And what happens when this same type of legislation comes up in YOUR country.
For better or worse, the rest of the world always follows, on corporate issues at least, in our footsteps on legislation. Many a company has gone to a foriegn government and said "The US passed this law to help us out. If you don't "help us out", we won't do business here.
The US government has also used this same tactic in other countries.
I love how jealous people get of the US sometimes. A 200 year old country coming so far and becoming the powerhouse it is. I'm not saying I agree with the tactics but they do seem to work.
Let's approach it from another angle. If something like this were to begin to happen in the UK or France or Spain or the Netherlands, what recourse would you have to prevent it? What access do you have to your political officials in voicing your opinion?
I'm not trying to set us up to be the archangel saviours of the world by any stretch but get real here. What happens in America affects the rest of the world. Isn't that what enviromentalists and the U.N. keeps telling us?
Pass it on to your girlfriend before you send it off and see if SHE can make sense of it. Or your mother or whoever. If you can get the point across to someone non-technical, then chances are your senators are going to get it as well.
Can you explain to me what in the FUCK this has to do with corporate accounting?
The way I explained to my senator (the one who actually listens anyway) this morning was that if he had an older version of {NAME_OF_FAVORITE_BANKING_SOFTWARE HERE} and he purchased a new PC that refused to run the software because it didn't contain watermarks, he could become a criminal by either telling someone how he made it run or the person who told HIM how to make it run.
Corporate accounting issues have NOTHING to do with IP and DRM.
good point on the definitions. A few notes back though:
The CIA does not consider the US a democracy NOR a democratic republic. this , we are in fact a federal republic.
Democracy is actually a system of mob rule. This was one thing that even James Madison decried in the Federalist Papers.
I will say this, however, that lately the US is becoming more and more of a democracy when special interest groups with the most money (the biggest mob) bend the ears of the politicians.
You see, in a democracy, the rights of the individual are superceded by the rights of the larger group (the mob). What happens when the mob is made up of luddites? Computers and coffee machines become illegal and we are all out of work. In a republic, my right to work and make a living supercedes your personal beliefs on technology as long as it doesn't infringe on your right to hold that belief.
I know that's a bad example but it's the best that I could come up ATM. A democracy is a terribly unstable beast. The whims of the people are more fickle than the winds of the four corners.
I've attached some links at the bottom. Some of these come from religious websites but it makes a valid point none the less. Note that I don't endorse any of the religous links posted. I could care less. Thomas Jefferson said once (paraphrase) "If a man believes in god or does not, what does it matter to me? It neither picks my pocket or breaks my leg." Another of the links is to the Cato Institute (disclaimer: an organization which I wholly support)
Use Spamcop. It has a nice little window where you can paste the message source. If you select show details, you'll see everything you need to know as well as who spamcop will contact about the spam. It was well worth the subscription cost just to get an email address I could forward spam to and have it automated.
Oh you misunderstood. I LOVE Hasek. He's got a completely new playstyle and it works. When you can get as many shutouts as he did during the playoffs up until now, you're a good goalie in my mind.
The point I was trying to make is that it LOOKS ugly. Then again so does Rod Brind'amour;)
So don't misunderstand. I think Hasek is great. It's Roy I can't stand.
Bellsouth actually HAS a phone line that is billed based on a percall basis. I've heard clark howard mention it on his show before. It runs along the lines of 19 bucks a month.
I agree that we don't need more laws but there does need to be legal recourse. Spam should simply fall under existing laws for computer tampering and under ISP TOS's.
The freebies are REAL easy to get. It took me all of 5 minutes on each company's website. The deal is that you have to actually call in to get the report. It was all automated but I got it done. I actually thought the big delay would be in getting me the reports (i.e. taking PLENTY of time) to proccess or putting free requests on the backburner) but I had all of mine in by a Friday last week and I ordered them on Monday.
As to the rest of the post, I agree. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. These guys have shown that they have a tendancy to fuck things up and I think the government needs to watch them VERY closely.
As to companies forwarding out credit reports, I think that's a privacy issue. I could get your SSN and request a credit application with my address/po box and then just wait for the report to come in and have all the info I need (if all I was able to get from whatever I cracked into was an SSN)
The Credit Reporting Reform idea sounds good though. Sounds like it's time to write Zell Miller and Johnny Isakkson. Max Cleland can roll off a hill for all I care.
Oh I'm perfectly aware of that I don't have to provide an SSN. It comes down to, as you said, not doing business with them. Financial institutions and the government are the only people who can require it from what I understand.
There are some really interesting stories online about people getting by without an SSN.
The most famous of which is Neil McIver's story. I think Neil does it for more religious reasons. Mine are purely privacy related. The funny thing is that on the back of your SS card it says that you are responsible for any usage of your SSN. It's hard to be responsible when it's required by everyone under the sun. That's really why I want a definate law on the whole thing. If we are expected and held liable for what happens to our card and number, then we need to be able to do business and function without it.
As a side note, it was voicestream that bought PowerTel. I know because they fucked up the transfer of my powertel account over to VoiceStream.;)
As to everyone who says you can't get anything without giving out your number, give it a shot sometime. If you are applying for utilities or whatnot, ask to tell the person you are speaking with if it's required. When they tell you it is, ask to speak to a manager. The typical customer (no)service people won't know any better since they work from a computer screen and script but a manager can settle the matter once and for all.
Actually some states have laws requiring the credit report companies to give out a certain number of free reports a year. In Georgia (where I live) I get up to two free reports a year. Also, if you've been denied credit or employment based on information from your credit report, you are entitled to a free copy of the report from the reporting company the card provider/employer used.
As to your second point, I agree completely. At one point, Equifax was trying to gain control of medical records for people to link with the existing stuff. I'm not a fan of big government but Equifax,Transunion and Experian need to have STRICT government regulation because of the impact the information they carry can have on an individuals life. Forget that stupid cracker shit in "The Net". All it takes is a fucked up keystroke and you can't even rent an apartment.
The biggest piece of legislation I would love to see is this: Private companies are forbidden to use SSN's as customer identifiers. How fucking hard is it for a company to generate a random account number?
Well I remember Van Eck's from Cryptonomicon which IIRC was an actual technique.
As to the idea of going around my E to get to A, I figure that even as paranoid as I am, that if someone were to go to this trouble to get information from me, more power to em.
If I hear someone else spout off that we (at least in the US) live in a democracy one more time, I'm going postal.
IS this what government schools teach kids nowadays?
My all time favorite quote, which ties into your last sentance is by Thomas Jefferson. I swear to god if our current politicians would learn this (as well as some of the basic of the constitution) the US would "get it"
The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. -- Thomas Jefferson
Then again I'm also one of those guys who think the Federalist Papers should be required reading.
You don't get an outlook license. You get an Exchange client access license. With that license you are free to use the Microsoft Exchange mail client. Outlook requires a separate license. The reason the cost of evolution connector makes no sense is that most offices already have Office Standard licenses (like us) and outlook client is a part of standard.
Of course with OpenOffice at 1.0, the cost of Ximian connector is more reasonable for new machines because companies might NOT already have Office licenses. What Ximian needs to do is take and brand a version of openoffice bundled with ximian connector and evolution to be the linux/whatever Office replacement. They could EASILY charge 100 bucks per office suite and still be better.
If you're running a linux workstation, it's even easier but if you happen to have a linux firewall or just one on your network, it'll get the job done.
Has frelling finally made it into common speach now? I was actually scared the first time I found myself using it in conversation. People just give you a stupid look. It would take to long to explain anyway =)
As to.cn, I block all mail from Asia Pacific netblocks personally and professionally. Only postmaster@ and dnsadmins@ allow mail through unfetered We have some contracters working in India right now and I actually had to whitelist rediffmail.com because India gets addresses from the same pool.
For postfix:
61 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org 218 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org 210 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org 211 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org 202 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org 203 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org
Slashdot Mirror
heheh. It happens. I've done it myself and been promptly trounced.
And what happens when this same type of legislation comes up in YOUR country.
For better or worse, the rest of the world always follows, on corporate issues at least, in our footsteps on legislation. Many a company has gone to a foriegn government and said "The US passed this law to help us out. If you don't "help us out", we won't do business here.
The US government has also used this same tactic in other countries.
I love how jealous people get of the US sometimes. A 200 year old country coming so far and becoming the powerhouse it is. I'm not saying I agree with the tactics but they do seem to work.
Let's approach it from another angle. If something like this were to begin to happen in the UK or France or Spain or the Netherlands, what recourse would you have to prevent it? What access do you have to your political officials in voicing your opinion?
I'm not trying to set us up to be the archangel saviours of the world by any stretch but get real here. What happens in America affects the rest of the world. Isn't that what enviromentalists and the U.N. keeps telling us?
Do what I do.
Pass it on to your girlfriend before you send it off and see if SHE can make sense of it. Or your mother or whoever. If you can get the point across to someone non-technical, then chances are your senators are going to get it as well.
Can you explain to me what in the FUCK this has to do with corporate accounting?
The way I explained to my senator (the one who actually listens anyway) this morning was that if he had an older version of {NAME_OF_FAVORITE_BANKING_SOFTWARE HERE} and he purchased a new PC that refused to run the software because it didn't contain watermarks, he could become a criminal by either telling someone how he made it run or the person who told HIM how to make it run.
Corporate accounting issues have NOTHING to do with IP and DRM.
good point on the definitions. A few notes back though:
The CIA does not consider the US a democracy NOR a democratic republic. this , we are in fact a federal republic.
Democracy is actually a system of mob rule. This was one thing that even James Madison decried in the Federalist Papers.
I will say this, however, that lately the US is becoming more and more of a democracy when special interest groups with the most money (the biggest mob) bend the ears of the politicians.
You see, in a democracy, the rights of the individual are superceded by the rights of the larger group (the mob). What happens when the mob is made up of luddites? Computers and coffee machines become illegal and we are all out of work. In a republic, my right to work and make a living supercedes your personal beliefs on technology as long as it doesn't infringe on your right to hold that belief.
I know that's a bad example but it's the best that I could come up ATM. A democracy is a terribly unstable beast. The whims of the people are more fickle than the winds of the four corners.
I've attached some links at the bottom. Some of these come from religious websites but it makes a valid point none the less. Note that I don't endorse any of the religous links posted. I could care less. Thomas Jefferson said once (paraphrase) "If a man believes in god or does not, what does it matter to me? It neither picks my pocket or breaks my leg." Another of the links is to the Cato Institute (disclaimer: an organization which I wholly support)
Some Links:
1
2
3
4
You loose already. The US is NOT a democracy. It's a republic. Learn the difference and you can come back and play with the big kids.
Use Spamcop. It has a nice little window where you can paste the message source. If you select show details, you'll see everything you need to know as well as who spamcop will contact about the spam. It was well worth the subscription cost just to get an email address I could forward spam to and have it automated.
Oh you misunderstood. I LOVE Hasek. He's got a completely new playstyle and it works. When you can get as many shutouts as he did during the playoffs up until now, you're a good goalie in my mind.
;)
The point I was trying to make is that it LOOKS ugly. Then again so does Rod Brind'amour
So don't misunderstand. I think Hasek is great. It's Roy I can't stand.
Bellsouth actually HAS a phone line that is billed based on a percall basis. I've heard clark howard mention it on his show before. It runs along the lines of 19 bucks a month.
The canes went alright. You see Irbe watch that third goal blow past him? Didn't even make an attempt.
Then again Hasek is Mr. Sprawl-on-the-ice-and-hope-i-block-something so I can't complain.
hehehe.
I agree that we don't need more laws but there does need to be legal recourse. Spam should simply fall under existing laws for computer tampering and under ISP TOS's.
The freebies are REAL easy to get. It took me all of 5 minutes on each company's website. The deal is that you have to actually call in to get the report. It was all automated but I got it done. I actually thought the big delay would be in getting me the reports (i.e. taking PLENTY of time) to proccess or putting free requests on the backburner) but I had all of mine in by a Friday last week and I ordered them on Monday.
As to the rest of the post, I agree. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. These guys have shown that they have a tendancy to fuck things up and I think the government needs to watch them VERY closely.
As to companies forwarding out credit reports, I think that's a privacy issue. I could get your SSN and request a credit application with my address/po box and then just wait for the report to come in and have all the info I need (if all I was able to get from whatever I cracked into was an SSN)
The Credit Reporting Reform idea sounds good though. Sounds like it's time to write Zell Miller and Johnny Isakkson. Max Cleland can roll off a hill for all I care.
Oh I'm perfectly aware of that I don't have to provide an SSN. It comes down to, as you said, not doing business with them. Financial institutions and the government are the only people who can require it from what I understand.
;)
There are some really interesting stories online about people getting by without an SSN.
The most famous of which is Neil McIver's story. I think Neil does it for more religious reasons. Mine are purely privacy related. The funny thing is that on the back of your SS card it says that you are responsible for any usage of your SSN. It's hard to be responsible when it's required by everyone under the sun. That's really why I want a definate law on the whole thing. If we are expected and held liable for what happens to our card and number, then we need to be able to do business and function without it.
As a side note, it was voicestream that bought PowerTel. I know because they fucked up the transfer of my powertel account over to VoiceStream.
As to everyone who says you can't get anything without giving out your number, give it a shot sometime. If you are applying for utilities or whatnot, ask to tell the person you are speaking with if it's required. When they tell you it is, ask to speak to a manager. The typical customer (no)service people won't know any better since they work from a computer screen and script but a manager can settle the matter once and for all.
My favorite was:
Fix or repair daily
hehehe
(disclaimer: proud owner of a 2001 Ford Focus)
Actually some states have laws requiring the credit report companies to give out a certain number of free reports a year. In Georgia (where I live) I get up to two free reports a year. Also, if you've been denied credit or employment based on information from your credit report, you are entitled to a free copy of the report from the reporting company the card provider/employer used.
As to your second point, I agree completely. At one point, Equifax was trying to gain control of medical records for people to link with the existing stuff. I'm not a fan of big government but Equifax,Transunion and Experian need to have STRICT government regulation because of the impact the information they carry can have on an individuals life. Forget that stupid cracker shit in "The Net". All it takes is a fucked up keystroke and you can't even rent an apartment.
The biggest piece of legislation I would love to see is this: Private companies are forbidden to use SSN's as customer identifiers. How fucking hard is it for a company to generate a random account number?
"Did you bring me a monkey?"
hehehehe
Well I remember Van Eck's from Cryptonomicon which IIRC was an actual technique.
As to the idea of going around my E to get to A, I figure that even as paranoid as I am, that if someone were to go to this trouble to get information from me, more power to em.
Actually I think that was one of the nifty bug fixes in 2.2.4 (which I just upgraded a few servers to)
Fucking hell THANK YOU!
If I hear someone else spout off that we (at least in the US) live in a democracy one more time, I'm going postal.
IS this what government schools teach kids nowadays?
My all time favorite quote, which ties into your last sentance is by Thomas Jefferson. I swear to god if our current politicians would learn this (as well as some of the basic of the constitution) the US would "get it"
The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
-- Thomas Jefferson
Then again I'm also one of those guys who think the Federalist Papers should be required reading.
oh yeah and I thought you would find this interesting:
ELLISON, LAWRENCE J ATHERTON, CA 94027 ORACLE CORPORATION 8/12/1999 $5,000 Oracle Corp
ELLISON, LAWRENCE J ATHERTON, CA 94027 ORACLE CORPORATION 4/25/2000 $5,000 Oracle Corp
ELLISON, LAWRENCE J REDWOOD CITY, CA 94065 ORACLE CORPORATION 3/6/2000 $1,000 DeWine, Mike
ELLISON, LAWRENCE J REDWOOD CITY, CA 94065 ORACLE CORPORATION 1/4/2000 $1,000 Hatch, Orrin G
$2000 dollars in the 2000 election year
here
You don't get an outlook license. You get an Exchange client access license. With that license you are free to use the Microsoft Exchange mail client. Outlook requires a separate license. The reason the cost of evolution connector makes no sense is that most offices already have Office Standard licenses (like us) and outlook client is a part of standard.
Of course with OpenOffice at 1.0, the cost of Ximian connector is more reasonable for new machines because companies might NOT already have Office licenses. What Ximian needs to do is take and brand a version of openoffice bundled with ximian connector and evolution to be the linux/whatever Office replacement. They could EASILY charge 100 bucks per office suite and still be better.
http://www.lusis.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=N ews&file=article&sid=44
Here's hoping slashdot doesn't fuck up the link.
If you're running a linux workstation, it's even easier but if you happen to have a linux firewall or just one on your network, it'll get the job done.
Has frelling finally made it into common speach now? I was actually scared the first time I found myself using it in conversation. People just give you a stupid look. It would take to long to explain anyway =)
.cn, I block all mail from Asia Pacific netblocks personally and professionally. Only postmaster@ and dnsadmins@ allow mail through unfetered We have some contracters working in India right now and I actually had to whitelist rediffmail.com because India gets addresses from the same pool.
As to
For postfix:
61 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org
218 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org
210 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org
211 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org
202 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org
203 550 This mailserver does not accept spam from AsiaPacific netblocks. If this is in error send mail to postmaster@lusis.org
Hehehe. My family's lineage is french and I still make jokes about it.
My fav is that somewhere in Paris, there is a document that says "Fill in name of invading country here."