when I last worked there (about 2 years ago) - things were a bit of a mess.
some of their internal systems were well maintained / patched - but a lot of others weren't (like all the desktops).
When the SQL Slammer worm hit -everything- went down. the internal network itself was so saturated with traffic - nothing worked whether it was running SQL or not.
never heard how it got inside - but on a network that size with all the different VPN's / etc - it's not hard to imagine.
People were running around with floppy disks trying to patch everything - truly comic.
I like Linux - but there's a lot of hidden support costs...
take setting up a new website:
"oh - there's a GUI tool for that... if you installed the right package... did you pick gnome or KDE?... X isn't starting? it might just be easier to modify the.conf file with Pico... don't have that? try vi - httpd.conf should be under/etc/httpd - unless you..."
Any idiot (like myself) can fumble through doing this stuff on Windows.
Security? Go to Windowsupdate.com once a month and install all the patches. I wish I had as straight forward a solution for my Linux boxes.
don't get me wrong - I want to see open source crush microsoft - it's just there's some significant work that needs to be done on the usability / supportability front.
I used to have a Palm V - I used it all the time because it worked great for keeping my todo list.
Then I was purchased a Dell Axim as a gift. It did all sorts of stuff my Palm couldn't - video, sound, etc.
But it did a crappy job handling my todo list. So I stopped using it.
Palm got a lot of stuff right off the bat - and they don't seem real eager to mess with success.
A lot of the major updates to the OS have really been focused around hardware support as opposed to new features. It took forever for the first MP3 playing palm to come out..
stuff like this has cost them a lot of sales to Windows CE (or Pocket PC or whatever they call it now).
I have an RCA "Universal Custom 8" - goes for about $35. I use it to control my Tivo, Stereo, DVD, TV - etc. You can reprogram any key, and it supports three different macro keys (ie - turn on TV, turn on the stereo, and bring up the main Tivo menu). Works good.
Alternate solution would be to purchase a human child off ebay to change the channel at your command. This might be more expensive - but would support voice recognition (although you might have to learn Thai).
my car started running poorly a few months ago - so I took it into the shop.
when I came back to get my car - they charged me $400.
it runs great now.
not driving my car for two days fixed it!
now I'm going to try not driving it for 3 days to see if it fixes the rips in my upholstry.
Also - did anyone else hear that you can reformat your 120GB drive to 260GB with no ill effects? I read that on slashdot a while ago!
So to be "credible" I guess I shouldn't advertise? I guess I shouldn't charge anything and be open-source also...
I purchase various online advertising - none of it e-mail based. I'm guessing the "spam ads" you're referring to are google or overture text ads.
It drives me nuts when people start referring to any sort of advertising they don't like as spam.
There's a huge difference between making website users put up with a little advertising in exchange for the service they're getting and bulk e-mailing 3 million people then claiming they asked to receieve it. Pop-unders try to obscure who's actually delivering the ad - so they're kind of in a similar category (I'd never purchase pop-up or pop-under ads)
-Rich
www.spambutcher.com
One of my accounts has a pretty serious spam problem - was getting about 50 spam / day.
In response, I cooked up my own anti-spam software - SpamButcher.
It's similar to other anti-spam products - except that it actually works. Using "fuzzy logic" it kills about 97% of my spam. Currently only supports Windows users using POP3 accounts.
It is "commercial" software - but there's a 30-day trial you can download (it's $29.95 if you want to purchase). I don't want anyones money unless they're already 100% satisfied with the product.
There seem to be a lot of people who think using client-side anti-spam products is the "easy way out" and doesn't actually help solve the problem. I disagree - if everyone used an effective anti-spam product (mine, or others) - spam would become unprofitable, and subside.
I'm posting this because I believe it's relevant to the article - if you think this post is spam - send the hate mail to rich@spambutcher.com
I also run an anti-spam "blacklist" of major corporations that support spam at www.spamcrusader.org
Rich Olson
rich@spambutcher.com
Chief Butcher
SpamButcher - www.spambutcher.com
I'm actually starting a blacklist of larger companies that employ spammers to advertise:
http://spamcrusader.org
The reason spammers spam is that it's profitable. If companies understand that they're going to get tarred and feathered if any part of their company / distribution network spams - they might think twice about it.
I perpetually get spam from various DirecTV distributors. DirecTV could make them stop, but hasn't. Therefor DirecTV supports spam and should be held accountable for it.
I'm just getting the site going - there's only six companies on the list so far - and not much content. But you can see where I'm going with it...
-Rich
Slashdot Mirror
some of their internal systems were well maintained / patched - but a lot of others weren't (like all the desktops).
When the SQL Slammer worm hit -everything- went down. the internal network itself was so saturated with traffic - nothing worked whether it was running SQL or not.
never heard how it got inside - but on a network that size with all the different VPN's / etc - it's not hard to imagine.
People were running around with floppy disks trying to patch everything - truly comic.
take setting up a new website:
"oh - there's a GUI tool for that... if you installed the right package... did you pick gnome or KDE?... X isn't starting? it might just be easier to modify the .conf file with Pico... don't have that? try vi - httpd.conf should be under /etc/httpd - unless you..."
Any idiot (like myself) can fumble through doing this stuff on Windows.
Security? Go to Windowsupdate.com once a month and install all the patches. I wish I had as straight forward a solution for my Linux boxes.
don't get me wrong - I want to see open source crush microsoft - it's just there's some significant work that needs to be done on the usability / supportability front.
If nothing else it would make a great April fools joke - especially if the victim is running Linux...
Then I was purchased a Dell Axim as a gift. It did all sorts of stuff my Palm couldn't - video, sound, etc.
But it did a crappy job handling my todo list. So I stopped using it.
Palm got a lot of stuff right off the bat - and they don't seem real eager to mess with success.
A lot of the major updates to the OS have really been focused around hardware support as opposed to new features. It took forever for the first MP3 playing palm to come out..
stuff like this has cost them a lot of sales to Windows CE (or Pocket PC or whatever they call it now).
If only Apple would buy them...
I have an RCA "Universal Custom 8" - goes for about $35. I use it to control my Tivo, Stereo, DVD, TV - etc. You can reprogram any key, and it supports three different macro keys (ie - turn on TV, turn on the stereo, and bring up the main Tivo menu). Works good. Alternate solution would be to purchase a human child off ebay to change the channel at your command. This might be more expensive - but would support voice recognition (although you might have to learn Thai).
But where it really shines is for surfing porn (or so I'm told). None of those dang active-x controls, and it handles the pop-ups better.
don't forget why VHS won over Beta...
Huh? FreeDOS is just an MS-DOS knock-off. Sure its useful for boot disks / etc - but it doesn't offer a real platform for applications.
So for $483 your getting a system that can only run old DOS apps? (assuming you don't install something else...)
WordPerfect 5.1 will run just as well on a $30 386sx from the thrift store as it would on a modern low-end system.
I'm having trouble making sense of this... maybe there's still a big market for DOS applications in China?
this isn't a problem - it's a solution.
Get ready for "Tyson Free Range Pheasant"
my car started running poorly a few months ago - so I took it into the shop. when I came back to get my car - they charged me $400. it runs great now. not driving my car for two days fixed it! now I'm going to try not driving it for 3 days to see if it fixes the rips in my upholstry. Also - did anyone else hear that you can reformat your 120GB drive to 260GB with no ill effects? I read that on slashdot a while ago!
So to be "credible" I guess I shouldn't advertise? I guess I shouldn't charge anything and be open-source also... I purchase various online advertising - none of it e-mail based. I'm guessing the "spam ads" you're referring to are google or overture text ads. It drives me nuts when people start referring to any sort of advertising they don't like as spam. There's a huge difference between making website users put up with a little advertising in exchange for the service they're getting and bulk e-mailing 3 million people then claiming they asked to receieve it. Pop-unders try to obscure who's actually delivering the ad - so they're kind of in a similar category (I'd never purchase pop-up or pop-under ads) -Rich www.spambutcher.com
One of my accounts has a pretty serious spam problem - was getting about 50 spam / day. In response, I cooked up my own anti-spam software - SpamButcher. It's similar to other anti-spam products - except that it actually works. Using "fuzzy logic" it kills about 97% of my spam. Currently only supports Windows users using POP3 accounts. It is "commercial" software - but there's a 30-day trial you can download (it's $29.95 if you want to purchase). I don't want anyones money unless they're already 100% satisfied with the product. There seem to be a lot of people who think using client-side anti-spam products is the "easy way out" and doesn't actually help solve the problem. I disagree - if everyone used an effective anti-spam product (mine, or others) - spam would become unprofitable, and subside. I'm posting this because I believe it's relevant to the article - if you think this post is spam - send the hate mail to rich@spambutcher.com I also run an anti-spam "blacklist" of major corporations that support spam at www.spamcrusader.org Rich Olson rich@spambutcher.com Chief Butcher SpamButcher - www.spambutcher.com
I botched the link in my original post - here's the corporate spam watchlist: SpamCrusader.org
I'm actually starting a blacklist of larger companies that employ spammers to advertise: http://spamcrusader.org The reason spammers spam is that it's profitable. If companies understand that they're going to get tarred and feathered if any part of their company / distribution network spams - they might think twice about it. I perpetually get spam from various DirecTV distributors. DirecTV could make them stop, but hasn't. Therefor DirecTV supports spam and should be held accountable for it. I'm just getting the site going - there's only six companies on the list so far - and not much content. But you can see where I'm going with it... -Rich
Any company that tasks a worker with coming up with a unique name for the server room clearly belongs in my fuckedcompany deadpool.