What makes you think they don't have a variant for Linux? User stupidity (i.e: bad/no security) isn't unique to Windows. Off the top of my head, if they are relying on the web as an infection vector combined with user stupidity, why not write it into a Firefox extension?
Yeah, it wouldn't get your typical/. geek, but most criminals aren't known for their foresight or intelligence. "Oh, the private website with the bank account information needs me to install this software! Ok, what could possibly go wrong?"
... if he was stupid enough to visit the "private" website they created for him with such a lax security setup that his computer willingly installed the FBI's trojan.
1. The Constitution specifies how it is to be interpreted
Where? If you are thinking of Judicial review, you should know that came about from Marbury v. Madison and not from any specific language in the Constitution.
3. You are not named as an interpreter of the Constitution in the Constitution, so your opinion and objections doesn't matter.
Who is named as a interpreter of the Constitution in the Constitution?
I can't seem to find it on DHS (probably because it's marked for official use only) but both Michele Malkin and Huffington Post have the document online. I highly doubt those two agreed to jointly release a faked version. Incidentally, here's a gem from some dude on Redstate in response to the bit about rejecting Federal authority in favor of state or local control:
Liberals, please note: that includes people who argue that individual states have the right to decriminalize marijuana, permit the sale of raw milk, allow assisted suicide, or recognize same-sex marriages. If you're one of those people, welcome to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy: here's your accordion.
There is no way that is within the letter or spirit of the 4th Amendment.
FWIW I agree with you. I've also talked to members of law enforcement who have worked wiretaps and was told by them that they are required to stop listening even when they have an approved wiretap when it becomes apparent that the conversation isn't material to the matter at hand. I.e: If they have a wiretap on a suspected drug dealer they aren't supposed to keep listening when he starts having phone sex with his girlfriend. That seems to be the way it should work if you take the 4th amendment seriously.
I know it sounds crazy, and hopefully is, but when you combine the "perfect storm" of a major economic crisis, single party control of government
Well, there's always the Judicial Branch, but your point is well taken.
And watching the major media drool over "Dear Leader" to the extent that they do is disgusting. What happened to the skepticism and criticism of the government? Is there not just as much a need for journalists to investigate Obama as they did Bush, especially when he's asking for unprecedented power and control?
I don't know how much the "major media" even bothered to investigate Bush. How many serious questions were asked about the Patriot Act before it passed? How many were asked about Iraq before we went to war? The Fourth Estate is a sad joke and has been for sometime. What's worse is that the politicians in both parties have figured out how to game the system and the reporters who cover them are entirely too friendly with the people they are supposedly monitoring on our behalf.
And yes, the drooling over Obama is absolutely sickening. So is the new push coming from the mainstream media (catch 20/20 by any chance?) for gun control. It's pretty sad when I have to go to Faux News of all places to find an alternative point of view on a major political issue because every other media source isn't even pretending to cover both sides of the issue.
Shoot, I hit reply too soon. Here's the best part of that document for anyone that thinks you are being paranoid: (emphasis mine)
Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
So I guess if you are a Libertarian you warrant inclusion with the likes of David Duke and the KKK. What the fuck is wrong with this picture? Why aren't more people talking about this?
I don't think you are paranoid and I don't trust them one damn bit not to abuse this neat little toy that the FBI has. My point was meant to respond to all the people who are claiming that the FBI shouldn't even have this toy -- would it really bother if you it was used in conjunction with a warrant to monitor a Tony Soprano?
The "right wing extremists" report was extremely troubling. It was a whole bunch of "coulds" with no specific information and a warning to watch out for returning veterans and firearm owners. WTF?
What I'd like to see is an open source antivirus/antispyware suite that WILL detect this.
Actually if you aren't an idiot about it and have proper security settings/practice this thing would never have gotten installed in the first place......
I don't think it is any of the government's business what websites I go to, what blogs I post on, and for that matter, what porn I download.
It is if you are under a court approved investigation for something.
Given some of the scary things coming out of the "O"ministration lately (such as the recent homeland security advisory painting people who support the right to own firearms and who object to the outrageous spending going on as "rightwing extremists" and "potential terrorists" I think I and others have a legitimate fear that we may be targeted for such spyware for political reasons.
That is a legitimate fear -- which is why we have warrants and a judicial system. But to say that this software can't be used at ALL is a bridge too far, IMHO. Would you complain if the FBI installed this spyware on Tony Soprano's computer?
Note that Obama isn't doing anything to repeal the patriot act (which he used to object to). He wants that power just as much as Bush did.
Of course he isn't. Every President since Washington has tried to expand Executive power. Anybody who seriously thought Obama would be any different drank too much of the change kool-aid. Hell, I wasn't even delusional enough to think he would change this trend even back when I supported him.
So if they obtained court authorization to deploy Sarin gas that'd be ok too right?
Wow, hyperbole much? How is installing software on someones computer with court authorization to monitor their behavior any different from using the warrant to obtain a wiretap or using it to search their home and possessions?
I'm sure I'll catch you all in another thread pontificating about the evils of that "us versus them" mentality so pervasive today - but only in those lesser monkey-folk.
Don't feel too bad for me, I made a fair amount of money cleaning up that network;) The person I felt bad for was the business owner. He had spent literally tens of thousands of dollars on iron that he didn't really need just so this kid could expand his "empire". They had enterprise class hardware when all they needed was a small business network capable of running Office and a network share.
I'll have to follow this case, see what shakes out.
Ditto, I'm reserving judgment on it. I am glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks it just might possible that the accusations were justified. Seems like the/. herd was awfully quick to pick sides on this one.....
Eh, that is the bitch with Verizon. I've never had that problem because I've always had contacts at the local CO but if you are forced to go through the 1-800 idiots to get such a problem resolved I can see why you'd be frustrated.
For what it's worth, it's been my experience with Verizon that once you get a competent tech who really resolves such a problem you'll go years without having any issue. The trouble is getting to that competent tech.....
It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he "embellished" the charges. People have been known to do that when they rat someone out. Either because they are criminals themselves and want a sweet plea bargain or because the person they are ratting out really pissed them off.
As far as whether or not Mr. Riccardo did everything else that he's accused of, I don't know him so I can't say. Reading that affidavit reminded me of the IT guy who ran a network that I had the "privilege" of cleaning up once upon a time. I discovered that said IT person had created a virtual empire of warez/porn/filesharing/etc using every single computer within his company. The workstations were partitioned such that the bulk of the hard drive was reserved for a network share that was linked back to his main server. The main server was running everything from IRC fserves, hotline, napster, etc, etc. It was actually quite the impressive setup if you disregarded the fact that it was utterly pointless and completely illegal.
This IT person was the typical young script kiddie and really managed to pull the wool over his employers eyes. They had no idea what was going on or why they were spending so much money on their equipment (the biggest application they used was Office) for so little return. It was scary to think of how much time and effort this kid had to invest to create all of his and what he could have done if he had been engaged in more productive pursuits. I went through my own script kiddie phase when I was a teenager but I never would have had the balls/stupidity to keep doing it as an adult while dragging my employer into it.
Anyway, I digress. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Mr. Riccardo was somebody like that. Especially given his age and some of the comments that were made about him. He comes off as the typical smartass script kiddie. Of course we are only hearing one side of the story and it's quite possible that the kid who made the complaint "embellished". If he did then I would hope that he's prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that Mr. Riccardo bankrupts him in a civil lawsuit.
The other complaints are more than valid, but OpenDNS [opendns.com] works very well for me, as an alternative to Comcast's DNS servers.
How many people who aren't on/. would have any idea about alternative DNS servers or even know what DNS is? The DNS servers going down is a perfectly valid complaint IMHO, because it represents a total internet outage for >90% of their customers.
You'd also need to come up with a good plan to hook up all the homes to the on-ramp though.
Just negotiate with the power company for the right to string wires on their poles..... oh wait, you mean the community gave an exclusive right to the cable company to do that and will use the power of the government to prevent you from doing so as well? Hmm.... "free market" indeed.
What's wrong with Verizon? The only thing that sucks about Verizon is that you are tied to DSL (unless you are lucky enough to live in FiOS land) and it may not be as fast as cable if you aren't close to the CO. Beyond that, they don't cap, they don't play games and they even go to bat for their customers when the mafiaa comes calling.
Verizon pisses me off on many levels but I haven't seen much to complain about with their internet service.
Even if that person had been a useful source of information before, wouldn't that cast some doubt on his veracity?
That can go either way. It could cast doubt on him at trial but it might explain his motivations for ratting the guy out. It's not unknown for criminals to get caught when they piss off former friends who knew about their exploits.
Then, later, because you returned too many purchases to Barnes and Noble and they didn't like that, they went into your house and got blown away when you defended your life and property
Fixed that for you;) Barnes and Noble can have my books when they pry them from my cold dead hands!
Dying by a team that has nothing to do with you, save for being the closest? I'm sure I'll catch you all in another thread pontificating about the evils of that "us versus them" mentality so pervasive today - but only in those lesser monkey-folk.
I didn't think it was possible to play the race card in a conversation about sports rivalries. Well done sir.
Why would Westinghouse continue to invest in nuclear R&D when it was obvious that no new plants were going to be constructed? If you were the CEO of a private concern would you pour money into R&D for a product that you can't produce?
The hippies destroyed the market for nuclear power, thus removing the incentive that Westinghouse had for investing in R&D. I'd say I placed the blame squarely where it belongs. Granted, 'hippies' and 'Westinghouse' doesn't tell the whole story but I think you get my drift....
Slashdot Mirror
... reason to not use Microsoft products.
What makes you think they don't have a variant for Linux? User stupidity (i.e: bad/no security) isn't unique to Windows. Off the top of my head, if they are relying on the web as an infection vector combined with user stupidity, why not write it into a Firefox extension?
Yeah, it wouldn't get your typical /. geek, but most criminals aren't known for their foresight or intelligence. "Oh, the private website with the bank account information needs me to install this software! Ok, what could possibly go wrong?"
... if he was stupid enough to visit the "private" website they created for him with such a lax security setup that his computer willingly installed the FBI's trojan.
1. The Constitution specifies how it is to be interpreted
Where? If you are thinking of Judicial review, you should know that came about from Marbury v. Madison and not from any specific language in the Constitution.
3. You are not named as an interpreter of the Constitution in the Constitution, so your opinion and objections doesn't matter.
Who is named as a interpreter of the Constitution in the Constitution?
You realize that they, like slashdot, are not responsible for what people post?
For better or worse (my vote) history suggests otherwise.
Fair enough. That US News link is pretty good. Put it in my journal entry about the subject. Now that you've confirmed it, what are your thoughts?
I can't seem to find it on DHS (probably because it's marked for official use only) but both Michele Malkin and Huffington Post have the document online. I highly doubt those two agreed to jointly release a faked version. Incidentally, here's a gem from some dude on Redstate in response to the bit about rejecting Federal authority in favor of state or local control:
Liberals, please note: that includes people who argue that individual states have the right to decriminalize marijuana, permit the sale of raw milk, allow assisted suicide, or recognize same-sex marriages. If you're one of those people, welcome to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy: here's your accordion.
There is no way that is within the letter or spirit of the 4th Amendment.
FWIW I agree with you. I've also talked to members of law enforcement who have worked wiretaps and was told by them that they are required to stop listening even when they have an approved wiretap when it becomes apparent that the conversation isn't material to the matter at hand. I.e: If they have a wiretap on a suspected drug dealer they aren't supposed to keep listening when he starts having phone sex with his girlfriend. That seems to be the way it should work if you take the 4th amendment seriously.
I know it sounds crazy, and hopefully is, but when you combine the "perfect storm" of a major economic crisis, single party control of government
Well, there's always the Judicial Branch, but your point is well taken.
And watching the major media drool over "Dear Leader" to the extent that they do is disgusting. What happened to the skepticism and criticism of the government? Is there not just as much a need for journalists to investigate Obama as they did Bush, especially when he's asking for unprecedented power and control?
I don't know how much the "major media" even bothered to investigate Bush. How many serious questions were asked about the Patriot Act before it passed? How many were asked about Iraq before we went to war? The Fourth Estate is a sad joke and has been for sometime. What's worse is that the politicians in both parties have figured out how to game the system and the reporters who cover them are entirely too friendly with the people they are supposedly monitoring on our behalf.
And yes, the drooling over Obama is absolutely sickening. So is the new push coming from the mainstream media (catch 20/20 by any chance?) for gun control. It's pretty sad when I have to go to Faux News of all places to find an alternative point of view on a major political issue because every other media source isn't even pretending to cover both sides of the issue.
Shoot, I hit reply too soon. Here's the best part of that document for anyone that thinks you are being paranoid: (emphasis mine)
Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
So I guess if you are a Libertarian you warrant inclusion with the likes of David Duke and the KKK. What the fuck is wrong with this picture? Why aren't more people talking about this?
I don't think you are paranoid and I don't trust them one damn bit not to abuse this neat little toy that the FBI has. My point was meant to respond to all the people who are claiming that the FBI shouldn't even have this toy -- would it really bother if you it was used in conjunction with a warrant to monitor a Tony Soprano?
The "right wing extremists" report was extremely troubling. It was a whole bunch of "coulds" with no specific information and a warning to watch out for returning veterans and firearm owners. WTF?
Only if you season them right :)
What I'd like to see is an open source antivirus/antispyware suite that WILL detect this.
Actually if you aren't an idiot about it and have proper security settings/practice this thing would never have gotten installed in the first place......
I don't think it is any of the government's business what websites I go to, what blogs I post on, and for that matter, what porn I download.
It is if you are under a court approved investigation for something.
Given some of the scary things coming out of the "O"ministration lately (such as the recent homeland security advisory painting people who support the right to own firearms and who object to the outrageous spending going on as "rightwing extremists" and "potential terrorists" I think I and others have a legitimate fear that we may be targeted for such spyware for political reasons.
That is a legitimate fear -- which is why we have warrants and a judicial system. But to say that this software can't be used at ALL is a bridge too far, IMHO. Would you complain if the FBI installed this spyware on Tony Soprano's computer?
Note that Obama isn't doing anything to repeal the patriot act (which he used to object to). He wants that power just as much as Bush did.
Of course he isn't. Every President since Washington has tried to expand Executive power. Anybody who seriously thought Obama would be any different drank too much of the change kool-aid. Hell, I wasn't even delusional enough to think he would change this trend even back when I supported him.
So if they obtained court authorization to deploy Sarin gas that'd be ok too right?
Wow, hyperbole much? How is installing software on someones computer with court authorization to monitor their behavior any different from using the warrant to obtain a wiretap or using it to search their home and possessions?
How else should I interpret it?
I'm sure I'll catch you all in another thread pontificating about the evils of that "us versus them" mentality so pervasive today - but only in those lesser monkey-folk.
Hmm....
Ouch. I feel for ya.
Don't feel too bad for me, I made a fair amount of money cleaning up that network ;) The person I felt bad for was the business owner. He had spent literally tens of thousands of dollars on iron that he didn't really need just so this kid could expand his "empire". They had enterprise class hardware when all they needed was a small business network capable of running Office and a network share.
I'll have to follow this case, see what shakes out.
Ditto, I'm reserving judgment on it. I am glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks it just might possible that the accusations were justified. Seems like the /. herd was awfully quick to pick sides on this one.....
Eh, that is the bitch with Verizon. I've never had that problem because I've always had contacts at the local CO but if you are forced to go through the 1-800 idiots to get such a problem resolved I can see why you'd be frustrated.
For what it's worth, it's been my experience with Verizon that once you get a competent tech who really resolves such a problem you'll go years without having any issue. The trouble is getting to that competent tech.....
It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he "embellished" the charges. People have been known to do that when they rat someone out. Either because they are criminals themselves and want a sweet plea bargain or because the person they are ratting out really pissed them off.
As far as whether or not Mr. Riccardo did everything else that he's accused of, I don't know him so I can't say. Reading that affidavit reminded me of the IT guy who ran a network that I had the "privilege" of cleaning up once upon a time. I discovered that said IT person had created a virtual empire of warez/porn/filesharing/etc using every single computer within his company. The workstations were partitioned such that the bulk of the hard drive was reserved for a network share that was linked back to his main server. The main server was running everything from IRC fserves, hotline, napster, etc, etc. It was actually quite the impressive setup if you disregarded the fact that it was utterly pointless and completely illegal.
This IT person was the typical young script kiddie and really managed to pull the wool over his employers eyes. They had no idea what was going on or why they were spending so much money on their equipment (the biggest application they used was Office) for so little return. It was scary to think of how much time and effort this kid had to invest to create all of his and what he could have done if he had been engaged in more productive pursuits. I went through my own script kiddie phase when I was a teenager but I never would have had the balls/stupidity to keep doing it as an adult while dragging my employer into it.
Anyway, I digress. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Mr. Riccardo was somebody like that. Especially given his age and some of the comments that were made about him. He comes off as the typical smartass script kiddie. Of course we are only hearing one side of the story and it's quite possible that the kid who made the complaint "embellished". If he did then I would hope that he's prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that Mr. Riccardo bankrupts him in a civil lawsuit.
The other complaints are more than valid, but OpenDNS [opendns.com] works very well for me, as an alternative to Comcast's DNS servers.
How many people who aren't on /. would have any idea about alternative DNS servers or even know what DNS is? The DNS servers going down is a perfectly valid complaint IMHO, because it represents a total internet outage for >90% of their customers.
You'd also need to come up with a good plan to hook up all the homes to the on-ramp though.
Just negotiate with the power company for the right to string wires on their poles..... oh wait, you mean the community gave an exclusive right to the cable company to do that and will use the power of the government to prevent you from doing so as well? Hmm.... "free market" indeed.
Comcast sucks, but Verizon is worse. :(
What's wrong with Verizon? The only thing that sucks about Verizon is that you are tied to DSL (unless you are lucky enough to live in FiOS land) and it may not be as fast as cable if you aren't close to the CO. Beyond that, they don't cap, they don't play games and they even go to bat for their customers when the mafiaa comes calling.
Verizon pisses me off on many levels but I haven't seen much to complain about with their internet service.
Even if that person had been a useful source of information before, wouldn't that cast some doubt on his veracity?
That can go either way. It could cast doubt on him at trial but it might explain his motivations for ratting the guy out. It's not unknown for criminals to get caught when they piss off former friends who knew about their exploits.
Then, later, because you returned too many purchases to Barnes and Noble and they didn't like that, they went into your house and got blown away when you defended your life and property
Fixed that for you ;) Barnes and Noble can have my books when they pry them from my cold dead hands!
Dying by a team that has nothing to do with you, save for being the closest? I'm sure I'll catch you all in another thread pontificating about the evils of that "us versus them" mentality so pervasive today - but only in those lesser monkey-folk.
I didn't think it was possible to play the race card in a conversation about sports rivalries. Well done sir.
Also, fuck you ;)
Defective by design
We also had NY make us pay sales tax because we DROVE THROUGH NY to delivery products ourselves to PA.
You drove through New York to get to Pennsylvania from California? Let me guess, you used MapQuest didn't you? ;)
Why would Westinghouse continue to invest in nuclear R&D when it was obvious that no new plants were going to be constructed? If you were the CEO of a private concern would you pour money into R&D for a product that you can't produce?
The hippies destroyed the market for nuclear power, thus removing the incentive that Westinghouse had for investing in R&D. I'd say I placed the blame squarely where it belongs. Granted, 'hippies' and 'Westinghouse' doesn't tell the whole story but I think you get my drift....