From: ibuprofin@painkiller.example.tld.invalid
On Wed, 12 Dec 2012, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
, Adam wrote:
>Moe Trin wrote:
>>> I think the last two downturns came from sitting near other
>>> people with colds and being too polite to move.
>> Screw the polite bit - MOVE! And then wash your hands ;-)
>For better or worse, this Saturday I'll be spending a couple of hours
>at a local market trying to recruit organ donors. I'm expecting a
>crowd there, and just hope I don't catch anything. At least I won't
>be around any one person for very long.
On TV and radio, they're currently running Public Service Announcements
(essentially unpaid-for commercials) relating to people with colds
and/or flu asking them to minimize contact and other behaviors likely
to be spreading "germs". Grocery stores are providing "sanitary
wipes" so customers can wipe the handles of the grocery carts, but my
eighty-ish neighbors are carrying a small spray bottle of something (I
think it might be a Lysol disinfectant cleaner) which they use in
addition to the wipes. "Kills 99.9% of bacteria in 30 seconds", so
the other 0.1 percent have to work harder, I suppose.
>> There's a similar problem with "default" accounts/passwords that
>> the average user is totally unaware of, and never attempt to disable
>> (even assuming it is possible to do so - some can't be disabled).
>What/which accounts/passwords are you referring to?
A large number of commodity products that have network access have
manufacturer accounts, meant to allow customer service reps and help
desks to have the ability to reach in and fix the improvements and
misconfigurations made by the customers. Hitting a search engine
with the keywords "default password" should give you a list of a
number of web-sites with password lists. Examples? How about the
JetDirect interface on your LJ? Out of box, they accept telnet with
an empty username and password (press "Enter" twice). If it has a
web server, it may give administrative access (also without username
or password). Many other devices have an "admin" account with the
password "Admin" (my neighbor's LinkSys wireless router being one
example). Know how to find the ACM "Risks Digest"? It's published
on Usenet in the group "comp.risks". Try issue 26.65 from 29 Nov 2011
(should be about 47 articles back from "now", but if it's not on your
spool, see ftp://ftp.sri.com/VL/risks among others), the item "Doomed
by default passwords". As for the "can't disable it" type accounts -
see Risks Digest 26.81 from 4 May 2012 and the item ``Ars Technica on
"back doors" in critical systems'' as one example. There is a very
good reason for perimeter firewalls that prevent access to internal
systems as well as internal firewalls protecting internal hosts from
internal idiots (or r00ted boxes).
And for even more fun - see the current (27.11 from 11 Dec, 2012)
issue, and the article "25-GPU cluster cracks every standard Windows
password in <6 hours" (but read the entire item before panicking).
>> I've been using a minimal Linux box as a masquerading firewall,
>> which is to say "iptables" and merely check that the outside
>> interface is only aware of TCP, UDP and ICMP under IPv4
>I'll try to understand that, then see what I can do. :-)
Simplified: My systems all connect to an Ethernet interface on a
minimal system. That box has a second Ethernet interface that
connects to the broadband modem (that interface having a "routeable"
IP address from the ISP), and a dial-up modem (with the telephone
cable connected, but not plugged in to the wall) as a backup. The
rest of my systems see that first Ethernet interface (192.168.1.254)
as the default gateway to the world. That system only accepts
connections to it from four of the internal systems, and none from
the world. It does accept limited connections from the world and
forwards them to servers behind the firewall, but only if the source
is on a small "approved" list. This means I can disconnect the
cable from the broadband and plug it into the laptop which is set
with appropriate addresses mimicking my upstream. I can then run
nmap (and other tools) on the laptop and "test" my firewall without
causing concerns at the ISP that WW3 has started.
[laptops and cases]
>> ;-) If the credits are (more or less) same as cash, why not?
>Why not _what_? The Staples store credits expire three months after
>I turn in 10 used ink and toner cartridges (that's the max per month
>they'll give credit for, at $2 each), so I can't accumulate that much.
OK - that was the question. If you could keep piling it up, after a
while you'd be able to buy an IBM Z-series mainframe at zero cost
(well, you'd probably have to pay the sales tax separately).
>Today I noticed I now had $73 store credit, of which $33 would expire
>at the end of this month. I went back to their website and discovered
>they had the T60 back in stock (but not on sale), so online I ordered
>[one] If I use "creative accounting" and include some recent cash
>gifts, I figure I'm not paying that much over $100.
OK, that does look like a good deal. If I interpret the web page
correctly, this doesn't come with an Ethernet link that I'd prefer,
but the one year warranty is a major plus. The refurbs I see most
often around here only have either a 90 day or 6 month warranty.
>Of course that's just for the computer (with charger and
>non-refurbished battery),
Is that covered by the warranty? If not, the $73 the web page is
quoting has to be considered (though you can probably do better from
an on-line battery retailer). Hmmm... first review on the web page:
I immediately installed Ubuntu on it, since I prefer that OS to
Windows, but the installed XP worked fine and a Windows recovery
disk was included (a recovery partition is also installed).
>That should get to my door around the end of next week.
Why so long? I got some stuff I'd ordered last Thursday from LLBean
in Freeport, Maine via UPS Ground already.
>I really know nothing about laptops except for what carries over from
>my knowledge of desktops, but then there's no rush. I figure the
>only thing I have to do right away is to make sure that everything on
>it works.
and a LiveCD should show that pretty quick.
>Eventual purchases will likely be more RAM and of course some sort of
>carrying case.
I'd _probably_ go with adding 2 GB. As for the case, that would be
an early purchase. FWIW, the weekend Frys ad was offering a bundled
laptop sleeve, USB mouse, and 8 GB flash drive for $20 extra with a
number of 15.6" laptops.
[continued in next message]
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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