Across a broad spectrum of drives (various brands and models) I'd say that's about right with my experience. My own WDs (probably a hundred or so individual drives) have had a little different numbers (I've never seen one fail in the 1-5 year range unless it had damage like being physically whacked around, and only a couple times in the infant stage) but still the same principle -- the three death points are infant, ordinary wear-out (5.5 yrs) or extreme old age.

For reminding us that in your warped view of the world, the able must bear the weight of the sins of the unable, the good must carry the bad, and the winners must be brought down to the level of losers.

The amount of processing that it's worthwhile to perform really depends on the amount of data you have. If it's a dragnet attack, then a high degree of automation is worthwhile, but if it's a targeted attack, then human processing is much more likely.

About 7 years ago, after some suspicious symptoms, I discovered there was an outgoing connection to an IRC channel from my machine. I ran a network sniffer and discovered that every keystroke and mouse click were being sent, along with the name of the object that handled the click.

If the person or people who wrote the malware hadn't decided to change my email password, it could've been a long time before I noticed I was compromised. I never found the attack vector. In retrospect, it may have been my ex.

That's a bit vague. Could you specify who the specimen is from? Bo, Luke, Daisy, Uncle Jesse, Rosco, or Boss Hogg?

I'm at least going to want to do it... On the Beach.

I think that you'll find that devices used in state-sanctioned executions are either dual-purpose with far greater utility in saving lives, on average, even including the drugs used, or actually relatively primitively put together. IE not actually done by engineers.

It makes a helluva difference when my truck is hauling a 14,000 pound load in hilly country.

Good analysis.

I asked WD how long a lifespan their drives were engineered for, and they told me 5 years. Didn't differentiate among types or models.

My experience has been that if WDs make it past the first month, they usually last about 5.5 years, but those that go beyond may last indefinitely. (I have some with 11+ years on 'em, 24/7/365.)

Back in the day I dismantled some dead SCSI drives, and found inside the exact same HD as the IDE variety of the same brand. Difference was in the interface, not the guts.

Chase, the bank that's thumbing its nose at the class action suit that found 'em guilty of unilaterally changing mortgage contracts and of being in cahoots with their own pet insurance provider... (this one I know about firsthand, it affected my mortgage).

My neighbor managed to pull 30A on a 15A standard outlet long enough to melt the extension cord.

(Here's a hint: never put two 15A tank heaters on one 14ga. extension cord.)

Or make these outlets metered -- put in a dime, draw up to 1KW of electricity, for ANY purpose.

My observation is that it goes the other way -- computer literacy tends to go along with older OSs, while the gotta-upgrade auto-update crowd usually knows the least. Your clients may vary. :)

I knew someone who was still hoarding XT motherboards as late as 1995, because their workplace's very expensive industrial machinery ran off XTs and wouldn't speak to anything newer. So, yeah, that's a problem. But I wouldn't think these constrained setups are usually open to the whole world, maybe not even connected at all.

WOOD paper.

Hemp paper is far easier and cleaner to do.

Being a criminal is not remotely justification for a Darwin Award.
Being a criminal with really bad luck is not justification for a Darwin Award.

I haven't seen the truck or the Cobalt container, but the only way these guys might warrant a Darwin Award is if they ignored flagrant radioactive warning labels.

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