A man is found trapped in his new Samsung smart-house tied up in a basement closet with two pieces of toast stuffed in his mouth, covered in ice cubes.
Apparently a burnt toast hacker, found and exploited a security flaw in every electrically powered device in his home. After refusing to pay the ransom his microwave demanded. The microwave ordered the owners toaster to eject the toast into the owners mouth while the Dyson wireless battery powered vacuum cleaner snuck up from behind. The "possessed" cleaning appliance wrapped him up in a magnetically detachable charging cord.
This new Dyson model, well known for its ability to remove facial hair from across the room made easy prey of the 45 year old computer programmer. The man was literally drug across his own kitchen floor kicking and sobbing, spit on by the ice maker as he frantically willed the fridge to help him, he had never done the fridge wrong. The basement door opened itself and the vacuum quickly went from suck to blow, ejecting him at near critical velocity into the open closet. The closet door self-closed.
He was only found because the UPS deliverer, heard the commotion while passing this haunted house.
In other news, Apple Inc. buys Microsoft, settling the largest online debate about which platform is superior...
Just as having a security sign w/o the system can be a potential deterrent, so can the "Beware of Dog" sign, minus the sign.. after all maybe there is a dog, but he's just always on break.
Now there's a thought... self encrypting houses. Conversations in there would be mighty weird, forget to pass the token to your wife and., wait... now that's a good excuse..
"I did not hear your encrypted request to take out the trash", must have an old cipher key.
Worth a try!
The NSA doesn't need a back door, they already bugged every 2x4, light fixture and most of all the TV remote.
The home security industry really just plays on people's fear about getting broken into than actually offering any real benefit.
Speaking of that, my wife and I keep seeing the same 'home security guy" prowling the street like a cat deciding which mice to pounce on. Makes me think of the movie Home Alone; a crook in a cop uniform... I love that movie.
To top it off the insensitive clod knocks on the door at 9 pm... Perhaps it's time to drop the hot heating coil on the door knob...
I'm pretty sure poor Samsung ain't the only ones with weaknesses. Ever know of a system that was completely secure? Perhaps a Linux box, stuck in the center of a black hole perpetually moving itself to/dev/null, but short of that. Nope.
Houses are broken into the old-fashioned way all the time. This is not a new thing. Doing it remotely sounds more scary, and provides new attack vectors and ways to take advantage of such a form of entry, but there are plenty of ways into a place one wants to get into.
It also depends on what else is connected and how that could factor in. Running a home out of fuel by running the heat non-stop and allowing it to freeze up, just screwing with the neighbors by putting on a light show, for kicks, or like said above triggering a false fire alarm. This vulnerability does present some interesting possibilities.
Sometimes it takes a long season in the desert to really help focus one's goals and provide ample motivation to do whatever it takes to reach them. Some people are born knowing what they want to 'do' in life, others not so much. I suppose as long as the path leads to a good place in the end, it all pans out the same. Life provides all of us plenty of chances to learn and grow, in both hard times and good.
Sounds less like a true break for the benefit of the student's future, and more like a way to create a market for these organizations, not a bad thing if it serves the students well, but it is marketed under a false pretense. Call it an alternative form of learning.
Being at one time employed at a university as a student, I saw firsthand a number of utterly miserable people working in the same building as me. They started off as student employees, landed a full time job, were captivated by the better pay and benefits, started families, and were hooked on the very jobs they had learned to hate.
They had at one time had different dreams, but the "easy road" of a job that paid then and there was too much to resist, leading them to never do the very thing they had gone to school to learn. They were terrible to be around, and spent all their time in meetings fighting like spoiled children over petty matters for a lack of any real productive goals to achieve.
I vowed to never fall into that trap. My current job may not be heaven on earth, but how many jobs are? However, I am happy with what I do, but ironically I am not working in the field I went to school for - a Biology Major working as a NetAdmin. What irony!
Finding a job to help pay for that college could prove beneficial down the road when those lovely student loan sharks come knocking on your door. If presented the chance I would encourage everyone to find anyway possible to reduce the amount of money borrowed for school - even to go as far as to continue working ones way through school. Naturally not everyone is in this boat, but for many they are. I took 6 years to earn my Bachelors , it did not hurt me later. It may not be a lot of money, but every bit helps.
Plus there's the perspective gained from taking a break from formal "education:" and living a year in the working world. This could provide a more balanced perspective of life before being thrust into the world of academia. College has a way of creating an immersive reality distortion field, as if Steve Jobs himself was every college kids roommate. Anything to counterbalance the effects of living in the bubble could enrich the whole experience leaving the student even more 'well rounded".
It's a shame to hear things like this. If the fruit vendors are breaking zoning laws, then the proper civil authorities should take action. This does not excuse this type of attitude from him or others like him. I know disdain for the poor extends far beyond the "rich", we are all capable of being cold and uncaring, but not everyone is, thankfully. Even people who just ignore people struggling to make it, while perhaps not speaking ill of them are showing apathy by the lack of even caring.
We may not be legally obligated to help others, but in my mind it's the right thing to do. I know I could be doing more, and am just as guilty. I'm not an advocate of handouts that breed dependency, but for crying out loud, if a chance to buy someone's product is there, that's hardly a bad thing to consider. But to go out of one's way to not only not care, but intentionally add to one's suffering is just sad. I wonder how he would feel if he were reduced to poverty, how his attitude would change. There is more to life than what one owns, it's the kind of person one is that really matters. Wealthy and poor people alike live but a short time and blow away like dust in the wind, but how we live defines us far more that what we have accumulated.
I tried Opera, I did like it, but, me being a creature of habit I kept using the same browser anyways. It was not that I did not like Opera, but that I was too used to what I used every day. To me, Opera was the Rolls-Royce of web browsers: a fancy ride to surf the web with, but at the end of the day, I preferred my less glamorous Honda Accord, complete with cracked windshield and worn off bumper stickers.
*Disclaimer: I drive Toyota, but the Accord just has that reputation of being driven forever and fit my metaphor better.*
Funny thing is, I can't recall what browser I was using back then. I pray it was not Internet Explorer (during my short bout of insanity after the destruction of Netscape).
I'm sure it's a lot easier and quicker to click "Add to Cart" than it is to call up a merchant and order stuff by phone.
Unless you are using a secure phone, it's far more dangerous to give out your credit card information on the phone than over a secure web session. Odd, I remember when people did not trust using their card number online, but had no issues with the telephone. Funny how we see things differently over time. I don't think twice when I hit the "submit order" button, but always feel like I have to whisper my card number over the phone.
But without encryption, I just may feel safer on the phone... or I may just tear up the card and go all cash.
BTW, I said it was a drag, not that I don't go to the gas station like a big boy and fuel my own car. It's a drag, as in sometimes it's nice to have the pizza delivered instead of having to put on my diaper and drive in my gas-less car to pick up my own pizza that I paid for by working my lazy job!
All kidding aside, I do feel that lazy sometimes, don't we all?
In a digital world, giving the government "the master key to encryption" is slightly more dangerous than broadcasting to the world, your street address, where the key to the front door is and where all the valuables are, and when you will not be home.
The master key is just another word for "blank permission slip" to look at anyone's data for any reason that any secret court rubber stamps an approval on.
Freedom means the right to privacy. Solid encryption offers that privacy. It also gives criminals a way to hide their data from law enforcement. Long before the digital age, that has been going on in dark alleys and secret underground bunkers.
The government sees a way to gain unprecedented power and will stop at nothing to get it.
I find the trade off acceptable. I'd rather see a few more terrorists escape, than face a government that labels all who choose to encrypt a potential criminal, or worse.
We already have a national disaster waiting to happen.
Millions of untrained laypersons fuel their vehicles, and often other people's vehicles, unlicensed and unregulated. They should be required to go through a yearly training course and provide proof of their certification upon request.
It only takes one mass advertising text message powered by Google to ignite thousands of gas pumps all at once. The apocalypse is already upon us!!! It's just a matter of time, we must ACT NOW!
The answer is here! IGPC (International Gas Pump Certification) is only $99 dollars a year.
Regulators are standing by to ensure that every possible safety rule is enforced. IGPC approved gas gloves. Approved gas suit. Approved fueling technique. Approved standing position while fueling. Approved untrained persons allowed near the vehicle while fueling is in progress.
We have an answer, let's just hope it's not too late.
They could take orders in large batches and then use some kind of car density per square block algorithm to dispatch a fuel vehicle to once it is cost efficient to do so.
Or... they could just camp out at the large mega-mart parking lots, allow you to see the sign and submit your fuel order from your phone!
If only they could be trusted to fuel the car without my presence. Gas locks are there for a reason...
Slashdot Mirror
This just in...
A man is found trapped in his new Samsung smart-house tied up in a basement closet with two pieces of toast stuffed in his mouth, covered in ice cubes.
Apparently a burnt toast hacker, found and exploited a security flaw in every electrically powered device in his home. After refusing to pay the ransom his microwave demanded. The microwave ordered the owners toaster to eject the toast into the owners mouth while the Dyson wireless battery powered vacuum cleaner snuck up from behind. The "possessed" cleaning appliance wrapped him up in a magnetically detachable charging cord.
This new Dyson model, well known for its ability to remove facial hair from across the room made easy prey of the 45 year old computer programmer. The man was literally drug across his own kitchen floor kicking and sobbing, spit on by the ice maker as he frantically willed the fridge to help him, he had never done the fridge wrong. The basement door opened itself and the vacuum quickly went from suck to blow, ejecting him at near critical velocity into the open closet. The closet door self-closed.
He was only found because the UPS deliverer, heard the commotion while passing this haunted house.
In other news, Apple Inc. buys Microsoft, settling the largest online debate about which platform is superior...
*Minus the DOG rather...
I'd blame auto-correct, but i'm on a windows box this time,
Just as having a security sign w/o the system can be a potential deterrent, so can the "Beware of Dog" sign, minus the sign.. after all maybe there is a dog, but he's just always on break.
Who doesn't like ketchup.
Anything can taste good with enough Ketchup!
Or just a sign that says "Beware of Dog".
Just put a fingerprint sensor on everything, from the coffee pot to the garage door opener. Everyone knows those things are foolproof.
Now there's a thought... self encrypting houses. Conversations in there would be mighty weird, forget to pass the token to your wife and., wait... now that's a good excuse..
"I did not hear your encrypted request to take out the trash", must have an old cipher key.
Worth a try!
The NSA doesn't need a back door, they already bugged every 2x4, light fixture and most of all the TV remote.
The home security industry really just plays on people's fear about getting broken into than actually offering any real benefit.
Speaking of that, my wife and I keep seeing the same 'home security guy" prowling the street like a cat deciding which mice to pounce on. Makes me think of the movie Home Alone; a crook in a cop uniform... I love that movie.
To top it off the insensitive clod knocks on the door at 9 pm... Perhaps it's time to drop the hot heating coil on the door knob...
I'm pretty sure poor Samsung ain't the only ones with weaknesses. Ever know of a system that was completely secure? Perhaps a Linux box, stuck in the center of a black hole perpetually moving itself to /dev/null, but short of that. Nope.
Houses are broken into the old-fashioned way all the time. This is not a new thing. Doing it remotely sounds more scary, and provides new attack vectors and ways to take advantage of such a form of entry, but there are plenty of ways into a place one wants to get into.
It also depends on what else is connected and how that could factor in. Running a home out of fuel by running the heat non-stop and allowing it to freeze up, just screwing with the neighbors by putting on a light show, for kicks, or like said above triggering a false fire alarm. This vulnerability does present some interesting possibilities.
... are belong to us!
Sometimes it takes a long season in the desert to really help focus one's goals and provide ample motivation to do whatever it takes to reach them. Some people are born knowing what they want to 'do' in life, others not so much. I suppose as long as the path leads to a good place in the end, it all pans out the same. Life provides all of us plenty of chances to learn and grow, in both hard times and good.
Sounds less like a true break for the benefit of the student's future, and more like a way to create a market for these organizations, not a bad thing if it serves the students well, but it is marketed under a false pretense. Call it an alternative form of learning.
Being at one time employed at a university as a student, I saw firsthand a number of utterly miserable people working in the same building as me. They started off as student employees, landed a full time job, were captivated by the better pay and benefits, started families, and were hooked on the very jobs they had learned to hate.
They had at one time had different dreams, but the "easy road" of a job that paid then and there was too much to resist, leading them to never do the very thing they had gone to school to learn. They were terrible to be around, and spent all their time in meetings fighting like spoiled children over petty matters for a lack of any real productive goals to achieve.
I vowed to never fall into that trap. My current job may not be heaven on earth, but how many jobs are? However, I am happy with what I do, but ironically I am not working in the field I went to school for - a Biology Major working as a NetAdmin. What irony!
Finding a job to help pay for that college could prove beneficial down the road when those lovely student loan sharks come knocking on your door. If presented the chance I would encourage everyone to find anyway possible to reduce the amount of money borrowed for school - even to go as far as to continue working ones way through school. Naturally not everyone is in this boat, but for many they are. I took 6 years to earn my Bachelors , it did not hurt me later. It may not be a lot of money, but every bit helps.
Plus there's the perspective gained from taking a break from formal "education:" and living a year in the working world. This could provide a more balanced perspective of life before being thrust into the world of academia. College has a way of creating an immersive reality distortion field, as if Steve Jobs himself was every college kids roommate. Anything to counterbalance the effects of living in the bubble could enrich the whole experience leaving the student even more 'well rounded".
It's a shame to hear things like this. If the fruit vendors are breaking zoning laws, then the proper civil authorities should take action. This does not excuse this type of attitude from him or others like him. I know disdain for the poor extends far beyond the "rich", we are all capable of being cold and uncaring, but not everyone is, thankfully. Even people who just ignore people struggling to make it, while perhaps not speaking ill of them are showing apathy by the lack of even caring.
We may not be legally obligated to help others, but in my mind it's the right thing to do. I know I could be doing more, and am just as guilty. I'm not an advocate of handouts that breed dependency, but for crying out loud, if a chance to buy someone's product is there, that's hardly a bad thing to consider. But to go out of one's way to not only not care, but intentionally add to one's suffering is just sad. I wonder how he would feel if he were reduced to poverty, how his attitude would change. There is more to life than what one owns, it's the kind of person one is that really matters. Wealthy and poor people alike live but a short time and blow away like dust in the wind, but how we live defines us far more that what we have accumulated.
I have been wondering why in the future everything tastes like chicken. This explains it perfectly.
I tried Opera, I did like it, but, me being a creature of habit I kept using the same browser anyways. It was not that I did not like Opera, but that I was too used to what I used every day. To me, Opera was the Rolls-Royce of web browsers: a fancy ride to surf the web with, but at the end of the day, I preferred my less glamorous Honda Accord, complete with cracked windshield and worn off bumper stickers.
*Disclaimer: I drive Toyota, but the Accord just has that reputation of being driven forever and fit my metaphor better.*
Funny thing is, I can't recall what browser I was using back then. I pray it was not Internet Explorer (during my short bout of insanity after the destruction of Netscape).
I'm sure it's a lot easier and quicker to click "Add to Cart" than it is to call up a merchant and order stuff by phone.
Unless you are using a secure phone, it's far more dangerous to give out your credit card information on the phone than over a secure web session. Odd, I remember when people did not trust using their card number online, but had no issues with the telephone. Funny how we see things differently over time. I don't think twice when I hit the "submit order" button, but always feel like I have to whisper my card number over the phone.
But without encryption, I just may feel safer on the phone... or I may just tear up the card and go all cash.
They make diapers that big? Sign me up!
BTW, I said it was a drag, not that I don't go to the gas station like a big boy and fuel my own car. It's a drag, as in sometimes it's nice to have the pizza delivered instead of having to put on my diaper and drive in my gas-less car to pick up my own pizza that I paid for by working my lazy job!
All kidding aside, I do feel that lazy sometimes, don't we all?
In a digital world, giving the government "the master key to encryption" is slightly more dangerous than broadcasting to the world, your street address, where the key to the front door is and where all the valuables are, and when you will not be home.
The master key is just another word for "blank permission slip" to look at anyone's data for any reason that any secret court rubber stamps an approval on.
Freedom means the right to privacy. Solid encryption offers that privacy. It also gives criminals a way to hide their data from law enforcement. Long before the digital age, that has been going on in dark alleys and secret underground bunkers.
The government sees a way to gain unprecedented power and will stop at nothing to get it.
I find the trade off acceptable. I'd rather see a few more terrorists escape, than face a government that labels all who choose to encrypt a potential criminal, or worse.
We already have a national disaster waiting to happen.
Millions of untrained laypersons fuel their vehicles, and often other people's vehicles, unlicensed and unregulated. They should be required to go through a yearly training course and provide proof of their certification upon request.
It only takes one mass advertising text message powered by Google to ignite thousands of gas pumps all at once. The apocalypse is already upon us!!! It's just a matter of time, we must ACT NOW!
The answer is here! IGPC (International Gas Pump Certification) is only $99 dollars a year.
Regulators are standing by to ensure that every possible safety rule is enforced. IGPC approved gas gloves. Approved gas suit. Approved fueling technique. Approved standing position while fueling. Approved untrained persons allowed near the vehicle while fueling is in progress.
We have an answer, let's just hope it's not too late.
They could take orders in large batches and then use some kind of car density per square block algorithm to dispatch a fuel vehicle to once it is cost efficient to do so.
Or... they could just camp out at the large mega-mart parking lots, allow you to see the sign and submit your fuel order from your phone!
If only they could be trusted to fuel the car without my presence. Gas locks are there for a reason...
Texaco... we now deliver!