Although I'm not very concerned about health risks, I would like to know if a 802.11b access point transmits a signal also if no client is connected.
I read somewhere that the AP transmits an idle signal (10khz) all the time.
On the other hand my AP (Cisco) can shut off SSID broadcasting. It is said that AP's without SSID broadcasting cannot be detected by programs like "airsnort" and the like if no client is connected.
So this would hint that there is no transmission at all if SSID broadcasting is shut off and the AP is idle.
If this is true and the WLAN is only very infrequently used (as in this school) this would make the claim even more ridiculous.
Anyway - North Korea is already member of the "Axle of Evil", so why not extend this to South Korea?
Not using Microsoft Software should be enough proof that they are terrorists/mass destructors/atomic bombers/anarchists/communists.......
Re:Forget destroying them, I'm more worried about.
on
NYT on RFID
·
· Score: 1
1: RFID Tags are not self powered, there are no "batteries included". The power is generated by an external device, the scanner. Only then the RFID tags broadcast their signal.
2: The signal will consist of a specific code, for sure there are CRC-checks and so on. There is no reason to believe that solar flare activity and such will disturb the RFID tag.
3: I'm sure that this will be figured out. Reading the RFID will only work for a very small distance. By simply limiting the distance of the customers should solve this issue.
4: There is no proof that the credit card data and the RFID-tag data will be linked. And this will hopefully stay that way.
5: This is complete nonsense: Those "thieves" would have to use an enormous device to generate enough power to activate RFID tags that are some 10 meters away. Figuring out if/when someone is at home is quite easy already, we don't need RFID tags for this.
6: This is a common fear and it is not that absurd anymore. Technically it is possible. But hopefully privacy institutions will prevent this.
Note anyway that it's not necessary to attach RFID tags to the human body itself, the underwear/clothing/purse and everything else that is attached to the person very often will suffice to identify the person. This is the real danger, hopefully people will recognize this and prevent it.
You forget one important issue with this list:
Only few of these holes are remotely exploitable, moreover if you have a firewall, you will probably only suffer from ssh leaks, maybe also from apache/PHP leaks. Sendmail should - to my mind - be replaced by qmail/postfix except in certain, special circumstances.
Most linux holes are local exploits, that means, someone has to have already an account and can use these security holes to gain root privileges. For most users this is not that dangerous. But nevertheless patches for local exploits should be installed.
I think that P2P could solve one serious issue that is still not solved in todays internet: Anonymity.
Today every surfer *could* be tracked, every download *could* be traced back, every chat *could* be deanonymized.
The industry and the government is more and more making use of this fact, so it is - to my mind - very important to move to technologies where everyone can stay in anonymity.
Please, don't tell me "I have nothing to hide". This 12 year old girl that now has to pay $2000.- for sharing songs also thought she had nothing to hide. People who linked to "FTP-Explorer" in their homepages also thought they had nothing to hide. In todays world a single person without a company backing him up can never know what's copyrighted and what not.
Moreover privacy is a basic right of every human being. Hopefully people will recognize this right.
Technologies that do not rely on single controllable servers seem to be the only solution; P2P is such software. Still, anonymity is missing because no one bothers. Hopefully these subpoenas of the RIAA will push secure technology like freenet or gnunet.
This will only work when you use only SELECT statements. While load balancing is possible with Linux (there is some neat stuff in Linux-2.6) this still does not solve the database replication issue.
Every UPDATE or INSERT statement has to be replicated to the other servers.
While the Oracle query optimizer is probably superior of postgreSQL I would like to point out that it's still not the "cream of the cream".
Be aware that Oracle cannot distribute one SQL statement to multiple processors/nodes.
Other database systems like DB2 or Teradata do this automatically while you have to write SQL/PL in Oracle to achieve this.
I always wonder why the "measurement" for OSS databases is Oracle and never DB/2.
There are very interesting and important new features in 2.6 that should make it to everyones server/desktop fast. Moreover I think that from time to time "bugfix cycles" - that means phases when features and improvements have to face the real world are very important for the development of software.
To your examples:
1) This is no easy task, moreover as this Fritz chip and/or other technologies will probably be integrated into todays motherboards it is smart to wait until that happens. Moreover we all know that 98% of system compromises come from buggy 3rd party software (e.g. sendmail/ssh) and I see no real way this could be prevented in the kernel without braking compatibility with existing software. 2+3) Grid computing is something very interesting but I think only important for a small percentage of Linux users. Topics like "My mp3 player stutters when burning a CD" are a lot more important. Moreover grid computing is stil lacking standards, the same with distributed file systems. Moreover creating distributed file systems don't seem like a task for people like Linus Torvalds. 4) Why exactly would you need a more modular design apart from design issues? Will it bring better performance - probably no. Will it ease the development - don't think so.
I would not say that "version numbers spew out at Niagara falls level". When was 2.4 released? let's see: "Jan 4 2001".
I am happily expecting 2.6 - and hopefully the 2.6.0 release will not suffer from too many bugs - perhaps it should be released by Marcelo and not by Linus?;-)
Perhaps I'm missing the point, but what is all this hype about Doom III?
Isn't this just another ultra-violent shooter, just like Doom 1/2, Duke Nukem, Quake etc.?
I know, the graphics are said to be decent (although DX9 or a similar new technology seem not to be used), but is it really worth upgrading hardware just to play another dumb shooter?
Sorry, but except the graphics everything is dumb in this game: The gameplay, the main character, the storyline, and the virtual characters.
It seems to me the better the hardware and graphic capabilites get, the sillier the games get.
I just don't understand: why are people satisfied with virtual worlds where the only meaning is to kill and to be killed?
To me, computer games open so many possibilities by creating "intelligent", "phantastic" and "beautiful" virtual worlds where the player has many possibilities of expressing himself. Mixed with mulitplayer and graphic capabilities such games could get _really_ impressing.
Pirated copies are very important for the distribution of Microsoft products.
There are of course ways to improve security - why still use such general keys? Look at e.g. Mathematica, they have far better protection mechanisms.
I postulate that piracy is tolerated and helpful for Microsoft, they will never try to generally stop it. They have of course their ways to reduce piracy, especially by intimidation and bad conscience.
The more the Microsoft monopoly grows, the more they can pressure and reduce software pirates without losing market share.
You will see: Palladium/TCPA will also not stop piracy.
I would not wonder if Microsoft released this key by themselves..
It seems, offering music on filesharing systems is quite a risk.
I wonder that until now now really good _secure_ filesharing tool has emerged...
I mean, Freenet is nice but it's not intended for music sharing. Moreover the user community is just too small and dial-up users are somehow locked out.
A really secure filesharing tool would probably make an end to all these ridiculous lawsuits.
There are a _lot_ of ways to protect your privacy although you use the lastest technology. Think about encryption, e.g. PGP, think about anonymizing proxies/mail forwarders, think about choosing anonymous names.
The real problem is that people simply don't bother about privacy, the mass states "I have nothing to hide". Most people just don't know how deanonymized we are by the use of unsecured internet technology - and once again, most people just don't care. Moreover the government and especially the industry lure us into this "trust", moreover they don't implement privacy into their technologies as they profit from knowing all about us.
So, don't blame technology: If you know how, you can stay perfectly anonymous also with today's technology, maybe better than 20 years ago.
Yes, you are right, it is a law, and it's supported by the public.
> some democracies are more free than others Hmmm, basically, I know what you mean. Maybe the US is not that regulated as Germany. But does this really mean "more freedom"? The whole thing breaks down on the definition of freedom. I know - as I also visited the US - what you mean by this "US freedom feeling" and I somehow like it.
But let's take a closer look: Let's assume, you are free to buy any weapon you like. Would this not decrease freedom as you have to be afraid being shot? Perhaps your responsibility for your dangerous weapon would also limit your freedom?
What I really mean is: Just being able to do what I want does not necessarily mean that you are free. I think one has to take the "why we do things" into account when deciding if someone is acting free.
So it comes to my mind: Isn't this "American freedom feeling", although it feels great, a big lie after all?
I won't judge, but it's for sure something to think about.
Let's assume this thing actually works, why not simply dress in reflective material? Maybe this would simply reflect the laser beam and render it harmless?
>When all is said and done, I'm not a lawbreaker, so I live my life without having to fret about literal trivia; let the spooks peek at me, I couldn't care less. It's an attitude I recommend to all.
Well, here I have a completely different opinion: Every man has not only his right but also his duty to individualize. For individualization, privacy is very important.
In combination with brainwashing, like it's done in the media all the time, lack of privacy hinders this process even more.
It is very important that only people know about you who you want to let them know.
I have a lot to hide: What I like to shop, who my friends are, what I eat and what books I like to read. My attitudes are probably very common and probably uninteresting and if you ask me about my favourite music I will probably tell you - but only if I want to.
Sorry, some of your statements are misleading or untrue:
> Stores are only open 9am-8pm weekdays, and 11-4 (I think) Saturdays, never Sundays.
That's right but this is merely because people want it like that. Of course, many are embarrassed if he can't go shopping after 8pm - but on the other hand, people just want it like that. To me, this is a democratic decision.
> Owning a store or restaurant requires gov approval.
This is also right, but there is quite a consensus about this.
> You cannot fire them unless they commmit a working violation like stealing from the office.
This is not quite true: If someone steals, he can be fired immediately. If someone is incompetent or lazy or there is simply not enough work, he also can be fired - but normally he has to be told 3 month beforehand. You are right that employing people and firing them is not that easy like in the US, but employees are somehow happy about their rights.
> no one wants to hire handicapped personnel Well - why would someone hire handicapped personnel in the US if he can choose?
You are probably right that a lot of things are over-regulated and that a lot of unneccessary bureoucracy is taking place in Europe. But on the other hand people simply want social security here, for this convenience these regulations are somehow the price you have to pay.
To me, democracy happens if well informed and uninfluenced citizens choose freely between several options. I think this is happening in Europe better than in the US, espacially if you focus on "well informed and uninfluenced".
It's true that the US is one of the first nations in the world who successfully built a democratic system. Nevertheless my primary critics are that ~ 60% of the US citizens never make use of the democracy and secondary that many people are either not well informed or misled by politicians. Moreover I wonder why they never managed it to true secularization.
It is indeed empirical in some ways but I always said "could", "may be", "would think", I just wanted to point out that hardware costs alone mean nothing to the overall costs of computer solutions.
Well, maybe true, although I trust the test and believe the PC is indeed faster. Moreover you forget that in this test a single processor is compared to a dual processor.
Anyway, you forget the maintainance costs of the workstations - and I think that the MAC is quite cheaper on this side. Their hardware tends to be more reliable and OS/X as any UNIX is easier and less time consuming to administrate.
Moreover OS/X is "better" and simply has less bugs, so overall the productivity on the OS/X could be better than on XP.
Moreover I would think about the difference of the power consumption - maybe current is very cheap in your country but I would believe that the MAC needs less power - this could sum up to ~ $50.- to $100.- / year, these are costs that are quite often forgotten in calculations - this way a flatscreen can be a lot cheaper than a power hungry cathode ray screen.
Slashdot Mirror
I read somewhere that the AP transmits an idle signal (10khz) all the time.
On the other hand my AP (Cisco) can shut off SSID broadcasting. It is said that AP's without SSID broadcasting cannot be detected by programs like "airsnort" and the like if no client is connected. So this would hint that there is no transmission at all if SSID broadcasting is shut off and the AP is idle.
If this is true and the WLAN is only very infrequently used (as in this school) this would make the claim even more ridiculous.
Anyway - North Korea is already member of the "Axle of Evil", so why not extend this to South Korea?
Not using Microsoft Software should be enough proof that they are terrorists/mass destructors/atomic bombers/anarchists/communists.......
2: The signal will consist of a specific code, for sure there are CRC-checks and so on. There is no reason to believe that solar flare activity and such will disturb the RFID tag.
3: I'm sure that this will be figured out. Reading the RFID will only work for a very small distance. By simply limiting the distance of the customers should solve this issue.
4: There is no proof that the credit card data and the RFID-tag data will be linked. And this will hopefully stay that way.
5: This is complete nonsense: Those "thieves" would have to use an enormous device to generate enough power to activate RFID tags that are some 10 meters away. Figuring out if/when someone is at home is quite easy already, we don't need RFID tags for this.
6: This is a common fear and it is not that absurd anymore. Technically it is possible. But hopefully privacy institutions will prevent this.
Note anyway that it's not necessary to attach RFID tags to the human body itself, the underwear/clothing/purse and everything else that is attached to the person very often will suffice to identify the person. This is the real danger, hopefully people will recognize this and prevent it.
Gigabit Ethernet is not that expensive any more and ~80MB/s should be fast enough. And Linux can speak nearly any network protocol one can think of.
Anyway, note that you need a lot of processing power for this, forget CPU's < 1Ghz for such a project.
Only few of these holes are remotely exploitable, moreover if you have a firewall, you will probably only suffer from ssh leaks, maybe also from apache/PHP leaks. Sendmail should - to my mind - be replaced by qmail/postfix except in certain, special circumstances.
Most linux holes are local exploits, that means, someone has to have already an account and can use these security holes to gain root privileges. For most users this is not that dangerous. But nevertheless patches for local exploits should be installed.
Today every surfer *could* be tracked, every download *could* be traced back, every chat *could* be deanonymized.
The industry and the government is more and more making use of this fact, so it is - to my mind - very important to move to technologies where everyone can stay in anonymity.
Please, don't tell me "I have nothing to hide". This 12 year old girl that now has to pay $2000.- for sharing songs also thought she had nothing to hide. People who linked to "FTP-Explorer" in their homepages also thought they had nothing to hide. In todays world a single person without a company backing him up can never know what's copyrighted and what not.
Moreover privacy is a basic right of every human being. Hopefully people will recognize this right.
Technologies that do not rely on single controllable servers seem to be the only solution; P2P is such software. Still, anonymity is missing because no one bothers. Hopefully these subpoenas of the RIAA will push secure technology like freenet or gnunet.
We will see.
This will only work when you use only SELECT statements. While load balancing is possible with Linux (there is some neat stuff in Linux-2.6) this still does not solve the database replication issue.
Every UPDATE or INSERT statement has to be replicated to the other servers.
While the Oracle query optimizer is probably superior of postgreSQL I would like to point out that it's still not the "cream of the cream". Be aware that Oracle cannot distribute one SQL statement to multiple processors/nodes. Other database systems like DB2 or Teradata do this automatically while you have to write SQL/PL in Oracle to achieve this. I always wonder why the "measurement" for OSS databases is Oracle and never DB/2.
Didn't you know that Brockenboring is a famous city district in Frankfurt?
... Mal sehen, wer sich an der Nase herumfuehren laesst...
What about: "Waiting for a time when people stop waiting for something they *think* they need"? ;-)
While mplayer is an excellent piece of software for decoding video, mencoder (Encoding software) has a lot of bugs and limitations.
.mpg-Files fail, rebuilding indices also fail from time to time.
Simple things, like concatenating 2
Hopefully also the encoding part (also the documentation including examples) will improve.
Sorry - but I disagree:
;-)
There are very interesting and important new features in 2.6 that should make it to everyones server/desktop fast. Moreover I think that from time to time "bugfix cycles" - that means phases when features and improvements have to face the real world are very important for the development of software.
To your examples:
1) This is no easy task, moreover as this Fritz chip and/or other technologies will probably be integrated into todays motherboards it is smart to wait until that happens. Moreover we all know that 98% of system compromises come from buggy 3rd party software (e.g. sendmail/ssh) and I see no real way this could be prevented in the kernel without braking compatibility with existing software.
2+3) Grid computing is something very interesting but I think only important for a small percentage of Linux users. Topics like "My mp3 player stutters when burning a CD" are a lot more important. Moreover grid computing is stil lacking standards, the same with distributed file systems. Moreover creating distributed file systems don't seem like a task for people like Linus Torvalds.
4) Why exactly would you need a more modular design apart from design issues? Will it bring better performance - probably no. Will it ease the development - don't think so.
I would not say that "version numbers spew out at Niagara falls level". When was 2.4 released? let's see: "Jan 4 2001".
I am happily expecting 2.6 - and hopefully the 2.6.0 release will not suffer from too many bugs - perhaps it should be released by Marcelo and not by Linus?
Perhaps I'm missing the point, but what is all this hype about Doom III?
Isn't this just another ultra-violent shooter, just like Doom 1/2, Duke Nukem, Quake etc.?
I know, the graphics are said to be decent (although DX9 or a similar new technology seem not to be used), but is it really worth upgrading hardware just to play another dumb shooter?
Sorry, but except the graphics everything is dumb in this game: The gameplay, the main character, the storyline, and the virtual characters.
It seems to me the better the hardware and graphic capabilites get, the sillier the games get.
I just don't understand: why are people satisfied with virtual worlds where the only meaning is to kill and to be killed?
To me, computer games open so many possibilities by creating "intelligent", "phantastic" and "beautiful" virtual worlds where the player has many possibilities of expressing himself. Mixed with mulitplayer and graphic capabilities such games could get _really_ impressing.
I just ask myself: "Why is no one interested?"
It was for sure Ultima Underworld I and II.
Moreover I loved "Another World", these were decent animations.
Well, I think you forget one huge fact:
Pirated copies are very important for the distribution of Microsoft products.
There are of course ways to improve security - why still use such general keys? Look at e.g. Mathematica, they have far better protection mechanisms.
I postulate that piracy is tolerated and helpful for Microsoft, they will never try to generally stop it. They have of course their ways to reduce piracy, especially by intimidation and bad conscience.
The more the Microsoft monopoly grows, the more they can pressure and reduce software pirates without losing market share.
You will see: Palladium/TCPA will also not stop piracy.
I would not wonder if Microsoft released this key by themselves..
It seems, offering music on filesharing systems is quite a risk.
I wonder that until now now really good _secure_ filesharing tool has emerged...
I mean, Freenet is nice but it's not intended for music sharing. Moreover the user community is just too small and dial-up users are somehow locked out.
A really secure filesharing tool would probably make an end to all these ridiculous lawsuits.
There are a _lot_ of ways to protect your privacy although you use the lastest technology. Think about encryption, e.g. PGP, think about anonymizing proxies/mail forwarders, think about choosing anonymous names.
The real problem is that people simply don't bother about privacy, the mass states "I have nothing to hide". Most people just don't know how deanonymized we are by the use of unsecured internet technology - and once again, most people just don't care. Moreover the government and especially the industry lure us into this "trust", moreover they don't implement privacy into their technologies as they profit from knowing all about us.
So, don't blame technology: If you know how, you can stay perfectly anonymous also with today's technology, maybe better than 20 years ago.
Yes, you are right, it is a law, and it's supported by the public.
> some democracies are more free than others
Hmmm, basically, I know what you mean. Maybe the US is not that regulated as Germany. But does this really mean "more freedom"? The whole thing breaks down on the definition of freedom. I know - as I also visited the US - what you mean by this "US freedom feeling" and I somehow like it.
But let's take a closer look: Let's assume, you are free to buy any weapon you like. Would this not decrease freedom as you have to be afraid being shot? Perhaps your responsibility for your dangerous weapon would also limit your freedom?
What I really mean is: Just being able to do what I want does not necessarily mean that you are free. I think one has to take the "why we do things" into account when deciding if someone is acting free.
So it comes to my mind: Isn't this "American freedom feeling", although it feels great, a big lie after all?
I won't judge, but it's for sure something to think about.
Let's assume this thing actually works, why not simply dress in reflective material? Maybe this would simply reflect the laser beam and render it harmless?
>When all is said and done, I'm not a lawbreaker, so I live my life without having to fret about literal trivia; let the spooks peek at me, I couldn't care less. It's an attitude I recommend to all.
Well, here I have a completely different opinion: Every man has not only his right but also his duty to individualize. For individualization, privacy is very important.
In combination with brainwashing, like it's done in the media all the time, lack of privacy hinders this process even more.
It is very important that only people know about you who you want to let them know.
I have a lot to hide: What I like to shop, who my friends are, what I eat and what books I like to read. My attitudes are probably very common and probably uninteresting and if you ask me about my favourite music I will probably tell you - but only if I want to.
Sorry, some of your statements are misleading or untrue:
> Stores are only open 9am-8pm weekdays, and 11-4 (I think) Saturdays, never Sundays.
That's right but this is merely because people want it like that. Of course, many are embarrassed if he can't go shopping after 8pm - but on the other hand, people just want it like that. To me, this is a democratic decision.
> Owning a store or restaurant requires gov approval.
This is also right, but there is quite a consensus about this.
> You cannot fire them unless they commmit a working violation like stealing from the office.
This is not quite true: If someone steals, he can be fired immediately. If someone is incompetent or lazy or there is simply not enough work, he also can be fired - but normally he has to be told 3 month beforehand.
You are right that employing people and firing them is not that easy like in the US, but employees are somehow happy about their rights.
> no one wants to hire handicapped personnel
Well - why would someone hire handicapped personnel in the US if he can choose?
You are probably right that a lot of things are over-regulated and that a lot of unneccessary bureoucracy is taking place in Europe. But on the other hand people simply want social security here, for this convenience these regulations are somehow the price you have to pay.
To me, democracy happens if well informed and uninfluenced citizens choose freely between several options. I think this is happening in Europe better than in the US, espacially if you focus on "well informed and uninfluenced".
It's true that the US is one of the first nations in the world who successfully built a democratic system. Nevertheless my primary critics are that ~ 60% of the US citizens never make use of the democracy and secondary that many people are either not well informed or misled by politicians.
Moreover I wonder why they never managed it to true secularization.
Well, let's do a little calculation:
.
At least here in Europe, 1 kWh costs 0.18.-
Let's just assume (no clue if that's true), the MAC uses 80W less than the PC.
Ok: ((80*24*365)/1000)*0.088 = 61.- / year.
Well, it's not *that* much but it's at least something that should be taken into account.
It is indeed empirical in some ways but I always said "could", "may be", "would think", I just wanted to point out that hardware costs alone mean nothing to the overall costs of computer solutions.
Well, maybe true, although I trust the test and believe the PC is indeed faster. Moreover you forget that in this test a single processor is compared to a dual processor.
Anyway, you forget the maintainance costs of the workstations - and I think that the MAC is quite cheaper on this side. Their hardware tends to be more reliable and OS/X as any UNIX is easier and less time consuming to administrate.
Moreover OS/X is "better" and simply has less bugs, so overall the productivity on the OS/X could be better than on XP.
Moreover I would think about the difference of the power consumption - maybe current is very cheap in your country but I would believe that the MAC needs less power - this could sum up to ~ $50.- to $100.- / year, these are costs that are quite often forgotten in calculations - this way a flatscreen can be a lot cheaper than a power hungry cathode ray screen.
You forget 2 more arguments that are commonly used to push agendas:
- Child pornography
- Antisemitism (at least here in Europe)
It's so easy and done so often...