Heh, unless you work for a GM dealership, you have NO idea how bad GM is at IT. Their dealer-side website still does not officially support anything other than IE8. Business reporting relies on ActiveX integration with Excel, and only works properly with Excel 2000 and 2003. It can be made to work under 2007, but they don't support anything higher. Parts of the service-related workbenches still use VBScript. It used to be accessible only over a super-slow satellite link, but they changed that a few years ago, thank god.
To be fair, though, Toyota's web back-end, Dealer Daily, is even worse. IE-only, accessible only through a dedicated T1 which may not be used for anything else (but which you still pay full price for, of course). Blank page under anything other than IE.
Come to think of it, a lot of dealership stuff is locked on IE. Dealertrack (intentionally locks out non-IE browsers), Dealersocket CRM (featured-limited under non-IE browsers). ADP is the biggest supplier of dealership management software in the US and most of their stuff is entirely reliant on IE.
As long as it doesn't break Noscript, I'm ok with this. It really IS folly to try to use the modern web without any javascript at all, but with Noscript I can still pick and choose which sites are allowed to run it in my browser.
That was the point. It's not hard. I'm a general IT guy and I was able to do it easily. These PDs are saying they need Apple's help bypassing lock codes. Not just passwords, but lock codes like the one I bruteforced with free tools in a few hours. That they claim to need Apple's help for that is ridiculous.
Who mentioned Google? I'm assuming Android device lockcodes are just as easily bruteforced, probably moreso; I've just never had occasion to need to get into one before.
Brute-forcing an iPhone's lock code is relatively trivial with freely available tools. This puts the device in DFU mode, so "Erase device on X unlock attempts" doesn't take effect. That version of the tools only bruteforces lockcodes, but there's no theoretical reason you couldn't try at least a dictionary attack on a password, too. Since it's also possible to dump the hardware key and a complete (encrypted) image, I imagine an offline attack on the image is possible, too. You wouldn't have to rely on the relatively slow hardware in the iPhone.
Using those tools I have successfully bruteforced the 4-digit lockcode to an iDevice running 6.0.2, and that's with no prior experience with or knowledge of iOS. I even used an emulated Mac to compile the necessary firmware patch. And that's just what I was able to do in with a few hours of fiddling. There are people who do this for a living, and tools dedicated specifically to extracting data from mobile devices. Are these PDs really saying they can't get into devices with simple lock codes?
Don't forget incubating for 15+ minutes in a cramped room with a lot of other sick people, all coughing and sneezing. If you weren't sick when you arrived, you certainly will be when you leave.
I do this, and I thoroughly enjoy it. It will end pretty soon, though, once the cable conglomerates get any semblance of network neutrality off the table. Then they'll just make up some excuse to block or throttle Netflix, Hulu, and the rest. In fact, they don't even have to get involved in the whole NN debate; the data caps they impose will soon make it financially unfeasible to continue streaming any service other than their own, which will be overpriced and offer a poorer selection.
You're mistaking the purpose of credit cards. They exist to make the issuing banks money. Why would seeing you close a high-interest card encourage me to offer you credit. You're not willing to be scammed by high interest rates, which means I won't be able to make money off of you.
Re:Something not mentioned -
on
Lake Vostok Reached
·
· Score: 4, Informative
The goal here is not to see any living organisms there as a portal to the past. It is to see any organisms who have manged to survive in an airless, water-filled lake buried under 3 miles of ice for millions of years. It is fairly likely that, if there are any living organisms there, they're going to have evolved in some pretty interesting ways.
Even IF a company decides to ditch Windows, it may not be possible. Tons of web-based stuff, particularly in niche industries still only works with Internet Explorer and ActiveX. The Microsoft monoculture is so wide-spread that migrating away from it can make it difficult to do business.
Re:Make it idiot-proof...
on
Tales of IT Idiocy
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
"Never disbelieve the user" is right. One of my early tech support calls (many moons ago) was from a guy who claimed his computer rebooted every time he flushed his toilet.
Yeah. I figured he was yanking my chain, but you can't just hang up on people, so after humoring him for a few minutes we actually set up a tech visit.
We fixed him up, at least temporarily, by installing a UPS for his system.
He lived way out in the boonies and used well water and a septic tank. Turns out when he flushed, not only did his computer reboot, but his lights flickered for a moment, too. Flushing the toilet activated some power-hungry pump in his water system, and the draw was browning out his computer.
Re:From an actual helpdesk ticket I have open...
on
Tales of IT Idiocy
·
· Score: 1
I routinely get emails that say things like "i get a box that says cannot connect".
I mean sure, I understand people can't be troubled to write down the contents of every error message they see, but would a little basic grammar hurt?
Okay, I have to ask the question. How the hell did you inadvertently swallow a couple cc of saturated GM E.coli culture? Were you trying to put it in your partner's lemonade and dropped in your own?
And don't forget the episode where we found out his creator left a backdoor in both of his androids, forcing them to go to him at will regardless of the consequences.
I read this way as well, and I've noticed I frequently miss homophonic puns. F'rinstance, Kingdom of Loathing has an area known as the Orc Chasm. I mean, they don't get any more obvious, but it wasn't until I was actually halfway through telling someone else about it that I realized what I had just said.
You can imagine my amusement when I started reading Terry Pratchett books to an audience and stumbled over dozens of puns I'd missed entirely on my own read-throughs precisely because I don't have a "reading voice" in my head.
Yes, the solution is simply to switch ISPs- oh, wait, most people in the US have only two broadband providers available at most, and they both have abhorrent neutrality practices.
I can't start my own ISP because the barrier to entry is impossibly high and the current ISPs have state or city-granted monopolies on internet/phone/cable service.
Free market theory doesn't work when the market isn't free.
3. I have heard that drowning is one of the more pleasant ways to day. Quite painless. Using excessive diving weights, drown yourself above the Challanger Deep, a part of Mariana Trench near Guam. Hopefully you would die before you reached the bottom 6.78 miles down. You would truly have gone where no man has gone before.
This would be a problem if the Cyanogenmod team were distributed Google Apps. They do not. It is the user's responsibility to load Google Apps onto their phone and ensure that all licensing requirements are met. I believe the official solution from CM is to back up your licensed Google Apps, flash CM, then restore the backed up apps.
Granted, some 3rd party tools like Clockworkmod provide an easy means to download and install Google Apps, but Clockworkmod is not Cyanogenmod.
Slashdot Mirror
Heh, unless you work for a GM dealership, you have NO idea how bad GM is at IT. Their dealer-side website still does not officially support anything other than IE8. Business reporting relies on ActiveX integration with Excel, and only works properly with Excel 2000 and 2003. It can be made to work under 2007, but they don't support anything higher. Parts of the service-related workbenches still use VBScript. It used to be accessible only over a super-slow satellite link, but they changed that a few years ago, thank god.
To be fair, though, Toyota's web back-end, Dealer Daily, is even worse. IE-only, accessible only through a dedicated T1 which may not be used for anything else (but which you still pay full price for, of course). Blank page under anything other than IE.
Come to think of it, a lot of dealership stuff is locked on IE. Dealertrack (intentionally locks out non-IE browsers), Dealersocket CRM (featured-limited under non-IE browsers). ADP is the biggest supplier of dealership management software in the US and most of their stuff is entirely reliant on IE.
It's a pathetic state of affairs.
As long as it doesn't break Noscript, I'm ok with this. It really IS folly to try to use the modern web without any javascript at all, but with Noscript I can still pick and choose which sites are allowed to run it in my browser.
That was the point. It's not hard. I'm a general IT guy and I was able to do it easily. These PDs are saying they need Apple's help bypassing lock codes. Not just passwords, but lock codes like the one I bruteforced with free tools in a few hours. That they claim to need Apple's help for that is ridiculous.
Who mentioned Google? I'm assuming Android device lockcodes are just as easily bruteforced, probably moreso; I've just never had occasion to need to get into one before.
Brute-forcing an iPhone's lock code is relatively trivial with freely available tools. This puts the device in DFU mode, so "Erase device on X unlock attempts" doesn't take effect. That version of the tools only bruteforces lockcodes, but there's no theoretical reason you couldn't try at least a dictionary attack on a password, too. Since it's also possible to dump the hardware key and a complete (encrypted) image, I imagine an offline attack on the image is possible, too. You wouldn't have to rely on the relatively slow hardware in the iPhone.
Using those tools I have successfully bruteforced the 4-digit lockcode to an iDevice running 6.0.2, and that's with no prior experience with or knowledge of iOS. I even used an emulated Mac to compile the necessary firmware patch. And that's just what I was able to do in with a few hours of fiddling. There are people who do this for a living, and tools dedicated specifically to extracting data from mobile devices. Are these PDs really saying they can't get into devices with simple lock codes?
Don't forget incubating for 15+ minutes in a cramped room with a lot of other sick people, all coughing and sneezing. If you weren't sick when you arrived, you certainly will be when you leave.
Same here. Someday my 10 btc will make me rich beyond measure, you just wait.
I do this, and I thoroughly enjoy it. It will end pretty soon, though, once the cable conglomerates get any semblance of network neutrality off the table. Then they'll just make up some excuse to block or throttle Netflix, Hulu, and the rest. In fact, they don't even have to get involved in the whole NN debate; the data caps they impose will soon make it financially unfeasible to continue streaming any service other than their own, which will be overpriced and offer a poorer selection.
You're mistaking the purpose of credit cards. They exist to make the issuing banks money. Why would seeing you close a high-interest card encourage me to offer you credit. You're not willing to be scammed by high interest rates, which means I won't be able to make money off of you.
The goal here is not to see any living organisms there as a portal to the past. It is to see any organisms who have manged to survive in an airless, water-filled lake buried under 3 miles of ice for millions of years. It is fairly likely that, if there are any living organisms there, they're going to have evolved in some pretty interesting ways.
Even IF a company decides to ditch Windows, it may not be possible. Tons of web-based stuff, particularly in niche industries still only works with Internet Explorer and ActiveX. The Microsoft monoculture is so wide-spread that migrating away from it can make it difficult to do business.
"Never disbelieve the user" is right. One of my early tech support calls (many moons ago) was from a guy who claimed his computer rebooted every time he flushed his toilet.
Yeah. I figured he was yanking my chain, but you can't just hang up on people, so after humoring him for a few minutes we actually set up a tech visit.
We fixed him up, at least temporarily, by installing a UPS for his system.
He lived way out in the boonies and used well water and a septic tank. Turns out when he flushed, not only did his computer reboot, but his lights flickered for a moment, too. Flushing the toilet activated some power-hungry pump in his water system, and the draw was browning out his computer.
I routinely get emails that say things like "i get a box that says cannot connect".
I mean sure, I understand people can't be troubled to write down the contents of every error message they see, but would a little basic grammar hurt?
Okay, I have to ask the question. How the hell did you inadvertently swallow a couple cc of saturated GM E.coli culture? Were you trying to put it in your partner's lemonade and dropped in your own?
And don't forget the episode where we found out his creator left a backdoor in both of his androids, forcing them to go to him at will regardless of the consequences.
I read this way as well, and I've noticed I frequently miss homophonic puns. F'rinstance, Kingdom of Loathing has an area known as the Orc Chasm. I mean, they don't get any more obvious, but it wasn't until I was actually halfway through telling someone else about it that I realized what I had just said.
You can imagine my amusement when I started reading Terry Pratchett books to an audience and stumbled over dozens of puns I'd missed entirely on my own read-throughs precisely because I don't have a "reading voice" in my head.
Yes, the solution is simply to switch ISPs- oh, wait, most people in the US have only two broadband providers available at most, and they both have abhorrent neutrality practices.
I can't start my own ISP because the barrier to entry is impossibly high and the current ISPs have state or city-granted monopolies on internet/phone/cable service.
Free market theory doesn't work when the market isn't free.
Collars? Hah!
Try shoeing the little buggers.
... is a Raspberry-Pi?
3. I have heard that drowning is one of the more pleasant ways to day. Quite painless. Using excessive diving weights, drown yourself above the Challanger Deep, a part of Mariana Trench near Guam. Hopefully you would die before you reached the bottom 6.78 miles down. You would truly have gone where no man has gone before.
Sorry, but Jacques Piccard has you beat.
Only a pedophile, terrorist, or communist would think of such a thing. Please turn yourself in to the nearest Minitrue for reprogramming.
I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Yeah, just like the suppliers of after-market vehicle parts all went out of business when manufacturers started computerizing cars.
This would be a problem if the Cyanogenmod team were distributed Google Apps. They do not. It is the user's responsibility to load Google Apps onto their phone and ensure that all licensing requirements are met. I believe the official solution from CM is to back up your licensed Google Apps, flash CM, then restore the backed up apps.
Granted, some 3rd party tools like Clockworkmod provide an easy means to download and install Google Apps, but Clockworkmod is not Cyanogenmod.
Okay, so who came up with this idea first? South Africa? Or Terry Pratchett?