Just to clarify, CDDB doesn't claim to own the song titles (the record companies do?), they claim to own the encoding that turns the length of all the tracks on a disc (the "uniqueness") into a code number to be looked up in the database. You are free to take the song titles from their database. What they'll try to stop is any use of that algorithm.
Whether this is true or not, it's pathetic. FreeDB uses the same algorithm.
Anyway, this is a description of the algorithm just so you can see how stupid it is:
The discid looks like a 32 bit hex number, but in reality it's not - it's an 8 bit checksum, a 16 bit number representing the total length of the disc in seconds, and an 8 bit number representing the number of tracks on the disc.
It's mind-warpingly simple. Ignoring MSF offsets for the sake of discussion, this is how it's done:
Get the length of all the tracks in frames, like so:
22047 44492 69957 85152 113637 129910 148045 165852 178462 200282 215427
Divide them all by 75 so you have track lengths in seconds:
293 593 932 1135 1515 1732 1973 2211 2379 2670 2872 This is the really really brilliant part -
Add all the decimal digits together like so:
2+9+3+5+9+3+9+3+2+1+1+3+5+1+5+1+5+1+7+3+2+1+9+7+3+ 2+2+1+1+2+3+7+9+2+6+7+0+2+8+7+2
It's 161 or 0xa1. Convert the length of the disc and number of tracks to hex too (0xc87 and 0xc) and put them together - 0xa10c870c. This is only a little bit off from the real discid (a30c850c), and only because of the MSF offsets I skipped over.
Of course, the typical markup on computer cables is 600%, and that's just from the retailer to you. Retailers don't mark up $900 items 600% (this is why computers sell with 5% margin) because they can't get away with it.
And haven't you ever mounted a drive (or an array) externally?
I'm probably the only one who subliminally read "They are looking to secretly raise $200 million" into the story. Transmeta just has that effect on your brain.
My conversations with the cashier at a Radio Shack usually go like this:
Cashier: And could I get your last name?
Me: No.
Cashier: Ok that'll be $foo.bar...
Also, telling them you don't have a last name is equally effective, but it does make them ponder more.
If they ask whether you're using those parts to build a bomb, answer yes. Every time. Tell them the 555's are for the delay circuit. Never give a location though.
I'd love to have you show me one person who got an MCSE without ever having touched a computer. If they did, they deserved it.
Anyone with an MCSE that has never touched a computer possesses incredible social engineering skills, and is therefore worth hiring for that alone. Just don't let them near the payroll system.
You see, you have to touch a computer to take the MCSE tests, they're computerized:)
This definately applies. I get the feeling that the default NTFS security is so lax on NT4 and Win2k because Microsoft ITG (Internal Technology Group, what most people would call MIS) formats all the desktop PC's with FAT (NT4) or FAT32 (Win2k) and gives the employee admin access on it.
There's just no internal pressure to create system that's perfectly usable by a non-admin.
I sincerly hope that MAPI (MS version of IMAP) goes the way of the Macarena!
MAPI is not an over-the-wire protocol. It is an API that Windows software uses to hook in with the MS Windows Messaging dlls.
The thing is, the only current implementation (AFAIK) of the Exchange Server wire protocol is in a gaggle of MAPI dlls, so for Windows apps you have to use the MAPI (Mail API) to get to any Exchange Server.
Anyway, the Exchange Server wire protocol is RPC-based (MS seems to be following this pattern for a large number of things now, SMS, most remote admin through the MMC, etc...).
RPC-based protocols aren't exactly easy to figure out, they're basically a set of function calls that you'll have to snoop on and reimplement one by one.
What is so wrong with those that we as a country are limiting our own constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by making them taboo?
Why is the United States Code 250MB of plain text?
That's entirely feasible, however chips can't just 'spout out' what speed they are supposed to be running at. If you want that information printed at bootup, the BIOS has to do it.
BIOS's are flashable, and it's fairly easy to change a text string (like "533") to another one (like "800") with a hex editor.
Once you have the thing in protected mode running a known OS (something you have loaded yourself, lest the evil bios flashers of doom also edit a couple DLL's or kernel/proc code), then the BIOS is, in theory, out of the picture and cannot interfere with a protected mode API for accessing this PROM.
I'd imagine you could put a protected mode CPU identifier program like this on a floppy disk (after all, memtest86 compiles down to 18kb or so).
But, you can hardly expect the target market that AMD or Intel is attempting to defend to do that. So that's why AMD and Intel don't do that. Oh, and people don't buy motherboards with non-flashable BIOS's anymore.
Remember your 900Mhz cordless phone, now pushing up to the 2.4 Ghz range? The reason behind that is farther transmission with less interference.
the infrared transmitters could go through buildings
Infrared can't penetrate several pieces of paper, let alone buildings. Infrared is just below visible light in the frequency spectrum, at about 70 terahertz.
The higher you go with frequencies, the more bandwidth you can easily get. (Exceptions are TV broadcasters, who somehow managed to swindle the FCC out of 6mhz per channel in the 55 through 800mhz range). The more bandwidth, the more clarity (perhaps what you meant by "less interference") you can encode in whatever digital encoding scheme you're using. However, the signal also gets more directional and starts to not penetrate things (like raindrops and trees). HF (signals below about 30mhz, this includes shortwave) can be reflected by the atmosphere and travel around the world (depending on conditions and the specific band you're using). VHF/UHF (30mhz to about 1ghz) will go through hills/concrete structures/etc usually, but there's not much bandwidth left in the VHF/UHF range for people wanting to set up 2mbps links to their friends. Microwave (1GHz on up) has plenty of room, but the signals can't penetrate much.
You'd have more power with 80-octane gas, but you'd probably need to tune the engine differently, perhaps using valves/pistons with less compression, otherwise it would ping to death.
People may argue with Microsoft's method of enforcing copyright. They may even argue that it's not "secure enough".
Governments (in the US, the "executive" branch) enforce copyright, not corporations.
You'd think that after over 20 years of horribly botched copy protection schemes from various companies, people would realize this.
About all the corporation can do is claim copyright and sue for damages if they feel it's being violated (Oh, and lobby the government to pass laws friendly to them).
First off, I want to say that I feel my first amendment rights are being infringed when Microsoft threatens legal action against parties that reproduce my words.
Second, it's probably safe to tell people how not to obtain documentation.
Rewriting the offhand comment portion of my original post: Do not, under any circumstances, right click on the exe and choose extract to folder, as this would prevent you from seeing the license agreement.
Third, this is a PR nightmare for Microsoft. They've already gotten reamed in the press for not releasing Kerberos specs, now they're insisting those specs are a Trade Secret?
Fourth, Trade Secrets usually lose their protection after they are made publically available to competitors. Putting the spec up on a public place on their web site and letting the Samba developers download it and then submit an article to slashdot is probably enough to lose trade secret protection.
Slashdot Mirror
Minor brain fart - these are track offsets, not track lengths.
Whether this is true or not, it's pathetic. FreeDB uses the same algorithm.
Anyway, this is a description of the algorithm just so you can see how stupid it is:
The discid looks like a 32 bit hex number, but in reality it's not - it's an 8 bit checksum, a 16 bit number representing the total length of the disc in seconds, and an 8 bit number representing the number of tracks on the disc.
It's mind-warpingly simple. Ignoring MSF offsets for the sake of discussion, this is how it's done:
Get the length of all the tracks in frames, like so:+ 2+2+1+1+2+3+7+9+2+6+7+0+2+8+7+2
22047 44492 69957 85152 113637 129910 148045 165852 178462 200282 215427
Divide them all by 75 so you have track lengths in seconds:
293 593 932 1135 1515 1732 1973 2211 2379 2670 2872
This is the really really brilliant part - Add all the decimal digits together like so:
2+9+3+5+9+3+9+3+2+1+1+3+5+1+5+1+5+1+7+3+2+1+9+7+3
It's 161 or 0xa1. Convert the length of the disc and number of tracks to hex too (0xc87 and 0xc) and put them together - 0xa10c870c. This is only a little bit off from the real discid (a30c850c), and only because of the MSF offsets I skipped over.
Read the cd-discid source code for the full algorithm.
I would be utterly amazed if they could protect this algorithm in court - it's literally just addition.
And haven't you ever mounted a drive (or an array) externally?
Mr. T's motivational video "Be Somebody, Or Be Somebody's Fool" should probably be in that list somewhere.
I'm probably the only one who subliminally read "They are looking to secretly raise $200 million" into the story. Transmeta just has that effect on your brain.
Cashier: And could I get your last name?
Me: No.
Cashier: Ok that'll be $foo.bar...
Also, telling them you don't have a last name is equally effective, but it does make them ponder more.
If they ask whether you're using those parts to build a bomb, answer yes. Every time. Tell them the 555's are for the delay circuit. Never give a location though.
Anyone with an MCSE that has never touched a computer possesses incredible social engineering skills, and is therefore worth hiring for that alone. Just don't let them near the payroll system.
You see, you have to touch a computer to take the MCSE tests, they're computerized :)
There's lots of people who have bought 30 copies of Windows without ever installing a single copy :)
There's just no internal pressure to create system that's perfectly usable by a non-admin.
lilo is at 21.5. Emacs is at 21, but that's only because RMS realized there would never be a version 2.0 so he renamed "1.2" "12".
Luckily, more people have realized just how little can be read into a version number.
MAPI is not an over-the-wire protocol. It is an API that Windows software uses to hook in with the MS Windows Messaging dlls.
The thing is, the only current implementation (AFAIK) of the Exchange Server wire protocol is in a gaggle of MAPI dlls, so for Windows apps you have to use the MAPI (Mail API) to get to any Exchange Server.
Anyway, the Exchange Server wire protocol is RPC-based (MS seems to be following this pattern for a large number of things now, SMS, most remote admin through the MMC, etc...).
RPC-based protocols aren't exactly easy to figure out, they're basically a set of function calls that you'll have to snoop on and reimplement one by one.
Blame Sun :)
And just what the hell is contraband?
Drugs? Guns? Nuclear weapons? Porn? Strong encryption? Anti-establishment propaganda?
What is so wrong with those that we as a country are limiting our own constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by making them taboo?
Why is the United States Code 250MB of plain text?
BIOS's are flashable, and it's fairly easy to change a text string (like "533") to another one (like "800") with a hex editor.
Once you have the thing in protected mode running a known OS (something you have loaded yourself, lest the evil bios flashers of doom also edit a couple DLL's or kernel /proc code), then the BIOS is, in theory, out of the picture and cannot interfere with a protected mode API for accessing this PROM.
I'd imagine you could put a protected mode CPU identifier program like this on a floppy disk (after all, memtest86 compiles down to 18kb or so).
But, you can hardly expect the target market that AMD or Intel is attempting to defend to do that. So that's why AMD and Intel don't do that. Oh, and people don't buy motherboards with non-flashable BIOS's anymore.
http://www.q uantum.com/products/archive/daytona/daytona_specs_ page.htm
(Most laptop drives are around 6mm these days, so I'd guess they'd only have one or two platters.)
If you wanna start from the base system and work your way up, just don't select a profile or any task packages, and don't run dselect initially.
Then apt-get install stuff as you need it.
Most of the servers I put into production using Debian have under 200 packages installed.
Have the Amiga execs and the WWF execs switch places.
the infrared transmitters could go through buildings
Infrared can't penetrate several pieces of paper, let alone buildings. Infrared is just below visible light in the frequency spectrum, at about 70 terahertz.
The higher you go with frequencies, the more bandwidth you can easily get. (Exceptions are TV broadcasters, who somehow managed to swindle the FCC out of 6mhz per channel in the 55 through 800mhz range). The more bandwidth, the more clarity (perhaps what you meant by "less interference") you can encode in whatever digital encoding scheme you're using. However, the signal also gets more directional and starts to not penetrate things (like raindrops and trees). HF (signals below about 30mhz, this includes shortwave) can be reflected by the atmosphere and travel around the world (depending on conditions and the specific band you're using). VHF/UHF (30mhz to about 1ghz) will go through hills/concrete structures/etc usually, but there's not much bandwidth left in the VHF/UHF range for people wanting to set up 2mbps links to their friends. Microwave (1GHz on up) has plenty of room, but the signals can't penetrate much.
Robert Woodcock, KC7WOZ
You'd have more power with 80-octane gas, but you'd probably need to tune the engine differently, perhaps using valves/pistons with less compression, otherwise it would ping to death.
Remember, 140 octane == water.
Thousands of conversations across american suburbia go something like this:
"Mom, my teacher hates me!"
"No Suzy, your teacher does not hate you."
Hundreds of other conversations across american suburbia go something like this:
"Suzy... sometimes I hate that kid."
Oh, and if you ever break a computer in some way, don't say "oops". Say "there". Any doctor can tell you that.
As for the police, just get a scanner and listen for yourself :)
Governments (in the US, the "executive" branch) enforce copyright, not corporations.
You'd think that after over 20 years of horribly botched copy protection schemes from various companies, people would realize this.
About all the corporation can do is claim copyright and sue for damages if they feel it's being violated (Oh, and lobby the government to pass laws friendly to them).
No it won't.
Microsoft can't get too draconian with the patch, lest people refrain from applying it, in which case they are back to where they started.
Ahh well. Virus writers will have to get mildly creative again.
Second, it's probably safe to tell people how not to obtain documentation.
Rewriting the offhand comment portion of my original post:
Do not, under any circumstances, right click on the exe and choose extract to folder, as this would prevent you from seeing the license agreement.
Third, this is a PR nightmare for Microsoft. They've already gotten reamed in the press for not releasing Kerberos specs, now they're insisting those specs are a Trade Secret?
Fourth, Trade Secrets usually lose their protection after they are made publically available to competitors. Putting the spec up on a public place on their web site and letting the Samba developers download it and then submit an article to slashdot is probably enough to lose trade secret protection.
Fifth, Slashdot needs to move offshore.
$150 is the humor value for them naming it 'msfux.exe' :>