But nothing is new with MyDoom. Maybe the intent, but there are still dozens of active viruses out there with back door capabilities that could be exploited by crime, or by spammers [which are criminals I suppose].
Why commit computer crimes from your own machines, when you can do it from another person's, and in fact connect to a 2nd or 3rd infected machine from the first infected machine to add another layer of dificulty to any investigation?
The ability to harvest contact information exists in a simple forwarded joke email. This is not advanced "war" stuff. If it was advanced, people wouldn't have noticed.
"In the Netherlands there is a newspaper reporting this proves MyDoom was initialy spread by organised crime in a dark plot to wage cyber-war..."
If organized crime was looking to steal data, all they had to do is ask people. Hundreds of people hand over their eBay, PayPal, and credit card information every day to phisher emails claiming to be from a legit company. Making a worm to steal the information isn't even necessary when the user is already the weakest link after being socially engineered.
People on the Internet are harder to meet, for the very reason that just happened here, the words not being chosen carefully alienate, rather than greet. That's why they almost aren't "real" to the websurfer. We grew up with text based games where the character "typing to us" was a computer. Maybe the current generation of 5 year olds will have a different perspective of meeting people on the Internet. There will also be a new group of scammers and cons that learn and manipulate the digital age "bar scene".
Certainly. It will take a move like the one that brought down Capone for Tax evasion. Still a crime, but the police don't have to get them for "spamming" per say.
I did notice that, but I still use the term because most people know what I mean by it. The first time I heard "brick & mortar" to describe a shop in the real world, I thought a better "adjective" should have been invented by now. If you have an alternative adjective I'd love to hear it.
As long as the circumstance of isolation aren't CAUSED by the Internet use, I'd agree. Right now I'm living at home with only about 20 other people in my village, and the Internet is a great way to discuss politics, and technology with other interested people. But once I'm back in a city, I'll be spending less time on the computer, and more time out in the real world meeting real people and talking face to face. I'll have to get used to not saying "LOL", and get my point across the old fashioned way.
Real Alternative in Media Player Classic. The version I use on XP has some flaws, but it is better than nothing, and I hope doesn't have the same flaws as the REAL Real Player?
We've had Windows be so common at home AND work for so long that we've started to think that people can't learn other systems.
Back in the 80's you didn't hear about users complaining about a computer system migration when the last one sucked. I guess that means that too many people don't think that Microsoft products are all that bad. They don't see the big picture anymore because there are so many choices they only see the Microsoft tree.
To be mainstream, could mean that the software is being embraced by the majority of teenagers using computers, or it could be that the majority of corporate users will start using Linux somewhere in their business this year.
I've seen Linux evolve a lot since I first tried to use it in 1997. I couldn't figure it out then. In 2000 I used Red Hat 6.0 for the first time, and found it easier to understand, but still not useful to me. Now in 2004, I could make it be almost as useful to me as my Windows machine. Do I really think that this year there will be some killer distro that will blow Windows away? No. But it is possible...
The problem will lie in getting them to READ the history when you give it to them.
And a newspaper is a better idea than a CDROM, but still I hope it was acid free paper, and an ink that doesn't biodegrade in oxygen after 25 years.
Personally I hold little hope that we as a species will avoid preventable disasters like this again. Hopefully we'll learn to deal with the aftermath better though. Learning from mistakes doesn't always help us avoid them in the future, we just get quicker at picking ourselves up off the mat.
You can't deliver most items on eBay, over electronic means, and stay within the rules. Selling self written material, which is mailed, is well within the rules though.
Speaking as a computer geek, and a geek who has had girlfriends, I find it strange that a guy wouldn't want to talk to his girlfriend on the phone for more than 3 minutes. Sure, after working helpdesk a bit, you might learn to hate the phone, but surely they want to share news with her? The writer does have things to talk about other than his Ultrakill in UT, or conquest in Diablo II?
Perhaps he need to look at my new Dating Guide I wrote yesterday. I think it might become an eBay best seller [for me anyway].
The only problem is: When you make them pay for the help, you better darn well get the fix right, and on time. It can add to pressures, not release them.
If you are going to commit a serious crime these days, you'd better make darn sure that you know your way around a computer before using one on the Internet. The trails that we leave are beyond most people's comprehensions, and I would hate to think what could be done to me or any other ordinary person if someone set their mind to mischief.
I know, why'd they have to go and ruin a good thing? I really should be more careful to insert a few spelling errors into my listings, but the search engine is usually the last way people see my unique stuff.
There is also an odd phenomenon where a listing for something will sell for $6 one day, and the next it is up to $12 in no time. Then it drops again. Strange stuff.
On eBay, a "feedback loop", is known as Bid shilling.
"Bid on my items, and I'll bid on your's" kinda thing. The last Power Seller of the Month was caught doing this by people on eBay's discussion boards. eBay had to remove his distinction, but they've yet to suspend him last I checked. One of his IDs has 'Blackmarket' in the word.
I've enjoyed the usefulness of my Timex DataLink [1997] which stores important phone numbers and other trivia I like to call up, but don't care to commit to my memory.
What you describe resembles the classic science fiction in the Chrysalids by John Wyndham. It has a scene where people are covered in a material that sticks to them, and shrinks until the person, animal, or machine is crushed.
Wyndham was right about a lot of things, hopefully not this "bio weapon".
Read Day of the Triffids if you haven't yet. Very possible outcome of our genetic modification fling.
And did you hear that Monsanto has backed down from GM Wheat in Canada? They've almost scrapped the program after learning years too late that no one would want to buy it. The Canadian government foolishly gave money to the project.
Slashdot Mirror
But nothing is new with MyDoom. Maybe the intent, but there are still dozens of active viruses out there with back door capabilities that could be exploited by crime, or by spammers [which are criminals I suppose].
Why commit computer crimes from your own machines, when you can do it from another person's, and in fact connect to a 2nd or 3rd infected machine from the first infected machine to add another layer of dificulty to any investigation?
The ability to harvest contact information exists in a simple forwarded joke email. This is not advanced "war" stuff. If it was advanced, people wouldn't have noticed.
"In the Netherlands there is a newspaper reporting this proves MyDoom was initialy spread by organised crime in a dark plot to wage cyber-war..."
If organized crime was looking to steal data, all they had to do is ask people. Hundreds of people hand over their eBay, PayPal, and credit card information every day to phisher emails claiming to be from a legit company. Making a worm to steal the information isn't even necessary when the user is already the weakest link after being socially engineered.
Imagine if the US government gets in its head that search engines are a terrorist tool?
Wouldn't that be interesting?
I didn't mean to sound snappy in my reply. Sorry.
People on the Internet are harder to meet, for the very reason that just happened here, the words not being chosen carefully alienate, rather than greet.
That's why they almost aren't "real" to the websurfer. We grew up with text based games where the character "typing to us" was a computer. Maybe the current generation of 5 year olds will have a different perspective of meeting people on the Internet. There will also be a new group of scammers and cons that learn and manipulate the digital age "bar scene".
Certainly. It will take a move like the one that brought down Capone for Tax evasion. Still a crime, but the police don't have to get them for "spamming" per say.
I did notice that, but I still use the term because most people know what I mean by it. The first time I heard "brick & mortar" to describe a shop in the real world, I thought a better "adjective" should have been invented by now. If you have an alternative adjective I'd love to hear it.
As long as the circumstance of isolation aren't CAUSED by the Internet use, I'd agree. Right now I'm living at home with only about 20 other people in my village, and the Internet is a great way to discuss politics, and technology with other interested people. But once I'm back in a city, I'll be spending less time on the computer, and more time out in the real world meeting real people and talking face to face. I'll have to get used to not saying "LOL", and get my point across the old fashioned way.
Real Alternative in Media Player Classic. The version I use on XP has some flaws, but it is better than nothing, and I hope doesn't have the same flaws as the REAL Real Player?
We've had Windows be so common at home AND work for so long that we've started to think that people can't learn other systems.
Back in the 80's you didn't hear about users complaining about a computer system migration when the last one sucked.
I guess that means that too many people don't think that Microsoft products are all that bad. They don't see the big picture anymore because there are so many choices they only see the Microsoft tree.
My Mainstream is not always your mainstream.
Government computing is not homebased computing.
To be mainstream, could mean that the software is being embraced by the majority of teenagers using computers, or it could be that the majority of corporate users will start using Linux somewhere in their business this year.
I've seen Linux evolve a lot since I first tried to use it in 1997. I couldn't figure it out then. In 2000 I used Red Hat 6.0 for the first time, and found it easier to understand, but still not useful to me. Now in 2004, I could make it be almost as useful to me as my Windows machine. Do I really think that this year there will be some killer distro that will blow Windows away? No. But it is possible...
It is great that you are doing that.
The problem will lie in getting them to READ the history when you give it to them.
And a newspaper is a better idea than a CDROM, but still I hope it was acid free paper, and an ink that doesn't biodegrade in oxygen after 25 years.
Personally I hold little hope that we as a species will avoid preventable disasters like this again. Hopefully we'll learn to deal with the aftermath better though. Learning from mistakes doesn't always help us avoid them in the future, we just get quicker at picking ourselves up off the mat.
You can't deliver most items on eBay, over electronic means, and stay within the rules. Selling self written material, which is mailed, is well within the rules though.
Speaking as a computer geek, and a geek who has had girlfriends, I find it strange that a guy wouldn't want to talk to his girlfriend on the phone for more than 3 minutes. Sure, after working helpdesk a bit, you might learn to hate the phone, but surely they want to share news with her? The writer does have things to talk about other than his Ultrakill in UT, or conquest in Diablo II?
Perhaps he need to look at my new Dating Guide I wrote yesterday. I think it might become an eBay best seller [for me anyway].
What about an "X Prize" to save the Hubble?
Have a private individual organize a mission to either boost/repair Hubble, or to bring it back safely, and they get to keep it?
You hear people all the time saying things like,
"How would I get into the computer industry? I'd like to learn how to fix computers for a living."
But you rarely hear people asking doctors, "How would I become a doctor? I'd like to learn how to deliver babies for a living."
Does it make you think that maybe we've picked a more "simple" profession?
It's an idea, but not one that will work.
It would be a bit like getting Apple and Microsoft to name their promotions by the same conventions.
W32/Windows.98.SE@mm@Junk@MediaPlayer.9.1
UNIX/Macos.X@mm@Expensive@JunkiPod.1.2
"Cats on keyboards can't do Ctrl-Alt-Del -- which is a good thing"
That sounds like a challenge issued by Martha Stewart. I'm going to teach my cat to do that now, if the government doesn't do it first.
The only problem is:
When you make them pay for the help, you better darn well get the fix right, and on time. It can add to pressures, not release them.
If you are going to commit a serious crime these days, you'd better make darn sure that you know your way around a computer before using one on the Internet. The trails that we leave are beyond most people's comprehensions, and I would hate to think what could be done to me or any other ordinary person if someone set their mind to mischief.
I know, why'd they have to go and ruin a good thing? I really should be more careful to insert a few spelling errors into my listings, but the search engine is usually the last way people see my unique stuff.
There is also an odd phenomenon where a listing for something will sell for $6 one day, and the next it is up to $12 in no time. Then it drops again. Strange stuff.
On eBay, a "feedback loop", is known as Bid shilling.
"Bid on my items, and I'll bid on your's" kinda thing. The last Power Seller of the Month was caught doing this by people on eBay's discussion boards. eBay had to remove his distinction, but they've yet to suspend him last I checked. One of his IDs has 'Blackmarket' in the word.
I've enjoyed the usefulness of my Timex DataLink [1997] which stores important phone numbers and other trivia I like to call up, but don't care to commit to my memory.
Can you uninstall Notepad? Not that I want to, but has anyone tried?
What you describe resembles the classic science fiction in the Chrysalids by John Wyndham. It has a scene where people are covered in a material that sticks to them, and shrinks until the person, animal, or machine is crushed.
Wyndham was right about a lot of things, hopefully not this "bio weapon".
Read Day of the Triffids if you haven't yet. Very possible outcome of our genetic modification fling.
And did you hear that Monsanto has backed down from GM Wheat in Canada? They've almost scrapped the program after learning years too late that no one would want to buy it. The Canadian government foolishly gave money to the project.
If we can genetically modify plants not to make seeds, how long will it be before we can GM Idiots so they don't breed either?