Recent Posts

2826

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on September 10, 2013, 11:10 AM »

All-in-all, I find FFFs rather tedious and boring but this one I rather enjoyed,

-4wd (September 09, 2013, 10:21 PM)

Agree. We can thank the Blair Witch Project for coming up with the concept (gimick?) that set the stage for an endless stream of low-budget and indie copycats.

Still... every so often a good one (yet another fake documentary with 'found' footage) comes along. I thought this 90-minute Austrailian crowd-funded indie did a creditable job. It's called The Tunnel.

Here's the trailer, which doesn't really do it justice. Check out the first five or so minutes on one of the links below to see if it works for you.

You can watch it in full on YouTube here or here. Not HD by any stretch, but it's adequate for viewing.
 

2827

General Software Discussion / Re: MailPile: Secure FOSS Crowdfunded E-mail with Simple-to-use Encryption

« Last post by 40hz on September 10, 2013, 10:07 AM »

It's all cool.

But until we get to the bottom of identifying possible and likely holes, errors, and other tampering by the NSA and their cohorts to weaken but not completely break the standards, protocols, and algorithms we currently rely on, we're still building on sand. Because right now it's looking like IPsec, SSL, and certain forms of encryption have all been tampered with in this manner.

At this point, I think the only valid indication of genuine signal security would be to see how quickly the technology behind it got outlawed by government.

Single use cypher pads and flash paper anyone?

2828

Living Room / Re: printer to repair or not repair

« Last post by 40hz on September 10, 2013, 09:33 AM »

Logic boards, fusers and transfer units (in many models), and other things that can be got at with a screwdriver, pulled from the case, and readily swapped for a new assembly in the field are fine. Disassembling and reassembling anything beyond that has seldom (in my experience) worked out very well for the customer.

-40hz (September 10, 2013, 06:06 AM)

LOL ...Rule of thumb...that I honestly do believe is actually carved in a piece of rock somewhere... IT people, hate printers. Possibly because they are also the primary impetus behind having to interact with users. [/BOFH mode off]

-Stoic Joker (September 10, 2013, 07:34 AM)

Stoic got me! Busted! Guilty as charged. (And proud of it, dude!)

More seriously, printers provided and maintained under contract do work out quite well if you do volume in a business setting. Around where I am I've been very happy with Ricoh (direct) and their Aficio line of multifunction office printers, and one small local specialist company for everything else printerly.  

Hardware as a service anyone? Works for me when it comes to printers!

---------------

@SJ - it's not merely carved in rock. I'll have you know it's etched on a tablet of the finest Venetian marble and the letters gilded with pure gold. On Friday nights pizzas are offered to it in sacrifice by BOFHs the world over in thanks for not having to come in over the weekend and ditz with some lizard-suit's office printer because he/she decided to "get some work done" Sunday morning - mainly with the goal of banking some brownie points with their boss.

Sound familiar?

What usually follows...



Carefully rotate the fuser assembly and push it back down.
If inserted correctly it will glide in smoothly and lock into place.
Ignore any flickering sparks, or tinkly music you may be hearing.
Sparks and music are normal, and to be expected during this step.
Next...

2829

Living Room / Re: printer to repair or not repair

« Last post by 40hz on September 10, 2013, 06:06 AM »

My rule of thumb for out-of-warranty laser printers is not to try fix anything mechanical if it requires cracking the main case to get at it.

Logic boards, fusers and transfer units (in many models), and other things that can be got at with a screwdriver, pulled from the case, and readily swapped for a new assembly in the field are fine. Disassembling and reassembling anything beyond that has seldom (in my experience) worked out very well for the customer.

YMMV.

2830

Non-Windows Software / LINUX: Intel reverses position on Ubuntu. XMir removed from main video driver

« Last post by 40hz on September 10, 2013, 05:34 AM »

Seems like there's more trouble in Paradise for Ubuntu's Mir Display Server plans.

Intel has announced it will not be incorporating Ubuntu's XMir patches into their video driver code.

Apparently Ubuntu's recent and controversial tendency to go its own separate way - even if it meant reinventing the wheel at times - is starting to come home to roost.

From Distrowatch:

One of the features Ubuntu has been working on for the past several months is Mir, an alternative display server Canonical hopes to run on all Ubuntu-powered devices, from desktop computers to mobile phones. One of the many challenges facing Mir is the availability of video drivers and the Mir team received some bad news on that front this week. Intel has stated that, at this time, they do not plan to support XMir patches in their driver code. A recent patch to the Intel driver comes with the comment, "We do not condone or support Canonical in the course of action they have chosen, and will not carry XMir patches upstream." Intel video cards may still work with XMir, though it will mean Intel driver support will have to be maintained by Canonical as their patches will not be applied upstream.

From Phoronix:

Intel Reverts Plans, Will Not Support Ubuntu's XMir
Posted by Michael Larabel on September 07, 2013

In an interesting change of events, the mainline Intel Linux graphics driver has reverted the patch to support XMir -- the X11 compatibility layer for the Mir Display Server in Ubuntu Linux.

This week there was the surprise of the Intel 3.0 Linux DDX driver coming and with it SNA acceleration is enabled by default and it also integrated support for XMir. There's small work needed to the DDX X.Org graphics drivers to be able to support running XMir, similar to XWayland for Wayland users. The support was merged as Canonical said the XMir API should be stable.

However, this morning the XMir work was reverted. In releasing a new 3.0 xf86-video-intel driver snapshot, Intel's Chris Wilson wrote in a Git commit:

   We do not condone or support Canonical in the course of action they have chosen, and will not carry XMir patches upstream.

    -The Management


Intel, which is a company heavily invested in Wayland and has many full-time employees working on the competing display server (including Kristian Høgsberg, the Wayland founder), now doesn't want any XMir support in their mainline driver. It's interesting to see Intel management force the XMir removal from the Intel driver just days after it was committed and to publicly state a neutral stance on Canonical's controversial display server.

Canonical will now need to carry the XMir support out-of-tree from the xf86-video-intel driver. Canonical is also carrying patched versions of Mesa, xf86-video-ati, and xf86-video-nouveau for being able to support Mir/XMir in Ubuntu 13.10. The binary AMD and NVIDIA graphics drivers also remain incompatible with Mir.

 

2831

Living Room / Re: Is 'the cloud' becoming the 'SkyNet'?

« Last post by 40hz on September 09, 2013, 07:17 PM »

I spent many years preparing financial estimates and I know that one was pulled directly out of someone's rectum!

-J-Mac (September 09, 2013, 03:56 PM)

+1! That makes two of us.

2832

Living Room / Re: Making a new page of "DonationCoder's Favorite Web Sites" - suggestions?

« Last post by 40hz on September 09, 2013, 12:44 PM »

If you are at all into digital synths, samplers, workstations, or related software and plug-in, look no farther than:

Synthtopia the big portal. Read all about what they have (there's a lot!) here.

-------------------------------

KVR Audio News - a little overwhelming at first, but well worth the effort of exploring.

KVR Audio is the Internet's number one news and information resource for open standard audio plug-ins.

We report new releases, product announcements and product updates (major and minor) for all VST Plug-ins, Audio Unit Plug-ins, RTAS Plug-ins and AAX Plug-ins. Plus we report on mobile apps for iOS and Android and of course the numerous related soundware and hardware products.

We manage a fully searchable audio plug-in, application, soundware, hardware and app database (updated daily), and offer many free member services including user reviews, product update notifications and a very active discussion forum. We also host official forums for many plug-in and soundware developers.

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Want software? Check out:

Most i Want - getting fed up with GOTD? This is a good alternative for finding useful software giveaways.

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Are you a system administrator - or otherwise involved in Windows network support?

4sysops    - one of the best and most useful resources for those who are down on the trenches making sure the data flows and the servers stay up. Some very good admin software giveaways and special offers (that you won't often find elsewhere) get posted here from time to time too. If you do IT for a living, this site is one for your RSS feed list.

About 4sysops

On 4sysops, we are focusing on Windows system administration. You’ll find articles about Windows technology, reviews of useful admin tools, tips for your daily work, and news relevant for system administrators.

About Michael Pietroforte

I have 30 years experience in system administration. Before I started working as a full time IT journalist and editor for 4sysops, I’ve been heading the IT department at the University Library of the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. With about 46,000 students, it is the biggest German university. Please note that English is my second language. I am trying my best here, but just in case you read an odd sounding sentence every now and then, I hope you will pardon me.

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Non-enterprise level network got you down?

SmallNetBuilder - got a home network? Setting up a SOHO? Buying a new router? Check out this site for good advice, product announcements, reviews, how-tos, hardware rankings, and other things related to the smaller and consumer-type networks most people need to deal with.


StorageReview - Got drives? Buying storage hardware? Check out their reference guide section. Good solid information all around. If it can hold data, they cover it.

StorageReview.com offers in-depth news coverage and detailed reviews for hard drives, SSDs, NAS units, other storage hardware, and software for enterprise and consumer markets. Storage support forums provide a user community ready to offer storage-related discussions, buying advice and technical support.

And...I better stop again. There's just so much good stuff out there. Small wonder I have a feed list with close to 150 or so entries.

2833

Living Room / Re: Is 'the cloud' becoming the 'SkyNet'?

« Last post by 40hz on September 09, 2013, 12:02 PM »

Nothing so dramatic.

More like the imposition of an arbitrary and unrestrained automated kennel keeper who drags its dogs around on a very short leash, and punishes with impunity any signs of disobedience or spirit.

If it succeeds, it will be the first step in the eradication of what most of us think it means to be human. The high price paid in exchange for the imagined peace and safety of the beehive or termite colony.

Welcome insects! Your self-appointed overlords have been expecting you.

-40hz (September 09, 2013, 10:06 AM)

Hahahaha~! And here I thought *I* was the resident "conspiracy theorist" here at DC~!  

(For the record, I think you're an optimist! )

-Renegade (September 09, 2013, 10:56 AM)

Oh...I'm up on most of the conspiracy theories out there even if I don't much credit 99.9% of them. And I've probably been responsible for the deliberate propagation of more than a few back in my counter-culture days. Operation Mindf***, y'know? All Hail Discordia! Kallisti!

Optimist/Pessimist? Hmm...

"The words of the foolish, and the words of the wise, look both the same to Discordia's eyes."



 

2834

Living Room / Re: The feds pay for 60 percent of Tor’s development. Can users trust it?

« Last post by 40hz on September 09, 2013, 11:27 AM »

Story of an alleged cover-up from WWII. See here.

Coventry and Ultra

In his 1974 book The Ultra Secret, Group Captain F. W. Winterbotham asserted that the British government had advance warning of the attack from Ultra: intercepted German radio messages encrypted with the Enigma cipher machine and decoded by British cryptoanalysts at Bletchley Park. He further claimed that Winston Churchill ordered that no defensive measures should be taken to protect Coventry, lest the Germans suspect that their cipher had been broken.[19] Winterbotham was a key figure for Ultra; he supervised the "Special Liaison Officers" who delivered Ultra material to field commanders.[13]

However, Winterbotham's claim has been rejected by other Ultra participants and by historians. They state that while Churchill was indeed aware that a major bombing raid would take place, no one knew what the target would be.[20][21]

Peter Calvocoressi was head of the Air Section at Bletchley Park, which translated and analysed all deciphered Luftwaffe messages. He wrote "Ultra never mentioned Coventry... Churchill, so far from pondering whether to save Coventry or safeguard Ultra, was under the impression that the raid was to be on London."[22]

Scientist R. V. Jones, who led the British side in the Battle of the Beams, wrote that "Enigma signals to the X-beam stations were not broken in time," and that he was unaware that Coventry was the intended target. Furthermore, a technical mistake caused jamming countermeasures to be ineffective. Jones also noted that Churchill returned to London that afternoon, which indicated that Churchill believed that London was the likely target for the raid.[23]

BBC did an article on it here.

True or not, "Coventry" has become the term usually applied to the practice of taking a hit in order not to reveal you have prior information about it. It's a good albeit expensive strategy. Because misplaced confidence in flawed security or encryption systems is easily twice as dangerous as not having any at all.

@Ren - I'm amazed there's a conspiracy story you didn't recognize immediately. (You must be up to something pretending your didn't recognize it right away!  )

2835

Living Room / Re: The feds pay for 60 percent of Tor’s development. Can users trust it?

« Last post by 40hz on September 09, 2013, 10:24 AM »

FWIW, me being both a closet BOFH and a professional cynic, I never really did trust TOR - nor did I use it much because of that.

It just sounded too good to be true (and was capable of being used for far too much mayhem) to be left alone and generally remain unchallenged as much as it was. That always says "honeypot" or "Coventry" to me.

2836

Living Room / Re: The feds pay for 60 percent of Tor’s development. Can users trust it?

« Last post by 40hz on September 09, 2013, 10:14 AM »

No.

2837

Living Room / Re: Is 'the cloud' becoming the 'SkyNet'?

« Last post by 40hz on September 09, 2013, 10:06 AM »

Nothing so dramatic.

More like the imposition of an arbitrary and unrestrained automated kennel keeper who drags its dogs around on a very short leash, and punishes with impunity any signs of disobedience or spirit.

If it succeeds, it will be the first step in the eradication of what most of us think it means to be human. The high price paid in exchange for the imagined peace and safety of the beehive or termite colony.

Welcome insects! Your self-appointed overlords have been expecting you.

2838

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Qiqqa - Reference Management System - Mini-Review

« Last post by 40hz on September 08, 2013, 05:32 AM »

Much as it shames me to admit it, I still prefer paper systems for just about everything other than very large or technical information collections. Anything involving art, the humanities, or social sciences and I'm definitely the notebook/wall chart/post-it type.

In my case it all comes down to who the research is intended to be used by.

Since most of what I do is solely for my own use, I don't feel a strong need to compile my sources for posterity or peer review . Something which seems to be the unvoiced motivation behind many 'reference' and 'organizer' type apps.

As long as I can easily find what I'm looking for when I need it, I prefer to keep things as simple as possible. Otherwise the method can take on a life of it's own and turn into an endless round of superfluous preparations to do research or "get organized" rather than actually doing it.

But maybe that's just me, selective closet Luddite that I am. 

2839

Living Room / Re: Making a new page of "DonationCoder's Favorite Web Sites" - suggestions?

« Last post by 40hz on September 07, 2013, 10:06 PM »

Techdirt - staying on top of issues affecting us all.

Started in 1997 by Floor64 founder Mike Masnick and then growing into a group blogging effort, the Techdirt blog uses a proven economic framework to analyze and offer insight into news stories about changes in government policy, technology and legal issues that affect companies ability to innovate and grow.

The dynamic and interactive community of Techdirt readers often comment on the addictive quality of the content on the site, a feeling supported by the blog’s ~800,000 RSS subscribers, 45,000+ posts, 600,000+ comments and a consistent Technorati Technology Top 100 rating. Both Business Week and Forbes have awarded Techdirt with Best of the Web thought leader awards.

-----------------------------------

HowtoForge - how to do it (in detail) with Linux

-----------------------------------

Quiet Earth - The self-styled "UHF of the film world" (assuming you're old enough to remember UHF television stations and get the joke. ) One of the best review and news sites for movies you'd probably rather not admit you're into.

-----------------------------------

Freecode Releases - looking for software?

Freecode maintains the Web's largest index of Linux, Unix and cross-platform software, and mobile applications. Thousands of applications, which are preferably released under an open source license, are meticulously cataloged in the Freecode database, and links to new applications are added daily. Each entry provides a description of the software, links to download it and to obtain more information, and a history of the project's releases, so readers can keep up-to-date on the latest developments.

Freecode is the first stop for Linux users hunting for the software they need for work or play. It is continuously updated with the latest developments from the "release early, release often" community. In addition to providing news on new releases, Freecode offers a variety of original content on technical, political, and social aspects of software and programming, written by both Freecode readers and Free Software luminaries. The comment board attached to each page serves as a home for spirited discussion, bug reports, and technical support. An essential resource for serious developers, Freecode makes it possible to keep up on who's doing what, and what everyone else thinks of it.

-----------------------------------

Nerds in Babeland - "We're nerds. We're babes. Get into it." Good source for news and upcoming releases fo all the geeky lit, comix, and graphic novels we're not supposed to be still be reading and enjoying at our age.

Have a love of scifi, comics, novels, comedy, design, movies, online communities, tech, or crafts? So do we! In fact, everyone geeks out about something!

 Here on NiB, you can rely on news, reviews, and updates from nerdy chicks that love what they write about. We started as a group of girls on an online community called The Node that wanted to talk about our fandoms. From a novel idea and an effort to make it happen, we’ve brought in a fantastic group of girls that want to do just that. We’re the ladies you see at cons (maybe in cosplay, or maybe getting a comic signed), played games with online, and probably talked to on that random Fringe forum that one time. We love our hobbies, and want nothing more than to share them with others.

So sit back, and let us tell you about some great new things that are coming out, or take you on a trip down memory lane to your favorite childhood movies...

----------------------------------

Aeclectic Tarot - are you into Tarot and other oracle card decks either as a collector, practitioner, or true believer? If so, Aeclectic Tarot is THE site for news, reviews, essays, and preview images for just about every tarot and oracle deck out there, including unpublished, limited edition collectible and rare decks.

----------------------------------

And...I better stop now. There are just so many really interesting and cool sites out there.

2840

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by 40hz on September 07, 2013, 07:35 PM »

Hey I'd better get more active again - a number of people have sneaked past me

-Carol Haynes (September 07, 2013, 07:13 PM)

Please do!

I'd rather read a post than write one. And yours are always interesting reads!

2841

Living Room / Re: Designers discuss the new Yahoo Logo: "Logo, Bullshit and Co., Inc."

« Last post by 40hz on September 07, 2013, 02:35 PM »

I would have done something like straight lower case Optima for the "yah" and added an infinity symbol done in a similar semi-serif style after it for the two "O"s - and lost the much too on-the-nose exclamation point as others have suggested.

(And yes. I too loved that Y-bang Richards came up with. )

2842

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Qiqqa - Reference Management System - Mini-Review

« Last post by 40hz on September 07, 2013, 01:41 PM »

(Possibly semi-OT)

I've recently started experimenting with PiggyDB. It's not really so much a 'reference management' system as an 'information annealing' type tool.

Piggydb is a flexible and scalable knowledge building platform that supports a heuristic or bottom-up approach to discover new concepts or ideas based on your input. You can begin with using it as a flexible outliner, diary or notebook, and as your database grows, Piggydb helps you to shape or elaborate your own knowledge.

Interesting essays about some of the thinking behind it here and here.


A little rough around the edges and limited in certain areas at this point. But it has some promising thinking behind it. Very similar to some of Neil Larson's concepts that drove such (sadly gone IMHO) products of his as: Transtext, Houdini, HyperLAN, HyperBBS, Hyplus, and HyperRez.

More on Neil Larson here

From Wikipedia:

In 1984, expanding on ideas from futurist Ted Nelson, Neil Larson's commercial DOS Maxthink outline program added angle bracket hypertext jumps (adopted by later web browsers) to and from ASCII, batch, and other Maxthink files up to 32 levels deep.[citation needed] In 1986 he released his DOS Houdini network browser program that supported 2500 topics cross-connected with 7500 links in each file along with hypertext links among unlimited numbers of external ASCII, batch, and other Houdini files.[citation needed]

In 1987, these capabilities were included in his then popular shareware DOS file browser programs HyperRez (memory resident) and PC Hypertext (which also added jumps to programs, editors, graphic files containing hot spots jumps, and cross-linked theraurus/glossary files). These programs introduced many to the browser concept and 20 years later, Google still lists 3,000,000 references to PC Hypertext. In 1989, he created both HyperBBS and HyperLan which both allow multiple users to create/edit both topics and jumps for information and knowledge annealing which, in concept, the columnist John C. Dvorak says pre-dated Wiki by many years.[citation needed]

From 1987 on, he also created TransText (hypertext word processor) and many utilities for rapidly building large scale knowledge systems ... and in 1989 helped produce for one of the big eight accounting firms[citation needed] a comprehensive knowledge system of integrating all accounting laws/regulations into a CDROM containing 50,000 files with 200,000 hypertext jumps. Additionally, the Lynx (a very early web-based browser) development history notes their project origin was based on the browser concepts from Neil Larson and Maxthink.[4] In 1989, he declined joining the Mosaic browser team with his preference for knowledge/wisdom creation over distributing information ... a problem he says is still not solved by today's internet.

2843

Living Room / Re: Sci-fi novel now available from DC member kyrathaba!

« Last post by 40hz on September 07, 2013, 01:16 PM »

Suggestion: On the paperback editions, going forward could they possibly have numbered pages?

That's the only (very minor) complaint I've heard from the two people I've so far lent my copy to. Both liked the story and where you seem to be going with it. But they're both like me - we don't use bookmarks - we prefer to make a mental note of the page number that we left off on.

 

2844

Living Room / Re: Designers discuss the new Yahoo Logo: "Logo, Bullshit and Co., Inc."

« Last post by 40hz on September 07, 2013, 08:50 AM »

Successive approximation is not the same thing as the process of design.

I think she watched far too many episodes of Mad Men...

2845

Living Room / Practice makes perfect - swat team tactics used to check water quality

« Last post by 40hz on September 06, 2013, 01:28 PM »

You just can't make these stories up folks!

From Techdirt (who else?)

Regulatory Agencies Sending Armed Squads To Check Water Quality, 'Rescue' Baby Deer
from the when-all-you-have-is-a-bunch-of-armed-officers... dept

It seems as if nearly every police department, no matter how small or unthreatened by criminal activity, wants to outfit their officers with military-grade equipment (something the DHS is only to happy to help with -- provided someone invokes the codeword "terrorism" at some point during the requisition). The outcome is inevitable, tragic and more than a little ridiculous. Local SWAT teams are now rolling up on suburban lawns like they're storming Normandy, executing no-knock warrants in the dead of night to unverified addresses. Some occasions result in little more than completely freaked-out citizens. Others end in death and injury. Sometimes it's just the family dog that takes a bullet. Other times, it's innocent civilians.

But this militarization goes even further than various police departments. It also permeates other government agencies, agencies that really shouldn't be utilizing heavily-armed SWAT teams to enforce regulatory policies. It's not as if anyone should be expecting the kind of resistance these teams are armed for -- at least not in these situations.

This is the bold new face of American enforcement -- squads of armed men sent on a life-or-death mission to… check water quality...

<more>

Give a baby a hammer - and it soon discovers everything is a nail.

Give a young cop a ninja suit and an assault rifle and everything soon turns into an outtake from a Die Hard movie.

Seriously...

Just what are they really practicing all these storm trooper tactics for?
 

2846

Living Room / Re: Kiss Encryption Goodbye... :*

« Last post by 40hz on September 06, 2013, 01:14 PM »

doesn't the US have some sort of paper and isn't there some sort of vague provision in there for an individuals right to a private life?

-Carol Haynes (September 06, 2013, 11:15 AM)

While this was for some time a popularly held belief, it is no longer possible to confirm existence of said verbiage as that section was rendered illegible when someone wiped their ass with said document. Hence the prevailing wisdom of our time now holds this as a myth.

-Stoic Joker (September 06, 2013, 01:00 PM)

2847

Living Room / Re: Kiss Encryption Goodbye... :*

« Last post by 40hz on September 06, 2013, 01:02 PM »

Ken White weighed-in over at his Popehat blog with his usual style with a piece titled: NSA Codebreaking: I Am The Other.

I am The Other.

No, not from Game of Thrones.

I mean I am the "other" contemptuously categorized by my government, a vast category of people with an interest in using encrypted communications to thwart my government's attempt to spy on me.

Well worth reading in full.

2848

Living Room / Re: NSA surveillance: A guide to staying secure (by Bruce Schneier)

« Last post by 40hz on September 06, 2013, 12:18 PM »

A better title for that article might have been: A guide to temporarily being slightly less insecure.

None of his suggestions do much to increase security since the security weaknesses are inherent in the systems themselves. About all his suggestions might do is to reduce your visibility somewhat - or put the required effort over the threshold of cost effectiveness for actively monitoring someone who is not "a person of interest."*

You can't add security to code as an afterthought. It has to be designed and incorporated into the very core to have any real hope of being effective.

Much like any of today's operating systems, network protocols, or applications - security is as much a product of "good enough" engineering as everything else.

Still...every little bit helps. Maybe.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

* Note: just because you ain't paranoid doesn't mean you have nothing to worry about. In addition to checking out tax returns that contain "red flags" and "audit triggers," the IRS also randomly selects a undisclosed number tax returns (estimated to be something like 7-10% of all tax returns filed) for a much more thorough going over - just in case. Supposedly, this process has caught a significant number of 'reporting errors' on otherwise 'low error probability' returns.

Tax bills and penalties inevitably follow for those deemed to have made unintentional mistakes. In situations where it seems to be more than a simple mistake, the consequences for the hapless filer can be significantly greater. Especially if intentional tax fraud is suspected. Once that happens, the IRS will often examine every single tax return the person in question has ever filed since there is no statute of limitations on tax evasion.



Don't think for a moment that our government intelligence agencies don't so something similar with some (or possibly much) of the "of no possible interest" data they gather. It's all automated so it doesn't really present much challenge to pull random samples of data and go at it hammer and tongs. It's a perfect use for spare computing cycles and slow time.

2849

Living Room / Re: Kiss Encryption Goodbye... :*

« Last post by 40hz on September 06, 2013, 10:15 AM »

^I don't think it's a matter of our government intel community and the Executive Branch "going beyond" anything any more. I think it's reached the point where we're now in the first phase of an undeclared and ongoing war against the people of the United States by a relatively small cabal within our own government.



From Techdirt

NSA, GCHQ Admit That The Public Is The Enemy
from the civil-war dept

Yet another point on the latest NSA/GCHQ revelations concerning backdoors into all sorts of commercial encryption tools, buried within the stories is the pretty clear admission that the NSA and GCHQ views the public as the enemy. First, as Marcy Wheeler points out, all of the programs are named after civil war battles in which the same country's own citizens were seen as the enemy:

   The full extent of the N.S.A.’s decoding capabilities is known only to a limited group of top analysts from the so-called Five Eyes: the N.S.A. and its counterparts in Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Only they are cleared for the Bullrun program, the successor to one called Manassas — both names of American Civil War battles. A parallel GCHQ counterencryption program is called Edgehill, named for the first battle of the English Civil War of the 17th century.

    Unlike some classified information that can be parceled out on a strict “need to know” basis, one document makes clear that with Bullrun, “there will be NO ‘need to know.’ ”

But it actually goes even further than that. As the Guardian report notes, in one of the documents, the public is flat out named as the "adversary."

   Among other things, the program is designed to "insert vulnerabilities into commercial encryption systems". These would be known to the NSA, but to no one else, including ordinary customers, who are tellingly referred to in the document as "adversaries".

Kind of says it all, doesn't it? For all the bullshit coming out of the administration and the defenders of this program that they're about protecting the safety of Americans, that's clearly not the overall intent. It's to compromise the privacy of everyone.

 

And to think we were so worried about those little drone planes!

2850

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by 40hz on September 05, 2013, 01:04 PM »

From Saturday Night Live - choreographer Toni Basil's absolutely brilliant interpretation of Swan Lake - with assistance from The Lockers.