The security breach did not involve a security vulnerability in any Microsoft product.
What> I thought that they wrote a virus that exploited a hole in Outlook, right? Am I wrong, or is Microsoft lying? Of course, I trust Microsoft to always tell the truth... Yeah, right.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
This is my bazillionth post in the past half hour...
Everyone keeps asking "If you don't have anything bad on your system, what do you have to fear?" What?!?! Okay, let's try this. "I've just cracked into your computer. Do you care?" Most likely, you'd call the police. Suppose I didn't do anything but read everything on your system? Would you think that was okay? I hope not!
The point is that, even though you may not have anything illegal, you should not turn your head the other way and allow this to happen. The government has no right to do this - they are, in my opinion, just trying to gain control. The people who sit there and think "I have nothing to fear, so I'm okay with this." are the same type of people that didn't stop the Holocaust when Hitler was just some wacko with an idea. I did a big study of this last year, and the only reason the Holocaust got off the ground was because the people who thought it was wrong didn't stand up to it, because they hadn't done anything wrong. If an entire country were to have stood up to Hitler, then he would have just been regarded as a laughingstock. People need to stand up to things like this, even if they're not going to be adversely affected by it. For all of those in New Zealand, fight this. And for those of you not in New Zealand, fight this. Because if we let it get started in New Zealand, then it's that much harder to stop when your country sees that it's going on, and that it worked in New Zealand.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
From the standpoint of my family being murdered, maybe I would be apalled that they couldn't use the evidence. But go to the other extreme - you were the murderer. You're going to start screaming bloody murder (no pun intended) because the government has illegally obtained information.
From a neutral standpoint, I really have to say that this shouldn't be usable. Because if it solves a murder, then it will start to become common practice in murder cases. And then it will start trickling down to smaller things, so, before you know it, the government will have justified hacking into your computer to prove that you stole a 99-cent fridge magnet at the grocery store.
Essentially, my point is this: you show someone at an extreme. When something highly illegal like this happens, you start to disregard the law and just go by what you think is justified. You see it in the movies all the time - someone finds a murdered, and kills the murdered. Well, the first murder victim's relative has just become a murderer.
Essentially, to be fair to everyone, the evidence can't be used. This law was passed long ago. I can certainly understand your concern if your family were slaughtered, but it is unconstitutional, and will, in theory at least, start to further screw up the system of justice.
Thanks for listening to my rant...
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
When issues like this come up (sadly, this is not the first time this type of thing has been mentioned on Slashdot.), I am always forced to wonder exactly what they think they're going to do. If I were going to blow up Microsoft's headquarters, I most certainly would not send out a message to Slashdot about it, nor would I mention it on the Internet. If I were to be doing anything terroristic, I would undoubtedly use some form of heavy encryption, something that couldn't be cracked so simply.
They may catch some people downloading a pirated copy of Photoshop, viewing child pornography, but none of these, in my opinion, justify having the right to crack every computer in the country.
Also, if they are concerned with pirated software floating around, why don't they just pass a law mandating the use of only GPL'd software?;-)
So, in summary - they're not going to catch anything major. I am yet to hear of someone who plans to commit some major crime, like blowing up the White House, by plotting it over the Internet. And if someone did, they would most likely have the common sense to encrypt it. And, now that they know that they are required to provide authorities with their private key, they will have to take an extra five minutes to download something like Rubberhose. In my opinion, laws like this just come down to the government's desire for power, dominance, and complete control of everyone.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
While you undoubtedly posted this as a joke, it's not a bad idea. Buy a cheap computer that is as low on system resources as possible (ie - 1 MB RAM...), but put in an enormous hard drive. Write a script to put random crap into a file, and encrypt it. Attract attention to your system by occasionally passing some of these files across the Internet...
Use this crappy comptuer as a firewall, and have your *real* computer behind this. They'll hack into the firewall, read your 30 GB of garbage, and never even guess that there's a system behind it.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
No, no, no... This is a reference to an interesting translation of a recent article in c't magazine with Linus. Linus said "I... read a bunch of email". The word "email" translates to "enamel", so it ended up reading "I... read a bunch of enamel."
But don't think I'm flaming you... I'm yet to see anyone who has even mentioned the story behind these enamel jokes.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
I was wondering about the "enamel" myself; I thought it was actually some odd phrase or something. Glad I figured that one out!
Here's another "highlight" of the translation: But it is not like that that that could not do anybody to others. What on earth does this mean? I've seen times when two "that"'s were used in a row for valid reasons, but three?
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
The Mass Multiples monitors claim to support Linux (or, at least, "UNIX"). The one mentioned here supports:Apple Mac OS, HP, SGI, Sun and Windows/NT The HP, SGI, and Sun OS's are all UNIX-ish, but they never mention UNIX or Linux. And I want my Linux...:-)
Also, several people have been debating how they would hook it up. My vote: A quad-output single video card and Xinerama (or something like that) that essentially extends the virtual desktop idea to work on multiple monitors. It would be nice to be able to scroll to the right of the screen and have my cursor actually go there. (Of course, then you might have to occasionally hunt around for it...)
Then again, I've never used either... 8(
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
I'm still trying to decide if I hate it or love it. It looks very Adidas-ish, maybe three white stripes would complete the look.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that it looks "like barf", but I personally like the iBook better, for its looks. (Although performance-wise, I'd pick the VAIO) It's nice to see the company refining the looks, but, well... I liked the old VAIO. Granted, shades of purple aren't exactly the most popular, but it did look pretty slick. Now it looks more like a plastic case from Adidas.
Personally, I still like Dell best. 1600x1200 on a 15.4" LCD. And supposed support for Linux soon.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Re:I don't think that's what it says...
on
High-Speed Greed
·
· Score: 1
imagine this would require retailers to check which pipe an order came through, and AT&T to audit that information.
But of course... Amazon would get sick of having to see if it came in through an AT&T line or not, and they would thus buy all AT&T lines to simplify things... Wait - this implies that they have lines from people other than AT&T. In that case, they could just drop AT&T!
I don't think it's possible for AT&T to follow through with this plan without driving their business into the ground.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
I know everyone hates Apples. But the most common complaints seem to deal with the OS. It looks cool (there are tons of Enlightment themes for it), but Linux is much better. So why don't you just buy a new G4 (Cube?), and plug that 22" LCD in?
Okay, before you flame me - I know, I know... They have no floppy drive (!), and the company spends more time on creating slick looks than they do on making things work good. But who cares? There are distros out that are specificially for Macs. I don't have a Mac, but I'm not opposed to them, either - as long as they run Linux.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
They don't mention a _minimum_ payment... Therefore, I can just upgrade my cable modem to a "business plan" (legally allowing me to resell it), and then I can become an "ISP" - making $0 a year, and spending $0 a year on advertising, etc. So then I have rights to the cable TV? Cool... Maybe I can start streaming it (free of charge) over my cable modem? 75+ channels won't use too much bandwidth...:-P
As far as the "editorial control" of my homepage... Sure, I'll have http://[My IP] as the "homepage" for my "business." Then I'll register as many anti-TW domains as possible, and host them all. They're not a "homepage", and they're not for my "business."
This is starting to sound good...
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Anyone else want a robotic PENGUIN in the exact likeness of Tux? I'd buy it. Sony could make them run embedded Linux, and then we could hack them all to form a big angry mob and attack Bill Gates!
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Compaq's iPaq is hugely popular with geeks, partially because it's able to run Linux very well - see http://www.handhelds.org. (Handhelds.org is actually sponsored by Compaq.)
I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned anywhere. I would just LOVE to find an iPaq under my Christmas tree.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
This is really neat, but here's my question - is this in any way valid? As far as I know, no one actually owns the moon. Even Bill G**** couldn't buy the moon - no one has actual authority to sell it.
So while this is a really novel gift idea, it sounds like a scam. Unless these people promise to defend the land...
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
But they do! Seriously, remember that virus targetting Outlook? The one that wiped out Microsloth themselves? Do you remember the explanation of how it got to them?
It came in through their UNIX servers, and was then passed to an NT server. So they _do_ run UNIX! It's not just that it _looks_ like they do - they have openly admitted that they do!
You do, after all, need a stable development environment.:-P
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
[He] will require substantial upgrades to his own equipment, since he serves his entire customer base with a dual T-1 right now.
Now,a T3 is about 30 times faster than a single T1. But, if I read correctly (elsewhere - not in the article), a T3 is only about $3K a month. A T1 is 1/3 of that. So for the cost of a third T1, couldn't he just get a T3?
It's a bit off-topic, I know, but I was a bit shocked to learn that a T3 is so "cheap" (ie - 30 times a T1, but costs only 3 times a T1). If I'm wrong, please correct me.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
As much as I love computers... You can give me a free account to an "eBook", but I am still probably going to run out and buy the book. (Assuming I'm interested in the book in the first place...)
Why? There are some advantages to a printed book that you just can't get online.
First, you don't hurt your eyes by reading a book (unless you do something odd, liking trying to jam the book into your eyball).
You can highlight, circle, scribble, etc. a physical page. This has unsploken advantages.
A large heap of of books next to your desk is a way of showing knowledge. 20 100GB hard drives overflowing with data is a way of showing that you have a hard time managing data... (Okay, so I don't know anyone with 2TB of books.)
By the way, all these books seem to be written for people who have had about 20 years of programming experience. I am fairly new to the programming world. Are there any good books that introduce PHP to someone who knowns practically nothing about what PHP is? I am interested in using PHP/MySQL on my site (still under development), but know nothing but a little HTML. (And shell scripting). Can anyone recommend anything helpful to beginners like me?
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Who cares?! Go get just about _any_ computer. Do not pay any attention to who makes it (It can be Apple, x86, Alpha, Solaris, etc.)
Install Linux on this computer. (Note - if you're going to be using floppies during the installation, you may want to avoid the Macs, which have moved away from floppy drives!) Now, under Linux, you can run Windows "for real" by using VMware. Then, you can add another product for Linux that emulates MacOS. So you're now running _three_ OS's at once. If you're in the mood for setting new records, there's also a program named XCoPilot, that emulates the PalmPilot.
So the issue is moot - just get Linux.:-)
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Just do me a favor for a minute. Imagine that you are the average computer-illiterate computer user. (This is not an oxymoron.) You do not know that Linux, or any other form of UNIX, exists. There are two choices: Mac or Windows.
Let's assume that you, by chance, were converted to the average Windows user. This is how about 99% (okay, not quite) of the world is. The Apple users and the Windows users rarely get along - they consider each other morons. The Mac people think that they have something stable, easy-to-use, and convenient. The Windows people, however, think the Apple people are morons who can't figure out how to use computers.
So, sitting in front of your Windows box, you're reading this Slashdot news thread, and wondering if you would install Apple if you could. You'd probably think "OF COURSE NOT! That would be admitting that I've been wrong all my life in using Windows. Plus, I'm really smart. I know how to use Windows. Anyone can use MacOS."
So, while I personally would jump at the chance to wipe out some Windows partitions, most Windows users, unless they're really fed up (more so than usual), are not going to want to. It's a shame that Microsoft was able to accomplish this.
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Linux is the clear choice. Actually, your question is a good one. Sorry I can't answer it. But I'd like a comparison chart - if Win2K has something that Linux doesn't, I can almost guarantee that you can get it for free under Linux.
But I won't be so closed-minded as to tell you to use Linux without looking at the facts. I think the facts will probably point towards Linux, but I encourage you to take a look, try both, and then join most of us in hating Microsoft.:-)
............... SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Slashdot Mirror
What> I thought that they wrote a virus that exploited a hole in Outlook, right? Am I wrong, or is Microsoft lying? Of course, I trust Microsoft to always tell the truth... Yeah, right.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Everyone keeps asking "If you don't have anything bad on your system, what do you have to fear?" What?!?! Okay, let's try this. "I've just cracked into your computer. Do you care?" Most likely, you'd call the police. Suppose I didn't do anything but read everything on your system? Would you think that was okay? I hope not!
The point is that, even though you may not have anything illegal, you should not turn your head the other way and allow this to happen. The government has no right to do this - they are, in my opinion, just trying to gain control. The people who sit there and think "I have nothing to fear, so I'm okay with this." are the same type of people that didn't stop the Holocaust when Hitler was just some wacko with an idea. I did a big study of this last year, and the only reason the Holocaust got off the ground was because the people who thought it was wrong didn't stand up to it, because they hadn't done anything wrong. If an entire country were to have stood up to Hitler, then he would have just been regarded as a laughingstock. People need to stand up to things like this, even if they're not going to be adversely affected by it. For all of those in New Zealand, fight this. And for those of you not in New Zealand, fight this. Because if we let it get started in New Zealand, then it's that much harder to stop when your country sees that it's going on, and that it worked in New Zealand.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
From a neutral standpoint, I really have to say that this shouldn't be usable. Because if it solves a murder, then it will start to become common practice in murder cases. And then it will start trickling down to smaller things, so, before you know it, the government will have justified hacking into your computer to prove that you stole a 99-cent fridge magnet at the grocery store.
Essentially, my point is this: you show someone at an extreme. When something highly illegal like this happens, you start to disregard the law and just go by what you think is justified. You see it in the movies all the time - someone finds a murdered, and kills the murdered. Well, the first murder victim's relative has just become a murderer.
Essentially, to be fair to everyone, the evidence can't be used. This law was passed long ago. I can certainly understand your concern if your family were slaughtered, but it is unconstitutional, and will, in theory at least, start to further screw up the system of justice.
Thanks for listening to my rant...
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
They may catch some people downloading a pirated copy of Photoshop, viewing child pornography, but none of these, in my opinion, justify having the right to crack every computer in the country.
Also, if they are concerned with pirated software floating around, why don't they just pass a law mandating the use of only GPL'd software? ;-)
So, in summary - they're not going to catch anything major. I am yet to hear of someone who plans to commit some major crime, like blowing up the White House, by plotting it over the Internet. And if someone did, they would most likely have the common sense to encrypt it. And, now that they know that they are required to provide authorities with their private key, they will have to take an extra five minutes to download something like Rubberhose. In my opinion, laws like this just come down to the government's desire for power, dominance, and complete control of everyone.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Use this crappy comptuer as a firewall, and have your *real* computer behind this. They'll hack into the firewall, read your 30 GB of garbage, and never even guess that there's a system behind it.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
But don't think I'm flaming you... I'm yet to see anyone who has even mentioned the story behind these enamel jokes.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Here's another "highlight" of the translation:
But it is not like that that that could not do anybody to others. What on earth does this mean? I've seen times when two "that"'s were used in a row for valid reasons, but three?
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Also, several people have been debating how they would hook it up. My vote: A quad-output single video card and Xinerama (or something like that) that essentially extends the virtual desktop idea to work on multiple monitors. It would be nice to be able to scroll to the right of the screen and have my cursor actually go there. (Of course, then you might have to occasionally hunt around for it...)
Then again, I've never used either... 8(
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Finally, a google.com search turned this up: www.cogentco.com. Bingo.
Just thought it was odd that the site wasn't mentioned anywhere here.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
I wouldn't go as far as to say that it looks "like barf", but I personally like the iBook better, for its looks. (Although performance-wise, I'd pick the VAIO) It's nice to see the company refining the looks, but, well... I liked the old VAIO. Granted, shades of purple aren't exactly the most popular, but it did look pretty slick. Now it looks more like a plastic case from Adidas.
Personally, I still like Dell best. 1600x1200 on a 15.4" LCD. And supposed support for Linux soon.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
But of course... Amazon would get sick of having to see if it came in through an AT&T line or not, and they would thus buy all AT&T lines to simplify things... Wait - this implies that they have lines from people other than AT&T. In that case, they could just drop AT&T!
I don't think it's possible for AT&T to follow through with this plan without driving their business into the ground.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Okay, before you flame me - I know, I know... They have no floppy drive (!), and the company spends more time on creating slick looks than they do on making things work good. But who cares? There are distros out that are specificially for Macs. I don't have a Mac, but I'm not opposed to them, either - as long as they run Linux.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
As far as the "editorial control" of my homepage... Sure, I'll have http://[My IP] as the "homepage" for my "business." Then I'll register as many anti-TW domains as possible, and host them all. They're not a "homepage", and they're not for my "business."
This is starting to sound good...
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned anywhere. I would just LOVE to find an iPaq under my Christmas tree.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
So while this is a really novel gift idea, it sounds like a scam. Unless these people promise to defend the land...
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Gates for 2000! Okay, so he would probably lose power in doing this. (I'm serious)
Sorry, couldn't help but point this out.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
It came in through their UNIX servers, and was then passed to an NT server. So they _do_ run UNIX! It's not just that it _looks_ like they do - they have openly admitted that they do!
You do, after all, need a stable development environment. :-P
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Now,a T3 is about 30 times faster than a single T1. But, if I read correctly (elsewhere - not in the article), a T3 is only about $3K a month. A T1 is 1/3 of that. So for the cost of a third T1, couldn't he just get a T3?
It's a bit off-topic, I know, but I was a bit shocked to learn that a T3 is so "cheap" (ie - 30 times a T1, but costs only 3 times a T1). If I'm wrong, please correct me.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Sorry, couldn't help myself...
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Why? There are some advantages to a printed book that you just can't get online.
First, you don't hurt your eyes by reading a book (unless you do something odd, liking trying to jam the book into your eyball).
You can highlight, circle, scribble, etc. a physical page. This has unsploken advantages.
A large heap of of books next to your desk is a way of showing knowledge. 20 100GB hard drives overflowing with data is a way of showing that you have a hard time managing data... (Okay, so I don't know anyone with 2TB of books.)
By the way, all these books seem to be written for people who have had about 20 years of programming experience. I am fairly new to the programming world. Are there any good books that introduce PHP to someone who knowns practically nothing about what PHP is? I am interested in using PHP/MySQL on my site (still under development), but know nothing but a little HTML. (And shell scripting). Can anyone recommend anything helpful to beginners like me?
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Who cares?! Go get just about _any_ computer. Do not pay any attention to who makes it (It can be Apple, x86, Alpha, Solaris, etc.)
Install Linux on this computer. (Note - if you're going to be using floppies during the installation, you may want to avoid the Macs, which have moved away from floppy drives!) Now, under Linux, you can run Windows "for real" by using VMware. Then, you can add another product for Linux that emulates MacOS. So you're now running _three_ OS's at once. If you're in the mood for setting new records, there's also a program named XCoPilot, that emulates the PalmPilot.
So the issue is moot - just get Linux. :-)
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
Let's assume that you, by chance, were converted to the average Windows user. This is how about 99% (okay, not quite) of the world is. The Apple users and the Windows users rarely get along - they consider each other morons. The Mac people think that they have something stable, easy-to-use, and convenient. The Windows people, however, think the Apple people are morons who can't figure out how to use computers.
So, sitting in front of your Windows box, you're reading this Slashdot news thread, and wondering if you would install Apple if you could. You'd probably think "OF COURSE NOT! That would be admitting that I've been wrong all my life in using Windows. Plus, I'm really smart. I know how to use Windows. Anyone can use MacOS."
So, while I personally would jump at the chance to wipe out some Windows partitions, most Windows users, unless they're really fed up (more so than usual), are not going to want to. It's a shame that Microsoft was able to accomplish this.
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name
But I won't be so closed-minded as to tell you to use Linux without looking at the facts. I think the facts will probably point towards Linux, but I encourage you to take a look, try both, and then join most of us in hating Microsoft. :-)
SUWAIN: Slashdot User Without An Interesting Name