From: ibuprofin@painkiller.example.tld.invalid
On Mon, 17 Dec 2012, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
, Adam wrote:
>TJ wrote:
>I'm guessing that partition will have mostly video files (AVI, MKV,
>et al., all well under 2 GB each) and music files -- stuff to watch
>in bed, while waiting at the doctor's office, between classes, etc.
I tend not to watch computer/television in bed - but otherwise yes.
Another use is that the laptop carries a copy of the book, CD and DVD
lists (mine and my wife's) to allow us to consult while shopping or at
the library - ONE of these days, I'll stop buying duplicates
>> For that matter, the whole outfit is probably much easier to be
>> misplaced or stolen than you can imagine. If it were me, I'd keep
>> that in mind if I expected to "carry it around."
>Yeah, that's definitely something to worry about. Almost every week
>you hear of someone's laptop with confidential data getting stolen.
Mentioned, they're small, and somewhat valuable on their own, so they
tend to be targets of sneak thieves who need some money. The company
lost a couple of Tadpole "SPARCbook"s (an extremely expensive laptop
based on the SPARC processor, running SunOS or Solaris) in the 90s
when they were stolen at airport security check-points (_probably_ by
people thinking they were windoze laptops and picking them up from the
conveyor belt at the end of the XRay machines). The loss rate was
substantially reduced when the laptops were placed in bright (day-glo)
orange/yellow/pink sleeves visible a mile away. At least one person
I see at the library has set the boot setup on their windoze laptop
so that a voice plays "This laptop was stolen from $NAME" at boot
(seems to have a sekret key combination to silence that) and the
splash screen displays the same message. I suppose it wouldn't help
that much with the recovery of a stolen laptop, but it would sure
mess with the thief's mind when the fence/pawn-shop checks the unit to
see "what it's worth".
>There are actually two problems there -- the physical laptop itself,
>and the data stored on it. I think the second problem is easier to
>solve, with encryption, fingerprint readers (I think this laptop
>includes one), or better yet, not storing any data one wouldn't mind
>sharing with the world or losing.
Basically yes
>Keeping the laptop computer itself from getting misplaced or stolen
>is going to be a much more difficult task, I think.
Try not to leave it unattended in plain view of someone who is willing
to risk a bit of embarrassment, never mind possible jail time.
>In one way I feel like a newbie again -- there are lots of things I
>ought to know something about that desktop users aren't concerned
>with. Not just physical and data security,
Common sense and encryption. Think about how/where you'll "leave"
the unit while the battery is recharging.
>but choosing a case,
See what others have, then cruise the aisles of your favorite retailers
>connecting to public (and friends') Wi-Fi setups,
Boot with wireless "enabled" (turned on), DHCP, and no link security,
fire up your browser and read the "Terms and Conditions" web page
that pops up - click OK or Accept or similar, then start using the
Internet. Remember to have a "safe" firewall setup, and that the
link being unencrypted means everyone can sniff - "https://" helps,
but isn't fool-proof. At friends places, the links may need to
have a WPA password of some kind - ask.
>and other things I don't even know about yet.
All in good time.
Old guy
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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