"Boss, I got the story on that PGP author you wanted."
"Ok, whatcha got?"
"Well, he makes some very good points. PGP is a tool that can be used for protecting human rights. It also unfortunately was misused in this case. Good stuff."
"Did he say he felt bad about writing something that helped these terrorists plan their attack?"
"Well, no... he said he felt bad that people were hurt, but he still stands behind the principles that led him to develop PGP. I think it's a great story."
"Oh, um... well. Good job then." *scurries off to go 'edit'*
Except "2001 Trailblazer (TM)" isn't going to land, just orbit and take pictures. Your business card, momento or personal message will simply be carried along for the ride. They might evenually send a mission to actually land later...
TransOrbital's proposed Electra I mission will be the first commercial lunar surface lander
One of their objectives is to take really-neat never-before-seen photographs:
"Earthrise 2001TM", the Earth majestically rising over the limb of the moon as the spacecraft swings around from the far side.
Now who wouldn't really want to seen an updated photo of the earth as seen from the moon! That late '60s photo is just so outdated, surely we need a more current photo to put in our wallets!
A Special Message from Ken Chenault - CEO of American Express Company
Date:
Sat, 22 Sep 2001 00:12:26 MDT
From:
"American Express"
To:
[snip]
Dear Valued Customer,
We have all been deeply affected by the tragic events of September
11th. To all the families who mourn the loss of loved ones, our
prayers are with you.
Like so many in our country, we will forever be indebted to all
those who have given so much in responding to last week's tragic
events. Personally, I have grieved the loss, applauded the
courage, and been inspired by the sacrifice of so many for the good
of us all.
I want to reassure you that despite some damage to our New York
headquarters building, we have continued to service our customers
on an uninterrupted basis. Our 85,000 employees worldwide are doing
everything possible to provide our customers any help they need.
You can continue to use your American Express Card with confidence
for your personal and business needs. The same is true for
American Express Travelers Cheques. Our 1,700 consumer travel
service locations and business travel offices around the world, as
always, stand ready to help you. Clients of American Express
Financial Advisors can also be sure that their records are safe.
We encourage those clients to call their advisors if they have
questions about their investments.
American Express has always stood behind our customers in times of
need. I want to assure you that the global strength and commitment
of American Express stands by you now. If there is anything we can
do for you or your family, call us at any time at the telephone
number on the back of your card, one of the numbers listed below,
or visit our website at http://www.americanexpress.com.
Kenneth I. Chenault
Chairman and CEO
American Express Company
Oilchange used to offer something similar (made by same company that made FirstAid, Cybermedia I think). I quit using it way back when I went from 95 to 98 (they lacked any kind of upgrade pricing, wanted another $49.95 for a version that worked with 98).
As I remember, it was pretty worthless, tho. Half the time it would completely miss new versions/patches, forget about a program I had installed, or just croak completely while trying to update one of my programs.
Ok, but in what way is Microsoft _really_ limiting your "rights as a citizen"?
Even if this held up in court (worst case: Microsoft succeeds in making you take down your FrontPage-built website that says Bill Gates likes little boys.), your right to free speech isn't taken away, is it? You can still publish exactly the same speech using dreamweaver or golive or any other product you care to use. You just can't use FrontPage.
This seems rather silly though, as there seems little chance that Microsoft would actually have any chance of prevailing on the premise that you agreed to an EULA that restricts what you can put on the web. More likely, this is a CYA clause from Microsoft to protect them from getting dragged into a suit because someone used FrontPage to create some website that someone else decided to sue over.
>they didn't know whether the machinery would work, or whether the lander would sink into the moon dust
This is the part of the story that really captures my interest, the "T1" decision. They really had no idea what to expect on the surface of the moon and had a leave/stay decision to make in the seconds following the landing.
Problem was, all the controllers were so overjoyed that the lem had made it down to the surface (after Armstrong had gotten down to _seconds_ of decent fuel), that Kranz had trouble getting them to sit back down at their consoles so they could decide if they were going to take off again right away or stay on the surface.
I haven't tried to download the audio while here at work, I'm going to do that as soon as I get home tonight. Should be interesting to listen to that moment for real (after having seen it portrayed in "Earth to the Moon" and whatnot).
>It doesn't take a lot of work to pop on by to MS every now and then and download any critical/recommended patches
No, it doesn't take any time at all. That isn't the problem. The problem is how few people _don't even know_ about windowsupdate, let alone those who do but don't bother to check it at least every other month. I always walk away shaking my head when someone asks me a question that ends up with "oh, you can download that from windowsupdate" where the response is "what is that? where do I get that?"
Really. The comment above demonstrates a (common) fundamental flaw in thinking.
They are like us, *except*
Where the "except" is the thing you understand enough to consider them different from yourself.
In this case the "except" is that they are arab, or muslim, or terrorists, etc. Other than that, they must have computers, phones, electricity, TV, newspapers, churches, pay taxes and everything else we take for granted in our lives.
There is no national power grid. There aren't trans-national systems to disrupt.
Re:What can 60 billion dollars buy?
on
A New Kind of War
·
· Score: 1
You know, that starts to make sense of some questions I've had since the beginning.
Why would the hijackers leave a van parked at the airport with incriminating things like arabic flight manuals and such? Unless they _wanted_ them to be found to throw us off the trail.
How hard would it be? I wonder how the investigators are getting all of these names? Could Iraqi operatives use names of those with known links to bin Laden when they rented cars, bought tickets, attended flight schools, etc?
Unless you recover bodies and are able to positively identify them somehow, (or if some of the suspected hijackers turn up alive) how will you ever really know? (except for maybe surveillance video or maybe a composite sketch from the gate agent or something).
One thing that doesn't fit at all is the suicide angle. What I've heard for the last week is that these 'radical Islamic fundamentalists' are likely suspects because of their willingness to die in their attacks.
Isn't the Iraqi regime predominantly secular? Aren't they in fact hositle to the Muslims in their own country (wiping out Shi-ite's?)
Re:What can 60 billion dollars buy?
on
A New Kind of War
·
· Score: 1
Didn't Johnson already try that with the North Vietnameise?
IIRC, he offered to fund a hydro-electric project or something.
American motivation ($$$) isn't going to work on people with entirely different values, methinks.
Re:What can 60 billion dollars buy?
on
A New Kind of War
·
· Score: 1
>defending the homeland of its mastermind.
Saudi Arabia?
...or are you referring to the CIA's involvement in helping to train and equip Afghan Mujahideen against the Russian occupation of their homeland.
The "homeland" of the "mastermind", assuming you mean bin Laden, is Saudi Arabia. He is in Afghanistan because his citizenship was stripped and he was exiled (well, plus they like him there because of his role in the war against the Russians).
The unpardonable sin commited by the US was to leave ground troops in the region after the Gulf War. Our presence apparently 'defiles the holy places' (Mecca is in Saudi Arabia)
securityfocus.com is either severly/.-ed (which I kind doubt) or is experiencing some kind of DDOS, perhaps directly the result of this new worm.
In any case, I found the page in my cache..
Microsoft Windows "April Fools 2001" Vulnerability
//
// APRIL1.C -- Simple test program for the "April's Fools 2001" bug
//
// by Richard M. Smith (rms@pharlap.com)
// copyright (C) 1999
//
#include
#include
#include
:
:
From other posts I've seen, the worm is just trying several known exploits. I doubt that this april1 vulnerability really has anything to do with it. Perhaps the original post linked to the wrong page?
Slashdot Mirror
"Boss, I got the story on that PGP author you wanted."
"Ok, whatcha got?"
"Well, he makes some very good points. PGP is a tool that can be used for protecting human rights. It also unfortunately was misused in this case. Good stuff."
"Did he say he felt bad about writing something that helped these terrorists plan their attack?"
"Well, no... he said he felt bad that people were hurt, but he still stands behind the principles that led him to develop PGP. I think it's a great story."
"Oh, um... well. Good job then." *scurries off to go 'edit'*
God, that really puts it in perspective just how completely destroyed that place is. Thanks for the links.
TransOrbital's proposed Electra I mission will be the first commercial lunar surface lander
One of their objectives is to take really-neat never-before-seen photographs:
"Earthrise 2001TM", the Earth majestically rising over the limb of the moon as the spacecraft swings around from the far side.
Now who wouldn't really want to seen an updated photo of the earth as seen from the moon! That late '60s photo is just so outdated, surely we need a more current photo to put in our wallets!
yeah. Michael posted this yesterday, thought it was "nifty".
>Should /. withhold a story because someone is using a sense of levity in his introduction even if the story in itself is worthwhile?
Why not? They reject stories every day for other equally non-sensical reasons.
"If we feel afraid, the way to deal with our fear is to do the things we normally do anyway,"
Michael is now out of mourning mode (can't ya tell?)
A Special Message from Ken Chenault - CEO of American Express Company
Date:
Sat, 22 Sep 2001 00:12:26 MDT
From:
"American Express"
To:
[snip]
Dear Valued Customer,
We have all been deeply affected by the tragic events of September
11th. To all the families who mourn the loss of loved ones, our
prayers are with you.
Like so many in our country, we will forever be indebted to all
those who have given so much in responding to last week's tragic
events. Personally, I have grieved the loss, applauded the
courage, and been inspired by the sacrifice of so many for the good
of us all.
I want to reassure you that despite some damage to our New York
headquarters building, we have continued to service our customers
on an uninterrupted basis. Our 85,000 employees worldwide are doing
everything possible to provide our customers any help they need.
You can continue to use your American Express Card with confidence
for your personal and business needs. The same is true for
American Express Travelers Cheques. Our 1,700 consumer travel
service locations and business travel offices around the world, as
always, stand ready to help you. Clients of American Express
Financial Advisors can also be sure that their records are safe.
We encourage those clients to call their advisors if they have
questions about their investments.
American Express has always stood behind our customers in times of
need. I want to assure you that the global strength and commitment
of American Express stands by you now. If there is anything we can
do for you or your family, call us at any time at the telephone
number on the back of your card, one of the numbers listed below,
or visit our website at http://www.americanexpress.com.
Kenneth I. Chenault
Chairman and CEO
American Express Company
can you do with the lego studio product out of the box?
I'm assuming things like the moving lips involve some kind of professional ($$$) equipment not included in the base/retail product.
Oilchange used to offer something similar (made by same company that made FirstAid, Cybermedia I think). I quit using it way back when I went from 95 to 98 (they lacked any kind of upgrade pricing, wanted another $49.95 for a version that worked with 98).
As I remember, it was pretty worthless, tho. Half the time it would completely miss new versions/patches, forget about a program I had installed, or just croak completely while trying to update one of my programs.
>rights of its citizens? Free speech?
Ok, but in what way is Microsoft _really_ limiting your "rights as a citizen"?
Even if this held up in court (worst case: Microsoft succeeds in making you take down your FrontPage-built website that says Bill Gates likes little boys.), your right to free speech isn't taken away, is it? You can still publish exactly the same speech using dreamweaver or golive or any other product you care to use. You just can't use FrontPage.
This seems rather silly though, as there seems little chance that Microsoft would actually have any chance of prevailing on the premise that you agreed to an EULA that restricts what you can put on the web. More likely, this is a CYA clause from Microsoft to protect them from getting dragged into a suit because someone used FrontPage to create some website that someone else decided to sue over.
I hadn't seen that one
/bin/laden
cic@usarmedforces~$: rm -rf
>On the other hand, poor grammer or spelling is a sure way to look stupid.
Especially when you are complaining about someone else's grammar.
>The question on everyone's mind....
...who assume it is video because they didn't read the artice explaining it is *audio* of the controllers during the landing.
>they didn't know whether the machinery would work, or whether the lander would sink into the moon dust
This is the part of the story that really captures my interest, the "T1" decision. They really had no idea what to expect on the surface of the moon and had a leave/stay decision to make in the seconds following the landing.
Problem was, all the controllers were so overjoyed that the lem had made it down to the surface (after Armstrong had gotten down to _seconds_ of decent fuel), that Kranz had trouble getting them to sit back down at their consoles so they could decide if they were going to take off again right away or stay on the surface.
I haven't tried to download the audio while here at work, I'm going to do that as soon as I get home tonight. Should be interesting to listen to that moment for real (after having seen it portrayed in "Earth to the Moon" and whatnot).
except it is audio
>It doesn't take a lot of work to pop on by to MS every now and then and download any critical/recommended patches
No, it doesn't take any time at all. That isn't the problem. The problem is how few people _don't even know_ about windowsupdate, let alone those who do but don't bother to check it at least every other month. I always walk away shaking my head when someone asks me a question that ends up with "oh, you can download that from windowsupdate" where the response is "what is that? where do I get that?"
Yep, at this point in the day there is obviously now a story out there. Early in the day, someone posted that link that was obviously just wrong.
>scared ... because ...
Sure, now. The assumption that these things are only ever going to be use to combat crime is what I question.
Once you have these things in place, and everyone accepts them, you have the terrible temptation of those in authority to use them for other things.
Things that you might not be so comfortable with.
Really. The comment above demonstrates a (common) fundamental flaw in thinking.
They are like us, *except*
Where the "except" is the thing you understand enough to consider them different from yourself.
In this case the "except" is that they are arab, or muslim, or terrorists, etc. Other than that, they must have computers, phones, electricity, TV, newspapers, churches, pay taxes and everything else we take for granted in our lives.
There is no national power grid. There aren't trans-national systems to disrupt.
You know, that starts to make sense of some questions I've had since the beginning.
Why would the hijackers leave a van parked at the airport with incriminating things like arabic flight manuals and such? Unless they _wanted_ them to be found to throw us off the trail.
How hard would it be? I wonder how the investigators are getting all of these names? Could Iraqi operatives use names of those with known links to bin Laden when they rented cars, bought tickets, attended flight schools, etc?
Unless you recover bodies and are able to positively identify them somehow, (or if some of the suspected hijackers turn up alive) how will you ever really know? (except for maybe surveillance video or maybe a composite sketch from the gate agent or something).
One thing that doesn't fit at all is the suicide angle. What I've heard for the last week is that these 'radical Islamic fundamentalists' are likely suspects because of their willingness to die in their attacks.
Isn't the Iraqi regime predominantly secular? Aren't they in fact hositle to the Muslims in their own country (wiping out Shi-ite's?)
Didn't Johnson already try that with the North Vietnameise?
IIRC, he offered to fund a hydro-electric project or something.
American motivation ($$$) isn't going to work on people with entirely different values, methinks.
>defending the homeland of its mastermind.
Saudi Arabia?
...or are you referring to the CIA's involvement in helping to train and equip Afghan Mujahideen against the Russian occupation of their homeland.
The "homeland" of the "mastermind", assuming you mean bin Laden, is Saudi Arabia. He is in Afghanistan because his citizenship was stripped and he was exiled (well, plus they like him there because of his role in the war against the Russians).
The unpardonable sin commited by the US was to leave ground troops in the region after the Gulf War. Our presence apparently 'defiles the holy places' (Mecca is in Saudi Arabia)
Those insensitive basdards! How dare they code worms that indiscriminantly affect non-windows machines?
replying to my own post, but...
/.-ed (which I kind doubt) or is experiencing some kind of DDOS, perhaps directly the result of this new worm.
securityfocus.com is either severly
In any case, I found the page in my cache..
Microsoft Windows "April Fools 2001" Vulnerability
//
// APRIL1.C -- Simple test program for the "April's Fools 2001" bug
//
// by Richard M. Smith (rms@pharlap.com)
// copyright (C) 1999
//
#include
#include
#include
:
:
From other posts I've seen, the worm is just trying several known exploits. I doubt that this april1 vulnerability really has anything to do with it. Perhaps the original post linked to the wrong page?