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Comment Re:Still.... (Score 1) 1051

by in4mer (#42436279) Attached to: Linus Chews Up Kernel Maintainer For Introducing Userspace Bug

Hairyfeet,

I think you missed the point, and most of the comments. But I won't lay into you, because I don't believe anyone has made it plain.

The point is that this person should have known better. In fact, they did. End of story. They knew better, but that did not apparently affect the process enough to avert a negative outcome. Hence, Linus' response.

Comment Re:It'll make Linux better (Score 1) 1051

by in4mer (#42436051) Attached to: Linus Chews Up Kernel Maintainer For Introducing Userspace Bug

A.C., though your comment isn't clear in its entirety, I'll attempt to address what I see as a gross logical error:

I'm curious as to how Linus' comments are somehow going to result in a more unstable linux, according to you. Your fat check writer (pun intended), is interested in stability? The stability of what? If Linus hadn't been steering this process for years under the banner of "DO NOT BREAK USERSPACE", Linux wouldn't even be here for your corpulent bean counter to consider writing checks FOR, much less be interested in (the unclear part of your comment) how stable its development-base is.

In fact, the more I consider your comment, the more I'm surprised you haven't been unavoidably, mortally confused earlier in life.

Comment AT & Whom? (Score 1) 241

by in4mer (#40434665) Attached to: A Look At the "Information Superhighway," As It Looked In 1985

Wait, is this the same AT&T that didn't officially admit until somewhere in the 'aughts that packet switching was actually a viable technology?

The same AT&T that couldn't possibly understand why telephones would replace the telegraph?

The same AT&T that tells Congress that competition among telcos hurts consumers?

Something doesn't seem quite right, here.
Google

Submission + - Is Chrome Really Just A Browser? (google.com)

Submitted by in4mer
in4mer writes: On Oct 15 of 2008, a developer named Brian @chromium.org, and consequently Google, relegated a bug report stating "Add a cookie manager in Chrome — whitelist domains for cookies" to a status of "WontFix". What is the state of cookie whitelisting in Google's Chrome, and why haven't we seen one yet? Is there an architectural problem at work, either by accident or by design? Is Google pushing Chrome because it's a nice browser, or because they end up with control of user identity, from the keyboard to the server? If you search for "chrome cookie whitelist", it is clear that there are users asking for this functionality. Why hasn't it been addressed? Is this growing evidence of Google becoming evil through inaction?
Google

Submission + - Google proposes DNS extension (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by ElusiveJoe
ElusiveJoe writes: Google along with a group of DNS and content providers hope to alter the DNS protocol. Currently, a DNS request can be sent to a recursive DNS server, which would send out requests to other DNS servers from its own IP address, thus acting somewhat similar to a proxy server. The proposed modification would allow authoritative nameservers to expose your IP address (instead of an address of your ISP's DNS server, for example) in order to "load balance traffic and send users to a nearby server." Or it would allow any interested party to look at your DNS requests. Or it would send a user from Iran or Libya to a "domain name doesn't exist" server.
Censorship

Submission + - Comcast Blackholing DNS to EZTV Tracker & RSS

Submitted by in4mer
in4mer writes: I got to my computer this afternoon to a screen full of red. My RSS feed parser was blowing up, claiming it was unable to resolve anything at eztv.it or ezrss.it. "They must be down again", I thought. In short, I was wrong. I was wrong because I'm a residential comcast customer in California, and comcast is blackholing DNS requests for the aforementioned sites.

Is this illegal? If I were a small ISP and pulled some kind of stunt like this on a customer with deep pockets, I'd probably get nailed for breach of contract. Why do we continue to allow them to play with people's internet protocol?

How do I know they're blackholing requests? Because the nameservers reported by DHCP on my router magically fail to respond to queries for anything that starts with ez and ends with .it, but they'll answer just about anything else you throw at them. Can anyone else resolve these names? Why yes, they can. Proof (performed @ 1430 PST 12/2/2009):

(Side note: EZTV's nameservers respond to all queries from my location, but resolution of their nameservers through comcast's fails)

for server in 68.87.76.178 68.87.78.130 4.2.2.2; do
    for host in www.netcom.com www.comcast.net eztv.it ezrss.it ns1.eztv.it; do
        echo "\n### LOOKING UP $host ON $server ###"
        host $host $server
    done
done

### LOOKING UP www.netcom.com ON 68.87.76.178 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 68.87.76.178
Address: 68.87.76.178#53
Aliases:

www.netcom.com is an alias for www.pipeline.net.
www.pipeline.net has address 199.174.114.27

### LOOKING UP www.comcast.net ON 68.87.76.178 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 68.87.76.178
Address: 68.87.76.178#53
Aliases:

www.comcast.net is an alias for www.comcast.net.edgesuite.net.
www.comcast.net.edgesuite.net is an alias for a1526.g.akamai.net.
a1526.g.akamai.net has address 64.212.100.32
a1526.g.akamai.net has address 64.212.100.49

### LOOKING UP eztv.it ON 68.87.76.178 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 68.87.76.178
Address: 68.87.76.178#53
Aliases:

Host eztv.it not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)

### LOOKING UP ezrss.it ON 68.87.76.178 ### ;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

### LOOKING UP ns1.eztv.it ON 68.87.76.178 ### ;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

### LOOKING UP www.netcom.com ON 68.87.78.130 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 68.87.78.130
Address: 68.87.78.130#53
Aliases:

www.netcom.com is an alias for www.pipeline.net.
www.pipeline.net has address 199.174.114.27

### LOOKING UP www.comcast.net ON 68.87.78.130 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 68.87.78.130
Address: 68.87.78.130#53
Aliases:

www.comcast.net is an alias for www.comcast.net.edgesuite.net.
www.comcast.net.edgesuite.net is an alias for a1526.g.akamai.net.
a1526.g.akamai.net has address 64.212.100.49
a1526.g.akamai.net has address 64.212.100.9

### LOOKING UP eztv.it ON 68.87.78.130 ### ;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

### LOOKING UP ezrss.it ON 68.87.78.130 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 68.87.78.130
Address: 68.87.78.130#53
Aliases:

Host ezrss.it not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)

### LOOKING UP ns1.eztv.it ON 68.87.78.130 ### ;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

### LOOKING UP www.netcom.com ON 4.2.2.2 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 4.2.2.2
Address: 4.2.2.2#53
Aliases:

www.netcom.com is an alias for www.pipeline.net.
www.pipeline.net has address 199.174.114.27

### LOOKING UP www.comcast.net ON 4.2.2.2 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 4.2.2.2
Address: 4.2.2.2#53
Aliases:

www.comcast.net is an alias for www.comcast.net.edgesuite.net.
www.comcast.net.edgesuite.net is an alias for a1526.g.akamai.net.
a1526.g.akamai.net has address 140.174.24.163
a1526.g.akamai.net has address 140.174.24.218

### LOOKING UP eztv.it ON 4.2.2.2 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 4.2.2.2
Address: 4.2.2.2#53
Aliases:

eztv.it has address 212.63.212.35
eztv.it mail is handled by 10 mail.eztv.it.

### LOOKING UP ezrss.it ON 4.2.2.2 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 4.2.2.2
Address: 4.2.2.2#53
Aliases:

ezrss.it has address 94.23.87.215
ezrss.it mail is handled by 10 mail.ezrss.it.

### LOOKING UP ns1.eztv.it ON 4.2.2.2 ###
Using domain server:
Name: 4.2.2.2
Address: 4.2.2.2#53
Aliases:

ns1.eztv.it has address 85.17.200.248
Security

Submission + - SPAM: Prototype security software blocks DDoS attacks

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: Researchers have come up with host-based security software that blocks distributed denial-of-service attacks without swamping the memory and CPU of the host machines.The filtering, called identity-based privacy-protected access control (IPCAF), can also prevent session hijacking, dictionary attacks and man-in-the-middle attacks, say researchers at Auburn University in their paper, "Modeling and simulations for Identity-Based Privacy-Protected Access Control Filter (IPCAF) capability to resist massive denial of service attacks."
[spam URL stripped]
Link to Original Source
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - World of Warcraft borderline racketeering?

Submitted by jpolachak
jpolachak writes: I have been playing games for quite some time. I have even played some professionally. So I play World of Warcraft quite possibly the most dynamic and arguably the best game ever written. However I have had a severe problem with Blizzard(The makers of World of Warcraft for those of you who go outside). I woke up one morning and decided to check the auction house on WoW and see if my netherweave cloth had sold. Then I found out that my login did not work. I then decided to check my email and calm down. I then saw an email from Blizzard. It stated that your account was banned for using 3rd party software. I thought to myself are you kidding me. It also stated that if I wanted to dispute this the only way to accomplish anything was via email. So I then emailed account administration. I wrote a whole long article stating that I have never used 3rd party software. Hell I can't stand the people who use hacks in FPS games that I play. Well I then received an email in about 10 minutes stating that my account is being reviewed. Finally, after about 5 days I got a reply stating more or less we have looked at your account and our ruling stands. There was no information as to why I was banned. I then went through the whole process again hoping to get a different result. Hoping someone out there would believe me. Well in about a week after that I received more of the same email. However, none of the email ever told me what I did wrong. I have one question you need to ask yourself. Is it ok for Blizzard to never respond to people with the specifics or something as to why they were banned. I mean if you bought something at Sears you would expect that if you took it back and someone told you no. You would expect some kind of response as to why.

So my dilemma is this. I have started playing again. Not because I think Blizzard is doing things ethically but however because they quite possibly make the greatest game ever and I can help myself. So now how do I keep from getting banned again. Since I know that I did nothing wrong in the past? Thank You, Grotesk Gorefiend formerly Nekavon Burning Blade
Power

Submission + - Peak Coal in 15 years?

Submitted by
mdsolar
mdsolar writes: "Richard Heinberg has written an opinion at Energy Bulletin on two European studies which look at available data on proven coal reserves and consumption patterns which conclude the the 155 year figure for coal use is badly over estimated. Apparently, growth of coal use in China implies peak production there in 5 to 15 years while the US is already in decline in terms of energy extraction though not yet in terms of volume extraction owing to substitution of lower quality coal.

Heinberg discusses a number of implications including for climate change, suggesting that sequestration efforts may be seen as too expensive as coal prices begin to rise. Another idea is that

There is no "business-as-usual" option, even ignoring environmental impacts, given the resource constraints. Nations that are currently dependent on coal — China and the US especially — would be wise to begin reducing consumption now, not only in the interests of climate protection, but also to reduce societal vulnerability arising from dependence on a resource that will soon become more scarce and expensive.
Very few replacement technologies are scalable on this kind of time-scale: bio-fuels are already impacting food prices while the nuclear industry faces permiting, construction and training bottlenecks. Even solar faces a two year energy investment cost despite rapid monetary cost reductions, and , together with wind faces intermittancy issues. This news is unsettling and merits further consideration."
Biotech

Submission + - Biodiesel Brooklyn Bridge?

Submitted by isoscelated
isoscelated writes: I live in Hunterdon County NJ where officials want to build a $10M biodiesel conversion plant from a small German company called Alphakat, which uses some kind of secret technology to turn trash into biodiesel. I'm afraid this company is selling us the Brooklyn Bridge. Does anyone know if this technology really works? It just sounds too good to be true...
Businesses

Submission + - EA considering a shakeup.

Submitted by EWAdams
EWAdams writes: Reuters is reporting, after a correction, that John Riccitiello, the newly-appointed CEO of Electronic Arts, is considering "managerial changes" — shorthand for "someone's getting the chop."

"We will focus on improving execution and predictability," Riccitiello said on EA's quarterly conference call on May 8. "I will be working to align our team for increased accountability, agility and speed to market. My sense is we can be faster and better focused on capturing opportunities, increasing segment share and overall growth," he said.
... which is a fancy way of saying, "I'm planning to fire some people." EA is blaming anticipated revenue shortfalls on delays in shipping Spore, although there's no particular reason for thinking that Spore will be a big seller.

Games Are No Cause For Murder 112

Posted by Zonk from the there-very-rarely-is dept.
An anonymous reader writes "At Gamers With Jobs, Shawn Andrich speaks out against pointing the finger at videogames as a causative factor in a murder cases. He makes the excellent point that, though we may enjoy the metaphor, life is not a game. There is no simple connection between event A and event B. Our actions are dictated by experiences from a lifetime, and they should be addressed that way for good or ill. 'Life can't be framed up like a game of billiards. There is no easy eight ball, corner pocket shot to be made when trying to draw a line between cause and action ... Lasting, positive change will only come when we stop reaching for causes and start creating conditions that will support kids and teenagers who need it. We can't make anyone put the pin back in the grenade, but by supporting active, caring people who want to help, we might be able to influence some of those fateful decisions before it gets that far.'" GamePolitics on Joystiq has an editorial up looking at a similar question.

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