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User: Bender0x7D1

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  1. Re:Uh... no. on Students Sue Anti-Plagiarism Service · · Score: 1

    You may not have signed anything, but I bet your parents did. All sorts of things have to be signed in order to enroll a student into a primary or secondary school and you wouldn't have done it because you were still a minor. Now, since they were using the plagiarism service, it is likely that some clause regarding this company, and its use, were in there. IANAL, but I assume it was something like: "I agree that JOHNNY'S homework may be submitted to the Turnitin service for verification, and may be used in accordance with the agreement between OUR SCHOOL and Turnitin."

    Once a parent or guardian has signed the paperwork, there is no legal right to prevent Turnitin from using it. I can copyright it all I want, but the right to use it is already given. Just like I can't open source code and then "change my mind" and demand it back. Now, if this isn't the case, I have no objection to their ability to determine fair-use doesn't include Turnitin. I'm just pointing out that it is quite possible that some clause was in the paperwork and the parents signed it anyway because if they didn't, they couldn't enroll their child in the school.

  2. Re:I was assuming a serious breach on What to Do When Your Security is Breached · · Score: 1

    I was referring to a software development server instead of a web development server, but we can discuss any generic, internal server that has important information. I agree that they shouldn't be accessible from the Internet, but there are always ways in - if there were cost effective ways to 100% prevent it, everyone would use them. Maybe someone's home PC got compromised and the attacker can come in on a VPN - nothing "internal" is compromised, but everything is accesible.

    A qualified admin MAY be able to tell the difference, but that would be an exception rather than a rule. Why? Admins may be smart people and used to dealing with a lot of complexity, but that doesn't make them qualified to make legal or other decisions outside their baliwick. Admins are specialists. So are lawyers. So are the HR people. So are salespersons. So is the CEO. A CEO might not be able to tell you what data server-04 contains, but if you tell him it holds the data for "Project X" he might know that they are using that server remotely to pitch the project to the Department of Defense so as long as the server is running, it shouldn't be touched. A bad presentation will cost the company billions and force them to layoff thousands of people.

    Also, an admin doesn't know what everyone is doing with the systems. They might know what the accounting server is and what software is installed on it, but not know how vital that information is. Maybe there is an SEC deadline coming up and having that server down even for a few hours will cause that deadline to be missed and fines being levied. Same goes for legal deadlines. If you are given 7 days to respond to something the judge isn't going to give you a break because a server was shut down. I know these are extreme examples, but I want to illustrate the point that admins know a lot, but you can't assume they know everything. Worrying about what you don't know should keep you up at night.

    Unforutnately, the standard response to an attack is to immediately end the problem clean the system and reinstall as necessary. All evidence is gone, making prosecution impossible. As long as this is the SOP, prosecutions will remain rare. Yes, there is the risk that the problem might magnify, but trying to monitor the attacker and limiting what they can do might be a better approach - or maybe not. It all depends on what they are doing, and what is at risk.

  3. Re:I dunno, it's sorta... news to me on What to Do When Your Security is Breached · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Depending on what you want to accomplish, pulling the plug or the network cable isn't something you want to do. If you want to catch the people who did it, instead of just minimize the damage, you need to approach this from a forensics POV. If you power-off the system, you lose everything that is stored in memory, which may be the only location where an important email, webpage or IP address is stored. Without this information it may not be possible to track-down the attacker. Yes, if they are communicating directly with the machine, you can get this info from a router or even the ISP but, if they are using some sort of anonymizer, you can't. Also, the rootkit (or whatever) may have a self-destruct built-in; can't communicate for 3 minutes, delete and overwrite everything. This would mean pulling the network cable will destroy any important information on your system. You might have backups for your data, but you don't for the attacker's information.

    Another important consideration is that powering down the system may prevent any information that's gathered from being admissible in court (U.S. jurisdiction). For example, can you guarantee that the email address on the disk is the attackers email, or is it from an email sent or received, or something else. Since you didn't shutdown properly, you may not be able to claim that the address is really attacker124@gmail.com, but might be attacker123, or attacker224, etc. - meaning no warrant and no charges. There are devices out there that you can plug into a USB port that will attempt to copy everything from RAM just so you have a complete record - then you can pull the plug, since that will prevent the hard drive from being written to. This preserves the information and it can be used as evidence. Whatever you do, don't do a normal shutdown.

    So, a reason you might want to wait for your lawyers and HR people is to determine if you need to worry about prosecution, or just make the problem go away. If they compromised an old desktop, or the web server in your DMZ, you might decide that it isn't worth it to pursue a conviction - lawyer's call - they know how expensive/difficult it will be. If the system holds personal information, the HR guy may need to help make the call. Ex. - Do you have to report a breach to all of your customers? Just employees? No reporting required, it isn't the info designated under the laws and/or regulations. Now, if it is a development server, you might want to leave it live if you suspect corporate espionage. You can bring in the feds and let them assess the situation. You might also want to buy time to work with you ISP to trace the attack. You actions should be done based on what the server contains and its value - which is why you have the CIO or CEO in the room.

    Now, a lot of this may not apply to your situation, but it isn't a black and white issue. There are a lot of things to consider. If you want some good information, I would recommend any of Brian Carrier's work - papers and his book. I have read a couple of his papers and they were really good and, while I haven't read his book, it has been recommended to me by others.

  4. Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues. on How Small a PC Is Too Small? · · Score: 1

    If you read the article, you would have found out that the problem occured when people were using the device with one hand. So, not that your "combinator" button idea doesn't have merit, it just doesn't apply to this situation.

  5. Re:For picking up girl^h^h^heeks! on Dungeons & Dragons and IT · · Score: 1

    Go on ebay and pick up the Dungeons & Dragons Basic and Dungeons and Dragons Expert Rulebooks. I prefer the old-school ones. The basic one is red and has a female magic-user about to throw a fireball at a water dragon of some sort and a guy about to stab it with a spear. The expert one is blue and has a picture of a bearded old-guy magic-user watching the battle from the basic cover in a cloud of smoke. They are from the late 70s, early 80s - I think '83 was when the "new" edition came out. If you get the entire set, it comes with some modules - Keep on the Borderlands and Isle of Dread to get you started. That's what I had 25 years ago, and it was fun then. As you get more involved/used to the game you can move to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons which has all the rulebooks - I really liked the 1st edition rules of ADD for a casual game - it avoids some of the complexity of the follow-on editions.

  6. Re: this guy has it backwards. on Dungeons & Dragons and IT · · Score: 1

    Why a +5 Bastard Sword? I mean there are better options.

    • Vorpal Sword
    • Sword of Sharpness
    • Githyanki Silver Sword
    • +5 Two-handed Sword

    If you use the Bastard Sword 1-handed, you might as well use a Longsword. If two-handed, you might as well have the Two-handed sword. Sure, a Bastard Sword gives you the option of both, but you should know your enem... er management well enough to know which approach is better.

  7. Re:sounds like a totally new paradigm to me. on How Scientific Paradigms Relate · · Score: 1

    A paradigm is a model or pattern or maybe a framework. It is the general way of looking at or approaching things.

    We can see examples of different paradigms in software - procedural programming, functional programming, object oriented can all be considered paradigms. OO is a general way of doing things and breaks all the rules of functional programming - but it isn't wrong it is just a way of doing things. Within that paradigm we can come up with rules about what is good or allowed or bad, and it only applies to that paradigm. Examples in authoring - there are different methods, styles and approaches for newspapers, magazines, scientific journals, novels and textbooks. The magazine paradigm might use shorter sentences, avoid citations, have few, if any, charts and diagrams, and discuss things in the first person in a friendly casual way; while the journal paradigm would have many citations, graphs and use the third-person writing style and be more formalized.

  8. Re:excellent! on Internet2 and National LambdaRail To Merge · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, I am. Of course, that probably doesn't matter to you. However, there are a lot of things of value on these networks, but if you aren't on a node, then the additional bandwidth isn't going to matter to you.

    Having a ton of bandwidth is great when you have to transfer GB of data between research institutions. For example, the research group I am working in now, Xen Worlds, uses Xen to provide virtual networks to students so they can have their own virtual machines to configure/use/break since root access in a physical lab is a security nightmare. At the end of the semester, we will provide all of the VM images and assignment documentation so they can be used by other universities. Since each assignment is going to require several GB of disk images and other material, I think the bandwidth will come in handy.

    It's also nice when I need to download different Linux or BSD distros. I can usually find a mirror at another university and I don't have to wait hours for the download to complete. If I am using my laptop, the bottleneck is usually the wireless connection. This means I can download and test multiple distros in one day, which keeps my work moving forward.

  9. Re:Lack of good info on The Air Car Nears Completion · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, most of the time it is just compressed air: ~78% Nitrogen and ~21% Oxygen. Special mixtures such as Nitrox, Heliox and Trimix are used for deep dives, or to extend the time you stay down, but are not recquired for shallow, recreational dives, which is what most people do. Use of special mixtures requires extra training and involves a lot more double-checking and more risks and is not for the casual, "I went to Cancun once!", divers.

    The big danger with getting tanks filled is if the shop doesn't properly manage their compressor exhaust. Since they pull in regular air, if the intake is too close to the exhaust you can get a tank with some Carbon Monoxide in it, which is a bad thing. Blacking out on land means you can still breath, even if it is tainted. Do it 50 feet down and you have to hope someone realizes something is wrong before your regulator comes out and you try to breath water.

    Diving reference.

  10. Re:I'm scared on Yellowstone Supervolcano Making Strange Rumblings · · Score: 1

    The empirical evidence that is presented in the GP is incorrect. Here's a reference for you with accurate information.

    Please note a few things...

    • It took several seasons to plow the ash under and it was impractical to truck out. Several seasons is not "fairly quickly".
    • They mention a farm size of 600 acres. In areas of the midwest it can be 10 - 50 times that size, meaning less people and equipment to clear the ash.
    • They mention that the ash was 3 inches deep - not 3 feet - in the hardest hit areas. Crops can grow through 3 inches of debris, but not 3 feet.

    Several of my relatives farm, and it took them a few days to dig out their home/machine shed/barn from a few feet of snow - using their tractors with giant snow blowers. Ash that would clog everything would be a nightmare. Now multiply that by 500 or 1000 and you get the effort to clear the fields. Actually it is worse, since you would have to truck the ash out since there is nowhere to blow it to that is "out of the way".

  11. Re:I'm scared on Yellowstone Supervolcano Making Strange Rumblings · · Score: 1

    ...farmers for the most part have the equipment to clear the fields and it can be done fairly quickly

    While I agree with you that farmers have the equipment available - bobcats and even bulldozers can be found on most farms in the midwest, and big trucks to haul crops to the local elevator are a must - I think you are way off with thinking it can be done fairly quickly. "Harvest" takes several weeks to perform, using equipment specially designed for the task - down to being designed for the specific crop. The mass of the plants in the field would be an order of magnitude less than a few feet of ash, and only a small portion of that is actually removed from the field. Take corn - only the kernels are taken from the field, which is a small portion of the ear which, in turn, is a small portion of the plant itself. So, the time needed to clear a field would be orders of magnitude greater than harvest - running it months or years.

  12. Re:OneCare deletes nothing on Windows Live OneCare Can Eat Your Email · · Score: 1

    If you read through some of the posts on Microsoft's forum, you would find there are users who have had their file deleted one time and quarantined another. Since they were able to find it when it was quarantined, I would assume that they know what they are talking about when they say it was deleted.

  13. Re:Is it just me or on Vint Cerf on Net Security, Hacking, and Acting · · Score: 1

    14.4?!? I wish! I was happy with 1200 on my Commodore and I didn't get up to 9600 until I bought my 386.

  14. Either way can work on Is Network Engineering a Viable Career? · · Score: 1

    I know several people who have been successful in the field and some went the cert route and others got their degree. The most important part of succeeding in any career is to stay active in searching for opportunities and then taking them. Generally, the best way to find those opportunities is networking - people, not computers.

    If you think you might want to work at a large corporation, you might need the degree to make it past the HR obstacle. In addition, with just the certs you might be lower on the payscale than someone with the degree. That isn't to say you can't get promoted and eventually make more, but it may be a harder road. Most universities also have some sort of career center that can help to connect you with companies. If not, the professors probably have some connections. This makes it a lot easier to get that first good job and maybe some good internship experience. You can also meet some people you normally wouldn't, like CIOs and VPs that come to give presentations or former students who have done well.

    I would recommend you go for the degree as that can serve as a better tool to further your career later. Remember, the degree might take 4 years, but you can then use it for the next 40. I know you might be eager to get to work, and don't want to put up with some of the boring classes, but you never know what you might learn or find interesting. There is a reason that the university courses take a long time - they teach a lot. (Or at least they should.) A degree also allows you to follow-up with a Masters or Ph.D. or even an MBA. You might not want to go into the business/management side right now, but you might find out that if you want to get promoted past a certain point you might need it.

  15. Doom Server on Building the Interplanetary Internet · · Score: 1


    While the latency would make it almost impossible, I would love to play a game of Doom on a Martian server.

  16. Waterproof e-books on 12 Crackpot Ideas That Could Transform Tech · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Someone needs to develop a waterproof e-book reader so I can read while sitting in a hot tub. Normal books just aren't suited for the environment.

  17. Re:The "HIV Virus"? on Scientists Expose Weak DNA in HIV · · Score: 3, Informative

    From the article:

    They have published an atomic-level image in Nature showing the antibody, b12, attacking part of a protein on surface of the virus.

    So, yes it has been published - and Nature is a top-tier journal.

  18. Re:P not necessarily NP on Quantum Computer Demoed, Plays Sudoku · · Score: 1

    Also, no one has proven that P != NP.

  19. Re:There are two kinds of web sites: on 70% of Sites Hackable? $1,000 Says "No Way" · · Score: 1

    To borrow a quote from Eugene Spafford:

    "The only truly secure system is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a lead-lined room with armed guards - and even then I have my doubts."

    This, and other Spaf quotes, and where they came from, can be found here.

  20. Re:Vague answers for overly-broad questions... on Why Do Games Sell? · · Score: 1

    ...less marketed winners

    I don't think Tetris started out with any real marketing. I think the fact you could get it for specific systems was marketed somewhat, but the game itself was insanely popular, with little or no formal advertising.

  21. Re:Vague answers for overly-broad questions... on Why Do Games Sell? · · Score: 1

    ...marketed busts

    Daikatana. 'nuff said.

  22. Re:Super Mario Bros on Have You Hit a Gaming Wall? · · Score: 1

    Doom 3, because I just got tired of not being able to see anything.

    In an odd turn of fate - I just finished replaying Doom 3 earlier today... The secret is to turn up the brightness setting on the game. I turned it up to ~80% from the default of 50% and it becomes FAR more playable. The other secret is to play it in the dark - even a bit of screen glare can cause problems.

    Hope that helps.

  23. Re:My computer's a little more advanced on Bitlocker No Real Threat To Decryption? · · Score: 1

    You need to read up on what "random" means. If it was randomly generated, the given sequence is just as likely as any other sequence of the same length.

  24. Better Option on Making Your Company More Visible at a Job Fair? · · Score: 1

    Forget the career fair. You will be just one of dozens of companies that are there. If you want to get the best students, talk to the academic advisors and professors for the department that you are looking to hire from. This has a lot of advantages:

    • This builds ties with the department that will last a long time. You won't have to "start from scratch" each career fair.
    • They have a good idea who the best students are, and not just GPA-wise.
    • They can direct interested students to you at any time, so no waiting for the next career fair to find people.
    • They can send email to their department's student list letting them know you are there and interested in hiring.
    • They can help set up meetings/presentations/tours so your company is the only focus of the trip. They may even invite you to present something in one of their classes.

    Those are just off the top of my head and there are probably a lot more.

    Anyway, I don't think what you do or have at the career fair is as important as what you do outside of it. Don't rely on fancy signs or gimmicks - get some people that are involved in the school to work with you. You need employees, and they want their graduates to have good jobs so work together to make it happen.

  25. Re:Great... on Scientist Develops Caffeinated Baked Goods · · Score: 1

    You must pop a lot of pills. Diet Coke has 46mg of caffeine per 12 ounce can. Your 4 liters is about 11 cans, or 500mg of caffeine. Unless you guzzle coffee, instead of enjoying it, and use far less milk than you indicate, you aren't getting your 2g by drinking it.

    Try this page: Death by Caffeine to give you an idea of how much you would have to drink to reach lethal levels of caffeine. It will take 300 cans of Diet Coke to reach a lethal dosage for a 200 pound person; for Starbucks Double Shot - 105 cans; for espresso 177 shots. Since you mentioned drinking a lot of Diet Coke, that translates into 28 gallons or 106 liters of Diet Coke.