I can only imagine the insecurity you feel. I read through your previous posts on/. and found you never seem to respond to anyone without being an asshole. Some people just aren't gifted with social skills, and I understand this is a problem with many of my fellow geeks. So, you are forgiven for acting like a inciteful little twit.
Anyway, I did not get sued for a mod chip. I was sued for supposedly pirating DirecTV. The vendor, White Viper (I think), was raided by the authorities about a year and half after one of my credit cards had been run in their system. I had moved several times since this, but they hired private investigators to track down the "culprits" and filed lawsuits on us in small groups. Upon fighting it, you become aware quickly that the cost of legal representation adds up pretty fast and they are happy to out-spend you in order to beat you into submission. After about $3k in to it, they appear to have dropped the suit. Either way, I learned the burn of our legal system and am not a happy camper. I'm an information security professional who was working on novel things to do with smartcards, and unfortunately, got caught in the middle of something nasty.
Think people with mod chips "can't" be sued, then go to http://www.hackhu.com/ and read up on their premise. It is very close to the approach MS or Sony could take if they wanted to help take care of piracy. I'm not saying it is right, I am just saying they could do it if they wanted to.
Why aren't they? They could just be waiting around to see how the DTV suits go and start enforcement with the next generation systems if their anti-piracy mechanisms are proved to be useless in the real world. Blindly assuming they will never do anything is dangerous, thousands of people thought the same way about DTV a few years ago and look how that turned out.
You're an idiot without a cause, and frankly I blame people like you for bringing our counter-culture down.
I am not part of your "counter-culture". Your need to label and define shows a painful amount of insecurity, or perhaps, a lack of intellect. Trust me, you will not find happiness by defining yourself by your pre-packaged music, movies, food, social setting and threads. Myself, I am just a man making a living and enjoying life on this big, stinky hell hole.
As a final bit of advice:
I would really suggest not sitting around on forums and harassing people. It is ugly and there is no way you would walk up to two people conversing in a public place and act like that. Try relaxing and not making terrible crappy accusations at the drop of a hair. It will help you get a friend or two, then life won't be so lonely and you probably won't feel the frustration and unhappiness which fuels your posts.
Yes Windows dominates thte desktop, but for servers Linux is gaining a foothold.
Seriously, this is insightful? That sounds like 1996. At least, our datacenter in 1996 didn't have a single Windows box in it. Nowadays, it has over a hundred. Why? Because Microsoft is taking a foothold in the datacenter, not a big one, but it is the one fighting for ground in the server market.
If you have been around the net for a while, think about the cost of your Internet access pre and post the Linux revolution. I recall paying about $70/mo for 14.4k dialup + phone line. Now I pay $49/mo for 3MB DSL. While the cost of communications has dropped considerably, Linux/BSD factors in here too. Where did Cisco get its shell? Where did half the network appliances and routers get their kernels? BSD and Linux. That cut the costs enormously as opposed to developing new systems from the ground up.
Linux will continue to slowly enter our lives in different ways, but the server market decided on Linux long ago.
In any race, the advantage is to the guy in front...
Not really. In auto racing, the lead car is using a large part of its horsepower to plow through the air. At high speeds, this will leave a wake behind the car and allow the persuing car to conserve fuel and, if done correctly, can help propel him into the lead when pulling out of turns.
That is how 40 cars, all with the exact same HP, blast past each other at 5-20mph difference in speeds.
The effects of this can be extreme, try pulling up near the rear of a large vehicle while they are travelling 70-80mph. If you have a smooth OD, you should be able to be at nearly an idle if you keep the distances close. Just don't crash.
Not really. I have bought several mod chips for stuff around the house (I don't give specifics, I have been sued before).
The most effective thing I have found to do is keep at the Googling until you've found a few different shops selling chips of various types. Then take a note of each chip's model number, price and features; then, hit google again with the specific model numbers and look for forum posts with complaints/praises from the owners themselves.
Never go soley based on information you've gotten from one review site, lest you leave your fates in their hands.
Also, be very careful about using credit cards for these purchases. If Sony or M$ ever decides mod chips are illegal under the DCMA, then the seller can be raided, records collected, and you'll get a certified letter in the mail a few weeks later after they find your credit card number in their database.
The Xbox, Dreamcast and PS2 have had all their games traded on P2P, usenet, and through other channels. The guys in chinese towns who sell pirated DVDs can't do anything with GC discs, so they aren't able to go to the PC and make copies.
The Gamecube has not suffered from any of these problems, and since the SPA says piracy costs companies/consumers billions every year, then why has the lack of piracy on the GC not caused them to sell their products for less?
The mod chip will require to solder only 4 wires and while the device comes empty it's not impossible to think 3rd party loaders will come that allow you to boot copied games.
How about saying "backups" instead? Saying "copied games" sounds rather warezish for a headline./PR nazi
why on earth they don't use the existing frameworks I'll never know.
Because people will buy them regardless. I suggest avoiding any hardware which requires extra control panels or clunky interfaces, as this will keep your system perpetually unoptimized.
Then again, there are those things we all need for business and pleasure and they aren't always ideal.:(
Why get the government involved at all. I'm sure the stations, battery companies, and auto manufactures can work out a deal. The knee-jerk reaction should not be let's tax it and have the government do it.
Yeah, look at how terrible the idea of a federal highway system turned out to be. Oh, and that Army. What about that enormous waste of money and resources sending people into space? What a big mess major government projects turn into!/sarcasm
For real, man. Don't let the media make you think we need to be safe from liberal spending. Without this type of crazy spending, we would have turned out "nice and safe" from liberals, in our puritan styled-cabins still use donkeys on dirt trails to haul things around and get work done.
I guess what I am leading to, in my rambling, is there sometimes needs to be government action to stimulate the rest of the system into accomplishing a goal. What goal would be greater? Giving up the dependancy on oil would cause terrorism to disappear as far as the US is concerned. We would lose all need to keep the mid-east stable -- we wouldn't even have to go there and start wars anymore! Then, the mid-east would lose all its wealth and collapse. Poof, no more islamic fundamentalists screaming that US foreign policy is holding them down. While on that note, I'll bet if we had used the money spent (and will be spent) on the war in Iraq and Afganistan on research and manufacture of highly efficient vehicles, we would have made great progress by now. All we seem to be doing at the moment is stirring up more trouble for our kids and grand kids to deal with. Oh yes, and doing nothing to quell our appetite for oil. And finally, I am not saying the parent post's idea was all that great, I just disagree with a blanket, negative approach to government action. If nothing else, it would sure as hell beat hearing about gay marriage and today's other "hot" partisan topics.
Agreed. The last NOC I worked in had a sister office in Tokyo. If anything, those guys seemed somewhat slack compared to the engineers in Atlanta. We also had offices in several european countries. Universally, the people from other nations seemed more relaxed and easier to deal with. After this experience, it occured to me that we, as Americans, are an over-worked, over-stressed, scared as hell bunch of people compared to most folks.
Initially, when I read the open letter, I felt a little for the writer. I know how it feels to work your butt off and never get a break. But, this is the way business is conducted today. If EA slacks, the investors will go ballistic and force a management shake-up, so you will never purge a publically funded entity of this type of evil.
Simply put: Those investors don't care about you, your kids, your husband or your dog. They could care less whether you develope cancer from their product, as long as they sold before the share purchase price plunges.
Then another part of me says she should quit whining. She lives in the richest nation, married to someone who makes a good income -- probably in the top 5% income of our fine planets population. If it sucks so bad, perhaps he could go work somewhere else? Hell, since the entire software industry is a giant nightmare to work for right now, how about suggesting he take up a nice construction or landscaping job? Quit acting like a spoiled yuppy housewife and take responsibility for your situation and do what it takes to change course!
So, as you can see, VALVe Software have released a test "warez" version aimed at catching people out. These people will have their accounts deleted and will be banned from Steam.
Therefore, I strongly suggest that you DO NOT participate in these illegal activities as it would only lead to your own harm.
VALVe Software spent over $40 Million to develop Half-Life 2. Show them you appreciate their work. Buy the game!
As the saying goes: BURN YOU WAREZ MONKEYS!
If they have Steam installed and a legit, I doubt they are going to run a warezed copy of HL2. Also, so what if a warezed account gets banned? They can just go set up another one in like 5 minutes. What are they going to do if you made a previous transaction on the account with your credit card? I bet they won't blacklist the credit cards because what happens if they want to go legit and pay? They are going to refuse the money? I bet not.
Why is some immature forum post front page news on Slashdot? This looks like something a 15 year old would write. Really. "BURN YOU WAREZ MONKEYS"? Credibility is gone right there. This is a game company fanboy who perceives Valve the same light some of us older guys may have felt about Carmack (I know, not the same, Carmack really is a god! lol) back in the day. We all know nothing of value comes out of these kids.
Fanboyism does suck. I'll never forget posting to a BF 1942 support forum about my Radeon 9700 and getting 50 replies like "ATI SUCKS MAN YOU NEED TO GET AN NVIDIA D000D!!" and not a single suggestion about my particular error.
One of the primary reasons I bought an iPod was so I could listen to lectures and debates while not at a PC. This material has no copyrights or commercial value, yet Apple has intentionally made it very difficult for me to plug my iPod into my cohorts computers and share this public domain material. They have even hired lawyers and spent big money to try and stop it.
Personally, I am rather offended at this assumption of criminal activity and will make sure to look for a more "open" player when I upgrade.
You left the part out about where they can come into your home, search your belongings, and remove belongings without telling you.
Thank goodness the laws had an expiration date on them. We have to remember, the number of terrorists convicted as a direct result of these infractions on our Bill of Rights remains a big 0.
To quote a small section I think is wrong:
"reasonably suspected based on credible evidence of engaging in terrorist acts or money laundering activities."
The "or money laundering activities" leaves an open invitation to abuse. This opens the uses of this law up to be used against just about anyone, not just terrorists. Take the abuses in vegas and dope busts. None of this activity will save anyone from any terrorist.
While I feel it is important for the US to maintain a sense of law and order, I do not condone such an extreme set of laws to bust pot smokers and adult entertainers for their doings.
Maybe it's not the first trojan targeted at Linux users, but together with the official sounding domain, it could trick some users into downloading and running the binary.
I would advise those who are new to Linux to visit the Linux From Scratch website and set aside a weekend of learning. There is no better method for gaining useful knowledge regarding the reduction of hard drive clutter and increasiong optimization, and security.
Slashdot Mirror
Now you see. This is a perfect opportunity to use the new Blog Torrent idea Then we could see pretty pictures.
/. viewers are at a workplace which forbids the use of P2P or unauthorized serving.
That would be cool, but I'm guessing a large percentage of
Well John,
/. and found you never seem to respond to anyone without being an asshole. Some people just aren't gifted with social skills, and I understand this is a problem with many of my fellow geeks. So, you are forgiven for acting like a inciteful little twit.
I can only imagine the insecurity you feel. I read through your previous posts on
Anyway, I did not get sued for a mod chip. I was sued for supposedly pirating DirecTV. The vendor, White Viper (I think), was raided by the authorities about a year and half after one of my credit cards had been run in their system. I had moved several times since this, but they hired private investigators to track down the "culprits" and filed lawsuits on us in small groups. Upon fighting it, you become aware quickly that the cost of legal representation adds up pretty fast and they are happy to out-spend you in order to beat you into submission. After about $3k in to it, they appear to have dropped the suit. Either way, I learned the burn of our legal system and am not a happy camper. I'm an information security professional who was working on novel things to do with smartcards, and unfortunately, got caught in the middle of something nasty.
Think people with mod chips "can't" be sued, then go to http://www.hackhu.com/ and read up on their premise. It is very close to the approach MS or Sony could take if they wanted to help take care of piracy. I'm not saying it is right, I am just saying they could do it if they wanted to.
Why aren't they? They could just be waiting around to see how the DTV suits go and start enforcement with the next generation systems if their anti-piracy mechanisms are proved to be useless in the real world. Blindly assuming they will never do anything is dangerous, thousands of people thought the same way about DTV a few years ago and look how that turned out.
You're an idiot without a cause, and frankly I blame people like you for bringing our counter-culture down.
I am not part of your "counter-culture". Your need to label and define shows a painful amount of insecurity, or perhaps, a lack of intellect. Trust me, you will not find happiness by defining yourself by your pre-packaged music, movies, food, social setting and threads. Myself, I am just a man making a living and enjoying life on this big, stinky hell hole.
As a final bit of advice:
I would really suggest not sitting around on forums and harassing people. It is ugly and there is no way you would walk up to two people conversing in a public place and act like that. Try relaxing and not making terrible crappy accusations at the drop of a hair. It will help you get a friend or two, then life won't be so lonely and you probably won't feel the frustration and unhappiness which fuels your posts.
Yes Windows dominates thte desktop, but for servers Linux is gaining a foothold.
Seriously, this is insightful? That sounds like 1996. At least, our datacenter in 1996 didn't have a single Windows box in it. Nowadays, it has over a hundred. Why? Because Microsoft is taking a foothold in the datacenter, not a big one, but it is the one fighting for ground in the server market.
If you have been around the net for a while, think about the cost of your Internet access pre and post the Linux revolution. I recall paying about $70/mo for 14.4k dialup + phone line. Now I pay $49/mo for 3MB DSL. While the cost of communications has dropped considerably, Linux/BSD factors in here too. Where did Cisco get its shell? Where did half the network appliances and routers get their kernels? BSD and Linux. That cut the costs enormously as opposed to developing new systems from the ground up.
Linux will continue to slowly enter our lives in different ways, but the server market decided on Linux long ago.
Dude, chicks are so turned off by guys who will be able to remember phone numbers like that.
Having such a memory leads to other problems:
a) She will expect you to remember her birthday/holidays
b) She will know you will remember all the dumb things she said the last time you got in a fight
c) She will know you are smart enough to balance the checkbook (less money for her!)
My advice: Play dumb. It turns them on for some reason.
In any race, the advantage is to the guy in front...
Not really. In auto racing, the lead car is using a large part of its horsepower to plow through the air. At high speeds, this will leave a wake behind the car and allow the persuing car to conserve fuel and, if done correctly, can help propel him into the lead when pulling out of turns.
That is how 40 cars, all with the exact same HP, blast past each other at 5-20mph difference in speeds.
The effects of this can be extreme, try pulling up near the rear of a large vehicle while they are travelling 70-80mph. If you have a smooth OD, you should be able to be at nearly an idle if you keep the distances close. Just don't crash.
Can you suggest good places to look?
Not really. I have bought several mod chips for stuff around the house (I don't give specifics, I have been sued before).
The most effective thing I have found to do is keep at the Googling until you've found a few different shops selling chips of various types. Then take a note of each chip's model number, price and features; then, hit google again with the specific model numbers and look for forum posts with complaints/praises from the owners themselves.
Never go soley based on information you've gotten from one review site, lest you leave your fates in their hands.
Also, be very careful about using credit cards for these purchases. If Sony or M$ ever decides mod chips are illegal under the DCMA, then the seller can be raided, records collected, and you'll get a certified letter in the mail a few weeks later after they find your credit card number in their database.
I think there is wisdom in your comedy..
The Xbox, Dreamcast and PS2 have had all their games traded on P2P, usenet, and through other channels. The guys in chinese towns who sell pirated DVDs can't do anything with GC discs, so they aren't able to go to the PC and make copies.
The Gamecube has not suffered from any of these problems, and since the SPA says piracy costs companies/consumers billions every year, then why has the lack of piracy on the GC not caused them to sell their products for less?
The mod chip will require to solder only 4 wires and while the device comes empty it's not impossible to think 3rd party loaders will come that allow you to boot copied games.
/PR nazi
How about saying "backups" instead? Saying "copied games" sounds rather warezish for a headline.
why on earth they don't use the existing frameworks I'll never know.
:(
Because people will buy them regardless. I suggest avoiding any hardware which requires extra control panels or clunky interfaces, as this will keep your system perpetually unoptimized.
Then again, there are those things we all need for business and pleasure and they aren't always ideal.
From the site:
News
3-20-2003
SCREENSHOTS!!
We now have actual in game screenshots available...Look for a playabe version soon!
----
That is the latest news and there is no download posted. The screenshot links are also broken. I suspect this may be an abandoned project.
Why get the government involved at all. I'm sure the stations, battery companies, and auto manufactures can work out a deal. The knee-jerk reaction should not be let's tax it and have the government do it.
/sarcasm
Yeah, look at how terrible the idea of a federal highway system turned out to be. Oh, and that Army. What about that enormous waste of money and resources sending people into space? What a big mess major government projects turn into!
For real, man. Don't let the media make you think we need to be safe from liberal spending. Without this type of crazy spending, we would have turned out "nice and safe" from liberals, in our puritan styled-cabins still use donkeys on dirt trails to haul things around and get work done.
I guess what I am leading to, in my rambling, is there sometimes needs to be government action to stimulate the rest of the system into accomplishing a goal. What goal would be greater? Giving up the dependancy on oil would cause terrorism to disappear as far as the US is concerned. We would lose all need to keep the mid-east stable -- we wouldn't even have to go there and start wars anymore! Then, the mid-east would lose all its wealth and collapse. Poof, no more islamic fundamentalists screaming that US foreign policy is holding them down. While on that note, I'll bet if we had used the money spent (and will be spent) on the war in Iraq and Afganistan on research and manufacture of highly efficient vehicles, we would have made great progress by now. All we seem to be doing at the moment is stirring up more trouble for our kids and grand kids to deal with. Oh yes, and doing nothing to quell our appetite for oil. And finally, I am not saying the parent post's idea was all that great, I just disagree with a blanket, negative approach to government action. If nothing else, it would sure as hell beat hearing about gay marriage and today's other "hot" partisan topics.
Agreed. The last NOC I worked in had a sister office in Tokyo. If anything, those guys seemed somewhat slack compared to the engineers in Atlanta. We also had offices in several european countries. Universally, the people from other nations seemed more relaxed and easier to deal with. After this experience, it occured to me that we, as Americans, are an over-worked, over-stressed, scared as hell bunch of people compared to most folks.
Initially, when I read the open letter, I felt a little for the writer. I know how it feels to work your butt off and never get a break. But, this is the way business is conducted today. If EA slacks, the investors will go ballistic and force a management shake-up, so you will never purge a publically funded entity of this type of evil.
Simply put: Those investors don't care about you, your kids, your husband or your dog. They could care less whether you develope cancer from their product, as long as they sold before the share purchase price plunges.
Then another part of me says she should quit whining. She lives in the richest nation, married to someone who makes a good income -- probably in the top 5% income of our fine planets population. If it sucks so bad, perhaps he could go work somewhere else? Hell, since the entire software industry is a giant nightmare to work for right now, how about suggesting he take up a nice construction or landscaping job? Quit acting like a spoiled yuppy housewife and take responsibility for your situation and do what it takes to change course!
So, as you can see, VALVe Software have released a test "warez" version aimed at catching people out. These people will have their accounts deleted and will be banned from Steam.
Therefore, I strongly suggest that you DO NOT participate in these illegal activities as it would only lead to your own harm.
VALVe Software spent over $40 Million to develop Half-Life 2. Show them you appreciate their work. Buy the game!
As the saying goes: BURN YOU WAREZ MONKEYS!
If they have Steam installed and a legit, I doubt they are going to run a warezed copy of HL2. Also, so what if a warezed account gets banned? They can just go set up another one in like 5 minutes. What are they going to do if you made a previous transaction on the account with your credit card? I bet they won't blacklist the credit cards because what happens if they want to go legit and pay? They are going to refuse the money? I bet not.
Why is some immature forum post front page news on Slashdot? This looks like something a 15 year old would write. Really. "BURN YOU WAREZ MONKEYS"? Credibility is gone right there. This is a game company fanboy who perceives Valve the same light some of us older guys may have felt about Carmack (I know, not the same, Carmack really is a god! lol) back in the day. We all know nothing of value comes out of these kids.
Fanboyism does suck. I'll never forget posting to a BF 1942 support forum about my Radeon 9700 and getting 50 replies like "ATI SUCKS MAN YOU NEED TO GET AN NVIDIA D000D!!" and not a single suggestion about my particular error.
Actually, I am Joe iPod user.
One of the primary reasons I bought an iPod was so I could listen to lectures and debates while not at a PC. This material has no copyrights or commercial value, yet Apple has intentionally made it very difficult for me to plug my iPod into my cohorts computers and share this public domain material. They have even hired lawyers and spent big money to try and stop it.
Personally, I am rather offended at this assumption of criminal activity and will make sure to look for a more "open" player when I upgrade.
You left the part out about where they can come into your home, search your belongings, and remove belongings without telling you.
Thank goodness the laws had an expiration date on them. We have to remember, the number of terrorists convicted as a direct result of these infractions on our Bill of Rights remains a big 0.
To quote a small section I think is wrong:
"reasonably suspected based on credible evidence of engaging in terrorist acts or money laundering activities."
The "or money laundering activities" leaves an open invitation to abuse. This opens the uses of this law up to be used against just about anyone, not just terrorists. Take the abuses in vegas and dope busts. None of this activity will save anyone from any terrorist.
While I feel it is important for the US to maintain a sense of law and order, I do not condone such an extreme set of laws to bust pot smokers and adult entertainers for their doings.
--The Angry Liberal
Maybe it's not the first trojan targeted at Linux users, but together with the official sounding domain, it could trick some users into downloading and running the binary.
This is an unfortunate reality today. Back in my day, the only way to be a real Linux guru was to compile and build your system from scratch using a dev box.
Nowadays, any average person can easily install Linux and instantly become "31337". Today's typical Linux user has no idea what half the files on his system do, or where they came from. Unforunately, the majority of you with moderator points fall into this category so my post is doomed!
I would advise those who are new to Linux to visit the Linux From Scratch website and set aside a weekend of learning. There is no better method for gaining useful knowledge regarding the reduction of hard drive clutter and increasiong optimization, and security.