Wish I had mod points, you'd get them all.

I always see this on these, "OMG LInux malware" news items. Some article gets posted about some new malware variant which targets Linux-based servers/OS's and then, buried somewhere deep in the article, you finally see a part of the story which seemingly never makes the headline: for the malware to be effective some epic stupidity has to occur (root login, port 22 open, or, in this case, certain config variables set where they can easily be spotted even before compilation). I should do some investigation and see just who sponsored the article...

There is a group of us blue-collar puke who have been dealing with this for years now: namely, truckers. We've been putting up with this remote micromanagement in the form of ELD's (Electronic Logging Devices) and driver/road facing cameras. I can see the need for the ELD's: (too many were cheating on their logbooks, but not exactly for the reasons you'd think (I won't go too much deeper for this is a whole other topic just by itself). But the ELD also darned near regulates when one can go to sleep, when one wakes up and even if one ha enough time to shut down or take lunch. Combine that with driver-facing cameras (companies tell you that they only monitor those during accidents or hard-braking incidents, for example, but that has actually proven to be a blatant lie for some carriers) and what you get is an occupation in which there is an awful amount of potential micromanagement present.

Kind of a shame, really: there was a time, not long ago, in which one of the prime advantages on this job was that you it was virtually impossible to have management constantly looking over your shoulder. These guys just had to trust you to do you job. The Qualcomm units didn't help much, as they allowed dispatchers to become as irritating to drivers as possible (imagine getting message beeps at 3:00 am while you're trying to sleep, for example) but, still, you were pretty much left to do your thing as an adult. Now that we can have management on our backs 24/7 we are seeing some ridiculous rules being enforced, and it's enough to chase some experienced drivers out of an already severely understaffed industry. I guess drivers with at least 12 or more years or experience don't like being treated like incompetents by staffers who can't even spell the word, "truck"...

Better yet, DON'T take any advice from the trucking industry. They are also experiencing a shortage of workers. They have been for years but, in recent times, this shortage has become acute enough that it's starting to affect the logistics chain for many companies and even prices for some items in your local store. Companies are responding with 5-figure signing bonuses but it's like closing the barn door after the horse already escaped. The problems in the industry have been allowed to fester for far too long and too much damage has been done.

I'm sure Amazon's already thought of that. If not then they are skating on thin ice.

Quite a few smaller companies (and even some larger ones) in this industry have been playing this game where they hire drivers on a 1099 basis but treating them as regular employees. The IRS takes a very dim view of employers who like to do that, as it's practically a form of tax evasion.

Current trucker here. That $100K figure is probably not made-up.

Not only is it possible, despite trucking's reputation of being "unskilled" labor for losers, but quite a few truckers have been pulling down incomes like that for *years* now. Of course, there are strings attached: a lot of those guys are owner/operators who practically LIVE in their trucks for something like 80% of the year; there are a shit-ton of non-driving duties for which you aren't making any extra money (eg pre-trip inspections, waiting for loading/unloading, maintenance, etc); and you should have had the parent clarify whether that $100K was *net* or *gross* (maintenance, repairs, tolls, fuel, tickets, permits, IFTA - a semi can generate a LOT of overhead, trust me on that). It's still good money (for now) but it's definitely not easy money.

I'm not even an owner/operator (don't want to be one) and even I am pulling down short of six figures annually myself. I don't have much of a social life, but I'm not starving.

I couldn't agree more. Personally, I think the "marketing" had a lot to do with its demise. And, in this case, "marketing" == "trying to cram Google+ down everyone's throats." I think that's what turned me off on a personal level. I left the world of Windows over a decade ago because I felt I was being dictated to by Microsoft; the way Google was trying to push G+ on me felt pretty much the same way, and I was having none of that nonsense.

This is the precise reason my next laptop is probably going to be ordered from someone like System76 or Zareason. I shouldn't have to do this silly UEFI dance with offerings from major "Big-Box" OEM's just to install my choice of OS on what is supposed to be MY system. So why not avoid all the BS and buy a portable from a manufacturer which actually specializes in building Linux machines?

I think this semi is right up your alley, then: http://tinyurl.com/q7rxj7s

Have you never asked yourself why Android is getting all of these attacks, but you rarely (if ever) hear anything about Debian/Ubuntu/Red Hat/Arch/Slackware/whatever distro suffering the same fate? Are they not Linux OS's, too? In fact, I think it's Dalvik that's getting exploited rather than the kernel itself; I could be wrong but that's pretty much the biggest difference I see between the vanilla-variety distro and Android. I will admit that your point about running strange code from untrusted sources is 100% correct - that's going to eventually bite you in the ass regardless of the OS you're running.

TL;DR - If we're talking attack vectors then it might be helpful to remember that GNU/Linux != Dalvik/Linux

Trucking firms in the U.S., especially the larger companies, have handled payroll in this fashion for years. You get a card issued from ComData, TCH or some similar company. Not only does the card hold your paycheck (similar to a bank card with direct deposit but without the account), it's also necessary for refueling at most major truck stops (don't worry; the diesel doesn't come out of your paycheck, the card's just for authorization and tracking purposes). You can also get an advance of a limited amount toward your next paycheck. It sort of works like a combination fuel card/debit card and can be quite convenient.

The big problem with all this, of course, is that the fees for checking your balance or withdrawing money from an ATM can be ridiculously high; I've personally seen some people spend up to a quarter of their checks on transaction fees alone (I'm truly not making that up). That's why a smart driver will immediately opt for direct deposit into his own bank account; you have no choice as far as accepting the company's card (you need it for refueling) but you don't have to volunteer for the repeated ass-raping you receive for actually using it for your own finances. Shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, but some of these drivers "need help". Seriously.

FTFA: "Some countries at the table, however, have submitted proposals that would also give the UN some power when it comes to Internet regulation, which the U.S. and other countries oppose. Ambassador Kramer has been speaking out against the Internet component of the treaty since before the conference started on Dec. 3, but more than a week later, they are still included in a draft that's on the table."

Maybe you missed that part. Seems the countries opposing this (no, not just the "evil" US) are doing so precisely because no one actually "owns" the internet as it stands now. The second we allow a governing body, *ANY* governing body, to do so is the second we start seeing people get censored by tin-pot dictators wishing to cover up the evidence while committing all sorts of atrocities against their own people - and, yes, that goes for the US as well. If you look at quite a few of the countries who back this treaty (China and Russia are two of them), it's easy to come up with a list of folks who'd love nothing more than to narrow down the avenues through which information gets out, and for some pretty nefarious reasons.

I think the only reason you were modded "+5 Insightful" was because of your anti-American rant, not due to actual logic.

The anti-static mat (floor and desk) and wriststraps are often overlooked but are of extereme importance. Nothing puts a damper on your day like frying an expensive IC because you didn't take basic precautions.

Also, look into getting some good ventilation in your workshop; between the chemicals you're using to clean circuit boards and the soldering/desoldering you'll be doing, there's going to be a lot of fumes around your workbench.

Ubuntu (Just as a server) --> PcLinuxOS --> Damn Small Linux --> Debian (Stable) --> Debian (Sid)

Been there for 10 years but now thinking of either going with *BSD or LFS, just for a change of pace.