I as SO thankful several countries in Europe outlaws eavesdropping by an employer like this.
(And don't get me started about it's their equipment, etc etc etc. I don't care whose equipment it is. I am a human being. I want to communicate without being monitored - "freedom", as some would call it. Laws guarantee me that privacy, just as they outlaw listening to my phone conversations or opening and reading my dead-tree letters. People whose knee-jerk reaction is that "they own it, they set any rules they like" need to look around and realize that it actually need not be like that.)
When it is criminal to read about abortion (but books are still available due to freedom-of-press laws that haven't been changed yet), will you have the same general attitude towards criminals that read about abortion in public libraries?
Or would you see a line between which people the government has a right to call criminals, and for which people the gov't would not have that right?
Just because something is a crime, doesn't mean it is necessarily wrong. Especially not in a historic perspective. (And vice versa: just because something is legal - or even mandated - doesn't mean it's necessarily right.)
If you are or aren't using strong crypto on the air for keyboards is a non-issue as long as you haven't made a threat assessment.
In general, a leaked credit card number isn't the world. You get a couple of bogus charges, you challenge them with the bank, the bank refunds your account and files fraud charges for the police to pursue the perpetrator. End of story as far as you are concerned.
Same thing with personal information. Very few people would actually want to read your medical record. I am not one of them.
My point is this: if you have information somebody else wants, not having wireless keyboards is not going to stop them from getting it. They'll videotape you through the window as you type your password from the building next door (that's my "Sneakers" reference). They'll eavesdrop on RF leakage from your wired network (you'd be surprised how much RF a normal network generates - why do you think the military only uses fiber, end to end?). They'll even tune in RF from your monitor and read your screen contents. All this can be done from across the street with fairly professional equipment.
So if you have sensitive information, take it all the way and do a real threat assessment. If you don't have sensitive information, nobody is really going to care about wireless leakage from the keyboards in particular. Except, possibly, those who use the computers which accidentally share frequencies and therefore appear totally haunted.:-)
Last company I worked for shut down the entire WLAN service corporate-wide when a loophole was found. It took MONTHS to get it back to service, still with WEP.
Really, really. It is not that hard. Consider anything wireless to be untrusted, and require that they establish a VPN connection to your wired network. Set the clients to not accept any communications from outside this VPN. This technology has existed seemingly forever and IS tried and true.
No problem, anything the Christian conservatives have a problem with sounds like just my taste in video. You can send them to me and I will keep them safe for you.:-)
Actually, it works like the landlord decides on an ISP, which in this case was their energy supplier. (I rent an apartment.) The landlord can swich suppliers, as could I if I lived in a house of my own.
There are several competing companies providing fiber in this way, of which the energy company is one (mid-bandwidth). The highest-bandwidth company currently supplies apartments with 100 megabits, and they're in the same price range (about $30/month).
As for disasters, one tower falling over isn't critical to connectivity as there are several in range, and besides, antennae are usually not mounted on towers, but on high-rise buildings. Fact is, I live just next to my closest cellphone antenna, which is mounted on the roof to the building next door.:-) So I don't worry too much about an outage there.
I keep being amazed at how broadband means either "cable" or "DSL" to Americans.
I am not American. Where I live is unimportant, except that I don't live in America. I have cable television service in the building, and they keep trying to push me a cable modem. I don't want it. In fact I don't have a TV. I don't need one.
Further, screw DSL. I don't have a fixed land-line phone. I don't need one. I have a mobile phone. Why would you want to call a location? I expect my friends to call me (my person), not my apartment.
On the other hand, I _do_ have an RJ45 jack in the wall that connects to fiber in the building and gives me 10 megabit connectivity. This is helpfully provided by the local energy company, which gives me several options of which ISP's backbone to connect to from them.
Hell, DSL and cable don't even match most people's bandwidth expectations on "broadband" (2Mbit/s bidirectional).
I'm amazed daily at the amount of corporate repressivity you Americans put up with. On the other hand, you do have a great environment for entrepreneurship. Why don't you (yes, you reading this!) go start an ISP in a metropolitan area and offer real broadband to the people there, fibring large condo buildings? My bandwidth costs $20-$30 a month here for me, there's no reason it should cost consumers more in the US. Given cable and DSL, I believe that's even fairly competitive pricing. When Americans, too, ditch fixed land-line phones, you're going to be at an immense advantage.
I agree wholeheartedly. As much as I think the US is hypocritical over freedom today, equally much I agree that when founded, it was as close to the perfect land to live in as you could get at the time.
I don't know when the (real) value of freedom disappeared, but it was definitely gone during the McCarthy era (when you were not allowed to think what you wanted anymore, much less express those thoughts) and probably onwards from there.
The UK is not particularly free in respect of the recent increase in surveillance. However, your observation is interesting. I am going to ask you three provocative questions:
1) Have you heard anybody who has lived for a substantial time out of America, or otherwise have a good possibility to compare the U.S. to other (Western) countries, say that America is the "land of the Free"?
2) Who, in America, tells the citizens that the land is "the land of the Free" and values Freedom above all?
3) Can you think of any other countries where citizens believe their country sticks out in some respect because of repeated assertions of this fact and the incapacity to verify said fact?
Do you think the screenplay writer(s) of say - friends or survivors designed their scripts with commercials in mind?
Yes.
End of story.
(Actually, it's even more obvious when you watch American TV shows here in Europe. You can see _so_ _clearly_ where advertising is meant to go in those shows, only it doesn't over here.)
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Actually, my favorite is schützengrabenvernichtungspanzerkraftwagen.
The English translation would be "tank".
In a recent public letter, the Rolling Stone disses the record company executives totally over this kind of crap.
Excerpts from the letter:
"Because of you, my kids will stop wasting time listening to new music and seeking out new bands."
"No more harmful exposure of thousands of bands through Internet radio, either."
"Don't worry, computers are just a fad anyway, and the Internet is just plain stupid."
I as SO thankful several countries in Europe outlaws eavesdropping by an employer like this.
(And don't get me started about it's their equipment, etc etc etc. I don't care whose equipment it is. I am a human being. I want to communicate without being monitored - "freedom", as some would call it. Laws guarantee me that privacy, just as they outlaw listening to my phone conversations or opening and reading my dead-tree letters. People whose knee-jerk reaction is that "they own it, they set any rules they like" need to look around and realize that it actually need not be like that.)
You have a fairly strange definition of "crime".
When it is criminal to read about abortion (but books are still available due to freedom-of-press laws that haven't been changed yet), will you have the same general attitude towards criminals that read about abortion in public libraries?
Or would you see a line between which people the government has a right to call criminals, and for which people the gov't would not have that right?
Just because something is a crime, doesn't mean it is necessarily wrong. Especially not in a historic perspective. (And vice versa: just because something is legal - or even mandated - doesn't mean it's necessarily right.)
Ever seen the movie "Sneakers"?
:-)
If you are or aren't using strong crypto on the air for keyboards is a non-issue as long as you haven't made a threat assessment.
In general, a leaked credit card number isn't the world. You get a couple of bogus charges, you challenge them with the bank, the bank refunds your account and files fraud charges for the police to pursue the perpetrator. End of story as far as you are concerned.
Same thing with personal information. Very few people would actually want to read your medical record. I am not one of them.
My point is this: if you have information somebody else wants, not having wireless keyboards is not going to stop them from getting it. They'll videotape you through the window as you type your password from the building next door (that's my "Sneakers" reference). They'll eavesdrop on RF leakage from your wired network (you'd be surprised how much RF a normal network generates - why do you think the military only uses fiber, end to end?). They'll even tune in RF from your monitor and read your screen contents. All this can be done from across the street with fairly professional equipment.
So if you have sensitive information, take it all the way and do a real threat assessment. If you don't have sensitive information, nobody is really going to care about wireless leakage from the keyboards in particular. Except, possibly, those who use the computers which accidentally share frequencies and therefore appear totally haunted.
This is becoming a trend.
"Prepare to fast forward!"
MAC addresses can be both sniffed and changed.
Last company I worked for shut down the entire WLAN service corporate-wide when a loophole was found. It took MONTHS to get it back to service, still with WEP.
Really, really. It is not that hard. Consider anything wireless to be untrusted, and require that they establish a VPN connection to your wired network. Set the clients to not accept any communications from outside this VPN. This technology has existed seemingly forever and IS tried and true.
turns atomic particles into light with enough radiation to damage an object it encounters
Umm... anyone know how that is supposed to happen?
You use a hammer and a chisel to split a beer atom in order to get bubbles in the beer. This process is pronounced "Emk".
When you drive a Suzuki Hayabusa (like I do), not speeding is not an option. :-)
"They're multi-format floppy controller"?
This is getting towards the point where I can't fscking read the article because of grammatical errors!
Is it really that hard to write the most basic English? Even if you've spoken it all your life?
You should look into getting some road vehicle stealth technology, dude.
http://www.blinder.dk/
So, now we need a couple of duplicate and triplicate stories to really underline the importance of it, in line with recent Slashdot tradition. :-)
No problem, anything the Christian conservatives have a problem with sounds like just my taste in video. You can send them to me and I will keep them safe for you. :-)
I believe we live in quite different parts of the world.
The base stations are backed up in the same way, AFAIK?
In any case, blackouts in a metropolitan area sounds like a theoretical problem. Don't think I've experienced once since... hum... since 1978.
Correction: the landlord doesn't decide on an ISP, that's for me to decide. The landlord decides on a last-mile service provider.
Actually, it works like the landlord decides on an ISP, which in this case was their energy supplier. (I rent an apartment.) The landlord can swich suppliers, as could I if I lived in a house of my own.
:-) So I don't worry too much about an outage there.
There are several competing companies providing fiber in this way, of which the energy company is one (mid-bandwidth). The highest-bandwidth company currently supplies apartments with 100 megabits, and they're in the same price range (about $30/month).
As for disasters, one tower falling over isn't critical to connectivity as there are several in range, and besides, antennae are usually not mounted on towers, but on high-rise buildings. Fact is, I live just next to my closest cellphone antenna, which is mounted on the roof to the building next door.
I keep being amazed at how broadband means either "cable" or "DSL" to Americans.
I am not American. Where I live is unimportant, except that I don't live in America. I have cable television service in the building, and they keep trying to push me a cable modem. I don't want it. In fact I don't have a TV. I don't need one.
Further, screw DSL. I don't have a fixed land-line phone. I don't need one. I have a mobile phone. Why would you want to call a location? I expect my friends to call me (my person), not my apartment.
On the other hand, I _do_ have an RJ45 jack in the wall that connects to fiber in the building and gives me 10 megabit connectivity. This is helpfully provided by the local energy company, which gives me several options of which ISP's backbone to connect to from them.
Hell, DSL and cable don't even match most people's bandwidth expectations on "broadband" (2Mbit/s bidirectional).
I'm amazed daily at the amount of corporate repressivity you Americans put up with. On the other hand, you do have a great environment for entrepreneurship. Why don't you (yes, you reading this!) go start an ISP in a metropolitan area and offer real broadband to the people there, fibring large condo buildings? My bandwidth costs $20-$30 a month here for me, there's no reason it should cost consumers more in the US. Given cable and DSL, I believe that's even fairly competitive pricing. When Americans, too, ditch fixed land-line phones, you're going to be at an immense advantage.
That none of them speak English, and that even pretending to be able to read such a third-world language such as English is a gross social offense? :-)
Was this story so good it had to be patented and published again?
I agree wholeheartedly. As much as I think the US is hypocritical over freedom today, equally much I agree that when founded, it was as close to the perfect land to live in as you could get at the time.
I don't know when the (real) value of freedom disappeared, but it was definitely gone during the McCarthy era (when you were not allowed to think what you wanted anymore, much less express those thoughts) and probably onwards from there.
One might recall the Prohibition, too.
The UK is not particularly free in respect of the recent increase in surveillance. However, your observation is interesting. I am going to ask you three provocative questions:
1) Have you heard anybody who has lived for a substantial time out of America, or otherwise have a good possibility to compare the U.S. to other (Western) countries, say that America is the "land of the Free"?
2) Who, in America, tells the citizens that the land is "the land of the Free" and values Freedom above all?
3) Can you think of any other countries where citizens believe their country sticks out in some respect because of repeated assertions of this fact and the incapacity to verify said fact?
Talk about a corpse that refuses to die. Yikes, this is even worse than IBM's debacle about insisting on keeping OS/2 alive...
Novell needs to reinvent themselves seriously. (Shipping a database with the server does not count as reinventing seriously.)
Do you think the screenplay writer(s) of say - friends or survivors designed their scripts with commercials in mind?
Yes.
End of story.
(Actually, it's even more obvious when you watch American TV shows here in Europe. You can see _so_ _clearly_ where advertising is meant to go in those shows, only it doesn't over here.)