say.)
I've spent a bit of time in Canada, and they've completely replaced $1 and $2 bills with coins. The hardest part about getting used to them is thinking of a $2 denomination. ($2 bills never really caught on here, did they?) I'd happily trade away my pennies - I almost always throw them in that little cup on the counter.
... even if we say we do
(a little off on a tangent, but it's also not at all difficult to get used to Metric road signs and weights/measurements when everything is metric - The metric movement in the US died off because
a: we don't like change... not really
b:because of a, they tried to inch it along incrementally, causing more confusion than if we just went cold-turkey.
The new paper money will probably go more smoothly than getting rid of pennies or replacing $1s and $2s with coins when all is said and done though.
mp3.com has managed to "screw the pooch" themselves... They are still free to listeners, but as a long-time artist on there myself (not incredibly popular, but all my stuff was free to download) I was shocked at the beginning of this year to find out that they had hidden all but 3 of my songs and are CHARGING artists who want more than 3 of their songs up. It's the artists contributing original music and making it available for download & streaming that made the site so great.
My point is: Even stuff that starts out great for music listeners and non-major bands/musicians gets corrupted and co-opted sooner or later. My guess is that mp3.com will follow suit sooner or later.
Those of us who are REALLY into PVRs have at least two in the house to cover the occasional overlap (like when TLC was running Junkyard wars at the same time as Comedy Central was running South Park)
It will be more annoying to have to constantly do the stagger thing, but if I need another PVR, they're getting cheap and coming out with new features all the time.
In my little corner of the universe, I've been quite content the last few years simply by telling my ReplayTVs to watch the shows I might find interesting. I only ever really sit down in front of the TV on weekends anymore, and now it's more "What am I in the mood for" instead of "let's see what's on right now" It's amazing how much that alone has changed my relationship with Television. I'm no longer a slave to "oh my god, I can't miss tonight's episode of FooBarBaz".
And to continue that line of thought, I do the same with Series on DVD or VHS... if I like a show, Im starting to feel safe in the idea that they will eventually release the whole thing on DVD. A friend and I tend to have similar enough tastes that we sort of seasaw back and forth on who is collecting which show and we have weekend marathons when they come in.
All this has resulted in a TV-watching style that is very targeted. I sit down to watch a particular show or set of shows, not to blow the evening watching "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" (okay, so maybe I watched that one once or twice, but I was over at a friends house.. yeah, that's it)