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User: akula1

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  1. Re:in the libertarian fairy forest lives a... on Spyware Fines OKed By House · · Score: 1

    >I spent a couple of years working with laywers and asked them to decode a couple of these spyware EULAs. They really couldn't. The language is purposely bad and misleading and written in a way to play down any privacy violations. If people knew what they were getting into they wouldnt install this stuff.

    It's called fraud (by misrepresentation) and its already illegal in every state I've ever lived in.

  2. Re:Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem... on NIST Proposes Abandoning DES · · Score: 3, Informative

    Many cryptanalysts don't trust ECC yet because there has not been enough peer review (i.e. attmepts to break it) of the mathematics of the algorithm.

  3. Re:What about triple DES on NIST Proposes Abandoning DES · · Score: 2, Informative

    Triple DES actually has a key complexity of around 112 bits, but more importantly is signifigantly slower then AES due to the need for three sequential passes with three (or more often two) seperate keys.

    As a result AES has more key complexity and runs faster, which is why it makes sense to drop DES/3DES.

  4. Angel on Harvard Open Source Courseware · · Score: 1

    Penn State uses a colossal waste of time and money called Angel. It is the biggest piece of shit I have ever had the misfortune to use.

    Issues I can remember:
    "One of the three servers was down all weekend before we noticed. In the future if you can't log in make sure you try a few times."
    "Something happened and we lost all your quiz scores for the semester. You'll have to redo them."
    Plus it's IIS with a SQL Server backend. It took down the entire IST departments network for two and a half days.

  5. You can't in Win XP, unless the driver is signed. on Windows Rootkits · · Score: 1

    You get a warning prompt if you attempt to install an unsigned driver in Windows XP. This could, theoretically at least, make an exploit of this type more difficult.

    I've gotten numerous tech support calls from panicky users asking why Lexmark, who won't pay to get their drivers signed, is trying to hack their system.

  6. Re:What matters is not who was going to get the bo on War Hero Thwarted Nazi Heavy Water Production · · Score: 1

    The world was a scary and dangerous place long before the development of nuclear weapons.

  7. Re:System Requirements on SGI Introduces World's Densest Server · · Score: 3, Funny

    It'll probably be about right by the time Duke Nukem Forever is released.

  8. Re:hacks on PalmSource Talks About PalmOS 6.0 · · Score: 1

    The article states that an emulation layer for Palm OS 4/5 apps will be part of OS 6.

    P.S. Ever hear of Classic 9 ... yeah its the OS X compatibility layer for non OS X apps.

    P.P.S. I don't even know what your talking about with the NT crap. Almost all Windows applications that run in NT will run in 2K/XP. Later versions of 2K (SP2 and up?), and all versions of XP include the ability to specify the emulation layer to use.

  9. Reverse Engineering on MPAA vs. Television · · Score: 1

    There have been a number of posts suggesting that no matter what the MPAA does in the form of a broadcast flag some clever cracker will break it. While this is almost certainly true the MPAA will still achieve two objectives;

    1. No matter what you say, I don't believe that your casual home user is going to break out a soldering iron (or metaphorical soldering iron in the case of a software hack) to defeat this protection. So the MPAA will eliminate a lot of copying.
    2. Since this flag would be a form of copyright protection it would, as I understand it, fall under the DMCA. Ask Dimitri about how much fun it is to present valid security flaws in a copyright protection scheme.

    So while a, fairly small I believe, group of techies will defeat this encryption, the club of the DMCA would probably greatly cut down on the sale of a box (ala the old school "free" pay per view boxes) to do it for your casual user.

  10. Dangerous Thinking on Web Publishers Sue Gator · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This strikes me as a dangerous way to think. It implies a contract of sort between you and a web site operator. They supply content and you (as far as they're concerned) have to look at their ads.

  11. Re:Maintainance costs of the different people... on ATT Raises Prices for Cable Modem Owners · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You make a good point, except for one fact, when I signed up for ATT Broadband they were encouraging you to buy your own modem. They also had a list of approved modems which negates your point about the modem being a source of bugs. Why does it matter if I'm using a PCX1100U that ATT gave me or that I bought at Best Buy?

    The thing that upsets me most is that ATT is taking it upon themselves to jack up my rates after I paid $80 for a cable modem in an effort to save money in the long run.

  12. What kind of bus? on New 100GB Optical Disk From Taiwan · · Score: 1

    What kind of bus would a drive that is, presumably,this blazing fast use? IDE almost certainly can't handle it. Is SCSI, Fibre Channel etc.. up to the task or will a new bus technology be required for these new optical drives?

  13. Re:Marconi!? on Spark Gaps and Ultra Wide Band Data Transmission · · Score: 1

    Yeah, those tesla coils in Command and Conquer kicked ass!

  14. Re:Overhead time? on Cray's New Solid State Storage · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Since this is a solid state storage device its performance will be that of a RAM. This is the main reason why solid state storage is so attractive. There will be no read/write heads etc...

  15. New.net and other various spyware. on Fair Software Installation · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I work tech support for the residence halls at my university and have seen this occurring more and more frequently. New.net is a perfect example because the only way to remove it is to hunt down uninstall instructions on various newsgroups, alt.comp.virus, if i remember correctly. Not only is this program on almost every users computer I touch, but its probably responsible for about 20% of the "my internet just stopped working, and no I don't know why" calls I receive.

    Maybe its time for Symnantec, Trend etc... to add "spyware" detection to there AV products.

  16. Free for Students. on Sun to Charge for Star Office 6.0 · · Score: 1

    Is Sun going to consider making this free for students? At my University and many others, MS Office is given away for free. Sun should really consider giving it free to poor students if they hope to make inroads into Academia.

  17. As a Comp Sci Student. on Anyone Using JHDL for Programmable Logic? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I actually enjoy VHDL. I found it extremely easy to use once I realized that I wasn't actually programming I was just drawing with words.

    Granted I was doing fairly simple things, (junior level Computer Organization class), but VHDL didn't seem obtuse at all to me.

  18. Bandwidth Cap and Upload/Download restrictions. on Bandwidth Demand at American Universities · · Score: 4, Interesting

    At my big ten University bandwidth use by the residence halls has been enough of a problem to cause our keycard access system to become DOS'd. You need keycards to buy food, enter buildings etc...

    As of Monday 1.5 GB a week upload and 1.5 GB a week download restrictions go into place. You get two warnings if you exceed these limits and then your residence hall connection is yanked for a semester.

  19. Re:How much will be "enough"? on 64 Mbyte Write once CMOS Chip from Standard Fabs · · Score: 1

    In the area of high-quality video, more really is better. If you are using uncompressed video it can suck up the proverbial GB's and GB's of space rather quickly. Who wouldnt want hours of high quality video/audio all on there Palm/IPAQ/Handspring type device.

    There would, however need to be a convenient (read wireless), fast way to dump such things back and forth to your home PC. This to me seems to be more of a potential bottleneck than disk space.

  20. C++ on GCC 3.0.2 Is Out · · Score: 1

    Anybody used it for any c++ code. does it work any better then the other 3.x's?

  21. Now is the time to write your senator on SSSCA Hearings Postponed Under Heavy Opposition · · Score: 2, Informative

    As above, now is the time to write/call/email your senator. If the pressure is kept up they are much more likely to drop the bill permenantly. This could be a very good thing.

  22. Spoof IE on MSN Blocks Mozilla, Other Browsers [updated] · · Score: 1

    It might be fun for anyone out there using Windows to change your Internet Explorer User Agent String to include "netscape Opera" and then try to go to MSN. When it tells you to get a "more standards compliant browser" send an email with a screen shot of IE being blocked by msn.com to their tech support. Kinda petty, but amusing nonetheless.

  23. Consumers must become more intelligent on The Hypermedia Hazard · · Score: 1

    I personally do not feel the need to have my media filtered and spoon-fed to me. I feel that one of the key strengths of the Internet is the ability for information to travel quickly.

    Granted, some of this information is bound to be false, either through malicious or unscrupulous reporters or simply because of a "rush to market" mentality. This is not necessarily a flaw with the Internet; it is a flaw with how we perceive the Internet. I do not believe Internet news should be filtered, but rather that we, as consumers on the Internet must rise to the occasion.

    People seem to assume that it is normal to have an Orwellian reaction to everything they see on the Internet. This is both foolish and dangerous. All it takes is stopping for a second thinking about what you are reading. Is it from a reliable source? Does it sound plausible? Etc. Then you double-check it at another site just to make sure.

    If people do these simple things, then there would be no cause for panic every time someone starts a rumor on the net.

    People want to blame the media because it is easier then blaming him or her for either not being intelligent enough or being to lazy to check the facts.

  24. Re:University Students on Microsoft Sets Tolls for .Net Developers · · Score: 1

    Actually I'm at Penn State. I know that Pitt has the same deal with MS also. Apparently they convinced a bunch of schools to buy in on the deal. Our Vice-Provost was shocked when someone told him that not everyone uses Windows and that it therefore didn't benefit all of the students.

  25. University Students on Microsoft Sets Tolls for .Net Developers · · Score: 1
    My university signed an "agreement" two years ago, wherein Microsoft got 14 million dollars and students get the right to *borrow* a CD to install Windows/Office/Visual Studio. (On a side note, the EULA clearly states that we have the right to install the software, but not the right to burn a CD of it for backup)


    It would make sense for MS to try to hook developers while there still young and impressionable. (Drug dealers in my high school did the same thing. Just say no, kids.)


    Anyone know if Universities like mine are going to get copies of the .NET studio?