Well, there are two useful utils to help combat ads.
First one is AdExt which blocks the ads right in the page. Best of all its GPL'd and I'm working on porting it to MacOS X and Linux so that everyone can enjoy it. This is also one of the few ad-removing tools I support/sponsor. Oh, it also kills the annoying shock ads like the shoot/punch/whack the monkey from TreeLoot.
Second one is NoAds, which kills the popup ads which AdExt didn't snag. Its also free and works quite well (no proxy mods like AdExt needs).
Oh god the horror! They actually had to do work!
:-)
Anyway, what were you guys saying about a single point of failure? Its always funny when someone elses network blows up and dies, until its your own. Maybe this was just the gods way of saying "Shut up while your ahead".
Call me a troll all you want, but you know I'm right.
And people wonder why they get hacked. If you think you are invincible, you are just asking for trouble:)
Re:Security for Mac Users
on
Cracking OSX
·
· Score: 1
Hrm, well IE 5 for Mac isn't nearly as bad as IE for Windows. Hell, I wouldn't ever use any other browser for Mac but IE.
Its the only one which doesn't crash on me, and it renders pages halfway decently. People should give more credit to the Apple developers a Microsft, regardless of what their Windows counterparts do. I mean, Office isn't so bad either on the Mac.
As the topic says, the DSL era is over. Its an illfated technology that isn't going to last. Primary reason for this is because of the big Bells, like Verizon, who want to control the DSL market.
The only companies that are going to survive are the ones who not only do DSL, but also Ts, dialups, webhosting, etc (ie: have some other source of profit).
Now cable, thats a totally different story. I thought Cable would be the one to go under, but its a superior technology and seems to scale very well to a large amount of customers. Why spend 100+ a month to get 1mbit when you can get 3+ mbit for 40 bucks a month?
Though I can only see cable working really well in a consumer environment. DSL is better suited for businesses and offers more functionality (everything a T1 offers but with reduced stability).
But then again, look how many providers are going under today in general. Maybe T1s aren't so safe anymore.
Heh, the network engineers are the same people who do the tech support. Unlike alot of ISPs, our call load is so low 90% of the time that one person can easily manage all the incoming calls and still answer the phone on the 2nd ring. Its all about running the network correctly. When you pay the extra money to get good equipment, and set things up right the first time, you dont have headaches down the road.
Its always a plus to have the customer call back later on to say Thank You, or get snail mail from a CEO or other big person thanking you for such great service. Boosts morale and makes you feel much better:)
Its too bad, people expect alot for little. It just doesn't work that way. Had the companies selling DSL charged what is necessary to not only cover the costs of the DSL install and continuing service, but to make even a small profit, they might have lasted longer.
End users complain about reliability, but they dont bother to read about DSL before ordering it. If you have to depend on an Internet connection, you are better off with ISDN or T1. T1s have a SLA which guarantees certain uptimes. I cant remember the last time DSL had one. But like I said, people want alot for little, they dont want to pay 900 a month for a T1, they want 100 dollar SDSL or IDSL.
I dont feel the least bit sorry for people these days. If you want good service, go with a reputable local provider which has been around for years (not months) and get _real_ Internet access.
One of the reasons why the ISP I work at has survived for 7+ years is because rather then trying to take the world by storm and not being able to support the resulting customers, we focused on local access, not jumping on the bandwagon, developing our own tools and products, and made sure to not make the mistakes that other providers have. Doing real innovation, as well as providing the customers with service which outclasses even the largest national providers is one of the most important aspects of the job here.
When was the last time you could call an ISP's tech support and speak directly to the people who run the network (and without having to press one for billing, two for tech support, etc)? Average wait time for tech support here is 20 seconds. Maybe some other providers should try harder.
Trying to get support for DSL is frustrating esp. when it takes Verizon a week to get out onsite with the customer just to tell us nothing is wrong (and bill us for it), and another week for the DSL provider to get off their asses and fix the problem and tell us Verizon is at fault. You can sorta see the loop. It goes on and on... I mean, just the other day, Verizon took a pair of our lines providing our customers with DSL, and reallocated them for one of _their_ customers, totally ruining the DSL, making us look bad.
DSL providers like Covad wonder why they aren't getting paid for service - ISPs wont pay for service that either isn't there, or is down 90% of the time. ISPs wonder why they aren't getting paid for DSL service - consumers wont pay for service which they cant use or which isn't there.
*shrug* I am just tired of this crap. Spend the extra cash necessary to get reliable service and these problems wont happen!
Ok, I'm done with my rant:-)
If any northpoint customers happen to read this, e-mail me and I'll get you information on some providers who can help restore your service.
Ok, so who there do I send the bill to for the cost of upgrading some of my older desktops which use Netscape 3, Netscape 2, etc since they are so adamant about how we need to be using the latest browsers?
I mean, if your going to start literally ordering webmasters to lock people out, you better be ready to help upgrade those people who get locked out.
Not everyone can afford a 1 ghz athlon with 256 megs of RAM, etc just to support the latest standards. Some of us actually use our old hardware for things other then firewalls.
We couldn't find a Q3 CD anywhere to load on the system, not to mention the fact we couldn't even touch the system or get close enough to drop a CD in:-)
Maybe other companies who think like EToys should take a lesson from this. The little guy may not be able to fight you now, but whats gonna happen when you've just blown 84 mil and are about to go belly up:)
I give EToy two thumbs up for returning the favor. After all, one good screw deserves another.
Ok, so I take it shortly we will see M$ Vote 1.0. It will work fine in all tests but then when we go to use it to vote, it will BSOD 80% of the time while during normal use, and will loose votes for particular canidates.
Then M$ Vote 2.0 will come out. Featuring a totally redesigned interface (which will confuse even the most seasoned computer users and requires going through 10 confirmation dialogs just to vote for the president), new built in Internet Exploder 6.0 for instant vote information. It will also cost 10k per machine to upgrade the hardware and software necessary because M$ is no longer supporting 1.0 and is not compatible with 2.0 at all.
IRC is a haven for script kiddies, packet monkies, and general lamers. The less large networks exist, the better. Keeps the kiddies bouncing around looking rather then plopping down and causing havoc. Now if only EFNet would follow suit...
Note, to all you people who are going to say this is a troll - I AM NOT AGREEING WITH WHAT THIS KIDDIE IS DOING.
I'm not saying its right, I am not on his side. What I am saying is that hopefully this will bring light to the fact that big networks dont work anymore.
Dont care how much people tell me, no dist is perfect, Debian is far from perfect, like Redhat, Slackware, etc are also.
Use what you want, but dont try to convince someone else that their dist is so inferior to yours. The major advantage of Linux is choice. No one vendor, no one controlling group.
At the rate spam is coming these days, I praise RBL's attemps to block some of it, even if it does get in the way of websites for innocents. Maybe if these innocents all complained to their providers to dump the spammers and their websites, the RBL would not have to block them.
The ISP where I work has a strict anti-spam policy - you do it once and your gone. Website, mail, dialup, DSL, etc. GONE. You offer spamming tools on your website hosted with us, get ready to find it gone the next day.
The only way to stop the spammers is to force the providers which host them to dump them. I have full faith in RBL and its goals. I do NOT though appreicate ORBS. Several times I have dealt with ORBS blocking out people, refusing to remove them, and all sorts of fun stuff which makes that list seem like something for revenge.
Oh well, its not like you are required to use RBL. If you dont like it, find another provider who doesn't care about spam and enjoy.
Wait, doesn't Microsoft already do this on behalf of the govt in the US as it is? I mean, last time I bought a computer from a major vendor, I had to pay a non-refundable Windows tax...
In general, if someone thinks they are ultra leet and cool with their DoS tools and scripts, I call them a kiddie. No matter how old they are. Its such juvenile methods
These damn packet kiddies dont know when to quit. I was the one which brought in a server to help hub the net... Then hell broke loose. Before we even knew what hit us, it was over. Several T1s worth of bandwidth hit us suddenly and left us with no way to access the server to figure out what had happened. Then a second later we had recovered and things were back to normal.
One of those times where a cluebat or a clue-by-four would come in handy to bash this kids head in...
At least they are reporting/posting something that is a good question, rather then the lately rash of incorrect, misinformed, etc articles that the editors should have looked into more carefully before posting to the website.
Of course, I expect to get a Flamebait or troll mod for this, but hey, I'm allowed to voice my views.
When will these people learn?
on
MAPS Sued Again
·
· Score: 1
Ok, you all have to ask yourself one simple question - why dont these !@#$%^& spammers and advertisers just finally get a clue and only send the spam TO PEOPLE WHO WANT IT. That way, RBL can finally be retired and they can stop bitching and moaning about how RBL is hurting them.
Like its said in other posts here, you have to screw up big time to get put on the RBL, so I have no remorse for anyone who brings a lawsuit against them.
I have trusted RBL for a LONG time, and their list has managed to cut down on the bulk of the spam which passes through my servers. Imagine how much bandwidth and resources that has saved me (and my customers who have it are thrilled with how much its cut down on spam for them)!
In my opinion, RBL is one of the most valuable services on the internet which hasn't been corrupted by big businesses and still focuses on a goal which is worthy to support.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, there are two useful utils to help combat ads.
First one is AdExt which blocks the ads right in the page. Best of all its GPL'd and I'm working on porting it to MacOS X and Linux so that everyone can enjoy it. This is also one of the few ad-removing tools I support/sponsor. Oh, it also kills the annoying shock ads like the shoot/punch/whack the monkey from TreeLoot.
Second one is NoAds, which kills the popup ads which AdExt didn't snag. Its also free and works quite well (no proxy mods like AdExt needs).
Oh god the horror! They actually had to do work!
:-)
Anyway, what were you guys saying about a single point of failure? Its always funny when someone elses network blows up and dies, until its your own. Maybe this was just the gods way of saying "Shut up while your ahead".
Call me a troll all you want, but you know I'm right.
And people wonder why they get hacked. If you think you are invincible, you are just asking for trouble :)
Hrm, well IE 5 for Mac isn't nearly as bad as IE for Windows. Hell, I wouldn't ever use any other browser for Mac but IE.
Its the only one which doesn't crash on me, and it renders pages halfway decently. People should give more credit to the Apple developers a Microsft, regardless of what their Windows counterparts do. I mean, Office isn't so bad either on the Mac.
As the topic says, the DSL era is over. Its an illfated technology that isn't going to last. Primary reason for this is because of the big Bells, like Verizon, who want to control the DSL market.
The only companies that are going to survive are the ones who not only do DSL, but also Ts, dialups, webhosting, etc (ie: have some other source of profit).
Now cable, thats a totally different story. I thought Cable would be the one to go under, but its a superior technology and seems to scale very well to a large amount of customers. Why spend 100+ a month to get 1mbit when you can get 3+ mbit for 40 bucks a month?
Though I can only see cable working really well in a consumer environment. DSL is better suited for businesses and offers more functionality (everything a T1 offers but with reduced stability).
But then again, look how many providers are going under today in general. Maybe T1s aren't so safe anymore.
Heh, the network engineers are the same people who do the tech support. Unlike alot of ISPs, our call load is so low 90% of the time that one person can easily manage all the incoming calls and still answer the phone on the 2nd ring. Its all about running the network correctly. When you pay the extra money to get good equipment, and set things up right the first time, you dont have headaches down the road.
:)
Its always a plus to have the customer call back later on to say Thank You, or get snail mail from a CEO or other big person thanking you for such great service. Boosts morale and makes you feel much better
Its too bad, people expect alot for little. It just doesn't work that way. Had the companies selling DSL charged what is necessary to not only cover the costs of the DSL install and continuing service, but to make even a small profit, they might have lasted longer.
:-)
End users complain about reliability, but they dont bother to read about DSL before ordering it. If you have to depend on an Internet connection, you are better off with ISDN or T1. T1s have a SLA which guarantees certain uptimes. I cant remember the last time DSL had one. But like I said, people want alot for little, they dont want to pay 900 a month for a T1, they want 100 dollar SDSL or IDSL.
I dont feel the least bit sorry for people these days. If you want good service, go with a reputable local provider which has been around for years (not months) and get _real_ Internet access.
One of the reasons why the ISP I work at has survived for 7+ years is because rather then trying to take the world by storm and not being able to support the resulting customers, we focused on local access, not jumping on the bandwagon, developing our own tools and products, and made sure to not make the mistakes that other providers have. Doing real innovation, as well as providing the customers with service which outclasses even the largest national providers is one of the most important aspects of the job here.
When was the last time you could call an ISP's tech support and speak directly to the people who run the network (and without having to press one for billing, two for tech support, etc)? Average wait time for tech support here is 20 seconds. Maybe some other providers should try harder.
Trying to get support for DSL is frustrating esp. when it takes Verizon a week to get out onsite with the customer just to tell us nothing is wrong (and bill us for it), and another week for the DSL provider to get off their asses and fix the problem and tell us Verizon is at fault. You can sorta see the loop. It goes on and on... I mean, just the other day, Verizon took a pair of our lines providing our customers with DSL, and reallocated them for one of _their_ customers, totally ruining the DSL, making us look bad.
DSL providers like Covad wonder why they aren't getting paid for service - ISPs wont pay for service that either isn't there, or is down 90% of the time. ISPs wonder why they aren't getting paid for DSL service - consumers wont pay for service which they cant use or which isn't there.
*shrug* I am just tired of this crap. Spend the extra cash necessary to get reliable service and these problems wont happen!
Ok, I'm done with my rant
If any northpoint customers happen to read this, e-mail me and I'll get you information on some providers who can help restore your service.
Ok, so who there do I send the bill to for the cost of upgrading some of my older desktops which use Netscape 3, Netscape 2, etc since they are so adamant about how we need to be using the latest browsers?
I mean, if your going to start literally ordering webmasters to lock people out, you better be ready to help upgrade those people who get locked out.
Not everyone can afford a 1 ghz athlon with 256 megs of RAM, etc just to support the latest standards. Some of us actually use our old hardware for things other then firewalls.
We couldn't find a Q3 CD anywhere to load on the system, not to mention the fact we couldn't even touch the system or get close enough to drop a CD in :-)
Funny how shit comes back to bite you in the ass.
:)
Maybe other companies who think like EToys should take a lesson from this. The little guy may not be able to fight you now, but whats gonna happen when you've just blown 84 mil and are about to go belly up
I give EToy two thumbs up for returning the favor. After all, one good screw deserves another.
One who posts lame/boring/uninteresting articles should not talk :-)
wouldn't mind if it misfired and took out the Microsoft campus... If its using M$ software, shouldn't be that hard to hack!
Ok, so I take it shortly we will see M$ Vote 1.0. It will work fine in all tests but then when we go to use it to vote, it will BSOD 80% of the time while during normal use, and will loose votes for particular canidates.
:-)
Then M$ Vote 2.0 will come out. Featuring a totally redesigned interface (which will confuse even the most seasoned computer users and requires going through 10 confirmation dialogs just to vote for the president), new built in Internet Exploder 6.0 for instant vote information. It will also cost 10k per machine to upgrade the hardware and software necessary because M$ is no longer supporting 1.0 and is not compatible with 2.0 at all.
Funny, sounds like Windows almost
IRC is a haven for script kiddies, packet monkies, and general lamers. The less large networks exist, the better. Keeps the kiddies bouncing around looking rather then plopping down and causing havoc. Now if only EFNet would follow suit...
Note, to all you people who are going to say this is a troll - I AM NOT AGREEING WITH WHAT THIS KIDDIE IS DOING.
I'm not saying its right, I am not on his side. What I am saying is that hopefully this will bring light to the fact that big networks dont work anymore.
Dont care how much people tell me, no dist is perfect, Debian is far from perfect, like Redhat, Slackware, etc are also.
Use what you want, but dont try to convince someone else that their dist is so inferior to yours. The major advantage of Linux is choice. No one vendor, no one controlling group.
Extactly like my subject. Nothing will happen. People who use linux will go on with their daily lives like nothing has changed.
At the rate spam is coming these days, I praise RBL's attemps to block some of it, even if it does get in the way of websites for innocents. Maybe if these innocents all complained to their providers to dump the spammers and their websites, the RBL would not have to block them.
The ISP where I work has a strict anti-spam policy - you do it once and your gone. Website, mail, dialup, DSL, etc. GONE. You offer spamming tools on your website hosted with us, get ready to find it gone the next day.
The only way to stop the spammers is to force the providers which host them to dump them. I have full faith in RBL and its goals. I do NOT though appreicate ORBS. Several times I have dealt with ORBS blocking out people, refusing to remove them, and all sorts of fun stuff which makes that list seem like something for revenge.
Oh well, its not like you are required to use RBL. If you dont like it, find another provider who doesn't care about spam and enjoy.
Not that I can rememeber.... Nintendo does that though :)
this was supposed to be funny, not serious :)
Wait, doesn't Microsoft already do this on behalf of the govt in the US as it is? I mean, last time I bought a computer from a major vendor, I had to pay a non-refundable Windows tax...
>Between their idiotic branding
:)
> and versioning campaign (Java 2 > Standard Edition Version, um, 1.3)
And things like Windows 98 v4.10.2000 or Outlook 98 v8.blah.blah.blah.blah is any better?
In general, if someone thinks they are ultra leet and cool with their DoS tools and scripts, I call them a kiddie. No matter how old they are. Its such juvenile methods
These damn packet kiddies dont know when to quit. I was the one which brought in a server to help hub the net... Then hell broke loose. Before we even knew what hit us, it was over. Several T1s worth of bandwidth hit us suddenly and left us with no way to access the server to figure out what had happened. Then a second later we had recovered and things were back to normal.
One of those times where a cluebat or a clue-by-four would come in handy to bash this kids head in...
At least they are reporting/posting something that is a good question, rather then the lately rash of incorrect, misinformed, etc articles that the editors should have looked into more carefully before posting to the website.
Of course, I expect to get a Flamebait or troll mod for this, but hey, I'm allowed to voice my views.
Ok, you all have to ask yourself one simple question - why dont these !@#$%^& spammers and advertisers just finally get a clue and only send the spam TO PEOPLE WHO WANT IT. That way, RBL can finally be retired and they can stop bitching and moaning about how RBL is hurting them.
Like its said in other posts here, you have to screw up big time to get put on the RBL, so I have no remorse for anyone who brings a lawsuit against them.
I have trusted RBL for a LONG time, and their list has managed to cut down on the bulk of the spam which passes through my servers. Imagine how much bandwidth and resources that has saved me (and my customers who have it are thrilled with how much its cut down on spam for them)!
In my opinion, RBL is one of the most valuable services on the internet which hasn't been corrupted by big businesses and still focuses on a goal which is worthy to support.