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User: alcourt

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  1. Re:More Flexibility? on Ubuntu Developing Its Own Package Format, Installer · · Score: 1

    Because you want AIX?

  2. Re:More Flexibility? on Ubuntu Developing Its Own Package Format, Installer · · Score: 4, Informative

    Query: ldd
    Control: see the various environment variables that specify which lib dirs are used in what order for that environment you just created. (LD_LIBRARY_...)

    Applications can specify the exact version number of a library (.so.1 vs .so.2).

    Note, none of this is Linux specific. That family of operating systems is far from perfect in shared library handling, but I won't pretend that it doesn't inherit at least some tools that have at least some flexibility from older Unix tools.

  3. Re:this is as far from UNIX philosophy as you can on Ubuntu Developing Its Own Package Format, Installer · · Score: 1

    That every time you update appFoo that needs you to go to Java 1.6.0.49.1, appBar will break because it only works with 1.6.0.49.0.

  4. Re:Agents do have some latitude on TSA Log Shows Passengers Say the Darndest Things · · Score: 1

    I often would crack a friendly non-political joke. For example, asking if I got a piece of cheese for running the rat maze (the line was empty when I approached security). Treat them as a human, and they tend to treat you as one.

    Of course, once I scared a TSA agent by accident (not in a way that resulted in police). Have an asthma attack shortly before going through security. The agent was clearly more scared than the other passengers.

  5. Re:Energy conservation only applies to other peopl on NetWare 3.12 Server Taken Down After 16 Years of Continuous Duty · · Score: 2

    Oddly, I replaced my main home server with a highly energy efficient model four years ago (mac mini). I was using a kill-a-watt meter to measure that I was spending > $100/year on the old server, and that was a significant factor on what to get as a replacement. All my other systems are energy efficient laptops at home. I use the kill-a-watt regularly to test devices suspected of burning excess power.

    Are there things I don't do? Of course. But I hardly ignore energy efficiency. I also make sure I'm not getting a low energy number that I will never make up the cost of over the life of the equipment. So that hybrid car? No go. I don't drive enough miles to justify the surcharge.

  6. Re:Wrong move on Security Fix Leads To PostgreSQL Lock Down · · Score: 1

    What a strange universe you live in. Sounds nice.

    Databases firewalled? No bad guys on your network? No direct DB connectivity?

  7. Re:T-mobile signed me up for a premium warranty on Another Way Carriers Screw Customers: Premium SMS 'Errors' · · Score: 1

    Oddly, every time I went to a T-mobile storefront, I had a courteous person who was willing to tell me the right thing for me, even if it resulted in a lost sale. I was looking at a cheap replacement device for a five year old emergency phone. They told me to not buy it from them, because it would cost too much. They're one of the only places I can get cell service without them using my SSN as an account number.

    The online rep I dealt with a couple months ago made me nearly reconsider my options for carrier. I decided finally to chalk it up to one bad apple and went on.

  8. Key is kinetic on Do Nations Have the Right To Kill Enemy Hackers? · · Score: 1

    The summary I read restricted a "kinetic response" to cases where "kinetic damage" occurred. For those who do not read that language, that means no dropping bombs unless physical damage is done.

    So Iran might have been justified under this doctrine in attacking the creators of Stuxnet, but South Korea would not be justified under this doctrine in launching a few artillery shells/missiles at the initiator of whoever attacked them, because while wiping hard drives is really annoying, it does not rise to the level of "kinetic damage". Note, taking power offline may not even rise to the level of kinetic damage, even though there is serious issues caused. That gets into the fine interpretations though.

    Most authorized retaliations are purely online/computer under the doctrine.

  9. Re:Justice Department is just like an HR departmen on National Security Letters Ruled Unconstitutional, Banned · · Score: 1

    In my most recent job change, I was astonished at how helpful HR is. This was punctuated by a call from a HR manager to me about a month or so after I started asking if there were any problems they could help me with. The HR department has been helpful, doing their best to take work off me and help me get to my primary job duties.

    Yes, some HR departments are at best unpleasant to work with and should be treated as a hostile entity. Some IT departments earn their nickname of "Preventer of Information Services". Some computer security departments earn less polite nicknames and make HR look like amateurs. Some senior managers make you scramble to memorize everything you can so you can document it as soon as you get home and call (because you wouldn't dare call from your personal phone or worse, use a work phone to call) a lawyer, or district attorney.

    Hating HR may be popular here, but two of my jobs over the past many years have actually had very positive experiences with HR, right down to the last day and beyond.

  10. Re:Wrong focus on Congress Takes Up Online Sales Tax · · Score: 2

    You forgot the other issue. Different products may be subject to different tax levels. For example, in one state, tea has sales tax. In another, tea has no sales tax. So you have to hold in your database not only all the varying rates, but the lists of what items are subject to what tax levels, and keep that database updated on probably a daily basis.

    And yes, my tea vendor says Massachusetts has a tax on tea.

  11. Re:Do what the Chinese government does: fight dirt on Lawmakers Say CFAA Is Too Hard On Hackers · · Score: 1

    Ah, the old "only [criminals|rebels|rulebreakers] have skills" argument.

  12. Re:"Product was not compromised"? on Bit9 Hacked, Stolen Certs Used To Sign Malware · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I had a long chat with one of their sales types a couple weeks ago. The sales person had to talk to backline engineering, but confirmed the next day that yes, the bypass I outlined in under two minutes to evade the tool completely would in fact work and their software was designed in precisely the way as to make support from OS and hardware vendors very difficult on Linux.

    I tried to push them into the more useful area of logging what is done rather than trying to declare a known whitelist. Under their current scheme, a sysadmin couldn't write a custom shell script to their home dir and run it without going through twenty blessings first. Tweak that shell script? Won't run, even without privilege. I was not impressed.

  13. Re:Nostalgia on Oracle Responds To Java Security Critics With Massive 50 Flaw Patch Update · · Score: 1

    When Java was first released, I was told what a security researcher called it after looking at the model.

    "It's a very nice virus description language"

    Every year, I remember that during the latest critical Java issue.

  14. Re:Confused. on Oracle Responds To Java Security Critics With Massive 50 Flaw Patch Update · · Score: 1

    You forgot that you are stopped at #3. Your change request is denied because your apps say the update will never work with their code and they need a minimum of twelve months to fix, and it isn't at the top of their priority list right now. Senior management has mandated these other features be put in, and these bugs in their java based web page code be squashed, so they can't make their code compatible with the update right now. Maybe next year?

  15. Re:This is good news. Actually. on Credit Card Swipe Fees Begin Sunday In USA · · Score: 1

    And worse, with PIN transactions, the account holder assumes the risk of fraud, which is large, and the fault of banks creating a ridiculous transaction system based on a set of "secret" numbers (printed on the card).

    http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0213-lost-or-stolen-credit-atm-and-debit-cards disagrees with you on the amount of fraud liability on debit cards. Most telling is this statement: "For unauthorized transactions involving only your debit card number (but not the loss of your card), you have 60 days after you get your statement to report the unauthorized transaction."

    The credit card fraud protections are similar. I realize that debit cards used to have no legal fraud protection unless your bank offered such. It appears to be different now and has been I'm told for around fifteen years.

  16. Re:Nortel: victim of industrial espionage? on Nortel Executives Found Not Guilty On Fraud Charges · · Score: 1

    Well, yes. Telecom vendors are not exactly celebrated for their competence, especially in security.

    A more accurate statement might be that if I see a product from any major telecom vendor, I go in assuming that it will be riddled with security holes that were well documented ten years ago. Usually I can't even meet those low expectations and am disappointed -- again.

  17. Re:A Mature Local Machine Product vs Immature Clou on Google Docs Vs. Microsoft Word: an Even Matchup? · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've seen this happen so many times it's not even funny. OpenOffice/LibreOffice weren't brought in for any part of it until people couldn't open it and in desperation they agreed to try the suggestion to try opening the file in LibreOffice. File opens fine, is saved in the MS format, and the result is openable in MS Word again.

  18. Re:So ? on NSA Targeting Domestic Computer Systems · · Score: 2

    Two other examples I can think of include SELinux and the hardening of what became DES against differential cryptanalysis, twenty years before the attack was widely known.

  19. Re:So ? on NSA Targeting Domestic Computer Systems · · Score: 2

    Scary implies I'm not numbed to the state of affairs by years of apathy by management.

  20. Re:They better arrest me then. on Drawings of Weapons Led To New Jersey Student's Arrest · · Score: 1

    My experience is that teachers tend to be the bullies, not the bullied. If teachers pointed out that many of them were carrying lethal weapons, it would create an atmosphere where many students were bullied just by being in the class. They may be much more afraid to disagree with a teacher (necessary when so many textbooks contain factual errors the teacher doesn't catch and teaches anyway).

  21. Re:No harm done on Drawings of Weapons Led To New Jersey Student's Arrest · · Score: 1

    I'm reminded of the Man-Kzin War saga and the ARM.

  22. Re:I think it's a good idea on Historians Propose National Park To Preserve Manhattan Project Sites · · Score: 1

    Got moved to the annex. I'm told it was too controversial in the main smithsonian, hence the move. That's been turned into a decent size museum on its own.

  23. Re:Many of the same flaws, some new ones on Apple Declutters, Speeds Up iTunes With Major Upgrade · · Score: 1

    I want to *choose* my sort and list criteria. If I want to listen to Brahms, I shouldn't have to remember that the conductor of my most of my Brahms is Bernstein, but I have other Brahms conducted by someone else. Or they may choose to list the featured soloist as the artist, especially on concertos. I look for composer long before I look at performer.

    In the new album view, I see no way to change the secondary criteria displayed from artist (confusing, useless to me) to a more useful field, such as composer.

  24. Re:Alternatives to iTunes? on Apple Declutters, Speeds Up iTunes With Major Upgrade · · Score: 1

    The URL http://getsongbird.com/desktop/ disagrees with you. Download link for OS X.

  25. Re:Many of the same flaws, some new ones on Apple Declutters, Speeds Up iTunes With Major Upgrade · · Score: 1

    Even better, checking each smart playlist, making sure I was in list view, all but one, column browser was disabled, menu option grayed out, key shortcut does nothing. One playlist, the column browser was forced on, couldn't turn it off.

    This is now pointing to a bug I suspect.

    After going through it, some where it was forced off are now forced on. Yes, I'll be reporting this as a bug based on what you've told me.