Please, write rules that clarify that. And, as I have never been arrested or charged with any crime other than speeding/parking tickets, taking my guns should be easy, right?
Oh yeah, totally offtopic, but if you're the same localroger from K5 I really like your writing. The blackjack series by K5's localroger was GREAT, and the novel was good, even if it was a little disturbing:) Good work.
You are totally correct. Also, who's to say that those VCs really KNEW what the company's software was being used for? This was during the tech bubble; people were investing in online pet food stores of all things. Napster rose fast, got attention, somebody jumped on it. That's it. My guess is that a significant percentage of/.'ers either work in IT, do IT for a company that does something else, or write proprietary software for a company that does something other than software for a living. How many of your supervisors REALLY know what you're doing? And the higher you go up the food chain, does what they know about your pet project get more detailed or less? This was an investment company. OK, maybe they should have known, and maybe their lawyers should have warned them, but those were heady days and I doubt the guys making the decisions really knew the deal. Should they have known? Yeah, with the RIAA and the MPAA hanging around, they should have (not to mention ASCAP, my personal favorite, as they are sneaky leechlike fucks... there is nothing quite like having to have an auction to keep your favorite hangout open because some ASCAP fuck was in there when a local artist played a cover as part of a set during open mike night). But I don't think you can say that they "knew" in the sense of "we really need to think hard before we invest in this, even if someone else grabs it first". Besides, I'm not convinced that Napster actually hurt the record industry at all. What, they just assume that everyone listens to the radio? I don't. I listen to LIVE, local music when I'm out, and I listen to CDs friends suggest and let me borrow to see if I like them. I bought more music during Napster's boom year than at any other time in my life, and now I don't buy any (I did buy an old Judy Collins CD from a local shop, but that doesn't really count:). Partly because the top 40 stuff they push is shit, and partly because they pissed me off. I DO vote with my dollars. That doesn't mean I pirate, though. Honestly, is the current crap on the radio (I have to hear it co-workers offices) worth twenty bucks, even if I like the one track I heard? Fuck the recording industry... actually, don't bother, they're fucking themselves. The either cannot or will not embrace new distribution methods, and to protect their interests (which are small when you compare them to the money game companies make at this point, and I don't see a "Game Componies Of America" lobby at this point) they are trying to regulate the net. That's the only way they can win: control everything and everyone on the net. Yeah, I've got an FTP server. I use it to transfer files so that I can work at home. Is that next? Do I need a licencse? Should I ditch the dual proc server on linux and buy a new Palladium equipped board running a MS server OS just so that the RIAA doesn't have to worry about me serving illicit MP3s? Fuck em. Fight back.
Yeah, right... you're going to sue someone in PAKISTAN or SAUDI? Who's supposed to pay for the plane ticket to get the alleged phone phreak into the US when the case goes to court? Let's see, Osama Bin Laden ripped you off and now you have a huge phone bill... is your local sheriff's deputy going to serve the warrant? Get real.
Engineering IS math! I would not want to be anywhere near a potentially dangerous machine designed by a ME who had done no math since graduating. I also wouldn't want someone like that in my department:)
I would agree that it is a zero-law commentary... although the focus seems to be the ambiguity over what counts as a human under the laws of robotics. Neat twist on Asimov, at least as I read it.
Thank god it's not the other way around; think gun control. And no, this isn't offtopic. Whatever your opinion is on the matter, it is certainly a perfect example of a constitutional right being taken away a little at a time on the basis of emotional arguments and debatable statistics. Maybe fair use (not saying it's a constitutional right, but it certainly is well enshrined in U.S. law) is the next to go the way of the dodo bird. Sure looks that way to me... emotional arguments, few alternatives to "banning" presented by the RIAA and their ilk, statistics on "lost revenue" that may or may not show cause and effect, and a steady chipping away of our rights. However, there is a lot more money involved here, at least when you compare the tech industry/media industry to the amounts that the gun companies/anti-gun groups pull in. And yeah, I left out the citizens that are effected by these laws. Unless you have a group with a name, a letterhead, and some money to spend on campaign contributions your voice will only be noted, not heard. I say slashdotters need some airtime. Something like a slashdot PAC might generate enough interest (and be unusual enough) to at least get a soundbite on CNN or Fox News. Anyone up for it? Or are we all going to sit here and wait for the chiseling away at our rights turn into sound of large jackhammers?
What, you mean that all judges are even competent computer users all of a sudden? Forget technically astute in the area or inclined to become so. Hell, even slashdotters argue over obvious Microsoft FUD... you think a judge is going to see through all of it? No, I think that it is an unfortunate fact that there is a good chance that the guy with the best, most expensive, most confusing, most FUD-spewing, and ruthless lawyers would win a case like this. I don't think it's a sure thing, but it's close. Plus, cases like this get appealed... and appealed... and appealed... and in the meantime Palladium becomes the de-facto standard and the opposition has burned all of its money in legal fees. I say kill it before it ever goes live. Who was it that suggested a slashdot PAC? I still think that would be a great idea. Senators have to be cheaper than lawyers in a case like this. Since the idea seems to have died, I'll try and resurrect it. You can email me at czbrat101@hotmail dot com if you think a PAC would be a useful tool.
I have a Plextor, and I love it. Hell, I spilled beer in it and still works:) Try that with a lesser drive. If you spill a beer down the front of your computer, just wiping the mess off the case doesn't quite work. Beer is sneaky, and will wick into the cracks around CD trays, making the effort pointless. You will have to take the drive out and clean it of all traces of beer, especially the beer that is gluing your tray in place. Of course, this information is purely subjective as I haven't actually tried this with a lesser drive. If you want objective information instead of personal pet peeves and experience, spill some beer in your drive. Then let me know how it worked out for you. The guy with the "don't feed your computer beer" sig may have other insights on this issue.
That software must be in EARLY beta. Type in the answer in all caps and it tells you that you failed the test. Great job. Really, I'm impressed. And I never would have thought to type in "automovile" as an answer... car, cars, CAR, CARS, maybe. This kind of stuff is more frustrating than useful. Hell, even MS Office is smart enough to ignore case by default when you do a find:)
No, I don't feel at all superior because you're in high school. I guess I misinterpreted the results of your study, as far as individual identification goes. Didn't mean to imply that you were up to something, just making a joke about the cluelessness (is that even a word... it should be) of the average user. Good job, man.... reminds me of the things I used to do to piss off my teachers and professors:)
You must have read a different article; the one I read didn't say anything about here being a lesbian. Evil does not equal lesbian. Although she might very be an evil lesbian. Hmm...
Making businesses pay to do this is difficult. They also have more legislative clout (campaign contribution money) than the average citizen, so it's unlikely that the government is going to make them pay for it. For example, in Britain they passed legislation to try to protect the environment by making THE OWNERS pay a diposal fee when they want to get rid of an old refrigerator (they've got freon in the refrigeration system, and similar blowing agents trapped in the insulation.) Not the company that produced it, the owner. Now people are sneaking out at night and dumping them in someone else's neighborhood rather than pay the money. Rather large litter, wouldn't you say? And by the way, who exactly pays those fuel taxes you mentioned? Exxon? Chevron?
I do this, but I had to put a little more work into the boxes as I was giving them to friends. A friend of mine worked for a software company which obsoleted (read got rid of) computers when they were three years old. They'd pile them in a room and PAY another company to haul them off and presumably recycle them. I got a lot of decent laptops, for example, that had been abused and needed some work. Since they were all the same make and pretty much model, swapping parts wasn't a problem. When I got them working, I put them on a shelf. They sat there until somebody I knew needed a computer. I still have a few left... although the picks of the litter are gone. Of course, I don't have any control over what my friends do with them when they finally do wear out, but I'd rather see a perfectly functioning computer get used by someone who needs it than thrown away. I'm sure that I'm not the only/.er with a closet full of old computers; if your buddy needs one and you don't just give it to them. Of course, then you wind up being tech support, but that's another can of worms:)
So, you did a "study" where you asked people for their passwords, and 97% just handed them over? In your conclusions, did you include the finding that "97 percent of those surveyed turned out to be complete and utter morons"? Now you know why Mitnick was able to pull off some of the shit he did, and why being an admin can royally suck ass at times.
Shit, I wardialed every number (a thousand or so, I think) that my company has as part of a security check (for my company, and with their permission, to show them how a bad guy might do it). The only problem was, I decided to do it at night so I didn't interrupt business, forgetting that at night the watchmen get all calls routed to them. Oops. I quit when I realized what was happening, but the poor watchman was pissed after getting a few hundred "prank calls" in a few minutes. The phone company never noticed, so they didn't care. I'd be a little suspicious is someone made a thousand sequential calls as fast as they could, but they never noticed. No one at work the next day did either when I finished the exercise, although most of them were at lunch:) Moral: bad things happen when you expect someone else to have a clue.
Many routers serve an admin interface webpage with NO password set by default (see my earlier comment about Caymen routers supplied by Bellsouth and others). You can do a Google search for these: if Google found the default page and not "enter username and password" the router is vulnerable. You never have to touch it or connect to it to know, you just have to look at the Google cache. Is that wrong? I don't think so. Sort of like if you're walking around in public with a "kick me" sign on your back, and find it funny but never bother you, can you have me prosecuted for knowing that it was there? What if I tell you about it so that you can remove it? Or would you rather wait for someone to kick you?
Bellsouth supplies Cayman routers to their business DSL users and they don't even have a password set by default. You have to log in and set it, and no one ever does. They REQUIRE businesses to pay for the install ($200 IIRC). I asked one of their installers to set the password... she was hesitant to do so because that would make it harder for them to get in. Well duh. What really funny is that you don't even need to scan for those routers; they have a default interface served by a webserver. So, a simple Google search for text on the admin page will turn up LOTS of those routers... no scanning required. And yes, the kiddies know about the problem, I found out about it on a wannabe hacker site (neworder.box.sk, I think). And no, I'm not a script kiddie, I've just found that it pays to keep an eye on them.
I don't think that's true. I have a radio in my office, tuned to one of the "modern rock" stations. I left it off for a year, just left it sitting on the shelf after I changed departments, turned it on today and it still sounds like the SAME OLD SHIT! A year later, and I can't really find a difference or anything new to like. Maybe I'm getting old... it's possible, but I doubt it. Give me some new REM that makes me think, maybe I'll reconsider. The music on the radio is bullshit. I don't listen to it when it's on the radio (and sort of free) and I sure as hell wouldn't waste my time downloading it. The record industry is targeting pre-teens and early-teens that spend their parent's money. Not smart? No, very dumb, but that's what they're doing in the short term. Geeks and techies aren't their market, guys, they want people that "tune in" to whatever the BS station is in your town. We are not their market. At least not now. And it's not because we're nostalgic, at least in my case... I have a few Judy Collins records that I taped... but I enjoy listening to that and what's on the radio sucks. Period. Although most of my MP3s are goth metal. Here's the point: fuck hillary. fuck the riaa. Support your local bands; if you like the music buy the CD (and tip your bartender). Some people just like to make music/software because they want other people to enjoy it... and if you do, give them the $5.00! And then go up and say Hi, and tell them why you did so... you'll feel better:)
You're supposed to modulate the brake pedal, not mash it. A skilled driver can stop faster with regular brakes than with antilock. Try a weekend race driving school... those computers are hiding performance from you, not adding to it. OK, for most drivers that might be good, but I just want the car to do what I tell it to and it doesn't get to second guess me. I wouldn't buy one that did.
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Please, write rules that clarify that. And, as I have never been arrested or charged with any crime other than speeding/parking tickets, taking my guns should be easy, right?
"The lion died while chewing on my client"? That's a classic :)
Oh yeah, totally offtopic, but if you're the same localroger from K5 I really like your writing. The blackjack series by K5's localroger was GREAT, and the novel was good, even if it was a little disturbing:) Good work.
You are totally correct. Also, who's to say that those VCs really KNEW what the company's software was being used for? This was during the tech bubble; people were investing in online pet food stores of all things. Napster rose fast, got attention, somebody jumped on it. That's it. My guess is that a significant percentage of /.'ers either work in IT, do IT for a company that does something else, or write proprietary software for a company that does something other than software for a living. How many of your supervisors REALLY know what you're doing? And the higher you go up the food chain, does what they know about your pet project get more detailed or less? This was an investment company. OK, maybe they should have known, and maybe their lawyers should have warned them, but those were heady days and I doubt the guys making the decisions really knew the deal. Should they have known? Yeah, with the RIAA and the MPAA hanging around, they should have (not to mention ASCAP, my personal favorite, as they are sneaky leechlike fucks... there is nothing quite like having to have an auction to keep your favorite hangout open because some ASCAP fuck was in there when a local artist played a cover as part of a set during open mike night). But I don't think you can say that they "knew" in the sense of "we really need to think hard before we invest in this, even if someone else grabs it first". Besides, I'm not convinced that Napster actually hurt the record industry at all. What, they just assume that everyone listens to the radio? I don't. I listen to LIVE, local music when I'm out, and I listen to CDs friends suggest and let me borrow to see if I like them. I bought more music during Napster's boom year than at any other time in my life, and now I don't buy any (I did buy an old Judy Collins CD from a local shop, but that doesn't really count :). Partly because the top 40 stuff they push is shit, and partly because they pissed me off. I DO vote with my dollars. That doesn't mean I pirate, though. Honestly, is the current crap on the radio (I have to hear it co-workers offices) worth twenty bucks, even if I like the one track I heard? Fuck the recording industry... actually, don't bother, they're fucking themselves. The either cannot or will not embrace new distribution methods, and to protect their interests (which are small when you compare them to the money game companies make at this point, and I don't see a "Game Componies Of America" lobby at this point) they are trying to regulate the net. That's the only way they can win: control everything and everyone on the net. Yeah, I've got an FTP server. I use it to transfer files so that I can work at home. Is that next? Do I need a licencse? Should I ditch the dual proc server on linux and buy a new Palladium equipped board running a MS server OS just so that the RIAA doesn't have to worry about me serving illicit MP3s? Fuck em. Fight back.
Yeah, right... you're going to sue someone in PAKISTAN or SAUDI? Who's supposed to pay for the plane ticket to get the alleged phone phreak into the US when the case goes to court? Let's see, Osama Bin Laden ripped you off and now you have a huge phone bill... is your local sheriff's deputy going to serve the warrant? Get real.
Engineering IS math! I would not want to be anywhere near a potentially dangerous machine designed by a ME who had done no math since graduating. I also wouldn't want someone like that in my department :)
Yes, you should be afraid... very afraid. You see, much as I hate to tell you this, your normal AND you're reading /.
I would agree that it is a zero-law commentary... although the focus seems to be the ambiguity over what counts as a human under the laws of robotics. Neat twist on Asimov, at least as I read it.
Good writing :) Disturbing, in some ways, but I really enjoyed it. Thanks for a good read.
Thank god it's not the other way around; think gun control. And no, this isn't offtopic. Whatever your opinion is on the matter, it is certainly a perfect example of a constitutional right being taken away a little at a time on the basis of emotional arguments and debatable statistics. Maybe fair use (not saying it's a constitutional right, but it certainly is well enshrined in U.S. law) is the next to go the way of the dodo bird. Sure looks that way to me... emotional arguments, few alternatives to "banning" presented by the RIAA and their ilk, statistics on "lost revenue" that may or may not show cause and effect, and a steady chipping away of our rights. However, there is a lot more money involved here, at least when you compare the tech industry/media industry to the amounts that the gun companies/anti-gun groups pull in. And yeah, I left out the citizens that are effected by these laws. Unless you have a group with a name, a letterhead, and some money to spend on campaign contributions your voice will only be noted, not heard. I say slashdotters need some airtime. Something like a slashdot PAC might generate enough interest (and be unusual enough) to at least get a soundbite on CNN or Fox News. Anyone up for it? Or are we all going to sit here and wait for the chiseling away at our rights turn into sound of large jackhammers?
What, you mean that all judges are even competent computer users all of a sudden? Forget technically astute in the area or inclined to become so. Hell, even slashdotters argue over obvious Microsoft FUD... you think a judge is going to see through all of it? No, I think that it is an unfortunate fact that there is a good chance that the guy with the best, most expensive, most confusing, most FUD-spewing, and ruthless lawyers would win a case like this. I don't think it's a sure thing, but it's close. Plus, cases like this get appealed... and appealed... and appealed... and in the meantime Palladium becomes the de-facto standard and the opposition has burned all of its money in legal fees. I say kill it before it ever goes live. Who was it that suggested a slashdot PAC? I still think that would be a great idea. Senators have to be cheaper than lawyers in a case like this. Since the idea seems to have died, I'll try and resurrect it. You can email me at czbrat101@hotmail dot com if you think a PAC would be a useful tool.
I have a Plextor, and I love it. Hell, I spilled beer in it and still works :) Try that with a lesser drive. If you spill a beer down the front of your computer, just wiping the mess off the case doesn't quite work. Beer is sneaky, and will wick into the cracks around CD trays, making the effort pointless. You will have to take the drive out and clean it of all traces of beer, especially the beer that is gluing your tray in place. Of course, this information is purely subjective as I haven't actually tried this with a lesser drive. If you want objective information instead of personal pet peeves and experience, spill some beer in your drive. Then let me know how it worked out for you. The guy with the "don't feed your computer beer" sig may have other insights on this issue.
That software must be in EARLY beta. Type in the answer in all caps and it tells you that you failed the test. Great job. Really, I'm impressed. And I never would have thought to type in "automovile" as an answer... car, cars, CAR, CARS, maybe. This kind of stuff is more frustrating than useful. Hell, even MS Office is smart enough to ignore case by default when you do a find :)
No, I don't feel at all superior because you're in high school. I guess I misinterpreted the results of your study, as far as individual identification goes. Didn't mean to imply that you were up to something, just making a joke about the cluelessness (is that even a word... it should be) of the average user. Good job, man.... reminds me of the things I used to do to piss off my teachers and professors :)
You must have read a different article; the one I read didn't say anything about here being a lesbian. Evil does not equal lesbian. Although she might very be an evil lesbian. Hmm...
Making businesses pay to do this is difficult. They also have more legislative clout (campaign contribution money) than the average citizen, so it's unlikely that the government is going to make them pay for it. For example, in Britain they passed legislation to try to protect the environment by making THE OWNERS pay a diposal fee when they want to get rid of an old refrigerator (they've got freon in the refrigeration system, and similar blowing agents trapped in the insulation.) Not the company that produced it, the owner. Now people are sneaking out at night and dumping them in someone else's neighborhood rather than pay the money. Rather large litter, wouldn't you say? And by the way, who exactly pays those fuel taxes you mentioned? Exxon? Chevron?
I do this, but I had to put a little more work into the boxes as I was giving them to friends. A friend of mine worked for a software company which obsoleted (read got rid of) computers when they were three years old. They'd pile them in a room and PAY another company to haul them off and presumably recycle them. I got a lot of decent laptops, for example, that had been abused and needed some work. Since they were all the same make and pretty much model, swapping parts wasn't a problem. When I got them working, I put them on a shelf. They sat there until somebody I knew needed a computer. I still have a few left... although the picks of the litter are gone. Of course, I don't have any control over what my friends do with them when they finally do wear out, but I'd rather see a perfectly functioning computer get used by someone who needs it than thrown away. I'm sure that I'm not the only /.er with a closet full of old computers; if your buddy needs one and you don't just give it to them. Of course, then you wind up being tech support, but that's another can of worms :)
So, you did a "study" where you asked people for their passwords, and 97% just handed them over? In your conclusions, did you include the finding that "97 percent of those surveyed turned out to be complete and utter morons"? Now you know why Mitnick was able to pull off some of the shit he did, and why being an admin can royally suck ass at times.
Shit, I wardialed every number (a thousand or so, I think) that my company has as part of a security check (for my company, and with their permission, to show them how a bad guy might do it). The only problem was, I decided to do it at night so I didn't interrupt business, forgetting that at night the watchmen get all calls routed to them. Oops. I quit when I realized what was happening, but the poor watchman was pissed after getting a few hundred "prank calls" in a few minutes. The phone company never noticed, so they didn't care. I'd be a little suspicious is someone made a thousand sequential calls as fast as they could, but they never noticed. No one at work the next day did either when I finished the exercise, although most of them were at lunch :) Moral: bad things happen when you expect someone else to have a clue.
Many routers serve an admin interface webpage with NO password set by default (see my earlier comment about Caymen routers supplied by Bellsouth and others). You can do a Google search for these: if Google found the default page and not "enter username and password" the router is vulnerable. You never have to touch it or connect to it to know, you just have to look at the Google cache. Is that wrong? I don't think so. Sort of like if you're walking around in public with a "kick me" sign on your back, and find it funny but never bother you, can you have me prosecuted for knowing that it was there? What if I tell you about it so that you can remove it? Or would you rather wait for someone to kick you?
Bellsouth supplies Cayman routers to their business DSL users and they don't even have a password set by default. You have to log in and set it, and no one ever does. They REQUIRE businesses to pay for the install ($200 IIRC). I asked one of their installers to set the password... she was hesitant to do so because that would make it harder for them to get in. Well duh. What really funny is that you don't even need to scan for those routers; they have a default interface served by a webserver. So, a simple Google search for text on the admin page will turn up LOTS of those routers... no scanning required. And yes, the kiddies know about the problem, I found out about it on a wannabe hacker site (neworder.box.sk, I think). And no, I'm not a script kiddie, I've just found that it pays to keep an eye on them.
Nah, don't kill 'em. Just log into their router and disconnect their ass :)
I don't think that's true. I have a radio in my office, tuned to one of the "modern rock" stations. I left it off for a year, just left it sitting on the shelf after I changed departments, turned it on today and it still sounds like the SAME OLD SHIT! A year later, and I can't really find a difference or anything new to like. Maybe I'm getting old... it's possible, but I doubt it. Give me some new REM that makes me think, maybe I'll reconsider. The music on the radio is bullshit. I don't listen to it when it's on the radio (and sort of free) and I sure as hell wouldn't waste my time downloading it. The record industry is targeting pre-teens and early-teens that spend their parent's money. Not smart? No, very dumb, but that's what they're doing in the short term. Geeks and techies aren't their market, guys, they want people that "tune in" to whatever the BS station is in your town. We are not their market. At least not now. And it's not because we're nostalgic, at least in my case... I have a few Judy Collins records that I taped... but I enjoy listening to that and what's on the radio sucks. Period. Although most of my MP3s are goth metal. Here's the point: fuck hillary. fuck the riaa. Support your local bands; if you like the music buy the CD (and tip your bartender). Some people just like to make music/software because they want other people to enjoy it... and if you do, give them the $5.00! And then go up and say Hi, and tell them why you did so... you'll feel better :)
Absolutly not :) They'd kill themselves.
You're supposed to modulate the brake pedal, not mash it. A skilled driver can stop faster with regular brakes than with antilock. Try a weekend race driving school... those computers are hiding performance from you, not adding to it. OK, for most drivers that might be good, but I just want the car to do what I tell it to and it doesn't get to second guess me. I wouldn't buy one that did.