Actually more of them do than you think! I used to work for a bank, and we would NEVER publicize robberies. First, because of the fear of creating a wave of copycat crimes. Second, to not undermine the bank's secure image. There are 2-5 bank robberies a MONTH in the Chicagoland area, but none of them ever hits the news. Only when there's external involvement, like a shootout or a hostage situation does it ever make the evening news. I found this quite surprising how much the general public is kept in the dark about this sort of thing.
Actually they really easily could have it, they just don't happen to have an "interconnect" on that particular P25 repeater system, the device that patches the radio to a telephone line. P25 is almost feature-identical to TETRA, but they are different data-wise so they aren't compatible with each other, but they are really equivalent as far as things like phone patch, group calling, encryption, etc. All they need to do is install a box at the base station and hook up a phone line to it.
Almost everywhere, at least in the U.S. the press gets a "pass" on certain things. Like, for example "Press Passes"! They are allowed special access to social or sporting events, or to newsworthy disaster or crime scenes. Also, almost every community where there are scanner laws, they restrict or prohibit portable or mobile use outside your home UNLESS you're a Ham radio operator or a member of the Press. Same for having a headset in a car (full headsets are illegal in cars, BTW).
Minor privileges, to be sure, but there are definitely some perks and relaxing of laws or restrictions for members of the Press or Media. Historically, they were granted this access to help get out the "Law and Order" messages the Establishment wanted to make - "Crime does not pay, etc."... Positive P.R. for the cops, plus it helped keep the masses in line by showing what would happen if one ran afoul of the law. It was only much later that the idea that maybe not all the police are knights in shining armor and that having the press there would be a type of oversight came about. That was about the time when having the media present shifted from being something they really wanted to something they had to endure, but since the process was so well entrenched it continues to present day. This encryption issue is really a major restriction placed on this historical love affair, and it would affect the Media's job's directly (making it harder), so that's why they are making such a fuss.
Interesting choice of words, "work communications". When I was learning about radio and the frequency band assignments, I noticed the UHF Police frequencies are in what is designated by the FCC as "Business Band", unlike the VHF frequencies where Police have a specific sub-band or slot of frequencies assigned by the govt'. I asked my mentor why they were in the Business Band, and he said "What they discussing over the air? Police Business!" Kind of funny, but it always stuck in my memory.
As to your comment, all the dispatch traffic on all channels is ALREADY continuously recorded in case there is a need later to inspect the information to figure out what happened during a shoot-out or whatever. So yes, audio can and is used for oversight, but If the information is needed it is already there, and it can be reviewed and perhaps released if necessary.
They don't release that information over the air. They just don't, ever. They use KDT terminals in the car for any sensitive information like names, addresses, etc. The most they will usually EVER give over the air is a phone number or situation codes like "Signal One", "Code Black" or "10-8". If they can't use the data terminals, most of the cops have figured out that a cell phone is an easy way to keep things off the air and confidential, a lot of them use the phone to call their dispatch and discuss any sensitive information like the type mentioned above on a regular basis and hardly ever use their radios at all anymore. As they switch to digital and encrypted type communications, they actually are finding their radios more useful than before - due to the extra margin of security, they actually CAN safely discuss names, addresses, etc.
That said, my Cook County Sheriff here in Chicago has been running full-time encryption since they went digital about 4 years ago. A lot of smaller city agencies are also in the process of going digital and want full-time encryption, too. When they did this, the world did not stop, the media did not dry up and blow away - somehow they still report on crimes in a timely manner, but a bunch of scanner geeks and hams were pissed off. That was it, that was the sum total of the impact. Unfortunately, I'm one of the hams that used to listen in because it was interesting when there was no Ham traffic to listen to, but hey, life is short - there's a lot of other things to do and listen to elsewhere!
Actually, the later Deskpro's and Evo's from about PII-450 through P4-2.0G had nearly ISA or ATX standard form-factor motherboards. They had the chassis wiring harness arranged for whatever board they made runs of, so for most of the Deskpro's you could use a generic MB, you might have a bit of a time getting the LED's and reset switches wired up, but the board/slot/chassis form-factor was the same as the generic PC motherboards of the day.
Not so much for the early machines and server products (and of course laptops!), they were completely custom designs as you say, but the later desktop and tower systems were actually fairly generic.
Man, you are preaching to the choir - you sound like you are describing my house! I just got rid of my Matrox and TARGA cards on e-Bay a few weeks ago,,, I have a whole house full of old computer shit dating back to TRS-80 Model I and Apple II days. And I do mean FULL. I'm in the process of e-Baying anything I think may have some value, the rest is hitting the curb. Unfortunately my stupid state (IL) just passed a law and now I can't throw out ANY electronic devices or risk a $7000.00 fine. Needless to say that's putting a dent in my house-cleaning project!
I have a lot of Ham radio projects and older dedicated systems that I have to maintain for local Amateur Radio repeater systems and a lot of that require dedicated hardware with ancient things like *gasp* SERIAL ports! I also have a shit-ton of VME stuff too, a lot of radio systems use them.
Back when I needed the RDRAM, unfortunately it wasn't a Ma and Pa shop-type item, it was still state of the art (relatively, anyway) and expensive, the PC I got given at the time was basically a brand new machine that fell off a truck, so that type of memory wasn't exactly scrounging material at the time, but yeah, I will consult my own junk pile first, and that of several friends before actually using the "B" word (eek!)
That said, it's good to know that you have a big pile too, if I need something strange, I'll ask! By the way you don't have any MC145406P IC's, perchance? It's a non-standard RS-232 driver chip that Motorola used instead of normal 1488/1489 transceivers in some police-type console systems. I would be very happy with even a board that used them, I can extract the IC - I have complete Metcal rework and SMD reflow systems in my basement lab!
Not back then. I paid about $250 for the RAM upgrade IIRC, and a new MB, RAM would have been about $350-400 or so. Things were a bit more expensive back then, and that was a nearly state of the art machine at the time. Nowadays, yeah it would be a no-brainer, but believe me, I did the mental arithmetic about a dozen times before begrudgingly shelling out for the RDRAM's.
Oh, yeah, another annoying thing; they were only 16 bit I guess, because you had to have two of everything, and had to have a bus terminator "fake" RAM SIMM's inserted if there was no memory in that socket. I guess you had to keep the 'trons from leaking out into the ether, that was what my grandmother thought about empty light sockets!
I was given a very nice Compaq Deskpro series computer with about a 1.5G P4 (this was a while ago!) and it used their awful RAM. Apparently Compaq designed motherboards for a short time with their product, then rapidly moved away from them because I shortly thereafter got the same exact series computer with about a 2.0G processor and it used normal RAM. Thankfully, they got away from using it quickly.
I had to purchase a RAM upgrade to bring it from 512K to 1G RAM, and felt absolutely disgusted about HAVING to channel any money at all their way, but I really had no choice, I: wasn't about to throw away a perfectly good system just because it was low on RAM, but the memory cost me about 3x what the average DIMM of DDR cost at the time, absolutely obscene.
I hope they can go away and die now, I'm just sorry they were able to collude and extort the industry for as long as they did.
It's interesting that the idea of using plants for counterfeit detection goes all the way back to Benjamin Franklin, who used the unique vein structures of plant and tree leaves to make hard-to-copy stamps and currency all the way back in the Revolutionary War days!
One thing I can assure you of is that I was there. Not a decade later, I was actively using it in Linux in 1992-3.
I'm not sure which tripwire you're talking about, but I'm talking about one that was invented for Unix in 1992 and included in major Linux distributions almost immediately. I used to use the 2nd large distribution of Linux ever called Yggdrasil Linux, and it had it, and I was using that in 1992-3. I'm not sure if Slackware (the very 1st big Linux distribution) had it or not, I didn't use that version. I eventually switched to Red Hat when Yggdrasil was discontinued in 1995.
Yggdrasil even had a working bootable "live CD" of itself back then, so I'd say it fit the definition of 'running' as you say, very well.
Second, do a simple Google search. There is a tripwire page (2nd result) that says the original version was written in 1992.
It's really easy. Install clean Windows, drivers and all the service packs from a CD or USB drive. Then use Autopatcher to bring the system current. This will all take about 3-4 hours to set up and update altogether. DO NOT CONNECT THE SYSTEM TO THE INTERNETS. That's it - then install and run your suspect AV "protector" and see if it comes up with any positives. It's that simple.
While they're at it, they should test and then sue the fuck out of the "MyCleanPC" and "MaxMySpeed" assholes. Those have been proven again and again to do exactly what Symantec is being accused of here, yet they have a great BBB rating and still advertise their scareware / rogue / shit AV and reg cleaner software on every stupid basic cable channel at night. Even after having been proved to be fake / rogue bullshit by the exact method I have given above. Plus, they use all the other shady fuck techniques like setting up your credit card so they can continue to debit it each month for your "continued protection" and enabling their techs to get into your system with remote access so they can "find and fix all the big bad software", and making it difficult if not impossible to "unsubscribe" from the recurring monthly debit.
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Actually more of them do than you think! I used to work for a bank, and we would NEVER publicize robberies. First, because of the fear of creating a wave of copycat crimes. Second, to not undermine the bank's secure image. There are 2-5 bank robberies a MONTH in the Chicagoland area, but none of them ever hits the news. Only when there's external involvement, like a shootout or a hostage situation does it ever make the evening news. I found this quite surprising how much the general public is kept in the dark about this sort of thing.
Just what they didn't need. "No Shit, Sherlock"...
Why don't you go fuck yourself, you asshole MPAA shill. You're not welcome here.
Jesus fucking Christ, shill much?
You paycheck form the MPAA is ready now, please come to window 5. Thank you.
This is even on the same front page! Well, I guess we haven't had a dupe story in a little while - they used to be thick like files around here!
comment in the message SUBJECT.
Fluoridation is causing the sapping of our precious bodily fluids and will power by the evil powers of communism!
- Gen. Jack Ripper, Cmdr, Burfelson Air Force Base
Trolly, Troll, Troll.
Go away and die, dumbfuck.
Actually they really easily could have it, they just don't happen to have an "interconnect" on that particular P25 repeater system, the device that patches the radio to a telephone line. P25 is almost feature-identical to TETRA, but they are different data-wise so they aren't compatible with each other, but they are really equivalent as far as things like phone patch, group calling, encryption, etc. All they need to do is install a box at the base station and hook up a phone line to it.
Almost everywhere, at least in the U.S. the press gets a "pass" on certain things. Like, for example "Press Passes"! They are allowed special access to social or sporting events, or to newsworthy disaster or crime scenes. Also, almost every community where there are scanner laws, they restrict or prohibit portable or mobile use outside your home UNLESS you're a Ham radio operator or a member of the Press. Same for having a headset in a car (full headsets are illegal in cars, BTW).
Minor privileges, to be sure, but there are definitely some perks and relaxing of laws or restrictions for members of the Press or Media. Historically, they were granted this access to help get out the "Law and Order" messages the Establishment wanted to make - "Crime does not pay, etc."... Positive P.R. for the cops, plus it helped keep the masses in line by showing what would happen if one ran afoul of the law. It was only much later that the idea that maybe not all the police are knights in shining armor and that having the press there would be a type of oversight came about. That was about the time when having the media present shifted from being something they really wanted to something they had to endure, but since the process was so well entrenched it continues to present day. This encryption issue is really a major restriction placed on this historical love affair, and it would affect the Media's job's directly (making it harder), so that's why they are making such a fuss.
Would those be "woofies"?
Sorry, couldn't resist...
Interesting choice of words, "work communications". When I was learning about radio and the frequency band assignments, I noticed the UHF Police frequencies are in what is designated by the FCC as "Business Band", unlike the VHF frequencies where Police have a specific sub-band or slot of frequencies assigned by the govt'. I asked my mentor why they were in the Business Band, and he said "What they discussing over the air? Police Business!" Kind of funny, but it always stuck in my memory.
As to your comment, all the dispatch traffic on all channels is ALREADY continuously recorded in case there is a need later to inspect the information to figure out what happened during a shoot-out or whatever. So yes, audio can and is used for oversight, but If the information is needed it is already there, and it can be reviewed and perhaps released if necessary.
They don't release that information over the air. They just don't, ever. They use KDT terminals in the car for any sensitive information like names, addresses, etc. The most they will usually EVER give over the air is a phone number or situation codes like "Signal One", "Code Black" or "10-8". If they can't use the data terminals, most of the cops have figured out that a cell phone is an easy way to keep things off the air and confidential, a lot of them use the phone to call their dispatch and discuss any sensitive information like the type mentioned above on a regular basis and hardly ever use their radios at all anymore. As they switch to digital and encrypted type communications, they actually are finding their radios more useful than before - due to the extra margin of security, they actually CAN safely discuss names, addresses, etc.
That said, my Cook County Sheriff here in Chicago has been running full-time encryption since they went digital about 4 years ago. A lot of smaller city agencies are also in the process of going digital and want full-time encryption, too. When they did this, the world did not stop, the media did not dry up and blow away - somehow they still report on crimes in a timely manner, but a bunch of scanner geeks and hams were pissed off. That was it, that was the sum total of the impact. Unfortunately, I'm one of the hams that used to listen in because it was interesting when there was no Ham traffic to listen to, but hey, life is short - there's a lot of other things to do and listen to elsewhere!
Well, I;m sure they get told "Go pound sand..." a lot, so there might actually be some sand up there, too.
Actually, the later Deskpro's and Evo's from about PII-450 through P4-2.0G had nearly ISA or ATX standard form-factor motherboards. They had the chassis wiring harness arranged for whatever board they made runs of, so for most of the Deskpro's you could use a generic MB, you might have a bit of a time getting the LED's and reset switches wired up, but the board/slot/chassis form-factor was the same as the generic PC motherboards of the day.
Not so much for the early machines and server products (and of course laptops!), they were completely custom designs as you say, but the later desktop and tower systems were actually fairly generic.
Man, you are preaching to the choir - you sound like you are describing my house! I just got rid of my Matrox and TARGA cards on e-Bay a few weeks ago,,, I have a whole house full of old computer shit dating back to TRS-80 Model I and Apple II days. And I do mean FULL. I'm in the process of e-Baying anything I think may have some value, the rest is hitting the curb. Unfortunately my stupid state (IL) just passed a law and now I can't throw out ANY electronic devices or risk a $7000.00 fine. Needless to say that's putting a dent in my house-cleaning project!
I have a lot of Ham radio projects and older dedicated systems that I have to maintain for local Amateur Radio repeater systems and a lot of that require dedicated hardware with ancient things like *gasp* SERIAL ports! I also have a shit-ton of VME stuff too, a lot of radio systems use them.
Back when I needed the RDRAM, unfortunately it wasn't a Ma and Pa shop-type item, it was still state of the art (relatively, anyway) and expensive, the PC I got given at the time was basically a brand new machine that fell off a truck, so that type of memory wasn't exactly scrounging material at the time, but yeah, I will consult my own junk pile first, and that of several friends before actually using the "B" word (eek!)
That said, it's good to know that you have a big pile too, if I need something strange, I'll ask! By the way you don't have any MC145406P IC's, perchance? It's a non-standard RS-232 driver chip that Motorola used instead of normal 1488/1489 transceivers in some police-type console systems. I would be very happy with even a board that used them, I can extract the IC - I have complete Metcal rework and SMD reflow systems in my basement lab!
Yeah, I know, I just used it for email and to play Quake II...
Not back then. I paid about $250 for the RAM upgrade IIRC, and a new MB, RAM would have been about $350-400 or so. Things were a bit more expensive back then, and that was a nearly state of the art machine at the time. Nowadays, yeah it would be a no-brainer, but believe me, I did the mental arithmetic about a dozen times before begrudgingly shelling out for the RDRAM's.
Oh, yeah, another annoying thing; they were only 16 bit I guess, because you had to have two of everything, and had to have a bus terminator "fake" RAM SIMM's inserted if there was no memory in that socket. I guess you had to keep the 'trons from leaking out into the ether, that was what my grandmother thought about empty light sockets!
I was given a very nice Compaq Deskpro series computer with about a 1.5G P4 (this was a while ago!) and it used their awful RAM. Apparently Compaq designed motherboards for a short time with their product, then rapidly moved away from them because I shortly thereafter got the same exact series computer with about a 2.0G processor and it used normal RAM. Thankfully, they got away from using it quickly.
I had to purchase a RAM upgrade to bring it from 512K to 1G RAM, and felt absolutely disgusted about HAVING to channel any money at all their way, but I really had no choice, I: wasn't about to throw away a perfectly good system just because it was low on RAM, but the memory cost me about 3x what the average DIMM of DDR cost at the time, absolutely obscene.
I hope they can go away and die now, I'm just sorry they were able to collude and extort the industry for as long as they did.
And if the drive or CD had an official logo on it, 90% were installed
What, like Vestron Video or Vivid Entertainment?
SOAP got put on the shelf. Haven't you been paying attention to current affairs?
Whooosh....
It's interesting that the idea of using plants for counterfeit detection goes all the way back to Benjamin Franklin, who used the unique vein structures of plant and tree leaves to make hard-to-copy stamps and currency all the way back in the Revolutionary War days!
One thing I can assure you of is that I was there. Not a decade later, I was actively using it in Linux in 1992-3.
I'm not sure which tripwire you're talking about, but I'm talking about one that was invented for Unix in 1992 and included in major Linux distributions almost immediately. I used to use the 2nd large distribution of Linux ever called Yggdrasil Linux, and it had it, and I was using that in 1992-3. I'm not sure if Slackware (the very 1st big Linux distribution) had it or not, I didn't use that version. I eventually switched to Red Hat when Yggdrasil was discontinued in 1995.
Yggdrasil even had a working bootable "live CD" of itself back then, so I'd say it fit the definition of 'running' as you say, very well.
Second, do a simple Google search. There is a tripwire page (2nd result) that says the original version was written in 1992.
It's really easy. Install clean Windows, drivers and all the service packs from a CD or USB drive. Then use Autopatcher to bring the system current. This will all take about 3-4 hours to set up and update altogether. DO NOT CONNECT THE SYSTEM TO THE INTERNETS. That's it - then install and run your suspect AV "protector" and see if it comes up with any positives. It's that simple.
While they're at it, they should test and then sue the fuck out of the "MyCleanPC" and "MaxMySpeed" assholes. Those have been proven again and again to do exactly what Symantec is being accused of here, yet they have a great BBB rating and still advertise their scareware / rogue / shit AV and reg cleaner software on every stupid basic cable channel at night. Even after having been proved to be fake / rogue bullshit by the exact method I have given above. Plus, they use all the other shady fuck techniques like setting up your credit card so they can continue to debit it each month for your "continued protection" and enabling their techs to get into your system with remote access so they can "find and fix all the big bad software", and making it difficult if not impossible to "unsubscribe" from the recurring monthly debit.