Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2004 11:23:50 -0400 From: Chris Knight <merlin@ghostwheel.com> To: online@penguinputnam.com Subject: In response to katie.com
To whom it may concern,
I make this promise today: As long as Penguin Group is engaged in their disgraceful attempt to strong-arm katie.com from its rightful owner I will refuse to purchase any book published by them, or any of their subsidiaries. Should Penguin Group succeed in stealing katie.com from Katie Jones I will continue to avoid your books, I will teach my children to do so as well, and I will spread the story to all my friends.
We live in a capitalistic society, and profit seems to be the only thing people understand anymore. Therefore, I am casting my vote with the dollars you will not receive while engaged in such actions.
Relative to inflation. When the Atart 2600 ruled the world Pitfall was a $50 cartridge. When the C64 ruled the world, Telengard was a $50 floppy disk. Pitfall didn't take four years to develop, and it was shipped on a 32K PROM, not three CDs.
I think, all things considered, that we get a lot more bang for our buck these days for our $50.
I had an ASUS motherboard that crashed in the middle of a BIOS flash update. The machine would no longer boot, so I could not re-flash. ASUS tech support told me to do the following:
Boot a second system I had that used a similar MB Once booted, remove the PROM Insert the PROM from the dead machine Flash the PROM with the BIOS for MB #1. Shut down, and swap PROMS to correct machines.
We already have a 'Sport President'. He got in under the new reduced intelligence and experiece requirements; even though on his entrace exam of world threats he simply filled in Iraq in every blank space.
My hourly rate is too high to ask friends to pay, and I hate to lower my rates... So, I'll work on a friend or family member's computer for a bottle of single malt scotch (NO BLENDS!), their choice as long as it isn't Glenlivit for Glenfiddich. Not that either of those brands are bad, but they are the two most likely ones for someone to purchase and I'd rather be surprised by a cheap bottle I haven't tasted before than get the same old thing over and over.
>this is the only time it has ever happened to me, >but i am interested in hearing other similar >stories from folks around the world. >what countries have you had problems in?
One day I was buying a new motorcycle, and I needed to pull $500 from my account. I visited the Bank of America ATM acorss the street from my office. It chugged and chugged, but only spit out a hundred dollars or so. I freaked. I hauled ass to the nearest bank branch, with only a few minutes to spare before they closed. I had the teller check out my account, and it turned out that the ATM only deducted the amount it had spit out.
I was relieved. And shocked. Just goes to show how much I trust ATMs, that I expected it to withdraw an amount other than what it had spit out.
Code Red showed up in August of 2001. Anti-virus vendors, and even Microsoft, released detection and cleaning tools. To this day, two and a half years later, I am still getting Code Red hits from infected machines.
It is about bloody time that a large provider has become willing to proactively cut off infected machines. Now if only UUNet would do the same, as most of the Code Red hits I receive come from within my own NSP's network.
I imagine you have an attendant pull a modular spare from a box and swap it out. Or you close that booth. It really wouldn't be that different than if any other component broke.
What the machines need is a paper roll printer, with a glass window above the print mechanism that allows the viewing of only that last line printed.
When the user casts their vote, they are instructed to verify in the window that the vote they cast is the one that was printed. If not, get an attendant.
Nobody can cach in their vote chit, and with batches of votes on individal rolls of paper it would be a lot easier to tabulate than counting paper ballots.
> It just seems to me that it's bad policy on a > person's or organization's part to lend support to > groups that are engaged in terrorist activities.
Do the words "Innocent until proven guilty" mean anything to you?
> Those domains are required (if they want to be > whitelisted) to list their outbound mail server > IPs with AOL. E-mail from other IP addresses, > purporting to be from said domain, get dropped in > the bit-bucket.
Where exactly does one register their mail servers with AOL to be whitelisted?
>As many people have pointed out, in every Slashdot >FP on this topic, the detection algorithm works by >finding a pattern of five small circles in a >particular configuration (which looks vaguely like >the Cingular logo, without the head-dot).
So, if you want to use your softare to print legally modified graphics, you just need to white out this pattern before scanning. Or, erase/obscure the pattern in the image before printing.
Sounds like a simple solution to allow graphics designers to create fair use graphics that would fail a counterfeit detector for lack of the expected pattern.
>Aren't GPS systems built to avoid recieving false >readings? Encryption? Fault detection?
A search on google shows that the C/A bands are not encrypted, but that the P band can be. If one overrides the signal, it would seem that they could provide the unencrypted bands only. The system either shuts down because it does not have a valid encrypted signal, or it decides to trust the unencrypted signals alone.
So, you either get to take over the plane from remote, or you disable the system that prevents the terrorist pilot on board from taking over the plane. Sounds like a win-win situation for the forces of darkness.
>I may be talking through my hat here, but I am >sure someone will gladly point that out if I am >wrong. I thought that GPS navigation requires >signals from more than one source to calculate >position.
More than one signal, yes; but a GPS antenna is a simple beast, and it is unable to determine the sources on its own. It simply trusts that the ID and timing signals are legit, and from there it calculates relative position.
One antenna could transmit many spoofed signals, and because a GPS antenna is omni-directional it would never know where they came from as long as the spoofed timing signals could be calculated into a position that fit the GPS system's idea of valid.
>I think this would be a lot harder to spoof than >a Die Hard flick would suggest.
In "Die Hard 2" they did not spoof GPS. They tampered with the runway landing beacon system. They didn't have to overpower the transmitted system because they had hijacked it directly. In that case, it would be even easier than spoofing a set of GPS satellite signals.:)
>Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about GPS, >but wouldn't they need a satellite in the right >place in orbit to do this?
The GPS system is based on the simple idea of triangulation. Each satellite transmits a repeating signal that includes its ID and a timestamp. By comparing the differences in the timestamps of the various sattelite signals, (and having a formula for the position of the satellites at a given point in time) it is possible to calculate where your position must be in order to receive the signals in a given particular order.
Because the triangulation is based on the timing signal, and not signal strength, the GPS system doesn't know whether the signal is coming from a satellite or from an earthbound transmitter.
A high power transmitter system that blankets a plane's GPS receiver with pre-calculated gps data.
You could effectively take over a plane from the ground by feeding this automated system incorrect coordinates. The irony would be felt by the pilots would be unable to over-ride the system, becuase it has to be terrorist proof....
I second the eBay recommendation, but I would hardly call the people looking for older parts suckers. Some people still need older parts. I sell of my obsolete hardware on eBay, and I've been able to purchase hard to find parts there myself. I have a couple of VA Linux rackmount servers, and eBay was the only place I could find reasonably priced spare parts.
I've sold scsi cards on eBay for a dollar, and broke even on the shipping; and I am happy because I know the part is going to use and not into a land fill.
Solar power is generated and stored as direct current. In order to use a desktop system, you will need to convert to AC, so that the computer's power supply can convert it back down to the proper DC voltages. This is a wasteful process.
If you start with a laptop, preferably one whose input voltage is the same, or lower, than the voltage of your storage cells, you will make a more efficient use of your power system.
I refuse to give my SSN in order to get an interview. I will gladly fill out a W-4 form, including SSN, once they have agreed to hire me.
-Chris
Re:Privacy Act only applies to use by the Governme
on
Cash Value 1/10 of a Cent
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Two weeks ago a position opened at AT&T in my area, with a set of skill requirements that was rather hard to find in my area. Consequently I received calls from thirteen different recruiters over a three day span. I was flattered.
Each and every one of them told me that AT&T required my SSN along with my resume in order to apply for the job. I told every one of them that it wasn't going to happen. (I only had to hang up on one for not being willing to at least accept my choice.)
A company can, and will, demand anything they can get away with. It is up to us to take a stand and tell them that we have a right to refuse to do business with them as well.
I take that you didn't read the site... I DO have #4 up, and the reason I only have two on-line is that I am missing the other two. When I get them, I'll put them up as well.
If you have them, send them my way and I'll put them on-line. (I am now 28% done downloading the aldenata disk. Thank you pdawson for the bit-torrent link!)
Slashdot Mirror
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2004 11:23:50 -0400
From: Chris Knight <merlin@ghostwheel.com>
To: online@penguinputnam.com
Subject: In response to katie.com
To whom it may concern,
I make this promise today: As long as Penguin Group is engaged in their
disgraceful attempt to strong-arm katie.com from its rightful owner I will
refuse to purchase any book published by them, or any of their subsidiaries.
Should Penguin Group succeed in stealing katie.com from Katie Jones I will
continue to avoid your books, I will teach my children to do so as well, and I
will spread the story to all my friends.
We live in a capitalistic society, and profit seems to be the only thing
people understand anymore. Therefore, I am casting my vote with the dollars
you will not receive while engaged in such actions.
-Chris
"Relatively low price? Relative to what?"
Relative to inflation. When the Atart 2600 ruled the world Pitfall was a $50 cartridge. When the C64 ruled the world, Telengard was a $50 floppy disk. Pitfall didn't take four years to develop, and it was shipped on a 32K PROM, not three CDs.
I think, all things considered, that we get a lot more bang for our buck these days for our $50.
-Chris
I had an ASUS motherboard that crashed in the middle of a BIOS flash update. The machine would no longer boot, so I could not re-flash. ASUS tech support told me to do the following:
Boot a second system I had that used a similar MB
Once booted, remove the PROM
Insert the PROM from the dead machine
Flash the PROM with the BIOS for MB #1.
Shut down, and swap PROMS to correct machines.
It worked.
-Chris
We already have a 'Sport President'. He got in under the new reduced intelligence and experiece requirements; even though on his entrace exam of world threats he simply filled in Iraq in every blank space.
-Chris
My hourly rate is too high to ask friends to pay, and I hate to lower my rates... So, I'll work on a friend or family member's computer for a bottle of single malt scotch (NO BLENDS!), their choice as long as it isn't Glenlivit for Glenfiddich. Not that either of those brands are bad, but they are the two most likely ones for someone to purchase and I'd rather be surprised by a cheap bottle I haven't tasted before than get the same old thing over and over.
-Chris
OK, the one that really gets me is the people who don't believe we went to the moon. It is so damn easy to prove.
We've got some fantastic optical telescopes on this planet. Why don't we point one at the moon and take pictures of the footprints?
-Chris
>this is the only time it has ever happened to me,
>but i am interested in hearing other similar
>stories from folks around the world.
>what countries have you had problems in?
One day I was buying a new motorcycle, and I needed to pull $500 from my account. I visited the Bank of America ATM acorss the street from my office. It chugged and chugged, but only spit out a hundred dollars or so. I freaked. I hauled ass to the nearest bank branch, with only a few minutes to spare before they closed. I had the teller check out my account, and it turned out that the ATM only deducted the amount it had spit out.
I was relieved. And shocked. Just goes to show how much I trust ATMs, that I expected it to withdraw an amount other than what it had spit out.
-Chris
Code Red showed up in August of 2001. Anti-virus vendors, and even Microsoft, released detection and cleaning tools. To this day, two and a half years later, I am still getting Code Red hits from infected machines.
It is about bloody time that a large provider has become willing to proactively cut off infected machines. Now if only UUNet would do the same, as most of the Code Red hits I receive come from within my own NSP's network.
-Chris
> What happens when the printer breaks?
I imagine you have an attendant pull a modular spare from a box and swap it out. Or you close that booth. It really wouldn't be that different than if any other component broke.
-Chris
Exactly.
What the machines need is a paper roll printer, with a glass window above the print mechanism that allows the viewing of only that last line printed.
When the user casts their vote, they are instructed to verify in the window that the vote they cast is the one that was printed. If not, get an attendant.
Nobody can cach in their vote chit, and with batches of votes on individal rolls of paper it would be a lot easier to tabulate than counting paper ballots.
-Chris
> The original poster is suggesting that it would
> be immoral ("bad policy") for you to provide
> advice to a group you knew to support terror.
Morality and law should not mix. Morality is far too flexible.
The ACLU would consider it immoral to deny detainees legal counsel.
The fear mongers consider it immoral to render legally guaranteed aid to those arrested.
The politicians consider [whatever the latest polls indicate the majority wants] to be immoral.
Given the number of politicians who bandy about the word Morality, and then turn out to be hipocrites; I would rather rely on the law.
-Chris
> It just seems to me that it's bad policy on a
> person's or organization's part to lend support to
> groups that are engaged in terrorist activities.
Do the words "Innocent until proven guilty" mean anything to you?
-Chris
> Those domains are required (if they want to be
> whitelisted) to list their outbound mail server
> IPs with AOL. E-mail from other IP addresses,
> purporting to be from said domain, get dropped in
> the bit-bucket.
Where exactly does one register their mail servers with AOL to be whitelisted?
-Chris
>As many people have pointed out, in every Slashdot
>FP on this topic, the detection algorithm works by
>finding a pattern of five small circles in a
>particular configuration (which looks vaguely like
>the Cingular logo, without the head-dot).
So, if you want to use your softare to print legally modified graphics, you just need to white out this pattern before scanning. Or, erase/obscure the pattern in the image before printing.
Sounds like a simple solution to allow graphics designers to create fair use graphics that would fail a counterfeit detector for lack of the expected pattern.
-Chris
>Aren't GPS systems built to avoid recieving false
>readings? Encryption? Fault detection?
A search on google shows that the C/A bands are not encrypted, but that the P band can be. If one overrides the signal, it would seem that they could provide the unencrypted bands only. The system either shuts down because it does not have a valid encrypted signal, or it decides to trust the unencrypted signals alone.
So, you either get to take over the plane from remote, or you disable the system that prevents the terrorist pilot on board from taking over the plane. Sounds like a win-win situation for the forces of darkness.
-Chris
> Aren't GPS systems built to avoid recieving false
> readings? Encryption? Fault detection?
That I don't know.
-Chris
>I may be talking through my hat here, but I am
:)
>sure someone will gladly point that out if I am
>wrong. I thought that GPS navigation requires
>signals from more than one source to calculate
>position.
More than one signal, yes; but a GPS antenna is a simple beast, and it is unable to determine the sources on its own. It simply trusts that the ID and timing signals are legit, and from there it calculates relative position.
One antenna could transmit many spoofed signals, and because a GPS antenna is omni-directional it would never know where they came from as long as the spoofed timing signals could be calculated into a position that fit the GPS system's idea of valid.
>I think this would be a lot harder to spoof than
>a Die Hard flick would suggest.
In "Die Hard 2" they did not spoof GPS. They tampered with the runway landing beacon system. They didn't have to overpower the transmitted system because they had hijacked it directly. In that case, it would be even easier than spoofing a set of GPS satellite signals.
-Chris
>Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about GPS,
>but wouldn't they need a satellite in the right
>place in orbit to do this?
The GPS system is based on the simple idea of triangulation. Each satellite transmits a repeating signal that includes its ID and a timestamp. By comparing the differences in the timestamps of the various sattelite signals, (and having a formula for the position of the satellites at a given point in time) it is possible to calculate where your position must be in order to receive the signals in a given particular order.
Because the triangulation is based on the timing signal, and not signal strength, the GPS system doesn't know whether the signal is coming from a satellite or from an earthbound transmitter.
-Chris
A high power transmitter system that blankets a plane's GPS receiver with pre-calculated gps data.
You could effectively take over a plane from the ground by feeding this automated system incorrect coordinates. The irony would be felt by the pilots would be unable to over-ride the system, becuase it has to be terrorist proof....
-Chris
I love the functionality of Perforce. I've used it at several jobs.
I hate the price, and their weird-ass pricing scheme. For a quick case of sticker-shock, just go to http://www.perforce.com/perforce/price.html
-Chris
I second the eBay recommendation, but I would hardly call the people looking for older parts suckers. Some people still need older parts. I sell of my obsolete hardware on eBay, and I've been able to purchase hard to find parts there myself. I have a couple of VA Linux rackmount servers, and eBay was the only place I could find reasonably priced spare parts.
I've sold scsi cards on eBay for a dollar, and broke even on the shipping; and I am happy because I know the part is going to use and not into a land fill.
-Chris
Solar power is generated and stored as direct current. In order to use a desktop system, you will need to convert to AC, so that the computer's power supply can convert it back down to the proper DC voltages. This is a wasteful process.
If you start with a laptop, preferably one whose input voltage is the same, or lower, than the voltage of your storage cells, you will make a more efficient use of your power system.
-Chris
I refuse to give my SSN in order to get an interview. I will gladly fill out a W-4 form, including SSN, once they have agreed to hire me.
-Chris
Two weeks ago a position opened at AT&T in my area, with a set of skill requirements that was rather hard to find in my area. Consequently I received calls from thirteen different recruiters over a three day span. I was flattered.
Each and every one of them told me that AT&T required my SSN along with my resume in order to apply for the job. I told every one of them that it wasn't going to happen. (I only had to hang up on one for not being willing to at least accept my choice.)
A company can, and will, demand anything they can get away with. It is up to us to take a stand and tell them that we have a right to refuse to do business with them as well.
-Chris
I take that you didn't read the site... I DO have #4 up, and the reason I only have two on-line is that I am missing the other two. When I get them, I'll put them up as well.
:)
If you have them, send them my way and I'll put them on-line. (I am now 28% done downloading the aldenata disk. Thank you pdawson for the bit-torrent link!)
-Chris
ps. Yes, you get bonus points.