Void of tranquility: 04.2004

4.28.2004

Assembly '04

10 years known to me, 12 years of existence ... it left me a 64k intro and a lot of assembler code. I think this pics tells enough about it

Enjoy !

The ARENA

NOVIRUS Re: [MPlayer-dev-eng] MPHQ server maintainence, upgrade

Arpi arpi at thot.banki.hu
Wed Dec 17 22:51:28 CET 2003

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Hi,

> On Wed, Dec 17, 2003 at 14:31:40 +0100, Arpi wrote:
> > We're migrating OS from debian to slackware, sendmail+qmail to
> > postfix and so on. Ie a new system (already prepared and tested)

the switch has been delayed, after several hours of configuring i
found that some gid/uid was messed up while moving system files
through network using tar (tar uses names instead of numeric ids,
and debian maps them differently as slack)

> If it's not too much hassle, I would find a brief overview of the
> rationale behind a switch like this quite interesting :)

nothing special.
1. why to reinstall?
- mphq was almost cracked recently (noticed in time, thanks to my hidden
traps), thanks to debian and kernel bugs
- this os was installed 3 years ago, and upgraded, changed, crashed,
messed-up etc a lot since that. time to do a clean install.
2. why slackware?
- debian sux (most of core devels agree :))
- i dont like/know/etc debian
- i know slackware, and as being root at mphq it is important to use a
system i know better (debian was installed originally as LGB was the root
that time, but he is too busy nowdays to do the job)
- debian sux (did i mention it already?)
- anyway its not quite slackware, just something based on it, heavily
patched and reconfigured by hand
3. why postfix?
- sendmail is nicde when configuring, but is slow as hell when sending out
mails to 2000+ targets (think of mplayer maillists, not spam (although it's
sometimes hard to see the difference))
- qmail is fast at sending mail, but braindead configuration and philosophy
- postfix does both job well, easy to configure (including virus and spam
filtering through external programs etc)
4. why now?
- i've finished preparing and tetsing my 'slackware for server' "disto"
on a separate server, planned to be used on mphq too
- i had some time today at work to do this
- it should have been done already a year ago, but we always delayed it
- debian sux now, more than before

A'rpi / Astral & ESP-team

--
Developer of MPlayer G2, the Movie Framework for all - http://www.MPlayerHQ.hu

LED Binary Watch

Binary time for your wrist

This watch displays time in binary format. It uses LED lights to display the time. Need we say more? Okay, we will. The watch face contains 10 red LEDs that are used to indicate the numbers of the binary sequence (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32) and the values of the lighted LEDs are added to determine the time. There are two rows of LEDs - the top row for the hours and the bottom row for the minutes. With a little practice you can learn to read this time format easily. Won't it be fun the next time someone asks you "what time is it?" and you can enjoy their bewildered expression when you flash your wrist emblazoned with glowing binary? Yes it will, you quietly smirk to yourself.

This watch also has a soft leather band, a circuitboard watch face, and stainless steel back and casing. It is water resistant to 3 atmospheres and comes with batteries.

The LED Binary Watch has these features:

Displays time using binary representation
Red LED lights indicate the hours and minutes
The upper LED-row shows hours (8-4-2-1)
The lower LED-row shows minutes (32-16-8-4-2-1)
Push button - the time is displayed for 5 seconds
Circuitboard face with 10 red LEDs
Leather band and stainless steel back
Water resistant (3 Atm)
Battery included (type CR2032)
Instruction manual included
Time reading shown above is 10:15

4.27.2004

Proven: Windows is more secure than Linux out of the box

Sunday March 21, 2004 - [ 05:10 AM GMT ]
By: David 'cdlu' Graham

After years of petty squabbling between the most innovative company in the software industry and a few pesky upstart hippie developers over which of their operating systems is more secure, the verdict is finally in. Microsoft's flagship Windows software is more secure than Linux. You can demonstrate this for yourself just as we did.

Most consumer Linux distributions come in both downloadable and boxed versions. Similarly, Windows may come either pre-installed or in a box. For purposes of comparison, we will consider only the boxed sets.

Operating system boxes, whether Linux or Windows, typically contain one or more CDs, a manual, and licensing information. Linux CDs often come in a paper envelope and can be removed and directly inserted into a computer. Windows boxes, however, come with a certificate of authenticity that Linux distributions lack. You are meant to remove the certificate of authenticity from the box and carefully scrutinise it to ensure that it is legitimate. In other words, if the features of the certificate match the description of the features of the certificate, then the software in the box is most likely genuine.

This extra security is invaluable in protecting Windows software from many of the evils that can plague a computer once it is set up.

In contrast to the flimsy paper envelope holding the Linux CD, the Windows CD is typically in a plastic case that is secured shut with a label that warns you to be sure you are in compliance with the licensing terms found elsewhere in the box before opening it. This security seal is designed to prevent worms from getting into the CD case and infecting your Windows installation before it is installed, and is an invaluable security asset.

Clearly Windows has the edge in physical security, but what happens after you slide each CD into the computer?

Once the Linux distribution CD has finished installing, the computer requests that a superuser and regular user account be created by the person. This obvious lack of security involved in having more than one user on a computer that can be logged in simultaneously has driven Linux into relative obscurity.

The Windows CD, at a similar point, demonstrates its superior security again. As the Windows installation process begins, it insists that a serial number be entered before continuing. Without this vital secret information, you can not continue installing. Most new Windows users are not aware that a Web search using the now-functional Linux box will turn up valid serial numbers, so this bit of security is the most powerful defence of all against unwanted back-doors in a Windows computer.

Once installed, Windows can easily be set up to connect to the Internet and be used to browse the Web, check email, and run productivity software without any flaws, and unlike the insecure hacker operating system Linux, will quickly and without complaint run any software offered it from any Web site or email attachment as requested.

We are forced to admit that, with the use of certificates, stickers, and serial numbers, Windows vastly outpaces Linux security out of the box.

4.25.2004

Mi pasión: ver TV

Escucho las Bachianas de Villalobos, cuando de repente un impulso en mi interior me hace abandonarlas y deleitrame con algo mucho mejor, puedo no solo escuchar, sino ver las anecdotas de la experiencia de mis idolos. Y es que quien puede resistirse despues de leer la autobiografia de Maturana a ver la enriquecedora, formativa y porque no educativa(mucha gente aprendio en este medio que una vuelta son 360 grados, masificación del conocimiento?) programación de las producciones criollas. Observo la pantalla y como diria el señor del bus que vieja tan buena!. Y es que son estas las referencias que voy a tener en las conversaciones sobre mi productiva jornada, y me entusiasma saber que mis referencias van mas allá y autoridades absolutas en el tema me apoyan, publicaciones especializadas como la tv & novelas o la siempre controversial ALO. Observo nuevamente fijo a la pantalla, y veo mi vida reflejada en cada uno de los personajes que aparecen; construyo mis modelos a partir de lo que allí esta -plagiando a un conocido escritor- lo que veo en la tv no solo se convierte en el material de mi existencia, sino de alguna manera unica y exclusivamente en mi existencia. Prueba de esto, conocí primero el aplausometro que el hipsómetro, ambas -hasta donde sé- invenciones criollas.
En este momento me doy cuenta del porque interrumpí a Villalobos, en ese pequeño cuadro, puedo ver a tan voluptuosas mujeres, a tan elaborados genios y apreciar a tan creativos escritores que cualquier placer que encontrara escuchando al extremadamente simple villalobos , leyendo al monotematico Kafka o continuar sintiendo mi triste vida, se convierta en poco mas que un acto aburrido e inútil.

4.21.2004

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use."
-- Galileo Galilei

The happiest day, the happiest hour.

From: Patrick J. Volkerding (bf703@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Subject: ANNOUNCE: Slackware Linux 1.00
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Date: 1993-07-16 17:21:20 PST

The Slackware Linux distribution (v. 1.00) is now available for
anonymous FTP. This is a complete installation system designed for
systems with a 3.5" boot floppy. It has been tested extensively with
a 386/IDE system. The standard kernel included does not support SCSI,
but if there's a great demand, I might be persuaded to compile a few
custom kernels to put up for FTP.
This release is based largely on the SLS system, but has been enhanced and
modified substantially. There are two main disk series, A (13 disks) and
X (11 disks). Some of the features:
Series A:
About what you'd expect from SLS series A, B, and C. Plus:
Source for the Linux DOS emulator version 0.49.
The FAQ for kernel level 99pl10.
Kernel source and image at .99pl11 Alpha.
[compiled with these options: math emulation support, normal hard drive
support, TCP/IP, System V IPC, -m486, minix fs, ext2 fs, msdos fs, nfs,
proc support, and PS/2 style mouse support. You may need to recompile if
you have some other type of busmouse. The kernel was compiled with libc
4.4.1, g++ 2.4.5]
The new keytable utilities.
The NET-2 networking package, preconfigured to use loopback.
A public domain version of ksh, and tcsh 6.04 (with the bugs worked out)
GNU gcc, g++, and Objective-C at versions 2.4.5
Includes and libraries at version 4.4.1
mailx, quota utilities, experimental winapi source, sound drivers.
The TCL toolkit and samples.
In addition, the installation program has been improved to offer more
information about the packages (and the installation procedure itself)
as you install.
The install program can also automatically install LILO, configuring it
to boot either from your master boot record or from OS/2's Boot Manager.
Series X:
Also, all the packages you would get in the SLS X series, plus:
XFree-86 version 1.3.
Open Look Virtual Window Manager made the default window manager.
XS3 server offers support for S3 based video cards.
XV 3.00 Image viewer is included.
PEX files from the XFree-86 distribution are included.
Although TEX support is not included in the Slackware release, the you may
install the SLS T series from the install program.

At this point, the install disk itself is running .99pl8. I'm working on it :^)
Also, installation from other than a 3.5" floppy has not been tested, but might
work. 5.25" floppy will not work because of file sizes. At this point, I have
no plans to support a 5.25" version.

How to get the Slackware(tm) release:

The Slackware release may be obtained be anonymous FTP from
mhd3.moorhead.msus.edu in directory /pub/linux/slackware. At least initially,
this release will be in the form of 3.5" disk images which should be copied
to floppies using the RAWRITE.EXE program, or dd under Linux.

Please note that our FTP software does not support limiting the number of
concurrent anonymous logins. PLEASE try to go easy on this machine. If things
get out of hand, access may be restricted.

Other sites are, of course, welcome to help out with the load by mirroring
the distribution.

If you find any problems with the distribution, or if you have any suggestions
for improvements, please let me know. If you know of more up-to-date versions
of software in the distribution, I'd like to hear about that, too.

--
Patrick Volkerding
volkerdi@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu
bf703@cleveland.freenet.edu

Unparalleled beauty ...

During the brightest day of her unparalled beauty, most surely I had never loved her. In the strange anomaly of my existence, feelings with me, had never been of the heart, and my passions always were of the mind. Through the gray of the early morning-among the trellised shadows of the forest at noonday-and in the silence of my library at night, she had flitted by my eyes, and I had seen her-not as the leaving and breathing Berenice, but as the abstraction of such being-not as a thing to admire, but to analyze- not as an object of love, but as the theme of the most abstruse although desultory speculation. And now-now I shuddered in her precense, and grew pale at her approach; yet bitterly lamenting her fallen and desolate condition, I called to mind that she had loved me long, and, in an evil moment, I spoke to her of marriage.

4.19.2004

Next time ...

The passions that drive us should be the ones we respect and admire. To
feel contempt for one's own motivations is a vulgar thing. Too often, it
seems, I've succumbed to less than admirable compulsions driven by this
furiously reprehensible machine of mine. So many things inside that I can
do without - desires and urges, and what not so extraneous. By the time I
write in this book again, I hope to be as cold as the moon that lights
this page.

4.18.2004

Microsoft Purchases Evil From Satan

by Brian Briggs

Redmond, WA - Microsoft purchased evil from Satan for $2.7 billion after many months of tough negotiations.

"We've been after Satan for some time," said CEO Steve Ballmer. "Negotiations were tough, but I think both Microsoft and the Prince of Darkness are happy with this deal."

Microsoft already controls 15% of the evil market, and with this purchase that number nears 100%. The Department of Justice voiced concerns over one corporation controlling so much evil, and launched investigations.

"We feel that there are real opportunities with evil, and that when evil is integrated into our next generation of Windows products consumers will appreciate evil on their desktop," said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. "Businesses haven't been able to fully realize their evil potential. With evil integrated into Office XP, corporations big and small will begin to see enhanced evil productivity."

"Evil is a real growing market," market strategist Frank Dresgan of Merrill Lynch explained. "Microsoft is a little late in the game, but even when they enter a market late they still tend to dominate. I think we'll see the same results with evil."

"I've been dealing with Microsoft for some time," Lucifer said. "I've been at this evil thing for millions of years, and wanted a way out. I considered an IPO, but then Steve-O and Billy came along and told me about their 'Evil Everywhere' plan. I just couldn't refuse."

Evil was founded by Satan close to the beginning of time. It has been growing steadily ever since, although most of the growth has accelerated in the past five years with the development of the Internet. Satan plans to retire to a small island in the Bahamas and write a column for the local newspaper.

4.15.2004

Taken from: http://www.linuxrouter.org/

LRP == R.I.P. (1997-2002)

With great pain, I must now state:

The operating system that helped to create the embedded Linux marketplace, the Linux Router Project (LRP), is dead.

As of January of this year I have finally accepted the fact I will likely never be able to develop LRP into the operating system it could have been. A full 6 months later I'm forcing myself to update this page to reflect this. It is not an easy thing to give up on your life's work.

I am also now semi-retired as a computer engineer. Aside from my general disgust at the computing industry and what the Internet has become, scrambling around for scrapes of work and praying for the next good money project that eventually ends suddenly in a few months, just isn't keeping food on the table. I've looked quite a bit for some stable work, but plumbers make more hourly then Sys Admins in South Florida. Either I move to California (never!) or move on. I am now reserved to do the latter. With LRP remaining an unachievable goal I don't even feel much desire to work with computers anymore.

My many contributions to the computing community has reaped very little personal benefit for myself. As I now struggle to pay the bills I can not help but feel quite pissed off at the state of affairs, for myself and the other authors who contributed massive amounts of time and quality work, only to have it whored by companies not willing to give back dime one to the people that actually created what it is they sell. Acknowledgement and referral would have at least been acceptable. Few companies do even that.

Care to tell me what Embeddix (for one) is based off of? Ever offer me work Caldera? Even when I asked?

Well actually I'm glad they didn't as I would hate to think I could have benefited those scumbags any further...but I think you, the reader, gets the point I'm making.

Some companies did contribute directly to the project. However a few thousand dollars or a few computers does not let a programmer eat next month. As desperately as I have tried for the last 4 years I have been unable to get any type of sustainable funding for LRP development or steady work which would allow such. (It might have happened late in 2001, but after many 100 hour weeks of coding....that contract was terminated and so were any hopes of dedicating future time to LRP development.)

I actually have done more work on LRP 5.0 then anyone has seen. Yes LRP *5.0*. LRP 4.0 was brought to an alpha stage January 2001 and I was not happy with it. It was a gorgeous rehash of the same old Unix shit. Not acceptable to me. I began to explore some ideas I previously had but thought were not realistic to pursue. They instead turned out to be ideal.

This operating system had a good deal of specifications outlined for it and some preliminary proof-of-concept coding done. To this day I am only beginning to see very minor bits of what I had expected to have in production the summer of 2001. You see, unlike the current pile of Linux distributions which are based on ~20 year old obsolete mechanisms, I was working on something that was from scratch. How different would it have been?

* A new shell (no bash, no ash, no sh at all!)
* A new shell scripting language
* A new (universal) packaging scheme (would retrofit other OSes)
* A true application management system
* A new core process management system (No 'init' here...)

That's just a short list from memory, for the sake of making people ill with longing. (YES, YES, Burn with desire! Muhahaha!) Even the syntax for the scripting language was designed. The full architecture for the packaging system was laid out. Oh yeah, and the base of this OS would have all fit in ~8MB of space. The name of this operating system and it's specifications, shall still remain UNRELEASED.

Unfortunately it's not going to happen. Wish it could. I'd like to hope someone with 6 figure$ to burn wants this to happen, but I need to grow up and move on instead of continuing to wait on the tooth fairy to show up to help me persue my artistic dreams.

Oh Well...

My thanks go out to the few people that did help to make happen the LRP that was released. Untrue to the opensource dogma, actually finding people to contribute work to a project is a task in and of itself.

My special thanks to Phil Hands and Paul Russell who helped make the early days possible. I would have never learned to hate Bourne shell at a guru's level without your help. :-)

Paul Wouters, modmaker did more to help LRP proliferate then anyone/thing else. I wish at the time I had realized it's true worth, and encouraged you more with it.

Charles Wright, the only guy who ever really helped with any needed coding of the LRP base.

Vesselin Atanasov, we made portslave into something quite nice.

My eternal disregard also goes out to those that thought they had something to do with LRP but really did nothing for it but complain on the mailing list, and to those that did do something with LRP and never tried to collaborate with me to further the project.

Dave Cinege

Motionless mirror

I stared, motionless, before the mirror. As always, I stayed until I'm convinced that there is no glass, nothing, separating me from the room I see on the other side. Iimagine that everything is different over there. Better. There are people in that world, who I would like. But, like always, my hand hits that glass. I know that if I'd only waited just one more second...

4.14.2004

Binary people

The pleasure behind patching code ... anyway who wants to play?

f u cn rd ths, u cn gt a gd jb n cmptr prgrmmng.

Patented European webshop

All of the elements and processes indicated in the graphic below are covered by granted (not just requested) European Patents. This kind of patents would be rendered enforceable by the Commission's and the JURI Committee's proposal, as has been shown elsewhere. The directive as voted by the European Parliament however, makes sure these patents remain what they are today: examples of the EPO's drift towards unlimited patentability, without any legal value whatsoever.

FFII will continue to fight for clear and useful limits on patentability, so that atrocities like those shown below will not make their debut in Europe. If you agree with these goals, please take a moment to sign the petition against European software patents and to sign our Call for Action II (mail us if you want to be publicly listed there as company, scientist, professional, user group, ...). See this page for more things you can do to help.

Image of webshop with all elements and processes covered by a granted European patent indicated with a number

A high quality A0 version of this image, as well as a French, German and Dutch version, are also available (see "patented webshop" link). For copyright notice, see bottom of this page.

Webshop: Selling things over a network using a server, client and payment processor, or using a client and a server -

EP803105 and EP738446
Order by cell phone: Selling over a mobile phone network - EP1090494
Shopping cart: Electronic shopping cart - EP807891 and EP784279
[CDs] [Films] [Books]: Tabbed palettes - EP689133
Picture link: Preview window - EP537100
View/download film: Video data distribution through the web - EP933892
View film: Video streaming ("segmented video on-demand") - EP633694
MP3-format: Audio compression format, covered by numerous patents, e.g. EP287578
Credit card: Pay using credit card via the Internet - EP820620 and EP779587
Gift: Order a gift for someone via the Internet by providing his/her email address - EP927945 (note: the claims on the target page are less broad than the eventually granted claims in the B1 form of the patent)
Request loan: Automated loan application - EP715740
VISA: Digital signature in graphic to show that the shop is approved for receiving VISA payments - EP798657
Send offers: Send offers in response to request - EP986016
Send to vendor: Reroute incoming orders to a vendor - EP217308
Support database: Network support system using databases - EP673135
Preview chapters: Use of TV as metaphor for selecting different video fragments - EP670652
Ladybug image: JPEG format - EP266049
Related results: Show related results if customer likes the current ones - EP628919
Rebate code: Allow rebate codes to be entered by customers - EP370847
Burn at shop: Material reproduction of information stored at remote location - EP195098

Image copyright notices:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Ladybug photo © http://www.toflidium.com, louse photo © http://ion.eas.asu.edu/, kiosk photo © http://www.westgov.org, forest photo courtesy http://philip.greenspun.com,
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Void of tranquility