You have obviously R'd TFS, TFA, and TFM.
What are you doing on /.?
You are too perfect an imposter. No spelling or grammar errors either. Probably some AI.

Should I refer to you as Wintermute?

I've heard a rumour that he can also smell things behind him too!

(yes I just started that rumour)

If you have a system that you can test against (i.e. a server at your work with a fatter-pipe then you have at home, or a hosted server/VPS/etc.)

iperf

run "iperf -s" on the server and "iperf -c server.ip.address" on the client.
Read the man pages for more options.

If you don't have a 'known better then you' to test against try this to test your maximum download bandwidth.
Simple test: download a large file from Microsoft (i.e. a 'network install' service pack, or similar) or other big-host

More complicated:
run several (4-20) 'wget' concurrently. If you use Linux .iso's as your target download, make sure you grab the files from *.edu sites. Schools should have a lot more bandwidth then the average .com that is hosting files.

Your ISP might have several things in place from preventing DDOS attacks from there customer machines. So each 'download' might be throttled by your ISP. If you open several download threads to different locations, downloading different things you can maximize your usage.

Also, don't download the same thing twice from the same source. Caching can/will interfere with accurate measurements.

It appears that TFS has been edited to answer my question.

Thanks.

There was a Batman TV show in the 90's?

I thought the only Batman TV show was the campy 70's version. Or are they referring to a cartoon?

SSH into your host.
from the bash prompt just paste the above string.

i.e.
user@host $env x='() { :;}; echo vulnerable' bash -c "echo this is a test"

--------------------
If you see:
vulnerable
this is a test
Then you are vulnerable and need to update your system.

If all you see is:
this is a test

Then you are ok.

=)
I too was suspicious of that fork-bomb potential. So the first time I ran it was on a test-vm.

I'm glad I am not the only paranoid one.

Doesn't this sound like using an elephant gun to try to kill a fruit fly?

Very similar results with me too, although for me that effect waited until I was 35'ish.

Plural of anecdote = data?

I wonder if this will silence or encourage the separatists that want Quebec to leave Canada?

If you really want to save your data:

Step 1: make a ZFS array and save your data there.
Step 2: copy the data to single hard-drives and store them in a different location then home.
Step 3: upload a copy to some online 'cloud storage' provider.

Use checksums/md5 hashes to determine data integrity.

Based on your budget pick any of the above 3. If you are paranoid, do all 3.

The hardware is easy:
Either get a router that you can add DD-WRT/tomato to or build your own PC.

Software answer:
OS = OpenBSD
VPN = OpenVPN

BUT you are not asking the right questions.
VPN's only work when 2 ends connect. So what VPN server/client will the other end of your connection use? What are you actually trying to do? Does your work have a fat-connection that they will let you use? Are you planning on paying for VPN service from a 3rd party? Do you want to create a VPN between your home and your laptop while you travel?

If you want to build yourself a solid, dependable, 'solution' follow this guide:

http://www.bsdnow.tv/tutorials...

Which pairs taste good?
        A: adenosine
        C: cytosine
        G: guanine
        T: thymine

Tastes better to who?

Have there been any studies correlating MRI's to better memory?

And/or everybody gets an MRI as part part of your 'getting older checkups' like a colonoscapy?

I had a brain tumour, and lobectomy to remove it. my memory is kinda crappy (except for things that I deem are *VERY* important (like wifes birthday).

I want something to fix me!