"After all, the program is just intended to compile a database of call information, not actually listen to the content of the conversations. Doing that, as the administration has repeatedly told us, would require a court order."
Because someday the FBI (or whoever) may find it harder to listen in on these encrypted conversations in cases where they have a court order to do so.
Oh, c'mon - it won't be that bad... you'll just have to get your files from hard drives named "/dev/rdsk/c0t0sUpercalifragilistic" and things like that.
At least you won't have to hunt down and install j2se./P
I was in a position to find a new job when I moved out here, and had quite a few competing offers, but I settled on a teaching job at the local community college... it paid only (roughly) 75% of the salary that the competing private employers paid, but the benefits were far higher overall and it allowed me to ride out the dot-but very nicely. (In fact I got to love working there, but a RIF hit in 2005 and I had the least seniority, so it was time to get back out into it all - still nicely timed, IMHO).
If you can see it coming, you can take steps to shelter your resume, no? Sure - I could've still made a pile of cash up until 2001 or so, but I felt a whole lot more secure during the bust than most admins I know of had. When a single opening in the private would attract 400-500+ candidates, and there were few and far between? The average decent admin (not counting paper tigers and folks who should've found another line of work anyway) spent well over a year to 18 months finding even a mediocre position. Meanwhile I was having a blast teaching the kids who are now out becoming admins and programmers themselves.
Overall, he's right - if you use your head --even career-wise-- you can do very well for yourself.
Harmonics was a rotten problem in power lines since 1990 (when I last had to study the National Electrical Code, long before I did the computer thang for a living) - even back then you didn't get a perfect 60Hz sine wave, since things like televisions, blenders, industrial equipment, etc etc would introduce noise into the line at multiples of 60Hz (among others), which shortened the MTBF of, well... anything with a power supply or rectifier attached to it. IIRC (though I'm prolly wrong given the time span, but...) even motors tended to wear out faster if they were under a certain size.
I realize that a power company would be smart enough to be aware of this and likely provide filters to strip that out for folks who use the service, but how are they going to filter the crap out for those who don't have a data box at their house to strip the signal, and how much would it cost? More importantly, wil lthat cost be an enforced one?
Either way I really don't like the idea at all, even if I never use the thing.
agreed... especially when I read parts of TFA like this:
" Multigig, have performed simulations that so far back up the company's claims, though the team is just about to start tests using actual chips, he said. "
Given lots of unknown factors that can arise when you're using real electrons on real silicon, I like the idea, but I'll happily wait for the prototype before thinking this would be a net good thing.
Meanwhile, I hope the 3D Studio Max users are prepared for the impending headaches (same w/ anyone else that uses all kinds of software-based tokens and registration schemes like C-DILLA, if it's even in use anymore).
"I cant assume they run sendmail, hell I cant assume that the script will run on the mail server!"
No, but you can tell how well someone can use regex, and it didn't hurt that I replaced '.../courier/bin/mailq' with "path/to/queue/listing/binary" and admitted flat-out that qmail and sendmail would've been easier for me since I didn;t know courier at the time (and boy, have I ever regretted learning it since!). Of course, the whole thing was trivial considering thet you can set queue expiration in the proggie anyway.
We went over the test after I took it, step by step. The point wasn't to win a trivia contest, but to show my employer the processes I used and learn my mind worked, for lack of a better phrase. To top it off the interviews were done by the senior admins, and not an HR drone.
" letting them do it on a machine with a web browser and google is the right way."
...until you're stuck with troubleshooting a non-responsive bgp-based gateway or cannot get online to do that research. Sometimes knowledge does trump, y'know?
...or the remake of (insert recycled theme here that execs think the majority of the public isn't aware of...)
Yuck. If it isn't the stranglehold of perpetual copyright law killing creativity ("ooooh, can't write about that theme, it sounds too close to something that someone can sue us over!"), outright fear of losing investment money ("Hey, this was a hit in 19xx - let's do it again!"), or flat-out retread of existing 'IP' rights that were purchased ages ago but are now worthless ("man - we paid HOW MUCH for that movie!? Quick! Get Tom Cruise on the phone - we gotta recoup our investment in that thing!")...?
Screw it. I'll be hunting for indie/small-budget/out-of-the-way films from here on out (Equilibrium being a perfect example)... at least until the big motion picture houses decide to stop sucking so hard.
"bzzzt. thank you for demonstrating that you dont use anything but linux."
I refer you to the acronym "IIRC", and the fact that, as already indicated, bash doesn't come w/ Solaris by default (not sure if it does now since I've never bothered w/ 10).
Otherwise, I apologize profusely for not being as anal ab't shell version histories as I apparently should be.
"versus doing something else with that time that's more "real world" experience"
I dunno... when I was told at a previous job that I'd have to actually get an MCSE, I actually sat down and tinkered with NT 4 -- and later Win2k -- on my own time at home on a spare set of boxes. I must say that doing so actually gave me a lot more experience than I would've otherwise bothered with getting in a Windows server environment. It also provided me with a lot of solid and verifyable technical reasons for recommending *nix over Windows for most implmentations.
Agreed, though I do notice that the acronym "CNA" seems to be more popular in the Nursing section of the want ads than the Comptuers/Technical section.
I guess it's all about what they want (which changes over time anyway, fads permitting).
...at least up until the point where they put you at a bash prompt and ask you to perform some tasks:)
My current position as a *nix SysAdmin required that I take a long written (as in - paper and pencil) test on some rather complex questions involving Solaris, BSD, and Linux (e.g. - "write a script that will cancel all mail messages in a courier queue that is more than X days old and report/mail the results to all current admins"). Once I was hired, I discovered that most other people who wanted the job and wrote "UNIX" in their resumes would apparently come up against a brick wall rather hard if they didn't have the experience behind the ink.
But then, you can find out in five minutes at a shell prompt whether or not someone really knows *nix, as opposed to a GUI environment where a candidate can guess-and-click their way to success.
But besides that, maybe an ISP should by default block all but a few outbound ports unless the user requests them specifically (either via a web interface @ the ISP or by phone)?
Or for those who recoil under privacy threats by such a thing, maybe offer a locked-all-to-hell ISP service for $x.00 (web, mail, maybe some game port ranges, and that's it) and a "we'll assume you have a clue about what you're doing" service that leaves ports as they are now for $x+y.00 (nominal enough to scare off the average users, but low enough to prevent gouging and such).
dunno... prolly a bad idea and yes full of holes (technical and otherwise), but an idea nonetheless.
"Hmm let me see, a geek can use linux, and thinks he's superior to others who use windows."
Not at all.
OTOH, I do find that my experiences in doing what the rest of the world does with a computer (surf, play games, etc) are far superior to the all-too-common "Why is my computer all bogged down?" and "Why is my (insert vital part here due to driver failure) not working anymore?" experiences that my Windows-using brethren get. This nagware thingy is just icing on the cake.
"Wanna know why I still use windows on my main system and my laptop?"
...because you feel more comfortable using it, since you're used to it? Because out of your reasons:
#1 simply isn't required nowadays in user-friendly distros on the vast majority of machines (unless you have some really oddball 3rd-party device that requires it). System Update on OSX does it all for me automagically on the Mac.
#2 seems rather too minor to contemplate (is it that hard to hit a power button?), and wouldn't even be an issue with the common Gateways, Dells, HP's, etc. that most people use. Mac hardware simply works (of course, the OS and hdwe were made for each other, so...)
#3 is the case with the vast majority of hardware no matter what OS; In fact I've found it easier to install Linux on many systems than Windows specifically because of drivers (and having to locate them, get the right version, etc etc). Once again, none of those probs on my Mac, either.
"I have Windows machines that will do all the non programming things like watching a dvd legally."
That's funny - I can do that right now on my OSX 10.3 box.;)
While I suspect that Sun will likely make everything run as usual for at least a little while, at least we knew that with Management's full attention on calling Microsoft bad names, it at least insured that they wouldn't get any bright ideas ab't increasing sagging revenue by screwing with Java and/or all versions of OO.
I honestly can't wait until the inevitable SP or critical update that accidentally hoses everyone's machine into thinking it's pirated.
Meanwhile, over here in OSX/Linux/FreeBSD-land, I'll happily tut-tut my relatives and friends who still use Windows and show them a better way to go about the whole computer thing.
time to burn a few extra Ubuntu install disks, folks:)
Yes and no - a decent rootkit will masquerade itself as a valid app anyway, and there's no way for any OS to discern what an app is 'supposed to do' in the first place... at least not without some sort of metatag-like system that a trojan would spoof anyway.
I do find it curious that people get all hyperventilative over something that ipf and iptables is usually set to do by default on 99.something% of the servers (that is block anything you don't specifically allow for inbound traffic). The only exception is that most installs let the proggies establish and keep state on common services under 1024 (ftp, smtp, www, etc) _AND_ any outbound requests on a ginormous range of ports >1024...
It's just as easy to turn scientific theory into dogma as it is to accept the words of clergy, no? Either way, it runs counter to science when any scientist refuses to question his own store of theories and facts from time to time.
When I started using ports, I was simply amazed. I'm not a real huge fan of *BSD yet (still beating the unholy crap out of chillispot as installed by ports), but I certainly have a huge amount of respect for the ease with which ports handles it all - and compiles it to taste.
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Because someday the FBI (or whoever) may find it harder to listen in on these encrypted conversations in cases where they have a court order to do so.
At least you won't have to hunt down and install j2se. /P
If you can see it coming, you can take steps to shelter your resume, no? Sure - I could've still made a pile of cash up until 2001 or so, but I felt a whole lot more secure during the bust than most admins I know of had. When a single opening in the private would attract 400-500+ candidates, and there were few and far between? The average decent admin (not counting paper tigers and folks who should've found another line of work anyway) spent well over a year to 18 months finding even a mediocre position. Meanwhile I was having a blast teaching the kids who are now out becoming admins and programmers themselves.
Overall, he's right - if you use your head --even career-wise-- you can do very well for yourself.
I realize that a power company would be smart enough to be aware of this and likely provide filters to strip that out for folks who use the service, but how are they going to filter the crap out for those who don't have a data box at their house to strip the signal, and how much would it cost? More importantly, wil lthat cost be an enforced one?
Either way I really don't like the idea at all, even if I never use the thing.
" Multigig, have performed simulations that so far back up the company's claims, though the team is just about to start tests using actual chips, he said. "
Given lots of unknown factors that can arise when you're using real electrons on real silicon, I like the idea, but I'll happily wait for the prototype before thinking this would be a net good thing.
Meanwhile, I hope the 3D Studio Max users are prepared for the impending headaches (same w/ anyone else that uses all kinds of software-based tokens and registration schemes like C-DILLA, if it's even in use anymore).
I wonder if dongles will come back?
On the upside? Umm, there's probably no upside.
No, but you can tell how well someone can use regex, and it didn't hurt that I replaced '.../courier/bin/mailq' with "path/to/queue/listing/binary" and admitted flat-out that qmail and sendmail would've been easier for me since I didn;t know courier at the time (and boy, have I ever regretted learning it since!). Of course, the whole thing was trivial considering thet you can set queue expiration in the proggie anyway.
We went over the test after I took it, step by step. The point wasn't to win a trivia contest, but to show my employer the processes I used and learn my mind worked, for lack of a better phrase. To top it off the interviews were done by the senior admins, and not an HR drone.
" letting them do it on a machine with a web browser and google is the right way."
Yuck. If it isn't the stranglehold of perpetual copyright law killing creativity ("ooooh, can't write about that theme, it sounds too close to something that someone can sue us over!"), outright fear of losing investment money ("Hey, this was a hit in 19xx - let's do it again!"), or flat-out retread of existing 'IP' rights that were purchased ages ago but are now worthless ("man - we paid HOW MUCH for that movie!? Quick! Get Tom Cruise on the phone - we gotta recoup our investment in that thing!")...?
Screw it. I'll be hunting for indie/small-budget/out-of-the-way films from here on out (Equilibrium being a perfect example)... at least until the big motion picture houses decide to stop sucking so hard.
I refer you to the acronym "IIRC", and the fact that, as already indicated, bash doesn't come w/ Solaris by default (not sure if it does now since I've never bothered w/ 10).
Otherwise, I apologize profusely for not being as anal ab't shell version histories as I apparently should be.
I dunno... when I was told at a previous job that I'd have to actually get an MCSE, I actually sat down and tinkered with NT 4 -- and later Win2k -- on my own time at home on a spare set of boxes. I must say that doing so actually gave me a lot more experience than I would've otherwise bothered with getting in a Windows server environment. It also provided me with a lot of solid and verifyable technical reasons for recommending *nix over Windows for most implmentations.
Actually, it does in a way (because sh itself IIRC is nothing more than a subset of bash nowadays).
Though in fairness, it'd be kinda hard to run bash in a default Solaris box. :)
I guess it's all about what they want (which changes over time anyway, fads permitting).
My current position as a *nix SysAdmin required that I take a long written (as in - paper and pencil) test on some rather complex questions involving Solaris, BSD, and Linux (e.g. - "write a script that will cancel all mail messages in a courier queue that is more than X days old and report/mail the results to all current admins"). Once I was hired, I discovered that most other people who wanted the job and wrote "UNIX" in their resumes would apparently come up against a brick wall rather hard if they didn't have the experience behind the ink.
But then, you can find out in five minutes at a shell prompt whether or not someone really knows *nix, as opposed to a GUI environment where a candidate can guess-and-click their way to success.
But besides that, maybe an ISP should by default block all but a few outbound ports unless the user requests them specifically (either via a web interface @ the ISP or by phone)?
Or for those who recoil under privacy threats by such a thing, maybe offer a locked-all-to-hell ISP service for $x.00 (web, mail, maybe some game port ranges, and that's it) and a "we'll assume you have a clue about what you're doing" service that leaves ports as they are now for $x+y.00 (nominal enough to scare off the average users, but low enough to prevent gouging and such).
dunno... prolly a bad idea and yes full of holes (technical and otherwise), but an idea nonetheless.
Not at all.
OTOH, I do find that my experiences in doing what the rest of the world does with a computer (surf, play games, etc) are far superior to the all-too-common "Why is my computer all bogged down?" and "Why is my (insert vital part here due to driver failure) not working anymore?" experiences that my Windows-using brethren get. This nagware thingy is just icing on the cake.
"Wanna know why I still use windows on my main system and my laptop?"
#1 simply isn't required nowadays in user-friendly distros on the vast majority of machines (unless you have some really oddball 3rd-party device that requires it). System Update on OSX does it all for me automagically on the Mac.
#2 seems rather too minor to contemplate (is it that hard to hit a power button?), and wouldn't even be an issue with the common Gateways, Dells, HP's, etc. that most people use. Mac hardware simply works (of course, the OS and hdwe were made for each other, so...)
#3 is the case with the vast majority of hardware no matter what OS; In fact I've found it easier to install Linux on many systems than Windows specifically because of drivers (and having to locate them, get the right version, etc etc). Once again, none of those probs on my Mac, either.
"I have Windows machines that will do all the non programming things like watching a dvd legally." ;)
That's funny - I can do that right now on my OSX 10.3 box.
While I suspect that Sun will likely make everything run as usual for at least a little while, at least we knew that with Management's full attention on calling Microsoft bad names, it at least insured that they wouldn't get any bright ideas ab't increasing sagging revenue by screwing with Java and/or all versions of OO.
Meanwhile, over here in OSX/Linux/FreeBSD-land, I'll happily tut-tut my relatives and friends who still use Windows and show them a better way to go about the whole computer thing.
time to burn a few extra Ubuntu install disks, folks :)
"Vista may allow ports from 0-65535 outbound, but it seems an easily remedied thing"
I do find it curious that people get all hyperventilative over something that ipf and iptables is usually set to do by default on 99.something% of the servers (that is block anything you don't specifically allow for inbound traffic). The only exception is that most installs let the proggies establish and keep state on common services under 1024 (ftp, smtp, www, etc) _AND_ any outbound requests on a ginormous range of ports >1024...
Vista may allow "0> /P
It's just as easy to turn scientific theory into dogma as it is to accept the words of clergy, no? Either way, it runs counter to science when any scientist refuses to question his own store of theories and facts from time to time.
As long as ALL the big telcos don't try it, Verizon may find out real fast what it's like to not get a dime out of the deal and look stupid doing it