A story (I believe) in "California Lawyer" from maybe 3 years ago noted that Kevin Poulsen, while phreaking, had managed to discover phone taps planted by the US Government in various foreign embassies, including South Africa. A condition of his release was that he was forbidden to discuss the details.
Oh! It turns out you like watching [insert odd sex act here].
So then Inspector Plod duly notes this. Later, when you speak out on a public issue unpopular with Inspector Plod's superiors, your affection for [insert odd sex act] is mysteriously leaked to the media.
You might want to ask Scott Ritter about a misdemeanor "sealed" arrest record that strangely became public knowledge after he publicly criticized recent Iraq policies.
If you (or your workplace) has a technically competent IT department, there is a good chance you already have hired hackers. If you also have a technically competent Infosec department, there's an even better chance. The only difference we're now hashing out is whether you wish to limit yourself to those who were either smart enough, or lucky enough, to never have gotten caught.
Why restrict this to hacking crimes? How many people in the cubicles sitting next to you have done some cocaine at some time? Other crimes?
If all the people in your office who committed a felony at some time in their life suddenly vanished, you would find yourself very lonely.
...perhaps we shouldn't reward people who break laws [by hacking] by giving them a job?
So you would propose that ex-felons be reduced to begging by the roadside? Or maybe locking them up for the rest of their natural life (why not? the US has the world's largest prison population right now)? Or maybe just execute them (the US has the 3rd highest number of executions per year, after those shining beacons of democracy, the People's Republic of China and Iran)?
The ex-felon with a job does not bother me as much as the ex-felon with no job and nothing to lose.
Lets say there is a master thief, the real-world equivalent of what we see in so many movies (Entraptment, Ocean's 11, The Saint, &c). This individual is caught and convicted, _serves their time_, and is let back out into the world.
You are not describing a hypothetical case here.
This is not the first time someone spent their youth frantically committing fraud, then later became a respected consultant in the field. Frank Abagnale was a notorious document forger, whose exploits were documented (sort of) in a recent film .
I would give Mr. Mitnick the same benefit of the doubt that the many-times-felon Abagnale has been given over the last three decades,
Yes, it isn't fair that someone can later make money from the same skills and knowledge they used to commit infamous crimes. Its also not fair that incompetents get hired and promoted based on old fraternity ties, or on marriage to the head boss' niece.
At least the convicted Mitnick and Abagnale can demonstrate a high level of skill required for their current enterprises.
Well, he pushed through an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit , specifically designed to provide tax breaks to lower income working people. This is one tax break that the Wall Street Journal opposes.
According to this site we also have the following:
The economy created 7.7 million new jobs in the first 34 months of this Administration.
Passed the largest deficit-cutting plan in history -- saving more than $1 trillion over seven years.
On track for three consecutive years of deficit reduction -- for the first time since Harry Truman.
Cut federal spending by $255 billion over 5 years.
Made new tax cuts available to over 90% of small businesses.
Unemployment has fallen from 7% when President Clinton took office to its current rate of 5.6%
Lowest combined rate of unemployment and inflation since 1968.
1994 real GDP growth was the highest in a decade.
I'm sure, though that some folks will claim these are all either an amazing coincidence, or are in fact the fruition of the Reagan/Bush years. Anything bad is of course Bill's fault, or can be blamed on Lyndon Johnson as a failed policy of the Great Society.
Exactly. Moving people beyond a subsistence level means putting them in touch with markets to sell what they make. The Internet gives these folks the connections and the market information they need to function effectively in the modern world. Any good farmer needs to know what he/she can sell and for how much.
So give them a water filter - what happens when the filter expires? Given them another? What have you accomplished?
Give them access to knowledge and markets and you open up export driven growth. Being poor doesn't mean being lacking in initiative, or being stupid, or being eternally dependent on White Men. The Internet is more than entertainment and chat, it is a source of vital economic information and a way to participate economically in the world.
Personal information is very useful as an adjunct to any sort of hostile interrogation.
This is well known in military circles, as discussed in a Slashdot story:
Suppose the following scenario: you are kidnapped, taken to a small room and tortured, then someone asks you for classified information, or to betray your country, or to do something that every fiber in your being resists. Then that person proceeds to enumerate the names, ages, addresses, and medical conditions of your family members. Perhaps they include a bit of data on where they go out to eat, or where they work, of if there's an alarm system on their house. They don't have to say where they got the data, the very fact that they have it at all could lead you to believe that they have much, much more of it. Most military members have family somewhere that doesn't live on base (parents, siblings, etc.) Information is the most valuable tool an enemy can have.
Don't think that only military prosoners are subject to this tactic. Police interrogations use this as well.
And if you are sure you will NEVER be accused of a crime? Consider any civil legal action. The opposing attorney reveals they know all sorts of private facts about you. Will you continue to press your case, or will you settle on unfavorable terms?
Someone with the personal details of your life has a certain power over you, regardless of how exemplary a life you think you have led.
This is an excellent point. The blocking products I am aware of all block based on IP address. No way to selectively block URLs. In the process of blocking bad stuff you will always end up blocking stuff that is innocuous, that happens to be hosted at the same web site. This would hold doubly for an ISP. The only practical way for an ISP to block traffic is by IP address.
Did he get hired by Playboy? I hear they use a lot of photographers highly skilled in altering digital images, but its OK because the intent is to "convey the same underlying idea"
After all, if the intent of the photo is the same, what's a little fix-up?
Timothy must have been sleeping when the original came out. This noted computer scientist described an early programming language where only one binary value was allowed - yes in the old days they had to program only with "1".
I don't have a specific reference, but this technical reference at a respected academic publication may provide some leads as to this early computing innovation.
Then again, I've noticed a lot of states are requesting Homeland Security funds to "control protestors". The NBC reporter covering the story said with a straight face something like: "Many of the protestors target the same facilities as terrorists and therefore we need funds to protect them.".
A tidbit like this truly deserves a proper citation. Got URL?
In 1985, minicomputers were supposed to make the mainframe obsolete. The DEC VAX and VAX clusters were going to replace all those paleolithic mainframes. Know where DEC is now?
In 1990, PC LANs were going to replace mainframes. Intel 386 and 486 PC's connected with coaxial cable and running LANTastic, Windows for Workgroups, and Novell were going to replace those archaic mainframes. What ever happened to LANTastic? And has Novell taken over the world?
In 1995, client server computing was going to replace the mainframe. GUI front-ends written with PowerBuilder, using back end databases like Ingres and Informix were going to send those mainframes to their demise. PowerBuilder? Is that a sports-nutrition bar?
Slashdot Mirror
A story (I believe) in "California Lawyer" from maybe 3 years ago noted that Kevin Poulsen, while phreaking, had managed to discover phone taps planted by the US Government in various foreign embassies, including South Africa. A condition of his release was that he was forbidden to discuss the details.
So then Inspector Plod duly notes this. Later, when you speak out on a public issue unpopular with Inspector Plod's superiors, your affection for [insert odd sex act] is mysteriously leaked to the media.
You might want to ask Scott Ritter about a misdemeanor "sealed" arrest record that strangely became public knowledge after he publicly criticized recent Iraq policies.
Why restrict this to hacking crimes? How many people in the cubicles sitting next to you have done some cocaine at some time? Other crimes?
If all the people in your office who committed a felony at some time in their life suddenly vanished, you would find yourself very lonely.
So you would propose that ex-felons be reduced to begging by the roadside? Or maybe locking them up for the rest of their natural life (why not? the US has the world's largest prison population right now)? Or maybe just execute them (the US has the 3rd highest number of executions per year, after those shining beacons of democracy, the People's Republic of China and Iran)?
The ex-felon with a job does not bother me as much as the ex-felon with no job and nothing to lose.
You are not describing a hypothetical case here.
This is not the first time someone spent their youth frantically committing fraud, then later became a respected consultant in the field. Frank Abagnale was a notorious document forger, whose exploits were documented (sort of) in a recent film .
I would give Mr. Mitnick the same benefit of the doubt that the many-times-felon Abagnale has been given over the last three decades,
Yes, it isn't fair that someone can later make money from the same skills and knowledge they used to commit infamous crimes. Its also not fair that incompetents get hired and promoted based on old fraternity ties, or on marriage to the head boss' niece.
At least the convicted Mitnick and Abagnale can demonstrate a high level of skill required for their current enterprises.
Hearsay does not make fact. It is much better to cite sources than just say "may girlfriend read..."
Anyway, for those interested, here are some Agent Orange links (no claims as to the credibility of these):
http://home.att.net/~vetcenter/ao-nonew.htm
http://www.cbc.ca/national/magazine/orange/
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9604/13/agent_orange/
According to this site we also have the following
The economy created 7.7 million new jobs in the first 34 months of this Administration.
Passed the largest deficit-cutting plan in history -- saving more than $1 trillion over seven years.
On track for three consecutive years of deficit reduction -- for the first time since Harry Truman.
Cut federal spending by $255 billion over 5 years.
Made new tax cuts available to over 90% of small businesses.
Unemployment has fallen from 7% when President Clinton took office to its current rate of 5.6%
Lowest combined rate of unemployment and inflation since 1968.
1994 real GDP growth was the highest in a decade.
I'm sure, though that some folks will claim these are all either an amazing coincidence, or are in fact the fruition of the Reagan/Bush years. Anything bad is of course Bill's fault, or can be blamed on Lyndon Johnson as a failed policy of the Great Society.
So give them a water filter - what happens when the filter expires? Given them another? What have you accomplished?
Give them access to knowledge and markets and you open up export driven growth. Being poor doesn't mean being lacking in initiative, or being stupid, or being eternally dependent on White Men. The Internet is more than entertainment and chat, it is a source of vital economic information and a way to participate economically in the world.
Imagine what they could sell on ebay....
Some of Mr. Stallman's "free as in" beer?
Resistance is futile. You will be assimilaed.
This is well known in military circles, as discussed in a Slashdot story:
Don't think that only military prosoners are subject to this tactic. Police interrogations use this as well.
And if you are sure you will NEVER be accused of a crime? Consider any civil legal action. The opposing attorney reveals they know all sorts of private facts about you. Will you continue to press your case, or will you settle on unfavorable terms?
Someone with the personal details of your life has a certain power over you, regardless of how exemplary a life you think you have led.
And if you buy too much pseudofed you could be running a meth lab .
This is an excellent point. The blocking products I am aware of all block based on IP address. No way to selectively block URLs. In the process of blocking bad stuff you will always end up blocking stuff that is innocuous, that happens to be hosted at the same web site. This would hold doubly for an ISP. The only practical way for an ISP to block traffic is by IP address.
After all, if the intent of the photo is the same, what's a little fix-up?
I don't have a specific reference, but this technical reference at a respected academic publication may provide some leads as to this early computing innovation.
A tidbit like this truly deserves a proper citation. Got URL?
Didn't they try this on Full Metal Challengs . I mean launch a small car, one team using a catapult, the other a trebuchet?
Oh come on, everyone knows VW Bugs are air-cooled (no green radiator fluid dripping out after crashing to earth)
Can God create a Volkswagen Bug that even he cannot push-start?
So you missed the recent Slashdot discussion on IBM Mainframes?
"..."Jesse Jackson" is a crook who enriches himself and the expense of the community he purports to represent."
Meaning geeks?
In 1985, minicomputers were supposed to make the mainframe obsolete. The DEC VAX and VAX clusters were going to replace all those paleolithic mainframes. Know where DEC is now?
In 1990, PC LANs were going to replace mainframes. Intel 386 and 486 PC's connected with coaxial cable and running LANTastic, Windows for Workgroups, and Novell were going to replace those archaic mainframes. What ever happened to LANTastic? And has Novell taken over the world?
In 1995, client server computing was going to replace the mainframe. GUI front-ends written with PowerBuilder, using back end databases like Ingres and Informix were going to send those mainframes to their demise. PowerBuilder? Is that a sports-nutrition bar?
Anyone see a pattern here.....
Naaa... Try BAL (Basic Assembly Language).
If a mainframe is obsolete because it is 50 year old technology, what about the 120 year old technology called the "telephone"
Same basic concept, has been gradually improving under the covers - just like mainframes.
Old obsolete
Old unchanging