Analysts, legal eagles dissect new GPLv3 draft
ACT executive director Morgan Reed who said, "The newest draft of the GPLv3 is clearly designed to build unscalable walls between open source and proprietary software. The rest of the world has decided to make software more interoperable, but Stallman and the FSF are focused on ideology rather than the practical concerns of users."
Wishy washy , what are you talking about , specifically ? And whats wrong with ideology. If the makers of the item in question want to push an ideological point of view, well , it's their property what can I tell you ? Looks like they get to push.
"The new draft seeks to increase restrictions on the use of GPL software used in consumer products that employ technical means to prohibit further modification by consumers. In essence, the drafters are seeking to ensure that if businesses choose to employ GPL software in a device, the businesses cannot then technologically 'lock' that device up and prohibit users from further modifying it -- it seeks to guarantee that if a device uses GPL software the consumer will be permitted to 'pop open the hood and tinker with the engine.'"
Ah , embedded Linux. Now we have something to talk about.
So you take a copy of linux, put it in your TV tuner to run it, and sell copies all over the place. For a profit. But ... the guys who made linux in the first place had no intention of you making a profit. It's only supposed to be used for free. The makers of the device , of course, are worried that you will in fact "pop open the hood" and remove any payment restrictions so that people , in this case the TV scenario , get their TV for free. A valid restriction if it was your property. But it isn't.
Congradulations, Mr TV Company , you have just committed piracy. You've taken someone elses work and used it for something they disaprove of. And since you're a big business with lots of lawyers and stuff , you're gonna make it legal to do this.
And when the linux guys change the copy right (copy left as they like to call it) scheme to forbid this , you start crying foul ! This is interfering with your profits !
(edit)
One of the most interesting aspects of this situation is that the various Linux programmers who make this software seem to have no voice. Since they are giving it away for free, they have no money to pay for lawyers to fight this battle.
But then again , they do have the ability to stop writing code and giving it away. They do have the ability to change the "copy left" terms that they release it under, so that any new stuff they write comes under a more restrictive scheme to prevent such Business Piracy (thus is born the GPLv3, etc). There's not much room for argument here. You can whine and complain all you want, but in the end it's simply not your property.
If I was a Linux Programmer, and I saw my work that I intended to be given away for free, buried deep in somone's TV Tuner, with their brand name on it and everything , and not a hint that my stuff was even there, and they were making a nice profit off of it , how would I feel ?
Not supposed to be making profits off of linux. Sorry. Write your own control software for your TV box and quit being a Pirate.
Friday, March 30, 2007
British Sailors Kidnapped by Iran
15 British sailors looking for contraband, kidnapped by Iran.
Iran claims they were in Iranian waters, but the Brits say
otherwise.
Who's telling the truth ?
The Iranians couldn't tell the truth if their lives depended on it. Already they have tortured the prisoners into confessing anything they want. They're not even trying to make it look like the prisoners words anymore they're openly dictating statements for the prisoners to read.
Needless to say , I don't much believe the Iranians.
Plus, the Iranian President is more concearned with his holy book than with the real world, or he wouldn't be trying to make nukes.
The British Problem is simple.
These people were kidnapped in Iraqi waters.
If you permit this , if you actually bow down to the kidnappers or give in to any demands, tommorow they'll kidnap someone else.
The philipino people found this out when , after much outcry , their government finally relented and paid the ransom on a single kidnapped truck driver. The very next day , guess what ? another truck driver got kidnapped ! Wow, what an amazing thing !
The really big problems the Brits face , however, is that the Iranian President is a religious fanatic who's been siding with the Muslim Iman's and removing any non religous people from the government. People who look to god (any god, not pointing any fingers here) generally seem to be of the opinon that God will protect them and they can do anything they want without consequences.
Rather like that true believer who stepped into the lion's den because he believed god would protect him. Only to find out god loves the lions too, and once in a while throws them a snack, thanks for volinteering.
With a religous fanatic in office in Iran , the odds of a peaceful solution are zippo. He's gonna try and use those hostages to get himself some nukes and toss a few either at Israel or the US or both. (You have to use up your nukes if you're a little power , by the way. They tend to decay over time and become useless very quuickly ... so if you're only ever gonna get a bit of uranium and then never again , you can't threaten with it ,you have to use it before it's gone)
I totally agree. The British should pull their troops out of Iraq.
And send them all to Iran.
Iran claims they were in Iranian waters, but the Brits say
otherwise.
Who's telling the truth ?
The Iranians couldn't tell the truth if their lives depended on it. Already they have tortured the prisoners into confessing anything they want. They're not even trying to make it look like the prisoners words anymore they're openly dictating statements for the prisoners to read.
Needless to say , I don't much believe the Iranians.
Plus, the Iranian President is more concearned with his holy book than with the real world, or he wouldn't be trying to make nukes.
The British Problem is simple.
These people were kidnapped in Iraqi waters.
If you permit this , if you actually bow down to the kidnappers or give in to any demands, tommorow they'll kidnap someone else.
The philipino people found this out when , after much outcry , their government finally relented and paid the ransom on a single kidnapped truck driver. The very next day , guess what ? another truck driver got kidnapped ! Wow, what an amazing thing !
The really big problems the Brits face , however, is that the Iranian President is a religious fanatic who's been siding with the Muslim Iman's and removing any non religous people from the government. People who look to god (any god, not pointing any fingers here) generally seem to be of the opinon that God will protect them and they can do anything they want without consequences.
Rather like that true believer who stepped into the lion's den because he believed god would protect him. Only to find out god loves the lions too, and once in a while throws them a snack, thanks for volinteering.
With a religous fanatic in office in Iran , the odds of a peaceful solution are zippo. He's gonna try and use those hostages to get himself some nukes and toss a few either at Israel or the US or both. (You have to use up your nukes if you're a little power , by the way. They tend to decay over time and become useless very quuickly ... so if you're only ever gonna get a bit of uranium and then never again , you can't threaten with it ,you have to use it before it's gone)
I totally agree. The British should pull their troops out of Iraq.
And send them all to Iran.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Business Case for WinVista
I am a computer tech.
It looks good on my resume if I can say I built my home computer system from scratch and it works great.
WinVista off the Shelf : $200US
- this is the NEW copy , not an upgrade that eats up your winxp
- upgrades cost 99$ and require you to already have xp, which makes it
useless since you're putting it on a new machine not your old clunker
WinVista for Dell and friends : $50
- yeah , they get a massive discount
- and this is for a NEW machine ,not upgrading an old.
Linux Ubuntu (or other Linux) : Free
But it goes on.
If you buy a computer from Dell , it comes with all sorts of preinstalled software, like Symantec or Macafee. If you want to get rid of these anti-virus programs, you have to phone those companies and PAY to find out how to remove them. Pay , hard cash , to get rid of something you didn't want in the first place. (You don't want it because every Internet Provider now adays gives away a free copy of an anti-virus, so why would you pay for something you're getting for no charge ? )
Oh , failure to remove norton or Mcafee means it locks down your system and prevents you from surfing at the end of the trial period. In short, out and out extortion. I'm sure they've done something , bribed someone , so it's legal in the us for them to do this , but I'm gonna call a spade a spade. It's extortion.
You also have to uninstall a wack of "free 90 day trial software have your credit card ready when it expires" which is annoying.
Linux runs great on your old clunker. (I priced a replacement of my old clunker , which is currently running Ubuntu 61 , at 239$ Cnd)
What do I use my machine for ? As a computer tech I build it , and get it going ... then I just play games.
Hmmm.... 1500$ for a dell computer that just plays games.
239$ for an old clunker , +200$ for a game box of some kind, and I get to say I built my own computer and still play lots of games.
Not looking good for WinVista. Not looking good at all.
It looks good on my resume if I can say I built my home computer system from scratch and it works great.
WinVista off the Shelf : $200US
- this is the NEW copy , not an upgrade that eats up your winxp
- upgrades cost 99$ and require you to already have xp, which makes it
useless since you're putting it on a new machine not your old clunker
WinVista for Dell and friends : $50
- yeah , they get a massive discount
- and this is for a NEW machine ,not upgrading an old.
Linux Ubuntu (or other Linux) : Free
But it goes on.
If you buy a computer from Dell , it comes with all sorts of preinstalled software, like Symantec or Macafee. If you want to get rid of these anti-virus programs, you have to phone those companies and PAY to find out how to remove them. Pay , hard cash , to get rid of something you didn't want in the first place. (You don't want it because every Internet Provider now adays gives away a free copy of an anti-virus, so why would you pay for something you're getting for no charge ? )
Oh , failure to remove norton or Mcafee means it locks down your system and prevents you from surfing at the end of the trial period. In short, out and out extortion. I'm sure they've done something , bribed someone , so it's legal in the us for them to do this , but I'm gonna call a spade a spade. It's extortion.
You also have to uninstall a wack of "free 90 day trial software have your credit card ready when it expires" which is annoying.
Linux runs great on your old clunker. (I priced a replacement of my old clunker , which is currently running Ubuntu 61 , at 239$ Cnd)
What do I use my machine for ? As a computer tech I build it , and get it going ... then I just play games.
Hmmm.... 1500$ for a dell computer that just plays games.
239$ for an old clunker , +200$ for a game box of some kind, and I get to say I built my own computer and still play lots of games.
Not looking good for WinVista. Not looking good at all.
Symantec Rant
Article
He said various malware groups may be co-operating with each other and becoming more effective — something that the security industry should emulate or risk losing customers who have lost faith in their ability to defend themselves.
"If the whole industry looks bad or is not able to keep up, it will hurt everybody," Nguyen said. "There's got to be some kind of paradigm shift so vendors can keep up with the game."
This is an interesting statement made by a symantic representative. One has to wonder why did you say this ? Do you know something we don't ? You're not worried about fixing the problem forever ,you're worried about simply keeping up.
I took a call at work from a custumer yesterday from a customer on internet explorer 7 , puportedly the safest browser on the market, according to Microsoft.
It was loaded with "add ons" that produced massive pop ups , tracked his movements , the whole nine yards. It was so bloated and slow he could barely surf the internet. We disabled the add ons and went to getfirefox.com and got him a firefox browser, and suddenly he was surfing quickly and there were no pop ups anymore.
Personal experience tells me internet explorer 7 is a malware disaster waiting to happen. I don't know why this is , both Firefox and Opera are able to surf the internet without allowing third party web sites to upload additions to themselves without so much as a warning box to tell you your browser has now been altered for some advertisers benifit and your detriment. Why this is impossible for Microsoft I don't know , but apparently it is. win95 came out in ... 1995 , surprise surprise. It's 2007, 12 years later. This simple issue has not been fixed, and is looking like it will never be fixed. And because of it , if you do any kind of online banking or work from home through a vpn or anything secure at all on internet explorer, you are an idiot. And you can bet your credit card number and any company secrets will soon be stolen.
And symantec's contribution to all of this ? Make up FUD's (Fear, Uncertainty , Distrust) about any alternatives to try and keep you from switching away from IE7. Because quite frankly , if you don't use the IE , you don't need their services, and thats bankruptcy for them.
And if you're on Linux , you're really laughing at them.
He said various malware groups may be co-operating with each other and becoming more effective — something that the security industry should emulate or risk losing customers who have lost faith in their ability to defend themselves.
"If the whole industry looks bad or is not able to keep up, it will hurt everybody," Nguyen said. "There's got to be some kind of paradigm shift so vendors can keep up with the game."
This is an interesting statement made by a symantic representative. One has to wonder why did you say this ? Do you know something we don't ? You're not worried about fixing the problem forever ,you're worried about simply keeping up.
I took a call at work from a custumer yesterday from a customer on internet explorer 7 , puportedly the safest browser on the market, according to Microsoft.
It was loaded with "add ons" that produced massive pop ups , tracked his movements , the whole nine yards. It was so bloated and slow he could barely surf the internet. We disabled the add ons and went to getfirefox.com and got him a firefox browser, and suddenly he was surfing quickly and there were no pop ups anymore.
Personal experience tells me internet explorer 7 is a malware disaster waiting to happen. I don't know why this is , both Firefox and Opera are able to surf the internet without allowing third party web sites to upload additions to themselves without so much as a warning box to tell you your browser has now been altered for some advertisers benifit and your detriment. Why this is impossible for Microsoft I don't know , but apparently it is. win95 came out in ... 1995 , surprise surprise. It's 2007, 12 years later. This simple issue has not been fixed, and is looking like it will never be fixed. And because of it , if you do any kind of online banking or work from home through a vpn or anything secure at all on internet explorer, you are an idiot. And you can bet your credit card number and any company secrets will soon be stolen.
And symantec's contribution to all of this ? Make up FUD's (Fear, Uncertainty , Distrust) about any alternatives to try and keep you from switching away from IE7. Because quite frankly , if you don't use the IE , you don't need their services, and thats bankruptcy for them.
And if you're on Linux , you're really laughing at them.
Friday, March 23, 2007
An American War Vet
Yesterday was a slow day at work , so I had lots of time to talk with the guy next to me. I won't give his name , but he was swedish, and he'd moved to canada because his wife spoke lousy swedish and he spoke good english and she was having such a hard time there ... etcet cet.
With a short pit stop in America.
Apparently he worked for the pentagon , setting up computers and networks and the like. In afghanistan no less. Or he did , for a while.
Took a bullet in the chest. Wound up in the hospital.
Luckily he was insured because there is no free healthcare in america.
Unfortunately , his insurance company informed him he was costing them too much money , so they were cutting him off. Goodbye, we don't want you as a customer anymore etc etc. And of course, every other insurance company has this clause called "pre-existing medical condition" so they won't pay for his treatment for his injuries either.
Hello $800 000 US hospital bill (metal plate in his chest and an artificial heart).
His Lawyer in bankruptcy in america sympathized with him , informing him that every single person in america who isn't a billionaire will lose their entire lifes worth to the american heatlh care system at some time or other in their lives.
Declared bankruptcy, packed up his bags , moved to canada , and thats how he happened to be sitting in the chair next to me up here in Ottawa. (His wife is a Canadian citizen)
Apparently the American Government is quick to let anyone into their military, but not so quick to pay up if they get injured. And it is a soldiers job to stand in harms way and get injured.
Rip off !
With a short pit stop in America.
Apparently he worked for the pentagon , setting up computers and networks and the like. In afghanistan no less. Or he did , for a while.
Took a bullet in the chest. Wound up in the hospital.
Luckily he was insured because there is no free healthcare in america.
Unfortunately , his insurance company informed him he was costing them too much money , so they were cutting him off. Goodbye, we don't want you as a customer anymore etc etc. And of course, every other insurance company has this clause called "pre-existing medical condition" so they won't pay for his treatment for his injuries either.
Hello $800 000 US hospital bill (metal plate in his chest and an artificial heart).
His Lawyer in bankruptcy in america sympathized with him , informing him that every single person in america who isn't a billionaire will lose their entire lifes worth to the american heatlh care system at some time or other in their lives.
Declared bankruptcy, packed up his bags , moved to canada , and thats how he happened to be sitting in the chair next to me up here in Ottawa. (His wife is a Canadian citizen)
Apparently the American Government is quick to let anyone into their military, but not so quick to pay up if they get injured. And it is a soldiers job to stand in harms way and get injured.
Rip off !
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Free Medical..The American Way !
Article
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - An 82-year-old man who was caught trying to smuggle 170 pounds of cocaine into the country from Mexico has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's office announced Tuesday.
Hello. My name is Bob. I'm 82 years old. I have a heart condition , my kidneys are failing, I have arthritis, and I can barely drive my car. My pension doesn't cover rent and I have to hit the food bank twice a week and soon I won't be able to drive ?
I know.
I will smuggle drugs.
They will put me in jail for the rest of my life.
AND ....
they will pay all my medical bills and living expenses.
And I'll just sit in my little jail cell , reading books , watching TV, enjoying the free medical.
It's the American way !
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - An 82-year-old man who was caught trying to smuggle 170 pounds of cocaine into the country from Mexico has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's office announced Tuesday.
Hello. My name is Bob. I'm 82 years old. I have a heart condition , my kidneys are failing, I have arthritis, and I can barely drive my car. My pension doesn't cover rent and I have to hit the food bank twice a week and soon I won't be able to drive ?
I know.
I will smuggle drugs.
They will put me in jail for the rest of my life.
AND ....
they will pay all my medical bills and living expenses.
And I'll just sit in my little jail cell , reading books , watching TV, enjoying the free medical.
It's the American way !
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
AOL takes AIM at location of message 'buddies'
Article = http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/03/19/tech-im.html
AOL is offering users of its AIM instant messaging service new
capabilites to see where people on their buddy lists are physically
located
Thats nice how do you do it ?
The Skyhook system was developed through a seemingly oddball,
laborious process: Skyhook spent the past few years driving a fleet of
200 trucks up and down the streets of 2,500 cities and towns across
the United States and Canada.
These trucks scan for the pulse given off at least once a second by
every home wireless router or commercial hotspot, recording the unique
identifying code for that piece of Wi-Fi equipment. That code is
correlated with the exact physical location where it was captured
using GPS in the trucks, which cruise the streets at up to 80 km/h as
they collect the information
Let me get this straight. You made a map of every router and hub in
the us and canada , and can now track people by what router they're on
?
Did you get permission of these people to use their PRIVATELY OWNED
routers in your system ? No , you just drove down the road at 80 miles
an hour grabbing your info.
My mind is boggling here at the abuse such a map can be put to. One
over eager cop getting a supena , one router I used to run for years
but then last month I gave it to my brother five miles away because I
bought a brand new one, ... when did my own personal equipment start
working for AOL free of charge anyways ?
AOL is offering users of its AIM instant messaging service new
capabilites to see where people on their buddy lists are physically
located
Thats nice how do you do it ?
The Skyhook system was developed through a seemingly oddball,
laborious process: Skyhook spent the past few years driving a fleet of
200 trucks up and down the streets of 2,500 cities and towns across
the United States and Canada.
These trucks scan for the pulse given off at least once a second by
every home wireless router or commercial hotspot, recording the unique
identifying code for that piece of Wi-Fi equipment. That code is
correlated with the exact physical location where it was captured
using GPS in the trucks, which cruise the streets at up to 80 km/h as
they collect the information
Let me get this straight. You made a map of every router and hub in
the us and canada , and can now track people by what router they're on
?
Did you get permission of these people to use their PRIVATELY OWNED
routers in your system ? No , you just drove down the road at 80 miles
an hour grabbing your info.
My mind is boggling here at the abuse such a map can be put to. One
over eager cop getting a supena , one router I used to run for years
but then last month I gave it to my brother five miles away because I
bought a brand new one, ... when did my own personal equipment start
working for AOL free of charge anyways ?
Friday, March 16, 2007
'Parasites' find a champion
Article
Try as we might, it seems we can't escape the idea that bloggers are parasites. We certainly don't like the notion since we count ourselves among the ranks of those seeking out new...
What is a blogger ?
A blogger is someone who writes a blog. A blog full of things you personally find interesting. And you write it (hopefully) in an intereseting way.
A blog is "Content", that is to say , it is the reason you got on the internet in the first place. You want to read the news, the news is "content" the ads around the news filling the same page are just ads that pay to have the web site up. You want to read so and so's blog , so you put up with the ad's on it to read because you always think he has something interesting to say. Or at least amusing.
To call any form of "content" a parasite is to simply be mis-informed. Or to be "The competition". If you are a news reporter , for example, and the bloggers are always getting there first and making you look bad ... well thats the way life goes.
I suppose you might make a case that my blog is a parasite, since I comment on news stories. But it would be a poor case. I quote only a small part of the article and put a linke back to the original , and then give my own opinion on the matter, which is usually different than what the article is saying.
Such as a reporter puts an article up in the news paper , and the next day you send the newspaper a letter quoting part of it and stating you totally disagree this is why etc etc...
Newspapers are parasites.
Why ?
Because they have to make most of their money from advertising. And guess what ? Leon's pays a lot of money to you for ad's , and suddenly you find dirt on them , and if you run the article you lose this well paying customer ? You are corrupted from the get go. You are Pro-Business, especially any business that buys ad space off of you, and you claim to be neutril.
Money talks. And the newspapers rake it in.
But the blogger gets not a penny , he's in it for the fun. He's the only true "unslanted" writer out there.
Parasite indeed.
Accusations from the grave, from a dying industry that knows it's end is coming.
Try as we might, it seems we can't escape the idea that bloggers are parasites. We certainly don't like the notion since we count ourselves among the ranks of those seeking out new...
What is a blogger ?
A blogger is someone who writes a blog. A blog full of things you personally find interesting. And you write it (hopefully) in an intereseting way.
A blog is "Content", that is to say , it is the reason you got on the internet in the first place. You want to read the news, the news is "content" the ads around the news filling the same page are just ads that pay to have the web site up. You want to read so and so's blog , so you put up with the ad's on it to read because you always think he has something interesting to say. Or at least amusing.
To call any form of "content" a parasite is to simply be mis-informed. Or to be "The competition". If you are a news reporter , for example, and the bloggers are always getting there first and making you look bad ... well thats the way life goes.
I suppose you might make a case that my blog is a parasite, since I comment on news stories. But it would be a poor case. I quote only a small part of the article and put a linke back to the original , and then give my own opinion on the matter, which is usually different than what the article is saying.
Such as a reporter puts an article up in the news paper , and the next day you send the newspaper a letter quoting part of it and stating you totally disagree this is why etc etc...
Newspapers are parasites.
Why ?
Because they have to make most of their money from advertising. And guess what ? Leon's pays a lot of money to you for ad's , and suddenly you find dirt on them , and if you run the article you lose this well paying customer ? You are corrupted from the get go. You are Pro-Business, especially any business that buys ad space off of you, and you claim to be neutril.
Money talks. And the newspapers rake it in.
But the blogger gets not a penny , he's in it for the fun. He's the only true "unslanted" writer out there.
Parasite indeed.
Accusations from the grave, from a dying industry that knows it's end is coming.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Transcript: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses 9/11 role
Article
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, admitted to those attacks and numerous others during a U.S. military hearing on Saturday, according to an edited transcript of the hearing released by the Pentagon Wednesday.
In a statement from him, read by a U.S. military representative, he said, "I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z."
Confessing to it all ,eh ? After what , only 6 years of imprisonment and , how did they call it , not torture , but ... stress positions and strong questioning. Yes, thats it. Strong Questioning.
The 14 detainees (of which Khalid is one) have been given military advisers but they are offering no legal assistance. Detainees are also given only an unclassified summary of the evidence against them but are allowed to have witnesses called in from out of the country to testify in their favor.
How nice. Someone to babysit you. Doesn't give you legal advice though. What does he do ? Not much, it seems.
The ultimate farce of this farcical trial is surprisingly simple.
These people were caught with a gun in their hands shooting at western soldiers when they were picked up and put in this camp. They openly don't like us westerners (they were shooting at us , trying to kill us) and are pretty much our enemies for ever and not much is going to change that.
That being said, do you think this guy did it ?
6 years of torture. Anyone would agree to anything after that. That you're starting with someone who hates us and would love to have done it only makes it easier to extract such a false confession from him.
These guys hate us and I really don't care that they're being tortured. Too bad you picked the wrong side better you dead than me.
but I can't help but notice torture is such a lousy way to collect information. Too many false confessions, too much "Stop the pain I'll confess I'll say anything anything at all !!!!!"
I don't believe a word this guy says.
Kudo's for torturing him though. He deserves it. They're gonna cut the heads off our soldiers ? Turn about is fair play.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, admitted to those attacks and numerous others during a U.S. military hearing on Saturday, according to an edited transcript of the hearing released by the Pentagon Wednesday.
In a statement from him, read by a U.S. military representative, he said, "I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z."
Confessing to it all ,eh ? After what , only 6 years of imprisonment and , how did they call it , not torture , but ... stress positions and strong questioning. Yes, thats it. Strong Questioning.
The 14 detainees (of which Khalid is one) have been given military advisers but they are offering no legal assistance. Detainees are also given only an unclassified summary of the evidence against them but are allowed to have witnesses called in from out of the country to testify in their favor.
How nice. Someone to babysit you. Doesn't give you legal advice though. What does he do ? Not much, it seems.
The ultimate farce of this farcical trial is surprisingly simple.
These people were caught with a gun in their hands shooting at western soldiers when they were picked up and put in this camp. They openly don't like us westerners (they were shooting at us , trying to kill us) and are pretty much our enemies for ever and not much is going to change that.
That being said, do you think this guy did it ?
6 years of torture. Anyone would agree to anything after that. That you're starting with someone who hates us and would love to have done it only makes it easier to extract such a false confession from him.
These guys hate us and I really don't care that they're being tortured. Too bad you picked the wrong side better you dead than me.
but I can't help but notice torture is such a lousy way to collect information. Too many false confessions, too much "Stop the pain I'll confess I'll say anything anything at all !!!!!"
I don't believe a word this guy says.
Kudo's for torturing him though. He deserves it. They're gonna cut the heads off our soldiers ? Turn about is fair play.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
You are Sh**ing me !
This article apeared on my google home page.
Article.
You have got to be kidding me ! but no , they mean it. It's ... pretty detailed.
Maybe it's time to rethink this whole internet thing.
Article.
How to Pick a Lock
Locked out of your house in the middle of the night? Lost the key to the padlock on the shed? Before you pay a locksmith to let you in, consider picking the lock yourself. Most locks around the home or office are simple pin-and-tumbler locks and can be relatively easily opened using a pick and tension wrench, both of which can be improvised from common household items. While the process is simple and can be mastered with practice, picking such a lock requires a great deal of patience. If you’ve got some spare time and enjoy a challenge, though, why not give it a try?You have got to be kidding me ! but no , they mean it. It's ... pretty detailed.
Maybe it's time to rethink this whole internet thing.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
The Linux / WinVista Paradox
WinXP is behind us. Each copy locks to one computer.
WinVista lies ahead of us. It also locks each copy to one computer.
Windows 3.1 is a long ago dream. It ran my programs. My spread sheets, my word processors. Why did I have to upgrade in the first place ? Oh yes, it wouldn't run on the new hard ware. And why did I have to upgrade to the new hardware ? Becaus they don't sell the old stuff anymore and my computer broke.
did this new hardware give you anything you didn't have before ?
Maybe a faster modem , then later high speed, if you count the jump from no network card to network card standard. Maybe prettier games if you're a gamer. But really , no. My old win31 laptop runs a spreadsheet and word processor that does everything the modern stuff does, and it's 20+ years old.
You have four computers in your house. They want $200 a smack to upgrade to Vista.
Not happening.
They'll break eventually. You'll have to buy vista. It will be bundled. Just look at the dell site, your choice of operating systems is vista and vista alone.
I'll build a custom machine.
Need a copy of windows. A full version since you're not upgrading. Thats $400 smackers. And you can't borrow someone elses because they're all tied to one machine per copy. Just like XP.
I'll go Linux.
Linux won't run your games.
One purchased machine , cheap as I can get. The rest go Linux.
Sounds like a plan.
this is stupid. I don't NEED a new operating system. The old one works fine. I swear Bill Gates sabatages the old ones with those nightly updates as soon as a new one comes out , trying to get you to upgrade.
He probably does. I'm sure he found some way to do that legally without getting sue'd.
WinVista lies ahead of us. It also locks each copy to one computer.
Windows 3.1 is a long ago dream. It ran my programs. My spread sheets, my word processors. Why did I have to upgrade in the first place ? Oh yes, it wouldn't run on the new hard ware. And why did I have to upgrade to the new hardware ? Becaus they don't sell the old stuff anymore and my computer broke.
did this new hardware give you anything you didn't have before ?
Maybe a faster modem , then later high speed, if you count the jump from no network card to network card standard. Maybe prettier games if you're a gamer. But really , no. My old win31 laptop runs a spreadsheet and word processor that does everything the modern stuff does, and it's 20+ years old.
You have four computers in your house. They want $200 a smack to upgrade to Vista.
Not happening.
They'll break eventually. You'll have to buy vista. It will be bundled. Just look at the dell site, your choice of operating systems is vista and vista alone.
I'll build a custom machine.
Need a copy of windows. A full version since you're not upgrading. Thats $400 smackers. And you can't borrow someone elses because they're all tied to one machine per copy. Just like XP.
I'll go Linux.
Linux won't run your games.
One purchased machine , cheap as I can get. The rest go Linux.
Sounds like a plan.
this is stupid. I don't NEED a new operating system. The old one works fine. I swear Bill Gates sabatages the old ones with those nightly updates as soon as a new one comes out , trying to get you to upgrade.
He probably does. I'm sure he found some way to do that legally without getting sue'd.
Linux Not Ready For Main Stream
No Article : This is my opinion
There's been a lot of talk on the linux news sites lately about linux going main stream , Dell making certain promises, then that Dell has done this before and backed out.
Economically , Dell gets a lot of money from Microsoft and various security and office package companies. All those 30 day trials you see on your desk top on a new computer ? Those company's actually pay , hard cash , for that stuff to be loaded there, thus lowering the price of the computer. Since a Linux box would not have such things on it , it would actually cost more, meanwhile people are expecting it to cost less. That means $NOSALE$ for the company providing linux boxes.
Add to the fact that you cannot make money off of Linux, you cannot really sell something to a linux user it violates the copy right, and Linux has put itself in a niche. An important niche, and a niche I think has a good number of useful possibilities, but it's not going to be able to climb out.
Linux is a techies hobby operating system. And will remain so. You can't go main stream with it, there are too many installation problems with hardware. You could use it in an office , type memo's, spread sheets , run the file and mail servers , no problem (Print server is iffy , going to be a hard ware problem). But if you plan on writing software to sell , you gotta put those programmers on windows machines and give them windows compilers. Copyrigth restrictions force it.
Basically , Linux could be your main infrastructure, but it cannot be part of your value added stream. Any value you add to a linux product you can only give away you cannot sell, and thats not acceptable to most managers.
For private use Linux isn't exactly a game box, you will have to maintain either a second machine or a game box of some kind for that. But if you've ever had a hankering to run a server of some kind, either mail , message, chat , or even a game server (Never Winter Nights has a server version that runs on Linux they give away for free, of course if you want to actually PLAY the game , you need the windows client , which is not free...) Linux is the way to go.
For grama who just checks email and surfs a bit, grandson the computer tech has to set it up for her, and that ties you to visiting her once a week , if you're not prepared to do that get her a windows machine.
Linux is great for techies. But I deal with the average user all day long at work. Thats just not going to work out. Maybe... maybe one specific brand of linux, with one specific desk top, on one specific configuration of hardware with very very few options ... and a restore disk for when they mess it all up...maybe ...
but that would be asking a lot of them.
There's been a lot of talk on the linux news sites lately about linux going main stream , Dell making certain promises, then that Dell has done this before and backed out.
Economically , Dell gets a lot of money from Microsoft and various security and office package companies. All those 30 day trials you see on your desk top on a new computer ? Those company's actually pay , hard cash , for that stuff to be loaded there, thus lowering the price of the computer. Since a Linux box would not have such things on it , it would actually cost more, meanwhile people are expecting it to cost less. That means $NOSALE$ for the company providing linux boxes.
Add to the fact that you cannot make money off of Linux, you cannot really sell something to a linux user it violates the copy right, and Linux has put itself in a niche. An important niche, and a niche I think has a good number of useful possibilities, but it's not going to be able to climb out.
Linux is a techies hobby operating system. And will remain so. You can't go main stream with it, there are too many installation problems with hardware. You could use it in an office , type memo's, spread sheets , run the file and mail servers , no problem (Print server is iffy , going to be a hard ware problem). But if you plan on writing software to sell , you gotta put those programmers on windows machines and give them windows compilers. Copyrigth restrictions force it.
Basically , Linux could be your main infrastructure, but it cannot be part of your value added stream. Any value you add to a linux product you can only give away you cannot sell, and thats not acceptable to most managers.
For private use Linux isn't exactly a game box, you will have to maintain either a second machine or a game box of some kind for that. But if you've ever had a hankering to run a server of some kind, either mail , message, chat , or even a game server (Never Winter Nights has a server version that runs on Linux they give away for free, of course if you want to actually PLAY the game , you need the windows client , which is not free...) Linux is the way to go.
For grama who just checks email and surfs a bit, grandson the computer tech has to set it up for her, and that ties you to visiting her once a week , if you're not prepared to do that get her a windows machine.
Linux is great for techies. But I deal with the average user all day long at work. Thats just not going to work out. Maybe... maybe one specific brand of linux, with one specific desk top, on one specific configuration of hardware with very very few options ... and a restore disk for when they mess it all up...maybe ...
but that would be asking a lot of them.
Internet Radio on Death Row
Article
You might ask, Why is music on Internet radio framed as "public performances"? Well, when the recording industry (that is, the RIAA) saw the Internet coming along in the mid-1990s, they knew it would open infinite opportunities for radio, which had previously been confined to the AM and FM bands. So they took advantage of the opportunity to do with Internet radio what they couldn't do with terrestrial over-the-air analog radio: charge fees for every "performance" for every listener. They also saw in digital broadcasting an advantage that analog broadcasting never had: accountability -- at any level of granularity. If they could create a regulatory regime around charging per-recording/per-listener fees, one of two things would happen: A) They would obtain a revenue stream from the new online radio business; or B) the online radio business would fail and its threat to the status quo would be squashed.
I don't understand.
The songs you're playing , and making a profit on , they're not you're songs. These radio stations just popped up as "pirate" stations , making a buck off other peoples art work , and you now treat them as if they were some kind of legitimate business. Does a single penny go back to the artist who's songs are being played ? No ?
Piracy. It's all rampant piracy. Shut it down.
You might ask, Why is music on Internet radio framed as "public performances"? Well, when the recording industry (that is, the RIAA) saw the Internet coming along in the mid-1990s, they knew it would open infinite opportunities for radio, which had previously been confined to the AM and FM bands. So they took advantage of the opportunity to do with Internet radio what they couldn't do with terrestrial over-the-air analog radio: charge fees for every "performance" for every listener. They also saw in digital broadcasting an advantage that analog broadcasting never had: accountability -- at any level of granularity. If they could create a regulatory regime around charging per-recording/per-listener fees, one of two things would happen: A) They would obtain a revenue stream from the new online radio business; or B) the online radio business would fail and its threat to the status quo would be squashed.
I don't understand.
The songs you're playing , and making a profit on , they're not you're songs. These radio stations just popped up as "pirate" stations , making a buck off other peoples art work , and you now treat them as if they were some kind of legitimate business. Does a single penny go back to the artist who's songs are being played ? No ?
Piracy. It's all rampant piracy. Shut it down.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Anger over Iraq follows Bush overseas
Article
The negative reaction President Bush got Thursday in Brazil at the start of a weeklong visit to the region doesn't surprise experts in Latin American affairs. "There is an enormous rejection of U.S. foreign policy in the world," one said. Bush's arrival in Sao Paulo was preceded by street marches and clashes between protesters and police.
Did you know Bush came to Ottawa once ? And there were similar protests and riots against him ?
But the protesters were all foriegners, shipped in by god only knows who, most of them didn't speak english, and they made ottawa look like some kind of violent unwholesome pigstye. On world news. For all the camera's to see.
But funny , no one ever mentions the protesters were all forieners. Someone , maybe lots of someones, has found a convenient way to make the US president look like the most hated person since satan himself. Now , I may , or may not much like his policies, but this is stretching it. Now we're into outright fabrications that not only make Bush look bad , but start making the host nations look bad as well.
And it's all a fabrication on top of it all ,they're not even real protestors. Or they're the same protestors over and over and over ... you get the idea.
It sucks.
The negative reaction President Bush got Thursday in Brazil at the start of a weeklong visit to the region doesn't surprise experts in Latin American affairs. "There is an enormous rejection of U.S. foreign policy in the world," one said. Bush's arrival in Sao Paulo was preceded by street marches and clashes between protesters and police.
Did you know Bush came to Ottawa once ? And there were similar protests and riots against him ?
But the protesters were all foriegners, shipped in by god only knows who, most of them didn't speak english, and they made ottawa look like some kind of violent unwholesome pigstye. On world news. For all the camera's to see.
But funny , no one ever mentions the protesters were all forieners. Someone , maybe lots of someones, has found a convenient way to make the US president look like the most hated person since satan himself. Now , I may , or may not much like his policies, but this is stretching it. Now we're into outright fabrications that not only make Bush look bad , but start making the host nations look bad as well.
And it's all a fabrication on top of it all ,they're not even real protestors. Or they're the same protestors over and over and over ... you get the idea.
It sucks.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Life of a Linux Virus
Ok. This is virus security on a Linux System.
My name is Bob. I'm the system administrator. I own this linux box, and I do as I please on it.
I log on as 'Bob' , not root. When I have to do something that only the root user (the super user) needs to do, I use the sudo command. That is to say sudo and that one command only is run as the root user, the super user.
Ok. Now my name is vincent. I'm a virus. Bob was surfing the net for porn on some brand new browser a friend told him to install. The browser itself is not a trojen or hostile peice of software, it's intentions are honest, but it has a few holes in it my writer was able to exploit. So I got into Bob's System.
I'm looking around. I see the system files. I attack them.
Access denied.
Bob is surfing the net as a normal user, he never logs in as root. When he (accidently , unknowningly) let me in, I got only normal user privilidges. I don't have access to the operating system. I can't modify linux.
Oh look ...some office applications, a word processor a game ... access denied. These programs were installed with the sudo command, so they belong to root. Again I don't have access.
Well, ok , I'm going to issue a Sudo command.
Bob now see's a really annoying pop up window apear before him asking him for his password. Since he's surfing porn , he's pretty suspicious of those sites, and instead hits cancel and shuts down the browser.
The operating system goes through the list of all programs the browser launched, finds vincent on the list , and shuts vincent down too. It also looks for any programs vincent may have started , but finds none.
Bob shakes his head at the untrustworthiness of his new browser, daring to ask for his linux password like that , and uninstalls it.
The moral of this story ?
Linux is alien territory to the average windows user. It's unfriendliness to unexpected executables popping in out of the blue and deciding they want to change things around is out right legendary. It's belief in keeping people in little sandboxes so that they can hurt only themselves and no one else, certainly not the operating system or any equilly protected standard programs you yourself didn't actually write puts a serious crimp in the style of a virus writer.
Do viruses (I'm still debating whether it's viruses or virii ) exist in the Linux world ?
A few yes.
But they go no where. Like taking a match to try and burn fire proof material, there is a flame , but it is on the match only , it doesn't light off anything, it doesn't propegate to the next computer, it doesn't go anywhere. The structure of Linux and the security mentality found in every beginners book on learning it make that an active concearn. So not only is the structure highly resistant to the fire of a virus attack , but the newly taught linux administraters who downloaded it and are just learning the ropes learn to worry about such things right from the get go.
My name is Bob. I'm the system administrator. I own this linux box, and I do as I please on it.
I log on as 'Bob' , not root. When I have to do something that only the root user (the super user) needs to do, I use the sudo command. That is to say sudo
Ok. Now my name is vincent. I'm a virus. Bob was surfing the net for porn on some brand new browser a friend told him to install. The browser itself is not a trojen or hostile peice of software, it's intentions are honest, but it has a few holes in it my writer was able to exploit. So I got into Bob's System.
I'm looking around. I see the system files. I attack them.
Access denied.
Bob is surfing the net as a normal user, he never logs in as root. When he (accidently , unknowningly) let me in, I got only normal user privilidges. I don't have access to the operating system. I can't modify linux.
Oh look ...some office applications, a word processor a game ... access denied. These programs were installed with the sudo command, so they belong to root. Again I don't have access.
Well, ok , I'm going to issue a Sudo command.
Bob now see's a really annoying pop up window apear before him asking him for his password. Since he's surfing porn , he's pretty suspicious of those sites, and instead hits cancel and shuts down the browser.
The operating system goes through the list of all programs the browser launched, finds vincent on the list , and shuts vincent down too. It also looks for any programs vincent may have started , but finds none.
Bob shakes his head at the untrustworthiness of his new browser, daring to ask for his linux password like that , and uninstalls it.
The moral of this story ?
Linux is alien territory to the average windows user. It's unfriendliness to unexpected executables popping in out of the blue and deciding they want to change things around is out right legendary. It's belief in keeping people in little sandboxes so that they can hurt only themselves and no one else, certainly not the operating system or any equilly protected standard programs you yourself didn't actually write puts a serious crimp in the style of a virus writer.
Do viruses (I'm still debating whether it's viruses or virii ) exist in the Linux world ?
A few yes.
But they go no where. Like taking a match to try and burn fire proof material, there is a flame , but it is on the match only , it doesn't light off anything, it doesn't propegate to the next computer, it doesn't go anywhere. The structure of Linux and the security mentality found in every beginners book on learning it make that an active concearn. So not only is the structure highly resistant to the fire of a virus attack , but the newly taught linux administraters who downloaded it and are just learning the ropes learn to worry about such things right from the get go.
Monday, March 05, 2007
The Symantec Scam
No Article, this is my opinion.
Lets take your average computer. It has a really large piece of software on it, called the Operating System. Now maybe thats Windows, or ...well..this actually only applies to windows... so we'll say you have Windows of some kind.
This Operating System , this Windows, has a couple of hundred files it needs in order to do its work.
Lets take your average virus writer. He's smart. He's knowledgable. He knows about windows . He knows that if he writes a virus to infect , say notepad , most people can do very nicely without notepad. It's such a tiny application , and most people have entire word processors or office packages on their system they never use it anyways. Infecting Notepad is pointless.
He knows that if he infects , say , the Internet Explorer, most everyone uses that (80% of all computer users, according to last survey). And he knows how a virus scanner / cleaner works.
He knows that a virus cleaner does not actually "clean" an infected file of a virus. It simply deletes the infected file (either putting it away in a virus vault, or outright deleting it...either way the file is no longer available for use). And he knows which files to infect such that if you were to "clean" the internet explorer, the absence of this file would cause it to suddenly work very poorly , or even simply stop working at all. He's now laughing at your feeble attempts to battle him. He's fourteen years old and this is fun.
Lets look at your average anti-virus company. Symantec (they make the norton anti virus product). They try to stop you from getting infected , it is true, because they know that , once you are infected there is no hope for you , you should reformat.
But the customers insist on trying.
So they will run their virus cleaner, which will do more harm than the actual virus did , explaining to the customer they're doing this at their own risk. And when everything breaks , the customer will try another virus scanner, shelling out another 50$ or more , and it will break even more things trying to "clean" the virus, because the customer doesn't understand that in the anti-virus world "clean" means "randomly erase files no matter how much damage it does, if you even suspect it might have a virus in it" And so eventually the Operating System (windows) crashes and won't boot anymore. And so you take it to a computer technician who reformats it all , and reinstalls windows from a clean disk , and charges you another 50$ and sends you on your way.
And then your girlfriend insists she must be able to go to her online gaming site because it's her favorite, despite the fact that it's most likely the place where you caught the virus in the first place, but she doesn't care thats your problem.
And two minutes after you get the computer home it's infected again.
I call this the Symantec scam for two reasons.
The only real path a virus has to get to your system is the Internet Explorer. If you're even halfway careful with your email , never running any programs friends send you etc, you'll never catch an email virus.
"Cleaning" is useless. You're doing more damage than the virus. The virus writers deliberately arrange it this way. But you don't tell the customers this. You just take their money , fail to explain what "cleaning" really means, and then tell them it was all at their own risk , don't blame them the virus writers are always coming up with new stuff.
The correct solution to a virus infection is to disconnect from the internet , back up your data files (the word processor documents you wrote, not the actual word processor, for example) to a cd writer , and then reformat and reinstall the operating system. Then all your programs. This is four to six hours work.
Or you can endure the Symantec Scam , waste days of time and potentially a few hundred dollars, and then do it anyways when it all comes to naught. ( or shell out even more money to have someone do it for you because you're now too tired)
"I can help you ! maybe ! Trust me ! I'm your only hope ! You do understand this is at your own risk ,right ? "
It's a scam.
Lets take your average computer. It has a really large piece of software on it, called the Operating System. Now maybe thats Windows, or ...well..this actually only applies to windows... so we'll say you have Windows of some kind.
This Operating System , this Windows, has a couple of hundred files it needs in order to do its work.
Lets take your average virus writer. He's smart. He's knowledgable. He knows about windows . He knows that if he writes a virus to infect , say notepad , most people can do very nicely without notepad. It's such a tiny application , and most people have entire word processors or office packages on their system they never use it anyways. Infecting Notepad is pointless.
He knows that if he infects , say , the Internet Explorer, most everyone uses that (80% of all computer users, according to last survey). And he knows how a virus scanner / cleaner works.
He knows that a virus cleaner does not actually "clean" an infected file of a virus. It simply deletes the infected file (either putting it away in a virus vault, or outright deleting it...either way the file is no longer available for use). And he knows which files to infect such that if you were to "clean" the internet explorer, the absence of this file would cause it to suddenly work very poorly , or even simply stop working at all. He's now laughing at your feeble attempts to battle him. He's fourteen years old and this is fun.
Lets look at your average anti-virus company. Symantec (they make the norton anti virus product). They try to stop you from getting infected , it is true, because they know that , once you are infected there is no hope for you , you should reformat.
But the customers insist on trying.
So they will run their virus cleaner, which will do more harm than the actual virus did , explaining to the customer they're doing this at their own risk. And when everything breaks , the customer will try another virus scanner, shelling out another 50$ or more , and it will break even more things trying to "clean" the virus, because the customer doesn't understand that in the anti-virus world "clean" means "randomly erase files no matter how much damage it does, if you even suspect it might have a virus in it" And so eventually the Operating System (windows) crashes and won't boot anymore. And so you take it to a computer technician who reformats it all , and reinstalls windows from a clean disk , and charges you another 50$ and sends you on your way.
And then your girlfriend insists she must be able to go to her online gaming site because it's her favorite, despite the fact that it's most likely the place where you caught the virus in the first place, but she doesn't care thats your problem.
And two minutes after you get the computer home it's infected again.
I call this the Symantec scam for two reasons.
The only real path a virus has to get to your system is the Internet Explorer. If you're even halfway careful with your email , never running any programs friends send you etc, you'll never catch an email virus.
"Cleaning" is useless. You're doing more damage than the virus. The virus writers deliberately arrange it this way. But you don't tell the customers this. You just take their money , fail to explain what "cleaning" really means, and then tell them it was all at their own risk , don't blame them the virus writers are always coming up with new stuff.
The correct solution to a virus infection is to disconnect from the internet , back up your data files (the word processor documents you wrote, not the actual word processor, for example) to a cd writer , and then reformat and reinstall the operating system. Then all your programs. This is four to six hours work.
Or you can endure the Symantec Scam , waste days of time and potentially a few hundred dollars, and then do it anyways when it all comes to naught. ( or shell out even more money to have someone do it for you because you're now too tired)
"I can help you ! maybe ! Trust me ! I'm your only hope ! You do understand this is at your own risk ,right ? "
It's a scam.
Brother Bob's Heart Attack
Met Brother Bob (not his real name) at the bus stop , he was heading for the hospital, the other day for tests. His first complaint was he couldn't walk far and couldn't stand up for a long time.
Hmm... those are MY symptoms. You don't think I had a heart attack when no one was looking, do you ? And no one found any traces because it happened too long before they started looking for it that all traces were gone ?
So ... how do you recover from a heart attack anyways ?
Avoid temperature extremes, and gentle exercise. And you should be able to work your way back up to normal health in 6 months or less (according to some texas hospital or university website)
Hmph ! That doesn't help me. I've been doing that already for the longest time.
Has it been six months yet ? I forgot when this all started ...it all seems like forever....like I've always been sick , like the time before when I was "normal" was just a dream...
This is bad. maybe I'll go take a walk or something.
Hmm... those are MY symptoms. You don't think I had a heart attack when no one was looking, do you ? And no one found any traces because it happened too long before they started looking for it that all traces were gone ?
So ... how do you recover from a heart attack anyways ?
Avoid temperature extremes, and gentle exercise. And you should be able to work your way back up to normal health in 6 months or less (according to some texas hospital or university website)
Hmph ! That doesn't help me. I've been doing that already for the longest time.
Has it been six months yet ? I forgot when this all started ...it all seems like forever....like I've always been sick , like the time before when I was "normal" was just a dream...
This is bad. maybe I'll go take a walk or something.
My Grandma Can Run Ubuntu
Is GNU/Linux for you? Probably not
Can Your Grandmother install Windows onto her machine without help ?
Not likely , no.
Can your grandmother install Ubuntu onto her machine without help ?
Not likely , no.
Can your Grandmother install a word processor onto her Windows machine without help ?
Not likely , no.
Can your Grandmother install a word processor onto her Ubuntu machine without help ?
Meaningless question. OpenOffice is already installed as part of Ubuntu, and never expires. (Not a "30 day trial have your credit card ready" thing)
Can your mother use a word processor if it's already installed in windows?
Yes (if she can type).
Can your mother use a word processor if it's already installed in Ubuntu ?
Yes (if she can type).
Can your grandmother surf the internet on windows ?
Yes.
Can your grandmother surf the internet on Ubuntu ?
Yes.
She just got a weird Windows Pop up saying "You have been infected with a virus ! Download and run this software NOW to clean it !" , she did , and now her computer is infected and acting really funny.
Call a PC tech. Reformat the computer. Lose all data. Start over.
She just got a weird Ubuntu Pop up saying "You have been infected with a virus ! Download and run this software NOW to clean it !" , she did , and now her computer is infected and acting really funny.
Now you're being silly. That doesn't happen to Linux systems.
Her Windows Browser just changed it's web page to some sales site, installed a toolbar to help her search , and now she can't go to any of her favorite web sites anymore all it brings up is advertising no matter what she tries.
Aside from the obvious you have a parasite, your problem is deeper than that. parasites no longer travel alone , they travel in packs, and they look for your credit card number, change your connection to dial up , all sorts of nasty tricks. The most efficient solution is to simply reformat and reinstall the operating system on the spot.
Her Ubuntu Browser just changed it's web page to some sales site, installed a toolbar to help her search , and now she can't go to any of her favorite web sites anymore all it brings up is advertising no matter what she tries.
You're making fun of me again. That doesn't happen in Linux.
To recap : The biggest handicap Linux seems to have , is that you are forced to install it yourself, no one pre-installs it on a brand new machine (at least not yet). Once it's installed and patched, it's just as easy to use as windows, and a lot less susceptable to "hostile interference" (virii and trojens and all that other nasty mal-ware)
Can Your Grandmother install Windows onto her machine without help ?
Not likely , no.
Can your grandmother install Ubuntu onto her machine without help ?
Not likely , no.
Can your Grandmother install a word processor onto her Windows machine without help ?
Not likely , no.
Can your Grandmother install a word processor onto her Ubuntu machine without help ?
Meaningless question. OpenOffice is already installed as part of Ubuntu, and never expires. (Not a "30 day trial have your credit card ready" thing)
Can your mother use a word processor if it's already installed in windows?
Yes (if she can type).
Can your mother use a word processor if it's already installed in Ubuntu ?
Yes (if she can type).
Can your grandmother surf the internet on windows ?
Yes.
Can your grandmother surf the internet on Ubuntu ?
Yes.
She just got a weird Windows Pop up saying "You have been infected with a virus ! Download and run this software NOW to clean it !" , she did , and now her computer is infected and acting really funny.
Call a PC tech. Reformat the computer. Lose all data. Start over.
She just got a weird Ubuntu Pop up saying "You have been infected with a virus ! Download and run this software NOW to clean it !" , she did , and now her computer is infected and acting really funny.
Now you're being silly. That doesn't happen to Linux systems.
Her Windows Browser just changed it's web page to some sales site, installed a toolbar to help her search , and now she can't go to any of her favorite web sites anymore all it brings up is advertising no matter what she tries.
Aside from the obvious you have a parasite, your problem is deeper than that. parasites no longer travel alone , they travel in packs, and they look for your credit card number, change your connection to dial up , all sorts of nasty tricks. The most efficient solution is to simply reformat and reinstall the operating system on the spot.
Her Ubuntu Browser just changed it's web page to some sales site, installed a toolbar to help her search , and now she can't go to any of her favorite web sites anymore all it brings up is advertising no matter what she tries.
You're making fun of me again. That doesn't happen in Linux.
To recap : The biggest handicap Linux seems to have , is that you are forced to install it yourself, no one pre-installs it on a brand new machine (at least not yet). Once it's installed and patched, it's just as easy to use as windows, and a lot less susceptable to "hostile interference" (virii and trojens and all that other nasty mal-ware)
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Fold Away Keyboards (palm tops)
Another fold away keyboard , the article trying to sell it to you as a cool gadget is here , and I recommend you NOT get it ! Why ?
I had a palmtop once , before my sister traded it for an old lap top. (I say my sister, not my sister and I , because apparently this trade happened despite my protests to the contrary, relatives can be like that sometimes) and I bought a fold up keyboard that worked through the infrared port on it.
The thing worked , mechanically, as advertised. This did not change the fact that you were staring at a 2" x 3" screen that is horrible on your eyes and only barely adequate for one or two minutes at a time. Any attempt to use it for longer than that and your eyes start killing you.
You can see the pic above i swiped from the site how big the screen is compared to the keyboard, and that keyboard is actually smaller than the one your typing on now , if you're on a regular desk top computer.
The keyboard and others like it work great !
You can't stare at your palm top for more than a few minutes at a time before you have to stop.
You'll never use the keyboard after the first time or two.
Forget it.
Now, try to sell me a really big magnifying glass for my palm top , and you might have a customer here.
(edit) After rereading this artical I realized no where does it say that the keyboard is for a palm top computer , the idea of it being fold up is that it can fold up and fit in your shirt (or at least coat) pocket and come along with you without you having to carry a brief case or anything, the primary point of palm tops. Better mention that now.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Ahhhh !! Ubuntu reboot !
I crashed my ubuntu system !
I was reading this article on the df command (basically tells you how much disk space you have left, since I just uploaed 2 gigs of music i was understandibly curious) and it said cntr-shift-f1 or go to the terminal ...
cool... a short cut to the terminal , my fave application.
wrong.
Control-Shift-F1 ends gnome, the desk top , the thing with all the menus and cute icons and stuff that makes controling linux easy ? You wind up in with a black screen asking you for a user id and pass, and when you log in , it's still black , like a terminal you can't turn off.
Reboot !
Ah well.
13 days between reboots. And it was my messing around that required the reboot, not ubuntu.
And we start over.
I was reading this article on the df command (basically tells you how much disk space you have left, since I just uploaed 2 gigs of music i was understandibly curious) and it said cntr-shift-f1 or go to the terminal ...
cool... a short cut to the terminal , my fave application.
wrong.
Control-Shift-F1 ends gnome, the desk top , the thing with all the menus and cute icons and stuff that makes controling linux easy ? You wind up in with a black screen asking you for a user id and pass, and when you log in , it's still black , like a terminal you can't turn off.
Reboot !
Ah well.
13 days between reboots. And it was my messing around that required the reboot, not ubuntu.
And we start over.
Symantec: Vista Blocks Almost All Malware, For No
Article
While many existing malware threats can't install under Vista, Symantec anticipates malware authors will quickly adapt.
Who writes this crud ?
I don't like microsoft , and I really don't like vista, the requirements are too high and it brings nothing new that I need in exchange for those requirements, but lets face it. Symantec is hardly a disintresteded third party observer. They're right in the thick of it all, making anti-virus software for windows. They are NOT going to say "you don't need our product" no matter how good a job windows does.
This kind of self serving new announcement and "white papers" and whatever else they care to call it isn't worth the paper it's written on. News reporters have no business giving these people the time of day ,they're doing little more than acting as unpaid advertisements.
It may be true that Vista has a bunch of security holes, and it's almost certainly true that new ones will be found by the virus and malware writers as quickly as possible. But Symantec is the wrong company to stand up and pretend to be some kind of white knight or expert in the area. Expert they may be , but highly prejudiced ones they also are. The words of a salesman trying to sell you something are worth nothing , no matter how expert he is in his field.
(edit)
Symantec will never say , for example "Move to Linux , it's all but immune to virii" , even though it's true.
Symantec will never say "Get off the Internet Explorer, use Firefox or Opera or some other browser that doesn't have Active X components, thats how most virii get on your computer in the first place. " even though that is true.
It will never say these things, because you will quickly come to realize that if you follow this advice, you don't need Symantec at all, and that would be cutting their own throats. Instead , they will point out obscure difficult to understand flaws in Firefox or linux, tell you it's not perfect and you should stick with windows and all it's virii , ignoring the obvious point that people on Linux, or even just Firefox , go years and years between infections while people on windows it's more like days and days.
And as for this notion that if everyone moved to linux then linux would quickly be as attacked as heavily as Windows, there are several problems with that. Linux doesn't do active X, the usual path way to infection. Linux doesn't open and run attachments that come with your email without even a by your leave such as windows does. Linux techs actually close security holes when they find them. Windows has known about the active x problem for years, but refuses to close it because it's how they make money , it's how they can do things other browsers cannot do. They're running unsecured programs on YOUR computer without YOUR permission, they're just changing around a few names and telling you they're doing something else. Linux doesn't do that at all at all at all.
But ... that would be bad for business if they told you that, so they'll tell you stick with windows and buy their product.
While many existing malware threats can't install under Vista, Symantec anticipates malware authors will quickly adapt.
Who writes this crud ?
I don't like microsoft , and I really don't like vista, the requirements are too high and it brings nothing new that I need in exchange for those requirements, but lets face it. Symantec is hardly a disintresteded third party observer. They're right in the thick of it all, making anti-virus software for windows. They are NOT going to say "you don't need our product" no matter how good a job windows does.
This kind of self serving new announcement and "white papers" and whatever else they care to call it isn't worth the paper it's written on. News reporters have no business giving these people the time of day ,they're doing little more than acting as unpaid advertisements.
It may be true that Vista has a bunch of security holes, and it's almost certainly true that new ones will be found by the virus and malware writers as quickly as possible. But Symantec is the wrong company to stand up and pretend to be some kind of white knight or expert in the area. Expert they may be , but highly prejudiced ones they also are. The words of a salesman trying to sell you something are worth nothing , no matter how expert he is in his field.
(edit)
Symantec will never say , for example "Move to Linux , it's all but immune to virii" , even though it's true.
Symantec will never say "Get off the Internet Explorer, use Firefox or Opera or some other browser that doesn't have Active X components, thats how most virii get on your computer in the first place. " even though that is true.
It will never say these things, because you will quickly come to realize that if you follow this advice, you don't need Symantec at all, and that would be cutting their own throats. Instead , they will point out obscure difficult to understand flaws in Firefox or linux, tell you it's not perfect and you should stick with windows and all it's virii , ignoring the obvious point that people on Linux, or even just Firefox , go years and years between infections while people on windows it's more like days and days.
And as for this notion that if everyone moved to linux then linux would quickly be as attacked as heavily as Windows, there are several problems with that. Linux doesn't do active X, the usual path way to infection. Linux doesn't open and run attachments that come with your email without even a by your leave such as windows does. Linux techs actually close security holes when they find them. Windows has known about the active x problem for years, but refuses to close it because it's how they make money , it's how they can do things other browsers cannot do. They're running unsecured programs on YOUR computer without YOUR permission, they're just changing around a few names and telling you they're doing something else. Linux doesn't do that at all at all at all.
But ... that would be bad for business if they told you that, so they'll tell you stick with windows and buy their product.
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