Its called squid. With it you can easily block all jpg/png/bmp/etc files, but of course, if you do that, maybe you can safely upgrade your browser to lynx, w3m or links (all in text mode, of course).
For more complex checks (instead of just blocking, check and/or even virus check) there are several open source projects already that enables checking of content. Probably you just need a program that says if a graphic image is "valid" and it will be probably easily integrated with such solutions.
In health is easier to harm than to cure. In IT is easier to build something that fails, i.e. for worms don't spread, can't cope with security measures, etc, than build something sucessful, for bad or good reasons. Doctors can do harm even by mistake, but to have sucessful virus/worm (and that is not just a somewhattrivial modification of an existing one) could require some skill.
Of course, giving power to someone with no sense of responsability or morale could be risky, had written a worm before or not. Evaluating how him will behave is something you must do anyway for anyone you are hiring.
Or better yet, Anomy Sanitizer. It disables "active" html content (i.e. javascript) attached to mails, can quarantine/rename files by extension, and of course, can call a configurable antivirus to check and take actions.
That is mostly the way i use it, disabling html, checking attached files for virus, and the windows executable extensions that passed the antivirus check gets renamed anyway to make them not executable without strong user action. Attached HTML pages sometimes don't look/work as desired, but I not have to worry about someone receiving this particular piece of spam.
SP2 have a lot of fixes, and one of them was that you were actually NOT sharing your printer and files, at least in the widest sense of the word. Well, SP2 fixes that, and now you are really sharing them, whats the problem?
Uh, of course, this is slashdot, any opportunity to bash Microsoft should be taken. But in this case, for once, they did very well their job.
after all, there are mathematical proof that they should not be able to fly, so if you see one flying, must be an optical illusion.
With open source is the same... if you only count as argument about structured search for problems and how commercial software have behind a well organized way to track problems and things like that, you forgot the human factors that in the real wold makes open source more than its commercial counterparts.
Of course, when you put people making a difference against methodologies, you can't do big generalizations as people vary between projects, but at least remains true for the most used open softwares (linux, apache, openbsd, x, etc) against the most used closed source software (microsoft.*)
Is better to have an advisories that points to the exact C++ source file (i.e. nsMsgCompUtils.cpp named in the advisory, you could even try to fix it by yourself if you strongly depend of an exact mozilla browser version or made a derived work) instead of hoping that some vulnerability in closed software is found by the good guys first by trial and error or things like that.
Another difference: newer mozilla, thunderbird and firefox versions have more features and no backward problems afaik and is not complex to install (even is faster/with lesser requirements than some previous versions). To fix the jpg problem you must have XP SP2 (that causes a lot of problems) or apply a critical patch ready just for a few MS plataforms (nice when you even have a "jpeg of death" around that tries to steal your gmail account and other passwords exploiting the IE jpg vulnerability)
One that in some way makes the machine inusable, even after reinstalling?
Probably there are very few ways of damaging hardware (at least that be unnoticed till is too late, giving high load to disk/monitor/etc needs time to work if it does), but damaging flash memory, upgradable bios or setting hardware programmable defaults to something nasty maybe can be done.
Maybe if some of that kind of virus becomes very sucessful people (ok, the remaining ones) will start to take care and worms will not be a so big problem in a future.
SF is not just about TV series. For me the main source of science fiction are books and tales, and very far from it are tv series and movies.
Now, even if your list is "complete" covering all topics that SF can probably touch (i doubt so) the way of doing it or the specifics (i.e., "time travel", paradoxes, what is reality and a lot of rekated things more are the basis of hundreds of excelent and very different stories) is enough space for a lot of time.
I wonder if in the pre-50's someone had the same suggestion, that the Sci-fi topic was exhausted and predicted the end of the genre.
But this time they are not so far from the truth. Patents are becoming so generic and mindless approved that you can't invent anything without stepping out somewhere's else patent.
I send you a message that say "ok, here I send you the... " what comes here? cant say is a picture, i must say is a shell script, perl program, whatever " you must make it executable and run it with./myscript or run it with perl myscript or sh myscript". If you really follow all those instructions and takes that all troubles to run an unchecked executable, well, it will do whatever it wants that don't need root access. Of course, as a shell script you can probably read it and have a hint on what it does.
Even the mail worms for windows that need that the user open a zip, put the password of the zip and open the included executable do the trick of having a double extension or the real extension after a lot of spaces to making the user to not be aware that double clicking on it in fact executes it, but in linux is not so easy.
But, anyway, if you If you went all that way and followed blindly all the instructions, you can perfectly sudo yourself to be root, donwload whatever backdoor/trojan exist now for linux, and install it (well, or just do an rm -rf/, send all your money to me or jump thru your window, with good enough social engineering and a user cooperative enough exist few limits to the damage you can do to yourself).
Yes and no. If Linux users grow a lot could rise the number of rooted Linux computers. But the way in will hardly be mail, or at least mail attachments. With linux you don't have a single cpu architecture, a single installable program format (some use deb, others rpm) and not a single set of basic libraries (glib5? 6? qt3? pick a random linux binary and you should probably check dependencies before it could run) and last but not least, reasonable distributions discourage users in a way or another to run as root (i.e. in suse your root desktop if full of exploding bombs as a hint).
But with a lot of linux users, maybe with some of them don't aplying security fixes and activating services because they are just there could mean that a future remote exploit to a commonly installed service (i.e. ssh, apache) could have some success, and there number of installed system is not a problem, one of the latest worms exploited a vulnerability in a not so common, commercial firewall for windows, and was pretty sucessful.
Maybe the real name of it in internal MS memos is in fact VWFS (VaporWare FileSystem) or will be the next codename for the promised object oriented database mumblejumbo fs for windows 2010.
not was sure where discuss the Uruguayan elections next month, and this fits like a glove:)
To be serious was about to object that this should be called uspolitics.slashdot.org, that exist a big world outside where politics matters too.
But politics is normally something very local, very specific for only a country (well, unless that country because its politics goes in a way or another beyond borders). And sometimes could be absurd to go to discuss local politics in another language for the non-english speaking countries, unless have some tech slant somewhere to make it not so local.
Another thing... as I see that some previous stories where "migrated" to this section from others, how thin is the line dividing this section from YRO?
There are several applications that are trying to use gmail as its backend. GmailFS, this blog, and probably exist several more right now. If google open up a bit more their API, other applications and uses around gmail could grow exponentially.
But even google with all its servers have limitations. Would love to see gmail grow in kind of uses it could have, but simplicity and speed are some of its strengths that it could lose if it is abused.
Why just legal letters? Force RIAA to sue you! Then show that the file is open content or content that really belongs to you, and contersue them for a bunch of millons. RIAA could be the next "Make rich fast" scheme for us.
... but unfortunatelly, he will say "I'm a doctor Jim, not a Jesus",
If someone really deserve to be some kind of life suspension to be revived in a far future, by a new generation, is him... at least we now that he can play that role.
Ok, i could understand their idea get the idea that Matrix is more martial arts than sci-fi, or Star Wars that could be located anywhere, or that Alien is more terror.
But there are a lot of not named movies that plays with very hard sci-fi topics, i.e. 12 Monkeys with time (or Terminator or even Back to the future), or Avalon with virtual reality, or more topics covered by the science fiction concept or even Dark City.
But also, they are movies, not just must touch some advanced scientific or science fiction topics, but must be good as a movie... ok, Blade Runner is good, but there are a lot that were don't even named there.
And if well is the author behind Blade Runner, the article don't even names P.K.Dick, that have a bunch of really good sci-fi movies based on his books and tales, maybe him alone should have most top ranked movies in their selection.
Microsoft has also seen its unfortunate style of diplomacy have an effect in Korea, Kurdistan, Uruguay and to China--where a cartographical dispute saw Chinese employees hauled in front of the government.
What does my country in south america to make a diplomatic between korea, kurdistand and china, that in a way or another are somewhat close?
Seems to be closer the "WWIII: Microsoft style". A good example where with great power one don't give a shit about the great responsibility.
... they are sent from an address the infected person knows or at least have stored in a way or another to another address he have too. This factor should be taken in account when evaluating how "trustable" is the info or in how it could be used, else it could become useless or irrelevant.
Slashdot Mirror
For more complex checks (instead of just blocking, check and/or even virus check) there are several open source projects already that enables checking of content. Probably you just need a program that says if a graphic image is "valid" and it will be probably easily integrated with such solutions.
Of course, giving power to someone with no sense of responsability or morale could be risky, had written a worm before or not. Evaluating how him will behave is something you must do anyway for anyone you are hiring.
That is mostly the way i use it, disabling html, checking attached files for virus, and the windows executable extensions that passed the antivirus check gets renamed anyway to make them not executable without strong user action. Attached HTML pages sometimes don't look/work as desired, but I not have to worry about someone receiving this particular piece of spam.
Uh, of course, this is slashdot, any opportunity to bash Microsoft should be taken. But in this case, for once, they did very well their job.
With open source is the same... if you only count as argument about structured search for problems and how commercial software have behind a well organized way to track problems and things like that, you forgot the human factors that in the real wold makes open source more than its commercial counterparts.
Of course, when you put people making a difference against methodologies, you can't do big generalizations as people vary between projects, but at least remains true for the most used open softwares (linux, apache, openbsd, x, etc) against the most used closed source software (microsoft.*)
Another difference: newer mozilla, thunderbird and firefox versions have more features and no backward problems afaik and is not complex to install (even is faster/with lesser requirements than some previous versions). To fix the jpg problem you must have XP SP2 (that causes a lot of problems) or apply a critical patch ready just for a few MS plataforms (nice when you even have a "jpeg of death" around that tries to steal your gmail account and other passwords exploiting the IE jpg vulnerability)
Probably there are very few ways of damaging hardware (at least that be unnoticed till is too late, giving high load to disk/monitor/etc needs time to work if it does), but damaging flash memory, upgradable bios or setting hardware programmable defaults to something nasty maybe can be done.
Maybe if some of that kind of virus becomes very sucessful people (ok, the remaining ones) will start to take care and worms will not be a so big problem in a future.
Now, even if your list is "complete" covering all topics that SF can probably touch (i doubt so) the way of doing it or the specifics (i.e., "time travel", paradoxes, what is reality and a lot of rekated things more are the basis of hundreds of excelent and very different stories) is enough space for a lot of time.
I wonder if in the pre-50's someone had the same suggestion, that the Sci-fi topic was exhausted and predicted the end of the genre.
But this time they are not so far from the truth. Patents are becoming so generic and mindless approved that you can't invent anything without stepping out somewhere's else patent.
Now most movies with CG effects are rendered with Linux, so the ones that have a lot of blue screens on the back are becoming rare.
Even the mail worms for windows that need that the user open a zip, put the password of the zip and open the included executable do the trick of having a double extension or the real extension after a lot of spaces to making the user to not be aware that double clicking on it in fact executes it, but in linux is not so easy.
But, anyway, if you If you went all that way and followed blindly all the instructions, you can perfectly sudo yourself to be root, donwload whatever backdoor/trojan exist now for linux, and install it (well, or just do an rm -rf /, send all your money to me or jump thru your window, with good enough social engineering and a user cooperative enough exist few limits to the damage you can do to yourself).
But with a lot of linux users, maybe with some of them don't aplying security fixes and activating services because they are just there could mean that a future remote exploit to a commonly installed service (i.e. ssh, apache) could have some success, and there number of installed system is not a problem, one of the latest worms exploited a vulnerability in a not so common, commercial firewall for windows, and was pretty sucessful.
Maybe the real name of it in internal MS memos is in fact VWFS (VaporWare FileSystem) or will be the next codename for the promised object oriented database mumblejumbo fs for windows 2010.
To be serious was about to object that this should be called uspolitics.slashdot.org, that exist a big world outside where politics matters too.
But politics is normally something very local, very specific for only a country (well, unless that country because its politics goes in a way or another beyond borders). And sometimes could be absurd to go to discuss local politics in another language for the non-english speaking countries, unless have some tech slant somewhere to make it not so local.
Another thing... as I see that some previous stories where "migrated" to this section from others, how thin is the line dividing this section from YRO?
But even google with all its servers have limitations. Would love to see gmail grow in kind of uses it could have, but simplicity and speed are some of its strengths that it could lose if it is abused.
Why just legal letters? Force RIAA to sue you! Then show that the file is open content or content that really belongs to you, and contersue them for a bunch of millons. RIAA could be the next "Make rich fast" scheme for us.
If someone really deserve to be some kind of life suspension to be revived in a far future, by a new generation, is him... at least we now that he can play that role.
But for burning data, or formatting DVDs, or even copying or burning a DVD iso is very good.
Even love the kde trick of putting a blank dvd and offering me to launch (even by default) k3b to burn something there.
Yes, i know, i must read all the linked articles before giving an opinion, not just the main one.
But there are a lot of not named movies that plays with very hard sci-fi topics, i.e. 12 Monkeys with time (or Terminator or even Back to the future), or Avalon with virtual reality, or more topics covered by the science fiction concept or even Dark City.
But also, they are movies, not just must touch some advanced scientific or science fiction topics, but must be good as a movie... ok, Blade Runner is good, but there are a lot that were don't even named there.
And if well is the author behind Blade Runner, the article don't even names P.K.Dick, that have a bunch of really good sci-fi movies based on his books and tales, maybe him alone should have most top ranked movies in their selection.
Could it be count as spam? In that case, will users behind that spam firewall receive it by mail?
Microsoft has also seen its unfortunate style of diplomacy have an effect in Korea, Kurdistan, Uruguay and to China--where a cartographical dispute saw Chinese employees hauled in front of the government.
What does my country in south america to make a diplomatic between korea, kurdistand and china, that in a way or another are somewhat close?
Seems to be closer the "WWIII: Microsoft style". A good example where with great power one don't give a shit about the great responsibility.
... they are sent from an address the infected person knows or at least have stored in a way or another to another address he have too. This factor should be taken in account when evaluating how "trustable" is the info or in how it could be used, else it could become useless or irrelevant.
No, what Microsoft's server operanting systems have is a lower TC0
if he do that, well, lets put our best Humprey Bogart's face and say "Pay it again, Sam"