I've been getting 3.5Mb/s from Comcast for a while now. It was good timing on their part because I was about to switch back to DSL. DSL in this area maxes out at about 1.5Mb/s, but at least it doesn't go out (along with the cable) several times a month. Also, the high speeds were a lot more consistent with DSL--until recently at least.
Despite this, me and several neighbors have been talking about setting up our own LAN and getting business DSL. Last I checked, I could get business DSL for $75/month with a static IP, no download cap, and as many computers as I'd like to hook up. If Comcast even thought about threatening me with this crap I'd ditch them in a second at take at least two other of their current broadband customers with me.
RS232 used both 9 and 25 pin connectors. The 9-pin serial ports on your computer are RS232*. As far as only using 4 pins, that is incorrect as well. Data was transmitted over two pins. If all you wanted to do was send/receive data you only needed those two pins. Other pins were used for useful stuff such as hardware flow control, carrier detection, and other out of band signaling. RS232 has been around forever, has been extremely widely used, and will be around for a long time to come (though not likely for much longer on consumer PC's)
RS422 is a whole different animal and has nothing to do with 9-pin connectors.
* Note: most new computers seem to be doing away with RS232[c] ports in favor of USB these days.
IANASH (Stephen Hawking), so I don't really understand how or how much mass/gravity warps space-time. So forgive me for asking, but could it be something to do with accumulation of mass, or related to the redistribution of mass due to mining?
While I was visiting my parents for xmas I saw a piece about this on FNC. At first I wondered why they were airing the story at all, then it came to mind that the story was probably just a great big troll.
I saw this Dutch ad on the Internet a couple years ago. Apparently it's an ad for English classes. That's not the only reason it would never been shown in the US though.
The best solution I've heard mentioned entails using encryption on all e-mails. By requiring a certain level of encryption on received e-mails, it's possible to force senders to "spend" a certain amount of CPU time to get an e-mail out to you. The amount of time spent encrypting isn't going to be a big deal to someone just sending one e-mail, but to a spammer sending millions it will be very expensive resource-wise.
So basically this method uses a technological means to change the economics of spamming. As a side effect we get strong encryption built into our e-mail.
My neighbors get home from work and they are just happy to be home. I, on the other hand, can't wait for the end of my workday so I can leave the house. Find some stuff to do outside the house.
Yeah it's really easy to sign code when you don't have the key. All you have to do is try about 2^1024 different combinations of 1's and 0's. Simple, but not if you want it done before the Universe is gone.
I think he was referring to the key when he said "cert."
And if you have access to the key, remember that it's encrypted with a passphrase. Assuming it's 40 letters or longer (Something like "This is a passphrase that is long but easy to remember. I would just like to tell you, Mister Password Prompt, that nobody will guess this!"), you would have to try about 100^40 different passphrases. That's hard.
If the attacker already had access to the machine then a keylogger would be able to take care of grabbing the passphrase.
The virus is found naturally in shallow pools of water
Ah, that could present a problem right there. The pharmaceutical industry industry has invested a lot of money in R&D for patentable anti-cancer drugs. If it turns out that there is a naturally occuring substance that aids some cancer patients they'll probably lobby to have it outlawed.
Coming soon: The War on Naturally-Occuring Pool-Dwelling Viruses; sponsored by your favorite big-time pharmaceutical companies.
I worked at a casino in Atlantic City for several years. One of my responsibilities was updating the code for our slot machine monitoring software--the portion that actually ran in the slot machines. When it was time to distribute an update I had to take the code up to the Director of Internal Audit on a floppy disk. He'd pop it into a computer in his office that would generate a 'diff' of sorts and print out two copies. They'd file one and I'd bring the other back. In the process the code would be compiled and uploaded to a shared folder on our AS/400--one that only he had the login and password to access. From there our slot server would download it (on a seperate token ring network) then distribute it to several headless boxes above the casino floor, which in turn would distribute it over RS-422 to the slot machine. That's just for the data collection code which ran on a completely separate processor card from the actual slot machine code.
The slot code that actually controlled the slot machines wouldn't even run until it was encrypted. When changes were made they'd have to be mailed to the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement, who would have it audited, then compiled and encrypted. Then they'd send it back to us in encrypted format so we could upload it to the slot machines. This was basically their way of making sure the code was 'signed.'
This was over ten years so they might do it differently now. At any rate it made it fairly difficult to get code running on a casino floor slot machine without leaving a definate trail.
I needed to come up with a costume idea on short notice this year. I have a friend that's an RN, so she hooked me up with some scrubs and a stethescope.
What I'm still trying to locate is a scan of a Cedars-Sinai ID badge. If I can't find one, I'll just fake it.
The other thing I could use some help on is thinking of a clever name for a gynecologist. Someone here has got to have some ideas.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been getting 3.5Mb/s from Comcast for a while now. It was good timing on their part because I was about to switch back to DSL. DSL in this area maxes out at about 1.5Mb/s, but at least it doesn't go out (along with the cable) several times a month. Also, the high speeds were a lot more consistent with DSL--until recently at least.
Despite this, me and several neighbors have been talking about setting up our own LAN and getting business DSL. Last I checked, I could get business DSL for $75/month with a static IP, no download cap, and as many computers as I'd like to hook up. If Comcast even thought about threatening me with this crap I'd ditch them in a second at take at least two other of their current broadband customers with me.
It's a freakin' file selector, what did YOU want done with it?
I personally would like to see it be multi-thread safe and written in assembly for maximum file selection performance.
RS232 used both 9 and 25 pin connectors. The 9-pin serial ports on your computer are RS232*. As far as only using 4 pins, that is incorrect as well. Data was transmitted over two pins. If all you wanted to do was send/receive data you only needed those two pins. Other pins were used for useful stuff such as hardware flow control, carrier detection, and other out of band signaling. RS232 has been around forever, has been extremely widely used, and will be around for a long time to come (though not likely for much longer on consumer PC's)
RS422 is a whole different animal and has nothing to do with 9-pin connectors.
* Note: most new computers seem to be doing away with RS232[c] ports in favor of USB these days.
IANASH (Stephen Hawking), so I don't really understand how or how much mass/gravity warps space-time. So forgive me for asking, but could it be something to do with accumulation of mass, or related to the redistribution of mass due to mining?
I really should've taken the optimistic view that I'd feel better new year's morning from not spending as much time partying the previous night.
I really could have used that extra second of sleep after partying late on new years eve.
While I was visiting my parents for xmas I saw a piece about this on FNC. At first I wondered why they were airing the story at all, then it came to mind that the story was probably just a great big troll.
I saw this Dutch ad on the Internet a couple years ago. Apparently it's an ad for English classes. That's not the only reason it would never been shown in the US though.
Quicktime Video
Sorry to reply to my own post, but the link in that Slashdot story is outdated. Click here for a link to pictures and video.
I'm not sure it will ever end...
Check out this this Slashdot story about a motherboard submerged in liquid nitrogen cooled flourinert.
I would've eventually seen it on the Daily Show. It's good to have more than one source for your news!
The best solution I've heard mentioned entails using encryption on all e-mails. By requiring a certain level of encryption on received e-mails, it's possible to force senders to "spend" a certain amount of CPU time to get an e-mail out to you. The amount of time spent encrypting isn't going to be a big deal to someone just sending one e-mail, but to a spammer sending millions it will be very expensive resource-wise.
So basically this method uses a technological means to change the economics of spamming. As a side effect we get strong encryption built into our e-mail.
My neighbors get home from work and they are just happy to be home. I, on the other hand, can't wait for the end of my workday so I can leave the house. Find some stuff to do outside the house.
Excerpt follows:
For people that actually leave their computers, burning music onto a CD can be handy ;)
That's one of the reasons I'll never buy a CD again unless I know it's not published by an RIAA member.
Yeah it's really easy to sign code when you don't have the key. All you have to do is try about 2^1024 different combinations of 1's and 0's. Simple, but not if you want it done before the Universe is gone.
I think he was referring to the key when he said "cert."
And if you have access to the key, remember that it's encrypted with a passphrase. Assuming it's 40 letters or longer (Something like "This is a passphrase that is long but easy to remember. I would just like to tell you, Mister Password Prompt, that nobody will guess this!"), you would have to try about 100^40 different passphrases. That's hard.
If the attacker already had access to the machine then a keylogger would be able to take care of grabbing the passphrase.
The virus is found naturally in shallow pools of water
Ah, that could present a problem right there. The pharmaceutical industry industry has invested a lot of money in R&D for patentable anti-cancer drugs. If it turns out that there is a naturally occuring substance that aids some cancer patients they'll probably lobby to have it outlawed.
Coming soon: The War on Naturally-Occuring Pool-Dwelling Viruses; sponsored by your favorite big-time pharmaceutical companies.
Am I overreacting? Yeah, probably.
I worked at a casino in Atlantic City for several years. One of my responsibilities was updating the code for our slot machine monitoring software--the portion that actually ran in the slot machines. When it was time to distribute an update I had to take the code up to the Director of Internal Audit on a floppy disk. He'd pop it into a computer in his office that would generate a 'diff' of sorts and print out two copies. They'd file one and I'd bring the other back. In the process the code would be compiled and uploaded to a shared folder on our AS/400--one that only he had the login and password to access. From there our slot server would download it (on a seperate token ring network) then distribute it to several headless boxes above the casino floor, which in turn would distribute it over RS-422 to the slot machine. That's just for the data collection code which ran on a completely separate processor card from the actual slot machine code.
The slot code that actually controlled the slot machines wouldn't even run until it was encrypted. When changes were made they'd have to be mailed to the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement, who would have it audited, then compiled and encrypted. Then they'd send it back to us in encrypted format so we could upload it to the slot machines. This was basically their way of making sure the code was 'signed.'
This was over ten years so they might do it differently now. At any rate it made it fairly difficult to get code running on a casino floor slot machine without leaving a definate trail.
Check it out
Yeah, I thought of that one, and Ben Dover, but both of them sound more like proctologists than gynecologists.
I needed to come up with a costume idea on short notice this year. I have a friend that's an RN, so she hooked me up with some scrubs and a stethescope.
What I'm still trying to locate is a scan of a Cedars-Sinai ID badge. If I can't find one, I'll just fake it.
The other thing I could use some help on is thinking of a clever name for a gynecologist. Someone here has got to have some ideas.
Black Silence of Death
Are we talking about the "peace sign"?
No, this. [image search]
The NLP required for this is far off, but it sure will be cool when we get there.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming?