I have have almost finished reading "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID". It describes how Wallmart, Procter & Gamble, Accenture and other large companies plan to have RFID chips in everything we buy. They would be used for inventory control, automated checkout and other purposes, but passive RFID tags would remain active in our clothing and other items for many years afterwards. Before long we will all be walking around with RFID tags in our shoes, clothing, drivers licenses, cards in our wallet and on our shopper ID cards.
Each and every item sold would have a unique serial number. The stores who sold those items to us would have a record of who owns them in their computer databases. They would record who purchased them when we use our shoppers ID card, charge card or wrote a check while paying for them. Since 1987 many companys have been using data aggregators to share information about our purchases. In the future, every time we walk past an RFID scanner at a store we would be recognized and and there would be a record of our having been there. In the movie "Minority Report" there are several examples of RFID technology being used to provide targeted advertising.
Some motorists already have toll transponders attached to their windows to pay tolls. In Huston, if you have a toll tag, you are unkowingly beaming a unique ID number to roadway RFID readers that are placed every five miles along some of their freeways. The Federal Highway Administration has a proposal to require all cars to be spychipped before coming off the assembly line. In their proposal, the spychip would be accompanied by a GPS receiver and an 802.11 wireless device to upload real-time location data as your car passes roadside "hot spots". It is slated for rollout between 2008 and 2010. The FCC has also reserved a radio band for applications like that.
Passive RFID devices don't use batteries so they keep working for many years. When you throw out your RFID tagged clothing and other items they can still be read from several feet away from your garbage can. Market researchers have expressed an interest in covertly driving by garbage cans and scanning their contents from several feet away.
Many Christians are uncomfortable with RFID technology because of what it says in Revalation 13:16-17 about the mark of the beast. They feel that the implatable versions of RFID chips might be what the bible is refering to. Implantable RFID tags are already being widely implanted in pets and have been implanted in a few bar patrons at at the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain and the Baja Beach Club in Rotterdam, Holland and in the Bar Soba in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Amika nightclub in Maimi Beach, Florida. A soon to be released book is called "The Spychips Threat : Why Christians Should Resist RFID and Computer Tracking".
Those are just a few examples of the privacy issues with RFID. I am not totally opposed to all uses of RFID but believe that all RFID tagged items should have label that says that they contain RFID tags. That way consumers can choose to avoid them if they want to. Here is on organization that oppose RFID tags:
I have seen a small keystroke logger for PS2 cables listed in a computer parts catalogue for many years. According to the catalogue it needs to be attached to the end of of the PS2 cable on the keyboard. If I remember correctly, it suggested that it would be a good way for parents to keep track of what their children are doing on the Internet. How many people buy them for other purposes? Someone could stick one of those on someone elses computer for a few days and then retreive the device later. I was surprised that they could legally sell something like that.
How often do people bother crawling under their desk to look for something like that? On my computer there is a PS2 to AT keyboard adapter which looks very similiar. Some people do online banking while they travel at Internet Cafes, public librarys or other computers that are open to the public. Is that is safe or not? Remember the incident a couple of years ago where someone had secretly installed keystroke logging software at 14 Kinko's stores. He used software instead of hardware. According to one article "he captured more than 450 user names and passwords, using them to access and even open bank accounts online." He is the article:
http://castlecops.com/article2568.html
If I am not mistaken, employers are legally allowed to used keystroke loggers to monitor what their employees are doing and are also allowed to read employees email. It is best to be careful what you say about the boss in email messages at work. When you get to work perhaps you should crawl under your desk and check the end of the cable on your keyboard. Perhaps a co-worker or the boss might have installed one of those. Of course if software is being used you still might not know.
When can I expect Sony to provide secretly installed DRM spyware and a rootkit for the various AMD Athlon 64 versions of Linux? Surely 64-bit Linux users also deserve that? I hope they offer a version that is compatible with the Slamd 64 version of Linux that I use. It will need to be compatible with the more or less BSD style initialization that Slamed 64 uses instead of the more common System V style initialization that most other distros use.
My computer triple boots between Slackware 10.2, Slamd 64 10.2 and the AMD 64 version of Kubuntu 5.10. Will they eventually have a correct procedure for having rootkits on all of those partitions at once? Every once in a while I download a new version of the Linux kernel and custom compile it the way I want. I hope Sony will offer software will be able to automatically adapt to the new kernel and kernel modules?
Will they have a pop-up box that asks me for my root password when installing their software? Surley the average Linux user will not mind giving out their root password so that spyware and a rootkit can be installed? As a Linux user, I also miss getting to read the more threatening bullying style EULAs that come with most Windows software. The EULAs that come with the various free Linux software packages sound so much more easy going, friendy and straight forward. I am sure that Linux users would get that same "warm fuzzy" feeling when reading the Sonly EULA.
I use a dial-up Internet connection, so will I get to experience the thrill of seeing the lights on my external modem light up as their software calls home? With Linux I kind of miss the way that lights on the external modem would frequently flash at unexpected times like they did when running spyware under Windows. At least, I suspected that it might have been spyare calling home (not really sure). I have missed not seeing that happen under Linux? Will Sony soon provide me with spyware that makes my external modem's LEDs light up as it calls home? I have been so dissapointed by the lack of spyware available for Linux?
I hope colleges do itemize the "Surveilance Surcharge" cost on students receipts when they register for classes. They would be outraged at the $450 they have to pay as well as the possible privacy issues involved. Here is how it might look on their receipt:
FBI Surveilance Surcharge........... $450.00
An earlier comment on Slashdot made by Deliveranc3 reflects a more important concern than just money. He said this:
Universities are the places where revolution has historically started, curtailing student influence merely stops one of the free checks and balances on the system.
I agree with what he said and historically that is true. During the Vietnam war students held large anti-war protests at colleges and universities. There was what was called the "generation gap" where most older adults dissagreed with young peoples views on issues such as the war, the sexual revolution, wearing long hair and "rock and roll" music. Parents complained stongly about how they hated "Rock and Roll" and guys with long hair. There was a popular sloan back then that said "never trust anyone over 30."
That seems to be true in other countries as well. Students and other young people are frequenty the ones who openly protest against government policies. That happened in China when students and other young people we killed in Tiannimun Square (or however you spell it). It also happened in Burma the army slaughtered large numbers of students and other young people. Our government was created with various carefully designed checks and balances such as the three seperate branches of government, freedom of speeh, freedom of the press, and the right to bear arms. Those were carefully designed to prevent any one group of government officials from seizing power. Being able to carefully monitor student communication is contrary to the spirit of those checks and ballances. Is the main goal actually for government authorities to be able to keep students in line during troubled times in the future?
I took several digital electronic classes at a junior college back in the early 1990's. We learned how to use boolian algebra to design the simplest possible circuit that will do what we wanted. We designed and built our own simple digital circuts. We would select a few inexpensive jellybean parts from the back room and then snap them into a breadboard (with no solder) and then watch which LED's would light up to see if we were getting the correct output. In another class we used some old DOS based CAD software for designing our own circuit boards for digital electronics. We were not electronic engineers, we were just ordinary college freshmen at a small junior college. At one time our instructor had taught electronics to black kids at an inner city high school. I bet they could do much of this same stuff. I was really surprised at how easy it was to design and build simple digital circuits with so little training.
I never went on to get a degree in that field and am not an expert. But even so, I have some minimal basic electonic skills from those classes and what I had to learn about radio circuits to get my general class ham radio licence. With a little bit of effort and study, if I was so inclined, I suspect I could probably modify or create something that could get around their analog hole restrictions. Not that I am advocating that, I am just speculating about what many people whould be able to do. Of course many of us already own various devices which are not crippled. Will the use of those devices be grandfathered in and still be legal?
Perhaps the RIAA/MPAA should make boolian algebra texbooks illegal. Perhaps they shold also make breadboards illegal. I doubt that they would ever make all the various electronic parts illegal but if they did people would probably start collecting and saving parts from old electronic devices that are being thrown away. When I was in grade school back in the 1960s their was the one geek in the 6th grade who collected resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, chokes and other parts from scrap equipment. While eating lunch at school he would proudly show us the latest parts that he had found. Perhaps someday there will be a generation of hardware hackers who collect forbidden parts from old electronic devices and secretly share their secret plans and their banned boolean algebra textbooks. I believe there will always be significant numbers of poeple still using the analog hole no matter what laws the RIAA/MPAA pushes politicians to pass. Hollywood is totally underestimating what the next generation of kids will be able to do. Nearly every generation of young people has found its way of being cool by rebeling against the establishment. Less techie type people will likely be able to quietly buy limited production non-DRM-comlient homemade black market electronic items from friends. The analog hole will never be closed.
I first tried Linux 5 years ago because I was bored with Windows but, what is more interesting is why it is my main operating system now. My computer back then did not meet the minimum hardware requirements for upgrading to Windows 2000 so I had to continue using Windows Millenium which was famous for crashing, memory leaks and general unreliability. I had used Windows 95 and 98 before that which was almost as bad. I was dual-booting between Windows ME and Red Hat 7.2 when Windows ME started getting less and less reliable. As a result, I found myself booting up into Linux more often and less willing to bother watching Windows lock-up and then having to watch it scan the hard disk for errors for 5 or 10 minutes while rebooting. When I would try to turn the computer off and it would usually not shut-down unless I turned the power off. When rebooting Windows, would then scold me for not having sut it down properly and slowly scan the hard disk for errors. At one point the computer started dial-ing up to the Internet on its own which made me qestion its security. I always downloaded the latest virus signatures, scanned for virues and used a firewall but had problems anyway.
Linux distros such as Ubuntu and SuSE have improved for desktop use greatly since then so I feel no desire to consider moving back.
About every 6 months I would reinstall Windows and it would work well for a few months. During this same time Red Hat Linux continued to run flawlessly with rock solid stability. Finally, Windows ME died and a waited nearly a year before bothering to reinstall it. I just booted up into Linux instead. People like to remind me that with Windows 2000 and XP Microsoft has finally built something that is stable. Well that is nice, but I had spent 5 years waiting for a stable product and by then had already given up on them and moved on to Linux. Why should I bother moving back now? Well I did eventually try some version of Windows again and and soon started having problems with Adware.
I had reinstalled Windows about every 6 months for several years even though it was no longer my main operating system and had also reinstalled Office 2000 every time. With Office 2000 or newer product activation within 30 days is required. I had reinstalled Office 2000 so many times that it would not allow me to do it over the Internet and a message said that I would need to call Microsoft to have it activated. When I called Microsoft, I was sternly told that I had reinstalled Office too many times and he angrily interrogated me about why I had to install it yet again. Microsoft makes an unreliable product that in some cases needs to be reinstalled every 6-months so why whould he even need to ask such a stupid question. I also truthfully explained that I had also had two hard drive failures and a worm during that time period. He questined me about how many computers I had and unfairly accused me of trying to install office on more than one computer. He finally gave me the key but sternly warned me not to write it down to to repeat it out loud to anyone else in the room.
I have always strongly opposed software piracy and have always paid for all software that I had used including the many Microsoft products I had purchased and reqistered since 1989. I have always refused to give friends copies of my registered software or accept the software they were offering me. I strongly resented being falsely accused that way and became even more anti-Microsoft ever since then.
Ubuntu Linux is such a great desktop that I feel no desire to consider moving back to Windows.
I neglected to mention that I had reinstalled Windows 2000 several times over about a 2 year time period and had those pop-up problems while downloaing the security patches each time. I was suspicious of what else might have happened so I re-installed everything again a few days and the same thing happened again. I latter put a different motherboard in the computer and a few months ago I decided to try installing Windows 2000 from the original CD once again and had similar pop-ups within minutes. Each time, I installed the ZoneAlarm firewall first before connecting to the Internet and then immediately clicked on Windows Update without going anywhere else. As I download the security updates I again again had pop-up messages asking me to download the some product to fix registy, spyware and other problems. I was confident the messages were not from Microsoft, so I ignored them.
After many hours of downloading Windows security updates I rebooted once again and scanned for viruses and everything seemed to be ok (although I had lingering doubts). That happened each time so I finally decided that is what happens when someone needs to spend several unpatched hours waiting for the security updates to be downloaded. I also have Linux on both of my computers and when installing a new version of Linux, on one occasion, I download the Linux security updates on my old computer, burned them to a CD and transfered them to the new installation on the new computer. I did that before ever connecting the new version of Linux to the Internet. When reinstalling Windows the last time I wanted to do it that way but could not figure out how to download the security updates while using a different computer. So I installed the security updates while swatting more pop-ups than I could count. As a result I have never really trusted that my Windows installation was un-compromised. I use Linux most of the time anyway. Have other people had the same experience When installing Windows from a slow dial-up connection? Perhaps that was just a local problem affecting my dial-up Internet connection or my Internet provider? So anyway, a high speed Internet connection would probably have reduced that unpatched window where I was vulnerable to pop-ups and who know what else.
On my previous post I accidently hit submit instead of preview so that is why there are so many errors in what I wrote.
I live just outside of a small city in the mountains of Northern Arizona and no DSL is available where I live and am not certain if cable is available or not. I am just slightly beyond the end of the cable system so am not sure if it is available where I live or not. I don't watch very much TV so I wouldn't want to pay for an expensive cable connection anyway just to have faster Internet access. QWEST is the telephone company and they have told me that DSL is not available where I live. Dial-up connections in my neighborhood are only good for 26.4K even with a 56K modem. One local Internet provider offers high speed wireless access from a nearby mountain top however, it is line of sight only and there is a few large hills in the way. One person who was visiting was once able to use some kind of cellular phone based Internet connection for his laptop. He connected at something like 200K, if I remember correctly, but he said that in most cities his connection was much faster. He pays about $59 per month. I have also seen one person use a satellite dish based Internet connection nearby.
Broadband over power lines (BPL) has sometimes been suggested as a high speed Internet solution for rural areas. However, as a ham radio operator I am opposed to that. Most hams have been strongly opposed to BPL because of the large amounts of interference that would be produced on the short wave radio bands. Sending radio waves at various fequencies over unshielded powerlines is what creates the interference.
Doing a fresh intall of Windows and downloading the necessary updates is difficult on a 26.4K connection. I once reinstalled Windows 2000 on one of my two computers and had to spend most of the night downloading something like 80 or 100 MB of security updates. As a precaution, I installed a Zone Alarm firewall before connecting to the Internet. But that ment many hours of running Windows 2000 without many of the security updates. Several minutes after starting to download the patches the pop up messages started to appear. Many of pop-up said that my registry was corrupted or that I had spyware or other proplems. Most of the messages said that I needed to go to some website that I had never heard of to download some program to fix the problem. Instead of downloading the updates I had to stay up most of the night swating pop-up messages. This was despite having never gone to any website other than the Microsoft website. Finally at some point after rebooting the pop-ups stopped presumably becuase one of the security updates finally was blocking the pop-ups. Most of the time I use Linux which also requires many hours of downloading updates but at least there are never any advertising related pop-ups while downloading the security updates so I can sleep while downloading the updates.
I bought a Zenith 286 computer in 1989 and it had both DOS and Windows 2.0 on it. Shortly afterwards, I went into a computer store the saleman and technician both told me how they hated Windows and that I should just use DOS instead. That was the typical attitude of most computer users back then. I actually used DOS programs most of the time on the computer while not bothering to start it up in Windows. Windows ran on top of DOS back then. The only reason that I didn't totally get rid of Windows was that my computer came with a Windows version of Excel and I needed to be able to boot it up into Windows 2.0 before I could use Excel. It wasn't until Windows 3.0 came out a few years later that Windows became so popular. The new Windows 3.0 user interface looked like a Mac with and all pretty icons scattered across the screen. Everyone was impressed at the "Mac like" look and feel. Windows 2.0 did not look like that. One difference between Windows and a Mac was that in Windows you had to double click where on a Mac you could single click. I believe that may possibly have been done to get around copyright restrictions.
About 5 years ago I switched to using various versions of Linux instead ever since then. Installing and properly configuring Linux took a while but, I have been happy with it ever since. Linux was far more stable than Windows ME and is not vulnerable to viruses and most adware like all versions of Windows. So I am a happy Linux user now.
Linux has never had any problems with viruses or advertising related spyware. There are virus scanners available for Linux but very few Linux users bother to use them because there have never been any Linux viruses sucessfullly circulating in the wild. There have been about 19 Linux viruses written but a Linux user would need to be terminally stupid and run as root to catch any of them. There are about 100,000 Windows viruses actively circulating in the wild and no Linux viruses actively circulating. I have not personally used any of the other OSes that you mentioned, and know less about them, but my understanding is that viruses and adware are only a problems for Windows and DOS.
By not being secure, I assume you are refering to the fact that Linux users need to download the latest security patches and use a firewall just like Windows users. I also avoid running unnecessary services on my home computer that I do not use such as SSH. Well Linux is not perfect, but the need for most of these add-on security products such as virus scanners, spyware removal programs and registry cleaners seems to be a Microsoft only problem. I am just a home computer user that uses both Linux and Windows and not a system administrator or security expert but, I have seen for myself how easy it is for Windows to become infected with adware, viruses and Worms. With Windows I always used a firewall with the tightest possible secuity settings, downloaded the latest virus signatures and security patches, used hard to guess passwords and did not click on attachments. Despite that my Windows computer always sooner or later had problems with all of the above. I have used Linux for 5 years and never had those same kind of problems. Linux is not perfect but at least in many ways it seems to be much more secure than Windows.
Linux has never had problems with malware or viruses. I have used Linux on my home computer for about 5 years now. Both Linux and Mac OS X are alternatives that are quite usable and versatile despite not being vulnerable to malware and viruses. There are various reasons for the differences. For instance, unlike Windows most ordinary users do run with full administrative privilges most of the time and Linux also does not use Active X technology. There are other differences as well but for whatever reasons, Linux and Mac OS X have not had problems with malware and virues. Of course, when using Linux I still download the latest security patches and use one of the free firewalls that are available for Linux. With Linux, for security reasons, there are perhaps a few less automagical features but, once it is installed and properly configured, I find it to be an enjoyable easy to use operating system. Being user friendly is not an adequate excuse for Windows not having better security.
So also, Linux and Mac OS X both show that security can be achived without requiring Microsofts Palladium technology in which untrusted computer owners (such as us) would lose contol of our computers by the restricitons imposed by Palladium. Microsoft will undoubtedly someday use their security problems as an excuse for pushing Palladium and other similar DRM related restricitons on us.
Ooops, I made a typographical error when should have said the 127.0.0.1 loopback adress. There were also several other typos, repeated words other gramatical errors. I suppose I should start taking the time to proof read what I write more carefully before I click "submit". I usually type this stuff up very quickly and carelessly. Obviously, I was not an English major.
I use an altered hosts file to block some of the advertising related communication that goes on in the background when visiting many ordinary webpages. Mike's Ad Blocking Hosts File diverts known advertising related URLs to the 126.0.0.1 loopback address. I block the advertising related communication partially for privacy reasons but also because it make many of the webpages load more quickly on my 26.4K dial-up internet connection. The modified hosts keeps about 1/3 of the advertisements from appearing in most wepages. The missing advertisemnts appear as empty rectangles. The webpages download more quickly when not downloading the graphics intense advertisements. Broadband and DSL are not available are not yet available where I live and the local telephone lines are only good for 26.4K (even with a 56K modem). I use the modified hosts files on both my Windows computer and my Linux computer.
I also chose the option in my email prgram set to not automatically display the graphics in my email messages. Many of the graphics in the messages are downloaded from links to an IP address. So if I understand correctly, when someone views a piece of spam it is conceivably possible for the spammer to tell when the message has been received by the grapics being downloaded. He would then know that he had used a valid email address and should keep sending you more spam. I the the Linux version of the Thunderbird email program and it has the option of not displaying the graphics on some or all of my email. Most email programs for Windows or Linux have that option. I haven't heard if Outlook has that option or not.
I am not sure how up to ate this info is but, have you heard of webbugs? A Web bug is a graphic on a Web page or in an e-mail message designed to monitor who is reading the page or message. Have you heard of Bugnosis the webbug detector for Windows? I do not use Windows very much anymore so I haven't tried using the program in recent years so don't know much about Bugnosis (or webbugs).
If you go the the websites for DoubleClick or some of the other similar companines that monitor us you will also find that you can choose to have an opt-out cookie downloaded to your browser which stops them from moitoring you.
I am a registered republican who is a fiscal conservative / social liberal but, unfortunately G.W. Bush seems to be a fiscal liberal / social conservative. That is just the opposite of what I am. I really don't care much about all the religious right anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, conservative court nominees stuff one way or the other. For decades, my main concern as a voter has been to control government spending, balance the budget and to have strong states rights and to do as much at the state and local level as possible. Unfortunately, G.W. Bush seems too spend money like a drunken sailor and does not want to raise taxes to pay for anything.
I am old enough to remember when the Republican party was somewhat different. Back in the 1970s and earlier the religious right was not a prominent part of republican party. Republicans were for smaller government, less taxes and stronger states rights. In some ways G.W. Bush does not seem to be for the traditional Republican idea of stronger states rights. One example is how during hurricane Katrina, in some instances FEMA used heavy handed tactics and blocked the rescue efforts by local officals such as by seizing control of some diesel fuel they needed and by seizing control of an antenna tower used by local officals./P>
I remember attending a speech by Republican Senatory Barry Goldwater back in 1972. He seemed to peak from his heart and was not afraid to say what he really believed and did not care if all voters or the press appoved of what he was saying. During his last term as a senator, when he did not need to be re-elected, he even voted against a defense spending item which was locally made because he felt the need to control unneccesary spending. By contrast G.W.Bush and the current Republics do not hesitate to pile on the pork barrel spending. I gladly voted for Barry Golwater on several occasions over the years but could not bring myself to vote for G.W. Bush during the last election. I am not sure where I stand on the collection of DNA info but, I am mainly trying to say how frustrated I am that we have not had any fiscally conservative candidates lately.
Most of the ham radio operaters that I know seem to be retired men in their 70s or 80s. My concern is that if we do not get more younger people interested in the hobby, in another 10 - 20 years we might not have very many hams left to help out in emergencies. I am in my early 50s, so there would be at least some of us left. Many of the older hams got interested in the hobby back in the days when radio was something new and exciting and they could build their own radios and antennas. We could probably use some younger new hams expecially in hurricane prone places such as Gulf Coast or in earthquake prone areas such as Sothern California.
Here is one non-ham related thought; I have met several people who live in motorhomes who get their Internet connections through a satellite disk. StarBand in one of the companies that offer satelliet based Internet connections. The motorhomes I have seen also had a built-in generator and Inverter so they can browse the interent from their laptop even when no power or phone lines are available. One guy even had a WiFi hotspot that his neighbors could connect to. Some motorhomes even have solar pannels on the roof.
I have a general class ham radio license and have a 2-meter radio in my 4WD truck and a smaller 2-meter radio that I keep in my backpack. There are two main types of radios that hams use, they use an HF radio for bouncing a signal off the ionosphere and talking to people hundreds or thousands of miles away. If they only want to talk to hams locally or in a nearby city they usually use a higher frequency radio such a 2-meter radio that does not bounce off the ionosphere.
About 5 years ago I had a girfriend who was a ham with a technican class license who had a 2-meter/440 radio in her car. If there was ever a disaster and got seperated we had agreed on which frequencys we should use to contact each other. It is not unusual to hear husbands and wives who are hams checking in with each other while one is at home and the other is doing errands. In a major disaster they should still be able to stay in touch with each other.
I have several battery packs for the 2-meter radio that I keep in my backpack. One is rechageable and the other battery pack is not rechargeable but contains AA alkaline batteries which can be replaced from the extra stash that I always keep on hand. Here in Arizona there are ham radio repeater stations on my of the mountain tops. Most repeater stations have battery and/or solar power backup. The can be used to communicate with hams who live 100 miles or so away on the other side of the nearby mountains. The ARRL has some info about becoming a ham. Most of the local hams all know each others name and callsign.
I also keep several LED flashlights around such as the Pack-lite which are so efficient that they will run for 200 hours on high and 1,200 hours on low. I also keep a couple of 5-gallon cans of water in the back of my truck.
About 50 percent of all home and business wireless networks do not use the optional security features like encryption or MAC address filtering. Furthermore, for years now, Windows has had serious security problems with viruses, spam, e-mail attachments and other problems. Despite these unaccepatble security problems, most people have continued to use Windows even though more secure choices such as MAC OS X and Linux exist. According to on BBC article there are over 1 million Zombie computers spewing out spam and viruses or being used for other illegal activities. Should most of those over 1 million people be considered to be criminals because as you say "ignorance is not a valid defence?"
Most computer users are not knowledgable about computer security and use an insecure operating system. So if ignorance is not a valid defence then should I assume that most Windows users are potentially guilty of allowing their computers to be used for crimes? I use Linux by the way and am not a lawyer but, it seems a little harsh to hold unlucky ordinary average ignorant Windows users guilty by saying "ignorance is not a valid defence."
By the way, I am not saying that Linux or Mac OS X security is perfect but they are nearly immune to viruses, worms and e-mail attachemnts. However Linux users still need to use a firewall and download the latest security updates.
It is possible to spoof IP addresses, e-mail addresss and even MAC addresses, so how does the RIAA know who was really doing the downloading? There is also the problem of the large numbers of zombie or 'bot nets of hijacked computers. According to a BBC article there are over one million computers on the Internet which have been hijacked to pump out spam and viruses. If any of these mothers have computers which are zombies, then who knows who is really controlling their computers and doing the downloading?
Today many homes also have 802.11b wireless networks and in about 50% of the home networks they have not enabled the optional security features. Those home networks are wide open. A wardriver or neighbor with a laptop could use their network to access the Internet and download or upload files.
Average mothers like these are probably clueless about computer security. Do they download all the latest security patches. Do they use a firewall and know how to properly configure it? Do they go to the "Shields up" section of grc.com to test their firewall afterwards. If they are using a Windows computer do they know to be careful about clicking on attachments? Do they download the latest virus signatures and scan for viruses regularly? Do they regularly scan for spyware using something like Ad-Aware or Spybot Search and Destroy? Do they use hard to guess passwords? If they are using Windows XP did they install Service Pack 2?
I don't see how the RIAA can reasonably assume that an inexperienced Windows user's computer is not actually a Zombie computer being operated at times by some hacker. I have never used P2P networks and do not actually know much about them. But, it seems to me that problems like zombies, spoofed IP addresses and spoofed Mac addresses would cause many innocent mothers to be targeted.
Several years ago I saw someone in a campground that had a large WiFi hotspot sign on the front of his motorhome. I asked how he could do that without a phone line. He said he used the satellite dish on the motorhome for his Internet connection. So wherever he went the neighboring campers would have could use his WiFi hotspot. I am not sure what the connection speed was. If his WiFi hotspot was using 802.11b it would most likely have been availible to eveyone within about 300 feet (or less if there are trees in the way).
There was actually electricty where he was camping but that would have been optional since, like most motorhomes, he had a built in generator and a large extra deep cycle battery. Some motorhomes even have solar panels on the roof to help keep their batteries charged during long camping trips to remote areas which have no utilites.
It seems to me something like that could be mounted on trucks ready to be deployed to key locations at future disasters. These mobile WiFi hot spot trucks should probably be pre-positioned around the country in safe locations just slightly outside of where disasters are most likely to occure. Then they could quickly be sent in to beef up dammaged local communications for local hospitals, disaster shelters, police and sherrifs offices, city hall, sewage treatment plants, water treatment plants and supply centers.
The mobile WiFi hotspots could supplement the role that local ham radio clubs and organizations play in many parts of the country. Where I live, the local ham radio club has had a close working relationship for many years with local city and county officials. They already have their own ham radio antennas mounted on the hospital, city hall and other key locations. The local club has volunteer hams who have plenty of extra batteries and are ready to go to key locations such as those as well as firestations, the police station and elsewhere. I am not personally involved with that, so I do not know many of the details. I am a licensed ham radio operator and have never really been active with the hobby so am not sure about all the details. One of the past past mayors of or town was a ham so perhaps that might partially explain the close relationship that local city and county emergency officials have with the hams.
After seeing what happened with Katrina, I do not believe that we should depend on FEMA or the federal government for such key emergency services. They not only failed to respond in a timely manner but, in several cases blocked other organizations from going to the area or doing there jobs properly. Others such as perhaps the Red Cross should have mobile WiFi hotspots with satellite based Internet connections ready to go. City and country officials should establish a close working relationship with local hams and do an occasional practice emergency drill.
The is at least one large organized group of hams already set up for emergencies which is called the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). They work in cooperation and their webpage says that the "local ARES operation will usually take the form of nets--HF nets, VHF (repeater) nets, even RTTY, packet or other special-mode nets, depending on need and resources available."
Here are a couple of non-ham related thoughts I have had on emergency communications. I know a couple who travel around the country with a motorhome with "WiFi" hot spot sign on the front. I asked how they did that when he did not have a telephone line where he was staying. He said that he had an internet connection through his small satellite disk. The neighbors with laptops could use his WiFi hotspot. Many RVs are quite self-contained with their own generator, water tank, propane powered refrigerator, propane powered stove and heater and a holding tank for the toilet and so forth. They are desined to stay for several days where there is no electricity or water. I do not know if the roads going into those emergency areas would be accessable to an RV or not. I wonder if something like that with both a WiFi hot spot plus a ham with both shortwave and VHF communications might be useful (I'm just thinking).
Here in Arizona, the local hams and the search and rescue team fixed up an old 4WD army ambulance (or something like that) from the 50's as a search and rescue command and control vehicle. It has an antenna farm on the roof and laptop computers inside. I believe that the sheriffs office or someone gave them the old army ambulance. If I remember correctly, I heard that they put a new engine in the vehicle and repainted it several years ago. I hope I am describing it correctly, since I am not involved with them. I did peek through the door of the vehicle once
Just before Y2k, I had heard that either the city or county had installed an extra fuel tank so that the fire trucks and other emergency vehicles would not run out of fuel in the weeks after Y2K. I was surprised to hear about fire trucks running out of fuel in New Orleans. They must have not prepared for hurricanes as well as a certain town in the mountains of Arizona prepared for Y2K?
Many of the ham radio operatiors around the country are already preprared for emergency operation with batteries, small generators and other equipment. They typically have several radios at home and at least one in their car, truck or RV. Sometimes I see them driving around town with a small antenna farm on the roof of their car. Ham radio clubs in nearly every city around the country have an annual "field day" where they set up their equipment at remote locations. Many ham radio operators are also members of an orgination that does regular emergence communication drills (I forget what that organization is called).
Where I live in Arizona, city officials and local hams, for years, have been working together to be prepared for emergencies. I remember how thoroughly they prepared together for Y2K. As Y2K approached local hams with plenty of batteries and other equipment were pre-positioned at hospitals, police stations, fire stations and other key locations. At some of those locations they still have their own antenna on the roof. The city itself had installed diesel backup generators at the city sewage treatment plant and at each of the wells for the city water system.
I have never really been active in ham radio although I do have a general class license. Many hams are already prepared to communicate with each other across thousands of miles or across town without the help of electricty from the power company. If their antennas get blown down they can quicky set up a simple wire antenna hanging from a tree. Many are already set up for long distance communication while operating from their car, truck or RV. They can communicate using voice, various digital modes or CW (Morse Code). Some hams even use slow-scan television or ham radio satellites. Perhaps they should just try to send more ham radio operators into the area.
The Zalman Reserator fanless water cooling system is somewhat expensive but I wanted a quiet computer even if it cost a little more. For me it was worth it especially since the computer sits next to my bed not far from my TV. It is almost totally silent. If I turn the two case fans down as low as they go and lean over closer I can just barely hear a faint noise from the water pump or the flow indicator. It sounds like an aquarium pump.
When I reboot and looked in the BIOS just now it said that my CPU was 40 degress C. That was just after light usage of the computer. I have read that there are more powerful cooling systems which are for serious overclockers but, this is the most quiet water cooling system available.
I have a Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 motherboard which uses the socket 939 version of the AMD Athlon 64. The Zalman website said it would work with a socket 939 processor but the instruction manual that came with my kit did not mention being able to use the 939. Perhaps I had a slightly older version of the instruction manual with a slightly older kit. At first it did not seem as if the kit was going to fit onto my CPU, but then, I realized that I had to remove a plastic base like thing from the back of the motherboard before it would fit. It then fit and worked perfectly.
Fortuanately, buy default, the BIOS was not set to complain about zero RPMs from the CPU fan. On some motherboards the fan failure protection feature would need to be turned off. I placed the 23 inch tall reserator behind the computer desk where it is out of site. There is reasonable air flow where I placed it. I plugged the water pump into the UPS because I did not want to have the computer running while the water pump was off during a power failure.
I have several versions of Linux and two versions of Windows on the computer. When idle Windows 2000 uses 130 W and Windows XP uses 109 W. The 64-bit version of Ubuntu Linux uses 94 W. I also have Slackware which is 32-bit OS and comes with a 2.4 kernel. Slackware used about 127 W until I later installed a 2.6.12.4 kernel and recompiled it to enable the appropriate features. I then made another change or two to enable the AMD "Cool 'n Quiet" feature and brought its power consumption down to 94 W.
I only have a total of 3 fans on the computer. There are the two case fans which I slow down with an adjustable rheostat. There is also a northbridge fan does not make any significant noise. You asked if it was worth it, well for me it was anyway.
My AMD Athlon 64 3800+ is plugged into a wattmeter and at the moment is shows that it is using 94 Watts. Under heavy usage the Wattmeter shows about 167 Watts. I am not a gamer and do not have a power hungry high performace video card so the power consumption my be lower than otherwise. But, I do have 1 GB of RAM, two huge 7200 RPM hard drives and an 802.11g WiFi card. My fanless 350 Watt power supply is plenty. The monitor, water pump and other exteral devices are not plugged into the Wattmeter.
Computer power supplies are actually several different power supplies in one with different wattage ratings on each leg. If I remember correctly, an ATX motherboard usually has one or two +12 Volt legs, a +5 volt leg, a +3.3 volt leg, and possibly another leg of some other voltage which I can't recall at the mement. Im not an expert on this but, my understanding is that on most power supplies, the maximum rated Wattage is not available on just any possible leg. Different components are plugged into each leg and ideally someone should calculate how much is needed on each leg and compare that to the power supply specs for each leg. Since most people do not bother calculating power usage on each leg and comparing it to power supply specs, I am guessing that the computer store salesmen just grab one of their most powerful power supplies and say "this should do the job." I suppose it does not really matter if it is far more than necessary.
I use the AMD-64 version of Ubuntu Linux. By default, the AMD Athlon 64 "Cool 'N Quiet" is enabled. Using that feature, it slows the CPU from its normal 2.4 GHz down to 1 GHz when when idle or doing ordinary easy tasks. At that time the Wattmeter shows 94 Watts, when doing a more demanding task it jumps to 2.4 GHz and uses 167 Watts. Would someone with a wattmeter and a more power hungry computer please tell me what they have and are doing that uses 400 or 500 W or more.
I built my computer to be as quiet as possible and use a Zalman Reserator 1 fanless water cooling for the CPU. I also have a fanless video card. I also adjust the knob on a rheostat to slow the two case fans down to where they are quiet.
Apparently SCO sent letters to our congressmen, now we should also do the same. Our side of the story shoud be heard too! On the Electronic Frontier Foundation web page they have an anti-SCO form letter that can be used. It does not specifically refer to the SCO lobbying. But, it does talk about the SCO litigation and their plan to sue Linux users even before the validity of their claims has been established.
The form letter is automatically sent to the the appropriate senator and representatives who represent you in your district. You do not need to bother looking up their e-mail addresses. You can add your own comments before the letter is sent. Here is the link to the anti-SCO form letter:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&it em =2775
Let congress now we care about our legal rights as Linux users.
Slashdot Mirror
I have have almost finished reading "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID". It describes how Wallmart, Procter & Gamble, Accenture and other large companies plan to have RFID chips in everything we buy. They would be used for inventory control, automated checkout and other purposes, but passive RFID tags would remain active in our clothing and other items for many years afterwards. Before long we will all be walking around with RFID tags in our shoes, clothing, drivers licenses, cards in our wallet and on our shopper ID cards.
Each and every item sold would have a unique serial number. The stores who sold those items to us would have a record of who owns them in their computer databases. They would record who purchased them when we use our shoppers ID card, charge card or wrote a check while paying for them. Since 1987 many companys have been using data aggregators to share information about our purchases. In the future, every time we walk past an RFID scanner at a store we would be recognized and and there would be a record of our having been there. In the movie "Minority Report" there are several examples of RFID technology being used to provide targeted advertising.
Some motorists already have toll transponders attached to their windows to pay tolls. In Huston, if you have a toll tag, you are unkowingly beaming a unique ID number to roadway RFID readers that are placed every five miles along some of their freeways. The Federal Highway Administration has a proposal to require all cars to be spychipped before coming off the assembly line. In their proposal, the spychip would be accompanied by a GPS receiver and an 802.11 wireless device to upload real-time location data as your car passes roadside "hot spots". It is slated for rollout between 2008 and 2010. The FCC has also reserved a radio band for applications like that.
Passive RFID devices don't use batteries so they keep working for many years. When you throw out your RFID tagged clothing and other items they can still be read from several feet away from your garbage can. Market researchers have expressed an interest in covertly driving by garbage cans and scanning their contents from several feet away.
Many Christians are uncomfortable with RFID technology because of what it says in Revalation 13:16-17 about the mark of the beast. They feel that the implatable versions of RFID chips might be what the bible is refering to. Implantable RFID tags are already being widely implanted in pets and have been implanted in a few bar patrons at at the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain and the Baja Beach Club in Rotterdam, Holland and in the Bar Soba in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Amika nightclub in Maimi Beach, Florida. A soon to be released book is called "The Spychips Threat : Why Christians Should Resist RFID and Computer Tracking".
Those are just a few examples of the privacy issues with RFID. I am not totally opposed to all uses of RFID but believe that all RFID tagged items should have label that says that they contain RFID tags. That way consumers can choose to avoid them if they want to. Here is on organization that oppose RFID tags:
Sypchips.comI have seen a small keystroke logger for PS2 cables listed in a computer parts catalogue for many years. According to the catalogue it needs to be attached to the end of of the PS2 cable on the keyboard. If I remember correctly, it suggested that it would be a good way for parents to keep track of what their children are doing on the Internet. How many people buy them for other purposes? Someone could stick one of those on someone elses computer for a few days and then retreive the device later. I was surprised that they could legally sell something like that.
How often do people bother crawling under their desk to look for something like that? On my computer there is a PS2 to AT keyboard adapter which looks very similiar. Some people do online banking while they travel at Internet Cafes, public librarys or other computers that are open to the public. Is that is safe or not? Remember the incident a couple of years ago where someone had secretly installed keystroke logging software at 14 Kinko's stores. He used software instead of hardware. According to one article "he captured more than 450 user names and passwords, using them to access and even open bank accounts online." He is the article:
http://castlecops.com/article2568.htmlIf I am not mistaken, employers are legally allowed to used keystroke loggers to monitor what their employees are doing and are also allowed to read employees email. It is best to be careful what you say about the boss in email messages at work. When you get to work perhaps you should crawl under your desk and check the end of the cable on your keyboard. Perhaps a co-worker or the boss might have installed one of those. Of course if software is being used you still might not know.
When can I expect Sony to provide secretly installed DRM spyware and a rootkit for the various AMD Athlon 64 versions of Linux? Surely 64-bit Linux users also deserve that? I hope they offer a version that is compatible with the Slamd 64 version of Linux that I use. It will need to be compatible with the more or less BSD style initialization that Slamed 64 uses instead of the more common System V style initialization that most other distros use.
My computer triple boots between Slackware 10.2, Slamd 64 10.2 and the AMD 64 version of Kubuntu 5.10. Will they eventually have a correct procedure for having rootkits on all of those partitions at once? Every once in a while I download a new version of the Linux kernel and custom compile it the way I want. I hope Sony will offer software will be able to automatically adapt to the new kernel and kernel modules?
Will they have a pop-up box that asks me for my root password when installing their software? Surley the average Linux user will not mind giving out their root password so that spyware and a rootkit can be installed? As a Linux user, I also miss getting to read the more threatening bullying style EULAs that come with most Windows software. The EULAs that come with the various free Linux software packages sound so much more easy going, friendy and straight forward. I am sure that Linux users would get that same "warm fuzzy" feeling when reading the Sonly EULA.
I use a dial-up Internet connection, so will I get to experience the thrill of seeing the lights on my external modem light up as their software calls home? With Linux I kind of miss the way that lights on the external modem would frequently flash at unexpected times like they did when running spyware under Windows. At least, I suspected that it might have been spyare calling home (not really sure). I have missed not seeing that happen under Linux? Will Sony soon provide me with spyware that makes my external modem's LEDs light up as it calls home? I have been so dissapointed by the lack of spyware available for Linux?
I hope colleges do itemize the "Surveilance Surcharge" cost on students receipts when they register for classes. They would be outraged at the $450 they have to pay as well as the possible privacy issues involved. Here is how it might look on their receipt:
FBI Surveilance Surcharge ........... $450.00
An earlier comment on Slashdot made by Deliveranc3 reflects a more important concern than just money. He said this:
Universities are the places where revolution has historically started, curtailing student influence merely stops one of the free checks and balances on the system.
I agree with what he said and historically that is true. During the Vietnam war students held large anti-war protests at colleges and universities. There was what was called the "generation gap" where most older adults dissagreed with young peoples views on issues such as the war, the sexual revolution, wearing long hair and "rock and roll" music. Parents complained stongly about how they hated "Rock and Roll" and guys with long hair. There was a popular sloan back then that said "never trust anyone over 30."
That seems to be true in other countries as well. Students and other young people are frequenty the ones who openly protest against government policies. That happened in China when students and other young people we killed in Tiannimun Square (or however you spell it). It also happened in Burma the army slaughtered large numbers of students and other young people. Our government was created with various carefully designed checks and balances such as the three seperate branches of government, freedom of speeh, freedom of the press, and the right to bear arms. Those were carefully designed to prevent any one group of government officials from seizing power. Being able to carefully monitor student communication is contrary to the spirit of those checks and ballances. Is the main goal actually for government authorities to be able to keep students in line during troubled times in the future?
I took several digital electronic classes at a junior college back in the early 1990's. We learned how to use boolian algebra to design the simplest possible circuit that will do what we wanted. We designed and built our own simple digital circuts. We would select a few inexpensive jellybean parts from the back room and then snap them into a breadboard (with no solder) and then watch which LED's would light up to see if we were getting the correct output. In another class we used some old DOS based CAD software for designing our own circuit boards for digital electronics. We were not electronic engineers, we were just ordinary college freshmen at a small junior college. At one time our instructor had taught electronics to black kids at an inner city high school. I bet they could do much of this same stuff. I was really surprised at how easy it was to design and build simple digital circuits with so little training.
I never went on to get a degree in that field and am not an expert. But even so, I have some minimal basic electonic skills from those classes and what I had to learn about radio circuits to get my general class ham radio licence. With a little bit of effort and study, if I was so inclined, I suspect I could probably modify or create something that could get around their analog hole restrictions. Not that I am advocating that, I am just speculating about what many people whould be able to do. Of course many of us already own various devices which are not crippled. Will the use of those devices be grandfathered in and still be legal?
Perhaps the RIAA/MPAA should make boolian algebra texbooks illegal. Perhaps they shold also make breadboards illegal. I doubt that they would ever make all the various electronic parts illegal but if they did people would probably start collecting and saving parts from old electronic devices that are being thrown away. When I was in grade school back in the 1960s their was the one geek in the 6th grade who collected resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, chokes and other parts from scrap equipment. While eating lunch at school he would proudly show us the latest parts that he had found. Perhaps someday there will be a generation of hardware hackers who collect forbidden parts from old electronic devices and secretly share their secret plans and their banned boolean algebra textbooks. I believe there will always be significant numbers of poeple still using the analog hole no matter what laws the RIAA/MPAA pushes politicians to pass. Hollywood is totally underestimating what the next generation of kids will be able to do. Nearly every generation of young people has found its way of being cool by rebeling against the establishment. Less techie type people will likely be able to quietly buy limited production non-DRM-comlient homemade black market electronic items from friends. The analog hole will never be closed.
Sorry about having the same paragraph twice in my post. I missed that while proof reading what I was about to post.
I first tried Linux 5 years ago because I was bored with Windows but, what is more interesting is why it is my main operating system now. My computer back then did not meet the minimum hardware requirements for upgrading to Windows 2000 so I had to continue using Windows Millenium which was famous for crashing, memory leaks and general unreliability. I had used Windows 95 and 98 before that which was almost as bad. I was dual-booting between Windows ME and Red Hat 7.2 when Windows ME started getting less and less reliable. As a result, I found myself booting up into Linux more often and less willing to bother watching Windows lock-up and then having to watch it scan the hard disk for errors for 5 or 10 minutes while rebooting. When I would try to turn the computer off and it would usually not shut-down unless I turned the power off. When rebooting Windows, would then scold me for not having sut it down properly and slowly scan the hard disk for errors. At one point the computer started dial-ing up to the Internet on its own which made me qestion its security. I always downloaded the latest virus signatures, scanned for virues and used a firewall but had problems anyway.
Linux distros such as Ubuntu and SuSE have improved for desktop use greatly since then so I feel no desire to consider moving back.
About every 6 months I would reinstall Windows and it would work well for a few months. During this same time Red Hat Linux continued to run flawlessly with rock solid stability. Finally, Windows ME died and a waited nearly a year before bothering to reinstall it. I just booted up into Linux instead. People like to remind me that with Windows 2000 and XP Microsoft has finally built something that is stable. Well that is nice, but I had spent 5 years waiting for a stable product and by then had already given up on them and moved on to Linux. Why should I bother moving back now? Well I did eventually try some version of Windows again and and soon started having problems with Adware.
I had reinstalled Windows about every 6 months for several years even though it was no longer my main operating system and had also reinstalled Office 2000 every time. With Office 2000 or newer product activation within 30 days is required. I had reinstalled Office 2000 so many times that it would not allow me to do it over the Internet and a message said that I would need to call Microsoft to have it activated. When I called Microsoft, I was sternly told that I had reinstalled Office too many times and he angrily interrogated me about why I had to install it yet again. Microsoft makes an unreliable product that in some cases needs to be reinstalled every 6-months so why whould he even need to ask such a stupid question. I also truthfully explained that I had also had two hard drive failures and a worm during that time period. He questined me about how many computers I had and unfairly accused me of trying to install office on more than one computer. He finally gave me the key but sternly warned me not to write it down to to repeat it out loud to anyone else in the room.
I have always strongly opposed software piracy and have always paid for all software that I had used including the many Microsoft products I had purchased and reqistered since 1989. I have always refused to give friends copies of my registered software or accept the software they were offering me. I strongly resented being falsely accused that way and became even more anti-Microsoft ever since then.
Ubuntu Linux is such a great desktop that I feel no desire to consider moving back to Windows.
I neglected to mention that I had reinstalled Windows 2000 several times over about a 2 year time period and had those pop-up problems while downloaing the security patches each time. I was suspicious of what else might have happened so I re-installed everything again a few days and the same thing happened again. I latter put a different motherboard in the computer and a few months ago I decided to try installing Windows 2000 from the original CD once again and had similar pop-ups within minutes. Each time, I installed the ZoneAlarm firewall first before connecting to the Internet and then immediately clicked on Windows Update without going anywhere else. As I download the security updates I again again had pop-up messages asking me to download the some product to fix registy, spyware and other problems. I was confident the messages were not from Microsoft, so I ignored them.
After many hours of downloading Windows security updates I rebooted once again and scanned for viruses and everything seemed to be ok (although I had lingering doubts). That happened each time so I finally decided that is what happens when someone needs to spend several unpatched hours waiting for the security updates to be downloaded. I also have Linux on both of my computers and when installing a new version of Linux, on one occasion, I download the Linux security updates on my old computer, burned them to a CD and transfered them to the new installation on the new computer. I did that before ever connecting the new version of Linux to the Internet. When reinstalling Windows the last time I wanted to do it that way but could not figure out how to download the security updates while using a different computer. So I installed the security updates while swatting more pop-ups than I could count. As a result I have never really trusted that my Windows installation was un-compromised. I use Linux most of the time anyway. Have other people had the same experience When installing Windows from a slow dial-up connection? Perhaps that was just a local problem affecting my dial-up Internet connection or my Internet provider? So anyway, a high speed Internet connection would probably have reduced that unpatched window where I was vulnerable to pop-ups and who know what else.
On my previous post I accidently hit submit instead of preview so that is why there are so many errors in what I wrote.
I live just outside of a small city in the mountains of Northern Arizona and no DSL is available where I live and am not certain if cable is available or not. I am just slightly beyond the end of the cable system so am not sure if it is available where I live or not. I don't watch very much TV so I wouldn't want to pay for an expensive cable connection anyway just to have faster Internet access. QWEST is the telephone company and they have told me that DSL is not available where I live. Dial-up connections in my neighborhood are only good for 26.4K even with a 56K modem. One local Internet provider offers high speed wireless access from a nearby mountain top however, it is line of sight only and there is a few large hills in the way. One person who was visiting was once able to use some kind of cellular phone based Internet connection for his laptop. He connected at something like 200K, if I remember correctly, but he said that in most cities his connection was much faster. He pays about $59 per month. I have also seen one person use a satellite dish based Internet connection nearby.
Broadband over power lines (BPL) has sometimes been suggested as a high speed Internet solution for rural areas. However, as a ham radio operator I am opposed to that. Most hams have been strongly opposed to BPL because of the large amounts of interference that would be produced on the short wave radio bands. Sending radio waves at various fequencies over unshielded powerlines is what creates the interference.
Doing a fresh intall of Windows and downloading the necessary updates is difficult on a 26.4K connection. I once reinstalled Windows 2000 on one of my two computers and had to spend most of the night downloading something like 80 or 100 MB of security updates. As a precaution, I installed a Zone Alarm firewall before connecting to the Internet. But that ment many hours of running Windows 2000 without many of the security updates. Several minutes after starting to download the patches the pop up messages started to appear. Many of pop-up said that my registry was corrupted or that I had spyware or other proplems. Most of the messages said that I needed to go to some website that I had never heard of to download some program to fix the problem. Instead of downloading the updates I had to stay up most of the night swating pop-up messages. This was despite having never gone to any website other than the Microsoft website. Finally at some point after rebooting the pop-ups stopped presumably becuase one of the security updates finally was blocking the pop-ups. Most of the time I use Linux which also requires many hours of downloading updates but at least there are never any advertising related pop-ups while downloading the security updates so I can sleep while downloading the updates.
I bought a Zenith 286 computer in 1989 and it had both DOS and Windows 2.0 on it. Shortly afterwards, I went into a computer store the saleman and technician both told me how they hated Windows and that I should just use DOS instead. That was the typical attitude of most computer users back then. I actually used DOS programs most of the time on the computer while not bothering to start it up in Windows. Windows ran on top of DOS back then. The only reason that I didn't totally get rid of Windows was that my computer came with a Windows version of Excel and I needed to be able to boot it up into Windows 2.0 before I could use Excel. It wasn't until Windows 3.0 came out a few years later that Windows became so popular. The new Windows 3.0 user interface looked like a Mac with and all pretty icons scattered across the screen. Everyone was impressed at the "Mac like" look and feel. Windows 2.0 did not look like that. One difference between Windows and a Mac was that in Windows you had to double click where on a Mac you could single click. I believe that may possibly have been done to get around copyright restrictions.
About 5 years ago I switched to using various versions of Linux instead ever since then. Installing and properly configuring Linux took a while but, I have been happy with it ever since. Linux was far more stable than Windows ME and is not vulnerable to viruses and most adware like all versions of Windows. So I am a happy Linux user now.
Linux has never had any problems with viruses or advertising related spyware. There are virus scanners available for Linux but very few Linux users bother to use them because there have never been any Linux viruses sucessfullly circulating in the wild. There have been about 19 Linux viruses written but a Linux user would need to be terminally stupid and run as root to catch any of them. There are about 100,000 Windows viruses actively circulating in the wild and no Linux viruses actively circulating. I have not personally used any of the other OSes that you mentioned, and know less about them, but my understanding is that viruses and adware are only a problems for Windows and DOS.
By not being secure, I assume you are refering to the fact that Linux users need to download the latest security patches and use a firewall just like Windows users. I also avoid running unnecessary services on my home computer that I do not use such as SSH. Well Linux is not perfect, but the need for most of these add-on security products such as virus scanners, spyware removal programs and registry cleaners seems to be a Microsoft only problem. I am just a home computer user that uses both Linux and Windows and not a system administrator or security expert but, I have seen for myself how easy it is for Windows to become infected with adware, viruses and Worms. With Windows I always used a firewall with the tightest possible secuity settings, downloaded the latest virus signatures and security patches, used hard to guess passwords and did not click on attachments. Despite that my Windows computer always sooner or later had problems with all of the above. I have used Linux for 5 years and never had those same kind of problems. Linux is not perfect but at least in many ways it seems to be much more secure than Windows.
Linux has never had problems with malware or viruses. I have used Linux on my home computer for about 5 years now. Both Linux and Mac OS X are alternatives that are quite usable and versatile despite not being vulnerable to malware and viruses. There are various reasons for the differences. For instance, unlike Windows most ordinary users do run with full administrative privilges most of the time and Linux also does not use Active X technology. There are other differences as well but for whatever reasons, Linux and Mac OS X have not had problems with malware and virues. Of course, when using Linux I still download the latest security patches and use one of the free firewalls that are available for Linux. With Linux, for security reasons, there are perhaps a few less automagical features but, once it is installed and properly configured, I find it to be an enjoyable easy to use operating system. Being user friendly is not an adequate excuse for Windows not having better security.
So also, Linux and Mac OS X both show that security can be achived without requiring Microsofts Palladium technology in which untrusted computer owners (such as us) would lose contol of our computers by the restricitons imposed by Palladium. Microsoft will undoubtedly someday use their security problems as an excuse for pushing Palladium and other similar DRM related restricitons on us.
Ooops, I made a typographical error when should have said the 127.0.0.1 loopback adress. There were also several other typos, repeated words other gramatical errors. I suppose I should start taking the time to proof read what I write more carefully before I click "submit". I usually type this stuff up very quickly and carelessly. Obviously, I was not an English major.
I use an altered hosts file to block some of the advertising related communication that goes on in the background when visiting many ordinary webpages. Mike's Ad Blocking Hosts File diverts known advertising related URLs to the 126.0.0.1 loopback address. I block the advertising related communication partially for privacy reasons but also because it make many of the webpages load more quickly on my 26.4K dial-up internet connection. The modified hosts keeps about 1/3 of the advertisements from appearing in most wepages. The missing advertisemnts appear as empty rectangles. The webpages download more quickly when not downloading the graphics intense advertisements. Broadband and DSL are not available are not yet available where I live and the local telephone lines are only good for 26.4K (even with a 56K modem). I use the modified hosts files on both my Windows computer and my Linux computer.
I also chose the option in my email prgram set to not automatically display the graphics in my email messages. Many of the graphics in the messages are downloaded from links to an IP address. So if I understand correctly, when someone views a piece of spam it is conceivably possible for the spammer to tell when the message has been received by the grapics being downloaded. He would then know that he had used a valid email address and should keep sending you more spam. I the the Linux version of the Thunderbird email program and it has the option of not displaying the graphics on some or all of my email. Most email programs for Windows or Linux have that option. I haven't heard if Outlook has that option or not.
I am not sure how up to ate this info is but, have you heard of webbugs? A Web bug is a graphic on a Web page or in an e-mail message designed to monitor who is reading the page or message. Have you heard of Bugnosis the webbug detector for Windows? I do not use Windows very much anymore so I haven't tried using the program in recent years so don't know much about Bugnosis (or webbugs).
If you go the the websites for DoubleClick or some of the other similar companines that monitor us you will also find that you can choose to have an opt-out cookie downloaded to your browser which stops them from moitoring you.
I am a registered republican who is a fiscal conservative / social liberal but, unfortunately G.W. Bush seems to be a fiscal liberal / social conservative. That is just the opposite of what I am. I really don't care much about all the religious right anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, conservative court nominees stuff one way or the other. For decades, my main concern as a voter has been to control government spending, balance the budget and to have strong states rights and to do as much at the state and local level as possible. Unfortunately, G.W. Bush seems too spend money like a drunken sailor and does not want to raise taxes to pay for anything.
I am old enough to remember when the Republican party was somewhat different. Back in the 1970s and earlier the religious right was not a prominent part of republican party. Republicans were for smaller government, less taxes and stronger states rights. In some ways G.W. Bush does not seem to be for the traditional Republican idea of stronger states rights. One example is how during hurricane Katrina, in some instances FEMA used heavy handed tactics and blocked the rescue efforts by local officals such as by seizing control of some diesel fuel they needed and by seizing control of an antenna tower used by local officals. /P>
I remember attending a speech by Republican Senatory Barry Goldwater back in 1972. He seemed to peak from his heart and was not afraid to say what he really believed and did not care if all voters or the press appoved of what he was saying. During his last term as a senator, when he did not need to be re-elected, he even voted against a defense spending item which was locally made because he felt the need to control unneccesary spending. By contrast G.W.Bush and the current Republics do not hesitate to pile on the pork barrel spending. I gladly voted for Barry Golwater on several occasions over the years but could not bring myself to vote for G.W. Bush during the last election. I am not sure where I stand on the collection of DNA info but, I am mainly trying to say how frustrated I am that we have not had any fiscally conservative candidates lately.
Most of the ham radio operaters that I know seem to be retired men in their 70s or 80s. My concern is that if we do not get more younger people interested in the hobby, in another 10 - 20 years we might not have very many hams left to help out in emergencies. I am in my early 50s, so there would be at least some of us left. Many of the older hams got interested in the hobby back in the days when radio was something new and exciting and they could build their own radios and antennas. We could probably use some younger new hams expecially in hurricane prone places such as Gulf Coast or in earthquake prone areas such as Sothern California.
Here is one non-ham related thought; I have met several people who live in motorhomes who get their Internet connections through a satellite disk. StarBand in one of the companies that offer satelliet based Internet connections. The motorhomes I have seen also had a built-in generator and Inverter so they can browse the interent from their laptop even when no power or phone lines are available. One guy even had a WiFi hotspot that his neighbors could connect to. Some motorhomes even have solar pannels on the roof.
I have a general class ham radio license and have a 2-meter radio in my 4WD truck and a smaller 2-meter radio that I keep in my backpack. There are two main types of radios that hams use, they use an HF radio for bouncing a signal off the ionosphere and talking to people hundreds or thousands of miles away. If they only want to talk to hams locally or in a nearby city they usually use a higher frequency radio such a 2-meter radio that does not bounce off the ionosphere.
About 5 years ago I had a girfriend who was a ham with a technican class license who had a 2-meter/440 radio in her car. If there was ever a disaster and got seperated we had agreed on which frequencys we should use to contact each other. It is not unusual to hear husbands and wives who are hams checking in with each other while one is at home and the other is doing errands. In a major disaster they should still be able to stay in touch with each other.
I have several battery packs for the 2-meter radio that I keep in my backpack. One is rechageable and the other battery pack is not rechargeable but contains AA alkaline batteries which can be replaced from the extra stash that I always keep on hand. Here in Arizona there are ham radio repeater stations on my of the mountain tops. Most repeater stations have battery and/or solar power backup. The can be used to communicate with hams who live 100 miles or so away on the other side of the nearby mountains. The ARRL has some info about becoming a ham. Most of the local hams all know each others name and callsign.
I also keep several LED flashlights around such as the Pack-lite which are so efficient that they will run for 200 hours on high and 1,200 hours on low. I also keep a couple of 5-gallon cans of water in the back of my truck.
About 50 percent of all home and business wireless networks do not use the optional security features like encryption or MAC address filtering. Furthermore, for years now, Windows has had serious security problems with viruses, spam, e-mail attachments and other problems. Despite these unaccepatble security problems, most people have continued to use Windows even though more secure choices such as MAC OS X and Linux exist. According to on BBC article there are over 1 million Zombie computers spewing out spam and viruses or being used for other illegal activities. Should most of those over 1 million people be considered to be criminals because as you say "ignorance is not a valid defence?"
Most computer users are not knowledgable about computer security and use an insecure operating system. So if ignorance is not a valid defence then should I assume that most Windows users are potentially guilty of allowing their computers to be used for crimes? I use Linux by the way and am not a lawyer but, it seems a little harsh to hold unlucky ordinary average ignorant Windows users guilty by saying "ignorance is not a valid defence."
By the way, I am not saying that Linux or Mac OS X security is perfect but they are nearly immune to viruses, worms and e-mail attachemnts. However Linux users still need to use a firewall and download the latest security updates.
It is possible to spoof IP addresses, e-mail addresss and even MAC addresses, so how does the RIAA know who was really doing the downloading? There is also the problem of the large numbers of zombie or 'bot nets of hijacked computers. According to a BBC article there are over one million computers on the Internet which have been hijacked to pump out spam and viruses. If any of these mothers have computers which are zombies, then who knows who is really controlling their computers and doing the downloading?
Today many homes also have 802.11b wireless networks and in about 50% of the home networks they have not enabled the optional security features. Those home networks are wide open. A wardriver or neighbor with a laptop could use their network to access the Internet and download or upload files.
Average mothers like these are probably clueless about computer security. Do they download all the latest security patches. Do they use a firewall and know how to properly configure it? Do they go to the "Shields up" section of grc.com to test their firewall afterwards. If they are using a Windows computer do they know to be careful about clicking on attachments? Do they download the latest virus signatures and scan for viruses regularly? Do they regularly scan for spyware using something like Ad-Aware or Spybot Search and Destroy? Do they use hard to guess passwords? If they are using Windows XP did they install Service Pack 2?
I don't see how the RIAA can reasonably assume that an inexperienced Windows user's computer is not actually a Zombie computer being operated at times by some hacker. I have never used P2P networks and do not actually know much about them. But, it seems to me that problems like zombies, spoofed IP addresses and spoofed Mac addresses would cause many innocent mothers to be targeted.
Several years ago I saw someone in a campground that had a large WiFi hotspot sign on the front of his motorhome. I asked how he could do that without a phone line. He said he used the satellite dish on the motorhome for his Internet connection. So wherever he went the neighboring campers would have could use his WiFi hotspot. I am not sure what the connection speed was. If his WiFi hotspot was using 802.11b it would most likely have been availible to eveyone within about 300 feet (or less if there are trees in the way).
There was actually electricty where he was camping but that would have been optional since, like most motorhomes, he had a built in generator and a large extra deep cycle battery. Some motorhomes even have solar panels on the roof to help keep their batteries charged during long camping trips to remote areas which have no utilites.
It seems to me something like that could be mounted on trucks ready to be deployed to key locations at future disasters. These mobile WiFi hot spot trucks should probably be pre-positioned around the country in safe locations just slightly outside of where disasters are most likely to occure. Then they could quickly be sent in to beef up dammaged local communications for local hospitals, disaster shelters, police and sherrifs offices, city hall, sewage treatment plants, water treatment plants and supply centers.
The mobile WiFi hotspots could supplement the role that local ham radio clubs and organizations play in many parts of the country. Where I live, the local ham radio club has had a close working relationship for many years with local city and county officials. They already have their own ham radio antennas mounted on the hospital, city hall and other key locations. The local club has volunteer hams who have plenty of extra batteries and are ready to go to key locations such as those as well as firestations, the police station and elsewhere. I am not personally involved with that, so I do not know many of the details. I am a licensed ham radio operator and have never really been active with the hobby so am not sure about all the details. One of the past past mayors of or town was a ham so perhaps that might partially explain the close relationship that local city and county emergency officials have with the hams.
After seeing what happened with Katrina, I do not believe that we should depend on FEMA or the federal government for such key emergency services. They not only failed to respond in a timely manner but, in several cases blocked other organizations from going to the area or doing there jobs properly. Others such as perhaps the Red Cross should have mobile WiFi hotspots with satellite based Internet connections ready to go. City and country officials should establish a close working relationship with local hams and do an occasional practice emergency drill.
The is at least one large organized group of hams already set up for emergencies which is called the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). They work in cooperation and their webpage says that the "local ARES operation will usually take the form of nets--HF nets, VHF (repeater) nets, even RTTY, packet or other special-mode nets, depending on need and resources available."
Here are a couple of non-ham related thoughts I have had on emergency communications. I know a couple who travel around the country with a motorhome with "WiFi" hot spot sign on the front. I asked how they did that when he did not have a telephone line where he was staying. He said that he had an internet connection through his small satellite disk. The neighbors with laptops could use his WiFi hotspot. Many RVs are quite self-contained with their own generator, water tank, propane powered refrigerator, propane powered stove and heater and a holding tank for the toilet and so forth. They are desined to stay for several days where there is no electricity or water. I do not know if the roads going into those emergency areas would be accessable to an RV or not. I wonder if something like that with both a WiFi hot spot plus a ham with both shortwave and VHF communications might be useful (I'm just thinking).
Here in Arizona, the local hams and the search and rescue team fixed up an old 4WD army ambulance (or something like that) from the 50's as a search and rescue command and control vehicle. It has an antenna farm on the roof and laptop computers inside. I believe that the sheriffs office or someone gave them the old army ambulance. If I remember correctly, I heard that they put a new engine in the vehicle and repainted it several years ago. I hope I am describing it correctly, since I am not involved with them. I did peek through the door of the vehicle once
Just before Y2k, I had heard that either the city or county had installed an extra fuel tank so that the fire trucks and other emergency vehicles would not run out of fuel in the weeks after Y2K. I was surprised to hear about fire trucks running out of fuel in New Orleans. They must have not prepared for hurricanes as well as a certain town in the mountains of Arizona prepared for Y2K?
Where I live in Arizona, city officials and local hams, for years, have been working together to be prepared for emergencies. I remember how thoroughly they prepared together for Y2K. As Y2K approached local hams with plenty of batteries and other equipment were pre-positioned at hospitals, police stations, fire stations and other key locations. At some of those locations they still have their own antenna on the roof. The city itself had installed diesel backup generators at the city sewage treatment plant and at each of the wells for the city water system.
I have never really been active in ham radio although I do have a general class license. Many hams are already prepared to communicate with each other across thousands of miles or across town without the help of electricty from the power company. If their antennas get blown down they can quicky set up a simple wire antenna hanging from a tree. Many are already set up for long distance communication while operating from their car, truck or RV. They can communicate using voice, various digital modes or CW (Morse Code). Some hams even use slow-scan television or ham radio satellites. Perhaps they should just try to send more ham radio operators into the area.
The Zalman Reserator fanless water cooling system is somewhat expensive but I wanted a quiet computer even if it cost a little more. For me it was worth it especially since the computer sits next to my bed not far from my TV. It is almost totally silent. If I turn the two case fans down as low as they go and lean over closer I can just barely hear a faint noise from the water pump or the flow indicator. It sounds like an aquarium pump.
When I reboot and looked in the BIOS just now it said that my CPU was 40 degress C. That was just after light usage of the computer. I have read that there are more powerful cooling systems which are for serious overclockers but, this is the most quiet water cooling system available.
I have a Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 motherboard which uses the socket 939 version of the AMD Athlon 64. The Zalman website said it would work with a socket 939 processor but the instruction manual that came with my kit did not mention being able to use the 939. Perhaps I had a slightly older version of the instruction manual with a slightly older kit. At first it did not seem as if the kit was going to fit onto my CPU, but then, I realized that I had to remove a plastic base like thing from the back of the motherboard before it would fit. It then fit and worked perfectly.
Fortuanately, buy default, the BIOS was not set to complain about zero RPMs from the CPU fan. On some motherboards the fan failure protection feature would need to be turned off. I placed the 23 inch tall reserator behind the computer desk where it is out of site. There is reasonable air flow where I placed it. I plugged the water pump into the UPS because I did not want to have the computer running while the water pump was off during a power failure.
I have several versions of Linux and two versions of Windows on the computer. When idle Windows 2000 uses 130 W and Windows XP uses 109 W. The 64-bit version of Ubuntu Linux uses 94 W. I also have Slackware which is 32-bit OS and comes with a 2.4 kernel. Slackware used about 127 W until I later installed a 2.6.12.4 kernel and recompiled it to enable the appropriate features. I then made another change or two to enable the AMD "Cool 'n Quiet" feature and brought its power consumption down to 94 W.
I only have a total of 3 fans on the computer. There are the two case fans which I slow down with an adjustable rheostat. There is also a northbridge fan does not make any significant noise. You asked if it was worth it, well for me it was anyway.
My AMD Athlon 64 3800+ is plugged into a wattmeter and at the moment is shows that it is using 94 Watts. Under heavy usage the Wattmeter shows about 167 Watts. I am not a gamer and do not have a power hungry high performace video card so the power consumption my be lower than otherwise. But, I do have 1 GB of RAM, two huge 7200 RPM hard drives and an 802.11g WiFi card. My fanless 350 Watt power supply is plenty. The monitor, water pump and other exteral devices are not plugged into the Wattmeter.
Computer power supplies are actually several different power supplies in one with different wattage ratings on each leg. If I remember correctly, an ATX motherboard usually has one or two +12 Volt legs, a +5 volt leg, a +3.3 volt leg, and possibly another leg of some other voltage which I can't recall at the mement. Im not an expert on this but, my understanding is that on most power supplies, the maximum rated Wattage is not available on just any possible leg. Different components are plugged into each leg and ideally someone should calculate how much is needed on each leg and compare that to the power supply specs for each leg. Since most people do not bother calculating power usage on each leg and comparing it to power supply specs, I am guessing that the computer store salesmen just grab one of their most powerful power supplies and say "this should do the job." I suppose it does not really matter if it is far more than necessary.
I use the AMD-64 version of Ubuntu Linux. By default, the AMD Athlon 64 "Cool 'N Quiet" is enabled. Using that feature, it slows the CPU from its normal 2.4 GHz down to 1 GHz when when idle or doing ordinary easy tasks. At that time the Wattmeter shows 94 Watts, when doing a more demanding task it jumps to 2.4 GHz and uses 167 Watts. Would someone with a wattmeter and a more power hungry computer please tell me what they have and are doing that uses 400 or 500 W or more.
I built my computer to be as quiet as possible and use a Zalman Reserator 1 fanless water cooling for the CPU. I also have a fanless video card. I also adjust the knob on a rheostat to slow the two case fans down to where they are quiet.
Apparently SCO sent letters to our congressmen, now we should also do the same. Our side of the story shoud be heard too! On the Electronic Frontier Foundation web page they have an anti-SCO form letter that can be used. It does not specifically refer to the SCO lobbying. But, it does talk about the SCO litigation and their plan to sue Linux users even before the validity of their claims has been established.
t em =2775
The form letter is automatically sent to the the appropriate senator and representatives who represent you in your district. You do not need to bother looking up their e-mail addresses. You can add your own comments before the letter is sent. Here is the link to the anti-SCO form letter:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&i
Let congress now we care about our legal rights as Linux users.