It would've been nice if the battery was removable, but in the interests of a clean, thin design, they didn't decide to do it this way. Someone did point out that usually your laptop is dated/obsolete before the stock battery is dead anyways. However, apparently taking out the battery isn't that much of a chore, 10 case screws (00 Phillips, not even the fancy Torx screws used in other Apple laptops) and 9 holding down the Lithium Polymer battery pack which is REALLY thin.
Gizmodo had some gutting/tear-down pics and a video up for awhile, but they look like they've been taken down (as they did it to their Apple Review unit, I'm sure Apple isn't too pleased about that).
Here is a mirror of the video and pictures: http://groups.google.com/group/mac-book-air/web/macbook-air-tear-down-pictures
Actually, that Google group site also has a nice list of alternatives to resorting to a USB Ethernet dongle and some solutions to the "no built in Wireless WAN (EVDO/WiMax)" issue: http://groups.google.com/group/mac-book-air/web/networking-tweaks
There are lots of inexpensive (read 1/2 the price of a Swappable/Removable laptop battery pack) external battery packs with higher capacities than said laptop battery packs on the market. Sure none have Apple's MagSafe connector as an option (yet), but I'm sure the crafty Slashdot types out there can figure out how to hack up a pretty inexpensive MagSafe airplane power port connector to work with one of these connections.
Ideally, Apple would come up with their own extended battery pack or add on base (clamps onto the vent ports?) for the bottom of the Air. But you could always cobble something very usable and cheap to make together yourself.
I suspect some crafty 3rd party manufacturer is going to come out with a replacement base plate for the Air that acommodates a much larger battery at some point (negating the thinness of the Air) to satisfy someone who just has to have a bigger battery.
Come on, just get a Macbook already, the Air is just may not be the one for you.
Looks like the speaker cone on the device is rather exposed.
Betcha if you inject in some epoxy or expanding foam into said cone in quantities that won't be visible from the outside, the horn tweeter will stop making said annoying tone or at least attenuate the sound output or alter the frequency so that it won't be as bad.
Do it right and it'll probably still look like it was still working this way too. Much faster than trying to disassemble something and disable it while making it look like it's still working. The old fart can't hear it anyways, so he'd never know that you'd broken the horn tweeter as many others have pointed out.
You can also just go for a brute force/economic war approach:
Your cost: A couple of bucks for a tube of quick setting epoxy with syringe type applicator. Or, if you don't want to do this manually or the unit isn't readily accessible try some home made/customized paint balls filled with acid/epoxy/superglue/something nasty
His cost: $600-$750 + shipping per unit disabled.
Just how many times do you think this guy will be able to afford to replace this device repeatedly? He's probably on fixed income so it's either the Mosquito or the Heart Medications/Doctor's Visits/Food/Heat/etc. The problem will soon go away given enough cheap paintballs I suspect.
War after all is really a matter of economics. Does the damage you cause cost more to your opponent than it does to you and which of you can continue spending money while racking up damage/cost the longest? The guys with the biggest budget or the ability to do massive damage to the other side for cheaper usually wins.
You know, as someone who actually works in an ER (actually, the American Board of Emergency Medicine would rather you call the "ED" for Emergency Department, sounds more grandiose you know. I still call it the ER or affectionately "The Pit" as many actually practicing ER/Pit Docs call it : ), I haven't been able to sit through more than like 15 minutes of the dammed show "ER".
It's not that the show isn't factually accurate (I hear that they do indeed employ many actual ER Physicians as consultants so it may very well be quite accurate). It's that the whole premise of stuff made for TV is that you have to pack as much drama/excitement/anger/fear/humor/comic relief/social commentary/indignation/etc. into one 40 minute program with good enough cliff hangers ocurring before each commercial break to keep the audience coming back (and thus endure the commercial). As a result, things get a bit cartoony/distorted/exaggerated.
Suffice to say that while the individual scenarios may reflect real cases, if all of these very dramatic/disruptive/upsetting cases that you see in one episode were to happen in any given week, much less all in one shift, I would be quitting my job in the ER as would any other sane individual.
Oh yeah, all that prolonged emotional hand holding you see happening on TV, that won't be happening in real life (or at least not that much time will be alotted to you for dwelling on the squishy emotional stuff). The staff of a real ER have jobs to do and need to move on quickly to the stuff that can and needs be fixed and addressed in a timely manner. Remember, there are other patients to care for, resources/manpower can be scarce.
That many bad things just don't happen in one place in one day...unless you happen to have an exceptionally bad day at a really crowded inner city County Hospital ER, then anything pretty much goes. Then again, that's almost 3rd world medicine sometimes...
In the spirit of pure sarcasm, I'd like to point out 2 things:
1) Don't you think that the fact that you're reading an ubergeek site like Slashdot sort of decreases your fertility more because of your geek factor than than your sperm count?
2) You're not at risk of getting that chick you met on line pregnant anyways 'cuz she's actually a DUDE, just like you... : )
Great, opens up a remotely expointable hole that could take over your OS...
How about a OSS based solution that is...FREE?
http://www.markallan.co.uk/clamXav/#free
Peer reviewed and effective, go figure.
Remember though, AV definitions will lag a major virus infection by hours to days (maybe even longer) and if you're the first one infected, well, it's too late for you anyways right? There is no substitute for safe/sane User paranoia.
Keep your System Up to date.
Keep regular, up to date back ups of your data.
Many of those lame free pr0n/warez sites make $$ by trying to co-opt you so why would you go to those sketchy web sites at all? It's like asking for it. Get your prOn for free from newsgroups like the smart guys do...
Don't run any old program download from any old sketchy source like some dumb ass,
Grow up and quit using pirated shit/warez. The fact that you'll get rooted one day is the inevitable Karma fall out.
I have an ex-Special Forces buddy of mine who joked (I think he was joking, maybe not) that HIS survival kit was his Assault Rifle/Handgun/Knife/etc. When the big one hits, YOUR survival kit will become HIS survival kit.
All joking aside, I think one important lesson that a massive Disaster/Government Response Failure like Katrina holds for is is that we all have to think about how we're going to be self sufficient for at least the immediate future after a disaster.
I am a reluctant survivalist/nut. Mainly b/c I have seen first hand how unreliable your fellow humans/strangers are apt to be in a really bad situation. It quickly degenerates into a Mob situation once the fragile veneer of civilized society/order is gone. I WORK in EMS, and I've seen our City's (Huntington Beach CA and Orange County in general, and we're pretty well funded in this county in the grand scheme of things) disaster plan, it is at best only a bit better than New Orleans and I have no doubt that it will fall apart quickly in the event of an actual major disaster/chaos. We all do live on major Earthquake fault lines after all.
The first rule of EMS is "Don't become another Victim.", so if the situation is too hot, the average citizen is pretty much on their own until the Police/Fire/Feds arrive in force (ie. Katrina as a recent example). But that's OK, I think we all need to start taking some responsibility for our destinies. All too often, I seen the 911 system abused on a DAILY basis, folks calling for a NON-EMERGENT problem b/c they don't have a ride to the hospital, don't wan't to take a taxi, or just by the plain virtue of being lame (one recent case was a 20 year old healthy girl who called 911 and tied up a Ambulance to bring her in for a Mild case of Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis), yet her folks pulled up in the family car right after the ambulance).
The medics brought her in per our lawsuit adverse EMS policies, but she really didn't need to come in this way obviously. But she is a classic example of how the average non-thinking consumer thinks the 911 system is a bottomless pit of resouces to be used for conveience. Right now, if we have more than 6-10 active runs and things are VERY inefficient, 10-15 simultaneous ambulance runs in our city and our EMS system is pretty much saturated and grinds to a halt. That's not even counting the police and fire resources that are tied simultaneously in the case of actual accidents/fires/explosions/use your imagination. Oh, did I mention that your nearest Trauma Center (yes your average ER is pretty bad at dealing with MAJOR or even Moderate trauma, you'll want real Trauma center if you're really messed up. 3 or 4 moderate trauma/accident victims will completely clog a typical community hospital ER for several hours while impacting the non-accident cases as a side effect).
Suffice to say that in the event of a large enough disaster Police/EMS/Fire will be pretty busy and not have the time to take care of you. If there is any civil unrest/rioting/looting, then your individual priority gets even lower. You will not be able to rely on external help for a few days until outside resources arrive. Accept that 911 won't be your safety net any more.
The Shotgun/Handgun/Rife and ammo isn't at the top of my A list of things to have, but it is about in the middle (right after Shelter, Water, Food, collecting up the Family/Kids/Pets, Medications, Knife, Flashlight/Fire, all prepared well ahead of time.). If I didn't know how to use a firearm effectively or don't have the skills or compunction to use lethal force/firearms in an appropriately dire situation, then it is a C list item (and probably more of a libility to you and those around you than a benefit).
Those who have will have options, and those without will just have to make do with what they have or are given/allowed to keep...
I've used Chlorine in 3rd World Countries and it works pretty well, but like Iodine, it DOES NOT kill Cryptosporidium. I think it tastes less horrible than iodine and with chronic use, you won't get hyperthyroid like you can get with Iodine treatment of water over weeks to months.
Chlorine is cheap and easy to get just about anywhere (just buy the generic bleach w/o fabric softner/fragrance/etc) and keep a little bottle around. A little goes a long way depending on the concentration of the Chlorine you are using:
1% use 10 drops per Quart of Clear Water
4-6% use 2 drops per Quart of Clear Water
7-10% use 1 drop per Quart of Clear Water
Double the amount of Chlorine if the water is not clear (best to use a series of crude filters like coffee filters, socks stuffed into an inverted water bottle with the base cut off. Clean socks guys!!! or whatever you can fashion).
If in doubt of the concentration of your Bleach/Chlorine solution, use the high 10 drop dose. The water should be mixed thoroughly and left standing for 30 minutes. If there is no chlorine odor, repeat your dose, mix and let stand for 15 minutes.
If you want to get rid of the chlorine odor, you can let it stand for a few hours or pour back and forth from one container to another to hasten the removal of excess Chlorine.
More info here:
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/faq/emerg.html
I also have one of these: MSR Miox
It purifies by creating a creating a purification solution using electricity (Lithium Batteries w/ 10 year shelf life, and I have LOTS of spares lying around) and Rock Salt. This ones does Inactivates all viruses, bacteria, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. No pumping required, just have to make sure you have clear water or know how to do coarse/crude filtering using materials at hand. The stand time is shorter and no bad taste either.
MSR also makes lots of great multi stage pump filters, but having used them in the past, I can assure you that pumping water is very energy/time intensive and using what non-stagnant/non-brackish/non-cloudy water at hand with the chlorine or the Miox is a much better way to go.
Still keep a bottle of Chlorine around in case the high tech solution goes tits up.
Type it out in plain text/ascii and format it properly when you get home and u/l the files to your real computer via it's RS-232 serial port. 16 + Hour battery life on 4 AA batteries that you can find anywhere. Full sized keyboard, small form factor. There have been many a journalist/writer who swears by one of these for use in absolutely primitive/harsh 3rd world conditions. These little suckers are apparently very tough and tres retro. Wired had an article about the TRS 100/102's and other old/obsolete but still serviceable computers.
Yup, it's a nice upgrade...especially at the $69 educational price. Got mine Yesterday at 10:30am (shipped on the 27th) and have been playing with it all night at work.
Did the Archive and Install option that moved all of my original settings/data/files over to the new OS without a hitch, quick too, took under 35 minutes on a very modest 667MHz TiBook w/ 1GB RAM. Somehow missed the Custom install setting that lets you de-select the languages you won't use and the un-needed printer drivers, but it was trivial to take care of it via terminal and a nifty utility called "Monolingual" that strips out unneeded language files (saved about 2+ GB all told).
Spotlight was busy indexing away for about 20 minutes, the computer was usable but sluggish during this time so I just let it do it's thing. Overall the system is about as fast as 10.3.9, if not a bit faster (it's a nice change when a OS version runs faster on existing hardware, what a treat compared to the WinBlows bloatfest that comes with each release). I can honestly say that my 3 year old TiBook runs better and faster today on 10.4 than it did when I first got it with 10.1.5
All preferences came over pretty much without a hitch. Most of my 10.3 apps are running just fine except:
iPulse - they have a new version out now v2.1.2 that is more compatible with Tiger
Windows Media Player broke, may have to try a re-install or see if a new version is being released. But Real One player seems to be just fine.
PGP Personal broke too.
That's about it, most everything else I need is working well (actually, I wasn't using PGP much anyways so I can wait for the update).
Spotlight is kick ass and will change how I use/find/navigate my files and filesystem for sure. Dashboard is really nice and very convenient.
No stability issues and speed/responsiveness is good. Safari is notably faster than under 10.3 and the RSS feature while basic is quite usable and nice. The built in firewall is now a "Stealth" firewall, even on open ports apparently (stateful packet inspection?). Haven't played around with iChat much, but multi person voice/video conferencing will be cool. Yes, Mail is different, yet somehow closer to how Safari looks. Really not so ugly when put side to side against Thunderbird or Outlook. It is a tiny bit slower though...
All in all, I'm glad I upgraded.
DaveC
Re:Luck can be utterly crushed by good math.
on
Geeks Playing Poker?
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Well, this is about Blackjack not Poker I know, but interesting none the less in that if you have a good mathematically sound system (ie. card counting), you can turn the odds in BlackJack in your favor. Wired had a great article "Hacking Las Vegas" awhile back about a team of BlackJack players from MIT that really worked the Casinos over for a goodly amount of time before the Casino's finally caught on. Apparently it was quite an innovative method that was harder to detect as the roles were spread out between several players in a team.
DaveC
Reality check...slamming HD based devices!!!???
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Rio Karma User Review
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· Score: 2, Insightful
WTF, you guys must REALLY love OGG and Gapless playback if you're willing to even entertain slamming a HD based device down on a hard surface to get it to start working as a valid fix.
Can you say Head Crash?
I'm sorry, but to me having to do that to something you've just paid almost 3 bills for just screams INTRINSIC DESIGN FLAW and is absolutely unacceptable...even if it plays OGG and Gapless.
I'll stay w/ my 20 GB 4G iPod thanks and my iPod Mini thanks. Both have NEVER frozen up just from being jostled around (ie. Running or Walking, and yes, we do run with ours regularly with no problems in the like 1-2 years we've owned iPods, including a 3G one).
Sheesh,
DaveC
Re:Yeah, but I'd still toss it, Maya uses 3 button
on
Apple Delays New iMac
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· Score: 1
Yeah, but there isn't anything keeping someone from using ANY 3rd party mouse as the scroll wheels and 2nd button are recognized out of the box for USB mice.
If you want to keep the Apple "look" to your mouse, you could always get this one: http://macmice.com/themouse.html
Yeah, the Windows Hardware is cheaper...but you get what you pay for. I don't think I'm the only one to feel that as far as Laptops go, the Mac Laptops give ALOT of bang/performance/features for the buck in a much nicer package than ANY PC laptop I've had the misfortune of having to work with. The upper end Mac desktops can be pricy, but they don't even pretend to be cheap entry level machines. Just on build quality and included features alone the Macs rule IMHO. There comes a point in your life where if you can afford to spend the extra 10-20% for something nicer, then what the hell. BTW, the eMac is a real deal too if you want a decent desktop for a resonable buck.
I HAVE to work with PC's and fix PC's/Windows setups on a regular basis. I never cease to be amazed at what sorts of hoops Windows PC owners are willing to jump through to keep their computers up and running (this is referring to the "typical" Windows user, not your power Winfans out there and most Linux guys are waaaaaay above needing help fixing their token Windows systems). Between the constant battle against viruses/trojans/malware, registry corruption, unstable/poorly written applications and crummy driver stability, it's amazing anyone gets any work done at all.
I charge for my time as far as the computer work goes. When I'm at home, I want my stuff to work right and to work transparently. My free time is worth something to me and spending it debugging my computer or constantly maintaining it is NOT my idea of free time well spent. Moving over to Mac OS X is the best venue change I've ever made. Nowadays my old PC runs FreeBSD (assuming it is even on) and serves files. I rarely boot into Windows, but each time I do, I am painfully reminded of the hell that my clients are resigned to...and as to why they continue to happily pay me $$ for me to fix their problems.
I suppose beating your head against the constant entropy that is the Windows Experience is cheaper assuming your own time is worth absolutely nothing.
Yeah, I'd really like to get a Cube at a good price to do this instead, but they're so dammed nice and the resale values are soooo high.... : )
In the mean time, using FreeBSD and some scavenged/surplus hardware that is lying around will have to do. Besides, once in awhile I have to boot into Win2K or XP to verify/troubleshoot a problem for my consulting work and while the Celeron is a real pig, it does get the job done without having to sully my TiBook's HD with a Windows OS.
I was thinking of building a fanless EPIA setup to act as a fileserver. You see, my old HP Desktop (w/ a 466MHz Celeron and 128 MB) has been sitting pretty much unused since I jumped over to OS X a couple of years ago. Recently, I began to want to be able to access my 120 GB Firewire drive over the home LAN/Wireless network. I could only find one device (US Robotics 8200) that allowed you to use a Firewire drive as a NAS however, and it was rather pricy and I really didn't need another router in my home. Too bad no one makes a FireWire/Ethernet Hard Drive for NAS use.
Luckily, since I had FreeBSD 5.2.1 (Release) running on the old Celeron HP Desktop, I was able to use the built in FireWire support, load the Apple File System Geometry kernel extension and compile a UFS/UFS+ file system mounting utilities on FreeBSD and get the previously underused FireWire drive shared over the network via SAMBA (as well as it's 2 internal 8GB Drives). All told, it took like 45 minutes to get it up and running.
Unfortunately, the HP is rather loud (the power supply fan) and annoying to have on. A EPIA based setup would be PERFECT to run FreeBSD and serve as a general file server.
Also, I suspect that whatever protocol Apple is using to stream audio over the network to the Airport Express will soon be dissected and reverse engineered (love those Slashdot Hardware hackers!!) and you'll soon be able to stream from your EPIA as well as use your Firewire drives as NAS. But if you want to ditch the EPIA setup right now, drop me an e-mail.
Anyone know if the 1/8" analog/optical connector uses the same mini TOS connectors that some MiniDisc players use? If so, we can just use standard mini TOS to TOS cables instead of buying the pricy Monster branded ones from the Apple Store right?
I finally figured out why I wasn't getting hit by the sample exploit code when others were. It was Privoxy preventing auto-refreshes that executed the code after mounting the image. Not a bad side effect really. I must have had Privoxy Disabled when I was testing the exploits out on 10.3.3
OK, so my setup is apparently somewhat resistant for now, not bullet proof but nice to know:
10.3.4, disabled the "Open Safe files" option, running Privoxy (which is set to default actions)
The help viewer URL problem is apparently patched and so is the SSL hole (according to another post on this page) so that is a comfort. Not the cleanest fix but in my case it works well.
Sorry for the wild goosechase or if I mislead anyone into thinking the problem had completely disappeared. On first inspection, it REALLY did seem to me that I wasn't vulnerable...well I wasn't, but no thanks to Apple.
Yup, just did each and every one of them, twice even (reload button) after 1-2 minutes, the disk/remote file may have mounted but the program never executes on its own.
Hmmmm....Since I can't try it now, someone who has these a system where these exploits work, try installing Paranoid Android 1.2 (though under 10.3.3 I had at initially installed P.A. 1.0, then upgraded to 1.1 then 1.2 as each release came out), then verify that it works and pops up the appropriate warning dialogue. Then, uninstall Paranoid Android and see if these exploits work anymore.
Honest, I'm not getting any more response to ANY of the exploit links beyond mounting of images/directories. Some one help me verify this before I start doubting my own eyes. I suppose I could try a reboot and see if the vulnerability comes back, but then again, I'm protected now (somehow!!! and yet URL Handlers locally still work, it'd be good to be able to reproduce this) and why screw with a good thing?
Tried all those links, none auto execute the programs on the auto-mounted directories.
Beginning to think this is a residual effect of having had Paranoid Android on my system.
DaveC
Re:URL Handler Exploits appear to be fixed...
on
Mac OS X 10.3.4 Released
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· Score: 3, Informative
Yes they did work pre 10.3.4, that's what prompted me to use Paranoid Android. I had uninstalled Paranoid Android before updating to 10.3.4
Again, I've tried all four links and none autoexecute, they just bring up the remote.dmg or ftp folder with the example code in them. NONE of these programs executed for me.
Is this some residual side effect of having had Paranoid Android on my computer? (ie. are there lasting changes despite having it uninstalled that keeps these programs from running? Paranoid Android used to bring up a confirmation dialog when I clicked on the "Open Energy Saver..." menu option of my Menu Bar Battery Icon asking if it was ok for a URL type file to be executed with System Preferences. Now that it's uninstalled, it no longer does that so I KNOW Paranoid Android is now completely gone, even went into/Library and delete the Haxie PreferencePane.) A few others have reported that the URL Handler exploit doesn't work anymore after the update.
I did NOT previously modify any URI Handlers by hand nor did I delete any applications prior to this update. If being protected is an isolated effect, I'm glad I got lucky I guess.
Slashdot Mirror
Ethernet or Modem Dongle? We don't need no stinking dongles....
http://groups.google.com/group/mac-book-air/web/networking-tweaks
It would've been nice if the battery was removable, but in the interests of a clean, thin design, they didn't decide to do it this way. Someone did point out that usually your laptop is dated/obsolete before the stock battery is dead anyways. However, apparently taking out the battery isn't that much of a chore, 10 case screws (00 Phillips, not even the fancy Torx screws used in other Apple laptops) and 9 holding down the Lithium Polymer battery pack which is REALLY thin. Gizmodo had some gutting/tear-down pics and a video up for awhile, but they look like they've been taken down (as they did it to their Apple Review unit, I'm sure Apple isn't too pleased about that). Here is a mirror of the video and pictures: http://groups.google.com/group/mac-book-air/web/macbook-air-tear-down-pictures Actually, that Google group site also has a nice list of alternatives to resorting to a USB Ethernet dongle and some solutions to the "no built in Wireless WAN (EVDO/WiMax)" issue: http://groups.google.com/group/mac-book-air/web/networking-tweaks
There are lots of inexpensive (read 1/2 the price of a Swappable/Removable laptop battery pack) external battery packs with higher capacities than said laptop battery packs on the market. Sure none have Apple's MagSafe connector as an option (yet), but I'm sure the crafty Slashdot types out there can figure out how to hack up a pretty inexpensive MagSafe airplane power port connector to work with one of these connections. Ideally, Apple would come up with their own extended battery pack or add on base (clamps onto the vent ports?) for the bottom of the Air. But you could always cobble something very usable and cheap to make together yourself. I suspect some crafty 3rd party manufacturer is going to come out with a replacement base plate for the Air that acommodates a much larger battery at some point (negating the thinness of the Air) to satisfy someone who just has to have a bigger battery. Come on, just get a Macbook already, the Air is just may not be the one for you.
Betcha if you inject in some epoxy or expanding foam into said cone in quantities that won't be visible from the outside, the horn tweeter will stop making said annoying tone or at least attenuate the sound output or alter the frequency so that it won't be as bad.
Do it right and it'll probably still look like it was still working this way too. Much faster than trying to disassemble something and disable it while making it look like it's still working. The old fart can't hear it anyways, so he'd never know that you'd broken the horn tweeter as many others have pointed out.
You can also just go for a brute force/economic war approach:
Your cost: A couple of bucks for a tube of quick setting epoxy with syringe type applicator. Or, if you don't want to do this manually or the unit isn't readily accessible try some home made/customized paint balls filled with acid/epoxy/superglue/something nasty His cost: $600-$750 + shipping per unit disabled.
Just how many times do you think this guy will be able to afford to replace this device repeatedly? He's probably on fixed income so it's either the Mosquito or the Heart Medications/Doctor's Visits/Food/Heat/etc. The problem will soon go away given enough cheap paintballs I suspect.
War after all is really a matter of economics. Does the damage you cause cost more to your opponent than it does to you and which of you can continue spending money while racking up damage/cost the longest? The guys with the biggest budget or the ability to do massive damage to the other side for cheaper usually wins.
Dave
Just put some PGP encrypted data into an image via Steganography and post it to someplace popular like...lets say...CuteOverload.com
Then if your recipient was tracked going there, he would just look like any other Cats In Racks fan looking for cute kittie pictures : )
You know, as someone who actually works in an ER (actually, the American Board of Emergency Medicine would rather you call the "ED" for Emergency Department, sounds more grandiose you know. I still call it the ER or affectionately "The Pit" as many actually practicing ER/Pit Docs call it : ), I haven't been able to sit through more than like 15 minutes of the dammed show "ER".
It's not that the show isn't factually accurate (I hear that they do indeed employ many actual ER Physicians as consultants so it may very well be quite accurate). It's that the whole premise of stuff made for TV is that you have to pack as much drama/excitement/anger/fear/humor/comic relief/social commentary/indignation/etc. into one 40 minute program with good enough cliff hangers ocurring before each commercial break to keep the audience coming back (and thus endure the commercial). As a result, things get a bit cartoony/distorted/exaggerated.
Suffice to say that while the individual scenarios may reflect real cases, if all of these very dramatic/disruptive/upsetting cases that you see in one episode were to happen in any given week, much less all in one shift, I would be quitting my job in the ER as would any other sane individual.
Oh yeah, all that prolonged emotional hand holding you see happening on TV, that won't be happening in real life (or at least not that much time will be alotted to you for dwelling on the squishy emotional stuff). The staff of a real ER have jobs to do and need to move on quickly to the stuff that can and needs be fixed and addressed in a timely manner. Remember, there are other patients to care for, resources/manpower can be scarce.
That many bad things just don't happen in one place in one day...unless you happen to have an exceptionally bad day at a really crowded inner city County Hospital ER, then anything pretty much goes. Then again, that's almost 3rd world medicine sometimes...
Dave
In the spirit of pure sarcasm, I'd like to point out 2 things:
1) Don't you think that the fact that you're reading an ubergeek site like Slashdot sort of decreases your fertility more because of your geek factor than than your sperm count?
2) You're not at risk of getting that chick you met on line pregnant anyways 'cuz she's actually a DUDE, just like you... : )
Heh.
http://www.zdnetindia.com/insight/commentary/sto ries/132034.html
Great, opens up a remotely expointable hole that could take over your OS...
How about a OSS based solution that is...FREE?
http://www.markallan.co.uk/clamXav/#free
Peer reviewed and effective, go figure.
Remember though, AV definitions will lag a major virus infection by hours to days (maybe even longer) and if you're the first one infected, well, it's too late for you anyways right? There is no substitute for safe/sane User paranoia.
- Keep your System Up to date.
- Keep regular, up to date back ups of your data.
- Many of those lame free pr0n/warez sites make $$ by trying to co-opt you so why would you go to those sketchy web sites at all? It's like asking for it. Get your prOn for free from newsgroups like the smart guys do...
- Don't run any old program download from any old sketchy source like some dumb ass,
- Grow up and quit using pirated shit/warez. The fact that you'll get rooted one day is the inevitable Karma fall out.
DaveCAll joking aside, I think one important lesson that a massive Disaster/Government Response Failure like Katrina holds for is is that we all have to think about how we're going to be self sufficient for at least the immediate future after a disaster.
I am a reluctant survivalist/nut. Mainly b/c I have seen first hand how unreliable your fellow humans/strangers are apt to be in a really bad situation. It quickly degenerates into a Mob situation once the fragile veneer of civilized society/order is gone. I WORK in EMS, and I've seen our City's (Huntington Beach CA and Orange County in general, and we're pretty well funded in this county in the grand scheme of things) disaster plan, it is at best only a bit better than New Orleans and I have no doubt that it will fall apart quickly in the event of an actual major disaster/chaos. We all do live on major Earthquake fault lines after all.
The first rule of EMS is "Don't become another Victim.", so if the situation is too hot, the average citizen is pretty much on their own until the Police/Fire/Feds arrive in force (ie. Katrina as a recent example). But that's OK, I think we all need to start taking some responsibility for our destinies. All too often, I seen the 911 system abused on a DAILY basis, folks calling for a NON-EMERGENT problem b/c they don't have a ride to the hospital, don't wan't to take a taxi, or just by the plain virtue of being lame (one recent case was a 20 year old healthy girl who called 911 and tied up a Ambulance to bring her in for a Mild case of Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis), yet her folks pulled up in the family car right after the ambulance).
The medics brought her in per our lawsuit adverse EMS policies, but she really didn't need to come in this way obviously. But she is a classic example of how the average non-thinking consumer thinks the 911 system is a bottomless pit of resouces to be used for conveience. Right now, if we have more than 6-10 active runs and things are VERY inefficient, 10-15 simultaneous ambulance runs in our city and our EMS system is pretty much saturated and grinds to a halt. That's not even counting the police and fire resources that are tied simultaneously in the case of actual accidents/fires/explosions/use your imagination. Oh, did I mention that your nearest Trauma Center (yes your average ER is pretty bad at dealing with MAJOR or even Moderate trauma, you'll want real Trauma center if you're really messed up. 3 or 4 moderate trauma/accident victims will completely clog a typical community hospital ER for several hours while impacting the non-accident cases as a side effect).
Suffice to say that in the event of a large enough disaster Police/EMS/Fire will be pretty busy and not have the time to take care of you. If there is any civil unrest/rioting/looting, then your individual priority gets even lower. You will not be able to rely on external help for a few days until outside resources arrive. Accept that 911 won't be your safety net any more.
The Shotgun/Handgun/Rife and ammo isn't at the top of my A list of things to have, but it is about in the middle (right after Shelter, Water, Food, collecting up the Family/Kids/Pets, Medications, Knife, Flashlight/Fire, all prepared well ahead of time.). If I didn't know how to use a firearm effectively or don't have the skills or compunction to use lethal force/firearms in an appropriately dire situation, then it is a C list item (and probably more of a libility to you and those around you than a benefit).
Those who have will have options, and those without will just have to make do with what they have or are given/allowed to keep...
DaveC
Chlorine is cheap and easy to get just about anywhere (just buy the generic bleach w/o fabric softner/fragrance/etc) and keep a little bottle around. A little goes a long way depending on the concentration of the Chlorine you are using:
- 1% use 10 drops per Quart of Clear Water
- 4-6% use 2 drops per Quart of Clear Water
- 7-10% use 1 drop per Quart of Clear Water
Double the amount of Chlorine if the water is not clear (best to use a series of crude filters like coffee filters, socks stuffed into an inverted water bottle with the base cut off. Clean socks guys!!! or whatever you can fashion).If in doubt of the concentration of your Bleach/Chlorine solution, use the high 10 drop dose. The water should be mixed thoroughly and left standing for 30 minutes. If there is no chlorine odor, repeat your dose, mix and let stand for 15 minutes.
If you want to get rid of the chlorine odor, you can let it stand for a few hours or pour back and forth from one container to another to hasten the removal of excess Chlorine.
More info here: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/faq/emerg.html
I also have one of these: MSR Miox
It purifies by creating a creating a purification solution using electricity (Lithium Batteries w/ 10 year shelf life, and I have LOTS of spares lying around) and Rock Salt. This ones does Inactivates all viruses, bacteria, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. No pumping required, just have to make sure you have clear water or know how to do coarse/crude filtering using materials at hand. The stand time is shorter and no bad taste either.
MSR also makes lots of great multi stage pump filters, but having used them in the past, I can assure you that pumping water is very energy/time intensive and using what non-stagnant/non-brackish/non-cloudy water at hand with the chlorine or the Miox is a much better way to go.
Still keep a bottle of Chlorine around in case the high tech solution goes tits up.
DaveC
Type it out in plain text/ascii and format it properly when you get home and u/l the files to your real computer via it's RS-232 serial port. 16 + Hour battery life on 4 AA batteries that you can find anywhere. Full sized keyboard, small form factor. There have been many a journalist/writer who swears by one of these for use in absolutely primitive/harsh 3rd world conditions. These little suckers are apparently very tough and tres retro. Wired had an article about the TRS 100/102's and other old/obsolete but still serviceable computers.
Some of the lower memory versions are avaiable /near-mint/used/refurbished starting at $75.
Or check out E-Bay, found a few going really cheap right now:
- Model 100's
- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
a tegory=74947&item=5197944964&rd=1
- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
a tegory=1247&item=5199719083&rd=1
- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
a tegory=74947&item=5200179003&rd=1
- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
a tegory=74947&item=5201521879&rd=1
- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
a tegory=4193&item=5200512388&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
a tegory=74947&item=5200683165&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
a tegory=74947&item=5200683165&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
I sound like a relic, but ahhh, they don't make them like they used to...Model 102's
DaveC
Did the Archive and Install option that moved all of my original settings/data/files over to the new OS without a hitch, quick too, took under 35 minutes on a very modest 667MHz TiBook w/ 1GB RAM. Somehow missed the Custom install setting that lets you de-select the languages you won't use and the un-needed printer drivers, but it was trivial to take care of it via terminal and a nifty utility called "Monolingual" that strips out unneeded language files (saved about 2+ GB all told).
Spotlight was busy indexing away for about 20 minutes, the computer was usable but sluggish during this time so I just let it do it's thing. Overall the system is about as fast as 10.3.9, if not a bit faster (it's a nice change when a OS version runs faster on existing hardware, what a treat compared to the WinBlows bloatfest that comes with each release). I can honestly say that my 3 year old TiBook runs better and faster today on 10.4 than it did when I first got it with 10.1.5
All preferences came over pretty much without a hitch. Most of my 10.3 apps are running just fine except:
- iPulse - they have a new version out now v2.1.2 that is more compatible with Tiger
- Windows Media Player broke, may have to try a re-install or see if a new version is being released. But Real One player seems to be just fine.
- PGP Personal broke too.
That's about it, most everything else I need is working well (actually, I wasn't using PGP much anyways so I can wait for the update).Spotlight is kick ass and will change how I use/find/navigate my files and filesystem for sure. Dashboard is really nice and very convenient.
No stability issues and speed/responsiveness is good. Safari is notably faster than under 10.3 and the RSS feature while basic is quite usable and nice. The built in firewall is now a "Stealth" firewall, even on open ports apparently (stateful packet inspection?). Haven't played around with iChat much, but multi person voice/video conferencing will be cool. Yes, Mail is different, yet somehow closer to how Safari looks. Really not so ugly when put side to side against Thunderbird or Outlook. It is a tiny bit slower though...
All in all, I'm glad I upgraded.
DaveC
Well, this is about Blackjack not Poker I know, but interesting none the less in that if you have a good mathematically sound system (ie. card counting), you can turn the odds in BlackJack in your favor. Wired had a great article "Hacking Las Vegas" awhile back about a team of BlackJack players from MIT that really worked the Casinos over for a goodly amount of time before the Casino's finally caught on. Apparently it was quite an innovative method that was harder to detect as the roles were spread out between several players in a team. DaveC
Can you say Head Crash?
I'm sorry, but to me having to do that to something you've just paid almost 3 bills for just screams INTRINSIC DESIGN FLAW and is absolutely unacceptable...even if it plays OGG and Gapless.
I'll stay w/ my 20 GB 4G iPod thanks and my iPod Mini thanks. Both have NEVER frozen up just from being jostled around (ie. Running or Walking, and yes, we do run with ours regularly with no problems in the like 1-2 years we've owned iPods, including a 3G one).
Sheesh,
DaveC
If you want to keep the Apple "look" to your mouse, you could always get this one: http://macmice.com/themouse.html
DaveC
I HAVE to work with PC's and fix PC's/Windows setups on a regular basis. I never cease to be amazed at what sorts of hoops Windows PC owners are willing to jump through to keep their computers up and running (this is referring to the "typical" Windows user, not your power Winfans out there and most Linux guys are waaaaaay above needing help fixing their token Windows systems). Between the constant battle against viruses/trojans/malware, registry corruption, unstable/poorly written applications and crummy driver stability, it's amazing anyone gets any work done at all.
I charge for my time as far as the computer work goes. When I'm at home, I want my stuff to work right and to work transparently. My free time is worth something to me and spending it debugging my computer or constantly maintaining it is NOT my idea of free time well spent. Moving over to Mac OS X is the best venue change I've ever made. Nowadays my old PC runs FreeBSD (assuming it is even on) and serves files. I rarely boot into Windows, but each time I do, I am painfully reminded of the hell that my clients are resigned to...and as to why they continue to happily pay me $$ for me to fix their problems.
I suppose beating your head against the constant entropy that is the Windows Experience is cheaper assuming your own time is worth absolutely nothing.
DaveC
In the mean time, using FreeBSD and some scavenged/surplus hardware that is lying around will have to do. Besides, once in awhile I have to boot into Win2K or XP to verify/troubleshoot a problem for my consulting work and while the Celeron is a real pig, it does get the job done without having to sully my TiBook's HD with a Windows OS.
DaveC
Luckily, since I had FreeBSD 5.2.1 (Release) running on the old Celeron HP Desktop, I was able to use the built in FireWire support, load the Apple File System Geometry kernel extension and compile a UFS/UFS+ file system mounting utilities on FreeBSD and get the previously underused FireWire drive shared over the network via SAMBA (as well as it's 2 internal 8GB Drives). All told, it took like 45 minutes to get it up and running.
Unfortunately, the HP is rather loud (the power supply fan) and annoying to have on. A EPIA based setup would be PERFECT to run FreeBSD and serve as a general file server.
Also, I suspect that whatever protocol Apple is using to stream audio over the network to the Airport Express will soon be dissected and reverse engineered (love those Slashdot Hardware hackers!!) and you'll soon be able to stream from your EPIA as well as use your Firewire drives as NAS. But if you want to ditch the EPIA setup right now, drop me an e-mail.
DaveC
DaveC
DaveC
OK, so my setup is apparently somewhat resistant for now, not bullet proof but nice to know: 10.3.4, disabled the "Open Safe files" option, running Privoxy (which is set to default actions)
The help viewer URL problem is apparently patched and so is the SSL hole (according to another post on this page) so that is a comfort. Not the cleanest fix but in my case it works well.
Sorry for the wild goosechase or if I mislead anyone into thinking the problem had completely disappeared. On first inspection, it REALLY did seem to me that I wasn't vulnerable...well I wasn't, but no thanks to Apple.
DaveC
I wonder why this update is having such a wide variation in response to the URL Handler exploit?
DaveC
Hmmmm....Since I can't try it now, someone who has these a system where these exploits work, try installing Paranoid Android 1.2 (though under 10.3.3 I had at initially installed P.A. 1.0, then upgraded to 1.1 then 1.2 as each release came out), then verify that it works and pops up the appropriate warning dialogue. Then, uninstall Paranoid Android and see if these exploits work anymore.
Honest, I'm not getting any more response to ANY of the exploit links beyond mounting of images/directories. Some one help me verify this before I start doubting my own eyes. I suppose I could try a reboot and see if the vulnerability comes back, but then again, I'm protected now (somehow!!! and yet URL Handlers locally still work, it'd be good to be able to reproduce this) and why screw with a good thing?
DaveC
DaveC
Again, I've tried all four links and none autoexecute, they just bring up the remote .dmg or ftp folder with the example code in them. NONE of these programs executed for me.
Is this some residual side effect of having had Paranoid Android on my computer? (ie. are there lasting changes despite having it uninstalled that keeps these programs from running? Paranoid Android used to bring up a confirmation dialog when I clicked on the "Open Energy Saver..." menu option of my Menu Bar Battery Icon asking if it was ok for a URL type file to be executed with System Preferences. Now that it's uninstalled, it no longer does that so I KNOW Paranoid Android is now completely gone, even went into /Library and delete the Haxie PreferencePane.) A few others have reported that the URL Handler exploit doesn't work anymore after the update.
I did NOT previously modify any URI Handlers by hand nor did I delete any applications prior to this update. If being protected is an isolated effect, I'm glad I got lucky I guess.
DaveC