Back in the late 60's-early 70's Time-Life published a set of books: Time-Life Science series (or some such). Many topics relating to science, both research and applied, were explored (a very fascinating one deals with Water). These books may still be found in used books stores all over.
Photos tended to be the high point of these books - most had the quality of Life magazine photos (I assume because they used the same photographers). In short, these books were of rather high quality.
One particular book in the series dealt with the Brain, discussing a variety of subjects related to this organ: learning, memory, vision - even AI and machine intelligence were discussed. There were photos and captions throughout showing the brain and how it worked (according to 1960's science). One particularly disturbing photo:
A couple of lab monkeys (rhesus, I believe) were being used for experiments regarding the brain (I can't remember what - probably brain activity or stimulus). Under anesthesia, these monkeys had their skulls, just above the browline, sawed completely off, exposing the top half of their brains. In place of the skull, an acrylic "dome" was attached (it looked molded to match the monkey's heads) to the bone "shelf", screwed down with stainless steel screws.
Essentially, the brains of the monkeys became "viewable". I imagine the monkeys were given anti-inflammatory medicine (and possible other pain killers), and probably a healthy dose of antibiotics for infection prevention. At least, I hope they were - though I have wondered whether that would have skewed any results, and whether they were given nothing to help any pain or infection...
I have only seen this picture in that particular book - nowhere else (I speculate that it may have appeared in either a Time or Life magazine of the period, but I have not located such an issue). Nothing was ever said further about the monkeys, such as what was learned or how long they "lived" in that condition.
It is a very macabre picture - disturbing in a primal way. Not an APCA moment, assuredly!
This is crazy - why are there "old" cell phones that have to be thrown away? I can understand an analog vs. digital phone (hard to get analog service anywhere it seems - only one company here in Phoenix offers it, and only via calling cards - kinda makes my $10 Motorola brick phone worthless - I love that phone!) - but regular digital cell phones becoming worthless?
I have heard (is this rumor?) that if you complete your service contract, and try to go to another provider with a "branded" phone (ie, you have an AT&T cell phone, and you try to use Verizon), the phone becomes "worthless" - and thus you have to get yet another "free" phone! What kind of scam is this?
I can still take my grandma's old clunky pulse-only phone from the 50s and still dial out on it in most areas - why don't we have the equivalent for cell phones?
Actually, why do we have this forced obsolescence, period (I want analog service, damnit)? More importantly - why do we stand for it? It isn't just cell phones, but everything - nearly everything has to be bought "new" again in order to use it (hell, even our entertainment works this way - records->tapes->cds->RSN - audio DVDs). Rarely is it worth the "upgrade".
If cars were like this (and I am sure they are going to go that way some day), people would be screaming bloody murder - so why do we take it for everything else?
Heck, get rid of the "middle-man" so to speak (although I guess there will always be a middle-man, until we build our own wireless optical link network) - use a broadband service and "dial" the IP address of your neighbor - so to speak.
Corporations (not just telcos, but broadband providers, media corps - especially them - and others) are SCARED of this tech falling into the "masses" hands. They would be just as scared of email and such if everybody understood it, but they don't. Why? Because it makes it harder for them to segregate us from one another - from forming communities.
Community is a threat to the corps - they will do anything to stop it.
I was thinking more in the realm that the VBS trojan would be self-contained - ie, it would be the email, and it would contain all the code to "update" the system (like that "cable modem speed fix" VBS file does to the registry). As I noted in the post, it would ask to do the update _first_, before doing anything. Furthermore, I did note that it could "quarantine" the messages/VBS scripts, so that nothing would be lost (in case some of those scripts were legitimate) - ie, it wouldn't really delete anything, just move them to an area not readily accessible by the user. Plus the bit about educating the user (maybe even recommending virus protection software, using another email reader instead of Outlook, etc).
Glad to see that someone else tried it, and at least put out a feeler to see what people's response would be...
Of course, he was looking at this as an uncontrolled admin tool, instead of what it really is - a weapon against the enemy. Since stealth is the rule of the game, the writer of such an "Antivirus" will release it anonymously, in such a way that it can't be traced back to the individual - heck, probably couldn't even be traced back to the machine it was released from.
I can see the bandwidth problems with downloading another application/EXE to do the fix, but this would just be email (though it would be a funky automated SPAM), so eventually after propagating it would slowly die out...
Why do these people write these? Why do people CONTINUALLY get infected by them?
What I really don't understand is why someone hasn't written a benign virus/trojan - same manner as the Mellisa/ILOVEYOU trojan, except that when run by the clueless, it would remove any other trojan VBS scripts (or quarantine them) on the machine, ask to send copies to "friends" (upon which it would email itself to people on the address list), then remove itself from the machine.
If the "hacker" wanted to go further, he could place a little "Agree or Disagree" EULA/disclaimer at the beginning the user would have to agree to in order for the code to run. He could also insert a little "educational" note on why the virus ran, and how to protect against future attacks by less benign viruses in the future (up to and including installing Linux?). Finally, he could encrypt the "meat" of the VBS trojan, and put a little blurb in the EULA about the DMCA clauses prohibiting the alteration or creation of software to remove copyright controls on software.
Such a "hack" would be more worthy of a/. story than this dreck - which is only going to serve to harm the Linux community in general.
If it was, then no matter who it was - unless he was endangering others lives (like if he had one other car around him at any time - or he had another person in his vehicle) - this seems excessive.
Not too long ago, I was caught speeding outside of El Centro, CA - I was doing 10 mph over the speed limit (75 in a 65 zone). To be honest, I didn't even realize I was speeding until I looked out the rearview mirror and seen the cop (I had gotten a severe sunburn the day before at Oceanside - and probably shouldn't have been driving - wasn't feeling very good). I pulled over, got the ticket, and went on my way. I later paid the fine, attended an online traffic school (to keep the points away) - in all, spent about $130 - plus my time.
Do I still speed - no - I realize now it isn't worth it - 65 vs 75 doesn't shave much time off in the end.
What gets me about the whole incident is the situation - I was speeding - yes - but I was outside of El Centro (about 25 miles outside), and anyone who has been out there knows it is flat, open land (desert?) - there wasn't a SINGLE car around me - my car is well tuned, the tires at proper pressure - the highway I was on was well maintained with a smooth surface, on a straight section. It was a VERY sunny and hot day (good grip on the road). I wasn't weaving, the road was empty around me (well, aside from the cop who probably pulled out from under an overpass to pull me over).
I guess what I am trying to say is that I realize that I broke the law - but that in the whole scheme of things I was really a danger to nobody, including myself. It wasn't like I was cruising at 120 in a 60 mph zone.
The final thing that irks me about all of this is what I know of an American citizen's constitutionally protected "Right to Travel" - if you really want your eyes opened, check out this link:
Essentially, the argument is (excerpted from the link above):
The forgotten legal maxim is that free people have a right to travel on the roads which are provided by their servants for that purpose, using ordinary transportation of the day. Licensing cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of a right. The driver's license can be required of people who use the highways for trade, commerce, or hire; that is, if they earn their living on the road, and if they use extraordinary machines on the roads. In other words, if you are not using the highways for profit, you cannot be required to have a driver's license.
I managed to find (on Pricewatch) an 18 CD-ROM changer (Pioneer DRM-1804X) for $299, which uses 3 six-disc magazines...
Still, I would love to see a 100/200/400 disc CD carosel changer. Why hasn't such a thing come to market? Would it be too slow to use? Is there no demand for such a thing? Is there something on the OS end that prevents it (or SCSI or IDE specs)?
I have given thought to taking a cheap $100 audio CD carosel (like a 60 disc or 100 disc), and dropping in the drive electronics from some CD-ROM drive - just to see if I could get it to work. Does this even sound like a project that could be done? Has anybody heard of doing such a thing before?
Such a device should be possible, and it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg...
I haven't supported the MPAA or their cronies for a long while now - I haven't bought movies, rented movies, bought any form of DVD or players...
Of course, here is a problem - I actually probably _have_ supported them in some way, without me really knowing it. I use Cox@Home for my broadband connection - I also have the digital cable package as well - with HBO and Cinemax - so I would imagine somewhere in that mix I am supporting the MPAA. Personally, I could drop the digital cable, but my GF is TV obsessed, so she wouldn't like that. These companies are so entrenched in so many areas, the only way to "opt-out" is to live in a box - and they would probably have made the box!
So, I do the next best thing - I buy VCD movies, from a company that drop-ships from Malaysia. Not the best quality, but still nice (and I was able to find a copy of Red Sonja!). I am not sure if these movies are licensed, rips, dubs from video tape or laser discs - whatever the case, many times I have seen movies pop up on the site before they were out of the theaters here (like SWTPM - it was on VCD long before video tape or DVD). Nor do I want to know...
I like VCDs - one can find a ton of anime, Chinese movies, regular movies and animation - anything. New movies continue to be released on VCD (like I said, most of the time before they are released here on video or DVD).
Anyhow, I would like to find a VCD player (hardware or software - any OS, but preferably Linux) that would play the disks without the "Remove 1, Insert 2" shuffle - just stick both in, and go. If it is software, then it should do it with two CD-ROM drives.
Does such a machine exist? I have seen many VCD only players, but every one had a single tray. Too bad Go-Video doesn't make dual VCD players.
On a side note - something else I have been unable to find: A CD-ROM carosel (sp?) - basically, I would love to find a 100 disk CD-ROM changer, at an affordable price (ie, $500). Does anyone make one of these (SCSI, IDE, USB, Firewire - doesn't matter)?
I like this, but I would skip the phone/modem part (number one, the phone is going to cost a bit more than $20 - probably closer to $40). Instead, use a couple of walkie-talkies. Cheap kids toy kind - or more expensive (less interference) family radio kind.
You only need one transmitting, and the other receiving. Set up a tone generator on the trans part, supplying high/low/mark tones (three tones, to indicate start, data, stop bits). The receiver's speaker output could go into the computer's sound card. Record and analyse the waveform data to get your data stream.
Now you may be wondering "How the heck do you do multiple channels with this idea?"
The answer to that? Round-robin.
Say you have three sensors, each with a walkie-talkie attached (a fourth walkie-talkie is at the "base station" PC). Two walkie-talkies are in "listen" mode, one is transmitting. The "base station" walkie-talkie listens all the time, and records all the sound (via the sound card in the PC). When one sensor walkie-talkie finishes, the mark tone for the next sensor walkie-talkie in the round-robin is sounded, causing that walkie-talkie to switch into transmit mode, and the first to receive. These mark tones are unique frequencies for each walkie-talkie in the round-robin (so, you would need a tone generator and decoder for each walkie-talkie sensor system - use a 555 for the tone generator, and a 567 for the decoder).
A kludge? Yep.
One other possibility is to just have them all transmitting at once - the signals will overlap - and then doing some hard-core waveform analysis on everything (maybe you could put a carrier tone on each). Or, you might be able to retune a bunch of walkie-talkie pairs, then select each pair at the base station PC via the parallel port (and an analog switch IC), feeding each walkie-talkie output in fashion to the PC sound card input...
You would probably get the same kind of line-of-sight distance as the AC's solution, more with the family radios. Shouldn't cost more than $40 per sensor on the low end (plus some blood, sweat, and tears to wire everything up and code the software interface).
Apparently the type of uses for the set-top boxes are becoming popular (at least with ISP like services). AOL is rolling out one, as well - though they are using a different box, made by Phillips.
As far as the NT-150 box goes, I was told by a CSR @ Liberate to press and hold down the power-on button to get into the setup screen - haven't had a chance to try it, yet - I'll post to this thread (and update the FAQ, if needed) when I find out if this is true or not...
Don't know if such a scenario has been posted - haven't read all 5 (!!) pages of comments, so mod me down if this is redundant...
Various posts have related to how the DMCA (and the UCITA) could be applied to cars, but here is one I have come up with (and posted before).
Imagine a sensor in your gas tank (or line, or carburator) that could "read" the gas, and tell whether it was "approved" gas for that brand automobile. Maybe it starts out by only allowing you to put 89 octane or higher gasoline in your car (if the 87 is cheaper, you are SOL). Soon, you can only put in a certain brand (say, Mobil). Then, only manufacturer's brand (Dodge D9 gas).
Reverse engineering the car's computer, software/firmware, sensors, or gasoline would be against the "law" - you might be fined or jailed (or both), for attempting to use another brand of gasoline in your car...
This is hosted off a Freeservers site - so I don't know what kind of load it can handle re. a/. effect.
Anyhow, it has a FAQ - and it is an AMD 586/133 processor (you know, a funky 5x overdriven 486). I just can't get into any kind of BIOS config (I am not even sure it has such a thing), or anything to figure out what it wants as an IP for a BOOTP server (it times out on bootup, with a crappy error message). The device does have what appears like an intact 40pin IDE header, and a few other connectors (all explained in the FAQ - as much as I could find).
I am not saying these laws are right, just, morally or ethically sound - heck, IMHO, they are not even Constitutional.
You are right that it will only "become" illegal if he (or others) get caught. Attempting to do it is one thing, though - most likely he won't be "caught" if he is attempting to do such a thing (as long as he doesn't brag to wide/far about it, lest some upright tightwad decides to turn him in for the moral fiber of the country). However, if he succeeds (or if another succeeds), and he publishes how he did it, via an easily tracked source, the hammer will come down, and hard.
Jon Johannsen (sp?) should have had nothing to fear, since he wasn't even an American citizen - however, even he still had at least a little bit of fear put into him when he was taken down to the station for questioning (even though in the end he wasn't charged with anything). If you are an American doing this, you had better release the "how" portion as anonymous as possible lest retribution come your way...
That being said, let me state that I am all for this kind of hacking. Fair use gives us all the right we need, regardless of the UCITA or DMCA...
Backhoes can be a problem, but we shouldn't always place the blame on the operator. While it is true that some heavy equipment operators are either drunk or on-something-else, many are excellent operators who take time and care with their work.
My GF's brother-in-law owns and operates a backhoe, and I rode "shotgun" with him on it many times (one of these days I hope he can show me how to operate the thing). I can tell you that when digging, even knowing there is a pipe, cable, conduit, something - it it hard to tell the difference between it and everything else that is "down there". Unless you are operating in "virgin" soil, many times there will be plant roots, old runs, rebar, branches - you name it, and many times it looks just like what you are trying to avoid. A good operator will either have a spotter, or be looking carefully, and stop immediately after seeing something that even looks like a cable or pipe, get off the rig, and inspect the area. More often than not, it is nothing - but every once in a while it is something, then you have to back off, and hand dig around it.
The biggest problem is when you are digging, and you don't spot the hazard - a boom on a backhoe can be moved quickly, or delicately - but even at it's most delicate, there is still a bit of inertia (hey, it's a big mass of steel, for cryin' out loud!) - which can still cause a break, if you don't catch it in time.
I know there are dangerous operators out there - but the majority are good workers, doing a job you or I might not ever think about doing...
One may think that being able to record the output of the box, in it's full digital format, would be upheld by the time-shifting ruling of VCRs, but...
Thanks to the DMCA (and possibly the UCITA), your agreement with the cable company may very well say that "decrypting" the MPEG output stream is a violation of your contract (aka, EULA). In fact, as devices such as the TIVO become more popular (or even integrated into the set-top box - I have COX digital cable, and under the "setup" mode of the box, one of the pages list the ability to have a hard drive attached), I can imagine that it might even disallow "recording" at the distributor's (like HBO) whim, based on signals embedded in the programming.
Unfortunately, no one is going to care until it is too late (probably, American society will wake up when it finds out it isn't allowed to record the next Superbowl because of NFL licensing restrictions)...
First off, let me tell you I understand what you are going through - been there myself (though I lost less, at the time it was a lot).
My current setup is this - my computer room is a completely interior room. All walls are brick - no windows. I have a lock on the door. I have an alarm system on the room. I plan to set up a camera system with FTP uplink to my provider, and pager monitoring.
The house itself? Completely concrete block construction - bars on all windows and doors, bolted to the block. Furthermore, my house is set back 50 feet from the road, with a 100 foot visible clearance on all sides.
My suggestion? Set up an interior server closet, something you can lock up your machines in, with a good lock. The room can be full size (like mine), or a simple hall closet, with good ventalation. Add some security to it. Add security stickers, as well. Maybe add motion lights on the outside. There is a lot you can do.
I loved the suggestion of a booby "prize" - I might actually set up such a thing myself - being as I have a ton of old machines, one fakey won't hurt nothing...
As noted, the 360 device appears to use the "dual parabolic mirror" trick, to display the virtual image.
The other devices, though (based on the models shown in the flash anims), seem to use something different.
What that could be is up to speculation - but I think they may use some form of either a parabolic lens trick (I remember a simple spring/shake hands with yourself display @ the Exploritorium in SF), or possibly using a fresnel lens.
Sometimes, when you look at a fresnel lens at an angle, objects can appear to "float" above it. I wish I had one of my page magnifiers handy, I would play with it - to see if I could recreate the effect.
I would imaging one of those, plus a small 14-15 inch monitor housed appropriately, could generate the effect...
Think about it - if the guy calling was a cracker, and had a good script - he could get a bit of info, have a good starting point...
Inept employee installs the software (maybe some cheesy VB screensaver, with BO on the backend or something) - bammo! - instant access (to possibly very sensitive data).
Alright - maybe this isn't what is happening here - but if this kind of "marketing" takes off, you can bet there will be a few crack attempts along that line...
Today's kids have a deep lack of curiosity (not all of them - but a large percentage). When I was younger, kids seemed to be more curious about the world - about how it works. They also seemed to have a greater imagination, able to construct new "worlds" in the minds.
Maybe in this particular case the kid never got curious because the computer made it seem easy. He got complacent, because he got everything "handed" to him by the machine. When the machine asked for something - he got scared.
You see this in adults today - if things are going the way they expect, as soon as the system breaks down a little, they go nuts. If the system breaks down a lot (think natural disaster), more often than not, chaos rules.
Adults and children alike - don't know where to turn to many times. In the computer realm, there is no middle ground for help when it is really needed. Most people are unaware of user groups, magazines are filled with more advertisements than anything else, books are too wordy for most people (you can tell how "curious" a family is by seeing if they have a book selection - if they have at least a small one, with maybe an encyclopedia set - then they are probably real curious - though this generalisation may go away in time due to the Net), and they can't get to a good website, because it isn't listed on the portal yet...
I don't think you should force the kid - but it might be good to find out if this is the only thing he isn't curious about - or if it is a general problem (I was alway asking "why","what","how" questions on everything when I was a kid). If it is a general problem, maybe talking with the parents and the kid would be in order.
People should be curious about their world, as well as have wonderment about things (many people have said they wouldn't care how their TV works, just as long as a picture comes up - but I am always amazed that the thing actually works, and I am continually filled with amazement and awe at the number of people and minds that worked to create such a device over the years, the advancements, etc). By having this curiosity and wonderment - people can acheive great things, or at least have the potential to acheive great things.
But they were finished - near the apex of the Cheops pyramid is what is left of the smooth finishing (casement) stones - most were removed. It doesn't make sense that they would start at the top, and work down.
Also, I never said that all pyramids were done this way, but most certainly the larger ("newer"?) ones were. You do have a point why we don't see angular blocks, but maybe they were cut down, reshaped, and dressed for other purposes (they were really large stones, after all).
Finally, look for my other post where I talk about a book I have read postulating that the pyramids may have been made out of a poured concrete-like substance. Furthermore, for even more wackiness, I posted on the thread regarding "Coral Castle", a site in South Florida that is stupifying once you learn about it (look it up on Google, or find my post - it has a link)...
I love this "occult" archaeology and such - here are these huge megalithic constructions - just sitting there laughing at us - then you find out about one in your own "backyard" (the Coral Castle), find out it was built in the 20th century - and it is just as stupifying - it both excites and creates wonderment - I love it!
Essentially, it is now a "tourist" attraction that was built from 1920-1940 by a single man, who was 5 feet tall and weighed 100 pounds, who had a 4th grade education, with hand tools. No one knows exactly why he built it, though he alluded it was for his "Sweet Sixteen", though that explanation is of dubious value.
He built it during nighttime, alone - and moved it once mid-construction. The blocks/sculptures are made of coral, and the largest weighs 30 tons! Absolutely NO ONE knows how he did it, though he claims he knew the methods of the Egyptians. Some teenage boys who witnessed a portion of the contruction (and who appear to be the only individuals to do so), said he floated the blocks around like "hydrogen balloons". He apparently took the secret of the construction to his grave.
Here is something relatively modern that we can relate to - yet just as enigmatic. Is it a grand hoax? Has anyone visited this site? Reading about this has me boggled!
Slashdot Mirror
In theory - they could do this...
Back in the late 60's-early 70's Time-Life published a set of books: Time-Life Science series (or some such). Many topics relating to science, both research and applied, were explored (a very fascinating one deals with Water). These books may still be found in used books stores all over.
Photos tended to be the high point of these books - most had the quality of Life magazine photos (I assume because they used the same photographers). In short, these books were of rather high quality.
One particular book in the series dealt with the Brain, discussing a variety of subjects related to this organ: learning, memory, vision - even AI and machine intelligence were discussed. There were photos and captions throughout showing the brain and how it worked (according to 1960's science). One particularly disturbing photo:
A couple of lab monkeys (rhesus, I believe) were being used for experiments regarding the brain (I can't remember what - probably brain activity or stimulus). Under anesthesia, these monkeys had their skulls, just above the browline, sawed completely off, exposing the top half of their brains. In place of the skull, an acrylic "dome" was attached (it looked molded to match the monkey's heads) to the bone "shelf", screwed down with stainless steel screws.
Essentially, the brains of the monkeys became "viewable". I imagine the monkeys were given anti-inflammatory medicine (and possible other pain killers), and probably a healthy dose of antibiotics for infection prevention. At least, I hope they were - though I have wondered whether that would have skewed any results, and whether they were given nothing to help any pain or infection...
I have only seen this picture in that particular book - nowhere else (I speculate that it may have appeared in either a Time or Life magazine of the period, but I have not located such an issue). Nothing was ever said further about the monkeys, such as what was learned or how long they "lived" in that condition.
It is a very macabre picture - disturbing in a primal way. Not an APCA moment, assuredly!
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
This is crazy - why are there "old" cell phones that have to be thrown away? I can understand an analog vs. digital phone (hard to get analog service anywhere it seems - only one company here in Phoenix offers it, and only via calling cards - kinda makes my $10 Motorola brick phone worthless - I love that phone!) - but regular digital cell phones becoming worthless?
I have heard (is this rumor?) that if you complete your service contract, and try to go to another provider with a "branded" phone (ie, you have an AT&T cell phone, and you try to use Verizon), the phone becomes "worthless" - and thus you have to get yet another "free" phone! What kind of scam is this?
I can still take my grandma's old clunky pulse-only phone from the 50s and still dial out on it in most areas - why don't we have the equivalent for cell phones?
Actually, why do we have this forced obsolescence, period (I want analog service, damnit)? More importantly - why do we stand for it? It isn't just cell phones, but everything - nearly everything has to be bought "new" again in order to use it (hell, even our entertainment works this way - records->tapes->cds->RSN - audio DVDs). Rarely is it worth the "upgrade".
If cars were like this (and I am sure they are going to go that way some day), people would be screaming bloody murder - so why do we take it for everything else?
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
...screw 'em both ways?
IE - VOIP for both local and long-distance calls?
Heck, get rid of the "middle-man" so to speak (although I guess there will always be a middle-man, until we build our own wireless optical link network) - use a broadband service and "dial" the IP address of your neighbor - so to speak.
Corporations (not just telcos, but broadband providers, media corps - especially them - and others) are SCARED of this tech falling into the "masses" hands. They would be just as scared of email and such if everybody understood it, but they don't. Why? Because it makes it harder for them to segregate us from one another - from forming communities.
Community is a threat to the corps - they will do anything to stop it.
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Very interesting...
I was thinking more in the realm that the VBS trojan would be self-contained - ie, it would be the email, and it would contain all the code to "update" the system (like that "cable modem speed fix" VBS file does to the registry). As I noted in the post, it would ask to do the update _first_, before doing anything. Furthermore, I did note that it could "quarantine" the messages/VBS scripts, so that nothing would be lost (in case some of those scripts were legitimate) - ie, it wouldn't really delete anything, just move them to an area not readily accessible by the user. Plus the bit about educating the user (maybe even recommending virus protection software, using another email reader instead of Outlook, etc).
Glad to see that someone else tried it, and at least put out a feeler to see what people's response would be...
Of course, he was looking at this as an uncontrolled admin tool, instead of what it really is - a weapon against the enemy. Since stealth is the rule of the game, the writer of such an "Antivirus" will release it anonymously, in such a way that it can't be traced back to the individual - heck, probably couldn't even be traced back to the machine it was released from.
I can see the bandwidth problems with downloading another application/EXE to do the fix, but this would just be email (though it would be a funky automated SPAM), so eventually after propagating it would slowly die out...
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Why do these people write these? Why do people CONTINUALLY get infected by them?
/. story than this dreck - which is only going to serve to harm the Linux community in general.
What I really don't understand is why someone hasn't written a benign virus/trojan - same manner as the Mellisa/ILOVEYOU trojan, except that when run by the clueless, it would remove any other trojan VBS scripts (or quarantine them) on the machine, ask to send copies to "friends" (upon which it would email itself to people on the address list), then remove itself from the machine.
If the "hacker" wanted to go further, he could place a little "Agree or Disagree" EULA/disclaimer at the beginning the user would have to agree to in order for the code to run. He could also insert a little "educational" note on why the virus ran, and how to protect against future attacks by less benign viruses in the future (up to and including installing Linux?). Finally, he could encrypt the "meat" of the VBS trojan, and put a little blurb in the EULA about the DMCA clauses prohibiting the alteration or creation of software to remove copyright controls on software.
Such a "hack" would be more worthy of a
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Is this American dollars?
If it was, then no matter who it was - unless he was endangering others lives (like if he had one other car around him at any time - or he had another person in his vehicle) - this seems excessive.
Not too long ago, I was caught speeding outside of El Centro, CA - I was doing 10 mph over the speed limit (75 in a 65 zone). To be honest, I didn't even realize I was speeding until I looked out the rearview mirror and seen the cop (I had gotten a severe sunburn the day before at Oceanside - and probably shouldn't have been driving - wasn't feeling very good). I pulled over, got the ticket, and went on my way. I later paid the fine, attended an online traffic school (to keep the points away) - in all, spent about $130 - plus my time.
Do I still speed - no - I realize now it isn't worth it - 65 vs 75 doesn't shave much time off in the end.
What gets me about the whole incident is the situation - I was speeding - yes - but I was outside of El Centro (about 25 miles outside), and anyone who has been out there knows it is flat, open land (desert?) - there wasn't a SINGLE car around me - my car is well tuned, the tires at proper pressure - the highway I was on was well maintained with a smooth surface, on a straight section. It was a VERY sunny and hot day (good grip on the road). I wasn't weaving, the road was empty around me (well, aside from the cop who probably pulled out from under an overpass to pull me over).
I guess what I am trying to say is that I realize that I broke the law - but that in the whole scheme of things I was really a danger to nobody, including myself. It wasn't like I was cruising at 120 in a 60 mph zone.
The final thing that irks me about all of this is what I know of an American citizen's constitutionally protected "Right to Travel" - if you really want your eyes opened, check out this link:
The Right to Travel
Essentially, the argument is (excerpted from the link above):
The forgotten legal maxim is that free people have a right to travel on the roads which are provided by their servants for that purpose, using ordinary transportation of the day. Licensing cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of a right. The driver's license can be required of people who use the highways for trade, commerce, or hire; that is, if they earn their living on the road, and if they use extraordinary machines on the roads. In other words, if you are not using the highways for profit, you cannot be required to have a driver's license.
For further info, check out these links:
Vehicle Manufacturer's Certificate/Statement of Origin
Vehicle Registration in California
If you are an American driver/"owner" of a vehicle, you owe it to yourself (as a supposedly free individual) to be aware of this information...
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
I managed to find (on Pricewatch) an 18 CD-ROM changer (Pioneer DRM-1804X) for $299, which uses 3 six-disc magazines...
Still, I would love to see a 100/200/400 disc CD carosel changer. Why hasn't such a thing come to market? Would it be too slow to use? Is there no demand for such a thing? Is there something on the OS end that prevents it (or SCSI or IDE specs)?
I have given thought to taking a cheap $100 audio CD carosel (like a 60 disc or 100 disc), and dropping in the drive electronics from some CD-ROM drive - just to see if I could get it to work. Does this even sound like a project that could be done? Has anybody heard of doing such a thing before?
Such a device should be possible, and it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg...
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
I haven't supported the MPAA or their cronies for a long while now - I haven't bought movies, rented movies, bought any form of DVD or players...
Of course, here is a problem - I actually probably _have_ supported them in some way, without me really knowing it. I use Cox@Home for my broadband connection - I also have the digital cable package as well - with HBO and Cinemax - so I would imagine somewhere in that mix I am supporting the MPAA. Personally, I could drop the digital cable, but my GF is TV obsessed, so she wouldn't like that. These companies are so entrenched in so many areas, the only way to "opt-out" is to live in a box - and they would probably have made the box!
So, I do the next best thing - I buy VCD movies, from a company that drop-ships from Malaysia. Not the best quality, but still nice (and I was able to find a copy of Red Sonja!). I am not sure if these movies are licensed, rips, dubs from video tape or laser discs - whatever the case, many times I have seen movies pop up on the site before they were out of the theaters here (like SWTPM - it was on VCD long before video tape or DVD). Nor do I want to know...
I like VCDs - one can find a ton of anime, Chinese movies, regular movies and animation - anything. New movies continue to be released on VCD (like I said, most of the time before they are released here on video or DVD).
Anyhow, I would like to find a VCD player (hardware or software - any OS, but preferably Linux) that would play the disks without the "Remove 1, Insert 2" shuffle - just stick both in, and go. If it is software, then it should do it with two CD-ROM drives.
Does such a machine exist? I have seen many VCD only players, but every one had a single tray. Too bad Go-Video doesn't make dual VCD players.
On a side note - something else I have been unable to find: A CD-ROM carosel (sp?) - basically, I would love to find a 100 disk CD-ROM changer, at an affordable price (ie, $500). Does anyone make one of these (SCSI, IDE, USB, Firewire - doesn't matter)?
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
I like this, but I would skip the phone/modem part (number one, the phone is going to cost a bit more than $20 - probably closer to $40). Instead, use a couple of walkie-talkies. Cheap kids toy kind - or more expensive (less interference) family radio kind.
You only need one transmitting, and the other receiving. Set up a tone generator on the trans part, supplying high/low/mark tones (three tones, to indicate start, data, stop bits). The receiver's speaker output could go into the computer's sound card. Record and analyse the waveform data to get your data stream.
Now you may be wondering "How the heck do you do multiple channels with this idea?"
The answer to that? Round-robin.
Say you have three sensors, each with a walkie-talkie attached (a fourth walkie-talkie is at the "base station" PC). Two walkie-talkies are in "listen" mode, one is transmitting. The "base station" walkie-talkie listens all the time, and records all the sound (via the sound card in the PC). When one sensor walkie-talkie finishes, the mark tone for the next sensor walkie-talkie in the round-robin is sounded, causing that walkie-talkie to switch into transmit mode, and the first to receive. These mark tones are unique frequencies for each walkie-talkie in the round-robin (so, you would need a tone generator and decoder for each walkie-talkie sensor system - use a 555 for the tone generator, and a 567 for the decoder).
A kludge? Yep.
One other possibility is to just have them all transmitting at once - the signals will overlap - and then doing some hard-core waveform analysis on everything (maybe you could put a carrier tone on each). Or, you might be able to retune a bunch of walkie-talkie pairs, then select each pair at the base station PC via the parallel port (and an analog switch IC), feeding each walkie-talkie output in fashion to the PC sound card input...
You would probably get the same kind of line-of-sight distance as the AC's solution, more with the family radios. Shouldn't cost more than $40 per sensor on the low end (plus some blood, sweat, and tears to wire everything up and code the software interface).
I support the EFF - do you?
I was told to try removing the ethernet adaptor, then doing the power-on sequence. Will need to try that, then report back.
BTW - If anyone is still reading this - check out the website I have posted earlier (www.phoenixgarage.net), I updated the FAQ with new info...
I support the EFF - do you?
Didn't work - no dice. I am beginning to wonder if I am being led on a goose chase...
I support the EFF - do you?
Apparently the type of uses for the set-top boxes are becoming popular (at least with ISP like services). AOL is rolling out one, as well - though they are using a different box, made by Phillips.
As far as the NT-150 box goes, I was told by a CSR @ Liberate to press and hold down the power-on button to get into the setup screen - haven't had a chance to try it, yet - I'll post to this thread (and update the FAQ, if needed) when I find out if this is true or not...
I support the EFF - do you?
Don't know if such a scenario has been posted - haven't read all 5 (!!) pages of comments, so mod me down if this is redundant...
Various posts have related to how the DMCA (and the UCITA) could be applied to cars, but here is one I have come up with (and posted before).
Imagine a sensor in your gas tank (or line, or carburator) that could "read" the gas, and tell whether it was "approved" gas for that brand automobile. Maybe it starts out by only allowing you to put 89 octane or higher gasoline in your car (if the 87 is cheaper, you are SOL). Soon, you can only put in a certain brand (say, Mobil). Then, only manufacturer's brand (Dodge D9 gas).
Reverse engineering the car's computer, software/firmware, sensors, or gasoline would be against the "law" - you might be fined or jailed (or both), for attempting to use another brand of gasoline in your car...
Just a thought...
I support the EFF - do you?
I have since set up a page devoted to the box, hopefully it will help others:
/. effect.
Acer NT-150 Set-top Box Internals
This is hosted off a Freeservers site - so I don't know what kind of load it can handle re. a
Anyhow, it has a FAQ - and it is an AMD 586/133 processor (you know, a funky 5x overdriven 486). I just can't get into any kind of BIOS config (I am not even sure it has such a thing), or anything to figure out what it wants as an IP for a BOOTP server (it times out on bootup, with a crappy error message). The device does have what appears like an intact 40pin IDE header, and a few other connectors (all explained in the FAQ - as much as I could find).
That's all I have...
I support the EFF - do you?
I am not saying these laws are right, just, morally or ethically sound - heck, IMHO, they are not even Constitutional.
You are right that it will only "become" illegal if he (or others) get caught. Attempting to do it is one thing, though - most likely he won't be "caught" if he is attempting to do such a thing (as long as he doesn't brag to wide/far about it, lest some upright tightwad decides to turn him in for the moral fiber of the country). However, if he succeeds (or if another succeeds), and he publishes how he did it, via an easily tracked source, the hammer will come down, and hard.
Jon Johannsen (sp?) should have had nothing to fear, since he wasn't even an American citizen - however, even he still had at least a little bit of fear put into him when he was taken down to the station for questioning (even though in the end he wasn't charged with anything). If you are an American doing this, you had better release the "how" portion as anonymous as possible lest retribution come your way...
That being said, let me state that I am all for this kind of hacking. Fair use gives us all the right we need, regardless of the UCITA or DMCA...
I support the EFF - do you?
Backhoes can be a problem, but we shouldn't always place the blame on the operator. While it is true that some heavy equipment operators are either drunk or on-something-else, many are excellent operators who take time and care with their work.
My GF's brother-in-law owns and operates a backhoe, and I rode "shotgun" with him on it many times (one of these days I hope he can show me how to operate the thing). I can tell you that when digging, even knowing there is a pipe, cable, conduit, something - it it hard to tell the difference between it and everything else that is "down there". Unless you are operating in "virgin" soil, many times there will be plant roots, old runs, rebar, branches - you name it, and many times it looks just like what you are trying to avoid. A good operator will either have a spotter, or be looking carefully, and stop immediately after seeing something that even looks like a cable or pipe, get off the rig, and inspect the area. More often than not, it is nothing - but every once in a while it is something, then you have to back off, and hand dig around it.
The biggest problem is when you are digging, and you don't spot the hazard - a boom on a backhoe can be moved quickly, or delicately - but even at it's most delicate, there is still a bit of inertia (hey, it's a big mass of steel, for cryin' out loud!) - which can still cause a break, if you don't catch it in time.
I know there are dangerous operators out there - but the majority are good workers, doing a job you or I might not ever think about doing...
I support the EFF - do you?
One may think that being able to record the output of the box, in it's full digital format, would be upheld by the time-shifting ruling of VCRs, but...
Thanks to the DMCA (and possibly the UCITA), your agreement with the cable company may very well say that "decrypting" the MPEG output stream is a violation of your contract (aka, EULA). In fact, as devices such as the TIVO become more popular (or even integrated into the set-top box - I have COX digital cable, and under the "setup" mode of the box, one of the pages list the ability to have a hard drive attached), I can imagine that it might even disallow "recording" at the distributor's (like HBO) whim, based on signals embedded in the programming.
Unfortunately, no one is going to care until it is too late (probably, American society will wake up when it finds out it isn't allowed to record the next Superbowl because of NFL licensing restrictions)...
I support the EFF - do you?
First off, let me tell you I understand what you are going through - been there myself (though I lost less, at the time it was a lot).
My current setup is this - my computer room is a completely interior room. All walls are brick - no windows. I have a lock on the door. I have an alarm system on the room. I plan to set up a camera system with FTP uplink to my provider, and pager monitoring.
The house itself? Completely concrete block construction - bars on all windows and doors, bolted to the block. Furthermore, my house is set back 50 feet from the road, with a 100 foot visible clearance on all sides.
My suggestion? Set up an interior server closet, something you can lock up your machines in, with a good lock. The room can be full size (like mine), or a simple hall closet, with good ventalation. Add some security to it. Add security stickers, as well. Maybe add motion lights on the outside. There is a lot you can do.
I loved the suggestion of a booby "prize" - I might actually set up such a thing myself - being as I have a ton of old machines, one fakey won't hurt nothing...
I support the EFF - do you?
As noted, the 360 device appears to use the "dual parabolic mirror" trick, to display the virtual image.
The other devices, though (based on the models shown in the flash anims), seem to use something different.
What that could be is up to speculation - but I think they may use some form of either a parabolic lens trick (I remember a simple spring/shake hands with yourself display @ the Exploritorium in SF), or possibly using a fresnel lens.
Sometimes, when you look at a fresnel lens at an angle, objects can appear to "float" above it. I wish I had one of my page magnifiers handy, I would play with it - to see if I could recreate the effect.
I would imaging one of those, plus a small 14-15 inch monitor housed appropriately, could generate the effect...
I support the EFF - do you?
I wonder if Ask Jesus is blocked...
I support the EFF - do you?
...was social engineering at work.
Think about it - if the guy calling was a cracker, and had a good script - he could get a bit of info, have a good starting point...
Inept employee installs the software (maybe some cheesy VB screensaver, with BO on the backend or something) - bammo! - instant access (to possibly very sensitive data).
Alright - maybe this isn't what is happening here - but if this kind of "marketing" takes off, you can bet there will be a few crack attempts along that line...
I support the EFF - do you?
Is this kid's lack of curiosity.
Today's kids have a deep lack of curiosity (not all of them - but a large percentage). When I was younger, kids seemed to be more curious about the world - about how it works. They also seemed to have a greater imagination, able to construct new "worlds" in the minds.
Maybe in this particular case the kid never got curious because the computer made it seem easy. He got complacent, because he got everything "handed" to him by the machine. When the machine asked for something - he got scared.
You see this in adults today - if things are going the way they expect, as soon as the system breaks down a little, they go nuts. If the system breaks down a lot (think natural disaster), more often than not, chaos rules.
Adults and children alike - don't know where to turn to many times. In the computer realm, there is no middle ground for help when it is really needed. Most people are unaware of user groups, magazines are filled with more advertisements than anything else, books are too wordy for most people (you can tell how "curious" a family is by seeing if they have a book selection - if they have at least a small one, with maybe an encyclopedia set - then they are probably real curious - though this generalisation may go away in time due to the Net), and they can't get to a good website, because it isn't listed on the portal yet...
I don't think you should force the kid - but it might be good to find out if this is the only thing he isn't curious about - or if it is a general problem (I was alway asking "why","what","how" questions on everything when I was a kid). If it is a general problem, maybe talking with the parents and the kid would be in order.
People should be curious about their world, as well as have wonderment about things (many people have said they wouldn't care how their TV works, just as long as a picture comes up - but I am always amazed that the thing actually works, and I am continually filled with amazement and awe at the number of people and minds that worked to create such a device over the years, the advancements, etc). By having this curiosity and wonderment - people can acheive great things, or at least have the potential to acheive great things.
I support the EFF - do you?
But they were finished - near the apex of the Cheops pyramid is what is left of the smooth finishing (casement) stones - most were removed. It doesn't make sense that they would start at the top, and work down.
Also, I never said that all pyramids were done this way, but most certainly the larger ("newer"?) ones were. You do have a point why we don't see angular blocks, but maybe they were cut down, reshaped, and dressed for other purposes (they were really large stones, after all).
Finally, look for my other post where I talk about a book I have read postulating that the pyramids may have been made out of a poured concrete-like substance. Furthermore, for even more wackiness, I posted on the thread regarding "Coral Castle", a site in South Florida that is stupifying once you learn about it (look it up on Google, or find my post - it has a link)...
I love this "occult" archaeology and such - here are these huge megalithic constructions - just sitting there laughing at us - then you find out about one in your own "backyard" (the Coral Castle), find out it was built in the 20th century - and it is just as stupifying - it both excites and creates wonderment - I love it!
I support the EFF - do you?
Makes the whole pyramid thing even MORE enigmatic:
Coral Castle
Essentially, it is now a "tourist" attraction that was built from 1920-1940 by a single man, who was 5 feet tall and weighed 100 pounds, who had a 4th grade education, with hand tools. No one knows exactly why he built it, though he alluded it was for his "Sweet Sixteen", though that explanation is of dubious value.
He built it during nighttime, alone - and moved it once mid-construction. The blocks/sculptures are made of coral, and the largest weighs 30 tons! Absolutely NO ONE knows how he did it, though he claims he knew the methods of the Egyptians. Some teenage boys who witnessed a portion of the contruction (and who appear to be the only individuals to do so), said he floated the blocks around like "hydrogen balloons". He apparently took the secret of the construction to his grave.
Here is something relatively modern that we can relate to - yet just as enigmatic. Is it a grand hoax? Has anyone visited this site? Reading about this has me boggled!
I support the EFF - do you?
Not having my library (and too lazy to do a Google search), makes me think you are correct. I stand corrected...
I support the EFF - do you?