The sexologists Masters and Johnson did this a long time ago. The intent was to monitor physiological changes during everyone's favourite child-producing activity. Granted, technology wasn't as miniature then and "swallowable" cams did not exist... (but M&J's were small enough for where they were going:)
It is likely this was a GWG (==General Windows Gayness) error, that had nothing to do with the software. With a few exceptions for driver-level code, API calls shouldn't solid-freeze the OS (even Windows).
1 The primary purpose of three-phase power is...
a) To increase efficiency at higher voltages
b) To increase efficiency at any voltage
c) To discipline the users
2 Describe in your own words your emotional connection to Halon.
3 Somebody rebooted the router because they felt it was "acting dodgy". You...
a) Kill them
b) Kill them
c) Kill them
D) All of the above
4 Your average daily caffeine consumption
5 State the purpose of internal Web caches. (correct answer == Blackmail)
6 Have you read the (check all that apply): [x] BOFH [x] BSMFH [x] BGFH [x] BHDOFH [x] BAFH
I know, Slashdotters hate windows, and hate newbies more...but think about it, every one of us was a newbie once. (For the current newbies, following the above advice will just hose your Windows installation.)
Before getting whallopped by moderator-types...should clarify that the AIMazing authors weren't hauled into court as such, just bought out by AOL and forced to un-exist the program.
IANAL, but I recall that typically, a Transform Engine (Proxomitron, Swedish Chef Filter, Game Genie, regexp filter, Babelfish...) that algorithmically transforms copyrighted data is legal. But if I'm providing the content free, and they're advertising on it for profit, don't I have some claim? (For one thing, where's my cut?)
But seriously, the legal argument brings up an interesting point. They claim what they're doing is perfectly legal, but if I released something (even a legitimate stand-alone app that isn't quietly installed with other software) that removes or overwrites the ads on their software, they'd haul me into court so fast my eyeballs would stretch. Anyone remember "AIMazing"?
Now what? Complain to $name_of_company_that_keeps_changing_its_name and wait to be removed at their mercy... or change back to red links, and get several complaints a day (apparently, color FF0000 is not very readable on black background, especially under some forms of color-blindness...)
There are several Registry keys in various locations (system-wide, per-user, etc.) that can run programs. Probably the easiest way to get them is search for all keys named "Run" and "RunServices", deleting unwanted entries as you go. (For anyone who's interested, I have a semi-complete Windows Trash App Removal tutorial online.)
What, did you think he just pulled the 'logorithmic graphs' out of hi^H^H thin air? The numbers come from competent analysis by people who know what the heck they're talking about. (If he was reporting his *own* numbers, in his typical paranoid-guy-wearing-tinfoil-beanie writing style, I would be a bit more suspicious:)
...but I think he has exposed a possibility that, if not Destined To Come True, we should at least be taking seriously. Think of it in terms of the big Y2K non-event: every computer person and media pundit imaginable was foretelling the end of the world as we know it. Sensationalized, overblown, improbable? Absolutely. But it sure got people to take the possibility of massive trouble seriously, seriously enough to pour money and time into fixing systems and making sure it was, indeed, a non-event.
As for code-red reinfecting everything at the crack of August, nobody honestly knows. It may happen, it may not. But without someone like Gibson with the foresight to explore the (admittedly farfetched) possibility of what may happen if we don't secure these systems, chances are much higher they WON'T be secured, and we may be totally unprepared for what, if much/anything, does happen. Stitches in time, and all that.
Russian law requires that users be able to make a back-up copy of legally acquired software. Adobe's protection makes it illegal in Russia. Now can we reverse it legally? If we're going to force Russians to (stupid) US law, doesn't it work both ways?
The clicker may be the size of a bar of soap, but my TV ('70s-era Zenith) has a ZOOM button that de-letterboxes the screen. Now if it just had a button that takes out those computer-generated billboards...
Thank you for your concern about the possibility of illegal software on our premises. However, we don't give a lone hair on a rat's patootie/* our office has 1 machine, in the back room, running Mandrake Linux */ and as such have made NO effort to check our systems for compliance.
You are encouraged, and in fact demanded, to follow through on your threatening letter by the close of business on 01-Dec-2001. Failure to do so may result in the continued use of illegal software/* deletes deCSS archive and mirrors of Touretzsky's server from our quaint little dental office */ and other actions at our discretion. As you may know/* I think I read this somewhere */, it is against the law to knowingly threaten legal actions with no intent on following through on them./* Barratry? In terrorem? Something... */ Please be sure to come out and investigate us as soon as possible.
Have fun!
Rgds, Office of Dr. BillX, Family Dentistry
PS. Please ignore guard dog and electrified doorhandle.
(Enc: Cream cheese dildo and helpful usage suggestions.)
is a hardware switch that write-protects a hard drive, like the tab on floppies. Imagine: Napster v10.0 (Special RIAA Edition) comes out, you install, you run....
------ RIAA: How are you Intellectual Property Violator. All your MP3 are belong to us !! HA HA HA !! ------
And the familiar grind-grind-grind of many files being deleted.
And then afterward, when your freshly downloaded replacement for Napster 10.0, sideloading WebCancer, decides it wants to permanently adjust your Winsock settings...
Some of the mythical proportions of unused-account-spam may come from people who don't carefully watch for a "List me in online member directory" box and untick it. Some freemail sites (includes Hotmail) have a member directory listing the email address of everyone who consents to be listed.
If you are listed on the member directory, you are pretty much *guaranteed* to have the pink stuff coming out of your ears within a week. Read the signup carefully, untick those boxes!
A quick poll for those who have unpublished mail accounts at mega-domains (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.)...
How long is your username?
I'm willing to bet spam intake rises exponentially with shorter usernames, and here's why. Spammers to known mega-email-domains with literally millions of users will send a spam-bomb to every conceivable address of a given length (aaaa@hotmail.com ~ zzzz@hotmail.com) I like to call sonar mailing. Others use a dictionary or wordlist similar to brute-force password crackes to spam likely-to-exist usernames in sequence. (I've heard this referred to as firehosing or guessing & cleaning, I guess terminology varies depending on who you talk to). Mails that bounce back with "invalid username" get marked off the spammer's list, and the rest...well, you know what happens to the rest:)
I unfortunately selected a 4-letter Hotmail address long ago, and get a sonar mail every couple months--typically followed by a sharp increase in spam from various places, which falls back toward nominal as their accounts get nuked (at least until the next sonar ping...)
...something to the effect of "Adobe working hard to free Dmitry" or "Adobe Opposing Prosecution in Super-Benevolent Fight for Human Rights", completely glossing over the fact that Adobe is responsible for the prosecution in the first place. Much of the mainstream media is not presenting the whole story.
Music companies have begun secretly shipping compact discs with copy protection systems on them, preventing consumers from making legal MP3 copies. We can't tell which CDs will have the onerous code until we try to exercise out rights.
Does anyone have the names of any companies who have shelled out for this flawed product? Maybe THEY would like to know (politely) that the product is crap and, instead of fixing it, Adobe is having those who prove it thrown in jail.
You want the Ogg-Vorbis people to be sued by the RIAA? Hey, it could happen...in fact, RIAA lawsuits against the power company ("Intellectual Property Violator Facilitators") would not surprise me at all.
Slashdot Mirror
--
It is likely this was a GWG (==General Windows Gayness) error, that had nothing to do with the software. With a few exceptions for driver-level code, API calls shouldn't solid-freeze the OS (even Windows).
The primary purpose of three-phase power is...
a) To increase efficiency at higher voltages
b) To increase efficiency at any voltage
c) To discipline the users
2
Describe in your own words your emotional connection to Halon.
3
Somebody rebooted the router because they felt it was "acting dodgy". You...
a) Kill them
b) Kill them
c) Kill them
D) All of the above
4
Your average daily caffeine consumption
5
State the purpose of internal Web caches. (correct answer == Blackmail)
6
Have you read the (check all that apply): [x] BOFH [x] BSMFH [x] BGFH [x] BHDOFH [x] BAFH
--
--
But seriously, the legal argument brings up an interesting point. They claim what they're doing is perfectly legal, but if I released something
(even a legitimate stand-alone app that isn't quietly installed with other software)
that removes or overwrites the ads on their software, they'd haul me into court so fast my eyeballs would stretch. Anyone remember "AIMazing"?
--
--
--
--
As for code-red reinfecting everything at the crack of August, nobody honestly knows. It may happen, it may not. But without someone like Gibson with the foresight to explore the (admittedly farfetched) possibility of what may happen if we don't secure these systems, chances are much higher they WON'T be secured, and we may be totally unprepared for what, if much/anything, does happen. Stitches in time, and all that.
--
--
--
--
You are encouraged, and in fact demanded, to follow through on your threatening letter by the close of business on 01-Dec-2001. Failure to do so may result in the continued use of illegal software /* deletes deCSS archive and mirrors of Touretzsky's server from our quaint little dental office */ and other actions at our discretion. As you may know /* I think I read this somewhere */, it is against the law to knowingly threaten legal actions with no intent on following through on them. /* Barratry? In terrorem? Something... */ Please be sure to come out and investigate us as soon as possible.
Have fun!
Rgds,
Office of Dr. BillX, Family Dentistry
PS. Please ignore guard dog and electrified doorhandle.
(Enc: Cream cheese dildo and helpful usage suggestions.)
--
Imagine: Napster v10.0 (Special RIAA Edition) comes out, you install, you run....
------
RIAA: How are you Intellectual Property Violator. All your MP3 are belong to us !! HA HA HA !!
------
And the familiar grind-grind-grind of many files being deleted.
And then afterward, when your freshly downloaded replacement for Napster 10.0, sideloading WebCancer, decides it wants to permanently adjust your Winsock settings...
--
If you are listed on the member directory, you are pretty much *guaranteed* to have the pink stuff coming out of your ears within a week. Read the signup carefully, untick those boxes!
--
How long is your username?
I'm willing to bet spam intake rises exponentially with shorter usernames, and here's why. Spammers to known mega-email-domains with literally millions of users will send a spam-bomb to every conceivable address of a given length (aaaa@hotmail.com ~ zzzz@hotmail.com) I like to call sonar mailing. Others use a dictionary or wordlist similar to brute-force password crackes to spam likely-to-exist usernames in sequence. (I've heard this referred to as firehosing or guessing & cleaning, I guess terminology varies depending on who you talk to). Mails that bounce back with "invalid username" get marked off the spammer's list, and the rest...well, you know what happens to the rest :)
I unfortunately selected a 4-letter Hotmail address long ago, and get a sonar mail every couple months--typically followed by a sharp increase in spam from various places, which falls back toward nominal as their accounts get nuked (at least until the next sonar ping...)
--
--
--
--
Music companies have begun secretly shipping compact discs with copy protection systems on them, preventing consumers from making legal MP3 copies. We can't tell which CDs will have the onerous code until we try to exercise out rights.
I think they are on to something...
--
--
--
--
--