8/5     What's the current percentages of Windows v. Linux v. Other on
        instructional machines. i.e. in labs for undergrad EE/CS.

8/4     The Governator wants to increase the sales tax, thanks Republicans,
        can we impeach this guy now? Why doesn't he just raise the VLA,
        which he should have never lowered in the first place?
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/6gespy
        \_ Uh, the Gov. is barely an R.  It's the legislature that can't stop
           spending, even though revenues are up 40% over the last 4 years.
           [added later] And no, I'm not excusing the Governor.  He's been
           trying to paper over the deficit instead of solving it for the past
           several years.

8/4     http://iCrowdSurf.com - app available on Iphone app store..
        if the library has a wifi you can use it to create instant chat
        rooms/groups and name the group by topic (ie: CS 152 midterm)..etc
        check it out..
        \_ It's not free.
        \_ So this essentially turns your phone into an open server?  I wonder
           what the security risks are?
           \_no..it's just a service that runs on the iPhone..
            using a different protocol other than http or even tcp
           \_ iPhone does have a pretty good app sandbox.  (More to keep
              people from jailbreaking the phones, but still...)
           \_ no..it's just a service that runs on the iPhone..  using a
              different protocol other than http or even tcp
              \_ Um, yes.  An open server with a proprietary protocol.  That
                 *never* goes wrong.
                \_ apple tested it out and okayed it..
                   \_ Bwahahaha!

8/5     Anyone have a link to Carmack's 2008 Quakecon keynote?
        \_ Found it:   link:preview.tinyurl.com/5wo3ec
        [64 MB mp3]

8/5     I may have to start watching Jon Stewart again.
        http://tinyurl.com/5zhpfa
        \_ The "liberal" media goes after whoever is in power. Anyone older
           than 21 remembers the Clinton years and already knows this.
           \_ Wait, what??? I thought the liberal media always says
              nice things about Jewish people
           \_ Yes, but when the audience has to be prompted to laugh when an
              Obama joke is made, it gets a bit tiresome.  Now that people are
              able to laugh at Obama as well as McCain I might be able to watch
              it again.
              \_ So your problem is with his audience.
                 \_ And the rarity of the Obama jokes.  Now that he's figured
                    out an approach that isn't PI, that rarity is probably not
                    an issue any more.
                    \_ I am sure after he is elected President, he will be
                       the subject of non-stop jokes and ridicule.
                    \_ PI? Wait, you think Jon Stewart and the Daily Show are
                       concerned with being Politically Incorrect? Are you
                       fucking retarded?
                       \_ Why yes, yes he is.
                       \_ WRT Obama, they were avoiding hitting him until
                          recently.
                          \_ WRT Obama he's a lot less hit worthy than
                             McCain.  McCain is a joke, Obama isn't.
                             \_ Hahahahahaha!
                                \_ Don't worry, humorous attacks on the POTUS
                                   will remain a legal expression of 1st Amend.
                                   under President Obama. God, I'm so looking
                                   forward to January.
                             \_ Obama track record: jack and shit.
                                \_ McCain track record; fuck up and backpedal.
                                 \_ Don't forget being one of the Keating 5.
                                \_ It's not track record.  McCain is running
                                   a pathetic campaign, the kind that just
                                   begs to be made fun of.  "That's not
                                   change we can believe in... [insert
                                   pained smile here]"
                                   \_ This post is contentless.
        \_ I enjoy the Colbert Report more.
           \_ His schtick gets old pretty quick.
              \_ I never tired of it.
               \_ I'm sick of the sponsorships.
                  \_ ha

8/5     Laptop with names of 33K people in the 'Clear' program stolen.  Data
        was (of course) unencrypted.
        http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/08/laptop_with_tru.html
        \_ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080805/bs_nm/tjx_theft_charges_dc
           When are people going to learn to encrypt sensitive data?
           \_ When encryption becomes transparent enough that noone has
              to learn, it just works.  Seriously, people will keep fucking
              this kind of thing up until it's the default.
              this kind of thing up until encryption is the default.
        \_ Laptop found in the same office where it was thought to have been
           stolen, and was never turned on during the missing period.  (Of
           course this doesn't change the necessity of encrypting.)

8/5     what is 'Critical Theory'?  what is 'Post-Modernism'?  thanks.

8/5     is it Sheee-ite or Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-it?

8/5     Is it Ad-Dium or Aye-Dium? Adium chat, is the topic.

8/5     how is power usage on my laptop if i encrypt everything
        http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/08/laptop_with_tru.html
        \_ Steve Gibson's analysis on performance was that Trucrypt on a WinXP
           laptop was actually faster, but I don't know about battery.
           laptop was actually faster, but I don't know about battery life.
           \_faster?  How can that be?  Also, I don't see that in the article.
             Can you provide a specific pointer?

8/5     It looks like my company has started blocking HTTPS tunneling.
        I used to do this by tunneling SSH through the HTTP/HTTPS proxy
        server, but this seems to have stopped working. Does anyone know
        how the implementation of tunneling detection works, and whether
        there are widely available implementations? We run a bunch of MS
        stuff, so I imagine we're running an MS proxy server or something.
        It seems to me that the most straightforward tunnel detection method
        would be to first check if the requested site actually talks HTTPS,
        and perhaps check whether the SSL cert is valid and all that,
        optionally rejecting self-signed certs. Has anyone encountered the
        same block at work and found a way to circumvent it? Thanks.
        \_ Take a look at stunnel. Thought about using it a while back but
           then the block got removed.
           \_ Thanks, that might conceivably work. Will look into it...
        \_ You can SSH tunnel through any open port so just find one.
           \_ Amen. Try port 25.
           \_ There are no open ports. I'm behind a firewall. The only way
              out that I'm aware of is through the HTTP/HTTPS proxy. Telnet
              used to be open, but not anymore.
              \_ Use nmap or ethereal to look for open ports.
        \- if dns is allowed, there is kind of a crufty way to run ssh
           over dns, but really if there is a business case for this,
           you should lobby for what you need. i've circumvented cafes,
           hotels, WAPs etc and what you need to do depends on doing a
           bunch of diagnosis to reverse engineer what is going on so
           you know what your options are. and in some cases, you have
           to pre-arrange to have some infomation on hand [like ip addresses]
           or pre-arrage some listening servers of some kind on the outside.
           those last two things shouldnt be an issue if you commute to
           and from work everyday and have admin access to an external
           networked box. BTW, you can do some kind of dynamic porotocol
           detection to quash this kind of thing. see e.g.
           http://www.icir.org/robin/papers/usenix06.pdf
           \_ Yes, I've used IP over DNS before, but it's not really something
              I'd want to use on a regular basis, for performance and
              reliability reasons. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
        \_ Maybe work at a company that doesn't block ports?  Do you think
           subverting your company's IT policy is a good idea?
           \_ Maybe later. No, but I'm skeptical that any somewhat nerdy
              person who works at a large company can get by without breaking
              some IT policy or other.

8/5     Pulitzer prize winning journalist breaks the lid on the illegal
        techniques the White House used to decieve the nation into supporting
        the Iraq War:
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080805/pl_politico/12308
        \_ Obviously he is making this all up.  You anti-semite!
        \_ No evidence.  Let's start an impeachment based on some guy's book!
           \_ Oh, you have already read it? Where did you get the advance
              copy? I thought it wasn't in the bookstores until tomorrow.
              \_ I don't need to read it to know that. Someone else will
                 waste their time, read it, and summarize (like this
                 article you posted).
                 I'll read a 415 page work of art. Not a political
                 article/masturbation session blown up to 415 pages.
                 \_ I'm sure that someone will summarize and say that the
                    claims have veracity and Bush is a criminal.  Someone
                    else will summarize and say that the author is full of
                    it.  I'm going to go way out on a limb and predict
                    that you'll believe the second guy.  -tom
                    \_ The book itself is obviously not evidence. If there
                       is veracity, we can go to the actual source of the
                       veracity. This book is irrelevant.
                 \_ You don't need to read it to know that there is no
                    evidence in it? How do you know that?
                    \_ If he has real evidence, publish it in a paper, not a
                       book for profit.