Recent Posts

2951

Living Room / Re: Please help superboyac build a server (2013 edition).

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2013, 03:47 PM »

Rosewill does some nice affordable bare-bone external units. So does SANS Digital.

I would definitely test what you're planning with a smaller incarnation before you committed whole hog to a big installation.

Might also want to check some of the forums (FreeNAS etc.) to see if anybody else has done something like what you're planning. Or tried and failed. Reason I'm saying is that there is a good chance there's a breaking point somewhere once you go over a certain storage capacity and start running into reliability issues with off the shelf open software.

Maybe somebody knows for sure one way or the other?

2952

Living Room / Re: Interview with Ladar Levinson of LAVABIT (Must see)

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2013, 03:25 PM »

Grim. No other word for this.

2953

Living Room / Re: Massive Subpoenas For Bitcoin People

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2013, 03:20 PM »

This really is the fight-back of the Jocks vs the Nerds again. Even with flaws, the concept of Bitcoin is brilliant. Subpoenas are Muscle.

-TaoPhoenix (August 13, 2013, 01:43 PM)

Pretty much...

Thou shalt not create your own currency.

For whatever reasons (some bad and a few good) that's simply not the way it's done. Period.
It has been tried previously. And the official reaction was much the same.

This is just like watching any other summer rerun...

2954

Living Room / Re: Anti-Tracking Smartphone Pouch

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2013, 07:52 AM »

Nice to see somebody else going along with my earlier comment that this isn't a tech issue were dealing with - it's a people problem.  (Even if I would never use such a horrible made-up word like 'solutionism.')

From Jatan Sadowski over at Wired:

...Because there are two separate — yet often entangled — ideologies in our discourse about the surveillance state: The first is the individualistic conception of cyber-hygiene: how you should behave to secure your own communications, protect your own data, and avoid your own tracking. The second is the notion of tech-centric solutionism (a term popularized by Evgeny Morozov): what tech hack, device, or app can I turn to for a quick fix to my privacy troubles?

The problem is that focusing on one or both of these approaches distracts from the much-needed political reform and societal pushback necessary to dig up a surveillance state at its root...

 

2955

Living Room / Re: The town where WiFi, TV, radio, and cellphones are banned

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2013, 09:17 PM »

Yeah. It was really annoying for the "gummit security folks" as Pogo would call them. The NSA had to rent a room in a farmhouse and install an agent there since there was no way they could eavesdrop electronically.



Analog is a bitch ain't it.

2956

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

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

As for Obama cancelling a trip because he feels uncomfortable talking to Putin or that there is nothing to agree on - I don't buy it. There is Syria, there is Iran, there is Afganistan, nuclear disarmament etc., etc. Loads of very urgent issues on which Obama can only make progress if he talks to Putin.

-dr_andus (August 11, 2013, 03:55 AM)

I think the actual problem is that all the prefatory private conversations where the agreements really get hammered out (and are only announced at the choreographed conclusion of public 'talks') is what got stalled. The US and Russia are still miles apart on what to do about Syria, and will likely remain that way. Russia is stonewalling on Iran. The US is stonewalling on Afghanistan. And both sides have basically taken disarmament as far as they can without provoking a major confrontation with the conservative blocs within their own governments. Besides, as long as ballistic submarine based nuclear weapons remain conspicuously absent from any arms reduction discussions, it's all for show.

The modern, highly mobile, and heavily concealed nuclear arsenals (i.e. the ones that do serve as a genuine deterrent) are handled by the Russian and American navies. Elimination of the antiquated, highly vulnerable, and expensive to maintain land-based launch sites is something both sides would love to make happen - as long as it could be done without creating the appearance of capitulation or "leaving the country defenseless" since Obama and Putin both have their 'hawks' to deal with - and appease.



So this is all puppet theater. Since there is no breakthrough they can announce, it's better to not have a public get together at all, rather than announce the meeting was a failure and yielded nothing.

Every politician knows you can often get away with appearing to be temperamental or arrogant. Because half the time the public will see that as a show of strength or moral character. However, the one thing you can never risk is being linked to an initiative that failed. Even if its something as simple as a' talk.'

2957

Living Room / Re: Bitcoins Can Be Regulated

« Last post by 40hz on August 10, 2013, 01:18 PM »

Never abandon hope.

But:



When it all goes south and you're faced with overwhelming odds against, do what the pros do: fold the 'op' and bugger out of there pronto. Next: regroup. Then sneak up and hit them from behind while they're still laughing about it.

There's plenty of things you can lose your freedom or life over. Nothing is easier than throwing yourself on the nearest sword. But the last thing the world needs right now is another dead hero. So pick your venues. Always make it worth the price that's paid.
 

2958

Living Room / Re: Edward Snowden's Email Provider Shut Down Rather Than Comply With Feds

« Last post by 40hz on August 10, 2013, 01:04 PM »

it's not necessarily confined to just those with physical ties to the United States, either.

-IainB (August 10, 2013, 10:18 AM)

This!

Despite all the fine talk, it seems many of the so-called Western "Democracies" are either working hand in glove with the USA on this - or have instituted effectively identical programs of their own.

This is not just an American issue although the most egregious offender does seem to be the Obama administration at this point. It is a global issue where the ruling elites, no matter what form of government mandate they operate under, have apparently declared a secret war on the very people they are supposed to be serving.

So it goes.

2959

Living Room / Re: Bitcoins Can Be Regulated

« Last post by 40hz on August 10, 2013, 07:22 AM »

While they may regulate bitcoin, they can't police every single person for every transaction,

-Renegade (August 09, 2013, 06:20 AM)

From recent news reports there's every good indication that they actually might be able to do just that.

That said, they don't need to come down on individuals. All they have to do is cripple the exchanges. Because there's no getting around  the need for some type of exchange mechanism to make it work.

Most people also aren't so motivated about something that they're willing to become criminals to show their support of it. True, what constitutes "criminal" is in the eye of the beholder - or drafter of the law in this particular context. But even so, most people aren't willing to go through their entire lives with a 'siege mentality.' We don't wish to engage in protracted wars - either the shooting kind, or the the moral variety. The victory conditions need to be achievable within a relatively short time frame in order to get broad public buy-in.

Easiest thing to do to torpedo Bitcoin would be to just issue a law forbidding the use or exchange (along with facilitating same) of any unregistered currency or currency equivalent.

Once that's done, lean on the ISPs and search engines (who are largely cooperative anyway) to clamp down on access to  the exchanges.

And finally, have government just go in scoop or nuke the data (funds) whenever they find any. Law enforcement has learned that two of the most effective tools in the battle with so-called wrongdoers are confiscation and forfeiture. Cash is the lifeblood of most human activities. When "crime doesn't pay" (or can be made not to) it usually stops being committed.

People who loose the wallets that way have no recourse. You're out the money - and likely ID-ed in the process. And then what are you going to do? File a complaint in court? That's the equivalent of saying: "I want to report a theft. I had $5k worth of crack hidden in my house...and I just got robbed!"


That's the problem with operating outside the law. You're completely on your own - and competing on a field where the biggest thugs will almost always win.

bitcoin can be a good tool to help undermine the power of the all-powerful state.

Yeah, it's good to have a dream...

2960

Living Room / Re: Edward Snowden's Email Provider Shut Down Rather Than Comply With Feds

« Last post by 40hz on August 09, 2013, 11:48 AM »

Sigh... Be careful what you wish for... You just may get it... 

-Renegade (August 09, 2013, 10:32 AM)

Yeah? Well...considering how much I've been getting of everything I haven't wished for, I'll take my chances...

2961

Living Room / Re: Drones Strike in South Africa! Mobile Apps Seize Control!

« Last post by 40hz on August 09, 2013, 11:43 AM »

Why does that sound just a little too amazing to be true? Please tell me it's true. That would be too funny. And serve to guarantee that privately owned drones will soon be outlawed everywhere since it clearly implies that the possibilities for also creating mayhem with this technology would be boundless...and inevitable.
 

2962

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Autographed Paperback copies of Kyrathaba Rising novel available

« Last post by 40hz on August 09, 2013, 11:38 AM »

My preference is to be PayPal-ed using my mobile phone #, which is tied to my PayPal account. If you're comfortable with that. If needed, I can set up a page on DC with a payment form and button. Just let me know.

-kyrathaba (August 08, 2013, 10:28 PM)

I'm good with whatever works best for you and lets you keep the biggest percentage.

I can even send you a check or money order by snail mail. That will only set you back whatever your bank charges for a paper deposit. (My bank doesn't charge deposit fees for personal checking. YMMV.) PM a mailing address if you'd rather me do that.

2963

Living Room / Re: Edward Snowden's Email Provider Shut Down Rather Than Comply With Feds

« Last post by 40hz on August 09, 2013, 11:34 AM »

However, this:

The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war.

He couldn't have been more wrong. The question then is who and why?

-Renegade (August 09, 2013, 11:30 AM)

I don't think he was wrong. If anything, he was prescient.

Because the version of the United States we're living in right now is a country nobody knows.

Us included.

2964

Living Room / Re: Edward Snowden's Email Provider Shut Down Rather Than Comply With Feds

« Last post by 40hz on August 09, 2013, 11:32 AM »

This is no longer a matter of whether it's not the United States I and millions of others used to know.  This is no longer the United States of America as defined by it's founding documents, period.

-Edvard (August 08, 2013, 11:24 PM)

Yes. Isn't it amazing that fewer than 1 in 100 Americans realizes that the U.S. government has been overthrown - not by the communists, or Al Qaeda, or anyone else we've been repeatedly warned about - but by some self-proclaimed "patriots" with the U.S. government itself.

There's a term for what's happened in the United States. But say it softly. Because coup d'état is a foreign term for something that's only supposed to happen in foreign places. Not here.
 

2965

Community Giveaways / Re: WriteMonkey key

« Last post by 40hz on August 09, 2013, 04:04 AM »

I'm personally glad the author finally decided to start charging something for WriteMonkey. It's a great app. And cash flow goes a long way to making sure something will stick around.

2966

Living Room / Re: Bitcoins Can Be Regulated

« Last post by 40hz on August 09, 2013, 03:59 AM »

Sure they can try to regulate it... try. But where are the teeth?

-Renegade (August 08, 2013, 11:36 PM)

Ask Manning. Ask anybody who is a detainee (who doesn't exist, being held by any government in places that don't exist, having things done to them that aren't done, courtesy of laws they're not allowed to know about) where the teeth are.

People are amazingly unaware of just how mind-numbingly powerful modern governments are. There's plenty of teeth to be seen once the decision to bare them gets made.

This isn't to say it's hopeless to buck the system. But it's important to realize that if you think any government is just going to roll over - or follow its own rules should the going get tough - you are setting yourself up for very harsh lesson in realpolitik.

2967

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Autographed Paperback copies of Kyrathaba Rising novel available

« Last post by 40hz on August 08, 2013, 09:51 PM »

This may sound stupid, but how do I remit the payment? Feel free to PM me if you like.

2968

Living Room / Re: US Government War On Hackers Backfires

« Last post by 40hz on August 08, 2013, 09:49 PM »

All this bullshit could stop tomorrow if the big kids (Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) just came out and said that what is going on is totally unacceptable and illegal and that they refuse to be a part of it any more.

But I'm not holding my breath.

2969

Living Room / Re: Edward Snowden's Email Provider Shut Down Rather Than Comply With Feds

« Last post by 40hz on August 08, 2013, 09:36 PM »

Finally. The first company "in the biz" takes a firm pubic stand on the issue and really puts its entire business on the line in protest.

Lets see if that motivates others in the industry to follow suit.

This could be the start of a cyber Bastille Day.

2970

Living Room / Re: Bitcoins Can Be Regulated

« Last post by 40hz on August 08, 2013, 09:28 PM »

I wasn't surprised at that news at all. The Govt doesn't like anything to be wild-westy anymore.

-TaoPhoenix (August 08, 2013, 08:13 PM)

It's not really quite that simple. Unregulated currencies generally don't work well. There's just too much temptation to start gaming the system without regulation. And it's only a matter of time before it happens. The real problem with today's regulated currencies is deciding whom to trust to handle the regulating. Because governments have proven they can't be trusted not to game the system either.

No real easy answers except to demand honesty, even handedness, and consideration of the greater good when regulating money.

Yeah, I know. Good luck getting much of that.

2971

Living Room / Re: The fun of installing custom router firmware (tomato, dd-wrt) - an introduction

« Last post by 40hz on August 08, 2013, 04:09 PM »

^I've used both without incident for a few years now. And I haven't had much need to restart them although I still reboot once in a great while, more out of superstition and habit than anything else. I can't recall either hanging much unless the hardware they were running on was on its way out. Both seem equally capable and on par feature-wise.

I've pretty much standardized on Tomato primarily because I like their interface better. I have some DD-WRT boxes I'm still responsible for that I see zero reason to reflash with Tomato. DD-WRT is working just fine on them so they're welcome to stay as is.

YMMV.  

2972

General Software Discussion / Re: recommend an app to snapshot & restore a folder? (like version control?)

« Last post by 40hz on August 08, 2013, 02:14 PM »

+1 with Nosh. If you're new to version control, FileHamster is the easiest to start out with.

If you just want to sync folders, there's dozens of really good (and free) sync managers out there. You can find a bunch fo suggestions here.

2973

Living Room / Re: Anti-Tracking Smartphone Pouch

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2013, 09:12 PM »

You've hit a sore spot for me... I'm pretty bitter & resentful that everywhere I've lived has forced me to produce a passport in order to get a chip just to talk to people. I've been bitter about this for years and it still pisses me off. You're lucky in the US there if you don't have to...

-Renegade (August 07, 2013, 08:20 PM)

Yet.

2974

Living Room / Re: Please help superboyac build a server (2013 edition).

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2013, 09:10 PM »

And now they have plastic cases without the sharp edges... so what are you going to do?  The reason that I liked metal cases is because it seemed that every time I cut myself, things would start working.  It just likes blood, you know?  Like voodoo.

Or... is that a sign of psychosis?  

-wraith808 (August 07, 2013, 07:46 PM)

Nope. The blood and the pain (and the risk of a tetanus infection) jogs some little grey cells and that one obvious beginner thing you thought you checked 200 tries earlier (but actually didn't) turns out to be the thing that needed doing.



Ten minutes plus one reboot later and you're laughing grimly to yourself while hoping nobody ever finds out about your stupid oversight. (Especially if you plan on billing them for your actual hours.) Which is yet another reason why so many sysadmins prefer to work well after regular business hours - and preferably as close to 1:00am as possible. (Even the security guards are getting sleepy and coasting by then.) We're not nighthawks by accident. It's more like it's by design. THE BOFH STILL RULEs!

Uh-oh. I said that out loud didn't I?

I just *hate* it when that happens.



 

2975

Living Room / Re: P3005 HP LaserJet printer questions

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2013, 04:47 PM »

^Brother had a trade-in deal not too long ago for one of their better all-in-ones. They gave you something like $50 on any printer traded in. Had a client bring in an old dot matrix NEC. They took it.

Save himself $50 plus a trip to the town's electronics recycling center.

HP has an ongoing trade-in program. What's eligible changes periodically so you'll have to check what you have against their list. Link to page here.