A friend of mine was over the other night scanning pictures for her website. Apparently her brother set up a website with FTP access for their family. I FTP'd the site (she was having trouble getting it to work, so I used command line FTP to test it), and logged in using anonymous.
I then noticed that I was able to upload files (to any directory), download files (same), and delete files. As an anonymous user. In their web pages directory, too. Defacing that website would be so trivial that I doubt even the usual twits would bother.
Nothing like waving a flag that says "Warez traders! Come here!"...
I'm going to respond to this (quite late) in case you notice it in your user page later...:)
I'm actually a statistician, not an IT person. Although we're not formal at work (I usually wear decent slacks and a button-down shirt, no tie, but some people wear jeans while others wear expensive shirts and ties daily), conferences, especially as a presenter, would definitely require at least a shirt and tie. Anything less than that would be out of place, I think.
Maybe you don't see the money, but at a higher level, the computer departments charge the other departments for their services.
For example, our division pays a certain amount for the IT staff for the support of our systems. Our division needed certain software written, so we paid another division that specializes in that type of software to write it. They gave us a cost estimate, in the millions of dollars, and we paid it. We're the customer, they're the supplier.
You're probably one of the people that make my job far more difficult than it has to be: instead of saying "Yes, we can do that, here's how much it'll cost and how long it'll take" or "No, that's technically impossible", they say useful things like "NO!", without an explanation (or my favorite excuse, "That's not how we do things"). Later, they back away from that and admit they really can do what we asked.
Then 2.4 came out with iptables. Yes, it's better. But, frankly, I'm tired of learning new firewall schemes, and I wouldn't be surprised if 2.6/3.0/whatever has *yet another* program.
Those Bigfoots had a pretty bad reputation all around. I think I have the last known working Bigfoot drive, a 4 gig model. I just retired it a couple weeks ago, but only because I needed more disk space in that computer.
(I remember reading a computer column where the author said something along the lines that every time she had any computer problem, everyone always attributed it to the Bigfoot drive, no matter what the problem was!)
I can second this--I didn't know what a decent night's sleep was until I tried the Breathe Right Nose Strips. They're expensive, but when a former girlfriend told me that I was waking myself up, I realized they were far cheaper than other possible consequences (people with sleep apnea get into far more auto accidents--and at the time I was occasionally doing 12-hour trips in a car, alone).
Exactly. The good news, though, is that younger people do know about Linux and other options. Two employees that started within the last year (fresh out of college) both know and use Linux, and we don't work in the IT industry. Before they started, I don't think anyone that works around me knew about it (other than hearing me mention it).
Arkanoid was commercially released for DOS years ago (actually, it might have been the Revenge of Doh sequel). As I recall, it was pretty good, but of course not having a paddle controller changes the game a bit...
I think I had it on 5.25" floppies. Check the abandonware sites, someone is sure to have it.
Well, seeing how they're intended to light torches and such...yes, I'd say the sparks are dangerous. They could conceivable catch the paper on the table on fire or something like that...
From the folks in the PGP arm of NAI (when PGP was part of NAI), I think they said the reason for that policy was to prevent journalists from testing software and coming to bad conclusions because they weren't familiar with the subject material.
It seemed kind of lame, but I can at least see where they were coming from.
Sounds right. My Mercury Cougar has been nothing but a quality control expert's nightmare (I work in quality assurance). Problems with the hatch not opening, warning lights, bad sensors, brake problems, a lug wrench that strips when you use it, fan controls failing, window controls failing, a power seat that moves on hard braking, it's been a wild, frustrating ride.
The problem is that the car is so much fun to drive that I can't get bear to get rid of it (plus, it'll be paid off soon, and I don't want car payments for several more years). It's the last Ford I'll buy, though.
Your story is interesting, and I'm glad you made it into the career you wanted despite your setbacks.
Sometimes, it's the students, too. When I was in grad school, I was a TA for statistics classes (I was a stats major, not CS). One day, I was doing a problem on the board for the class. A girl in the front row said something about how since she was a girl she had trouble understanding the math I used (I'm male). When I got back to my office, I did a quick count and found that half of the grad students in our department were women.
I didn't say anything to her about her comment. I was never sure if I should, or even if it would've done any good...
Slashdot Mirror
Oops, I'm an idiot. Sorry. February is correct. Back to coding PHP...
Some extra stuff to kill time between posts. La la la la la la...
According to the link, it was January 16, 1978, not February.
This brings back the memories, though. My first BBS usage was on a CP/M machine, too. Ahh...
--RJ
Sorry--I was at work and on my way to a class, so I was rushing and so a bit unclear.
My point was that some people don't even TRY to secure their servers.
A friend of mine was over the other night scanning pictures for her website. Apparently her brother set up a website with FTP access for their family. I FTP'd the site (she was having trouble getting it to work, so I used command line FTP to test it), and logged in using anonymous.
I then noticed that I was able to upload files (to any directory), download files (same), and delete files. As an anonymous user. In their web pages directory, too. Defacing that website would be so trivial that I doubt even the usual twits would bother.
Nothing like waving a flag that says "Warez traders! Come here!"...
--RJ
My dad has one of those. He loves it!
(This text added to take up some time between hitting "reply" and "submit".)
--RJ
According to Babelfish, it translates to:
"B of soviyetski Is rosseye, yob of tvoya mat!"
--RJ
I'm going to respond to this (quite late) in case you notice it in your user page later... :)
I'm actually a statistician, not an IT person. Although we're not formal at work (I usually wear decent slacks and a button-down shirt, no tie, but some people wear jeans while others wear expensive shirts and ties daily), conferences, especially as a presenter, would definitely require at least a shirt and tie. Anything less than that would be out of place, I think.
--RJ
Maybe you don't see the money, but at a higher level, the computer departments charge the other departments for their services.
For example, our division pays a certain amount for the IT staff for the support of our systems. Our division needed certain software written, so we paid another division that specializes in that type of software to write it. They gave us a cost estimate, in the millions of dollars, and we paid it. We're the customer, they're the supplier.
You're probably one of the people that make my job far more difficult than it has to be: instead of saying "Yes, we can do that, here's how much it'll cost and how long it'll take" or "No, that's technically impossible", they say useful things like "NO!", without an explanation (or my favorite excuse, "That's not how we do things"). Later, they back away from that and admit they really can do what we asked.
--RJ
Reminds me of the firewall code in Linux...
I learned ipfwadm (or whatever it was) for 2.0.
Then I learned ipchains for 2.2.
Then 2.4 came out with iptables. Yes, it's better. But, frankly, I'm tired of learning new firewall schemes, and I wouldn't be surprised if 2.6/3.0/whatever has *yet another* program.
It's a waste of my time.
It's just *feels* pure when it's working...
(Actually, there are worse ones than H2O2. Just not as common.)
Those Bigfoots had a pretty bad reputation all around. I think I have the last known working Bigfoot drive, a 4 gig model. I just retired it a couple weeks ago, but only because I needed more disk space in that computer.
(I remember reading a computer column where the author said something along the lines that every time she had any computer problem, everyone always attributed it to the Bigfoot drive, no matter what the problem was!)
--RJ
I once heard that dressing up shows respect for your audience. Hard for me to not get dressed up for presentations after hearing that statement...
--RJ
The easiest way may be to invent a time machine...
--RJ
I can second this--I didn't know what a decent night's sleep was until I tried the Breathe Right Nose Strips. They're expensive, but when a former girlfriend told me that I was waking myself up, I realized they were far cheaper than other possible consequences (people with sleep apnea get into far more auto accidents--and at the time I was occasionally doing 12-hour trips in a car, alone).
--RJ
Exactly. The good news, though, is that younger people do know about Linux and other options. Two employees that started within the last year (fresh out of college) both know and use Linux, and we don't work in the IT industry. Before they started, I don't think anyone that works around me knew about it (other than hearing me mention it).
--RJ
Arkanoid was commercially released for DOS years ago (actually, it might have been the Revenge of Doh sequel). As I recall, it was pretty good, but of course not having a paddle controller changes the game a bit...
I think I had it on 5.25" floppies. Check the abandonware sites, someone is sure to have it.
--RJ
Well, seeing how they're intended to light torches and such...yes, I'd say the sparks are dangerous. They could conceivable catch the paper on the table on fire or something like that...
--RJ
Don't click on the "Ants! Ants!..." one, either, with JavaScript enabled.
I think this guy is getting off easy by being sued. The message board is almost useless due to his trolling.
From the folks in the PGP arm of NAI (when PGP was part of NAI), I think they said the reason for that policy was to prevent journalists from testing software and coming to bad conclusions because they weren't familiar with the subject material.
It seemed kind of lame, but I can at least see where they were coming from.
--RJ
Sounds right. My Mercury Cougar has been nothing but a quality control expert's nightmare (I work in quality assurance). Problems with the hatch not opening, warning lights, bad sensors, brake problems, a lug wrench that strips when you use it, fan controls failing, window controls failing, a power seat that moves on hard braking, it's been a wild, frustrating ride.
The problem is that the car is so much fun to drive that I can't get bear to get rid of it (plus, it'll be paid off soon, and I don't want car payments for several more years). It's the last Ford I'll buy, though.
--RJ
A friend of mine pointed out that what happened in 2000 is exactly what should happen when the country doesn't really like either candidate.
Interesting point. It's not totally relevant to your comment, but your post made me think of it.
(I know I didn't care for any of the candidates running in 2000, so it was difficult to decide.)
--RJ
Your story is interesting, and I'm glad you made it into the career you wanted despite your setbacks.
Sometimes, it's the students, too. When I was in grad school, I was a TA for statistics classes (I was a stats major, not CS). One day, I was doing a problem on the board for the class. A girl in the front row said something about how since she was a girl she had trouble understanding the math I used (I'm male). When I got back to my office, I did a quick count and found that half of the grad students in our department were women.
I didn't say anything to her about her comment. I was never sure if I should, or even if it would've done any good...
--RJ
There was (originally) only one Stella.
There was only one Norman though. I think that was his name.
Done in by leaps of illogic. What a way to go...
--RJ
I thought that's what karma was for...
--RJ
As a UGA grad, I just have to say...Thanks! ;)
(Actually, I was in grad school at UGA, so I don't really count anyway.)
--RJ