There is always the possibility of a double-extension trojan with embeded image....
eg funnypic.jpg.exe would be an executable self extracting program, which unpacked the virus code, and an image. It then tells your default image viewer to display the image, while it goes and installs the virus.
No dodgy buffer overflows required. Guaranteed to run on every windos machine and "look right" - and hard for your virus scanner to detect unless it recognizes the packed executable (which the virus could re-pack with some extra random data using a custom format so it looked different when it arrived on each machine. Basically the only thing that could be detected would be the unpacking code - but if you used for example a fairly common LZW algorithm with some modified rules, most archivers might trigger the virus scanner.
I suppose someone will go out and write it now.... but those kiddies don't seem to have the skill...
Here's an interesting thought, brought on by thoughts of MyDoom and some spam that made it through my "fry it if it looks funny" mail filters.
What if someone wrote a virus that targeted spammers web sites for DDoS?
Harness the awesome power of a bazillion spare CPU cycles to bring down any web server associated with spam...
Of course you would have to have the virus download spam site updates every few days, and you would need a real person vetting the sites to hit, but if this were the case, how long would it be before ISP's decided spam was just not worth the risk?
(gee, I just had all my web servers taken out because somebody sent out a spam referring to a page hosted by me..... that's not making my paying customers very happy)
I notice everyone else can only tell you what else to do - so as a REAL geek, here's some answers:
1. Do it all with wireless - if the only wires involved are the plug pack to the nearest power point, it is no different to the clock-radio or television when it comes to taking it with you when you leave.
2. Use access points that take PCMCIA cards to do the actual wireless stuff. You can then take out the card that comes with it and install a long range card, like one of the 200mw Senao cards. Apart from the higher output, they are also more sensitive on the receive side.
3. If you are the handyman type, you can build an antenna from scratch (the slotted waveguide I am thinking of can also be bought pre-built). In western Australia we have a wireless group that has gotten 30km (about 19miles) line-of-sight between two of these - and they are NOT directional. You may be able to use just one access point with this and the standard antennas on the clients.
4. Prefer client cards that take an external whip, rather than relying on the internal antennas that are built into most pcmcia cards. This may not be necessary in all cases, but use them where it is convenient.
Some places to start looking: http://www.wafreenet.org/ http://www.wa freenet.org/content/hillshub.html http://www.narx .net/~mike/projects/waveguide/
The slotted waveguide in the second link is a 180 degree version - but you can get (or make) a 360 degree version. Retail on these is about $600 australian.
If you are lucky, one of these on the edge of the 2nd or 3rd floor might cover the building - but probably better to have one at each side of the building, or maybe a 360degree installed in the middle - you'll have to experiment. (you might need one for each floor, or one in each corridor or something). The right gear WILL punch through walls, but not that well (I have a high powered card with small home made whip antenna reaching through two layers of thick earth wall and a brick wall to a normal 30mw access point with its standard 6" whip. the signal is poor, but it's there. My brother-in-law's 30mw card can get through one brick and one earth wall to the access point)
Also make sure your access points can operate as a wireless backbone (if you need more than one). If you can avoid cables through the building you don't need permission, and they can't stop you taking the gear when you leave.
Once you have it up and running, odds are you will be able to re-coup some of the expense from the users if you want (I know how hard it is to get people to invest in something that might work, as opposed to something that is working). That would mean you'll have to leave it there when you leave, but you will also have most of your money back, and can go spend it on networking your next residence:-)
As for all the people that blasted him for wasting money on a rented property - did anyone stop to think he might be a student, or not want to be stuck with a fixed asset for some other reason? Perhaps he is employed in that city for a couple of years, and it's pointless buying a house when he knows he will have to sell it before the value goes up enough to cover the associated fees.
A full Windows installation, compared to installing Linux, on an Enterprise Server boxen:
* Is nearly three hours faster.
* Requires 77% fewer steps.
Three hours faster on enterprise hardware?
Well compared to the complete install of slackware 9 (with everything) I did yesterday that would mean you can get a fully operational windows box connected to the internet, running proxy server, sharing postscript printers, talking to both MacOS and Windows 98, serving web documents, remotely configurable and ready for you to walk out the door in about zero minutes. I'm impressed!.
Mind you there were only a few actual user accounts to set up, and it was just an old pentium 3 500Mhz with 128M RAM and a 20G drive - not exactly your current "enterprise class" machine. Something modern would likey have taken half the time.
Actually, I had allocated most of the day just in case - so I spent a few hours upgrading and tweaking a few things.
well i do agree there - we do need drivers - the hard bit is getting someone PAID to produce them,
No matter how much you want to fix the driver you wrote, there is a limit on how much time you can spend on it - if it's your job, that limit is a lot higher.
I actually read the ad....
I wonder - did they use people who had no experience with windows to compare against the support costs for people who had no experience with linux?
Given that a windows desktop server can cost several thousands of dollars to buy software for, before you pay someone to actually install and configure it, are they saying it cost them several thousanddollars to get the linux server working?
Takes me less than a day to get a working, configured server linux server... (two if I download all the software).
Ongoing costs? Yes, they did have to read the manual for the linux software... But i'd have to read the manual for the Windows software if I wanted a non-default config.
As for the "case studies" I wonder how much it cost M$ to send someone out to walk them through the changeover? Might not have cost that customer, but It sure didn't come out of Bill's pocket!
Interesting Facts: Giga Research is a wholly owned subsidiary of Forrester Research, who changed their policy on paid-for product comparisons as a result of at least a similar study, if not the one touted in the advert.
IDC - well....
IDC: Microsoft breakup would benefit the industry
and a quote from here "IDC has also published research in the past that shows some companies replacing Unix systems with Linux can save twice as much as those that move from Unix to Windows".
For me, linux runs better, faster, and supports more of my hardware than windows (see my other posts on this topic) and it keeps on doing it day after day without slowing down.
We run a uClinux variant (open-ap) on wireless access points too.
It's good to see it integrated into the kernel though - I can use the latest firewall and access control features on my little accesspoint - and if it won't fit? I've just got to pick something else I can do without.
I see they are working on a port to Cisco 2500 routers too - though it is a long way off, and doesn't look like it has had mucch recent work. There is also a port to the processor in my old Cisco 1003 - when that all gets merged in (probably years away) we will have something I can't even get from Cisco - a current operating system for old hardware (they stopped supporting the 1003 back at version 12, and I wanted a 12.1 IOS feature - VPDN (yes, there is a linux project, but that needs some more features before it goes into my 1003:)).
The impossible we can do next week - miracles may take a little longer!
The nVidia drivers are sometimes a bit faster in Linux but guess what? Those are made by the manufacturer not some wannabe college student Linux programmer.
You can't compare drivers hacked together by someone who has no idea how the device works against a professionally written driver written by the people that built the device.
I use the NVidia drivers, amongst many others. I even wrote the DirecPC linux driver - so I know how difficult it is to make a piece of unknown hardware work at all, let alone properly without any help from the manufacturer.
If they just gave us the documentation we'd be happy - actually giving us code is a bonus.
Back when I "upgraded" to XP, I found my scanner had NO drivers (and still doesn't), and my NVidia TNT2 (ASUS V3800) with video in/out had drivers, but the video in/out didn't work.
I moved my scanner to my linux server and installed "sane". I installed "sane-twain" (free/OSS software) on my XP box, and it then accessed the scanner on the linux box quite happily. Some of the icons weren't as pretty as the windows driver, but all the same stuff was there.
Later I installed a dual-boot setup on my workstation. I used XP less and less because it was so SLOW and getting slower - I don't install much new software once i get set up either - and yes, I ran AdAware and anti-virus software.
Eventually, I only ever fired up windows to run Quickbooks. Now that I have Crossover Office installed, I don't even do that (crossover runs the native windows quickbooks just fine).
A few weeks ago I used Partition Magic to downsize my XP partition (which I had done once before) to make more room for linux. My XP partition was 15GB with about 3GB spare, while Linux was 8GB with no spare.
(un)fortunately, Partition magic trashed my XP partition..... so what did I do? stress? no... I just said "well, I don't use it, so why recover/re-install it? Partition Magic then proceeded to do a wonderful job deleting the XP partition and moving/resizing the Linux Ext3 partition. I now have a lovely 23GB linux partition with loads of free space. GNU parted provides similar capabilities on linux, though I have yet to check it out in person.
The best thing, is that I have a WinRadio card. Winradio stopped developing their linux drivers shortly after releasing a working open-source driver a few years back. Someone started a sourceforge page and updated the original driver. They haven't done any work on it for almost a year, but i was still able to download it and with about a day's work yesterday, I have my winradio card working on kernel 2.6. (yes, I have contacted the sourceforge page owner about sending the updates so everyone can use it).
Someone is going to say "but i can't write software so what good does that do me". My answer is that I don't write 99% of the software on my linux box. I just contribute where i can because i want to - it doesn't matter if I draw a few graphics, write code, make a web page, or do nothing at all, I can still use the work of people like myself.
The best part is that I don't have to start from scratch - I don't have to start writing the driver all over again just because Winradio don't want to update the drivers for my old card, and won't give me the source code. (although to their credit winradio do provide a windows driver for XP, even for this, their oldest card)
Another example is the NVidia drivers - the official ones don't support Kernel 2.6 yet, but due to the open source component (the core of the driver and GL code is closed source), I can get a 2.6 driver from a third party, who, just like myself, did it for himself and released the result to the public.
Right now I have ALL my hardware working quickly and well, even though some of it is 5 or 6 years old, and ALL of it is 3+ years old, and I'm running the latest version of the OS.
I just can't get that anywhere else.
You're about to say "but I can't get drivers for the latest gadget". Well if the vendors followed the Winradio and NVidia examples, by releasing a linux driver, you wouldn't have that problem.
mount your/home with the noexec option (so users can't run their own software)
only give exec permission to applications that you want people to run (by setting the owner, group, and appropriate permission bits on each file).
now only root can allow a user's program to run (by installing it outside/home - perhaps in a/home-exec/userid folder).
Wouldn't be hard to have a setuid-root (or even setuid-special-user) program that checked the signing of the new software and moved it to the executable area, and we already have the sandboxing:-)
NVidia DO provide a binary driver, with an open-source interface to the kernel.
Their current installer will try to use a pre-compiled binary driver, or of one isn't in the file you download, it will look on their site for one. Failing that (or if you choose to roll your own anyway) you can compile the included source.
Thay do this to protect their code, while making the driver easy to port to new kernels.
I'm running binary portion written by NVidia, and the source portion ported to 2.6 by someone else.
NVidia Linux DriversPorted to 2.6
hmm, try XPLite from Litepc.com... one of the things I found through tinyapps.org
remove IE and many other things from your XP, 2000 or 98 flavoured DOS...
Other DNS records started life as TXT records - and were allocated real ones once they became standards - so that's only a temporary thing.
Checking against MX immediatly stops anyone from a non-MX host from sending mail, other than to the mail server of the ISP they are connected through (and they can only do that if the ISP overrides the MX check for their local IPs.
Isn't that the exact reason SPF is a PITA? SPF is just the same as MX checking, except you can specify extra or even different hosts, or even whole ranges of hosts (eg all the dialup and adsl IPs for an ISP can send mail from the ISP's domain, and the domains they host)
This at least reduces the "this person is spamming in my name" thing down to customers of the same ISP - at least there is a hance of getting the ISP to do something about it.
way back in 97 or 98 I remember setting up my linux servers to transparently proxy/cache all web traffic.....
Squid (the cache software) had a pluce to plug in your own re-write software to transparently get data from a different URL - not too much later we had this taking requests for tucows sites and redirecting them to our upstream provider's mirror.....
Can't remember the other redirects we had in there, but it worked well.
Wouldn't have taken much effort to check if the source IP had logged in...
VRFY by itself wouldn't help at all - I can just do a dictionary attack on some poor ISP - and get a valid account. If I use that as the from address, I will be seen as a valid sender no matter where i am.
You would have to combine it with SPF to check that I am sending from an address that should be sending mail from that domain.
just download a CD version, extract it out, add all your favourite gigabytes, and re-pack it. The same tools will burn the new DVD version or the old CD one.
Assuming your system can boot a DVD, it should work well. Worth noting that many older systems (pre pentium 3 even) can't boot CDs over 700 megs.
Stage 1: provide a fast booting device for home entertainment. People will use the features in this because it starts up almost as fast as the VCR, TV or whatever else they would have turned on to do the same.
Stage 2: start providing built-in apps for other things (eg games). Make it possible to download updates from our web site.
Stage 3: since it's linux, people will realise there are other programs that work on our device, and start using them because the device will be more covenient than going over to the computer and waiting for windows to boot.
Stage 4: start selling bigger devices to handle the increased load of watching TV while playing Quake/Eternal Lands/etc
[0008] looks interesting - it appears to say "the invention stores generic info about how the object affects the rest of the document" - and "it also helps you deal with things you don't understand"
for example - you have stored an image in the document as a data url, and the data is in (ms propietry image format) Generic info in the document will let you draw the rest of the page without knowing how to read that format. Such info might include how text or other objects flow around, over or through the object, the size/shape, perhaps some info on drawing a basic preview of the object (eg draw two concentric arcs with different radii and write the text "hello" in the middle).
Apart from the basic preview instructions, HTML has been doing it for years.
[009] is not so interesting - the basic concept is "this file can contain everything needed to re-create a document" - that idea has been around for a long time - and "it does it using XML" - well XML was designed with that in mind, so nothing new there.
So we are left with "documents that can help you draw the bits you don't understand" What gets spooky is will the "helper" info be code - eg embeded java applets in the document.
Slashdot Mirror
There is always the possibility of a double-extension trojan with embeded image....
eg funnypic.jpg.exe would be an executable self extracting program, which unpacked the virus code, and an image. It then tells your default image viewer to display the image, while it goes and installs the virus.
No dodgy buffer overflows required. Guaranteed to run on every windos machine and "look right" - and hard for your virus scanner to detect unless it recognizes the packed executable (which the virus could re-pack with some extra random data using a custom format so it looked different when it arrived on each machine.
Basically the only thing that could be detected would be the unpacking code - but if you used for example a fairly common LZW algorithm with some modified rules, most archivers might trigger the virus scanner.
I suppose someone will go out and write it now.... but those kiddies don't seem to have the skill...
Here's an interesting thought, brought on by thoughts of MyDoom and some spam that made it through my "fry it if it looks funny" mail filters.
What if someone wrote a virus that targeted spammers web sites for DDoS?
Harness the awesome power of a bazillion spare CPU cycles to bring down any web server associated with spam...
Of course you would have to have the virus download spam site updates every few days, and you would need a real person vetting the sites to hit, but if this were the case, how long would it be before ISP's decided spam was just not worth the risk?
(gee, I just had all my web servers taken out because somebody sent out a spam referring to a page hosted by me..... that's not making my paying customers very happy)
user saves
user extracts tar file
execute......
any archiver not maintaining the permissions of files in the archive would be considered buggy.
s/tar/zip/ and linux is no different to windows, except the file that executes will hopefully not find it's way to running as root.
I notice everyone else can only tell you what else to do - so as a REAL geek, here's some answers:
a freenet.org/content/hillshub.htmlx .net/~mike/projects/waveguide/
:-)
1. Do it all with wireless - if the only wires involved are the plug pack to the nearest power point, it is no different to the clock-radio or television when it comes to taking it with you when you leave.
2. Use access points that take PCMCIA cards to do the actual wireless stuff. You can then take out the card that comes with it and install a long range card, like one of the 200mw Senao cards. Apart from the higher output, they are also more sensitive on the receive side.
3. If you are the handyman type, you can build an antenna from scratch (the slotted waveguide I am thinking of can also be bought pre-built). In western Australia we have a wireless group that has gotten 30km (about 19miles) line-of-sight between two of these - and they are NOT directional. You may be able to use just one access point with this and the standard antennas on the clients.
4. Prefer client cards that take an external whip, rather than relying on the internal antennas that are built into most pcmcia cards. This may not be necessary in all cases, but use them where it is convenient.
Some places to start looking:
http://www.wafreenet.org/
http://www.w
http://www.nar
The slotted waveguide in the second link is a 180 degree version - but you can get (or make) a 360 degree version.
Retail on these is about $600 australian.
If you are lucky, one of these on the edge of the 2nd or 3rd floor might cover the building - but probably better to have one at each side of the building, or maybe a 360degree installed in the middle - you'll have to experiment. (you might need one for each floor, or one in each corridor or something). The right gear WILL punch through walls, but not that well (I have a high powered card with small home made whip antenna reaching through two layers of thick earth wall and a brick wall to a normal 30mw access point with its standard 6" whip. the signal is poor, but it's there. My brother-in-law's 30mw card can get through one brick and one earth wall to the access point)
Also make sure your access points can operate as a wireless backbone (if you need more than one). If you can avoid cables through the building you don't need permission, and they can't stop you taking the gear when you leave.
Once you have it up and running, odds are you will be able to re-coup some of the expense from the users if you want (I know how hard it is to get people to invest in something that might work, as opposed to something that is working). That would mean you'll have to leave it there when you leave, but you will also have most of your money back, and can go spend it on networking your next residence
As for all the people that blasted him for wasting money on a rented property - did anyone stop to think he might be a student, or not want to be stuck with a fixed asset for some other reason? Perhaps he is employed in that city for a couple of years, and it's pointless buying a house when he knows he will have to sell it before the value goes up enough to cover the associated fees.
* Is nearly three hours faster.
* Requires 77% fewer steps.
Three hours faster on enterprise hardware?
Well compared to the complete install of slackware 9 (with everything) I did yesterday that would mean you can get a fully operational windows box connected to the internet, running proxy server, sharing postscript printers, talking to both MacOS and Windows 98, serving web documents, remotely configurable and ready for you to walk out the door in about zero minutes. I'm impressed!.
Mind you there were only a few actual user accounts to set up, and it was just an old pentium 3 500Mhz with 128M RAM and a 20G drive - not exactly your current "enterprise class" machine.
Something modern would likey have taken half the time.
Actually, I had allocated most of the day just in case - so I spent a few hours upgrading and tweaking a few things.
This must be that new extension to packet over sheep? RFC2303
well i do agree there - we do need drivers - the hard bit is getting someone PAID to produce them,
No matter how much you want to fix the driver you wrote, there is a limit on how much time you can spend on it - if it's your job, that limit is a lot higher.
I wonder - did they use people who had no experience with windows to compare against the support costs for people who had no experience with linux?
Given that a windows desktop server can cost several thousands of dollars to buy software for, before you pay someone to actually install and configure it, are they saying it cost them several thousanddollars to get the linux server working?
Takes me less than a day to get a working, configured server linux server... (two if I download all the software).
Ongoing costs? Yes, they did have to read the manual for the linux software... But i'd have to read the manual for the Windows software if I wanted a non-default config.
As for the "case studies" I wonder how much it cost M$ to send someone out to walk them through the changeover? Might not have cost that customer, but It sure didn't come out of Bill's pocket!
Interesting Facts: Giga Research is a wholly owned subsidiary of Forrester Research, who changed their policy on paid-for product comparisons as a result of at least a similar study, if not the one touted in the advert.
In their defence (or perhaps not), Forrester did find that MP3s are good for the music industry...
Meta Group will say anything: (not that I don't like the idea, but wouldn't you try to "correct" a firm saying this about you?) :-)
By 2006 or 2007 Linux will be running on 45% of new server
again on eeek (I notice that has a HP ad on it) er, eWeek - but I like the typo better
IDC - well.... IDC: Microsoft breakup would benefit the industry and a quote from here
"IDC has also published research in the past that shows some companies replacing Unix systems with Linux can save twice as much as those that move from Unix to Windows".
We run a uClinux variant (open-ap) on wireless access points too.
It's good to see it integrated into the kernel though - I can use the latest firewall and access control features on my little accesspoint - and if it won't fit? I've just got to pick something else I can do without.
I see they are working on a port to Cisco 2500 routers too - though it is a long way off, and doesn't look like it has had mucch recent work. There is also a port to the processor in my old Cisco 1003 - when that all gets merged in (probably years away) we will have something I can't even get from Cisco - a current operating system for old hardware (they stopped supporting the 1003 back at version 12, and I wanted a 12.1 IOS feature - VPDN (yes, there is a linux project, but that needs some more features before it goes into my 1003
The impossible we can do next week - miracles may take a little longer!
You can't compare drivers hacked together by someone who has no idea how the device works against a professionally written driver written by the people that built the device.
I use the NVidia drivers, amongst many others. I even wrote the DirecPC linux driver - so I know how difficult it is to make a piece of unknown hardware work at all, let alone properly without any help from the manufacturer.
If they just gave us the documentation we'd be happy - actually giving us code is a bonus.
I moved my scanner to my linux server and installed "sane". I installed "sane-twain" (free/OSS software) on my XP box, and it then accessed the scanner on the linux box quite happily. Some of the icons weren't as pretty as the windows driver, but all the same stuff was there.
Later I installed a dual-boot setup on my workstation. I used XP less and less because it was so SLOW and getting slower - I don't install much new software once i get set up either - and yes, I ran AdAware and anti-virus software.
Eventually, I only ever fired up windows to run Quickbooks. Now that I have Crossover Office installed, I don't even do that (crossover runs the native windows quickbooks just fine).
A few weeks ago I used Partition Magic to downsize my XP partition (which I had done once before) to make more room for linux. My XP partition was 15GB with about 3GB spare, while Linux was 8GB with no spare.
(un)fortunately, Partition magic trashed my XP partition..... so what did I do? stress? no... I just said "well, I don't use it, so why recover/re-install it? Partition Magic then proceeded to do a wonderful job deleting the XP partition and moving/resizing the Linux Ext3 partition. I now have a lovely 23GB linux partition with loads of free space. GNU parted provides similar capabilities on linux, though I have yet to check it out in person.
The best thing, is that I have a WinRadio card. Winradio stopped developing their linux drivers shortly after releasing a working open-source driver a few years back. Someone started a sourceforge page and updated the original driver. They haven't done any work on it for almost a year, but i was still able to download it and with about a day's work yesterday, I have my winradio card working on kernel 2.6. (yes, I have contacted the sourceforge page owner about sending the updates so everyone can use it).
Someone is going to say "but i can't write software so what good does that do me". My answer is that I don't write 99% of the software on my linux box. I just contribute where i can because i want to - it doesn't matter if I draw a few graphics, write code, make a web page, or do nothing at all, I can still use the work of people like myself.
The best part is that I don't have to start from scratch - I don't have to start writing the driver all over again just because Winradio don't want to update the drivers for my old card, and won't give me the source code. (although to their credit winradio do provide a windows driver for XP, even for this, their oldest card) Another example is the NVidia drivers - the official ones don't support Kernel 2.6 yet, but due to the open source component (the core of the driver and GL code is closed source), I can get a 2.6 driver from a third party, who, just like myself, did it for himself and released the result to the public.
Right now I have ALL my hardware working quickly and well, even though some of it is 5 or 6 years old, and ALL of it is 3+ years old, and I'm running the latest version of the OS.
I just can't get that anywhere else.
You're about to say "but I can't get drivers for the latest gadget". Well if the vendors followed the Winradio and NVidia examples, by releasing a linux driver, you wouldn't have that problem.
erm, Linux does this already
mount your
only give exec permission to applications that you want people to run (by setting the owner, group, and appropriate permission bits on each file).
now only root can allow a user's program to run (by installing it outside
Wouldn't be hard to have a setuid-root (or even setuid-special-user) program that checked the signing of the new software and moved it to the executable area, and we already have the sandboxing
Their current installer will try to use a pre-compiled binary driver, or of one isn't in the file you download, it will look on their site for one. Failing that (or if you choose to roll your own anyway) you can compile the included source.
Thay do this to protect their code, while making the driver easy to port to new kernels.
I'm running binary portion written by NVidia, and the source portion ported to 2.6 by someone else. NVidia Linux Drivers Ported to 2.6
I wonder....
do the DDoS requests to www.sco.com include the captured keystrokes?
maybe they're on a funding drive?
given that no-one is likely to have been fertilizing the mine fields for a few years, I don't think this would be a big problem....
and if there are enough explosives in there to change all the flowers, you really shouldn't be in there, should you?
You forgot supply and demand - if just 1% of the population goes into IT, that's 40,000 jobs.
Tell me that won't reduce the demand....
hmm, try XPLite from Litepc.com... one of the things I found through tinyapps.org remove IE and many other things from your XP, 2000 or 98 flavoured DOS...
so why don't they get some of those roll-up solar panels to go with their roll-up screens?
nice thing about solar in the desert... tends to charge batteries rather well.
Other DNS records started life as TXT records - and were allocated real ones once they became standards - so that's only a temporary thing.
Checking against MX immediatly stops anyone from a non-MX host from sending mail, other than to the mail server of the ISP they are connected through (and they can only do that if the ISP overrides the MX check for their local IPs.
Isn't that the exact reason SPF is a PITA?
SPF is just the same as MX checking, except you can specify extra or even different hosts, or even whole ranges of hosts (eg all the dialup and adsl IPs for an ISP can send mail from the ISP's domain, and the domains they host)
This at least reduces the "this person is spamming in my name" thing down to customers of the same ISP - at least there is a hance of getting the ISP to do something about it.
way back in 97 or 98 I remember setting up my linux servers to transparently proxy/cache all web traffic.....
Squid (the cache software) had a pluce to plug in your own re-write software to transparently get data from a different URL - not too much later we had this taking requests for tucows sites and redirecting them to our upstream provider's mirror.....
Can't remember the other redirects we had in there, but it worked well.
Wouldn't have taken much effort to check if the source IP had logged in...
VRFY by itself wouldn't help at all - I can just do a dictionary attack on some poor ISP - and get a valid account. If I use that as the from address, I will be seen as a valid sender no matter where i am.
You would have to combine it with SPF to check that I am sending from an address that should be sending mail from that domain.
well apart from the extra bandwidth.....
just download a CD version, extract it out, add all your favourite gigabytes, and re-pack it. The same tools will burn the new DVD version or the old CD one.
Assuming your system can boot a DVD, it should work well. Worth noting that many older systems (pre pentium 3 even) can't boot CDs over 700 megs.
Most of the info you need should be lurking in /proc somewhere.... even the parameters from the boot loader are available....
If you want the actual kernel configuration to compile one the same, you're out of luck unless it's a 2.6 kernel with that info compiled in.
World Domination v0.0.1
Stage 1: provide a fast booting device for home entertainment. People will use the features in this because it starts up almost as fast as the VCR, TV or whatever else they would have turned on to do the same.
Stage 2: start providing built-in apps for other things (eg games). Make it possible to download updates from our web site.
Stage 3: since it's linux, people will realise there are other programs that work on our device, and start using them because the device will be more covenient than going over to the computer and waiting for windows to boot.
Stage 4: start selling bigger devices to handle the increased load of watching TV while playing Quake/Eternal Lands/etc
Stage 5: spend profits......
[0008] looks interesting - it appears to say "the invention stores generic info about how the object affects the rest of the document" - and "it also helps you deal with things you don't understand"
for example - you have stored an image in the document as a data url, and the data is in (ms propietry image format) Generic info in the document will let you draw the rest of the page without knowing how to read that format.
Such info might include how text or other objects flow around, over or through the object, the size/shape, perhaps some info on drawing a basic preview of the object (eg draw two concentric arcs with different radii and write the text "hello" in the middle).
Apart from the basic preview instructions, HTML has been doing it for years.
[009] is not so interesting - the basic concept is "this file can contain everything needed to re-create a document" - that idea has been around for a long time - and "it does it using XML" - well XML was designed with that in mind, so nothing new there.
So we are left with "documents that can help you draw the bits you don't understand"
What gets spooky is will the "helper" info be code - eg embeded java applets in the document.
anyone know of something that already does that?