That's a bit of a strawman. Nobody said EKGs aren't neat-o. It's the $3,000/hour part that's a problem
It's my understanding that medical services are usually reimbursed based on the service not on the time. So the $103 is probably a flat rate based on the average time it takes to explain an EKG to someone - if it is really complex and has lots of implications and follow-up procedures that need to be done, and the patient is very sick with multiple diagnosis, it would take much longer. Considering that, $103 doesn't seem outrageous.
Also, from my experiences, outpatient medical services are usually scheduled in 15 minute incriments. So even if it was billed on a per-time basis, and the patient was scheduled for a 15 minute appointment that happened to end sooner, $412/hour is high, but not astronomical considering the type of service being rendered.
In theory (meaning: I've never done this) you could do one install of Windows, install your apps, then use NTBackup to save your system state and your Program Files/Docs and Sets folders.
Even if that worked fairly well, it's a horribly SLOW way to recover a computer. The poster was specificly looking for some way to be able to recover a computer without reinstalling all the applications because of the time that takes.
What? All my Email Accounts, along with the accounts of most everyone I know recieve around 75-90% Spam.
On my network there are two email addresses of terminated employees (coincidence?) that each get roughly 1500 spams/week. That alone is ~40% of all inbound email to my domain. (They just get filtered to the bit bucket.)
Like you say, I estimate that 85% of all our inbound traffic is spam, but most accounts don't receive nearly that high a percentage.
Although I must confess I assume that the majority of the "spam" we get probably isn't UNSOLICITED commercial email (UCE); I think employees sign up for email services that have loose privacy policies, get their address sold to others, and voila, 200 messages a day. The problems are more or less the same, though: no way to unsubscribe, or find out how they got your address, and they spoof return addresses and use deceptive subject lines.
yeah, sure, spammers are going to agree to only send spam on a protocol that no one in their right mind would ever turn on. US legislators are having enough trouble getting spammers to use the ADV subject flag and preventing from-address spoofing.
Unless they actually *do* log you IP every time you search...
Actually, IP's aren't a particularly good method of tracking usage either, since proxy servers and gatways often funnel traffic from multiple computers through one IP address. I'd imaging that they'd actually get better statistics from cookies.
When analyzing the data, they could just ignore anything from browsers like Opera. At this point, it doesn't sound like they are actually trying to track people, they are just trying to figure out some useful usage statistics. It doesn't matter too much which group of people get looked as, so long as it is pretty big. 1% of IE users that don't lock down cookies would probably be a fine sample.
From the article: "Because Jenny had gently suggested earlier that Mike sometimes gets lost in D.C., the geeks take some time to show him the Garmin GPS unit"
I actually thought that was one of the better toys for people living in a large metro area like DC.
I like to think that I'm the only person where Windows Update consistently fails HORRIBLY but that'd be naive.
Yep, Windows Update has issues. There's been lots of discussion on NTBugTraq about problems with Windows Update. See this one about MS03-026.
Think about it.. if the Windows gurus in the NTBugTraq community are confused by the behavior of Windows Update, how the heck are regular consumers supposed to reliably use the service???
And you raise a good point. If WU can't reliably patch your computer, how can pushed patches from MS be any better? If you're counting on your computer being automatically patched by MS and the updates are failing, isn't the perception of security when there is in fact none even worse than nothing at all?
That already happens, because society has decided it was the lesser of two evils. Children get vaccinated to protect them in the future, and if I understand properly, it's mandatory, both in schools and hospitals. I'm sure there are still some "frikkenidiots(tm)" that refuse to get their kids vaccinated, but they probably change their minds when their kids get sick and/or die.
Right, but you can't walk around with syringes of MMR and Polio vaccines and jab kids with them that you think need them. Heck, even if you're a doctor, you can't give vaccines without consent.
No, I shouldn't. This worm isn't clogging up bandwidth or DoS/DDoS attacking routers and web servers like Code Red and Nimda did. This is just making WinNT and greater workstations and servers (should you actually be using a Windows OS on a server that isn't heavily protected) to reboot.
Perhaps the greater threat is that people will likely tweak the code to add a more damaging payload or do something to prevent it from being detected so easily.
It's really that simple. Check daily for patches on your software, patch it, reboot, get back to work.
Actually, I think you're over-simplifying the process somewhat:
If you run any mission-critical applications, you'd better be testing the patches before you deploy them - especially ones that don't have an uninstaller.
Often down-time needs to be scheduled (especially on servers) which always occurs when you need to reboot after installing the patch.
Being the guinea pig for just-released patches can be problematic if there are problems with the patch. Generally waiting a couple days is a decent idea to see if MS amends their bulletin or people report problems with the patch.
Tracking down and patching mobile users can be difficult, especially if they are off-site, but failure to do so can increase risk of future exposure.
I guess the last one applies more to Network Admins than System Admins, but they tend to be hard to separate these days. Oh, and all these items are significantly more problematic in the case of a service pack release, as more things tend to be effected...
Yeppers. I was waiting for a 'Road Warrior' to return (I consult on Friday afternoons only) so I could update his laptop. Upon seeing the news this morning, I sent him an email with instructions (crossing fingers!) on how to use Windows Update.
Careful with Windows Update; it is notorius for falsely reporting that patches are installed properly.. See this discussion about this very patch (MS03-026).
I can't think of any reason why someone shouldn't be doing the same to their Windows network
Your point is certainly valid, but what makes this particular problem frustrating is not that it was a widely publicized hole, but that Microsoft's tools (e.g. Windows Update) for checking patch status are wholly inadiquate. There has been a fair amount of discussion on NTBugTraq on this point leading up to the worm discovery.
Also, 30 days to test an impliment a patch on mission-critical production systems is sometimes more difficult than it seems like it should be.
FFS it's not as if it's attacking via port 80... No properly administered system should ever get this. Home users, maybe but businesses????
Actually, I had quite a scramble this morning making sure all my mobile users were properly patched. That's my single biggest point-of-entry problem for worms and viruses; people take their notebooks home or on the road and come back infected and reconnect inside the firewall. It's much harder to properly enforce policies on mobile users. Fortunatly all our laptops were either patched or left at work yesterday and patched this morning.
The other possible point of entry is VPN's which are also notorius for letting in computers that were infected via a different net connection.
That statement itself implies that it's wrong (ahem) to say that something is right or wrong.
Perhaps. But more precisely it illustrates a confusing use of the english language, where right/wrong can mean moral/immoral or good/evil and can also mean correct/incorrect. And it is often difficult to tell the difference even when considering a small scope of context. Given the entire context of the original post, I believe be-fan was dismissing the proposed moral cause of the war as incorrect, based on the arguments presented.
Funny. Actually, the link you provided seems to indicate to me that IBM/HAL is NOT an urban myth, but rather for whatever reason the author is probably denying the origin of the name. I guess we'll never really know for sure...
Now you say most americans don't pay by the bandwidth...
It is certainly true that most people don't pay by the bandwidth, but *I* do; I have a metered 10 Mb fiber internet connection. Granted it is dirt cheap and never flooded, but I pay for every spam that comes through. The same would probably go for many folks using frame relay; anyone who thinks spam is free and harmless is flat-out wrong.
Funny thing here in Germany is: The filter is ALWAYS ON... (there are not even clear rules about what exactly they are filtering, and there's no explanation why you can't turn it off over here; even worse: They don't even tell you that there IS a filter and that it's always active). I asked Google about this, but never got a response.
I googled and found a few reports of the issue, including this one. It seems that Google reserves the right to remove links they think will land themselves in legal hotwater depending on various local laws (ie France and Germany).
Nice criticism. Now, take a moment to think about it. The russians can not economically support their space program, so they fly VERY rich people to space to defray their costs. Our space agency is now becoming strapped for cash so NASA GIVES UP and mothballs the ISS.
Well, actually NASA isn't talking about scrapping ISS because they are low on cash, they're talking about it because Russia is low on cash, despite their space tourism. Which of course doesn't necessarily mean that NASA couldn't benefit financially from shooting tourists into space...
Clearly this is the "killer app" for drug smugglers... pack that baby full of coke and out run and out swim any DEA vehicles. All it needs now is a Stinger mount to deal with those pesky helicopters...
I've never used g4u personally, but I did some research on disk cloning back awhile ago and a common complaint about the software was that even though it was rock-solid for all kinds of different operating systems, it was really slow. Anyone have any idea how reasonable the speeds are now?
Most modern (under 7 years old, i think) diesel engines will also run biodiesel, which is part bio-byproduct, the french-fry grease fuel. They'll also run a mixture of gas and diesel.
That reminds me of the greasear folks, that convert diesel engines into grease engines.. so they can get free low-emission fuel from fast food restaurants.
For some free options, the IBM Home Page Reader has a free 30 day trial. Also, there's the Speakup Project which works for linux; I'm not sure how it works for web browsers... There's also BLYNX, and many others you should be able to find with google.
The only solution is to make it a law that every citizen MUST vote.
I don't think that will help; if everyone MUST vote, then those who actually care about issues will have a smaller voice. People will be picking based on who has better hair, who looks most like their grandfather, flipping coins, or whatever.
If you really care about issues and know that votes=power, go find (or convince) other people who care about those issues and get them to vote.
If you really care about people and know that votes=power, go find people and get them to vote for whatever issues are relevant to them.
That would suit me fine. Those features on a website that are most likely to break screen readers tend to be the exact same features that are the most annoying, unnecessary and browser incompatible.
Interesting... one of the ADA things that people often talk about are "curb cuts" - changing a street curb to a ramp for wheelchairs and the like.. many people originally thought it was a huge waste of money because it cost so much and only served a small portion of the population. Now, parents routinely get pissed off when they are pushing a stroller and come across a curb instead of a ramp.
Does anyone else find it peculiar that they have a windows (.exe) file linked, but describes it as a program "Linux programmers wrote... to play DVDs on their computers"? What's the deal? Just a non-tech reporter mixing things up? (Sure, once you have the source you can compile it any way you want, but...)
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It's my understanding that medical services are usually reimbursed based on the service not on the time. So the $103 is probably a flat rate based on the average time it takes to explain an EKG to someone - if it is really complex and has lots of implications and follow-up procedures that need to be done, and the patient is very sick with multiple diagnosis, it would take much longer. Considering that, $103 doesn't seem outrageous.
Also, from my experiences, outpatient medical services are usually scheduled in 15 minute incriments. So even if it was billed on a per-time basis, and the patient was scheduled for a 15 minute appointment that happened to end sooner, $412/hour is high, but not astronomical considering the type of service being rendered.
Even if that worked fairly well, it's a horribly SLOW way to recover a computer. The poster was specificly looking for some way to be able to recover a computer without reinstalling all the applications because of the time that takes.
On my network there are two email addresses of terminated employees (coincidence?) that each get roughly 1500 spams/week. That alone is ~40% of all inbound email to my domain. (They just get filtered to the bit bucket.)
Like you say, I estimate that 85% of all our inbound traffic is spam, but most accounts don't receive nearly that high a percentage.
Although I must confess I assume that the majority of the "spam" we get probably isn't UNSOLICITED commercial email (UCE); I think employees sign up for email services that have loose privacy policies, get their address sold to others, and voila, 200 messages a day. The problems are more or less the same, though: no way to unsubscribe, or find out how they got your address, and they spoof return addresses and use deceptive subject lines.
yeah, sure, spammers are going to agree to only send spam on a protocol that no one in their right mind would ever turn on. US legislators are having enough trouble getting spammers to use the ADV subject flag and preventing from-address spoofing.
Actually, IP's aren't a particularly good method of tracking usage either, since proxy servers and gatways often funnel traffic from multiple computers through one IP address. I'd imaging that they'd actually get better statistics from cookies.
When analyzing the data, they could just ignore anything from browsers like Opera. At this point, it doesn't sound like they are actually trying to track people, they are just trying to figure out some useful usage statistics. It doesn't matter too much which group of people get looked as, so long as it is pretty big. 1% of IE users that don't lock down cookies would probably be a fine sample.
From the article: "Because Jenny had gently suggested earlier that Mike sometimes gets lost in D.C., the geeks take some time to show him the Garmin GPS unit"
I actually thought that was one of the better toys for people living in a large metro area like DC.
Yep, Windows Update has issues. There's been lots of discussion on NTBugTraq about problems with Windows Update. See this one about MS03-026.
Think about it.. if the Windows gurus in the NTBugTraq community are confused by the behavior of Windows Update, how the heck are regular consumers supposed to reliably use the service???
And you raise a good point. If WU can't reliably patch your computer, how can pushed patches from MS be any better? If you're counting on your computer being automatically patched by MS and the updates are failing, isn't the perception of security when there is in fact none even worse than nothing at all?
Right, but you can't walk around with syringes of MMR and Polio vaccines and jab kids with them that you think need them. Heck, even if you're a doctor, you can't give vaccines without consent.
Perhaps the greater threat is that people will likely tweak the code to add a more damaging payload or do something to prevent it from being detected so easily.
Actually, I think you're over-simplifying the process somewhat:
- If you run any mission-critical applications, you'd better be testing the patches before you deploy them - especially ones that don't have an uninstaller.
- Often down-time needs to be scheduled (especially on servers) which always occurs when you need to reboot after installing the patch.
- Being the guinea pig for just-released patches can be problematic if there are problems with the patch. Generally waiting a couple days is a decent idea to see if MS amends their bulletin or people report problems with the patch.
- Tracking down and patching mobile users can be difficult, especially if they are off-site, but failure to do so can increase risk of future exposure.
I guess the last one applies more to Network Admins than System Admins, but they tend to be hard to separate these days. Oh, and all these items are significantly more problematic in the case of a service pack release, as more things tend to be effected...Careful with Windows Update; it is notorius for falsely reporting that patches are installed properly.. See this discussion about this very patch (MS03-026).
Your point is certainly valid, but what makes this particular problem frustrating is not that it was a widely publicized hole, but that Microsoft's tools (e.g. Windows Update) for checking patch status are wholly inadiquate. There has been a fair amount of discussion on NTBugTraq on this point leading up to the worm discovery.
Also, 30 days to test an impliment a patch on mission-critical production systems is sometimes more difficult than it seems like it should be.
Actually, I had quite a scramble this morning making sure all my mobile users were properly patched. That's my single biggest point-of-entry problem for worms and viruses; people take their notebooks home or on the road and come back infected and reconnect inside the firewall. It's much harder to properly enforce policies on mobile users. Fortunatly all our laptops were either patched or left at work yesterday and patched this morning.
The other possible point of entry is VPN's which are also notorius for letting in computers that were infected via a different net connection.
Perhaps. But more precisely it illustrates a confusing use of the english language, where right/wrong can mean moral/immoral or good/evil and can also mean correct/incorrect. And it is often difficult to tell the difference even when considering a small scope of context. Given the entire context of the original post, I believe be-fan was dismissing the proposed moral cause of the war as incorrect, based on the arguments presented.
Funny. Actually, the link you provided seems to indicate to me that IBM/HAL is NOT an urban myth, but rather for whatever reason the author is probably denying the origin of the name. I guess we'll never really know for sure...
It is certainly true that most people don't pay by the bandwidth, but *I* do; I have a metered 10 Mb fiber internet connection. Granted it is dirt cheap and never flooded, but I pay for every spam that comes through. The same would probably go for many folks using frame relay; anyone who thinks spam is free and harmless is flat-out wrong.
I googled and found a few reports of the issue, including this one. It seems that Google reserves the right to remove links they think will land themselves in legal hotwater depending on various local laws (ie France and Germany).
Nice criticism. Now, take a moment to think about it. The russians can not economically support their space program, so they fly VERY rich people to space to defray their costs. Our space agency is now becoming strapped for cash so NASA GIVES UP and mothballs the ISS.
Well, actually NASA isn't talking about scrapping ISS because they are low on cash, they're talking about it because Russia is low on cash, despite their space tourism. Which of course doesn't necessarily mean that NASA couldn't benefit financially from shooting tourists into space...
Clearly this is the "killer app" for drug smugglers... pack that baby full of coke and out run and out swim any DEA vehicles. All it needs now is a Stinger mount to deal with those pesky helicopters...
I've never used g4u personally, but I did some research on disk cloning back awhile ago and a common complaint about the software was that even though it was rock-solid for all kinds of different operating systems, it was really slow. Anyone have any idea how reasonable the speeds are now?
That reminds me of the greasear folks, that convert diesel engines into grease engines.. so they can get free low-emission fuel from fast food restaurants.
For some free options, the IBM Home Page Reader has a free 30 day trial. Also, there's the Speakup Project which works for linux; I'm not sure how it works for web browsers... There's also BLYNX, and many others you should be able to find with google.
The only solution is to make it a law that every citizen MUST vote.
I don't think that will help; if everyone MUST vote, then those who actually care about issues will have a smaller voice. People will be picking based on who has better hair, who looks most like their grandfather, flipping coins, or whatever.
If you really care about issues and know that votes=power, go find (or convince) other people who care about those issues and get them to vote.
If you really care about people and know that votes=power, go find people and get them to vote for whatever issues are relevant to them.
That would suit me fine. Those features on a website that are most likely to break screen readers tend to be the exact same features that are the most annoying, unnecessary and browser incompatible.
Interesting... one of the ADA things that people often talk about are "curb cuts" - changing a street curb to a ramp for wheelchairs and the like.. many people originally thought it was a huge waste of money because it cost so much and only served a small portion of the population. Now, parents routinely get pissed off when they are pushing a stroller and come across a curb instead of a ramp.
Does anyone else find it peculiar that they have a windows (.exe) file linked, but describes it as a program "Linux programmers wrote... to play DVDs on their computers"? What's the deal? Just a non-tech reporter mixing things up? (Sure, once you have the source you can compile it any way you want, but...)