...that this doesn't happen more often. I can drive through Seattle (and presumably any large city) with my laptop running a wireless network sniffer. After about 10 blocks, I could easily get into no less than 25 wireless routers. They are all configured with the default credentials. Of course, I don't. Sometimes, when it's a law firm, government agency, or some other organization with tons of [other peoples] personal information, I will even call them up and let them know about it, as a courtesy. They usually tell me to take a hike. Then I can show up at their door offering my services as a 'security consultant' (for $200/hr). 'Look here' I say. 'Look how I am easily changing the settings in your router.'. That's usually about the time they wet their $400 slacks and write me a check.
--
"It's a simple question, doctor.
Would you eat the moon if it was made of ribs, or not?"
CORRECTION: Would you eat the moon if it were made of ribs, or not?
In this case, the verb "to be" is in the subjunctive mood, which is used to indicate a situation that is hypothetical, conditional or somehow not certain.
Now, this correction is just a courtesy. However, if you tell me to take a hike, I will show up at your door with A Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker, and you can scratch me out a check. Sorry, I don't know how much you paid for your pants.
Part of the problem is that, for some reason, it is seen as somehow more acceptable, perhaps even noble to cheat for the sake of one's company.
I worked in a Fortune 100 retail environment for many years and was amazed at the moral lapses that seemingly otherwise upstanding managers would commit on behalf of the company. One manager in particular, who was particularly hard on shoplifters (always prosecuted no matter the amount) and employee pilfering, would routinely shave hours off of employees' timesheets. His "thefts" added up to thousands of dollars per month and he felt perfectly justified in doing it.
Is the grass blue today? Is the sky green today? If I didn't know better, I would almost say that--instead of being excoriated--Walmart is being defended on slashdot. Mark the date. Oh well, common enemy, strange bedfellows and all that.
Come, come now. Didn't you know that it is de rigueur for slashdot twits to brag about how flipping obsolete their machine is and then use that fact as an excuse to trash some bit of modern software? And this despite the fact that one can routinely find better machines set out for the trash.
Personally, I take 5-10 < P3s to the computer recycler per month and usually a couple of lower-end P3s. Might I suggest to all of you ninnies running your Pentium Pros that you hang out in front of your local computer recycler and offer someone $5 for their throwaway rig, which would be an enormous upgrade for you?
Better, make sure there is no line of sight from the door to your desk. That way no-one can see if you're sitting behind it without coming into the room.
Here, let me fix that for you: Better, make sure there is no line of sight from the door to your desk. That way no-one can see if you're sitting behind it without pants.
I don't shop for food at Walmart because frankly their produce just doesn't look as good as what I get at Publix.
Yes, but the produce I throw in the garbage disposal looks better than Walmart's stuff. My God, I can't believe the shit I see on the shelves there. Disgusting.
Also, *do not* buy their beef; it is up to 12% water. If you try to brown some of their sirloin (for example), all of the water comes out as it heats up, resulting in gray boiled beef (at $3.99/lb). The Kroger and Meijer stores here seem to do a lot better job with perishables, but I try to stick to locally grown veggies, eggs and meat when at all possible.
It's no surprise that people here would fail to understand the basic premise of the article--this is slashdot, home of the "I'm the smartest; no, I'm the smartest" pissing contests.
Many of us here are the people described in the article, and we hold "being smart" as the highest possible attribute. We worship "smart" here. Ironically, of course, since one can't claim any more honor from being born smart than from being born handsome or good at sports, traits that are scorned here.
Yeah, but you should put packing peanuts in the box as well. After all, what's the first thing that someone does when the box has the little Styrofoam nuggets in it?
Why is this different than any other enterprise? Bigger customers generally get preferential treatment. If two customers call me and have network issues, and I have billed one of them $50,000 in the past year, while the other one bought one compact flash card from me two years ago, which one am I going to take care of first?
Now, as to why they thought that patenting it was a good idea, I don't have a clue.
I think it is good he's made these statements, because now no one will take him seriously. Maybe a bit of an overstatement. Maybe his stature might be diminished here on slashdot, but most of the rest of the world couldn't care less. Besides being the chairman of HDNet and owning an NBA franchise he has a shitload of money--which, right or wrong, is usually enough to make most people listen.
Is he an arrogant prick? Probably, but since when has that stopped anyone from being an authority in the public's eyes?
I agree. Also, I think it's downright idiodic that people are berating google over a stupid logo on veteran's day, but as we speak there are 1000's of veterans suffering from injuries due to iraq, and not being taken care of like they are supposed to. There are veterans that have been put on the street because they were forced to deal with the costs of their medical care that they can't afford. Yet these people actually care about a friggin' google logo.
Way to direct your energies to a worthy cause, idiots. What, straight to the name-calling? C'mon you're better than that.
It is possible that one could be against the Iraq war, against the Republicans, against gWb and actively working in a number of ways to have the issues you address dealt with, while still caring "about a friggin' google logo." It is possible that one could be for celebrating Veteran's Day and still be an anti-war Progressive (or liberal, or whatever we're calling it these days).
Clear out your headgear, this isn't about GWB. For that matter it not really about any particular political party. It's about a corrupt system where rich people are allowed to buy politicians.
Of course the Democrats are going to be in on this one--they are owned by the electronic media, as the Republicans are owned by big oil. So, don't get on ole George; he's just doing what his masters want, just as the Democrats will do what their masters want.
Not to mention that one of the things that this country needs more than anything is a cohesive energy policy--something that neither party has been willing to tackle. Oh well...Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
I love all of these "live free or die" types here on slashdot. How much balls does it take to advocate that sort of thing in the US? I don't personally know *anyone* who has been carted away by THE MAN for speaking out. I'm not saying that it hasn't/won't happen(ed), but I bet the probability of it is pretty damn minute. It makes me wonder if all of these hard-asses would be so bold if there were a more palpable threat.
In fact, everyday, I listen to Air America as well as traditional talk radio, as the hosts, guests and callers are railing against some form of the government, mocking the rich and powerful, and generally speaking their minds with no restraint. How come they haven't been dragged off in the dead of the night?
If these hard-core patriots are so willing to be martyrs for the cause, why don't they sashay over to Myanmar, Iran or Saudi Arabia and get all big and bad with the governments there for their many abuses against freedom? Why let something as arbitrary as a line on a map determine where your nobility begins and ends? Or do only Americans deserve to be free?
Don't get me wrong, I *would* be impressed and supportive of/.ers if they could <pun>demonstrate</pun> that they paid a heavy price for the rest of us to retain an important freedom, but somehow I don't see bitching about Dick Cheney on slashdot or getting slapped with a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge while rioting for the right to free beer at the state university as all that dangerous or high-minded.
Amen. Can you believe that someone would go to Dell's website and pay an extra $200 for an Intel Core2 Duo Processor E6700 (4MB L2 Cache,2.66GHz,1066 FSB) instead of an E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)?
Yes exactly. <sarcasm>When "we" do it, it's because it has to be done to save lives, children, democracy, etc. But when "they" do it, it's a power grab and a cessation of freedoms. </sarcasm> Since it looks like the Democrats will probably be in control of the Congress and the White House, let's see if they will restore these lost freedoms or merely continue to exploit them for their own gain and for the gain of their cronies.
Somehow, I thnk it will just be business as usual, with moneyed special interests to whom the politicians are beholden getting the preferential treatment, while we get the shaft -->0.
Partisan hacks (on both sides) will be the death of us all.
Last year we put a security camera system into a auto recycling yard using IP cameras. They had been suffering a rash of after-hours breakins to steal the platinum that is in old catalytic converters. The system recorded to a DVR, but also was hooked to motion sensors that, when activated, would call the manager's cell phone, as well as start pitching still shots across the internet to a remote ftp server.
Two weeks after installation, the thieves broke in. When they saw the cameras and the DVR, they set fire to the place to destroy the evidence, but the still photos were enough to identify and convict them. They haven't had a problem since.
Gateways, when they blow up (and I think the only reason I don't end up fixing more of them is because they're luckily not that common) tend to have all sorts of interesting components inside... usually a mix of hardware from brands I've never heard of, from companies that no longer exist, because they either recreate themselves regularly to avoid bad publicity or just died off due to suckishess. What components exactly are so off-brand? I've never seen a brand-name computer with a motherboard, processor, hard drive, video card or sound card that wasn't a recognizable brand. In my opinion, the cases on an eMachines, Gateway or Dell are usually better than an entry-level aftermarket case. So what are you left with? An off-brand optical or floppy drive? Even "good" brands of those items break with frightening regularity.
This is the way I look at it: although I tend to be skeptical of the hype surrounding global warming, I'm not anywhere near an expert in climatology or any of the related fields and I really just don't know, and I don't see the harm in me personally taking some steps to help.
We bought a much more fuel-efficient car, a programmable thermostat, we try to make short trips on bicycle, we try to buy locally made/grown things when possible, and bought some of those crazy-looking compact fluorescents. We have cut down out fuel usage by 60% and our electric usage by 40%, but beyond that, what else can we do?
While I wonder if all of this is just a pointless exercise that is either a)unnecessary or b)ineffective, there is very little harm in doing it.
Do you remember this discussion thread? I'm canUbeleiveIT. I meant to answer but a lot of crap has happened in the past two weeks and and now the discussion is closed. If you want to chat, my email is brian.alarcan (omit this part and use the at) gmail.com. I will do my best to answer any questions that I can without the usual Christian evangelizing B.S.
Imagine if you had lived your whole life surrounded by people working at jobs that barely made ends meet. Now imagine how you would:
a) Fit your head around the notion that you could get a job that paid well, having no direct experience with people with such a job.
b) Obtain the skills to get that job.
c) Recover, with no support network, from the inevitable bad decisions or bad luck that befall everyone.
d) Develop all of the skills and habits to take advantage of financial success, having not been raised with them.
If your parents worked professional jobs, ever bought you a car or bailed you out of some financial problem, or paid for your college, you have NO CONCEPT of why the poor are "the poor".
Part of the problem is similar to (although much less severe than) trying to understand how people could do the stupid things they did hundreds of years ago. You live in a different culture, that has given you tools to become successful and build on that success. What's more, the culture has given you confidence in those tools that just hearing about them can't convey.
While I admit that I don't have any answers to the problem, I don't think that it's simply a matter of not knowing how, not having the opportunity, not having skills, or not having models of success. If that were the case, how would one explain the success of so many of the illegal immigrants that thrive in my area?
They face hardships that the native poor can't even begin to fathom. They come from the poorest parts of Mexico and Guatemala, which make US housing projects seem like palaces. Most can't speak English, are poorly educated and are relatively unskilled. Being illegals, they have a tenuous (at best) support networks, are frequently victims of crime that they can't report, as well as face racism and general antipathy. Yet they come here, work hard, save their money and move up the social ladder.
The place that I live in is a semi-rural area, with lots of mobile homes and ramshackle houses, high unemployment, and little in the way of industry or opportunity.
Because of the lack of mass transit, the locals claim they can't get to work. The immigrants ride beater bicycles in the snow.
People here claim that they can't save their money because everything costs too much. The immigrants share housing and eschew luxuries until they can pay cash instead of taking out payday loans.
The people here--when they do get a job--get fired for constantly showing up late, calling in sick, being lazy, uncooperative, drinking, etc. The immigrants show up early, are willing to stay late and have a generally pleasant attitude about working.
And for the record, my parents never worked professional jobs, bought me a car, bailed me out, or paid for my college. We moved to this country when I was seven with nothing. My single mother, my brother and I lived in a nasty, one-room basement apartment for three years until she saved the enough money (cleaning rich people's houses) to buy a small house. She continued the cycle of working and saving her money, and in another few years, we moved to a nicer house.
Instead of having an allowance, my brother and I walked or rode our bicycles to nicer neighborhoods so we could cut lawns, shovel sidewalks, rake yards, etc. to earn money. We took jobs as soon as we were able, saved our money and worked hard at school.
Both of us fucked up some in our late teens and early twenties but were never bailed out. I put myself through college at age thirty-two, while working full-time and raising children. My brother is a biologist and I own a business that does pretty well.
My wife has a similar story. While she's lived in the US all of her life, she grew up in a very poor family and she worked her way through sevens years of pharmacy college.
But I can't help but think that the opportunity is there. Will it be as easy as it will for those who have social connections, money, and easy access to education? Hell no, but it *is* there. Why people don't take it? I really can't come up with a good answer.
Slashdot Mirror
...that this doesn't happen more often. I can drive through Seattle (and presumably any large city) with my laptop running a wireless network sniffer. After about 10 blocks, I could easily get into no less than 25 wireless routers. They are all configured with the default credentials. Of course, I don't. Sometimes, when it's a law firm, government agency, or some other organization with tons of [other peoples] personal information, I will even call them up and let them know about it, as a courtesy. They usually tell me to take a hike. Then I can show up at their door offering my services as a 'security consultant' (for $200/hr). 'Look here' I say. 'Look how I am easily changing the settings in your router.'. That's usually about the time they wet their $400 slacks and write me a check.--
"It's a simple question, doctor.
Would you eat the moon if it was made of ribs, or not?"
CORRECTION: Would you eat the moon if it were made of ribs, or not?
In this case, the verb "to be" is in the subjunctive mood, which is used to indicate a situation that is hypothetical, conditional or somehow not certain.
Now, this correction is just a courtesy. However, if you tell me to take a hike, I will show up at your door with A Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker, and you can scratch me out a check. Sorry, I don't know how much you paid for your pants.
Part of the problem is that, for some reason, it is seen as somehow more acceptable, perhaps even noble to cheat for the sake of one's company.
I worked in a Fortune 100 retail environment for many years and was amazed at the moral lapses that seemingly otherwise upstanding managers would commit on behalf of the company. One manager in particular, who was particularly hard on shoplifters (always prosecuted no matter the amount) and employee pilfering, would routinely shave hours off of employees' timesheets. His "thefts" added up to thousands of dollars per month and he felt perfectly justified in doing it.
Is the grass blue today? Is the sky green today? If I didn't know better, I would almost say that--instead of being excoriated--Walmart is being defended on slashdot. Mark the date. Oh well, common enemy, strange bedfellows and all that.
Come, come now. Didn't you know that it is de rigueur for slashdot twits to brag about how flipping obsolete their machine is and then use that fact as an excuse to trash some bit of modern software? And this despite the fact that one can routinely find better machines set out for the trash.
Personally, I take 5-10 < P3s to the computer recycler per month and usually a couple of lower-end P3s. Might I suggest to all of you ninnies running your Pentium Pros that you hang out in front of your local computer recycler and offer someone $5 for their throwaway rig, which would be an enormous upgrade for you?
Better, make sure there is no line of sight from the door to your desk. That way no-one can see if you're sitting behind it without coming into the room.
Here, let me fix that for you:
Better, make sure there is no line of sight from the door to your desk. That way no-one can see if you're sitting behind it without pants.
I don't shop for food at Walmart because frankly their produce just doesn't look as good as what I get at Publix.
Yes, but the produce I throw in the garbage disposal looks better than Walmart's stuff. My God, I can't believe the shit I see on the shelves there. Disgusting.
Also, *do not* buy their beef; it is up to 12% water. If you try to brown some of their sirloin (for example), all of the water comes out as it heats up, resulting in gray boiled beef (at $3.99/lb). The Kroger and Meijer stores here seem to do a lot better job with perishables, but I try to stick to locally grown veggies, eggs and meat when at all possible.
I know, I know, I'm off-topic. Sorry.
alpha geek-ness
Well put. I've been struggling to come up with a term to describe this.
It's no surprise that people here would fail to understand the basic premise of the article--this is slashdot, home of the "I'm the smartest; no, I'm the smartest" pissing contests.
Many of us here are the people described in the article, and we hold "being smart" as the highest possible attribute. We worship "smart" here. Ironically, of course, since one can't claim any more honor from being born smart than from being born handsome or good at sports, traits that are scorned here.
Of course, but, as I indicated in my post, the $50,000 customer is going to get taken care of FIRST!
Yeah, but you should put packing peanuts in the box as well. After all, what's the first thing that someone does when the box has the little Styrofoam nuggets in it?
Why is this different than any other enterprise? Bigger customers generally get preferential treatment. If two customers call me and have network issues, and I have billed one of them $50,000 in the past year, while the other one bought one compact flash card from me two years ago, which one am I going to take care of first?
Now, as to why they thought that patenting it was a good idea, I don't have a clue.
Is he an arrogant prick? Probably, but since when has that stopped anyone from being an authority in the public's eyes?
Insert standard Slashdot comment here:
OMG!!! GWB and Dick Cheney kilt teh honeybeez.
done.
Way to direct your energies to a worthy cause, idiots. What, straight to the name-calling? C'mon you're better than that.
It is possible that one could be against the Iraq war, against the Republicans, against gWb and actively working in a number of ways to have the issues you address dealt with, while still caring "about a friggin' google logo." It is possible that one could be for celebrating Veteran's Day and still be an anti-war Progressive (or liberal, or whatever we're calling it these days).
Clear out your headgear, this isn't about GWB. For that matter it not really about any particular political party. It's about a corrupt system where rich people are allowed to buy politicians.
Of course the Democrats are going to be in on this one--they are owned by the electronic media, as the Republicans are owned by big oil. So, don't get on ole George; he's just doing what his masters want, just as the Democrats will do what their masters want.
Not to mention that one of the things that this country needs more than anything is a cohesive energy policy--something that neither party has been willing to tackle. Oh well...Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
Hold on, don't you go talking all sensible-like.
/.ers if they could <pun>demonstrate</pun> that they paid a heavy price for the rest of us to retain an important freedom, but somehow I don't see bitching about Dick Cheney on slashdot or getting slapped with a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge while rioting for the right to free beer at the state university as all that dangerous or high-minded.
I love all of these "live free or die" types here on slashdot. How much balls does it take to advocate that sort of thing in the US? I don't personally know *anyone* who has been carted away by THE MAN for speaking out. I'm not saying that it hasn't/won't happen(ed), but I bet the probability of it is pretty damn minute. It makes me wonder if all of these hard-asses would be so bold if there were a more palpable threat.
In fact, everyday, I listen to Air America as well as traditional talk radio, as the hosts, guests and callers are railing against some form of the government, mocking the rich and powerful, and generally speaking their minds with no restraint. How come they haven't been dragged off in the dead of the night?
If these hard-core patriots are so willing to be martyrs for the cause, why don't they sashay over to Myanmar, Iran or Saudi Arabia and get all big and bad with the governments there for their many abuses against freedom? Why let something as arbitrary as a line on a map determine where your nobility begins and ends? Or do only Americans deserve to be free?
Don't get me wrong, I *would* be impressed and supportive of
Amen. Can you believe that someone would go to Dell's website and pay an extra $200 for an Intel Core2 Duo Processor E6700 (4MB L2 Cache,2.66GHz,1066 FSB) instead of an E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)?
Friggin' amazing!
Yes exactly. <sarcasm>When "we" do it, it's because it has to be done to save lives, children, democracy, etc. But when "they" do it, it's a power grab and a cessation of freedoms. </sarcasm> Since it looks like the Democrats will probably be in control of the Congress and the White House, let's see if they will restore these lost freedoms or merely continue to exploit them for their own gain and for the gain of their cronies.
Somehow, I thnk it will just be business as usual, with moneyed special interests to whom the politicians are beholden getting the preferential treatment, while we get the shaft -->0.
Partisan hacks (on both sides) will be the death of us all.
Cobian is excellent. Along a similar vein, I also like Unison File Synchronizer.
Last year we put a security camera system into a auto recycling yard using IP cameras. They had been suffering a rash of after-hours breakins to steal the platinum that is in old catalytic converters. The system recorded to a DVR, but also was hooked to motion sensors that, when activated, would call the manager's cell phone, as well as start pitching still shots across the internet to a remote ftp server.
Two weeks after installation, the thieves broke in. When they saw the cameras and the DVR, they set fire to the place to destroy the evidence, but the still photos were enough to identify and convict them. They haven't had a problem since.
This is the way I look at it: although I tend to be skeptical of the hype surrounding global warming, I'm not anywhere near an expert in climatology or any of the related fields and I really just don't know, and I don't see the harm in me personally taking some steps to help.
We bought a much more fuel-efficient car, a programmable thermostat, we try to make short trips on bicycle, we try to buy locally made/grown things when possible, and bought some of those crazy-looking compact fluorescents. We have cut down out fuel usage by 60% and our electric usage by 40%, but beyond that, what else can we do?
While I wonder if all of this is just a pointless exercise that is either a)unnecessary or b)ineffective, there is very little harm in doing it.
Damn dude, I forgot about you.
Do you remember this discussion thread? I'm canUbeleiveIT. I meant to answer but a lot of crap has happened in the past two weeks and and now the discussion is closed. If you want to chat, my email is brian.alarcan (omit this part and use the at) gmail.com. I will do my best to answer any questions that I can without the usual Christian evangelizing B.S.
Imagine if you had lived your whole life surrounded by people working at jobs that barely made ends meet. Now imagine how you would:
a) Fit your head around the notion that you could get a job that paid well, having no direct experience with people with such a job.
b) Obtain the skills to get that job.
c) Recover, with no support network, from the inevitable bad decisions or bad luck that befall everyone.
d) Develop all of the skills and habits to take advantage of financial success, having not been raised with them.
If your parents worked professional jobs, ever bought you a car or bailed you out of some financial problem, or paid for your college, you have NO CONCEPT of why the poor are "the poor".
Part of the problem is similar to (although much less severe than) trying to understand how people could do the stupid things they did hundreds of years ago. You live in a different culture, that has given you tools to become successful and build on that success. What's more, the culture has given you confidence in those tools that just hearing about them can't convey.
While I admit that I don't have any answers to the problem, I don't think that it's simply a matter of not knowing how, not having the opportunity, not having skills, or not having models of success. If that were the case, how would one explain the success of so many of the illegal immigrants that thrive in my area?
They face hardships that the native poor can't even begin to fathom. They come from the poorest parts of Mexico and Guatemala, which make US housing projects seem like palaces. Most can't speak English, are poorly educated and are relatively unskilled. Being illegals, they have a tenuous (at best) support networks, are frequently victims of crime that they can't report, as well as face racism and general antipathy. Yet they come here, work hard, save their money and move up the social ladder.
The place that I live in is a semi-rural area, with lots of mobile homes and ramshackle houses, high unemployment, and little in the way of industry or opportunity.
And for the record, my parents never worked professional jobs, bought me a car, bailed me out, or paid for my college. We moved to this country when I was seven with nothing. My single mother, my brother and I lived in a nasty, one-room basement apartment for three years until she saved the enough money (cleaning rich people's houses) to buy a small house. She continued the cycle of working and saving her money, and in another few years, we moved to a nicer house.
Instead of having an allowance, my brother and I walked or rode our bicycles to nicer neighborhoods so we could cut lawns, shovel sidewalks, rake yards, etc. to earn money. We took jobs as soon as we were able, saved our money and worked hard at school.
Both of us fucked up some in our late teens and early twenties but were never bailed out. I put myself through college at age thirty-two, while working full-time and raising children. My brother is a biologist and I own a business that does pretty well.
My wife has a similar story. While she's lived in the US all of her life, she grew up in a very poor family and she worked her way through sevens years of pharmacy college.
But I can't help but think that the opportunity is there. Will it be as easy as it will for those who have social connections, money, and easy access to education? Hell no, but it *is* there. Why people don't take it? I really can't come up with a good answer.