I'm not sure that even your CO made a poor decision
Downing of the network to simulate being scrambled. Not a bad decision at all.Even perhaps a good preparatory measure.
Downing the network without first putting out a bulletin or other method of letting people know... not a good thing. Think "downing the server with people running live writes" without first notifying people to back their data up.
There's always a problem when you're looking at a 3-5 different machines in a bazillion terminal windows. I had one window updating the kernel on my laptop, another which I was checking some files on the server. My kernel finished and I cleared that window, went on doing some other stuff I wanted to finish before the reboot.
And of course, I type the "reboot" command on the wrong machine. Then it was a mad rush to the server to try a shutdown -a, stampeding through a room where students were doing finals (I work in schools). Alas I was a bit late, and the server was past redemption. Not much damage was done, except for some windows machines that had open files on the server, which of course crashed... but at least no critical files were killed mid-write.
"Google" answers are always annoying, nice to see somebody put the google trolls in their place.
Indeed, they are trolls for if they had read the question, they would have noted that I have looked at both knoppix/morphix and found them not quite what I wanted (so obviously I have been checking around before slashdot). Freshmeat has some projects too, some of which I've tried, but none of them quite did what I want either (some came close though).
Google is a great resource for generic information. Slashdot is a better resource for asking people with experience in what is a "good" solution as opposed to a "possible" one. Thanks for the support.
A lot of interesting suggestions that I'll be checking out, but I thought I'd add some more info to my question.
a) The distro I'm installing is debian. Therefore it would be nice if I could create the bootCD using debian, and having custom bootmenus or at least my own script
b) The CD's will be available for computers that don't have an internet connection. This includes both desktops and/or servers which, while they might be connected to a network, don't always have access to a central server or the internet.
c) Simple is best to start, but once it works I'll probably try to add a somewhat intuitive UI (delay and go auto, or allow options if a key is hit). Preferable debian/stable-again as it would be odd having a RedHat/Suse/etc bootCD to install a debian system. Even the morphix/knoppix UI might be overkill. Perhaps something just similar to debian's own installer, though I've not found out where it comes from.
I know it ties into the GCC libs, but does G++ behave any better/worse than GCC. Comparing VC++ (a C++ compiler) and GCC (a C compiler) is a bit skewed. Also, how about a comparison of GCC in windows VS linux (comparable machines), just to see if the OS has any bearing on things?
It might be of note that iceS2 can also be used to stream from an existing media file without a soundcard being needed. I only got it to work for ogg though, not sure about Mp3s.
This is the real truth. Those that are technically inclined will be OK with self-signed certs, knowing that verislime is evil anyhow. Those that aren't in the know will eventually click OK just to get where they want.
Seriously though, why do we need a central point for signing certs, at $100 a pop what dangers are there in self-signed ones? SSL isn't just for money transactions anymore, and even a company with a verislime signed cert could be less than legit.
No kidding. Maybe you want to print out a collection of various currencies for certain countries? Maybe to prevent counterfeiting, you want print out what the bills *should* look like in order to help educate staff.
Not only that, but what happens when the software mistakenly ID's an image as currency when it is not?
What about financial transactions cross-border with US banks? What about somebody who moves to another country but maintains a US bank account?
Seems to me that financial transactions don't always just involve the individual to whom the account belongs... this could easily lead to a bigger conflict.
This isn't really small potatoes, ya know. Bank records could include Visa, Debit, etc. Likely they could trace down where you were when you purchased something with this info, your habits, your buying trends.
Maybe they garner that you're a frequent patron at a bar where "terrorists" tend to frequent. Maybe that means you're a terrorist, or it could just be that they have good wings on 10c Wednesday. Regardless, association drawn, get ready to hold out your arms for the handcuffs.
2. Due to this absorbency, increasing the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere will tend to trap heat which currently radiates to space.
Yes, but isn't most of our heat coming in from space as opposed to going out and escaping? The earth isn't really all that good at self-heating to support life, unless you count volcanic regions, with the sun being the major source of heat input. Doesn't any gas doing one also do the other (trap or block heat in either direction?)
Really, this is more the case of "track somebody who releases a virus using an exploit." The problem with this is that crackers can and often will seed the virus through more conventional methods (kazaa, hijacked email, etc), and allow others to infect themselves and thus continue on with the trend.
no one but semi-truckers would need to take that much with them
And for $50 you can have a portable that plays Mp3-CD's (about 150+ songs/disc at 128kbps), another $20 for a decent CD-wallet. Of course, still a lot of CD's to reach 40GB, but you don't really need *that* much and you could categorize them, etc.
How about emailing either the kid or his father and letting them know we support them? Anyone got the addresses (please obfuscate so they don't get spammed),heck I'll snail-mail if I have to.
Behind every genius there's some immutable technophobic idiot who failed to hold him back.
Before continueing, I might want to inform you that the following article has appeared on a major internet website, one visited by tens of thousands of technicians and other professionals a day. You may want to prepare your inbox.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/columnists/dave_ li eber/7643262.htm
As per the content of the article, it may be biased, but I am writing to assure you of the following:
The "net send" command is in no way a 'hacking' tool. "Net" is a command used by windows/windows-users for many network tasks, and "net send" is a communication command which does not adversely affect any machine.
Furthermore, the punishment for this "offense" seems neither fair nor warranted? You may not think that I have any cognisance of the type of things that occur in schools, but I can assure you - as an IT support technician/admin for a school-district - that I know a great deal about it. This problem would have been easily dealt with, and any issues caused by it not warranting such a punishment.
Furthermore, the student - in investigating parts of computing that are obscure to many - seems to be showing promise and intelligence. To attack the natural curiousity of the student is to stifle his natural inclination to learn and investigate. Rather than punishment, you should consider giving the student materials to learn about computing in a way that might be more productive and advanced than "net send."
Certainly I myself did a certain amount of investigating and playing with such commands when I first gained interest in computing. As my teachers promoted my curiousity I eventually found a lucrative career in both computer programming and administration. Had such a punishment been meted to me, it may have impaired the drive which brought me to my current employment.
Please consider that while the commands used may be obscure to many, they are not highly technical nor dangerous in nature. An offensive action taken against the unknown is neither ethical nor mature in nature, and such reactions should be the bane of modern education.
Sincerely,
(my name here) IT Support Administration
(and yes, I do work in educational IT support. suspension for net send would be laughable in comparison to the other things students try to do or do here)
You should have upgraded your toaster with an AMD. Not only could you remotely schedule toasting jobs with WiFi, but it toast faster too!
Seriously though, there are a lot of cool case-mod projects, and a lot of cool heatsinks, but nothing that makes use of heat dissipation. Isn't there some way to conduct all that excess heat into a useful application. Maybe an EZ-bake attachment for a drive bay. A lava lamp? You could always still have a small temperature-activated fan for when not enough heat is being dissipated by the 3rd-party device.
So you think that minor variations on an existing idea (ok, we've taken recording and made it digital and "live") and patent the hell out of it so that nobody else can use them until they have no value?
This *could* have been done before with a lot of tape, or a seriously expensive system, but it was cost-prohibitive. The fact that new technology revolutions (mainly quality digital video) enabled additional functionality to your video recording unit shouldn't make it broadly patentable.
Really, patents should work in a way that uniqueness of an idea determines the reach of patent. A truly new idea with very little in the way of prior art (none of this, "yes, our invention is similar but different because..."), where ideas that are less of a "leap" should be able to be made in different forms using different methods. E.G. you do the same thing but in a fairly different or more efficient way, patent doesn't stand up.
If they had broken "cup holders" I might agree. But, also working in schools, I can say that the problems that occur usually have something in common, and usually on the outside of machines. Hardware damage is not overtly common with teachers other than specific items
Students: Body damage, broken disk drives (trying to get stuck disk), CD-ROM (tray, or filled with pennies so gears break). Pretty much anything on the outside or with an entry point.
Teachers: Some body damage, but usually not too bad. Main problems come with peripherals (plugging in improperly, or cords being yanked around), software, or liquid spills.
Logic boards go a bit beyond what normally gets damaged in stress situations. If it were from abuse, I'd say they were improperly shielded (laptops are supposed to be portable, so should be able to stand some bumps from transport, etc) or some of the more common damage areas (CD-ROM, display, or moving parts like the hard drive from shock damage). Mainboards are a little harder to break, barring liquid events or weather conditions. And for any scenario, 70/150 is a very high return ratio.
I'm just wondering how the pepsi-iTunes thing will work out?
I'm assuming something like bottlecaps with "free iTunes song", or a coupon in some boxes?
Does anyone know if it will be "100 million songs of choice" or simply "100 million songs." I'm already a pepsi drinker, so winning a few dozen songs of my choice would be wicked, but winning 100 copies of Brittney would be like winning $1 on a $3 lottery ticket.
Didn't SCO need an investment to keep their attack-lawyers paid enough to tide them through. Would it be enough to pay for 5-10 years? Some of their "lenders" can even pull their funding if they don't like the way things go.
The BS from SCO could certainly last a long time, but how long can they afford the lawyers required to face IBM-et-al before they end up with moths in their pockets?
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not sure that even your CO made a poor decision
Downing of the network to simulate being scrambled. Not a bad decision at all.Even perhaps a good preparatory measure.
Downing the network without first putting out a bulletin or other method of letting people know... not a good thing. Think "downing the server with people running live writes" without first notifying people to back their data up.
There's always a problem when you're looking at a 3-5 different machines in a bazillion terminal windows. I had one window updating the kernel on my laptop, another which I was checking some files on the server. My kernel finished and I cleared that window, went on doing some other stuff I wanted to finish before the reboot.
And of course, I type the "reboot" command on the wrong machine. Then it was a mad rush to the server to try a shutdown -a, stampeding through a room where students were doing finals (I work in schools). Alas I was a bit late, and the server was past redemption. Not much damage was done, except for some windows machines that had open files on the server, which of course crashed... but at least no critical files were killed mid-write.
"Google" answers are always annoying, nice to see somebody put the google trolls in their place.
Indeed, they are trolls for if they had read the question, they would have noted that I have looked at both knoppix/morphix and found them not quite what I wanted (so obviously I have been checking around before slashdot). Freshmeat has some projects too, some of which I've tried, but none of them quite did what I want either (some came close though).
Google is a great resource for generic information. Slashdot is a better resource for asking people with experience in what is a "good" solution as opposed to a "possible" one. Thanks for the support.
A lot of interesting suggestions that I'll be checking out, but I thought I'd add some more info to my question.
a) The distro I'm installing is debian. Therefore it would be nice if I could create the bootCD using debian, and having custom bootmenus or at least my own script
b) The CD's will be available for computers that don't have an internet connection. This includes both desktops and/or servers which, while they might be connected to a network, don't always have access to a central server or the internet.
c) Simple is best to start, but once it works I'll probably try to add a somewhat intuitive UI (delay and go auto, or allow options if a key is hit). Preferable debian/stable-again as it would be odd having a RedHat/Suse/etc bootCD to install a debian system. Even the morphix/knoppix UI might be overkill. Perhaps something just similar to debian's own installer, though I've not found out where it comes from.
Any more suggestions/ideas?
I know it ties into the GCC libs, but does G++ behave any better/worse than GCC. Comparing VC++ (a C++ compiler) and GCC (a C compiler) is a bit skewed. Also, how about a comparison of GCC in windows VS linux (comparable machines), just to see if the OS has any bearing on things?
It might be of note that iceS2 can also be used to stream from an existing media file without a soundcard being needed. I only got it to work for ogg though, not sure about Mp3s.
This is the real truth. Those that are technically inclined will be OK with self-signed certs, knowing that verislime is evil anyhow. Those that aren't in the know will eventually click OK just to get where they want.
Seriously though, why do we need a central point for signing certs, at $100 a pop what dangers are there in self-signed ones? SSL isn't just for money transactions anymore, and even a company with a verislime signed cert could be less than legit.
...ditto with the above, but kill them to appease the older audience.
If you consider that Final Fantasy has been around since the early NES days this shouldn't be surprising. GTA hasn't been around nearly as long
If I were the enemy, I'd make a virus that reprograms the robodogs...
"No! Down robodog! What ARE you trying to do to my leg!? BAD robodog!"
No kidding. Maybe you want to print out a collection of various currencies for certain countries? Maybe to prevent counterfeiting, you want print out what the bills *should* look like in order to help educate staff.
Not only that, but what happens when the software mistakenly ID's an image as currency when it is not?
What about financial transactions cross-border with US banks? What about somebody who moves to another country but maintains a US bank account?
Seems to me that financial transactions don't always just involve the individual to whom the account belongs... this could easily lead to a bigger conflict.
This isn't really small potatoes, ya know. Bank records could include Visa, Debit, etc. Likely they could trace down where you were when you purchased something with this info, your habits, your buying trends.
Maybe they garner that you're a frequent patron at a bar where "terrorists" tend to frequent. Maybe that means you're a terrorist, or it could just be that they have good wings on 10c Wednesday. Regardless, association drawn, get ready to hold out your arms for the handcuffs.
2. Due to this absorbency, increasing the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere will tend to trap heat which currently radiates to space.
Yes, but isn't most of our heat coming in from space as opposed to going out and escaping? The earth isn't really all that good at self-heating to support life, unless you count volcanic regions, with the sun being the major source of heat input. Doesn't any gas doing one also do the other (trap or block heat in either direction?)
track down someone who releases an exploit.
Really, this is more the case of "track somebody who releases a virus using an exploit." The problem with this is that crackers can and often will seed the virus through more conventional methods (kazaa, hijacked email, etc), and allow others to infect themselves and thus continue on with the trend.
no one but semi-truckers would need to take that much with them
And for $50 you can have a portable that plays Mp3-CD's (about 150+ songs/disc at 128kbps), another $20 for a decent CD-wallet. Of course, still a lot of CD's to reach 40GB, but you don't really need *that* much and you could categorize them, etc.
How about emailing either the kid or his father and letting them know we support them? Anyone got the addresses (please obfuscate so they don't get spammed),heck I'll snail-mail if I have to.
Behind every genius there's some immutable technophobic idiot who failed to hold him back.
Dear Mr. Rollins,
_ li eber/7643262.htm
Before continueing, I might want to inform you that the following article has appeared on a major internet website, one visited by tens of thousands of technicians and other professionals a day. You may want to prepare your inbox.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/columnists/dave
As per the content of the article, it may be biased, but I am writing to assure you of the following:
The "net send" command is in no way a 'hacking' tool. "Net" is a command used by windows/windows-users for many network tasks, and "net send" is a communication command which does not adversely affect any machine.
Furthermore, the punishment for this "offense" seems neither fair nor warranted? You may not think that I have any cognisance of the type of things that occur in schools, but I can assure you - as an IT support technician/admin for a school-district - that I know a great deal about it. This problem would have been easily dealt with, and any issues caused by it not warranting such a punishment.
Furthermore, the student - in investigating parts of computing that are obscure to many - seems to be showing promise and intelligence. To attack the natural curiousity of the student is to stifle his natural inclination to learn and investigate. Rather than punishment, you should consider giving the student materials to learn about computing in a way that might be more productive and advanced than "net send."
Certainly I myself did a certain amount of investigating and playing with such commands when I first gained interest in computing. As my teachers promoted my curiousity I eventually found a lucrative career in both computer programming and administration. Had such a punishment been meted to me, it may have impaired the drive which brought me to my current employment.
Please consider that while the commands used may be obscure to many, they are not highly technical nor dangerous in nature. An offensive action taken against the unknown is neither ethical nor mature in nature, and such reactions should be the bane of modern education.
Sincerely,
(my name here)
IT Support Administration
(and yes, I do work in educational IT support. suspension for net send would be laughable in comparison to the other things students try to do or do here)
Google cache does it. Why not slashdot? Sites that don't want the mirror could have a tag to disallow it and suffer slashdotting instead.
You should have upgraded your toaster with an AMD. Not only could you remotely schedule toasting jobs with WiFi, but it toast faster too!
Seriously though, there are a lot of cool case-mod projects, and a lot of cool heatsinks, but nothing that makes use of heat dissipation. Isn't there some way to conduct all that excess heat into a useful application. Maybe an EZ-bake attachment for a drive bay. A lava lamp? You could always still have a small temperature-activated fan for when not enough heat is being dissipated by the 3rd-party device.
Name your daughter reiser and in the later days you may regret it.
Hint: Common things associated with reiserfs or just filesystems. Mount. fsck. hard-drive. etcbr
So you think that minor variations on an existing idea (ok, we've taken recording and made it digital and "live") and patent the hell out of it so that nobody else can use them until they have no value?
This *could* have been done before with a lot of tape, or a seriously expensive system, but it was cost-prohibitive. The fact that new technology revolutions (mainly quality digital video) enabled additional functionality to your video recording unit shouldn't make it broadly patentable.
Really, patents should work in a way that uniqueness of an idea determines the reach of patent. A truly new idea with very little in the way of prior art (none of this, "yes, our invention is similar but different because..."), where ideas that are less of a "leap" should be able to be made in different forms using different methods. E.G. you do the same thing but in a fairly different or more efficient way, patent doesn't stand up.
If they had broken "cup holders" I might agree. But, also working in schools, I can say that the problems that occur usually have something in common, and usually on the outside of machines. Hardware damage is not overtly common with teachers other than specific items
Students: Body damage, broken disk drives (trying to get stuck disk), CD-ROM (tray, or filled with pennies so gears break). Pretty much anything on the outside or with an entry point.
Teachers: Some body damage, but usually not too bad. Main problems come with peripherals (plugging in improperly, or cords being yanked around), software, or liquid spills.
Logic boards go a bit beyond what normally gets damaged in stress situations. If it were from abuse, I'd say they were improperly shielded (laptops are supposed to be portable, so should be able to stand some bumps from transport, etc) or some of the more common damage areas (CD-ROM, display, or moving parts like the hard drive from shock damage). Mainboards are a little harder to break, barring liquid events or weather conditions. And for any scenario, 70/150 is a very high return ratio.
I'm just wondering how the pepsi-iTunes thing will work out?
I'm assuming something like bottlecaps with "free iTunes song", or a coupon in some boxes?
Does anyone know if it will be "100 million songs of choice" or simply "100 million songs." I'm already a pepsi drinker, so winning a few dozen songs of my choice would be wicked, but winning 100 copies of Brittney would be like winning $1 on a $3 lottery ticket.
Didn't SCO need an investment to keep their attack-lawyers paid enough to tide them through. Would it be enough to pay for 5-10 years? Some of their "lenders" can even pull their funding if they don't like the way things go.
The BS from SCO could certainly last a long time, but how long can they afford the lawyers required to face IBM-et-al before they end up with moths in their pockets?