Many people think that Osama bin Laden could not possibly have found support from other Arabs without the anger that comes from the U.S. government supporting the killing of Arabs in Palestine. If you are a U.S. citizen, you should know that you contribute over $900 of your money for every man, woman and child in Israel for the purpose of buying U.S. weapons from U.S. weapons manufacturers, so that they can make more profit. You contribute that amount every year. This policy is bad for Jews, it is bad the Arabs, and it is bad for U.S. citizens. Giving money for weapons to a country involved in a conflict is like throwing gasoline on a fire. There are always people who want to kill others and destroy property; for them it is like an adult video game.
See my article about this: What should be the Response to Violence? The article needs updating, but there are many links to important, well-respected news sources.
If you don't begin taking action now, the hidden forces inside the U.S. government will take over completely.
No, I am serious. You gave the impression that you were thinking of all those ways as you were typing. If so, it was a remarkable show of mental freedom.
That's what she said. Only presumably she was a little more sophisticated and conversational.
In France, say that you didn't vote for Bush.
on
Pay to Play the U.S. Way
·
· Score: 1, Offtopic
A woman friend of mine just returned from a vacation of a month in France. She speaks French with an American accent. She said that, to get served in a restaurant, it was best to tell the waiter that she did not vote for Bush. Otherwise she would be hassled in some way.
I sent and email to KamLAND, and this was the answer:
"Not really. I haven't heard of any mine caverns collapsed because of an earthquake in Japan. Much bigger risk is the human-induced quakes because of the blasts and instability due to large caverns in a mine. This of course can happen anywhere. SNO for example saw quite a big quake in the Sudbury nickel mine this way even though it is geologically old and stable."
I looking for another web host, but your home page is the worst I've ever seen. If everyone saw it, Macromedia would go bankrupt. The technical details look good.
RMS has made an enormous, enormous positive contribution to the entire world.
But he is unbelievably poor at marketing. He is terrible at helping create a connection between his valuable ideas and the minds of other people.
It is common that technically knowledgeable people are terrible at marketing, but RMS is even worse than normal. (I've had minor personal interaction with RMS.)
The answer is to find a philanthropically-minded person who will fund a PR department for RMS.
It is good to remember that Bill Gates is unbelievably poor at marketing, also. Mr. Gates once yelled at Time Magazine editors in a meeting with them, for example.
Windows XP will not copy the registry file.
on
IDE RAID Examined
·
· Score: 2
Windows XP will not copy its own registry file, for example. Without the registry, the OS is useless.
However, this behavior does not affect the ability to do a sector-by-sector partition copy under Linux. I don't know if that is possible, or what Linux tools to use.
Problem: How to get bad publicity, for min $?
on
Sun vs. OpenBSD?
·
· Score: 2
So what if BSD can't handle all the features of new Sun machines? Everyone who
has the kind of technical background that they are buying UltraSparc III
hardware will realize the limitations. It's not like grandma can accidentally
get a multi-processor Sun computer at CompUSA or Buy.com.
It's as if the world came to the Sun marketing department and said, "How
would you like to structure your $20,000,000 of free publicity?" And Sun
marketing said, "We want to make Sun seem foolish so we can all
retire."
Sun marketing: "We will make Java open, but, after many people have
invested a lot in Java, we will reveal that we won't make it really open."
Sun marketing: "Wow!! Here's another great idea! We'll get our
names on Slashdot. That's a great way to influence a lot of people who make
computer purchasing decisions and will make them in the future. And here's how
we'll do it: We will give the details of the UltraSparc III to a Linux
company, but not all of the details. Then we will refuse to give the same
information to the BSD people.
If that is what Sun marketing is thinking, I have to agree with them. It
is a great way to get free bad publicity.
I seem to remember that there is something about the NTFS file system and Windows XP that prevents doing this. However, I would like to know more about it. There are free SID changers, so that is not a problem.
Promise controllers are quirky.
on
IDE RAID Examined
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
From the Slashdot story: "I personally would love to hear any ide-raid
stories that slashdotters might have." I also would like to hear about
this.
Here's my story: I have extensive experience with Promise controllers. An IDE
mirror makes data reads faster. If you are about to do a possibly damaging
operation, it is good to break the mirror, pull out one of the hard drives,
and do the operation on the other drive only. Then, when craziness happens,
the other drive is a complete backup.
A mirroring controller is a convenient way to make a Windows XP operating
system hard drive clone. Windows XP prevents this; normally third-party
software that runs under DOS is needed to make a useable full hard drive
backup. See the section "Backup Problems: Windows XP cannot copy some of its
own files" in the article Windows XP Shows the
Direction Microsoft is Going. (The article was updated today. To all those
who have read the article, sorry for the previously poor wording of the
section "Hidden Connections". Expect further improvements later in this
section later.)
But Promise controllers are quirky. Sometimes things go wrong, and there is no
explanation available from Promise. Promise tech support is surprisingly
ignorant of the issues. The setup is quirky; it is difficult to train a
non-technical person to deal with the controller's interface.
Mirrors are a GREAT idea, but Promise is un-promising. That's my opinion. I'm
looking for another supplier, so I want to hear other's stories.
Promise controllers have a quirky setup display.
on
IDE RAID Examined
·
· Score: 2
Promise controllers have a quirky setup display. About two years ago they said they would fix it, but haven't done that.
For small items carry NiMH batteries and a charger, or just buy batteries locally.
It's possible to make a simple charger with a single capacitor and a bridge rectifier and a wall power plug. But there is no line isolation, so be sure not to touch the wires.
"...file serving Microsoft OS clients using Linux..." should have been
"BSD or Linux", of course.
I'd like a book to show me exactly how to set up a $200 Microtel PC to be a web server. The total cost of the PC, book, and
shipping would be under $300. I'd plug it into a switch connected to DSL and
use it with a fast-switch DNS service as a backup when my web host is having
problems. I'd use it as a test machine for CGI programs. I'd host low-traffic
web sites. It would be great knowing that I was using an extremely secure OS
set up by an expert. I would read the book to make adjustments.
What is the true cost of a $50 book that requires 80 hours of work finding
additional information? Answer: Thousands of dollars. All the books I find at
Powell's technical bookstore drag me over the coals. That's no way to treat a
customer.
Okay, now I need a file server for workstations running Microsoft operating
systems. In any real-world application, I won't mind paying $300 again for
another machine and another book. I certainly don't want to take chances
messing with the web server. I would just plug the 2nd computer into another
port on the network switch. I'd want true plug and play, so that the biggest
problem would be convincing a customer that I was serious when I quoted the
cost.
So now I'm really impressed. I've run into situations recently where two ISPs
have had problems at different times with their mail servers. I want a backup
mail server, with web mail, so that corporate communication is not completely
disrupted when the main, commercial mail server is down. Another $300 for
another computer and another book is a trivial, trivial expense compared to
employees having trouble communicating. I'd issue everyone an emergency mail
account and tell them to use it when there was trouble.
Total cost for hardware and books? Less than $1,000, and each computer is a
backup for the others.
Once I've got three systems running OpenBSD, I would be in the market for more
advanced books. If the three books I'd already bought had served me well, I
would want a book from the same publisher.
COMPLETE setup instructions for specific purposes
on
OpenBSD Book Suggestions
·
· Score: 5, Informative
I'd like sections of the book that have COMPLETE setup instructions for specific purposes such as hardware firewall, web server, and mail server. Make all the right decisions so that I don't have make them myself. Provide a CD in the back of the book that gives me everything I need. Update the book yearly, and I will buy a copy every year. You could even assume I would buy specific hardware, if that makes things easier. The cost of hardware is small compared with the cost of discovering all the quirks myself.
The biggest problem with technical books is incompleteness. An author will give about 40% of the information necessary to accomplish a task, and call that enough. The reader must read man pages and sources all over the internet to make something actually work. I'd like a book that assumes that I don't want to make particular software a lifestyle, but just want to accomplish something. Once I have something working, I can decide later how much time I want to spend becoming more knowledgeable.
The city in which I live, Portland, Oregon, USA, has what is said to be the
biggest bookstore in the world, Powell's. I
went to Powell's technical bookstore and looked at about 20 books on Samba.
ALL of them were very incomplete, as was easily proven by comparing them with
each other. ALL of them were poorly written. Most assumed that you already
knew something about Samba. Samba is an important subject; file serving
Microsoft OS clients using Linux is a first step toward reducing dependence on
closed source software.
The "whole new algorithm" is just changing the byte scrambler. Scrambling the bytes in 512 byte chunks is very easy and fast, and there are a huge number of ways of doing this. Note that the scrambling method can depend on the 326th letter of the last email message received, or something like that.
If the chaining algorithm is compromised, the attacker must still attack the underlying encryption.
Also, your private key is stored somewhere. You can store the scrambling algorithm in the same place.
Note that chaining does not depend on encrypting the file twice. Just encrypting once and scrambling the bytes (and removing the file identifying bytes) is enough to harden an encrypted a file against mathematical attack.
The entire problem with scrambling is that it is not possible to distribute the scrambling method publicly. Public-key encryption allows distributing the public key. The scrambling method requires delivery in person, or by some other trusted manner.
Slashdot Mirror
Many people think that Osama bin Laden could not possibly have found support from other Arabs without the anger that comes from the U.S. government supporting the killing of Arabs in Palestine. If you are a U.S. citizen, you should know that you contribute over $900 of your money for every man, woman and child in Israel for the purpose of buying U.S. weapons from U.S. weapons manufacturers, so that they can make more profit. You contribute that amount every year. This policy is bad for Jews, it is bad the Arabs, and it is bad for U.S. citizens. Giving money for weapons to a country involved in a conflict is like throwing gasoline on a fire. There are always people who want to kill others and destroy property; for them it is like an adult video game.
See my article about this: What should be the Response to Violence? The article needs updating, but there are many links to important, well-respected news sources.
If you don't begin taking action now, the hidden forces inside the U.S. government will take over completely.
Thanks, yellowcat. I needed the support. Someone who obviously doesn't see the big picture of U.S. politics modded me down.
No, I am serious. You gave the impression that you were thinking of all those ways as you were typing. If so, it was a remarkable show of mental freedom.
Anyone lame enough to read and post to a story this lame should win a prize for being lame.
Sometimes something ridiculously lame comes out on the other side and is funny.
Roseblood, you are amazingly creative.
That's what she said. Only presumably she was a little more sophisticated and conversational.
A woman friend of mine just returned from a vacation of a month in France. She speaks French with an American accent. She said that, to get served in a restaurant, it was best to tell the waiter that she did not vote for Bush. Otherwise she would be hassled in some way.
Answering my own question:
I sent and email to KamLAND, and this was the answer:
"Not really. I haven't heard of any mine caverns collapsed because of an earthquake in Japan. Much bigger risk is the human-induced quakes because of the blasts and instability due to large caverns in a mine. This of course can happen anywhere. SNO for example saw quite a big quake in the Sudbury nickel mine this way even though it is geologically old and stable."
Hitoshi
Isn't being underground in Japan dangerous because of earthquake activity?
There is third-party software that does work (mostly) for copying Windows XP sector by sector. Looks like that is better.
http://www.irvinehosting.net/
I looking for another web host, but your home page is the worst I've ever seen. If everyone saw it, Macromedia would go bankrupt. The technical details look good.
"But RMS needs to become a little better at how he shows himself to the world, or listen to those who can help him do so."
I agree. How do we: 1) find the money, and 2) convince RMS to accept a PR department?
I agree. Can you recommend some software to me? I'll try it.
RMS has made an enormous, enormous positive contribution to the entire world.
But he is unbelievably poor at marketing. He is terrible at helping create a connection between his valuable ideas and the minds of other people.
It is common that technically knowledgeable people are terrible at marketing, but RMS is even worse than normal. (I've had minor personal interaction with RMS.)
The answer is to find a philanthropically-minded person who will fund a PR department for RMS.
It is good to remember that Bill Gates is unbelievably poor at marketing, also. Mr. Gates once yelled at Time Magazine editors in a meeting with them, for example.
Windows XP will not copy its own registry file, for example. Without the registry, the OS is useless.
However, this behavior does not affect the ability to do a sector-by-sector partition copy under Linux. I don't know if that is possible, or what Linux tools to use.
So what if BSD can't handle all the features of new Sun machines? Everyone who has the kind of technical background that they are buying UltraSparc III hardware will realize the limitations. It's not like grandma can accidentally get a multi-processor Sun computer at CompUSA or Buy.com.
It's as if the world came to the Sun marketing department and said, "How would you like to structure your $20,000,000 of free publicity?" And Sun marketing said, "We want to make Sun seem foolish so we can all retire."
Sun marketing: "We will make Java open, but, after many people have invested a lot in Java, we will reveal that we won't make it really open."
Sun marketing: "Wow!! Here's another great idea! We'll get our names on Slashdot. That's a great way to influence a lot of people who make computer purchasing decisions and will make them in the future. And here's how we'll do it: We will give the details of the UltraSparc III to a Linux company, but not all of the details. Then we will refuse to give the same information to the BSD people.
If that is what Sun marketing is thinking, I have to agree with them. It is a great way to get free bad publicity.
I seem to remember that there is something about the NTFS file system and Windows XP that prevents doing this. However, I would like to know more about it. There are free SID changers, so that is not a problem.
From the Slashdot story: "I personally would love to hear any ide-raid stories that slashdotters might have." I also would like to hear about this.
Here's my story: I have extensive experience with Promise controllers. An IDE mirror makes data reads faster. If you are about to do a possibly damaging operation, it is good to break the mirror, pull out one of the hard drives, and do the operation on the other drive only. Then, when craziness happens, the other drive is a complete backup.
A mirroring controller is a convenient way to make a Windows XP operating system hard drive clone. Windows XP prevents this; normally third-party software that runs under DOS is needed to make a useable full hard drive backup. See the section "Backup Problems: Windows XP cannot copy some of its own files" in the article Windows XP Shows the Direction Microsoft is Going. (The article was updated today. To all those who have read the article, sorry for the previously poor wording of the section "Hidden Connections". Expect further improvements later in this section later.)
But Promise controllers are quirky. Sometimes things go wrong, and there is no explanation available from Promise. Promise tech support is surprisingly ignorant of the issues. The setup is quirky; it is difficult to train a non-technical person to deal with the controller's interface.
Mirrors are a GREAT idea, but Promise is un-promising. That's my opinion. I'm looking for another supplier, so I want to hear other's stories.
Promise controllers have a quirky setup display. About two years ago they said they would fix it, but haven't done that.
Anyone have comments about the others?
It's dangerous to have expensive equipment.
For small items carry NiMH batteries and a charger, or just buy batteries locally.
It's possible to make a simple charger with a single capacitor and a bridge rectifier and a wall power plug. But there is no line isolation, so be sure not to touch the wires.
Corrections and additions to my post above:
"...file serving Microsoft OS clients using Linux
I'd like a book to show me exactly how to set up a $200 Microtel PC to be a web server. The total cost of the PC, book, and shipping would be under $300. I'd plug it into a switch connected to DSL and use it with a fast-switch DNS service as a backup when my web host is having problems. I'd use it as a test machine for CGI programs. I'd host low-traffic web sites. It would be great knowing that I was using an extremely secure OS set up by an expert. I would read the book to make adjustments.
What is the true cost of a $50 book that requires 80 hours of work finding additional information? Answer: Thousands of dollars. All the books I find at Powell's technical bookstore drag me over the coals. That's no way to treat a customer.
Okay, now I need a file server for workstations running Microsoft operating systems. In any real-world application, I won't mind paying $300 again for another machine and another book. I certainly don't want to take chances messing with the web server. I would just plug the 2nd computer into another port on the network switch. I'd want true plug and play, so that the biggest problem would be convincing a customer that I was serious when I quoted the cost.
So now I'm really impressed. I've run into situations recently where two ISPs have had problems at different times with their mail servers. I want a backup mail server, with web mail, so that corporate communication is not completely disrupted when the main, commercial mail server is down. Another $300 for another computer and another book is a trivial, trivial expense compared to employees having trouble communicating. I'd issue everyone an emergency mail account and tell them to use it when there was trouble.
Total cost for hardware and books? Less than $1,000, and each computer is a backup for the others.
Once I've got three systems running OpenBSD, I would be in the market for more advanced books. If the three books I'd already bought had served me well, I would want a book from the same publisher.
I'd like sections of the book that have COMPLETE setup instructions for specific purposes such as hardware firewall, web server, and mail server. Make all the right decisions so that I don't have make them myself. Provide a CD in the back of the book that gives me everything I need. Update the book yearly, and I will buy a copy every year. You could even assume I would buy specific hardware, if that makes things easier. The cost of hardware is small compared with the cost of discovering all the quirks myself.
The biggest problem with technical books is incompleteness. An author will give about 40% of the information necessary to accomplish a task, and call that enough. The reader must read man pages and sources all over the internet to make something actually work. I'd like a book that assumes that I don't want to make particular software a lifestyle, but just want to accomplish something. Once I have something working, I can decide later how much time I want to spend becoming more knowledgeable.
The city in which I live, Portland, Oregon, USA, has what is said to be the biggest bookstore in the world, Powell's. I went to Powell's technical bookstore and looked at about 20 books on Samba. ALL of them were very incomplete, as was easily proven by comparing them with each other. ALL of them were poorly written. Most assumed that you already knew something about Samba. Samba is an important subject; file serving Microsoft OS clients using Linux is a first step toward reducing dependence on closed source software.
There was only one point: Scrambling prevents a mathematical attack.
Nobody goes shopping on Black Friday -- It's too crowded.
The "whole new algorithm" is just changing the byte scrambler. Scrambling the bytes in 512 byte chunks is very easy and fast, and there are a huge number of ways of doing this. Note that the scrambling method can depend on the 326th letter of the last email message received, or something like that.
If the chaining algorithm is compromised, the attacker must still attack the underlying encryption.
Also, your private key is stored somewhere. You can store the scrambling algorithm in the same place.
Note that chaining does not depend on encrypting the file twice. Just encrypting once and scrambling the bytes (and removing the file identifying bytes) is enough to harden an encrypted a file against mathematical attack.
The entire problem with scrambling is that it is not possible to distribute the scrambling method publicly. Public-key encryption allows distributing the public key. The scrambling method requires delivery in person, or by some other trusted manner.