Just a thought, but wouldn't it be kinda fun to post a bunch of.jpgs or whatever all over the 'net with a message steganographically hidden saying something to the effect of ESOD, FBI/MPAA/RIAA/DMCA chickenshits!!!? I'd do it, but the Simpsons is coming on in a minute and I DO have priorities!
From the parent: what about all the people who've had net access denied just for running tools like nmap?
I've gotten into trouble for this. The first thing I did when I hooked up with RoadRunner was nmap people on my subnet, just out of curiousity, to see what kind of computers people were running. My intention was never to break into someone's box, mind you. Just to see if people were running webservers, etc.
Is this illegal? In some places. Is this unethical? Some would say "yes", although I say "no". Is this against RR's TOS? As I found out, undeniably yes. So I can't nmap people. I still get scanned hourly by Nimda, Code Red, SubSeven, and every other worm/virus under the sun, and it's always by the same people. Yet they haven't been threated to have their plug pulled...go figure.
So if I get in trouble for seeing what's "publicly available" (e.g., if a webserver's running), why can this fucking company do it without fear of consequence? Because they have a lame m.o. to hide behind? Because it's their "job" to check up on me?
All I can say is it's actually a GOOD THING in a sense that there's so many ignorant users out there today. If the internet was like how it was back in the BBS days (or even pre-AOL), everytime someone got scanned by these assholes retribution would be interesting, to say the least.
you can thank suburban white CD buying 18 year olds for demanding the image and lifestyle you describe.
You have a point, but you forgot a rather important factor when it comes to these kids (btw, i dislike them as much as you sound too, so don't get me wrong)...these kids are only buying and listening to music that they're exposed to. Although their music choice may suck, it's related to what kind of choices there are for the kid out at Best Buy. Honestly, most dumbass 18 year olds are gonna buy what they've heard on the radio or seen on MTV than stuff that's on their local college radio station, or used to be on internet radio stations like SomaFM (R.I.P). In this case, it's Jay-Z or Britney, and not a group with more talent and drive.
Like I said before, don't get me wrong. I LOVE hip hop, and consider myself very knowledgable about it. Unlike these kids wearing upside down visors and being dropped off by their soccer mom at the mall, though, I grew up the city. I had the benefit of going to a high school with an abundance of kids my age who exposed me to groups like Atmosphere, Company Flow, and Rascoe instead of a slew of shitty musicians with one-name monikers (Britney, Puffy, and Pink come to mind).
Bottom line is that the kids are just a product of their environment (in general), and unless they have someone to expose them to better alternatives than the groups on MTV, they're gonna take that allowance and buy shitty CDs. As a parent, if you don't want this to happen, EXPOSE THEM TO GOOD MUSIC!. Trust me, I plan on doing this as soon as my kid can breathe.
Unfortunately that URL (kismetwireless.org) is NOT the place you're looking for. Kismet, the 802.11b godsent, can be found at http://www.kismetwireless.net. This is an AWESOME tool, and I have to say I've been using it ever since I bought my Linksys WCP-11 (i'm broke, hence no Cisco gear) a while back. Dragorn, the guy who wrote it and maintains it, is one hell of a code-slinger, and can be found on IRC if you get really stuck with something. He also spoke at H2K2 this year about kismet, for those of you who wen
Seriously, why this is +5 is beyond me. and definitely not milk is a joke, I hope. Harmful hormones? Don't know if you knew this, but as an infant, in the first ~4-6 months you're ALIVE , you're only staying alive because of Mom Duke's immune system. That's right buddy. Just about all of your immune system at that time is composed of IgM or IgA (can't remember which) you got from you're baby's momma's baby's daddy's momma (take THAT, Jay-Z). And know how you maintain that Immunological boost? By doing what never gets old, sucking boobs.
I applaud your ideological take on this, and I agree that we pollute our bodies beyond comprehension. But what you just said is up there with "We're all gonna die from Global Warming" in the over-hype category.
I totally agree with your post. Well thought out, well put, and frankly it's more true than some on/. even realize. So of course other/.'ers will bitch and moan, screaming Well then, Mr. Smartypants, what the fuck is the solution?!?. Honestly, there is no solution to this mess. In general, John Q. Public is blind. Blind to issues that surround them, especially issues that (gasp) MIGHT AFFECT THEM DIRECTLY!. To be honest, the public will never give a rat's ass about CARP, the RIAA or MPAA puppeteers, or how the DCMA in theory affects them (I'm talking U.S. here, although it sounds like the U.K. isn't too far behind).
John Q. doesn't even see or seem to notice the police beating the hell out of the Somalian teenager down the street, or the Fortune 50 company dumping massive amounts of toxic waste into their local river. THESE are issues that should affect John Q., but don't. The average fellow is powerless against corporations, agencies, and the gov't. And for all you partriots out there who bought your American flag sticker for your gas-guzzling SUV to drive timmy to soccer practice, don't bitch about how powerful voting is. Voting's been turned into a purely symbolic act. Besides, people don't even vote for the right candidates. Choosing between George W. or some other fuck isn't going to affect them as much as voting for their city counsel members, or their schoolboard members.
I digress...point is, I have no faith in John Q. Maybe I'm a pessimest, maybe I'm offbase, maybe I'm an unpartiotic terrorist who should be burned at the cross, right along with those damn towelheaded camel-jockey fucks! .
Yes, we have the game in the U.S. Unfortunately, it's not as common as it should be in bars, and it takes a distant third place in rank to Pool and Darts.
In all honesty, it is a pity to see the game of pinball fade into obscurity along with Acid Wash jeans and Cammeros. I do understand why bars would want to put in more "successful" video games, however...has anyone else ever waited in line all night to play GoldenTee only to drop $5 and get mocked for not being a frat boy?
This is a brilliant piece of writing, and it's definitely made its way onto/. before (the first time I remember being when/. announced going to a subscription service). It's written by a guy named Mark Driver, and his website is full of similar-themed essays at blindwino.com.
Granted, this is probably his best piece, but Driver has a pessimestic anti-establishment point of view that's very refreshing compared to the shit that your mom reads in Newsweek. The first time I read this piece, I went to the website and read every other piece on there...it took an entire day!
There is a point to be learned here: passive observation is useless in regards to shit like this. You have to take ACTION! You have to risk sounding like a religious zealot and "preach" to people about what's going on. Why the DMCA is bad. How the MPAA is screwing over music as they know it (as if it's not bad enough already). And so on. Not buying a CD may make a very slight impact on the MPAA, but take the time to explain to people why you're doing so. That way, hopefully, you can instill the idea and reasoning in someone else's head too. Numbers matter here, whether it's how much $$$ you have to spend to lobby in congress, or how many friends you can get to let the FCC know that this idea is rediculous.
have you ever seen a PC for sale in a retail walmart store? i sure haven't.
I worked in the electronics department at our local Wal-Mart after my Freshman year of college, and we did in fact sell PCs. Although the entire time I worked there we only sold two of them, we DID carry computers. They were rather shitty and overpriced, but for the kind of people who shop at Wal-Mart for stuff like computers and stereos, they're not a bad option. Usually it's older folks and people from out of town who aren't really fine conesuers (sp.) of electronic goods (so how many PCI slots are on their mobo isn't really a concern, as long as they can look at 'That Internet Thing').
I agree totally with your stance. I've put up hotline/ftp/napster/grokster/gnutella servers just to freely distribute this kind of material. And when I heard the tired excuse the RIAA cries about "The artist is the victim here!", I ask: are they really? How much money is the artist losing? 1,maybe 2 cents. When I download an album that rocks or hear a song off Soma that blows my mind, I take note of it. Then I go to the local (independent) record store, and buy the album.
The underlying issue here though is that John Q. Public has no fucking clue this kind of political bullshit is going on. And unless it's brought to their attention in a persuasive manner, they won't. Ever explained to a non-geek friend what the RIAA even is, only to hear "ah, cool. So what does this have to do with me?".
I don't have the answers. P2P streaming would be nice, but I could see it being a logistical nightmare. I don't know...a great post a while back on here from http://www.blindwino.com/market.html sums it all up beyond comprehension. Fuck it. Fuck it all.
Dude-
Don't know if this'll go through or not, hence the CC. Anyways, I just thought I'd say that I DEFINITELY feel your pain. I can say that because I'm going through the same thing myself right now.
I graduated last spring with a B.A. in Biology and a concentration in Computer Science. CS is what I wanna do with my life (for now, at least...being a 23 year old in Minnesota), but I got the Bio degree because for a while, I wanted to go into med school. Blah blah blah, shit didn't work out, and now here I am: 43K in debt (thank you, private school student loans!), unemployed, and living at home. I haven't worked in 6 months, and I'm beyond broke. Every fucking place I apply to for computer-related work REQUIRES 3-5 years experience before they'll even look at your resume. That means that people like you and I get left behind, with nothing to do. Literally no place will hire entry-level people since they have a plethora of experienced MSCE junkies to pick from.
People tell me to "hang in there," and that "don't worry! The industry's turning around again...", but those people all have jobs and can rest comfortably at home, while I type this in my bedroom at my parent's house and wonder if I'll ever hear back from the batch of resumes I sent off this week. Basically we have bad luck...we were born 5 yeas too late. The sad thing is that I talk to people who are in the industry, doing stuff that I want to like being a Sys Admin, and I'm confident that I could do their job better than they do it. I've had one interview in the last 6 months, and it was the head IT guy interviewing me. We started talking computers, and I brought up Linux and UNIX stuff that I'd done in college. He listened patiently for a few minutes, then asked me, "What's Linux?" (they ran a MS/Mac lab). Those are the kind of people who have our jobs, my friend.
The only thing we can do is be a passive observer to this fucked-up industry for now. All those proactive zealots who preach patience and harassing HR until you get the job can kiss my ass...I've been doing that for over half a year and I'm still at ground zero. What can I do? Well, today I applied for a waiter job at the local pub and a cashier job at the bookstore I hang out at. The money I'd make there won't even pay off my loans, but at least it's something. Keep your head up, but don't give yourself a fasle sense of security or hope...there's nothing worse than being let down over and over again. Word.
-magz
Slashdot Mirror
I've gotten into trouble for this. The first thing I did when I hooked up with RoadRunner was nmap people on my subnet, just out of curiousity, to see what kind of computers people were running. My intention was never to break into someone's box, mind you. Just to see if people were running webservers, etc.
Is this illegal? In some places. Is this unethical? Some would say "yes", although I say "no". Is this against RR's TOS? As I found out, undeniably yes. So I can't nmap people. I still get scanned hourly by Nimda, Code Red, SubSeven, and every other worm/virus under the sun, and it's always by the same people. Yet they haven't been threated to have their plug pulled...go figure.
So if I get in trouble for seeing what's "publicly available" (e.g., if a webserver's running), why can this fucking company do it without fear of consequence? Because they have a lame m.o. to hide behind? Because it's their "job" to check up on me?
All I can say is it's actually a GOOD THING in a sense that there's so many ignorant users out there today. If the internet was like how it was back in the BBS days (or even pre-AOL), everytime someone got scanned by these assholes retribution would be interesting, to say the least.
You have a point, but you forgot a rather important factor when it comes to these kids (btw, i dislike them as much as you sound too, so don't get me wrong)...these kids are only buying and listening to music that they're exposed to. Although their music choice may suck, it's related to what kind of choices there are for the kid out at Best Buy. Honestly, most dumbass 18 year olds are gonna buy what they've heard on the radio or seen on MTV than stuff that's on their local college radio station, or used to be on internet radio stations like SomaFM (R.I.P). In this case, it's Jay-Z or Britney, and not a group with more talent and drive.
Like I said before, don't get me wrong. I LOVE hip hop, and consider myself very knowledgable about it. Unlike these kids wearing upside down visors and being dropped off by their soccer mom at the mall, though, I grew up the city. I had the benefit of going to a high school with an abundance of kids my age who exposed me to groups like Atmosphere, Company Flow, and Rascoe instead of a slew of shitty musicians with one-name monikers (Britney, Puffy, and Pink come to mind).
Bottom line is that the kids are just a product of their environment (in general), and unless they have someone to expose them to better alternatives than the groups on MTV, they're gonna take that allowance and buy shitty CDs. As a parent, if you don't want this to happen, EXPOSE THEM TO GOOD MUSIC!. Trust me, I plan on doing this as soon as my kid can breathe.
Unfortunately that URL (kismetwireless.org) is NOT the place you're looking for. Kismet, the 802.11b godsent, can be found at http://www.kismetwireless.net. This is an AWESOME tool, and I have to say I've been using it ever since I bought my Linksys WCP-11 (i'm broke, hence no Cisco gear) a while back. Dragorn, the guy who wrote it and maintains it, is one hell of a code-slinger, and can be found on IRC if you get really stuck with something. He also spoke at H2K2 this year about kismet, for those of you who wen
I applaud your ideological take on this, and I agree that we pollute our bodies beyond comprehension. But what you just said is up there with "We're all gonna die from Global Warming" in the over-hype category.
John Q. doesn't even see or seem to notice the police beating the hell out of the Somalian teenager down the street, or the Fortune 50 company dumping massive amounts of toxic waste into their local river. THESE are issues that should affect John Q., but don't. The average fellow is powerless against corporations, agencies, and the gov't. And for all you partriots out there who bought your American flag sticker for your gas-guzzling SUV to drive timmy to soccer practice, don't bitch about how powerful voting is. Voting's been turned into a purely symbolic act. Besides, people don't even vote for the right candidates. Choosing between George W. or some other fuck isn't going to affect them as much as voting for their city counsel members, or their schoolboard members.
I digress...point is, I have no faith in John Q. Maybe I'm a pessimest, maybe I'm offbase, maybe I'm an unpartiotic terrorist who should be burned at the cross, right along with those damn towelheaded camel-jockey fucks! .
In all honesty, it is a pity to see the game of pinball fade into obscurity along with Acid Wash jeans and Cammeros. I do understand why bars would want to put in more "successful" video games, however...has anyone else ever waited in line all night to play GoldenTee only to drop $5 and get mocked for not being a frat boy?
There is a point to be learned here: passive observation is useless in regards to shit like this. You have to take ACTION! You have to risk sounding like a religious zealot and "preach" to people about what's going on. Why the DMCA is bad. How the MPAA is screwing over music as they know it (as if it's not bad enough already). And so on. Not buying a CD may make a very slight impact on the MPAA, but take the time to explain to people why you're doing so. That way, hopefully, you can instill the idea and reasoning in someone else's head too. Numbers matter here, whether it's how much $$$ you have to spend to lobby in congress, or how many friends you can get to let the FCC know that this idea is rediculous.
Make your voice be heard.
I unplugged my t.v...did you?
I worked in the electronics department at our local Wal-Mart after my Freshman year of college, and we did in fact sell PCs. Although the entire time I worked there we only sold two of them, we DID carry computers. They were rather shitty and overpriced, but for the kind of people who shop at Wal-Mart for stuff like computers and stereos, they're not a bad option. Usually it's older folks and people from out of town who aren't really fine conesuers (sp.) of electronic goods (so how many PCI slots are on their mobo isn't really a concern, as long as they can look at 'That Internet Thing').
The underlying issue here though is that John Q. Public has no fucking clue this kind of political bullshit is going on. And unless it's brought to their attention in a persuasive manner, they won't. Ever explained to a non-geek friend what the RIAA even is, only to hear "ah, cool. So what does this have to do with me?".
I don't have the answers. P2P streaming would be nice, but I could see it being a logistical nightmare. I don't know...a great post a while back on here from http://www.blindwino.com/market.html sums it all up beyond comprehension. Fuck it. Fuck it all.
Dude- Don't know if this'll go through or not, hence the CC. Anyways, I just thought I'd say that I DEFINITELY feel your pain. I can say that because I'm going through the same thing myself right now. I graduated last spring with a B.A. in Biology and a concentration in Computer Science. CS is what I wanna do with my life (for now, at least...being a 23 year old in Minnesota), but I got the Bio degree because for a while, I wanted to go into med school. Blah blah blah, shit didn't work out, and now here I am: 43K in debt (thank you, private school student loans!), unemployed, and living at home. I haven't worked in 6 months, and I'm beyond broke. Every fucking place I apply to for computer-related work REQUIRES 3-5 years experience before they'll even look at your resume. That means that people like you and I get left behind, with nothing to do. Literally no place will hire entry-level people since they have a plethora of experienced MSCE junkies to pick from. People tell me to "hang in there," and that "don't worry! The industry's turning around again...", but those people all have jobs and can rest comfortably at home, while I type this in my bedroom at my parent's house and wonder if I'll ever hear back from the batch of resumes I sent off this week. Basically we have bad luck...we were born 5 yeas too late. The sad thing is that I talk to people who are in the industry, doing stuff that I want to like being a Sys Admin, and I'm confident that I could do their job better than they do it. I've had one interview in the last 6 months, and it was the head IT guy interviewing me. We started talking computers, and I brought up Linux and UNIX stuff that I'd done in college. He listened patiently for a few minutes, then asked me, "What's Linux?" (they ran a MS/Mac lab). Those are the kind of people who have our jobs, my friend. The only thing we can do is be a passive observer to this fucked-up industry for now. All those proactive zealots who preach patience and harassing HR until you get the job can kiss my ass...I've been doing that for over half a year and I'm still at ground zero. What can I do? Well, today I applied for a waiter job at the local pub and a cashier job at the bookstore I hang out at. The money I'd make there won't even pay off my loans, but at least it's something. Keep your head up, but don't give yourself a fasle sense of security or hope...there's nothing worse than being let down over and over again. Word. -magz
Hmm, didn't you mean No problems with UNDERWEAR!?!