I am not a security expert. In fact, my knowledge comes from Slashdot. So God help me. But is this vulnerability really useful to a hacker? If I understand it, because padding is not properly implemented, the hacker MAY receive some random data at the end of the 48 byte data. I realize there are people who have the patience to tape together shredded documents so they can read them, but in this case the hacker cannot ensure that the random pieces of data that he will receive even belong to a single "document." So my question, is this a theorectical vulnerability that would be extremely difficult to use, or is it demonstratable that a hacker could easily obtain useful information?
The only problem I have with government conspiracies is that I've seen the federal bureaucracy in action, up close and personal. If anyone can live through such an experience and still believe in complex conspiracies I'll be amazed. Not to say that conspiracies aren't good reading.
BTW, I prefer the Sam Adams slogan that used to be on the beer bottle -- Brewer, Patriot.
One of the big issues facing the U.S. military is it doesn't have a clue where the next battle will be. Three years ago would anybody have predicted that we would go to war in Afghanistan? Consequently, the military has to have a capability to fight anywhere, and certainly having a capability to fight in an urban environment makes sense. And for those following the news, the military's big concern in Iraq is not desert fighting, but urban warfare. Why do you think the Marines and the Army have been training heavily in their urban warfare training centers. I'm not saying the military should buy this thing, but I am glad that they're thinking about what to do and how to do it. The alternative being, "if something happens, I sure hope we have the right weapons..."
IANAL, but the type of property (i.e., tangible, intangible, or intellectual) has some impact on the way the original owner can recover his loses. It also affects how third parties should treat the transaction. For example, certain types of property can be transferred by oral contract, other types require a written contract. I believe most, if not all, states require a written contract for real estate transactions. In contrast, movies deals involving intellectual property are routinely based upon oral contracts and handshakes. Therefore, the degree to which Verisign is responsible, the due diligence that Verisign should have taken, and thus how much they are legally responsible for the original owner's loses are at stake.
Not every terrorist attack is going to be of the scale of the World Trade Centers. Don't forget the other 9/11 attack, the Pentagon. It didn't destroy the whole building, just one wedge. And they repaired it, trying to match the original appearance as much as possible.
In fact, it is more likely that terrorist attacks will damage a landmark and not completely destroy it. In those cases, having accurate information on the original will be invaluable.
Face it, before the advent of phones with built-in cameras, his picture was being routinely taken, particularly in tourist traps like Disney World. You probably can't walk ten feet there without someone including you in a family snapshot.
I'm skeptical that these phones will catch on. It all fits into the general tech concept of lets make a combination microwave oven-refrigerator with a built-in web browser. Frankly, if I want to take pictures, I'll use a camera dedicated to that purpose. It will undoubtedly have better capabilities. Furthermore, in the real world how often does someone need a camera unexpectedly. And as for his examples of professionals, in most cases I think a dedicated camera, with better functionality, would be better for them.
...I haven't heard of a single terrorist act averted since 9/11...
You haven't been paying much attention to the news have you. Let's see, we had the plot to attack ships in the Straits of Gilbrater that was averted, the possibly overblown Jose Padilla - Dirty Bomb case, and the capture of key operatives such as Abu Zubaydah, which surely put a dent in al-Qaida's plans.
Frankly the problem is attacks such as the Twin Towers are always going to stick in your mind more than a brief news report that Abu Zubaydah was captured. Also there is always more skepticism that capturing some guy actually averted a plot -- see Jose Padilla. We will never know whether he would have actually done something. There will always be second guessing on whether a plot was really averted.
Most of this functionality has been available in mainstream OSes for a long time. For example, the "Find" dialog in MacOS allows me to search by file name, creation date, modification date, file type, size, extension and even content (or any combination of the above). So its very easy for me to find all the text documents created in the last week and search them for the word "Grandma."
Actually there are many products that are designed specifically for organizing pictures. I am familiar with the commericial ones, but there may be open source ones as well. For example, MacOS X comes with iPhoto, which automatically downloads pictures from digital cameras. It allows you to categorize photos, provide keyword descriptions for searching, etc. Extensis Potofolio provides more advanced capabilities for professionals. There are others...
...you define any number of document attributes when saving a document and then query a database of those attributes when trying to retrieve it later on...
The problem I see with this system is that it requires you to be disciplined when you save a document. I could see something like this working for things like MP3s where there is an internet database that could be used to select the appropriate attributes. However, in the work environment where you're cataloging Word files and Excel spreadsheets, I don't see it as useful. From my experience, when I'm searching for an old file, its never for the reason I would have guessed, so I wouldn't have picked the right attributes when I saved it. In fact, I find it best to use features such as the MacOS X find dialog (or grep on the command line) that allows me to search by content.
IANAL, but it is my understanding that the arguments presented have to be directly relevant to the case. The issue appears to be whether the CA courts have juridiction. Furthermore, the defendent is NOT charged under DMCA, rather violations of trade secret laws.
IMHO, any lawyer that brings up DMCA would look like an idiot. It should be noted that only a certain select group of lawyers can be present oral arguments to the Supreme Court. I am not sure what you have to do to become qualified, but I do know that you can't hire just any lawyer.
Why use AIM when everyone is in the same room?
on
Professors vs. WiFi
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Am I missing something? Why use AIM if everyone is sitting in the same room? It's a lot easier just to raise your hand and say something. I agree that technology could be better employed in the classroom, but this doesn't seem to be the answer.
As for bad profs, I agree. The problem is the University makes a lot of money off of research grants. Hence, they're very interested in how much research money the prof will bring in, and not interested enough in how well the prof teaches. In my view, the priorities are skewed. I long for the legendary days before "publish or perish."
As with anything, trying to condense a complex interview process down to a few sentences is difficult. The process itself is a full day affair. The candidate meets several people in one-on-one interviews, presents a briefing of their choice, and has lunch with several members of the staff. Previously the candidate has provided a resume, references, and copies of written works. In addition to the full day interview, additional time is spent checking references, etc.
In the work our company does, a PhD is not really required. In fact, a PhD in any hard science from any reasonable university means that you have the technical skills to do the job. Therefore, the real issue is how do you fit into the corporate culture, and whether you can communicate the results of our work in written and oral forms. Hence the focus on communication skills and personality.
One of the things I learned after college is very few people actually continue to work in the area of their degrees. Nonetheless, the skills developed during that degree -- for a PhD that means the ability to work on one's own, the perseverance demonstrated by completing the PhD, and general technical skills -- are valued.
I work at a company that has several hundred employees, most of which of have PhDs in the hard sciences. (This includes myself.) Over the years, I've been on numerous hiring committees. From my experience I can say this, there is a broad tiering of schools -- community college versus major universities (including state schools and Ivy League). Which tier you attended can affect hiring decisions. Past that the specific school doesn't matter. Having discussed the qualifications of many interview candidates, I have NEVER heard anyone say hire person A over person B because they went to an Ivy League school. The discussions center around oral and written skills and personality. Specifically, whether the person's personality would be a good fit in the corporate culture. (Because of our work, we need to avoid the shy, introverted scientist. We need extroverts.)
I had the same problem with my in-laws. At first they didn't understand the internet and were leary. I used a couple of analogies... URLs are just phone numbers, except easier to remember. They could understand this. They're old enough to remember when telephone numbers were "Klondike 567." Then I showed them how it was just like a library in your home. It was tax time, and my father-in-law needed a tax form. A few clicks and ta-da. I even located an out of print book my mother-in-law wanted.
Although as someone who pushes paper all day, I have to agree with your Mum. Sometimes I wish I drove a bulldozer. At least at the end of the day I could point to something I had accomplished.
OTOH, you could ask your Mum if a being a lawyer is a real job, all they do is push information. Or how about an accountant...
Did they die or were they overshadowed by a few big companies in the console and PC world?
I'm not a big gamer, but in the Mac world some of the best known, and highly regarded game developers are small. One example is Pangea Software whose games are shipped on all iMacs. It's a one man outfit (although he hires out graphics and music).
I always thought that the Matrix was perfect for Keanu Reeve's. For 90 percent of the movie, he had to stand around and act dumbfounded. Something he does quite well. In my opinion, the last ten minutes of the movie, where he "understands" his place in the Matrix, was where he did his worst acting.
Since in the sequels he'll be required to act more than dumbfounded, I'm not confident that he will be able to pull it off. Maybe that's why they're releasing bang-bang, one right after the other.
BTW, I have the same thoughts about casting in the Terminator, Arnold didn't have to act either. A perfect role.
True. But I'm old enough to remember the days before word processors. Back then it was not uncommon to literally cut-and-paste from earlier drafts, photocopies of other documents, etc. into a new document. Using the copy held together with glue and tape, the secretary would create a clean copy. So assuming a good secretary, its not surprising that transcription errors are propagated.
Unfortunately, your characterization of science is flawed. Rarely does a scientist go into a lab and perform an experiement that is 100 percent original. Generally, the origins of the experiment can be traced back to earlier work, that he/she learned about thru publications, conferences, etc. Furthermore, scientists try to be somewhat original. Therefore, considerable effort is spent researching the published literature to make sure you're not repeating something someone did 5 years ago. If you repeat it, you want to put your own "spin" on it. E.g., look at new aspects of the problem.
This suggests that many scientists take short cuts, simply copying a reference from someone else's paper rather than reading the original source.
So they copy and paste, that doesn't imply that they didn't read it. I copy and paste references from old reports routinely, its called saving time. That doesn't mean I didn't read the reference.
Re:Wrong country maybe, but you have wrong facts..
on
239 MPG Car
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· Score: 2, Informative
How convenient that you forget that the U.S. mandated unleaded fuel well before Europe did. In fact, Europe complained that U.S. regulations were hurting them because they had to modify their cars for the U.S. market.
Another fact, Europe likes to trumpet their use of diesel over the U.S., but recent studies have shown that while diesel reduces CO2, it increases soot Science Daily. The net effect is at no real change, and more likely it actually make global warming worse.
Oh, I forgot this is Slashdot, Europe is enlightened, the U.S. is the bumbling oaf.
When I was a student at SUNY Stony Brook in the 80's, the University had a rash of unexplained fires. At first, they tried to pin them on a "radical" student group. Eventually, they figured out that the school's fire chief was the culpret.
The worst part was he burnt down the warehouse with toilet paper and lightbulbs. The insurance company refused to pay, because the school didn't perform even a basic background check which would have given away the man's background.
The worst part was taking exams in rooms to dark to power the solar-powered calculators. Some professors resorted to carrying lightbulbs from room to room.
The poor ranking of the United States (17th) is mainly because of the number of journalists arrested or imprisoned there... Also, since the 11 September attacks, several journalists have been arrested for crossing security lines at some official buildings.
While arrests for not revealing sources are a legitiment concern, I fail to see where arrests for crossing security lines is a freedom of speech issue. Does this mean a reporter breaking the speed limit on the way to a interview has his "freedom of speech" rights abused if a cop pulls him over? There needs to be sensible limits on the definition of freedom violations. I not convinced that their definitions are reasonable.
Slashdot Mirror
I am not a security expert. In fact, my knowledge comes from Slashdot. So God help me. But is this vulnerability really useful to a hacker? If I understand it, because padding is not properly implemented, the hacker MAY receive some random data at the end of the 48 byte data. I realize there are people who have the patience to tape together shredded documents so they can read them, but in this case the hacker cannot ensure that the random pieces of data that he will receive even belong to a single "document." So my question, is this a theorectical vulnerability that would be extremely difficult to use, or is it demonstratable that a hacker could easily obtain useful information?
BTW, I prefer the Sam Adams slogan that used to be on the beer bottle -- Brewer, Patriot.
One of the big issues facing the U.S. military is it doesn't have a clue where the next battle will be. Three years ago would anybody have predicted that we would go to war in Afghanistan? Consequently, the military has to have a capability to fight anywhere, and certainly having a capability to fight in an urban environment makes sense. And for those following the news, the military's big concern in Iraq is not desert fighting, but urban warfare. Why do you think the Marines and the Army have been training heavily in their urban warfare training centers. I'm not saying the military should buy this thing, but I am glad that they're thinking about what to do and how to do it. The alternative being, "if something happens, I sure hope we have the right weapons..."
IANAL, but the type of property (i.e., tangible, intangible, or intellectual) has some impact on the way the original owner can recover his loses. It also affects how third parties should treat the transaction. For example, certain types of property can be transferred by oral contract, other types require a written contract. I believe most, if not all, states require a written contract for real estate transactions. In contrast, movies deals involving intellectual property are routinely based upon oral contracts and handshakes. Therefore, the degree to which Verisign is responsible, the due diligence that Verisign should have taken, and thus how much they are legally responsible for the original owner's loses are at stake.
In fact, it is more likely that terrorist attacks will damage a landmark and not completely destroy it. In those cases, having accurate information on the original will be invaluable.
I'm skeptical that these phones will catch on. It all fits into the general tech concept of lets make a combination microwave oven-refrigerator with a built-in web browser. Frankly, if I want to take pictures, I'll use a camera dedicated to that purpose. It will undoubtedly have better capabilities. Furthermore, in the real world how often does someone need a camera unexpectedly. And as for his examples of professionals, in most cases I think a dedicated camera, with better functionality, would be better for them.
Frankly the problem is attacks such as the Twin Towers are always going to stick in your mind more than a brief news report that Abu Zubaydah was captured. Also there is always more skepticism that capturing some guy actually averted a plot -- see Jose Padilla. We will never know whether he would have actually done something. There will always be second guessing on whether a plot was really averted.
Most of this functionality has been available in mainstream OSes for a long time. For example, the "Find" dialog in MacOS allows me to search by file name, creation date, modification date, file type, size, extension and even content (or any combination of the above). So its very easy for me to find all the text documents created in the last week and search them for the word "Grandma."
Actually there are many products that are designed specifically for organizing pictures. I am familiar with the commericial ones, but there may be open source ones as well. For example, MacOS X comes with iPhoto, which automatically downloads pictures from digital cameras. It allows you to categorize photos, provide keyword descriptions for searching, etc. Extensis Potofolio provides more advanced capabilities for professionals. There are others...
IMHO, any lawyer that brings up DMCA would look like an idiot. It should be noted that only a certain select group of lawyers can be present oral arguments to the Supreme Court. I am not sure what you have to do to become qualified, but I do know that you can't hire just any lawyer.
As for bad profs, I agree. The problem is the University makes a lot of money off of research grants. Hence, they're very interested in how much research money the prof will bring in, and not interested enough in how well the prof teaches. In my view, the priorities are skewed. I long for the legendary days before "publish or perish."
In the work our company does, a PhD is not really required. In fact, a PhD in any hard science from any reasonable university means that you have the technical skills to do the job. Therefore, the real issue is how do you fit into the corporate culture, and whether you can communicate the results of our work in written and oral forms. Hence the focus on communication skills and personality.
One of the things I learned after college is very few people actually continue to work in the area of their degrees. Nonetheless, the skills developed during that degree -- for a PhD that means the ability to work on one's own, the perseverance demonstrated by completing the PhD, and general technical skills -- are valued.
I work at a company that has several hundred employees, most of which of have PhDs in the hard sciences. (This includes myself.) Over the years, I've been on numerous hiring committees. From my experience I can say this, there is a broad tiering of schools -- community college versus major universities (including state schools and Ivy League). Which tier you attended can affect hiring decisions. Past that the specific school doesn't matter. Having discussed the qualifications of many interview candidates, I have NEVER heard anyone say hire person A over person B because they went to an Ivy League school. The discussions center around oral and written skills and personality. Specifically, whether the person's personality would be a good fit in the corporate culture. (Because of our work, we need to avoid the shy, introverted scientist. We need extroverts.)
Although as someone who pushes paper all day, I have to agree with your Mum. Sometimes I wish I drove a bulldozer. At least at the end of the day I could point to something I had accomplished.
OTOH, you could ask your Mum if a being a lawyer is a real job, all they do is push information. Or how about an accountant...
I'm not a big gamer, but in the Mac world some of the best known, and highly regarded game developers are small. One example is Pangea Software whose games are shipped on all iMacs. It's a one man outfit (although he hires out graphics and music).
I've been attacked by a grammer troll. Maybe that's a syntax troll? Ah who cares, I've been trolled!
Since in the sequels he'll be required to act more than dumbfounded, I'm not confident that he will be able to pull it off. Maybe that's why they're releasing bang-bang, one right after the other.
BTW, I have the same thoughts about casting in the Terminator, Arnold didn't have to act either. A perfect role.
True. But I'm old enough to remember the days before word processors. Back then it was not uncommon to literally cut-and-paste from earlier drafts, photocopies of other documents, etc. into a new document. Using the copy held together with glue and tape, the secretary would create a clean copy. So assuming a good secretary, its not surprising that transcription errors are propagated.
Unfortunately, your characterization of science is flawed. Rarely does a scientist go into a lab and perform an experiement that is 100 percent original. Generally, the origins of the experiment can be traced back to earlier work, that he/she learned about thru publications, conferences, etc. Furthermore, scientists try to be somewhat original. Therefore, considerable effort is spent researching the published literature to make sure you're not repeating something someone did 5 years ago. If you repeat it, you want to put your own "spin" on it. E.g., look at new aspects of the problem.
Another fact, Europe likes to trumpet their use of diesel over the U.S., but recent studies have shown that while diesel reduces CO2, it increases soot Science Daily. The net effect is at no real change, and more likely it actually make global warming worse.
Oh, I forgot this is Slashdot, Europe is enlightened, the U.S. is the bumbling oaf.
The worst part was he burnt down the warehouse with toilet paper and lightbulbs. The insurance company refused to pay, because the school didn't perform even a basic background check which would have given away the man's background.
The worst part was taking exams in rooms to dark to power the solar-powered calculators. Some professors resorted to carrying lightbulbs from room to room.
Look on VersionTracker for Carbon Copy Cloner, it great for copying MacOS X installations. Its simple and effective.