Posts by adnim

There is a reason for forgetting.

It is a survival mechanism.

It is essential to those of us with less than impeccable social habits and a flexible (depending on alcohol/blood ratio) morality in order to maintain a level of self esteem that does not beg suicide.

And when one does win...

the value of the prize is usually less than equal to the cost of playing the game. Presuming nothing has changed in the 30 years since I last gave, sorry, threw my money away at one of these scams.

Faith in science

"...Science and faith can be reconciled."

I will agree with this statement when and only when, the catholic church and every other religion promote their respective beliefs and faith as theory rather than fact.

There can be no reconciliation whilst faith contradicts reality.

try not to laugh... I'm falling about laughing.

"try not to laugh xD http://www.fbhole. com/omg/allow.php?s=a&r=[random number]"

People click on links like this?

I wonder how many FB users would click on such a link were it inside an unsolicited email.

What makes them dispense with all common sense when such links appear in FB?

It only confirms my suspicions regarding the level of quick witted foresight possessed by the average FB user.

offence is a relative reaction.

"The group's organisers say it is not designed to offend ordinary Muslims"

But it will. It is not just Muslims, but a lot of organised religion types are very touchy when it comes to folk, even the lay or secular type, criticising or ignoring the propaganda spouted by their various respective religious tombs.

Should you care? well it's up to, you my book says I have no right to judge you, should you not agree with me.

Personally though, I couldn't give a flying one.

whats the big deal

Any service that allows a user to upload data can be used to issue commands and instructions.

Ah read article again... scripts that allow the brain dead to control bots, means more people trying to herd bots, means...

Still don't think it's a big deal

Dumb or ignorant?

They were only ever informed of the benefits of this service and never told of the ills and pitfalls...

Same goes for every consumer product, products are always shown in the best light and described by half truths.

Does ignorance of the dark underbelly of favorable product information make one dumb?

Cool

I thought about this kind of Tom foolery some time ago. I think about a lot of things I am too lazy to investigate, or lack the skills (read patience to learn those skills) to achieve.

I have often wondered if indeed this kind of AV hoodwinking has been accomplished already.

To be honest I don't really care, my experience and understanding of IT/computer security tells me NEVER to store anything illegal, shameful or embarrassing on a computer connected to the Internet. If one needs to bank online then use an account that is usually empty and transfer cash into it as required.

I think I am smart, I think I am secure, but I only think these things, it doesn't make them so. There are far smarter hackers out there than I.

Trust me I am not an MP.

It's a wonderful war!

Saw through that one.

"A rather less plausible email scam has also been doing the rounds, claiming that boffins at the Large Hadron Collider are about to create a black hole."

$3000 to a travel agent in Mumbai? As if I would fall for that, I booked my flight via BA.

Vail?

The words "Virtual fail" sprung to mind with such ease. Now I wonder why that might be.

I thought

it would be illegal to torture sheep in the US. I also think that as the tasering of resistant, even slightly petulant suspects is so common place is the US, there would already be plenty of data regarding the effects of tasering on high/stoned/drunken humans.

Snivelling little shit...

"Some of the things I twittered before I became a candidate were very, very silly and I can see they are offensive. I have let myself and my friends down and am really sorry."

What he should have said:

"Some of the things I Twittered before I became a candidate were succinct, accurate and to the point. I have no regrets, I stand by my Tweets. If you don't like my opinion, fuckoff."

If he didn't mean what he Twittered he should of kept his mouth shut.

Symantec on the ball as usual

I read the published Symantec analysis...

"Next the malware does a DNS lookup on some subdomain of microsoft.com (e.g. wwwco2vip.microsoft.com), and then it receives some information from that page, we don’t know what that is."

Why not, where the packets encrypted?

"It looks like the malware also attempts to contact other machines on the same network, probably to try and propagate the threat."

"it looks like", " probably"

Are these the words of erudite professionals?

I could do better myself, for the right kind of incentive.

As for using the world cup as a potential earner...

It doesn't matter what the occasion, if a viable percentage of Internet users are interested in an event, news item or some celebrity gossip, then some criminal somewhere is going to, or is going to employ someone to exploit the situation.

This is more expected than news.

Yes, despite all the "protection" offered by AV vendors the only real defences are the wits of the end user.

Sorry to finish on such a negative note ;-)

Let me correct the title for you

One in four UK schoolkids admits running a program or script in an attempt to hack.

I only wanna take a picture officer

"some very nasty bastards out there who aim to do us harm"

Well that's enough about the house of commons, what about terrorists?

He's having a giraffe

"We have got through this storm together but there are still substantial risks ahead. There will be bumps in the road. And I believe the only way to overcome them is by displaying the same strength and resolve as we did during the crisis."

Together:

In association with or in relationship to one another; mutually or reciprocally.

By joint or cooperative effort.

I must have missed my invite to the discussions concerning the bailing out of the banks.

Seems to me that any decisions that were made to get through this storm were reached without any relationship or co-operation with the British tax payer. And were in fact, entirely unilateral.

We have got through this storm by stealing from the poor and giving to the rich whilst allowing still substantial amounts of bonuses to be leeched from the system. There are potholes in the road which will be filled by the tax payer to create a smooth surface for the rich to ride upon. I believe the only way to maintain growth is to make sure the proles are thoroughly taxed and kept in place with piecemeal laws introduced to obscure our true agenda and instill fear. This paves the way for us to display the same strength and resolve that allowed the crises to deepen in the first place, only this time our incompetence will be offset by extra taxation and hidden by statistics.

With a 90%

code share all this cross platform goodness is doomed to be an homogenised focus upon those architectures which are quickest to develop for.

Each platform and indeed device within that platform has it's own hardware dedicated to graphics and audio functions amongst other things, so in order to leverage the best from each platform device dependent code is required. And in most instances that code would certainly comprise of more than 10% of the total source.

Microsoft are again just telling halve truths or exaggerating if you will, after all they do have product to sell.

Having never been fingerprinted...

I want to know is this a fingerprint checker or a fingerprint capture and recording system. Are the captures disregarded after the the matching process?

Do you think the police would listen when I told them that their device would not identify me? I am pretty sure they would fingerprint me anyway, especially as they would likely see me as being guilty until I could prove my innocence.

Wild animal...

kills two humans. Not entirely unexpected, considering the animal my have been stressed in such an unnatural environment. I am sure if this whale was aware of the ten commandments he would have acted differently.

I think he needs a bigger place to live, preferably the ocean if he is able to survive out there.

It just goes to show

that the weakest link in any form of computer/IT/account security is the user.

Curiosity may have killed a few cats, but it has compromised far more credentials.

Is this a photograph of you?

Notice of unreported income.

My name is Ursula and I want to be your friend.

I can make a system very secure. Almost completely secure in fact against scripted attack. But as soon as there is a user account on that system other than my own, I consider it highly vulnerable and likely to be compromised.

She was aware...

of the camera. She only has herself to blame. I am not surprised the dude has had his face blurred, I too would be embarrassed if I came after two minutes of penetration. Selfish bastard didn't even get her off when he finished.

What about Phorm?

Pursuing criminal charges against BT is well and good, but what about Phorm? Do they just slink away quietly under the rock from which they first emerged and avoid prosecution? Technically BT are responsible for the monitoring of private communication, but Phorm read/handled stolen data/goods.

A single step in the right direction

Now how about a choice of media player, email client, instant messenger or indeed anything else that isn't part of the core OS. And why not options to set up online services such as mail, search, storage and browser home page to something other than the MS defaults during install. Yes it would confuse the hell out of the complete novice, but isn't that what help files are for to alleviate confusion and inform.

MS use their dominance of the desktop OS market to push every other service and product they sell, with no mention of alternatives or consumer choice. I don't like it at all, and because of my dislike of this practice they should desist immediately. I would be only to happy to tell them what they could and couldn't do with their OS. ;-) It's only fair, after all they have been trying to control what I do with Windows and how I use it for as long as I can remember.

Weasel words

"The suit had alleged that WGA was falsely advertised as a security update"

It was a security update, it likely helped Microsoft secure more profit.

It's a bit like those claims on food produce... "New improved recipe". An improved recipe from the point of view of the manufacturer. ie:reduced ingredient costs and/or a cheaper manufacturing process.

We could always...

encourage them further and endorse such practices by using the services.

Alternatively...

@AC: Jesus people

I bet my cock's bigger than yours ;-)

It's all about the money

When I was a lad there were real cartoons too.

I had forgotten

that Bing existed.

And just as I expected when I made a decision to never use Bing, it has not been to the detriment of my Internet experience.

Scroogle-ssl and no cookies.

it's only illegal...

If you get caught or don't have a judge in your pocket.

And what difference will this make

Previously on the street:

Plod: I am going to search you sir/madam.

Citizen: What for? Why? What justification?

Plod Under the terrorist act, there is no need for rhyme nor reason. Submit to search or I will arrest you for obstruction.

In future on the street:

Plod: I am going to search you sir/madam.

Citizen: What for? Why? What justification?

Plod: I suspect you of breaking a law, I'll think of one if I don't find anything incriminating. Submit to search or I will arrest you for obstruction.

Having it both ways

I was under the impression that MS software, in particular Windows, was licenced to the PC on which it is installed and not the user.

Seems to me like MS get to have their cake and eat it.

Even if...

the hardware is secure... Humans can be bought.

"Each man has his price Bob, and yours was pretty low"

Roger Waters

What!

This is ridiculous, why not use a Slovakian authorities employee for this test? He could then report the security failure at departure and not boarded the plane with RDX. This is a fsking stupid thing to do.

It does make one think how many jailed persons may indeed be innocent and had "contraband" planted on them by authorities.

This guy seriously needs to look into suing the Slovakian authorities.

@AC:Adblock

Absolutely.

Unfortunately blocking google api's and google maps breaks some sites. However blocking everything else google such as googleadservices, googlesyndication and doubleclick to name but three is something every Internet user should do.

Let's see

Piracy has resulted in the price of the average Music CD/Album dropping to less than 50% of the price it was 7 or so years ago.

DVD copies of films and Boxed sets of TV shows are also cost much less than they used to.

Are the middle men who reap most of the reward from music sales and film rental/sales making a loss? A reduction in profit is not a loss despite claims to the contrary. No they are still making a healthy profit. Claims of billions in lost revenue due to piracy, whilst a healthy profit is still being maintained only confirm that the product was way over priced in the first place.

Before piracy the consumer was ripped off for as much money as the market would allow. Piracy has has changed this and the rich parasites who used to fleece the consumer now find themselves having to offer a value for money product. My heart bleeds.

There was a time when a new artist had to sign their soul away for the promotion and marketing that an established record label could provide for their music. This promotion by established labels is becoming less important as other avenues aided by the development of Internet technology, especially user generated content paves the way for a more democratic appraisal of the quality of that music. Record labels continue to sign artists that they believe will sell a lot of records and make them oodles of cash such that they stick to the tried and trusted formulaic banality which disgraces popular music culture.

Some musicians make music for the sheer pleasure of it, to share ideas and feelings. They are happy that their music touches souls, the financial rewards are secondary although not to be sniffed at. And if the financial rewards put a roof over the head, food on the table and pay for a few luxuries all the better. I do have sympathy for the struggles of this kind of musician.

Then there are those who are not actually musicians nor talented at all, yet they are pretty to look at and have the backing of top flight producers and engineers. They see music as a way to riches and fame. This is where most of the money is made, made from the sale of glossy packaged drivel designed, written and produced with the sole intention of separating the sheep from their pay packets. I have no sympathy at all for the so called musicians and producers at this level. Any failure here is heart warming.

My friends

have sometimes told me that I can seem a little paranoid at times. When I was in fact just thinking ahead. I agree with blackworx suggestion of a redux that can be linked to. I just worry that all the links that I would post in all those forums I use with differing nyms may leave enough of a bredcrumb trail for my true identity to be fathomed ;-)

Our childrens children will likely be ignorant of what choice and privacy actually were, will these words be absent from dictionaries in a hundred years time?

I told a friend who got her first computer a week or so ago and subsequently signed herself up for a windows live mail account that her email can be read by Microsoft staff. She was shocked and didn't believe me at first, thinking the email traversed directly from her PC to mine, she has not read the T&C's either. Most new users to computers think that email goes direct between PC's and they don't read T&C's either, many wouldn't even understand them because of the words used. And what is the point anyway when they can be changed at a moments notice or be so worded as to be ambiguous or have unclear boundaries? Somewhat akin the to the laws here in the UK me thinks, and this is just one example of general ignorance of the tech involved.

I don't believe it is possible to provide an all encompassing solution to new users, consumers and those ignorant of how the technologies behind todays tech gadgets and indeed political systems work, that would be sufficient to protect them from the erosions of choice, freedom and privacy that we face.

As more and more information technology enters our lives and homes so are created more avenues for abuse of that information, any solution has to be an ongoing strategy. That strategy should be education. Sir Runcible Spoon suggested an idiots guide to online privacy, there are a few sites out there that cover this, just as there are sites that cover consumer rights, privacy laws, encryption, the data protection act. And things I haven't yet thought of that would be of use to the unwary tech user . But there are no, at least none of which I am aware of, sites that cover all these topics on one easy to navigate domain. This is something I am certainly interested in creating or becoming involved with, or perhaps developing my own site in that direction.

@Gary F1:BS

Whilst I agree with you that McAfee or any other AV vendor for that matter would never play down the potential for malware to hijack a PC and steal souls, <sarcasm> and although AV vendors would never exaggerate the threat, </sarcasm>, the fact is malware is becoming more sophisticated.

All McAffee have done is predict, according to current trends, the methods that cybercriminals and malware writers are likely to employ during 2010. As a novice malware researcher, I have to have come to the same conclusions. So imho this is far from BS, but yes McAfee want to sell product.

PC's are now consumer devices, and thanks to MS a total ignoramus can use one, which would be a good thing if Windows and the applications it runs were secure. Consumers need to be made aware of malware threats and educated in how to spot and avoid them, not misinformed to the point that an AV suite will protect them. No AV solution is 100% and McAffee suggesting that their product will protect them *IS* BS.

I would suggest using a software firewall, not the MS bundled one, that will detect and prevent egress as well as ingress, but your average computer user is unlikely to be able to configure such software, or will just click yes to any prompts thrown up.

Expect things to get worse as more and more devices become network/Internet aware, code becomes more platform independent thanks to VM's and frameworks and more and more non technical minded consumers use such devices in ignorance of the threats.

In blissful ignorance, the biggest threat to computer security is the user.