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User: Hiro+Antagonist

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Comments · 526

  1. Re:This is not a virus. on New Linux Worm · · Score: 1

    Thank you. I'd mod this up if I had points left.

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  2. Re:This is not a virus. on New Linux Worm · · Score: 1
    I never said that I wouldn't help an inexperienced linux user or system administrator if they came to me with questions; that's different. I even sent emails to the portion of my friends that runs Linux just to let them know. How else am I supposed to help? Scan every fscking box on the Internet and request a root login so I can update any of them that are running a buggy version? I don't know what you are smoking, but it's probably not legal anywhere outside of Congress.

    My point is, if you didn't patch your system, for whatever reason, it's your own stupid fault for doing so.

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  3. This is not a virus. on New Linux Worm · · Score: 1
    How is this a virus? It is a script that exploits a _well_known_ hole in a slightly older version of bind to install a rootkit. Last time I checked, viruses were small self-contained programs that did nasty things to the computer they run on. All this does is make it very easy to root the box. It's just another script kiddie program.

    Any serious system admins should have already patched or upgraded their copy of bind. If they were really good, they should have been running bind in a chroot jail.

    Wizards, of course, will have already patched the bug when they re-implemented bind in assembler. :)

    The only people this will affect are the ones dumb enough to have installed bind and not used it, or incompetent sysadmins who deserve to get burned.

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  4. Re:"Current Market Conditions" = free = unprofitab on Turbolinux Pulls IPO · · Score: 1
    No, it's called "We don't want to IPO in an economy where tech-companies are high-risk."

    Think -- would _YOU_ be heavily investing in tech stocks at the moment? Only if you're a Foolish investor (which I happen to be...*grin*).

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  5. Re:Spam is freedom of speech on Forced Into Spamming By Your Employer? · · Score: 1
    It is hardly free speech, or freedom of the press. If someone sends letters to your real-world mailbox continuously, against your will, they can face fines and imprisonment. If a business did it, there would likely be a class-action lawsuit involved.

    It's harassment, plain and simple.

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  6. Your boss is a bloody moron. on Forced Into Spamming By Your Employer? · · Score: 1
    The two key things that your boss will kill with this little tactic are investor confidence and customer satisfaction. How?

    Let's deal with customer satisfaction. People don't like spam. They hate it. Especially business customers. We go to great lengths to keep our _real_ email addresses protected from floods of useless email. When someone whom we _pay_ as a client starts doing this to us, it becomes very irritating. VERY IRRITATING.

    Investor confidence? Your company is setting up a seperate server, so you don't get "blackholed", using a seperate ISP -- the only thing they can't do much about is the technical contact, which will need to be someone in your organization. This is a very cheap and dishonest tactic, and speaking as an investor, we don't like dishonest tactics. Who is to say they aren't lying about their products, or fudging the balance sheets? The company will be scrutinized much more closely, and minor slipups will have a much greater impact than before.

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  7. Re:Am I missing something here ... on Why Are SSL Certificates So Expensive? · · Score: 1
    Not really. My company has a certificate, and we have never once had any real verification outside of letters sent back-and-fourth, and my boss getting a call asking him if he was himself (no request for an ID number or password).

    You don't really get anything for that $125+.

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  8. Re:Reminds me of the Crystal Rod Encyclopedia on Illegal Prime Number Unzips to DeCSS · · Score: 1
    There's a story called "What breeds a man..." in which a couple of astronauts are sealed in an interstellar spacecraft for a very long journey to a neighboring star.

    What happens is that, the farther they get from the mob of humanity, and the faster they go, the more intelligent they become. At one point in their conversation with Mother Earth, they stop sending back text, and instead use gödized numbers (data encoded to a very long number), as with the computational power they have developed it is more efficient.

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  9. Re:Daft on Silicon Graphics Will Put Linux On Origin · · Score: 1
    That's Linux running beta, propritary drivers, against very old and well-tested drivers on WindowsNT. They are two very different systems (especially at the kernel-call level), so I can't help but give linux some props for managing to come _very close_ to Windows in its pixel-pushing attempts.

    Basically, it's a half-assed Linux port against the glorious, tested NT driver, and the NT driver won -- but not by much.

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  10. Re:so can a honda civic... on Electric Car Bests Ferrari F550 In 0-60mph · · Score: 1

    That isn't street legal, pal. Sorry to burst your bubble. It's also not really a civic, as all the things that made it a practical, usable, economy car were discarded in the name of being "fast" -- and it will still get toasted by a big-block V8 with a turbocharger strapped to it.

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  11. Re:Patches on FBI: Massive MS Exploits Over Last Year · · Score: 2
    Why worry about the kernel so much? I can't think of any major DoS exploit in the Linux _kernel_ that has shown up in the past year or so. If your user-space applications (like bind, sendmail, etc) are properly maintained, then you will likely have a very secure system. And you don't need to reboot in order to upgrade bind.

    Try upgrading DNS, WINS, IIS, and KERNEL32.DLL on a Windows machine (even the oh-so-holy W2K) without a reboot. Can't be done. Reboots mean more downtime; and downtime is bad -- so these things don't get done often. Not to mention the fact that the requirements for becoming a "NT SysAdmin" are not exactly that strict -- so the _average_ level of competence is going to be higher for Unix admins then NT admins (you need to know what you are doing to get into a Unix shop).

    Note that I'm not saying _all_ NT admins are dolts. Just a large number of them. ;)

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  12. Woah! on Anonymous Speech Litigation · · Score: 1
    Did I just read correctly, that AOL is defending online privacy (in a sense)?!? They actually have more to loose then to gain with this -- I would need a sixteen-bit register to count the number of "AOL sucks" pages/posts/etc.

    Again, I quote Keanu Reeves: "Woah!"

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  13. Re:If you're the DBA... on Microsoft Access As A Client For Free Databases? · · Score: 1
    You claim that TPC is worth something? To a suit, maybe. To a marketoid, lots. To a DBA? I think not. Microsoft SQLServer+W2K gets very nice TPC numbers compared to Oracle+Solaris, but fails miserably in the stability department, and that's what really counts in a database. Stability matters so much more than speed.

    So, I would say mySQL's tests are valid -- they simulate a production environment much better then TPC does (continuous operation for weeks on end is much better then a quick benchmark). Is mySQL up to the level of a database like Oracle or DB2? Nope. But neither is SQLServer, IMNSHO.

    I'm not even going to get started on the "who has more bugs" -- we both know that SQLServer+NT will win in that department. I'm not just another Linux zealot, either; I administrate both Unix and NT systems (Solaris and Linux), and needless to say, we use Linux and Solaris pretty effectively (keeps costs down, too).

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  14. Re:Why? on Microsoft Access As A Client For Free Databases? · · Score: 3

    Urm...it doesn't support transactions? Check your facts first!

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  15. Re:If you're the DBA... on Microsoft Access As A Client For Free Databases? · · Score: 1

    Urm, they do test releases with production databases in the 100G range, plus "crashme", and thousands upon thousands of hours of user debugging time. Pray tell me why that qualifies as more of a toy than something like SQLServer or PostgreSQL?

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  16. Re:Jews should be exterminated on NASA Shuts Down X-33, X-34 Programs · · Score: 1
    I would write a response to this, but you are so far beneath my level of contempt that I don't feel like wasting more then about thirty seconds of my time.

    All I can say is -- "What's the matter? All you 'superior aryans' can't compete against us uentermenschen?" Biter.

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  17. Re:2.4 security on New Kernel Security Features In 2.4 Explained · · Score: 2

    Your best bet, if you're using NFS to link to a remote system, is to set up a VPN solution like FreeS/WAN.

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  18. Re:It's for their own good on Rebooting The World? · · Score: 1

    Who are you to declare what truth is? I'm somewhat religious (Jewish), but I -- unlike you -- make no arrogant pretence to see the eye of God. I'm sorry that you seem to be challenged by reality.

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  19. Re:Alcohol is not addictive ?!?! on Do You Consider Your Social Life When You Choose A Career? · · Score: 1
    I didn't say it wasn't _addictive_, I said it wasn't _physically_ addictive. Take two addicts -- a heroin junkie and an alcoholic. Sedate both of them (not a muscle relaxant, just something that will send their higher brain functions to nirvanna that is NOT endorphin-oriented, like morphine).

    The alcoholic will sleep like a baby, and the heroin addict will still twitch, as his pain receptors are still going off the charts. It's still an addiction, but it's one which requires a psychological cure, not a physical one.

    Why is the difference important? Heroin, you're hooked after a few hits. Same with nicotine -- it's easy to get hooked. Alcohol dependency takes a lot of work. You don't just drink a few beers and -- BAM! You're a lush. That's the argument.

    So yes, it is addictive, but nowhere near as evil as a goodly number of other drugs, and far easier for the user to regulate.

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  20. Re:My apologies... on Do You Consider Your Social Life When You Choose A Career? · · Score: 1
    Depends on the beer. Coors, Budweiser...those are horrible. Crack open a Heffenweisen from Sudwerks (a local microbrew), or even a good Sam Adams (the Cream Stout and seasonal ales are the best).

    If all you've had was Coors (or its ilk), don't knock beer. Don't drink too much of it (I have two a week and work out like a madman, so I don't have a beer belly).

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  21. Re:As a non-drinker, No, but otherwise, Yes. on Do You Consider Your Social Life When You Choose A Career? · · Score: 1
    Not so much that she's black, but that you're an interracial couple. That's almost as bad of a sin as incest, according to the general Mormon view of things.

    Thank god I live in California! At least not _all_ of the people here are fake!

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  22. Re:Confusing? Um... on Do You Consider Your Social Life When You Choose A Career? · · Score: 1
    You have obviously never imbibed alcohol, at least not in any measurable quantity. As such, I believe this disqualifies you to make any statements about it's benefits, disadvantages, or effects.

    I drink when I feel like it. Unlike nicotine or heroin, alcohol is not a physically addictive substance (alcoholics have a psychological, not a physical, addiction). I enjoy a light wine with a good meal, and will kick back with some friends to watch a movie and down a few good beers. I'll even go out to parties (on ocassion; perhaps once every three to six months) and get smashed, if only to enjoy a brief period of time where everything is funny (you laugh a lot when you are tossed), and everyone is your friend. When you are among friends, this makes for a good situation, and a very relaxing evening. Take a vitamin tablet and some gatorade before you catch some sleep, and you will wake up feeling rather refreshed the next morning.

    Am I a bad person? A lush? I'm doing pretty well at holding down an excellent job (Unix System Admin.), while going to school, and reading an insane number of books for my personal pleasure.

    Has my social life improved with the use of alcohol? Yes. I can go to nightclubs, dance, and meet interesting people -- some of which are real, live (Get This!) -- WOMEN! Ones that are interesting to talk to! Never see those hanging aroud Mormon churches too often; likely because of the attitude Mormon men have towards Mormon women (most of the women I find attractive are far too intelligent to be members of a cult). I think I'm doing just fine. Have fun playing Laser Tag!

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  23. Who cares about liquor! Caffeine! on Do You Consider Your Social Life When You Choose A Career? · · Score: 1

    I remember very clearly the last time I was in Salt Lake, visiting my very-mormon sister. A good cup of coffee was next to impossible to find! How does a state expect to attract geeks without a cornucopia of caffinated beverages?

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  24. Re:Great! on Peer-To-Victim File Sharing · · Score: 1

    Having this tied to a religious metaphor is a bit tenuous; but I agree wholheartedly with your point. Same goes for the other great thinkers of the world -- where would we be if Martin Luther King, or Plato, or John Locke, or Thomas Payne had placed copyright symbols after everything they said and wrote?

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  25. Re:Improvements on Build Your Own X-Ray Machine · · Score: 1

    The magnetic tape would be fine. Why do you think people pass their laptops through the X-ray at the airport instead of the metal detector? The metal detector puts out enough of a magnetic field to nuke most drives, whereas an X-ray would only be harmful to EPROMS, if the exposure lasted, say, a few years.

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