We admitted we were powerless over games -- that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Eris as we understood Her.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our boxen.
Admitted to Eris, to ourselves and to another human being (bots don't count) the exact nature of our lameness.
Were entirely ready to have Eris remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Her to remove our suckiness.
Made a list of all screen names we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such screen names wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take hardware and software inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Sought through Chaos and hot dogs to improve our conscious contact with Eris, as we understood Her, praying only for knowledge of Her will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to gameaholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
That's right, just a single-pass overwrite with zeros will do.
Um...no. Not to be argumentative here, but I have personally been able to recover data from a hard drive after being zeroed. This is why the DoD standard is a bit more stringent than simply zeroing.
Since I have never so much as installed Linux, I am looking for resources or advice on how to get started, and how to plan the change over. Can anyone help me?
Not to sound condescending here, but honestly...if you've never even installed Linux, much less used it long-term, you really have no idea what you're letting yourself in for.
My advice would be to install Linux on your home system in a dual-boot configuration with your existing Windows install. Then, use the Linux system exclusively. If something comes up that you don't know how to do in Linux, don't boot into Windows...figure out how to do it on Linux. Only switch to Windows if you have no other option, and if you do, keep a detailed record of the transgression in a notebook (hereafter referred to as the 'Book of Shame'). Also, remember to try to do things your users at work will be expected to be able to do...after all, you're evaluating the feasibility of Linux in your workplace as well as your home. After you've figured out how to do something you couldn't do previously, check off its entry in the Book of Shame.
After a few weeks (months?) of this, sit down with your Book of Shame and see what you've learned. How many entries do you have? How many were subsequently checked off? At this point, you should have a good idea of whether or not deploying Linux in the workplace is a viable option for you.
One more thing...use the resources available to you. Here's a good link to some online Linux courses...you might want to check them out for starters. Also, the Web and the newsgroups usually have good information about whatever question you might have, if you have the patience to dig deeply enough, and the self-esteem to withstand the few elitist jerks who scoff and call you a n00b. Finally, read those man pages!
I'm looking forward to seeing what you find out...please remember to let us know. ^_^
This reminds me of a conversation I had with my business partner regarding computer security:
Imagine a hacker group that offered to protect your system against other hackers. In exchange for x% of your computer cycles, x% of your HDD space, a predetermined number of pop-up ads, etc., the group would guard your computer against others attempting to compromise it for its own use. The group would connect to your system from the internet, install their rootkits, and regularly scour your system looking for intruders, which they would zealously remove. Because they would be paid in computer resources (disk space, cycles, etc.), it would be in their best interests to keep your system as free from other parasites as possible. In much the same way as the bacteria growing in our mouths prevent them from being colonized by other, much more harmful bacteria, the group would defend its box against intruders.
Just an idea...thought I'd throw it out there and see what the Slashdot crowd thought of it (be gentle ^_^).
I've seen this objection several times in this discussion, so I think I should respond here.
The audio recording required for deciphering the keystrokes needs to be different for every combination of user and keyboard. There is no way a universal key could be developed; even if the same make and model of keyboard were being used, the amount of wear the keyboard has experenced would contribute to differences in the sound, and this system depends on isolating unique sounds for each keypress. Also, different users have different typing styles...a recording of one user typing will be fairly useless in determining the keystrokes of another user.
Also, the rhythym of typing is entirely beside the point here...again, the point is that each key makes a slightly different, unique sound when pressed. Given the sounds of enough keystrokes, the order in which they were pressed, and a knowledge of the language being typed in, it is easy to determine which sounds correspond to which letters. Think of it as a simple substitution cipher.
Spyware attempting to hash out your keystrokes by listening to the keypresses instead of grabbing the strokes directly is a bit like a person trying to enjoy music by watching the equalizer lights flicker instead of using the speakers.
Are you attempting to insinuate that parabolic or shotgun microphones don't exist? If so, you might want to watch the next pro football game that's on....look for the guy with the big headphones, carrying around a plastic dish.
I wonder if opera using it's browser masking could do it?
Don't know about Opera, but Firefox running the User Agent Switcher set to IE 6 works just fine (tested it myself), so I would assume that Opera with browser masking would work as well.
Anyone out there with Opera installed that could give us a definitive answer?
Some people also have been having some success using Firefox and the User Agent Switcher extension and setting it to IE6. I tried this and was able to get a little further in the process, but stopped before actually having to fill out a form. I'll leave that to those who really need help.
Hmm...I tested this myself, and with the User Agent Switcher set to IE, there's no problems at
all. Seems to me that the problem with non-IE browsers is a purely manufactured one...one that could be fixed by editing one lne of code.
"Responsible disclosure" is a propganda term propogated by the software firms to a) get as much time as possible to fix security holes, and b) indemnify themselves as much as possible against any public disclosure of said security holes by labeling the disclosers as 'irresponsible'.
If a security hole exists, it exists, despite how much public discussion about said hole is quashed. Today more than ever, there are unscrupulous people out there laboring to find and take advantage of these holes. Muzzling the virtuous hackers, who only wish to make things more secure, is counterproductive in the extreme. The only 'responsible disclosure' is full and immediate disclosure.
Today bleak despair swept across our fair world when it was revealed by the Council that the invaders from the evil blue planet have formalized their invasion plans, and may arrive in force in as little as ten years.
K'Breel, Speaker for the Council, stressed that there was no cause for alarm:
"Noble Citizens, I tell you that the disgusting inhabitants of the evil blue planet will not find us easy prey. We will never surrender. We will never give up. We will fight them on the dunes. We will fight them on the plains. We will fight them in the cities. We will fight them in the canals. We will fight them to the edge of the empire, but we will never, never, Never, Never, NEVER SURRENDER!"
During the hyper-patriotic riot that followed, several Citizens were trampled. In its infinite Wisdom, the Great Council has posthumously decorated them as war heroes.
Slashdot Mirror
Printed this out and used it as toilet paper.
Ahh...but you did print it out.
I hit him on my second try.
I then tried for 30 minutes without a hit. >:(
The 12 steps of Gamers Anonymous:
That's right, just a single-pass overwrite with zeros will do.
Um...no. Not to be argumentative here, but I have personally been able to recover data from a hard drive after being zeroed. This is why the DoD standard is a bit more stringent than simply zeroing.
Since I have never so much as installed Linux, I am looking for resources or advice on how to get started, and how to plan the change over. Can anyone help me?
Not to sound condescending here, but honestly...if you've never even installed Linux, much less used it long-term, you really have no idea what you're letting yourself in for.
My advice would be to install Linux on your home system in a dual-boot configuration with your existing Windows install. Then, use the Linux system exclusively. If something comes up that you don't know how to do in Linux, don't boot into Windows...figure out how to do it on Linux. Only switch to Windows if you have no other option, and if you do, keep a detailed record of the transgression in a notebook (hereafter referred to as the 'Book of Shame'). Also, remember to try to do things your users at work will be expected to be able to do...after all, you're evaluating the feasibility of Linux in your workplace as well as your home. After you've figured out how to do something you couldn't do previously, check off its entry in the Book of Shame.
After a few weeks (months?) of this, sit down with your Book of Shame and see what you've learned. How many entries do you have? How many were subsequently checked off? At this point, you should have a good idea of whether or not deploying Linux in the workplace is a viable option for you.
One more thing...use the resources available to you. Here's a good link to some online Linux courses...you might want to check them out for starters. Also, the Web and the newsgroups usually have good information about whatever question you might have, if you have the patience to dig deeply enough, and the self-esteem to withstand the few elitist jerks who scoff and call you a n00b. Finally, read those man pages!
I'm looking forward to seeing what you find out...please remember to let us know. ^_^
Here's some info on the Dvorak keyboard for you.
An excellent description of all the various flavors of Vista and their respective features and intended niches can be found here.
I'm bookmarking this page...it's only a matter of time before I'll be required to know this information.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with my business partner regarding computer security:
Imagine a hacker group that offered to protect your system against other hackers. In exchange for x% of your computer cycles, x% of your HDD space, a predetermined number of pop-up ads, etc., the group would guard your computer against others attempting to compromise it for its own use. The group would connect to your system from the internet, install their rootkits, and regularly scour your system looking for intruders, which they would zealously remove. Because they would be paid in computer resources (disk space, cycles, etc.), it would be in their best interests to keep your system as free from other parasites as possible. In much the same way as the bacteria growing in our mouths prevent them from being colonized by other, much more harmful bacteria, the group would defend its box against intruders.
Just an idea...thought I'd throw it out there and see what the Slashdot crowd thought of it (be gentle ^_^).
I've seen this objection several times in this discussion, so I think I should respond here.
The audio recording required for deciphering the keystrokes needs to be different for every combination of user and keyboard. There is no way a universal key could be developed; even if the same make and model of keyboard were being used, the amount of wear the keyboard has experenced would contribute to differences in the sound, and this system depends on isolating unique sounds for each keypress. Also, different users have different typing styles...a recording of one user typing will be fairly useless in determining the keystrokes of another user.
Also, the rhythym of typing is entirely beside the point here...again, the point is that each key makes a slightly different, unique sound when pressed. Given the sounds of enough keystrokes, the order in which they were pressed, and a knowledge of the language being typed in, it is easy to determine which sounds correspond to which letters. Think of it as a simple substitution cipher.
They've already been doing this for a while with gunshots.
Spyware attempting to hash out your keystrokes by listening to the keypresses instead of grabbing the strokes directly is a bit like a person trying to enjoy music by watching the equalizer lights flicker instead of using the speakers.
Are you attempting to insinuate that parabolic or shotgun microphones don't exist? If so, you might want to watch the next pro football game that's on....look for the guy with the big headphones, carrying around a plastic dish.
How about a parabolic or shotgun mike?
Keeps my grilled cheese nice and tosty warm.
And here I was, browsing Warez sites not five minutes ago*, using Firefox because I thought it was safer!
( * Hand to God...I actually was.)
This ought to provide a good excuse for various network problems for a few weeks.... ^_^
The Joke Murderer strikes again.
ack...sorry...'suicie' == 'suicide'
The same way the Shuttle on reentry 'impacts' the atmosphere, or the way a suicie from the Golden gate Bridge 'impacts' the water.
If you're moving fast enough, it's sure gonna feel like an impact.
Try using Firefox with the User Agent Switcher installed and set to IE6.
Odds are fair to good that the only reason you can't connect to a given site is because a line of code explicitly denies all browsers except IE6.
I wonder if opera using it's browser masking could do it?
Don't know about Opera, but Firefox running the User Agent Switcher set to IE 6 works just fine (tested it myself), so I would assume that Opera with browser masking would work as well.
Anyone out there with Opera installed that could give us a definitive answer?
From TFA:
"Responsible disclosure" is a propganda term propogated by the software firms to a) get as much time as possible to fix security holes, and b) indemnify themselves as much as possible against any public disclosure of said security holes by labeling the disclosers as 'irresponsible'.
If a security hole exists, it exists, despite how much public discussion about said hole is quashed. Today more than ever, there are unscrupulous people out there laboring to find and take advantage of these holes. Muzzling the virtuous hackers, who only wish to make things more secure, is counterproductive in the extreme. The only 'responsible disclosure' is full and immediate disclosure.
Just one question: how on earth did you get all those caps past the lameness filter?
Today bleak despair swept across our fair world when it was revealed by the Council that the invaders from the evil blue planet have formalized their invasion plans, and may arrive in force in as little as ten years.
K'Breel, Speaker for the Council, stressed that there was no cause for alarm:
During the hyper-patriotic riot that followed, several Citizens were trampled. In its infinite Wisdom, the Great Council has posthumously decorated them as war heroes.