"This is me and my _____1 Fido. Here we are taking a walk in the ______2. My daddy told me that this image was copyrighted by www.mywebsite.com and that its use is illegal for other websites. My mom's _____3 hat was blown out by the wind, and then it landed on a _____4 branch. "
(Note: The above paragraph would be written in a graphic)
I was trying to talk with some security guy who had criticized our antispam project. So I typed a long (about 10 paragraph) letter on the comments... put my name, e-mail address... and filled a 12 word catpcha.
SUBMIT
And guess what? It required a valid login!:-/ What kind of joke is this?
At least he could have said "Note: To post comments you are required to login to our advertising service" or something. Fortunately, I had taken care of copying the text to the clipboard before submitting:) and I mailed the guy.
Having said that, the problem with captchas is that spammers use them in porn pages to let their slaves er.... porn visitors to type in the captchas for them.
Some years ago, to play an animation or watch a picture, you could just put it in the floppy disk with the application required to view it.
Today, you can't embed the codec in the CD-ROM, you have to register it. I just wonder... WHY??? Why do you have to INSTALL the codec instead of JUST RUNNING it?
From the link: "For example, when the application attempts to write to a file in the program files directory, Windows Vista gives the application its own private copy of the file in the user's profile so the application will function properly."
My idea is not to cage the user, but the APP. Caging the user still won't work. It's like closing down the cage with you and the bengala tiger inside. OK ok... they give you a whip. Happy?:)
If we cage the APPLICATIONS, every app will run on its own sandbox, without affecting the rest of the system.
Not much after I became an antispam activist and joined the Okopipi project, i've realized that the SPAM problem is a symptom of a much worse problem: Botnets.
Let's suppose we kill spam for good. The botnets, hidden with rootkit techniques, can still spy on you, keylog on you and transmit your information to the crime syndicates. They'll wait, and when they have enough information about everybody, they'll steal your money, blackmail you for your cheating, etc.
If you thought the US government was Big Brother, you haven't seen the dark side of it.
SPAM needs an integral solution. Cutting spammers' income via spamvertised websites is one part. But we can't ignore the botnet problem. Whatever means you have to communicate with your friends, the botnets will learn, and use them to spam on them.
If the US passes a law that makes ISPs responsible for bots running on their clients' machines, you'd see tech support helping users and cleaning/patching their machines for FREE.
Anytime you install a program, it has to change the registry. You want to see a video encoded in a new format? Ah, you have to register the format and the codec - and there ya go, you have to change the registry. You want to associate a new filetype with a program? There ya go, you have to change the registry.
Sometimes I wonder - rootkits use stealth techniques to intercept registry calls. Why doesn't microsoft use the same rootkit approach to "cage" the registry into the directories used by the programs you install, and let the programs only use their caged registry? That way programs would only need access to their own caged directory and maybe a temporary or data directory.
IMHO, the registry was the worst idea Microsoft could have come up with.
That's why they build the narc-tunnels. They can, they got the money to not just do it, but do it while bribing or killing whoever gets in their way.
So, while the politicians build the cameras to protect the people from the "terrible, smuggling" mexicans who come to "steal their jobs", the druglords just come from underground and sell drugs to their children.
"Price. Vista will be the first expensive Microsoft product in history"
So far the botnets which fill us with SPAM and are running on XP, 2000 and 98 cost millions (if not billions) of dollars a-year in bandwidth, productivity and time.
This is the hidden cost of Windows. Now can someone explain to me why we have to KEEP PAYING this cost, regardless of whether we buy Vista or Not?
IMO, Microsoft should GIVE AWAY vista in punishment for their lousy OS design in the past few years.
A possible alternative is to use YPops! (another sourceforge project) for gathering your Yahoo! mail's Bulk mail folder. Then, using another SMTP server (like your ISP's) forward the bulk mails to SpamCop.
The term DDOS is used by the spammers to spread FUD. There are much more effective techniques to DDOS a website, that just send useless traffic.
But an opt-out request is not useless in any way. It's valuable information. In this case, the spammer would see "500,000 people want me to remove them from my mailing list". It's not just traffic.
Due to TradeMark conflict, I have closed the Black Frog project. Actually the project was just a nameholder, since Okopipi was a separate project which I joined later.
So the official name of the P2P antispam software is now "Okopipi". Please stop naming it "Black Frog" or we could get sued for Trademark Infringement.
Slashdot Mirror
How about this? Put a picture and
"This is me and my _____1 Fido. Here we are taking a walk in the ______2. My daddy told me that this image was copyrighted by www.mywebsite.com and that its use is illegal for other websites. My mom's _____3 hat was blown out by the wind, and then it landed on a _____4 branch. "
(Note: The above paragraph would be written in a graphic)
1 ________ (noun)
2 ________ (noun)
3 ________ (adj.)
4 ________ (noun)
But I doubt that will please legitimate users.
AHHH!! You solved the riddle! But you won't get my precioussssssss....
I was trying to talk with some security guy who had criticized our antispam project. So I typed a long (about 10 paragraph) letter on the comments... put my name, e-mail address... and filled a 12 word catpcha.
:-/ What kind of joke is this?
:) and I mailed the guy.
SUBMIT
And guess what? It required a valid login!
At least he could have said "Note: To post comments you are required to login to our advertising service" or something. Fortunately, I had taken care of copying the text to the clipboard before submitting
Having said that, the problem with captchas is that spammers use them in porn pages to let their slaves er.... porn visitors to type in the captchas for them.
Some years ago, to play an animation or watch a picture, you could just put it in the floppy disk with the application required to view it.
Today, you can't embed the codec in the CD-ROM, you have to register it. I just wonder... WHY??? Why do you have to INSTALL the codec instead of JUST RUNNING it?
Maybe i was confused after that part, because it said "in the user profile".
From the link:
:)
"For example, when the application attempts to write to a file in the program files directory, Windows Vista gives the application its own private copy of the file in the user's profile so the application will function properly."
My idea is not to cage the user, but the APP. Caging the user still won't work. It's like closing down the cage with you and the bengala tiger inside. OK ok... they give you a whip. Happy?
If we cage the APPLICATIONS, every app will run on its own sandbox, without affecting the rest of the system.
Not much after I became an antispam activist and joined the Okopipi project, i've realized that the SPAM problem is a symptom of a much worse problem: Botnets.
Let's suppose we kill spam for good. The botnets, hidden with rootkit techniques, can still spy on you, keylog on you and transmit your information to the crime syndicates. They'll wait, and when they have enough information about everybody, they'll steal your money, blackmail you for your cheating, etc.
If you thought the US government was Big Brother, you haven't seen the dark side of it.
SPAM needs an integral solution. Cutting spammers' income via spamvertised websites is one part. But we can't ignore the botnet problem. Whatever means you have to communicate with your friends, the botnets will learn, and use them to spam on them.
If the US passes a law that makes ISPs responsible for bots running on their clients' machines, you'd see tech support helping users and cleaning/patching their machines for FREE.
Anytime you install a program, it has to change the registry. You want to see a video encoded in a new format? Ah, you have to register the format and the codec - and there ya go, you have to change the registry. You want to associate a new filetype with a program? There ya go, you have to change the registry.
Sometimes I wonder - rootkits use stealth techniques to intercept registry calls. Why doesn't microsoft use the same rootkit approach to "cage" the registry into the directories used by the programs you install, and let the programs only use their caged registry? That way programs would only need access to their own caged directory and maybe a temporary or data directory.
IMHO, the registry was the worst idea Microsoft could have come up with.
That's why they build the narc-tunnels. They can, they got the money to not just do it, but do it while bribing or killing whoever gets in their way.
So, while the politicians build the cameras to protect the people from the "terrible, smuggling" mexicans who come to "steal their jobs", the druglords just come from underground and sell drugs to their children.
Botnets
Rootkits
SPAM
Keyloggers
Spyware
DDOS attacks.
If you don't believe me, ask Six Apart, Blue Security and Tucows.
"Price.
Vista will be the first expensive Microsoft product in history"
So far the botnets which fill us with SPAM and are running on XP, 2000 and 98 cost millions (if not billions) of dollars a-year in bandwidth, productivity and time.
This is the hidden cost of Windows. Now can someone explain to me why we have to KEEP PAYING this cost, regardless of whether we buy Vista or Not?
IMO, Microsoft should GIVE AWAY vista in punishment for their lousy OS design in the past few years.
... Britney Spears ...
EEW man... careful with what you say, I'm eating!
This is the controversial, censoring, extreme-right-wing menace that had been haunting us?
Sometimes I wonder who has more irrational fear - Jack Thompson or the gamers themselves.
Hah this reminds me..
Clichéquest expansion pack!
http://www.thenoobcomic.com/daily/strip186.html
A possible alternative is to use YPops! (another sourceforge project) for gathering your Yahoo! mail's Bulk mail folder. Then, using another SMTP server (like your ISP's) forward the bulk mails to SpamCop.
Why not modify Blue Security's Firefox reporting tool? It used e-mail for reporting spam from yahoo and hotmail at Blue Sec.
The term DDOS is used by the spammers to spread FUD. There are much more effective techniques to DDOS a website, that just send useless traffic.
But an opt-out request is not useless in any way. It's valuable information. In this case, the spammer would see "500,000 people want me to remove them from my mailing list". It's not just traffic.
From the article:
"While the ozone hole over Antarctica continues to open wide, the ozone layer around the rest of the planet seems to be on the mend."
OK, so the ozone hole over Antarctica "continues to open wide", and you're telling me that the ozoner layer is improving? WTF? O.o
Group Theory
Any questions?
"Microsoft, saving your life, one microsecond at a time..."
That reminded me of this Bill Gates cartoon.
"We'd support it but it's too slow"
:(
This means they'll cut off Vista support?
Suing AT&T really misses the point...
No, it tells companies that the government isn't the only one they should fear.
GP was just using their own argument against them.
Due to TradeMark conflict, I have closed the Black Frog project. Actually the project was just a nameholder, since Okopipi was a separate project which I joined later.
So the official name of the P2P antispam software is now "Okopipi". Please stop naming it "Black Frog" or we could get sued for Trademark Infringement.
Thank you.
(More info on my journal)
-1, both ignorant and irresponsible. Thank you.