Regardless of the laws that say it is not supposed to be done, one has no choice but to assume that if it is possible to track you, monitor you, profile you, what have you......it's going to be done.
You simply have to accept this as one of many realities... especially in a Post-9/11 World.
Only a matter of time before the RIAA requests a data dump from the ISPs or just sues everyone using their network.
And if I don't download MP3s, dont have any on my boxes, just WTF am I being sued for?
What law have I allegedly broken?
And will any law enforcement agencies even be involved in such a privately organized dragnet?
And when the RIAA does come after me, only because I happen to be a customer of the same ISP that someone else is downloading stuff, and finds out that I am clean (i.e. have no MP3s et al), do they think they can just say "ok, you're clean - carry on" and walk away? Do they think a token "oops - our bad" is gonna fly?
I don't think so.
Hey, lawyers... the line starts over here... form a single-file line... thanks.
...my worry, aside from making sure all the legal definitions and what-not are in line with good common sense is......are these [insert your favorite naughty description of spammer here]s going to be able to buy thier way out of jail?
After all, these [naughty description]s rake in a gizorkabajizalafillion dollars from thier, erm, activities...
H.D. Moore, who wrote it, rightly points out that there are commercial tools that do it better, and it's known that the kiddies have copies of those. Why pick on the open-source tool?
I don't care who has what exploit^H^H^H^H^H^H^Htesting tool, or what knowledge about hacking. It's a better "real-world" way to test your security anyway.
Keep your stuff patched, because you never know where, when, how or by whom the next attack is going to come from.
"These performance failures are unacceptable," Ekard wrote. "Having a reliable and trouble-free voting system is absolutely essential to the county. Your failure to provide such a system in the March election was extremely troubling and any issues that remain must be fully resolved long before the November election."
Problem is, it is no longer "long before the November election."
So when we get our next serial killer story, we will see an ad for a better, more powerful gun?
When we read about a tanker truck accident on I-94 outside of Battle Creek, MI will we start reading ads about Kellogg's Corn Flakes (based in Battle Creek)?
Will an Amtrak derailment story prompt Greyhound ads?
Where the hell does this stop?
IRS = Incedible Rampant Stupidity
on
No EZ Fix For The IRS
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Seems even their circa 1962 code can't deal with more modern features, such as Direct Deposit of refunds.
Case in point: my own refund.
I just got a letter from the IRS yesterday saying "Sorry, we have to mail [you] a paper check because the Routing Transit Number [you] supplied from your account is invalid". I went and pulled out my checkbook, and confirmed that both my checking account number AND my routing number were CORRECT.
Could they have been scanned incorrectly? Possible, but the numbers were written as clearly as if I had typed them.
Could they have been manually re-keyed incorrectly? Don't we have SOFTWARE to prevent that? Oh, wait, this code was written in 1962.
Worse yet, when I called IRS to complain, the lady on the other end of the line didn't seem to know what a Routing Transit Number was. Arrgh.
There needs to be a cure for Incredible Rampant Stupidity.
"'We saved the jobs of the people who are employed in San Francisco by hiring people here [in India],' he says. 'I don't know that we would be around as a company if we hadn't done that. What was the right thing to do, morally?'"
Uhh... exactly how many US jobs were offshored to save how many remaining jobs?
And what's morality have to do with firing X number of people at $60-80K in order to replace them with Y number of people at $12-$15K (or whatever amount)?
I'm happy at the prospect of fatter pipes, but......will it mean improved QOS for my connection?...will it mean more spam, pr0n, worms, et al?...will it mean more transparent (less detectable) spyware stealing my bandwidth?...will it mean I really pay less, long-term, for my fatter pipe... or will it simply make it cheaper for the bandwidth to be delivered, thus providing only a better margin for my ISP?...will it mean EVERYONE will bombard each other with more information overload, thus precipitating network brown- and black-outs?...will it lead to another dot-com goldrush and flame-out?
Wasn't it a few short years ago that MS complained about the government taking away their "freedom to innovate"?
Now it seems the marketplace is running circles around Gates and Co.
Perhaps Ballmer needs to run around in circles too... this time screaming "Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality!"
The internet is a PUBLIC network of public content. Where the hell does anyone get the idea that there is a concept of privacy involved here?
(This is not intended to be sarcastic, rhetorical, nor trolling.)
If you have (or seek) private information, encrypt it (or have it encrypted), (have it) wrap(ped) it in a.zip or other file, and encrypt the thing again.
If you don't want the Government to watch what you are saying and/or doing, then don't give them anything to watch.
This isn't a Bush or Ashcroft thing... this is a technology thing. Any time technology is seen as capable of doing something, ANYTHING, you can bet someone will try do do so... without regard to whom is in charge.
The Federales can't even protect thier friggin' nuclear research labs from 5cr1p7 k166195 hacking thier way in and having thier own way.
Now, all of DHS is going to open up their entire information exchange apparatus to possible cyber-attacks, spoofing and God Knows What Else by a-Q and others?
Nice.
I don't think a-Q is going to be swapping any pr0n, unless you define it as putting fuses into hot boxes of combustible materiel.
* It's my computer, bought and paid for. * It's my software, bought and paid for (and/or acquired free, legally). * It's my bandwidth, bought and paid for (on a monthly basis).
Let me decide what to do with it.
If I want to load up my HD with bloatware, spyware, malware or whatever, as long as it harms no one else... who the hell cares?
If, on the other hand, I want to run my system cleanly, block out all malware sources with a HOSTS file, install anti-spyware and anti-virus software and do whatever else I see fit... again... who the hell cares?
It's my choice to run my computer and my software to twiddle my own bits as I damn well see fit.
If the government doesn't know anything about what the hell it is regulating, it out to stay the hell out of trying to do anything with it.
Slashdot Mirror
Regardless of the laws that say it is not supposed to be done, one has no choice but to assume that if it is possible to track you, monitor you, profile you, what have you...
You simply have to accept this as one of many realities... especially in a Post-9/11 World.
Only a matter of time before the RIAA requests a data dump from the ISPs or just sues everyone using their network.
And if I don't download MP3s, dont have any on my boxes, just WTF am I being sued for?
What law have I allegedly broken?
And will any law enforcement agencies even be involved in such a privately organized dragnet?
And when the RIAA does come after me, only because I happen to be a customer of the same ISP that someone else is downloading stuff, and finds out that I am clean (i.e. have no MP3s et al), do they think they can just say "ok, you're clean - carry on" and walk away? Do they think a token "oops - our bad" is gonna fly?
I don't think so.
Hey, lawyers... the line starts over here... form a single-file line... thanks.
And Statoil is not Estonian, either.
It is Norwegian.
http://www.statoil.com/
Now my free hotmail account truly becomes worth every penny I have paid for it.
Sheesh.
This one is pretty secure...
// Try to break into this script!
<?php
echo "Hello World!";
?>
consumers have found the claims process too confusing, time-consuming and discouraging to keep them from making a claim
Well, DUH!
Does anyone really think Redmond is just going to happily dispose of their $$$ and make it easy to do so at the same time?
They didn't get to where they are now through stupidity.
After all, these [naughty description]s rake in a gizorkabajizalafillion dollars from thier, erm, activities...
Seems to me that installing any third party browser add-on is only asking for trouble.
Why add another executable that will sap some your system resources while at the same time be able to monitor your surfing habits?
Doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me...
I can only see this as a way for Cable to profit:
...or something like that.
"Buy Package A (25 channels) for $29.95"
"Buy Package B (35 channels) for $34.95"
"Buy Package C (50 channels) for $39.95"
(The cable company picks the channels)
or:
"Pick any 25 channels for $35.95"
"Pick any 35 channels for $42.95"
"Pick any 50 channels for $49.95"
Just like in a Mickey D's, you can either get a combo meal for $3.99, or mix and match yourself for $7.00+.
My preference, frankly, is one channel: the one connected to my broadband router.
H.D. Moore, who wrote it, rightly points out that there are commercial tools that do it better, and it's known that the kiddies have copies of those. Why pick on the open-source tool?
I don't care who has what exploit^H^H^H^H^H^H^Htesting tool, or what knowledge about hacking. It's a better "real-world" way to test your security anyway.
Keep your stuff patched, because you never know where, when, how or by whom the next attack is going to come from.
"These performance failures are unacceptable," Ekard wrote. "Having a reliable and trouble-free voting system is absolutely essential to the county. Your failure to provide such a system in the March election was extremely troubling and any issues that remain must be fully resolved long before the November election."
Problem is, it is no longer "long before the November election."
I have commented on this subject before, and see nothing that changes my view; rather, it reinforces it.
So when we get our next serial killer story, we will see an ad for a better, more powerful gun?
When we read about a tanker truck accident on I-94 outside of Battle Creek, MI will we start reading ads about Kellogg's Corn Flakes (based in Battle Creek)?
Will an Amtrak derailment story prompt Greyhound ads?
Where the hell does this stop?
Seems even their circa 1962 code can't deal with more modern features, such as Direct Deposit of refunds.
Case in point: my own refund.
I just got a letter from the IRS yesterday saying "Sorry, we have to mail [you] a paper check because the Routing Transit Number [you] supplied from your account is invalid". I went and pulled out my checkbook, and confirmed that both my checking account number AND my routing number were CORRECT.
Could they have been scanned incorrectly? Possible, but the numbers were written as clearly as if I had typed them.
Could they have been manually re-keyed incorrectly? Don't we have SOFTWARE to prevent that? Oh, wait, this code was written in 1962.
Worse yet, when I called IRS to complain, the lady on the other end of the line didn't seem to know what a Routing Transit Number was. Arrgh.
There needs to be a cure for Incredible Rampant Stupidity.
Cheers to the Gardai and to the Sysadmin...
One more spammer cuffed and gone.
CUFF THEM ALL... EVERY DAMN ONE OF THEM.
Slainte... everyone involved in the arrest deserves a drink... stronger than that truly delicious hot chocolate.
US $50 is simply too much for a new PS2 game.
"'We saved the jobs of the people who are employed in San Francisco by hiring people here [in India],' he says. 'I don't know that we would be around as a company if we hadn't done that. What was the right thing to do, morally?'"
Uhh... exactly how many US jobs were offshored to save how many remaining jobs?
And what's morality have to do with firing X number of people at $60-80K in order to replace them with Y number of people at $12-$15K (or whatever amount)?
I'm happy at the prospect of fatter pipes, but...
I wish I had a time machine...
"Strip Poker"!
Pathetic.
Wasn't it a few short years ago that MS complained about the government taking away their "freedom to innovate"?
Now it seems the marketplace is running circles around Gates and Co.
Perhaps Ballmer needs to run around in circles too... this time screaming "Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality!"
C'mon people.
The internet is a PUBLIC network of public content. Where the hell does anyone get the idea that there is a concept of privacy involved here?
(This is not intended to be sarcastic, rhetorical, nor trolling.)
If you have (or seek) private information, encrypt it (or have it encrypted), (have it) wrap(ped) it in a
If you don't want the Government to watch what you are saying and/or doing, then don't give them anything to watch.
This isn't a Bush or Ashcroft thing... this is a technology thing. Any time technology is seen as capable of doing something, ANYTHING, you can bet someone will try do do so... without regard to whom is in charge.
Dizzam, this is risky as hell.
The Federales can't even protect thier friggin' nuclear research labs from 5cr1p7 k166195 hacking thier way in and having thier own way.
Now, all of DHS is going to open up their entire information exchange apparatus to possible cyber-attacks, spoofing and God Knows What Else by a-Q and others?
Nice.
I don't think a-Q is going to be swapping any pr0n, unless you define it as putting fuses into hot boxes of combustible materiel.
Criminey Sakes already!
* It's my computer, bought and paid for.
* It's my software, bought and paid for (and/or acquired free, legally).
* It's my bandwidth, bought and paid for (on a monthly basis).
Let me decide what to do with it.
If I want to load up my HD with bloatware, spyware, malware or whatever, as long as it harms no one else... who the hell cares?
If, on the other hand, I want to run my system cleanly, block out all malware sources with a HOSTS file, install anti-spyware and anti-virus software and do whatever else I see fit... again... who the hell cares?
It's my choice to run my computer and my software to twiddle my own bits as I damn well see fit.
If the government doesn't know anything about what the hell it is regulating, it out to stay the hell out of trying to do anything with it.
I'd bet that there are merely 33 *known* states.
The Federales have probably told All Fifty that they better play ball on this one... or else they are Not PATRIOTs.
Narita airport can hire out PDAs capable of translating 50,000 Japanese and 25,000 English spoken words.
Great. We're only going to catch *half* of what they are saying...