The article from the first link is a little better explanation than the second link.
This is not quite a hologram, but it is a true multi-viewer solution without the need for headtracking or other dynamic tricks. It is a precomputed video stream displayed on precisely spaced, and slightly higher-than-your-living-room-tv-refresh-rate, but otherwise normal LCD panels.
Basically, the MIT guys have come up with algorithms to compute a set of three overlay transparencies, which selectively occlude or reveal certain pixels when viewed from certain angles due to parallax, such that one of many possible perspective images of a scene is produced depending on the angle from which this stack of overlays is viewed.
The part they seem most proud of is that because these different perspective views are all of the same scene, many of the pixels are the same color from one perspective to another, so they only need to concentrate their parallax trick on making a select few pixels vary by angle, thus reducing the complexity of the problem to the point where it can actually be realized with consumer resolution LCD panels and attainable data rates.
That's partially true. I am still hosted on RackSpace's "Slicehost" farm and under the "Slicehost" billing plan for the moment, but they will be forcibly converting my VM to their RackSpace farm in January. Of course, since the original question was in regard to creating a new VPS, you're right, Slicehost doesn't exist anymore for new customers. They sent out a survey a month or so ago asking for thoughts on the RackSpace conversion, and in my response I raised the concern that the newer RackSpace plans would be more expensive (even though they tried to downplay that in the press releases), but I get the feeling the survey was motivated more as a PR stunt than out of any sort of genuine concern for the customers' opinions.
Slicehost has been great for me in the past, though now that RackSpace is absorbing their infrastructure, I'm not sure what they will be like in the future.
AML makes Linux-powered portable handheld computers with Wi-Fi and barcode scanning capability, and they'll give you their source disk with your hardware if you ask, so you can modify it as much as you like if their standard suite of applications don't suit you. You would also need to add a printer like the Epson TM-T88 and an RS232 magstripe-reader like the Unitech MS-240. For the actual card clearing, you'd probably either tie this system into your existing POS mainframe (if you have one) or you'd tie it into an Internet-based POS solution like Authorize.net, or if you are feeling ambitious, you can integrate over SSL directly with a clearing network like TSYS (formerly VisaNet / VITAL). Of course, your biggest expenditure is probably going to be paying someone to write the software to tie all this together for you (unless you can pull it all off yourself, in which case hats off to you!)
P.S. I have worked on the AML portable computers before. I have not specifically worked with the Epson printer or the Unitech magstripe reader, but both should work in conjunction with the AML unit's WiFi and serial capabilities respectively. You would probably need to custom-make a cable for the magstripe reader since the AML unit uses a non-standard RS232 connector (RJ45 if I recall correctly).
Well, if you want practical entertaining applications, then consider the possibilities for a home laser-projection television - maybe I'll finally be able to get something that I can afford and is less than the size of a refrigerator for gaming and movies in my living room at 4k resolution and 160 inches...
Actually, I am sure that ANI is what is being spoofed here. (I have received calls from the same group myself.) ANI can be spoofed if the originating carrier allows, which is common practice for high-volume outbound automated calling campaigns. It is usually used legitimately to provide a number via which the called party can call back later if they miss the call or are disconnected.
(I work for a company which legitimately performs this sort of high-volume outbound calling.)
One other thing to note - this is actually the jursidiction of the FCC, not the FBI (at least not yet). As soon as you can prove that there is some sort of actual fraud going on beyond just violating FCC rules, then they might get involved.
If you are looking for large capacity PROMs, Xilinx manufactures the XC17* line intended for long-term configuration-storage for their FPGA's, but they could certainly be used for other purposes.
The datasheet specifies a "Guaranteed 20 year life data retention"
You could go a step further than EEPROMs which are by definition erasable. Originally PROMs were designed for use in Atlas ICBM's, and the data is written in a truly permanent way by actually burning out fuses on the chip, unlike even the OTP EPROMs which are just normal EPROMs missing the erasure window.
Remember all those old game cartridges? The cartridges for the Atari 2600 used PROMs and (aside from contact corrosion and dirt) are still operational today, 30 years later.
I visited the SF zoo about a week before the incident. The tiger enclosures have a grassy area, level with the spectators, which is then surrounded by a 12ft deep by 30ft wide dry moat. The dry moat has a pathway down into it on the tigers' side so that the tigers can climb into and out of it at will. If the tiger lept from the bottom of the moat, it would need to go 12ft vertically to get up the spectator-side. But the ideal path would be to leap from the grassy area inside the moat, straight across to the spectator area - 33ft distance, but none vertical.
Since in ballistics, a trajectory of 55 degrees is equivalent to 35 degrees in distance (though not in azumith), if we eliminate the 12ft requirement from the equation, we can see that the 33ft leap is possible with the same speed, but with as little as a 35 degree angle. Taking into account that a faster speed with a shallower trajectory is also theoretically possible and that by leaping from its hind legs and landing with its front, the tiger's body length effectively shortens the distance a good 6-8 ft, this makes it pretty obvious that the leap is more than plausible.
Obviously the tiger escaped the enclosure, so some sort of escape must have been possible - the real question is only, should the architects have known how easy the leap would be? And the answer seems a resounding, yes.
When Microsoft releases "critical" patches like this, one of the primary motivations for users, home and business alike to apply the patches is fear of loss of data if their computer falls victim to one of the new exploits. To "help" users keep their systems up to date, Microsoft has provided the Automatic Update tool. Formerly this tool would insistently prompt the user to reboot once updates had been installed. Recently, however, the tool has taken to rebooting computers of its own volition if it is unable to elicit a user response to its prompting within 5 minutes. What's the big deal? Well, lets say you have just typed up a nice email but want to add a couple more points to it before sending it off, but you have to walk away from the computer for a while. (coffee break, etc.) And when you come back 6 minutes later you find that Windows has terminated all your open programs, lost your email, rebooted, and is now happily chiding away to itself in a little speech bubble about some new updates having been installed. Well, that's fine - install your damn updates, but either do it without destroying my work or wait until I give you permission! (yes, I lost an email I was writing last night because of this and I'm still a bit sore...)
There is something odd going on here. blackboxvoting.org is indeed registered to Bev Harris, but blackbox1.org is registered to "Registration Private" by "Domains by Proxy".
At the time, Sweeney's big competitor was Apogee Software, which created shareware hits like Castle Wolfenstein and Commander Keen.
Not quite true; although Apogee published Wolfenstein 3D and Commander Keen, id was the company that created those titles. Also from Apogee in the early days were: Supernova, Crystal Caves, Paganitsu, Secret Agent, Monster Bash, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, and of course, the original Duke Nukem.
Their old collection of shareware titles is still available for download here and purchase here
Time for DVD-Jon to jump in and save us from the evil DRM monsters.
Seriously, do they think the HDCP stuff will actually prevent people from using a HD-DVD drive and some fancy software to display the image at full resolution on the screen or even rip it directly to DivX? Even if Vista completely ensures through some black driver magic that applications are unable to access the higher-resolution data on video discs, what is to prevent a Linux or BSD based live CD that boots a HD-DVD player app? Wait, don't answer that.... Palladium.
The article claims that Wolfenstein 3-D was completely free with a donation requested if you liked the game. This fits well for the thought flow of their article, but is entirely untrue. Wolfenstein 3-D had only the first episode available for free, with a registration fee required before Apogee (id's publisher at the time) would send you the rest of the game in the mail. This is the model that their earlier Commander Keen games had used as well. It did not rely wholly on the selfless donations of patrons - the payees received something for their money; the other 2/3s of the game! In my opinion the success of Apogee and id had far less to do with community spirit and donations than it did with game addictions and allowance money - but of course, that wouldn't be as warm-and-fuzzy of a tidbit for a "downloaders are historically good people" article without this "slight" misstatement of facts.
Maybe, just maybe, the thief knew what he/she was doing? Consider:
1. Tencho-savvy miscreant sees employee leave medical building carrying piles of disks and tapes. (the disks, if CDs could be mistaken for audio CDs, but the variety of backup tapes that I have seen used in recent years look more like 8-track casettes than DAT or old-school two-sided stereo audiocasettes) 2. Techno-savvy miscreant ceases nearby dumpster-diving activities and stealthily zeroes in on the jackpot. 3. ?????? 4. Profit!
Unfortunatley i don't know what their view on encrypting the data is. With as anal retentive as the IT VP is about security though, i can't imagine they wouldn't be encrypted...
Props to your IT VP. Being anal about security is his job.
The problem with SecDNS is that pretty much the same thing is already performed at the SSL level with domain certificates, so there is little argument for changing the DNS system.
The article says:
It's possible that a web surfer could think they are visiting their bank or an auction site and hand over their sensitive data, and it would be impossible to tell they were at a malicious site.
I disagree: there is a good way to tell if that is your bank you are talking to; check that they have the proper SSL certificate for their domain. Or better yet, just look at the color of the address bar in Firefox. If your bank isn't using SSL already, there are reasons far beyond DNS that they should be!
Also, even with SecDNS in place, physical man-in-the-middle or route poisoning attacks could intercept the communication at the IP level, making SecDNS marginally useful at best. In my opinion, the proper solution would be to encourage more widespread adoption of the existing SSL cert solution for services other than HTTPS. (e.g. SMTP, POP, FTP) Also, it would be good for the industry to have some additional certificate authorities with lower certification prices added to the major browsers' default trust list.
or maybe the gaming router was a Linksys? I don't remember. I use an OpenBSD box myself, but whichever brand it is, you can find it for a decent price at Best Buy or whatever.
Slashdot Mirror
Your ID is 7 digits. Get off our lawn.
The article from the first link is a little better explanation than the second link.
This is not quite a hologram, but it is a true multi-viewer solution without the need for headtracking or other dynamic tricks. It is a precomputed video stream displayed on precisely spaced, and slightly higher-than-your-living-room-tv-refresh-rate, but otherwise normal LCD panels.
Basically, the MIT guys have come up with algorithms to compute a set of three overlay transparencies, which selectively occlude or reveal certain pixels when viewed from certain angles due to parallax, such that one of many possible perspective images of a scene is produced depending on the angle from which this stack of overlays is viewed.
The part they seem most proud of is that because these different perspective views are all of the same scene, many of the pixels are the same color from one perspective to another, so they only need to concentrate their parallax trick on making a select few pixels vary by angle, thus reducing the complexity of the problem to the point where it can actually be realized with consumer resolution LCD panels and attainable data rates.
That's partially true. I am still hosted on RackSpace's "Slicehost" farm and under the "Slicehost" billing plan for the moment, but they will be forcibly converting my VM to their RackSpace farm in January. Of course, since the original question was in regard to creating a new VPS, you're right, Slicehost doesn't exist anymore for new customers.
They sent out a survey a month or so ago asking for thoughts on the RackSpace conversion, and in my response I raised the concern that the newer RackSpace plans would be more expensive (even though they tried to downplay that in the press releases), but I get the feeling the survey was motivated more as a PR stunt than out of any sort of genuine concern for the customers' opinions.
Slicehost has been great for me in the past, though now that RackSpace is absorbing their infrastructure, I'm not sure what they will be like in the future.
Thirded. Been with them since they were one of the first ICANN registrars outside of Network Solutions. Like their motto says, "no bullshit"
AML makes Linux-powered portable handheld computers with Wi-Fi and barcode scanning capability, and they'll give you their source disk with your hardware if you ask, so you can modify it as much as you like if their standard suite of applications don't suit you. You would also need to add a printer like the Epson TM-T88 and an RS232 magstripe-reader like the Unitech MS-240. For the actual card clearing, you'd probably either tie this system into your existing POS mainframe (if you have one) or you'd tie it into an Internet-based POS solution like Authorize.net, or if you are feeling ambitious, you can integrate over SSL directly with a clearing network like TSYS (formerly VisaNet / VITAL). Of course, your biggest expenditure is probably going to be paying someone to write the software to tie all this together for you (unless you can pull it all off yourself, in which case hats off to you!)
http://www.amltd.com/product.asp?pid=m7220
http://pos.epson.com/products/prodsPMOP.htm
http://ute.com/products_info.php?pid=211
P.S.
I have worked on the AML portable computers before. I have not specifically worked with the Epson printer or the Unitech magstripe reader, but both should work in conjunction with the AML unit's WiFi and serial capabilities respectively. You would probably need to custom-make a cable for the magstripe reader since the AML unit uses a non-standard RS232 connector (RJ45 if I recall correctly).
Well, if you want practical entertaining applications, then consider the possibilities for a home laser-projection television - maybe I'll finally be able to get something that I can afford and is less than the size of a refrigerator for gaming and movies in my living room at 4k resolution and 160 inches...
I'm curious if the "more than 100 times the world's highest output value" means that we will soon see a 100W version of the WickedLasers Spyder III...
http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html
Actually, I am sure that ANI is what is being spoofed here. (I have received calls from the same group myself.) ANI can be spoofed if the originating carrier allows, which is common practice for high-volume outbound automated calling campaigns. It is usually used legitimately to provide a number via which the called party can call back later if they miss the call or are disconnected.
(I work for a company which legitimately performs this sort of high-volume outbound calling.)
One other thing to note - this is actually the jursidiction of the FCC, not the FBI (at least not yet). As soon as you can prove that there is some sort of actual fraud going on beyond just violating FCC rules, then they might get involved.
Sorry, I didn't see the AC OP.
If you are looking for large capacity PROMs, Xilinx manufactures the XC17* line intended for long-term configuration-storage for their FPGA's, but they could certainly be used for other purposes.
The datasheet specifies a "Guaranteed 20 year life data retention"
http://datasheet.digchip.com/534/ds073.pdf
I'm not sure if this is a true fusable link PROM or a windowless EPROM, but it does come in sizes up to 16Mbit (XC17V16) and can be cascaded.
You could go a step further than EEPROMs which are by definition erasable. Originally PROMs were designed for use in Atlas ICBM's, and the data is written in a truly permanent way by actually burning out fuses on the chip, unlike even the OTP EPROMs which are just normal EPROMs missing the erasure window. Remember all those old game cartridges? The cartridges for the Atari 2600 used PROMs and (aside from contact corrosion and dirt) are still operational today, 30 years later.
Everyone knows that DRM is really the only answer for preventing theft in today's high-tech society.
I visited the SF zoo about a week before the incident. The tiger enclosures have a grassy area, level with the spectators, which is then surrounded by a 12ft deep by 30ft wide dry moat. The dry moat has a pathway down into it on the tigers' side so that the tigers can climb into and out of it at will. If the tiger lept from the bottom of the moat, it would need to go 12ft vertically to get up the spectator-side. But the ideal path would be to leap from the grassy area inside the moat, straight across to the spectator area - 33ft distance, but none vertical.
Since in ballistics, a trajectory of 55 degrees is equivalent to 35 degrees in distance (though not in azumith), if we eliminate the 12ft requirement from the equation, we can see that the 33ft leap is possible with the same speed, but with as little as a 35 degree angle. Taking into account that a faster speed with a shallower trajectory is also theoretically possible and that by leaping from its hind legs and landing with its front, the tiger's body length effectively shortens the distance a good 6-8 ft, this makes it pretty obvious that the leap is more than plausible.
Obviously the tiger escaped the enclosure, so some sort of escape must have been possible - the real question is only, should the architects have known how easy the leap would be? And the answer seems a resounding, yes.
And here is a photo that explicitly shows that the tiger and the spectators are on level ground. In the photo, you can't see the dry moat which lies between the bamboo and the grassy area:
http://www.citizen.co.za/index/AFPData/english/shared/top/SGE.NIN80.261207042337.photo00.photo.default-512x356.jpg
When Microsoft releases "critical" patches like this, one of the primary motivations for users, home and business alike to apply the patches is fear of loss of data if their computer falls victim to one of the new exploits. To "help" users keep their systems up to date, Microsoft has provided the Automatic Update tool. Formerly this tool would insistently prompt the user to reboot once updates had been installed. Recently, however, the tool has taken to rebooting computers of its own volition if it is unable to elicit a user response to its prompting within 5 minutes. What's the big deal? Well, lets say you have just typed up a nice email but want to add a couple more points to it before sending it off, but you have to walk away from the computer for a while. (coffee break, etc.) And when you come back 6 minutes later you find that Windows has terminated all your open programs, lost your email, rebooted, and is now happily chiding away to itself in a little speech bubble about some new updates having been installed. Well, that's fine - install your damn updates, but either do it without destroying my work or wait until I give you permission!
(yes, I lost an email I was writing last night because of this and I'm still a bit sore...)
There is something odd going on here.
blackboxvoting.org is indeed registered to Bev Harris, but blackbox1.org is registered to "Registration Private" by "Domains by Proxy".
Not quite true; although Apogee published Wolfenstein 3D and Commander Keen, id was the company that created those titles. Also from Apogee in the early days were: Supernova, Crystal Caves, Paganitsu, Secret Agent, Monster Bash, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, and of course, the original Duke Nukem.
Their old collection of shareware titles is still available for download here and purchase here
Time for DVD-Jon to jump in and save us from the evil DRM monsters.
Seriously, do they think the HDCP stuff will actually prevent people from using a HD-DVD drive and some fancy software to display the image at full resolution on the screen or even rip it directly to DivX? Even if Vista completely ensures through some black driver magic that applications are unable to access the higher-resolution data on video discs, what is to prevent a Linux or BSD based live CD that boots a HD-DVD player app? Wait, don't answer that.... Palladium.
Can you please clarify how you are recording it now that results in a noisy clip?
1. Publish a Blank CD
2. Get the government to collect royalties on blank media.
3. ????
4. Profit!
The article claims that Wolfenstein 3-D was completely free with a donation requested if you liked the game. This fits well for the thought flow of their article, but is entirely untrue. Wolfenstein 3-D had only the first episode available for free, with a registration fee required before Apogee (id's publisher at the time) would send you the rest of the game in the mail. This is the model that their earlier Commander Keen games had used as well. It did not rely wholly on the selfless donations of patrons - the payees received something for their money; the other 2/3s of the game! In my opinion the success of Apogee and id had far less to do with community spirit and donations than it did with game addictions and allowance money - but of course, that wouldn't be as warm-and-fuzzy of a tidbit for a "downloaders are historically good people" article without this "slight" misstatement of facts.
Maybe, just maybe, the thief knew what he/she was doing?
Consider:
1. Tencho-savvy miscreant sees employee leave medical building carrying piles of disks and tapes. (the disks, if CDs could be mistaken for audio CDs, but the variety of backup tapes that I have seen used in recent years look more like 8-track casettes than DAT or old-school two-sided stereo audiocasettes)
2. Techno-savvy miscreant ceases nearby dumpster-diving activities and stealthily zeroes in on the jackpot.
3. ??????
4. Profit!
Unfortunatley i don't know what their view on encrypting the data is. With as anal retentive as the IT VP is about security though, i can't imagine they wouldn't be encrypted...
Props to your IT VP. Being anal about security is his job.
The complete program:
while(1) {
sleep(0.05);
if(ovservation = sight.recent_movement()) {
light['I see someone else'].flash();
wheels.move(observation);
} else {
wheels.move(int rand(2) - 1);
if(sight.recent_movement()) {
light['I see myself'].flash();
}
}
}
The problem with SecDNS is that pretty much the same thing is already performed at the SSL level with domain certificates, so there is little argument for changing the DNS system.
The article says:
It's possible that a web surfer could think they are visiting their bank or an auction site and hand over their sensitive data, and it would be impossible to tell they were at a malicious site.
I disagree: there is a good way to tell if that is your bank you are talking to; check that they have the proper SSL certificate for their domain. Or better yet, just look at the color of the address bar in Firefox. If your bank isn't using SSL already, there are reasons far beyond DNS that they should be!
Also, even with SecDNS in place, physical man-in-the-middle or route poisoning attacks could intercept the communication at the IP level, making SecDNS marginally useful at best. In my opinion, the proper solution would be to encourage more widespread adoption of the existing SSL cert solution for services other than HTTPS. (e.g. SMTP, POP, FTP) Also, it would be good for the industry to have some additional certificate authorities with lower certification prices added to the major browsers' default trust list.
or maybe the gaming router was a Linksys? I don't remember. I use an OpenBSD box myself, but whichever brand it is, you can find it for a decent price at Best Buy or whatever.