Even though you didn't explicitly asy that this was a bad thing, I get the idea that's what you were inferring.
And to that, I say who cares? Should we be angry that a company wants to *gasp!* make a profit? The people who have this available to them should be grateful that they can get it at a reduced price.
You know what? Someone is watching. Someone is recording. His name is God.
I'm hardly a religious freak, but I think the world, especially the West, would be a much better place if people just took religion more seriously. If they took God more seriously.
Think about it. He's there, watching everything. We will all be held accountable for everything we've done.
It doesn't even matter what religion you believe in. As far as I know, all of the major religions have this as a basic tenet. It's part of being God. He get's to see everything, to know everything.
If people actually believed that there was an ultimate consequence to everything they did, this would be a better place.
As we all know, Microsoft didn't develop DOS on its own. It bought DOS from the original developer. Therefore, the need for CTRL-ALT-DEL on a regular basis wouldn't be present in DOS. This feature didn't come along until much later, in Windows.
Scoring: +1 Slashdot-esque attempt at humor, ala Microsoft -1 Lack of fact checking
If a company owns a building with a big, white wall facing the street, and some unruly teenagers cover it with libelous and derogatory graffiti, is the building owner responsible for those words?
If a web server with poor security has a website defaced, and the defacement contains derogatory or libelous statements, is the server owner or website owner responsible for those words?
IANAL so I don't know the answers to these questions, but if the answer is "yes", then we live in a pretty f'ed up place.
But a scan of a sample of Internet addresses used by Sprint DSL customers revealed that more than 90 percent of the ZyXel DSL modems found had the widely known default administrative password.
Now that sure doesn't sound like polling users. It also doesn't sound like they had the users' permission, as others have suggested.
Wired found that more than 90% of the modems they polled were using that default password
Isn't this wrong? Back in 1997 or so, I admin'd for my father's company. We had a massive DDOS type attack from about 100 or so IP's on our ISP's network. These were all trying to infect the machine with BackOriface, but since it was already patched, they just DOS'd the box.
When the DOS was done, I pormptly and naively swept the ISP's class-B for open port 31337 (backoriface). Well, I got about halfway through my sweep (and found about 20 infected machines) when the ISP disconnected me.
They killed my account, and when I pressed them for the reason, it finally came out that they terminated me for hacking. We went round and round, and I eventually got them to turn the account back on, but they kept their eye on me for quite some time.
I fail to see why some magazine should be able to scan the public at large with no recourse, but I cannot investigate an issue that brought down my network for several hours.
Mitnick didn't hurt anyone? You've got to be kidding. Deep down inside I know you're a troll and I really shouldn't respond, but what the hell.
Why don't you go have a look at this before you say Mitnick didn't hurt anyone.
"...Mitnick admitted that he broke into a number of computer systems and stole proprietary software belonging to Motorola, Novell, Fujitsu, Sun Microsystems and other companies. Mitnick admitted using a number of tools to commit his crimes, including "social engineering," cloned cellular telephones, "sniffer" programs placed on victims' computer systems and hacker software programs..."
So, Mitnick admits that he's a theif, but you still don't believe it. Let me ask you a question: Are the X-Men human?
"... As part of his scheme, Mitnick acknowledged altering computer systems belonging to the University of Southern California and using these computers to store programs that he had misappropriated. He also admitted that he stole E-mails, monitored computer systems and impersonated employees of victim companies, including Nokia Mobile Phones, Ltd., in his attempt to secure software that was being developed by those companies..."
Again here, he admits to being a theif.
"...the many victims of Mitnick's conduct suffered millions of dollars in damages resulted from lost licensing fees, marketing delays, lost research and development, and repairs made to compromised computer systems..."
And the above site doesn't even mention all the cellular cloning that he did while he was running from the law. Gee, I wonder who paid for all of those cellular calls? I wonder if it was the same people who Mitnick "didn't" steal from, in your words.
He's a criminal, plain and simple. If Mitnick stole from nobody, then why don't you just turn off your firewall, and post your credit card numbers online, so all the little Kevin wanna-be's can "not steal" from you too.
Funny thing is he was on probation for a cell phone cloning case from 1989 when he was arrested in 1995. Then he went on a two year hacking spree, all the while cloning more cell phones!
I'll say it again. He's a criminal, plain and simple. And there's no way in hell he deserves the cult-hero status he's attained. There's also no way in hell he deserves the millions he's going to make from his name.
There's plenty of people who are mistreated before, during and after their incarceration. If you want a cult hero, why don't you choose one of them who's innocent.
You've made a good point, but I have a question for you:
Wouldn't the judge have to assume that the figures were capable of speech, reason, creative ability, love, etc?
I'm guessing that she focused on the figures' mutant powers because that's what she was given to work with. I could be entirely wrong here, but I assume she wasn't entirely familiar with the X-Men, and therefore had to be told "This is storm." "Okay, what is she? What does she do?" "Well, she's a mutant who can control the weather?" But I doubt it was mentioned to the judge that she explicitly had all of the normal traits that a human had. They probably just assumed that the judge would take that into consideration. If you're right, then she didn't.
Whew...I hope that made sense. You've brought up a really good point anyway.
This is a motoized vehicle, and had absolutely no business on the sidewalk. If anywhere, it should be on the road, with rights/responsibilities somewhere between a bicycle and a motorcycle.
A sidewalk is for pedestrians, not bicycles, mopeds or anything else. Perhaps, roller skaters, but I think that's the extent of how mechanical a sidewalk dwelling vehicle should be.
I'm an avid cyclist (both competitive and recreational), and I know damn well that we cyclists have to fight tooth and nail for our right to the road and/or bike lanes. I cringe every time I see a cyclist on the sidewalk because it causes people to expect that cyclists will ride on the sidewalk, and this is just not right. We have a right to the road, and have fought very hard for what little bit of it we have.
Likewise, I shudder every time I see an avid runner in the bike lane. I guess they do it because they can't be bothered with the lame sidewalk.
Anyway, every vehicle has it's place in the transportation system. Pedestrians belong on the sidewalk. Bicycles have a right to the road, and the same responsibilities as any car or motorcycle. I think a Segway should fall into the same category as a bicycle; it should have a right to the road, but shouldn't be able to take the full lane unless necessary for safety, just like a bicycle.
Friends? You even put quotes around the word. I would think that in that type on environment, a smart hacker would be really careful who he trusts.
The fact remains, Mitnick was dumb and got caught. How he got caught is not important. My point is that you're obviously not very good at something if you can't even manage the most important ideal: don't get caught. A cracker who only steals 10 credit card numbers and never gets caught is (im my book) better than a cracker who steals a thousand, blabs to his "friends" and ends up in jail.
In related news, attorney Johnathon F. Spunkelmuncher is spearheading a class-action lawsuit against the United States of A. The plaintifs, who will heretofore be known as "Cabbage Patch Kids" contend that they were sold into slavery by toy stores nationwide. Millions of little girls abused the plaintifs in the 1980's and now they want to be compensated...Tape at 11:00.
Holy crap. These are toys, not people. Weather deemed "human" or not, they are not alive.
Are these people so engrossed in this fantasy life that this ruling concerns them? If so, why don't they just light up the bat signal or whatever and have their X-Men go take care of this judge?
Oh, that's right....they're not real. i almost forgot.
I suppose the Rosenberg's were good spys and Dahmer was a good serial killer too huh?
In Mitnick's "line of work" as it were, being good means NOT getting caught.
I honestly don't see why so many people like us lift Mitnick up to some hero-like status. He was dumb. He wasn't a good hacker, and what he did hack he handled really stupidly. And that's what got him caught, plain and simple. He's now going to make a living on his name.
...The RIAA considers downloading music illegally over the Internet to be the moral equivalence of stealing...
So downloading music illegally is not stealing?
Umm, excuse me but it IS stealing. If someone buys a CD, rips it to MP3s, and posts it on a website for mass download and royalties are not paid to the artist/record company then they are breaking the law.
There are copyright laws in place for things like this, and they ARE being broken.
The RIAA is only persuing what OUR laws have granted them the right to do. What was that about by the people, for the people, etc?
If you don't like this, change the laws. That's our right and responsibility, as citizens. But don't be mad at the RIAA for doing what we as voters gave them the right to do.
Well... Now you've gone and missed my entire point.
Let me sum it all up for you:
My point is that you're blaming Microsoft and WinCE for making cars crash. The article said nothing of the sort. The car has several software systems and one of those was made by Microsoft. The car had software problems relating to its driveability, and the car had software problems relating to its entertainment functions. The article very clearly quotes the driver complaining about his inability to use the phone, radio, and GPS, which was previously stipulated to use software made by Microsoft. The safety and driveability problems bear no mention whatsoever of Microsoft or WinCE. You would know this if you read the article.
So, when your dual-boot computer crashes, how do we know that Linux isn't causing a problem? I mean, both Linux and Windows are installed in the same computer, right? Now do you understand what I mean? Just because WinCE is installed in your car doesn't mean that it's responsible for everything that goes wrong.
I'm not saying that Microsoft is great and makes perfect software. All I'm saying is don't blame Microsoft for making cars crash, when it wasn't even their software.
It's quite obvious that you simply saw an article about cars gone mad, and that article mentioned WinCE. So, in typical Slashdot know-it-all fashion, you immediately assume that Microsoft is to blame, without even checking the facts.
Grow up. If you want to pick on someone, get your facts straight first, Mr. IT professional.
I realize you're an IT professional, and I'm one as well. Now that it's established that we're both pretty smart people, tell me where in the story "software that makes cars crash" come up.
Now, we both know you're talking about the super-duper-uber-bad Microsoft here, but the only thing I could find that obviously referred to WinCE is "...This left me able to drive the car, but unable to operate the radio, telephone or navigation system...". An inconvenience to any 745 owner I'm sure, but hardly life-threatening or inherently dangerous.
Actually, maybe it's a Godsend that he wasn't able to fiddle with the radio while talking on the phone and fitzing with his GPS...all while -gasp!- driving! He probably would have killed someone, but that's another topic.
So yeah, software has bugs. and, yeah Microsoft probably used it's considerable marketing prowess to muscle it's way into this market, but I think you're out of line here. I would consider it completely irresponsible of an automobile manufacturer to allow something like WinCE or Linux, or anything not under their direct control to play such a large part in the driver's direct interaction with the car. This is said with driving in mind, not entertainment.
Now that I've said that, I think you should agree with me here. There's no evidence whatsoever in this article that Microsoft or WinCE had anything to do with the drivability or safety of the car. The very first sentence about the car says that there are "around 70 microprocessors" in the car. Microsoft is only mentioned regarding the car's iDrive system, which (rightly so) is not involved in the operation of the powertrain proper.
So, Mr. IT professional, put the blame where blame is due, and look for someone else to pick on. I swear, the word "Microsoft" can't even be mentioned around here anymore without a childish remark like yours.
Mod this up, please. It's actually a really good idea.
You should also be able to use the sneeze ring, the ahem (clear my throat) ring, and of course the fart ring (with or without incoming call notification odor).
All kidding aside, it's a really simple, good idea.
Slashdot Mirror
Even though you didn't explicitly asy that this was a bad thing, I get the idea that's what you were inferring.
And to that, I say who cares? Should we be angry that a company wants to *gasp!* make a profit? The people who have this available to them should be grateful that they can get it at a reduced price.
You know what?
Someone is watching. Someone is recording. His name is God.
I'm hardly a religious freak, but I think the world, especially the West, would be a much better place if people just took religion more seriously. If they took God more seriously.
Think about it. He's there, watching everything. We will all be held accountable for everything we've done.
It doesn't even matter what religion you believe in. As far as I know, all of the major religions have this as a basic tenet. It's part of being God. He get's to see everything, to know everything.
If people actually believed that there was an ultimate consequence to everything they did, this would be a better place.
Actually, you're wrong.
As we all know, Microsoft didn't develop DOS on its own. It bought DOS from the original developer. Therefore, the need for CTRL-ALT-DEL on a regular basis wouldn't be present in DOS. This feature didn't come along until much later, in Windows.
Scoring:
+1 Slashdot-esque attempt at humor, ala Microsoft
-1 Lack of fact checking
Does this mean that I can start suing the moderators who mod me down as "Flamebait" or "Troll"?
If a company owns a building with a big, white wall facing the street, and some unruly teenagers cover it with libelous and derogatory graffiti, is the building owner responsible for those words?
If a web server with poor security has a website defaced, and the defacement contains derogatory or libelous statements, is the server owner or website owner responsible for those words?
IANAL so I don't know the answers to these questions, but if the answer is "yes", then we live in a pretty f'ed up place.
But a scan of a sample of Internet addresses used by Sprint DSL customers revealed that more than 90 percent of the ZyXel DSL modems found had the widely known default administrative password.
Now that sure doesn't sound like polling users. It also doesn't sound like they had the users' permission, as others have suggested.
Wired found that more than 90% of the modems they polled were using that default password
Isn't this wrong?
Back in 1997 or so, I admin'd for my father's company. We had a massive DDOS type attack from about 100 or so IP's on our ISP's network. These were all trying to infect the machine with BackOriface, but since it was already patched, they just DOS'd the box.
When the DOS was done, I pormptly and naively swept the ISP's class-B for open port 31337 (backoriface). Well, I got about halfway through my sweep (and found about 20 infected machines) when the ISP disconnected me.
They killed my account, and when I pressed them for the reason, it finally came out that they terminated me for hacking. We went round and round, and I eventually got them to turn the account back on, but they kept their eye on me for quite some time.
I fail to see why some magazine should be able to scan the public at large with no recourse, but I cannot investigate an issue that brought down my network for several hours.
Anyone care to comment?
Kaching is right! (but for them, not you)
Availability
ThunderHawk is available at an annual subscription rate of $49.95. But with a 30-day free trial, why not take it out for a test drive?
Mitnick didn't hurt anyone? You've got to be kidding. Deep down inside I know you're a troll and I really shouldn't respond, but what the hell.
Why don't you go have a look at this before you say Mitnick didn't hurt anyone.
"...Mitnick admitted that he broke into a number of computer systems and stole proprietary software belonging to Motorola, Novell, Fujitsu, Sun Microsystems and other companies. Mitnick admitted using a number of tools to commit his crimes, including "social engineering," cloned cellular telephones, "sniffer" programs placed on victims' computer systems and hacker software programs..."
So, Mitnick admits that he's a theif, but you still don't believe it. Let me ask you a question: Are the X-Men human?
"... As part of his scheme, Mitnick acknowledged altering computer systems belonging to the University of Southern California and using these computers to store programs that he had misappropriated. He also admitted that he stole E-mails, monitored computer systems and impersonated employees of victim companies, including Nokia Mobile Phones, Ltd., in his attempt to secure software that was being developed by those companies..."
Again here, he admits to being a theif.
"...the many victims of Mitnick's conduct suffered millions of dollars in damages resulted from lost licensing fees, marketing delays, lost research and development, and repairs made to compromised computer systems..."
And the above site doesn't even mention all the cellular cloning that he did while he was running from the law. Gee, I wonder who paid for all of those cellular calls? I wonder if it was the same people who Mitnick "didn't" steal from, in your words.
He's a criminal, plain and simple. If Mitnick stole from nobody, then why don't you just turn off your firewall, and post your credit card numbers online, so all the little Kevin wanna-be's can "not steal" from you too.
Funny thing is he was on probation for a cell phone cloning case from 1989 when he was arrested in 1995. Then he went on a two year hacking spree, all the while cloning more cell phones!
I'll say it again. He's a criminal, plain and simple. And there's no way in hell he deserves the cult-hero status he's attained. There's also no way in hell he deserves the millions he's going to make from his name.
There's plenty of people who are mistreated before, during and after their incarceration. If you want a cult hero, why don't you choose one of them who's innocent.
You've made a good point, but I have a question for you:
Wouldn't the judge have to assume that the figures were capable of speech, reason, creative ability, love, etc?
I'm guessing that she focused on the figures' mutant powers because that's what she was given to work with. I could be entirely wrong here, but I assume she wasn't entirely familiar with the X-Men, and therefore had to be told "This is storm." "Okay, what is she? What does she do?" "Well, she's a mutant who can control the weather?" But I doubt it was mentioned to the judge that she explicitly had all of the normal traits that a human had. They probably just assumed that the judge would take that into consideration. If you're right, then she didn't.
Whew...I hope that made sense. You've brought up a really good point anyway.
This is a motoized vehicle, and had absolutely no business on the sidewalk. If anywhere, it should be on the road, with rights/responsibilities somewhere between a bicycle and a motorcycle.
A sidewalk is for pedestrians, not bicycles, mopeds or anything else. Perhaps, roller skaters, but I think that's the extent of how mechanical a sidewalk dwelling vehicle should be.
I'm an avid cyclist (both competitive and recreational), and I know damn well that we cyclists have to fight tooth and nail for our right to the road and/or bike lanes. I cringe every time I see a cyclist on the sidewalk because it causes people to expect that cyclists will ride on the sidewalk, and this is just not right. We have a right to the road, and have fought very hard for what little bit of it we have.
Likewise, I shudder every time I see an avid runner in the bike lane. I guess they do it because they can't be bothered with the lame sidewalk.
Anyway, every vehicle has it's place in the transportation system. Pedestrians belong on the sidewalk. Bicycles have a right to the road, and the same responsibilities as any car or motorcycle. I think a Segway should fall into the same category as a bicycle; it should have a right to the road, but shouldn't be able to take the full lane unless necessary for safety, just like a bicycle.
Friends? You even put quotes around the word. I would think that in that type on environment, a smart hacker would be really careful who he trusts.
The fact remains, Mitnick was dumb and got caught. How he got caught is not important. My point is that you're obviously not very good at something if you can't even manage the most important ideal: don't get caught. A cracker who only steals 10 credit card numbers and never gets caught is (im my book) better than a cracker who steals a thousand, blabs to his "friends" and ends up in jail.
In related news, attorney Johnathon F. Spunkelmuncher is spearheading a class-action lawsuit against the United States of A. The plaintifs, who will heretofore be known as "Cabbage Patch Kids" contend that they were sold into slavery by toy stores nationwide. Millions of little girls abused the plaintifs in the 1980's and now they want to be compensated...Tape at 11:00.
Good point.
I also wonder why there's a different tax rate on "human" versus other toys.
Holy crap.
These are toys, not people. Weather deemed "human" or not, they are not alive.
Are these people so engrossed in this fantasy life that this ruling concerns them? If so, why don't they just light up the bat signal or whatever and have their X-Men go take care of this judge?
Oh, that's right....they're not real. i almost forgot.
Hi Kevin. I just have one simple question for you:
Did you learn your lesson?
Good at? You've got to be kidding!
I suppose the Rosenberg's were good spys and Dahmer was a good serial killer too huh?
In Mitnick's "line of work" as it were, being good means NOT getting caught.
I honestly don't see why so many people like us lift Mitnick up to some hero-like status. He was dumb. He wasn't a good hacker, and what he did hack he handled really stupidly. And that's what got him caught, plain and simple. He's now going to make a living on his name.
(Don't forget: Kevin hasn't been able to make much money for a number of years...
This isn't true. AFAIK he was only prohibited from using a computer and the internet, not from holding any other job.
1. Are you Tony? How many coffee breaks have you had today?
2. Got any nice pictures of Julie?
...The RIAA considers downloading music illegally over the Internet to be the moral equivalence of stealing...
So downloading music illegally is not stealing?
Umm, excuse me but it IS stealing. If someone buys a CD, rips it to MP3s, and posts it on a website for mass download and royalties are not paid to the artist/record company then they are breaking the law.
There are copyright laws in place for things like this, and they ARE being broken.
The RIAA is only persuing what OUR laws have granted them the right to do. What was that about by the people, for the people, etc?
If you don't like this, change the laws. That's our right and responsibility, as citizens. But don't be mad at the RIAA for doing what we as voters gave them the right to do.
Well...
Now you've gone and missed my entire point.
Let me sum it all up for you:
My point is that you're blaming Microsoft and WinCE for making cars crash. The article said nothing of the sort. The car has several software systems and one of those was made by Microsoft. The car had software problems relating to its driveability, and the car had software problems relating to its entertainment functions. The article very clearly quotes the driver complaining about his inability to use the phone, radio, and GPS, which was previously stipulated to use software made by Microsoft. The safety and driveability problems bear no mention whatsoever of Microsoft or WinCE. You would know this if you read the article.
So, when your dual-boot computer crashes, how do we know that Linux isn't causing a problem? I mean, both Linux and Windows are installed in the same computer, right? Now do you understand what I mean? Just because WinCE is installed in your car doesn't mean that it's responsible for everything that goes wrong.
I'm not saying that Microsoft is great and makes perfect software. All I'm saying is don't blame Microsoft for making cars crash, when it wasn't even their software.
It's quite obvious that you simply saw an article about cars gone mad, and that article mentioned WinCE. So, in typical Slashdot know-it-all fashion, you immediately assume that Microsoft is to blame, without even checking the facts.
Grow up. If you want to pick on someone, get your facts straight first, Mr. IT professional.
I realize you're an IT professional, and I'm one as well. Now that it's established that we're both pretty smart people, tell me where in the story "software that makes cars crash" come up.
Now, we both know you're talking about the super-duper-uber-bad Microsoft here, but the only thing I could find that obviously referred to WinCE is "...This left me able to drive the car, but unable to operate the radio, telephone or navigation system...". An inconvenience to any 745 owner I'm sure, but hardly life-threatening or inherently dangerous.
Actually, maybe it's a Godsend that he wasn't able to fiddle with the radio while talking on the phone and fitzing with his GPS...all while -gasp!- driving! He probably would have killed someone, but that's another topic.
So yeah, software has bugs. and, yeah Microsoft probably used it's considerable marketing prowess to muscle it's way into this market, but I think you're out of line here. I would consider it completely irresponsible of an automobile manufacturer to allow something like WinCE or Linux, or anything not under their direct control to play such a large part in the driver's direct interaction with the car. This is said with driving in mind, not entertainment.
Now that I've said that, I think you should agree with me here. There's no evidence whatsoever in this article that Microsoft or WinCE had anything to do with the drivability or safety of the car. The very first sentence about the car says that there are "around 70 microprocessors" in the car. Microsoft is only mentioned regarding the car's iDrive system, which (rightly so) is not involved in the operation of the powertrain proper.
So, Mr. IT professional, put the blame where blame is due, and look for someone else to pick on. I swear, the word "Microsoft" can't even be mentioned around here anymore without a childish remark like yours.
The Verizon commercials will say:
"Can you smell me now?...Good!"
Mod this up, please. It's actually a really good idea.
You should also be able to use the sneeze ring, the ahem (clear my throat) ring, and of course the fart ring (with or without incoming call notification odor).
All kidding aside, it's a really simple, good idea.
I wouldn't care, no. But my family would appreciate a big payday.