I hate surfing and chatting through the corporate firewall. They've got sniffers going and they keep tabs on us, so I'd rather not share my personal info with them. Here's what I do:
On Home Computer: 1. Get a no-ip.com address (virtual domain name) 2. Configure SSH to listen on port 23;) 3. Configure TightVNC (good enough for my needs... stable and fast enough) to listen on loopback 4. Configure my router to forward port 23 to my server - NOT port 5800/5900 (vnc)
On Work Computer: 1. SSH into my home box on port 23, forwarding port 5800/5900 2. At work, connect to my vnc system at home by connecting to 'localhost'.
I can even connect to two separate systems. For example, my home machine is windows, and I also have a separate linux box on its own DSL connection at the office. Windows VNC is on 5900, Linux VNC is on 5901, so I can be connected to both via SSH (port 23) and have two VNC windows open at the same time.
A few years ago there was a dog-napper in our neighbourhood, and I had a purebred golden lab. My dog was tied in the back yard (no fence) and the dog-napper tried to get near her to take her away... stress the word 'tried'. That dog knew who was good and who was a threat.
Of course, as my luck would have it, I woke up one morning covered in hives... developed an allergy to my dog.
Nothing beats a good smart dog when it comes to security. Except maybe a slightly modified x-10 system;)
My wife takes distance education courses on-line. The teachers are idiots, but it's cheap and the books (yes, she has to buy books) are actually informative. The latest course she took didnt' have powerpoint slides anymore (I guess some linux users were complaining? these aren't technical courses, so most of the userbase is windows-based). They went from powerpoint to Java-based presentations with voice-overs - kinda cool, except it didn't work on her computer.
Worked on mine, worked on my win2k server, hell, it worked on my linux server too! but it wouldn't work on hers (winxp sp1, all hotfixes, fully updated, etc....)
She called support and they were no help. I e-mailed suppport with very detailed specs (what version of java, what version of windows, what hotfixes were installed, etc....), I even included the fact that it works on 3 other systems, but not the one we want it on.
I believed that the problem was that it was based on Microsoft's implementation of Java (which my new xp installation didn't have, so i had the latest and greatest Sun JRE).
Want to know what they said to do? It's good... really.... I was impressed....they said...
insert drum roll....
"Please use a computer with Windows installed on it."
To say the least, I was stunned into silence for a good 5 minutes.
To make a long story short, they had a compression program for their java applet that didn't support the last two versions of java. (which is why it didn't work when I rolled back 1 version).
I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong - but doesn't String theory prove the existance of alternate/parallel universes/worlds/whatever, and that they could be sharing the same metaphysical space as us? Sort of like having different channels in a TV? it's all in the same relative space, but there are different versions of it goin on all at the same time?
Of course, I could just know enough to shoot my alternate self in the foot with a laser pointer.
I agree. However, if he's stupider than you or me, I feel bad for us - why aren't WE the ones who think up these things and enjoy being a university physicist (most likely with tenure)? What's what I want to know!
I work for a company who provides 'Outsourced Network Monitoring and Intrusion Detection' services. Whenever I'm doing a 'vulnerability assessment', or VA, I almost always work with the security professionals at the client site. My job is to help them do their job. The company I work for does a lot of things wrong, but (so far) they haven't pulled that one. If we've provided outsourcing to a client, it's been for something that they don't do already. Take intrusion detection (IDS) for example - most of my clients don't or can't do it effectively. So we come in and do it or them. They look good, we look good, everyone's happy. But your situation royally sucks.
I would brush off the resume and start lookin'. Just don't say that you got fired for being the security risk;)
Ok, here's my 2c worth. First off, this is my personal, as well as professional opinion - I've given lectures and presentations on how to keep kids safe on the 'net, and I've done some volunteer work for Yellow Dyno (http://www.yellowdyno.com).
Most internet safety groups say to keep the computers out of the kids rooms. And I agree in principle, that Internet access should be limited to an open area, visible to all. Having said that, my kids each have a computer in their room. Am I a hypocrite? I don't think so, and I'll tell you why... One reason, is that they're too young to be interested about anything other than Sesame Street, Strawberry Shortcake and Rescue Heroes. Secondly, and most importantly, they don't have 'net access.
I believe that security shouldn't hinder your work. When it comes to having multiple school-age children in the same house, you probably don't have room in your living room for 2 or 3 separate computer stations. Not to mention the arguments -- "MOM! (S)HE'S HACKING INTO MY COMPUTER AGAIN!!!"
And why is everyone around here so concerned about pr0n? that's the least of my worries. When the time comes, my kids will be locking themselves up in their rooms and bathrooms for hours on end, looking at, and enjoying pr0n. There's not much you can do about that. What I'm worried about, most of all, are internet predators. Yes, we need to protect our children (sorry, but while some 17-year-olds may be mature enough to be considered an adult, many more are not - heck, some 30-year olds are less mature than some 17-year olds I know). So for the sake of this argument, let's not dwell on the physical age, but rather the mental maturity. Back to the point of pedophiles...
Kids tend to trust implicitly - that's what we teach them. Listen to grown-ups, people of authority, stuff like that. But we don't teach them to know the difference between a 'good' grown-up, or a 'bad' grown-up. Why don't we? because we want to protect our kids - but protecting them with ignorance is not the way either. So how do you educate your kids without scaring them to death, and, to try and answer the original question in this thread, how far do you go to protect them from the 'net?
As far as educating your kids, I believe that the key is to teach them how to defend themselves. Assume that at some point in your kid's life, they will be approached by a pedophile. There are really good organizations out there who will teach your kid, and yourself, how protect against that encounter. (for starters, check out www.yellowdyno.com).
But to focus on the original point, I believe that the computer is a tool, a means to an end. Just as you need to know who your kid's friends are, you need to know who their 'cyber-buddies' are. Chat can be safely used to chat with known friends - like other kids from school that the kid interacts with anyway. IM software can block everyone who'se not on your list of friends, and controls are can be put in place to help prevent your kids from changing that. Are those controls fool-proof? no, but they are usually adequate and it's better than nothing.
Also, keep internet-connected computers in an open area - depending on your situation, you might need to have computers somewhere else besides the kitchen/family/living room. but don't plug them in to the 'net.
Use something to log all activity on your internet connection, and your kids what you're doing and why. Yes, this may be an invasion of privacy, and will probably keep mom/dad away from their pr0n too;) But the safety of kids is more important. Yes, I know I'm going to get blasted by some people on this one. I'm not that much older than you, and I remember when I was 15-16-17-18-19, whatever (both physically and mentally). I was immortal, nothing could touch me. You pretty much all feel like that, but believe me, you're just as vulnerable and mortal as the rest of us. If you get cut, do you not bleed?
I read a book a few years ago, called SIVA or SHIVA (don't quite remember). Anyway, this book was about how our own ancient civilizations (egyptian I believe) had created giant space ships out of ice. People inside the giant ice cube could use the ice as water, and the sheer mass of the thing would act as a collector for hydrogen atoms - isn't the universe made up of mostly hydrogen (or was that helium?;)
The velocity was increased gradually by using the hydrogen as fuel. Of course, the book said that 3 of these ships were created, and 2 had returned, but that the last one had gone missing, of course. And that the pyramids were basically beacons or antenae, and that there were more pyramids on under one of the poles.
but the point is, if you had a giant hydrogen collector on the front of your ship, you could use that as additional fuel. And you would presumably only be able to accelerate half way, then reverse the process and decelrate the second half of the way, since it would take you just as long to slow down as it would to speed up. So your max speed might be close to 1LY, but not necessarily for very long, depending on the distance travelled.
Just a thought - and if anyone has a copy of that book, I'd love to get my hands on it!
Wouldn't matter, because there's no sensor to determine how much ink is actually in the reservoir - it's calculated by the printer. which is why you need to re-program the eeprom.
It would go like this:
Me: Ok printer, your reservoir is empty now, you can go ahead and print.
Epson Printer: NO, sorry, I'm still full.
Me: But I emptied it! Look, it's right here!
Printer: I don't care what you did, it's still full until Epson tells me otherwise. Take me to Epson, infidel!
I had an Epson C40ux. I used it a lot, and I really liked it, until one day....
I was printing some activities for the kids, and suddenly the printer just stops printing, and the lights just blink. After some searching, I find out that this particular model, and the C42ux as well, has a drop-dead date.
Well, not a date actually... When you clean the print heads on these models, the ink has to go somewhere. So it goes into a little reservoir (you can see it on the right hand side when you open the cover and the print heads are out of the way). The printer keeps a count of how much ink is in this reservoir. But once the printer thinks that the reservoir is full, it STOPS WORKING COMPLETELY!!!
Ok, no big deal, right? Change the reservoir. No problem... but wait! You have to re-program the EEPROM to reset the counter! And guess what? The only people who can do that are licensed Epson repair centres! (closest one to me is 3 hours away, speeding, in another province). And how much does this cost?
The cost to simply reset the counter on the EEPROM is more than the cost of the printer! The printer ended up in the garbage.
Note that I am never buying an Epson printer again.
All of this security is well and good. Strong passwords, OS and application patches, constantly updated multi-tiered anti-virus, user (and management) education, management buy-in, all of the standard 'Due Diligance' is great, and a necessity. But when you start getting into the more complicated or advanced security practices, such as PKI, IDS and some other three-letter acronyms, you have to start looking at cost.
The purpose of IT security is to protect the 'I', not the 'T'. For those of you who have forgotten, the 'I' stands for 'Information'. Information is power, and power has worth. The cost of your security should not be greater than the replacement value of your Information.
The replacement value can be difficult to calculate, as you may have to include damage-control costs in there as well. (read: public embarassment).
My point is, you can have all the security in the world, given an unlimited budget - but there's no point if the information you're trying to protect is virtually worthless.
Having a dedicated firewall between every PC/server/router and armed guards with semi-automatic weapons, and three-factor authentication on a fully AES-encrypted LAN is probably very good security if you're guarding the login codes to Fort Knoxx. But not necessarily if you're just trying to protect your corporate LAN. There are more efficient ways to provide adequate protection.
[RANT]
This goes even further than IT. Look at the Government of Canada gun registry. One billion dollars over-budget. Ok, so it's Candian Pesos, but it's still a lot of money. And they have the nerve to say 'If it saves even one life, then it will be worth it'. That's bull. One billion dollars can save a lot more than one life, if used effectively.
[/RANT]
I just don't like them enough to buy the album. First, I listen to the song on the radio, and if I like it, I might try to find it on a p2p service, so I can listen to the whole thing without the radio announcer blabbing away. If I still listen to it after a day or two, then I'll buy the album.
I just think Moby is sore that he's not as popular as he thinks he is.
Just my 2c worth.
Finally!!! A proper windows version!!!-flame away
on
Nethack 3.4.0
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Yes, I use Windows. I have to because of work.
What I really, REALLY like in this release of the windows port is the following.
1. It no longer takes 100% of my cpu!!!! I can play longer on my laptop now!!! YIPPIE!!!!
2. It finally has some half-decent graphics, (for nethack) and I can easily switch between text-graphics and the new graphics.
3. It still has the great playability of Nethack!!! I love it!!
A lot of you were asking why Nethack is so playable and enjoyable. Here's my theory for anybody who wants to read it.
Nethack and all of the other text-based games (Infocom, ZZT, etc...) force the user to READ. By reading what's going on, it allows the brain to use it's imagination. Your imagination (well, mine at least) is far more interesting than anything Blizzard or Hollywood could come up with. The images in my head really out-beat anything else.
That's why Nethack (and other similar games) have so many return players.
The second reason, is that Nethack doesn't have a single goal. If you want to get the amulet of Yendor, go ahead! If you just want to see how far your character develops, you can do that too! It's a really flexible game.
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I hate surfing and chatting through the corporate firewall. They've got sniffers going and they keep tabs on us, so I'd rather not share my personal info with them. Here's what I do:
;)
On Home Computer:
1. Get a no-ip.com address (virtual domain name)
2. Configure SSH to listen on port 23
3. Configure TightVNC (good enough for my needs... stable and fast enough) to listen on loopback
4. Configure my router to forward port 23 to my server - NOT port 5800/5900 (vnc)
On Work Computer:
1. SSH into my home box on port 23, forwarding port 5800/5900
2. At work, connect to my vnc system at home by connecting to 'localhost'.
I can even connect to two separate systems. For example, my home machine is windows, and I also have a separate linux box on its own DSL connection at the office. Windows VNC is on 5900, Linux VNC is on 5901, so I can be connected to both via SSH (port 23) and have two VNC windows open at the same time.
A few years ago there was a dog-napper in our neighbourhood, and I had a purebred golden lab. My dog was tied in the back yard (no fence) and the dog-napper tried to get near her to take her away... stress the word 'tried'. That dog knew who was good and who was a threat.
;)
Of course, as my luck would have it, I woke up one morning covered in hives... developed an allergy to my dog.
Nothing beats a good smart dog when it comes to security. Except maybe a slightly modified x-10 system
My wife takes distance education courses on-line. The teachers are idiots, but it's cheap and the books (yes, she has to buy books) are actually informative. The latest course she took didnt' have powerpoint slides anymore (I guess some linux users were complaining? these aren't technical courses, so most of the userbase is windows-based). They went from powerpoint to Java-based presentations with voice-overs - kinda cool, except it didn't work on her computer.
Worked on mine, worked on my win2k server, hell, it worked on my linux server too! but it wouldn't work on hers (winxp sp1, all hotfixes, fully updated, etc....)
She called support and they were no help. I e-mailed suppport with very detailed specs (what version of java, what version of windows, what hotfixes were installed, etc....), I even included the fact that it works on 3 other systems, but not the one we want it on.
I believed that the problem was that it was based on Microsoft's implementation of Java (which my new xp installation didn't have, so i had the latest and greatest Sun JRE).
Want to know what they said to do? It's good... really.... I was impressed....they said...
insert drum roll....
"Please use a computer with Windows installed on it."
To say the least, I was stunned into silence for a good 5 minutes.
To make a long story short, they had a compression program for their java applet that didn't support the last two versions of java. (which is why it didn't work when I rolled back 1 version).
I (and all of my not-so-idential-twins in alternate universes/dimensions/realities/whatever) stand corrected.
;)
That leavs me with just one more thing to say.
foamy
I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong - but doesn't String theory prove the existance of alternate/parallel universes/worlds/whatever, and that they could be sharing the same metaphysical space as us? Sort of like having different channels in a TV? it's all in the same relative space, but there are different versions of it goin on all at the same time?
Of course, I could just know enough to shoot my alternate self in the foot with a laser pointer.
I agree. However, if he's stupider than you or me, I feel bad for us - why aren't WE the ones who think up these things and enjoy being a university physicist (most likely with tenure)? What's what I want to know!
I work for a company who provides 'Outsourced Network Monitoring and Intrusion Detection' services. Whenever I'm doing a 'vulnerability assessment', or VA, I almost always work with the security professionals at the client site. My job is to help them do their job. The company I work for does a lot of things wrong, but (so far) they haven't pulled that one. If we've provided outsourcing to a client, it's been for something that they don't do already. Take intrusion detection (IDS) for example - most of my clients don't or can't do it effectively. So we come in and do it or them. They look good, we look good, everyone's happy. But your situation royally sucks.
;)
I would brush off the resume and start lookin'. Just don't say that you got fired for being the security risk
Ok, here's my 2c worth. First off, this is my personal, as well as professional opinion - I've given lectures and presentations on how to keep kids safe on the 'net, and I've done some volunteer work for Yellow Dyno (http://www.yellowdyno.com).
;) But the safety of kids is more important. Yes, I know I'm going to get blasted by some people on this one. I'm not that much older than you, and I remember when I was 15-16-17-18-19, whatever (both physically and mentally). I was immortal, nothing could touch me. You pretty much all feel like that, but believe me, you're just as vulnerable and mortal as the rest of us. If you get cut, do you not bleed?
Most internet safety groups say to keep the computers out of the kids rooms. And I agree in principle, that Internet access should be limited to an open area, visible to all. Having said that, my kids each have a computer in their room. Am I a hypocrite? I don't think so, and I'll tell you why... One reason, is that they're too young to be interested about anything other than Sesame Street, Strawberry Shortcake and Rescue Heroes. Secondly, and most importantly, they don't have 'net access.
I believe that security shouldn't hinder your work. When it comes to having multiple school-age children in the same house, you probably don't have room in your living room for 2 or 3 separate computer stations. Not to mention the arguments -- "MOM! (S)HE'S HACKING INTO MY COMPUTER AGAIN!!!"
And why is everyone around here so concerned about pr0n? that's the least of my worries. When the time comes, my kids will be locking themselves up in their rooms and bathrooms for hours on end, looking at, and enjoying pr0n. There's not much you can do about that. What I'm worried about, most of all, are internet predators. Yes, we need to protect our children (sorry, but while some 17-year-olds may be mature enough to be considered an adult, many more are not - heck, some 30-year olds are less mature than some 17-year olds I know). So for the sake of this argument, let's not dwell on the physical age, but rather the mental maturity. Back to the point of pedophiles...
Kids tend to trust implicitly - that's what we teach them. Listen to grown-ups, people of authority, stuff like that. But we don't teach them to know the difference between a 'good' grown-up, or a 'bad' grown-up. Why don't we? because we want to protect our kids - but protecting them with ignorance is not the way either. So how do you educate your kids without scaring them to death, and, to try and answer the original question in this thread, how far do you go to protect them from the 'net?
As far as educating your kids, I believe that the key is to teach them how to defend themselves. Assume that at some point in your kid's life, they will be approached by a pedophile. There are really good organizations out there who will teach your kid, and yourself, how protect against that encounter. (for starters, check out www.yellowdyno.com).
But to focus on the original point, I believe that the computer is a tool, a means to an end. Just as you need to know who your kid's friends are, you need to know who their 'cyber-buddies' are. Chat can be safely used to chat with known friends - like other kids from school that the kid interacts with anyway. IM software can block everyone who'se not on your list of friends, and controls are can be put in place to help prevent your kids from changing that. Are those controls fool-proof? no, but they are usually adequate and it's better than nothing.
Also, keep internet-connected computers in an open area - depending on your situation, you might need to have computers somewhere else besides the kitchen/family/living room. but don't plug them in to the 'net.
Use something to log all activity on your internet connection, and your kids what you're doing and why. Yes, this may be an invasion of privacy, and will probably keep mom/dad away from their pr0n too
And lastly, remember I said that t
The velocity was increased gradually by using the hydrogen as fuel. Of course, the book said that 3 of these ships were created, and 2 had returned, but that the last one had gone missing, of course. And that the pyramids were basically beacons or antenae, and that there were more pyramids on under one of the poles.
but the point is, if you had a giant hydrogen collector on the front of your ship, you could use that as additional fuel. And you would presumably only be able to accelerate half way, then reverse the process and decelrate the second half of the way, since it would take you just as long to slow down as it would to speed up. So your max speed might be close to 1LY, but not necessarily for very long, depending on the distance travelled.
Just a thought - and if anyone has a copy of that book, I'd love to get my hands on it!
Gerald
That would be funny! have the treasure protected by the 4 Pac-Man ghosts!
>Pinky rushes towards you.. do you..
- Fight
- Run
- Cast a spell
- Eat a power-pellet?
It would go like this:
Me: Ok printer, your reservoir is empty now, you can go ahead and print.
Epson Printer: NO, sorry, I'm still full.
Me: But I emptied it! Look, it's right here!
Printer: I don't care what you did, it's still full until Epson tells me otherwise. Take me to Epson, infidel!
I was printing some activities for the kids, and suddenly the printer just stops printing, and the lights just blink. After some searching, I find out that this particular model, and the C42ux as well, has a drop-dead date.
Well, not a date actually... When you clean the print heads on these models, the ink has to go somewhere. So it goes into a little reservoir (you can see it on the right hand side when you open the cover and the print heads are out of the way). The printer keeps a count of how much ink is in this reservoir. But once the printer thinks that the reservoir is full, it STOPS WORKING COMPLETELY!!!
Ok, no big deal, right? Change the reservoir. No problem... but wait! You have to re-program the EEPROM to reset the counter! And guess what? The only people who can do that are licensed Epson repair centres! (closest one to me is 3 hours away, speeding, in another province). And how much does this cost?
The cost to simply reset the counter on the EEPROM is more than the cost of the printer! The printer ended up in the garbage.
Note that I am never buying an Epson printer again.
The purpose of IT security is to protect the 'I', not the 'T'. For those of you who have forgotten, the 'I' stands for 'Information'. Information is power, and power has worth. The cost of your security should not be greater than the replacement value of your Information.
The replacement value can be difficult to calculate, as you may have to include damage-control costs in there as well. (read: public embarassment).
My point is, you can have all the security in the world, given an unlimited budget - but there's no point if the information you're trying to protect is virtually worthless.
Having a dedicated firewall between every PC/server/router and armed guards with semi-automatic weapons, and three-factor authentication on a fully AES-encrypted LAN is probably very good security if you're guarding the login codes to Fort Knoxx. But not necessarily if you're just trying to protect your corporate LAN. There are more efficient ways to provide adequate protection.
[RANT] This goes even further than IT. Look at the Government of Canada gun registry. One billion dollars over-budget. Ok, so it's Candian Pesos, but it's still a lot of money. And they have the nerve to say 'If it saves even one life, then it will be worth it'. That's bull. One billion dollars can save a lot more than one life, if used effectively. [/RANT]
Just like everyone else, my 2c worth.
I just don't like them enough to buy the album. First, I listen to the song on the radio, and if I like it, I might try to find it on a p2p service, so I can listen to the whole thing without the radio announcer blabbing away. If I still listen to it after a day or two, then I'll buy the album.
I just think Moby is sore that he's not as popular as he thinks he is.
Just my 2c worth.
Yes, I use Windows. I have to because of work.
What I really, REALLY like in this release of the windows port is the following.
1. It no longer takes 100% of my cpu!!!! I can play longer on my laptop now!!! YIPPIE!!!!
2. It finally has some half-decent graphics, (for nethack) and I can easily switch between text-graphics and the new graphics.
3. It still has the great playability of Nethack!!! I love it!!
A lot of you were asking why Nethack is so playable and enjoyable. Here's my theory for anybody who wants to read it.
Nethack and all of the other text-based games (Infocom, ZZT, etc...) force the user to READ. By reading what's going on, it allows the brain to use it's imagination. Your imagination (well, mine at least) is far more interesting than anything Blizzard or Hollywood could come up with. The images in my head really out-beat anything else.
That's why Nethack (and other similar games) have so many return players.
The second reason, is that Nethack doesn't have a single goal. If you want to get the amulet of Yendor, go ahead! If you just want to see how far your character develops, you can do that too! It's a really flexible game.
Just my 2c worth.
Gerald.
What about the Sierra Dr. Brain games? I don't remember those being vilent.
Gerald626
it's supposed to have better USB support out of the box. Haven't really tested it much yet.