Sorry, but many power companies do this already. You can sign up to let them power down your water heater or AC/heater unit for a certain amount of hours a day -- if necessary -- for a discount on your power bill.
I've been signed up for this for years and they've only used it (that I have noticed) twice. However, they've been knocking 5-7% off of my bill for the entire time.
They have guaranteed numbers -- how long they can turn it off for at a time; how long in a 24-hour period; and what criteria (% of plant capacity) they use as a threshold.
It is a hell of a lot better than hitting capacity and shutting off power to entire areas (rolling blackouts) like in California.
People have been asking why the NSA would do such a thing and isn't it counter-productive? After all, isn't their objective to get at all the data when they need to?
The cost savings over their current use of "Trusted" OSes has already been mentioned. It probably adds up.
But you are forgetting one thing. Most of the reported vulnerabilities are not in the kernel! They are in associated apps and misconfigured services!
Yes, I know what MACs are and that properly configured they would go a long way towards securing a system.
Guess what? Most people can't properly configure a system now much less understand and properly setup a MAC-based one!
Look at the Top 10 vulnerabilities on the net today and you will see most of them have had fixes/patches for a long time -- they just haven't been applied!
THIS ISN'T GOING TO CHANGE WITH SE LINUX!
If you know what you are doing you can properly configure a pretty damn secure Linux/BSD system -- especially a non-server -- with minimal effort. Combine IPChains/IPTables with Tripwire, Snort, NMAP (to double-check) and don't run any services that aren't absolutely necessary and ANYONE, including the NSA, is going to have a damn hard time getting in to your system.
If you really want to be paranoid -- use different passwords for local-access items (like logging in) and remote-access items (like POP3 e-mail -- which can be easily sniffed); install the International crypto patch on your kernel and setup a loopback device to encrypt all your file systems. (BTW: the 2.4.3 Int'l patch is out.)
Professional involvement by the world's largest employer of mathematicians and cryptographers is a good thing.
Actually not a bad idea if the wolf had enough incentive. After all, he WOULD know exactly what to protect against, wouldn't he?
There simply has to be enough incentive for the wolf to override his interest in snatching the sheep for himself.
The cost of "trusted" OSes like Solaris, AIX, etc. that they use probably adds up. They are also rumored to be a big consumer of OpenBSD. --
Charles E. Hill
Required to comply? Are you joking? Do the words "national security" mean anything to you? They would to the lawyers/judges who were stupid enough to try to even gather evidence of anything they were doing in regards to this. They'd be in a military jail so fast it would make your head spin. --
Charles E. Hill
Because no matter what else they are, the NSA is still a gov't agency and has more red tape than you can imagine. Just because they are a "black budget" agency doesn't mean they are free from politics.
The people that RUN the agency (like every OTHER gov't agency) are politicians. Remember, George Bush Sr. was Director of the CIA before becoming VP -- a politician. --
Charles E. Hill
Convenience is a big part of perceived cost in many organizations.
i.e. -- They compare costs only with "approved" vendors. Many large companies only deal with vendors that will accept P.O.s (and then only those that aren't rabid about getting paid on time).
You're right about the perceived support bit. The perception of "accountability" is also there. They want someone to blame/sue if it doesn't work.
Like any of these companies is ever going to sue MS because of faulty software. If you don't think your legal dept. has a sense of humor -- suggest that to them! --
Charles E. Hill
Most of the discussion on motion is assuming a common frame of reference. Yes, the Earth is moving around the sun, but everything on the Earth is moving at the same speed and is motionless -- relative to other items on the Earth.
Actually, their "cryptographic" model is supposed to do just that. The button is a small CPU with JavaCard 2.0, some RAM and a "1024-bit math accelerator".
It is tamper resistant; tamper evident and has features like rapid zeroization and self-destruct (fuses the connect with excess voltage).
Very cool.
http://www.ibutton.com/ibuttons/java.html --
Charles E. Hill
Have they never heard of magnets? I'd think one or two of these on a shelf would be a great solution to this sort of problems. Then you COULD put down metallic items (like washers). --
Charles E. Hill
Large companies, who have multiple locations would be the first thing that comes to mind. Especially when people routinely travel around to have meetings.
Teleconferincing isn't that great -- you can't see anything.
I have worked in the manufacturing industry where this would be fantastic -- HQ could see all the sides of an object produced in a Far East facility.
There is a LOT of potential -- even starting at $70,000. (I'm assuming that is for one, and you would need a pair.) --
Charles E. Hill
Interesting. My last job was as a sysadmin for two depts. (65 users & 20 users) of a decent-sized company (low end of Fortune 500).
We were 75% Exchange and 25% MS Mail (on Novell). About 6000 users total in 10 locations around the world.
Melissa & I Love You hammered 8 of our locations -- taking them offline for two days by crashing the e-mail and gateway servers (Novell & NT 4.0/Exchange).
The two locations I was responsible for had 0 (I counted twice) hits. We were running NT 4.0/Exchange 5.0 and Red Hat 6.1/OpenMail. All of the clients were Outlook 98/2000 on Win95 or NT 4.0 sp6a.
The lack of virus incidents I can attribute to two things: diligence on my part as sysadmin -- antivirus was on every machine and automatically updated nightly; and user education. I actually gave classes to the entire facility about viruses and e-mail attachments about a month before the big ones hit. The facilities were small enough I could face-2-face with everyone and put the fear of God into them. (Wanna use an abacus, slide rule and #2 pencil for a week to do reports?)
Education of users was a big part. None of them reported infections at home, either. Those that got infected messages handled them properly.
You missed one of the big ones: age of marriage consent -- which is 16 or lower in (I think) all 50 states. Can get married but not have sex? I don't think so! This negates all of the other ages (voting, drinking, smoking, killing, etc.)
Also, most of Europe and the Far East would have a problem with 18 -- way too *old* in their opinion. I wasn't picking an age for the U.S. but something that would be Internationally more acceptable. The U.S. is too two-faced about anything to do with sex. They do it, but don't like anyone else talking about it. --
Charles E. Hill
No, my point is that there are no clear lines -- especially when it comes to international issues.
The definition of a "child" is not a clear one -- it is decided by society. In many cases there are overlapping definitions.
Once a Jewish child has their bar/batmitzvah, that society then considers them an adult. This is done a lot younger than standard U.S. law -- which is a mix of 16/18/21.
In the end, yes, it would be a good idea to just "pick an age" and be done with it. The question now is "what age"? 14, 16, 18?
Keep in mind that ages of consent for marriage need to be taken into account.
16 seems like a nice number to me, with everything taken into account.
Don't know a lot of WinCE users, do you? My Casio E105 worked great (until I dropped it on the screen).
I used it regularly with a 56k modem; ethernet card and IBM 360 Mb microdrive.
I also used Troll Tech's embedded QT/Linux for a while. Very nice. I love the ability to rotated the screen. It also did almost everything that WinCE did -- and several WinCE didn't.
"Hmmm, I think you're missing the point. Its not a "healthier and safer outlet" if some children are still be expoited to make the child pornography... get a clue."
Define "child" in this context. It varies around the world. Can you produce image with someone of unquestionable legal age (say, 18) that LOOKS like they are younger? No child is harmed here.
Also check out http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm
and you will see that the age of sexual consent varies in the world (and the U.S.) from 12 on up.
Many countries have specific laws against child pornography, but they also specify ages younger than you would think. 16 in the Netherlands.
Check out http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbus e/NationalLaws/ for details. --
Charles E. Hill
Actually, paper will outlast most disks and tapes for storage purposes. Good paper and ink will last hundreds to THOUSANDS of years, while disks and tapes might make it to 100.
In this case, it is good for data density. Encode information two ways. Great for encryption, embedded data (like XML for paper) and steganography. --
Charles E. Hill
Slashdot Mirror
Sorry, but many power companies do this already. You can sign up to let them power down your water heater or AC/heater unit for a certain amount of hours a day -- if necessary -- for a discount on your power bill.
I've been signed up for this for years and they've only used it (that I have noticed) twice. However, they've been knocking 5-7% off of my bill for the entire time.
They have guaranteed numbers -- how long they can turn it off for at a time; how long in a 24-hour period; and what criteria (% of plant capacity) they use as a threshold.
It is a hell of a lot better than hitting capacity and shutting off power to entire areas (rolling blackouts) like in California.
--
Charles E. Hill
The cost savings over their current use of "Trusted" OSes has already been mentioned. It probably adds up.
But you are forgetting one thing. Most of the reported vulnerabilities are not in the kernel! They are in associated apps and misconfigured services!
Yes, I know what MACs are and that properly configured they would go a long way towards securing a system.
Guess what? Most people can't properly configure a system now much less understand and properly setup a MAC-based one!
Look at the Top 10 vulnerabilities on the net today and you will see most of them have had fixes/patches for a long time -- they just haven't been applied!
THIS ISN'T GOING TO CHANGE WITH SE LINUX! If you know what you are doing you can properly configure a pretty damn secure Linux/BSD system -- especially a non-server -- with minimal effort. Combine IPChains/IPTables with Tripwire, Snort, NMAP (to double-check) and don't run any services that aren't absolutely necessary and ANYONE, including the NSA, is going to have a damn hard time getting in to your system.
If you really want to be paranoid -- use different passwords for local-access items (like logging in) and remote-access items (like POP3 e-mail -- which can be easily sniffed); install the International crypto patch on your kernel and setup a loopback device to encrypt all your file systems. (BTW: the 2.4.3 Int'l patch is out.)
Professional involvement by the world's largest employer of mathematicians and cryptographers is a good thing.
--
Charles E. Hill
Actually not a bad idea if the wolf had enough incentive. After all, he WOULD know exactly what to protect against, wouldn't he?
There simply has to be enough incentive for the wolf to override his interest in snatching the sheep for himself.
The cost of "trusted" OSes like Solaris, AIX, etc. that they use probably adds up. They are also rumored to be a big consumer of OpenBSD.
--
Charles E. Hill
Required to comply? Are you joking? Do the words "national security" mean anything to you? They would to the lawyers/judges who were stupid enough to try to even gather evidence of anything they were doing in regards to this. They'd be in a military jail so fast it would make your head spin.
--
Charles E. Hill
Not necessarily. It is difficult either way because it is so rare that anyone actually has enough facts to predict anything accurately.
Remember, inaction is an action. You have to go on what you know. Learn from your mistakes.
--
Charles E. Hill
Because no matter what else they are, the NSA is still a gov't agency and has more red tape than you can imagine. Just because they are a "black budget" agency doesn't mean they are free from politics.
The people that RUN the agency (like every OTHER gov't agency) are politicians. Remember, George Bush Sr. was Director of the CIA before becoming VP -- a politician.
--
Charles E. Hill
Convenience is a big part of perceived cost in many organizations.
i.e. -- They compare costs only with "approved" vendors. Many large companies only deal with vendors that will accept P.O.s (and then only those that aren't rabid about getting paid on time).
You're right about the perceived support bit. The perception of "accountability" is also there. They want someone to blame/sue if it doesn't work.
Like any of these companies is ever going to sue MS because of faulty software. If you don't think your legal dept. has a sense of humor -- suggest that to them!
--
Charles E. Hill
Most of the discussion on motion is assuming a common frame of reference. Yes, the Earth is moving around the sun, but everything on the Earth is moving at the same speed and is motionless -- relative to other items on the Earth.
It sort of cancels out.
--
Charles E. Hill
From the logs it looks like the *DO* need a network engineer...
"Sorry, Houston. It looks like the NT servers got accidentally sucked out the airlock..."
--
Charles E. Hill
Gotta have free hands to open the pouches with. Can't leave them open in a weightless environment.
Hmmm...voice controlled pouches? "Open the pod bay pouches, HAL."
--
Charles E. Hill
Damn, someone understood what I wrote! I'm impressed.
--
Charles E. Hill
Actually, their "cryptographic" model is supposed to do just that. The button is a small CPU with JavaCard 2.0, some RAM and a "1024-bit math accelerator".
It is tamper resistant; tamper evident and has features like rapid zeroization and self-destruct (fuses the connect with excess voltage).
Very cool.
http://www.ibutton.com/ibuttons/java.html
--
Charles E. Hill
Have they never heard of magnets? I'd think one or two of these on a shelf would be a great solution to this sort of problems. Then you COULD put down metallic items (like washers).
--
Charles E. Hill
So, should there be a comma in there (Sun, AIX) or did Sun just buy IBM?
--
Charles E. Hill
Large companies, who have multiple locations would be the first thing that comes to mind. Especially when people routinely travel around to have meetings.
Teleconferincing isn't that great -- you can't see anything.
I have worked in the manufacturing industry where this would be fantastic -- HQ could see all the sides of an object produced in a Far East facility.
There is a LOT of potential -- even starting at $70,000. (I'm assuming that is for one, and you would need a pair.)
--
Charles E. Hill
We were 75% Exchange and 25% MS Mail (on Novell). About 6000 users total in 10 locations around the world.
Melissa & I Love You hammered 8 of our locations -- taking them offline for two days by crashing the e-mail and gateway servers (Novell & NT 4.0/Exchange).
The two locations I was responsible for had 0 (I counted twice) hits. We were running NT 4.0/Exchange 5.0 and Red Hat 6.1/OpenMail. All of the clients were Outlook 98/2000 on Win95 or NT 4.0 sp6a.
The lack of virus incidents I can attribute to two things: diligence on my part as sysadmin -- antivirus was on every machine and automatically updated nightly; and user education. I actually gave classes to the entire facility about viruses and e-mail attachments about a month before the big ones hit. The facilities were small enough I could face-2-face with everyone and put the fear of God into them. (Wanna use an abacus, slide rule and #2 pencil for a week to do reports?)
Education of users was a big part. None of them reported infections at home, either. Those that got infected messages handled them properly.
--
Charles E. Hill
Sorry, sloppy sig. I'll go fix it.
:-)
Yes, it's from the NIN song. I just always thought they were singing about MS and Bill G.
- Charles Hill (that's me)
--
Charles E. Hill
Sorry, I'm sticking with 16.
You missed one of the big ones: age of marriage consent -- which is 16 or lower in (I think) all 50 states. Can get married but not have sex? I don't think so! This negates all of the other ages (voting, drinking, smoking, killing, etc.)
Also, most of Europe and the Far East would have a problem with 18 -- way too *old* in their opinion. I wasn't picking an age for the U.S. but something that would be Internationally more acceptable. The U.S. is too two-faced about anything to do with sex. They do it, but don't like anyone else talking about it.
--
Charles E. Hill
Is it more secure by design, or simply because so many less people use it/know about it?
I don't use Notes, so I don't know.
What in it's design makes it more secure, yet offers the same functionality as Outlook/Exchange?
--
Charles E. Hill
No, my point is that there are no clear lines -- especially when it comes to international issues.
The definition of a "child" is not a clear one -- it is decided by society. In many cases there are overlapping definitions.
Once a Jewish child has their bar/batmitzvah, that society then considers them an adult. This is done a lot younger than standard U.S. law -- which is a mix of 16/18/21.
In the end, yes, it would be a good idea to just "pick an age" and be done with it. The question now is "what age"? 14, 16, 18?
Keep in mind that ages of consent for marriage need to be taken into account.
16 seems like a nice number to me, with everything taken into account.
--
Charles E. Hill
Telnet, FTP and NMAP running from one of these gizmos makes for a great network testing/troubleshooting device.
(I have used all of the above on a Casio E-105 running vrlinux with an ethernet card.)
PDF viewing is also a plus. So is the ability to handle e-mail with attachments (like images or sounds).
--
Charles E. Hill
Don't know a lot of WinCE users, do you? My Casio E105 worked great (until I dropped it on the screen).
I used it regularly with a 56k modem; ethernet card and IBM 360 Mb microdrive.
I also used Troll Tech's embedded QT/Linux for a while. Very nice. I love the ability to rotated the screen. It also did almost everything that WinCE did -- and several WinCE didn't.
--
Charles E. Hill
"Hmmm, I think you're missing the point. Its not a "healthier and safer outlet" if some children are still be expoited to make the child pornography... get a clue."
s e/NationalLaws/ for details.
Define "child" in this context. It varies around the world. Can you produce image with someone of unquestionable legal age (say, 18) that LOOKS like they are younger? No child is harmed here.
Also check out http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm
and you will see that the age of sexual consent varies in the world (and the U.S.) from 12 on up.
Many countries have specific laws against child pornography, but they also specify ages younger than you would think. 16 in the Netherlands.
Check out http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbu
--
Charles E. Hill
I didn't say they did it RIGHT. :-) I was just pointing out why scripting is a good thing.
I've loved scriptable apps since ARexx became pervasive on Amiga.
--
Charles E. Hill
Actually, paper will outlast most disks and tapes for storage purposes. Good paper and ink will last hundreds to THOUSANDS of years, while disks and tapes might make it to 100.
In this case, it is good for data density. Encode information two ways. Great for encryption, embedded data (like XML for paper) and steganography.
--
Charles E. Hill