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NETSURFER DIGEST
More Signal, Less Noise |
Volume 05, Issue 03 Thursday, January 28, 1999 |
NETSURFER LINKS
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BREAKING SURF Two years in the making, the 2.2.0 Kernel is big news not only in the Linux community but among a growing number of large software and hardware vendors. Key selling points of the new server include improved support for multiprocessor machines and configuration options that support a range of processors. In addition, 2.2.0 offers better support for a wider variety of peripherals. The documentation covers the technical details. Check out LinuxHQ for the full story and Joseph Pranevich's great introduction to the new kernel. Linux today has some good notes on upgrading and an active discussion forum.LinuxHQ: http://www.linuxhq.com/ Pranevich: http://www.linuxhq.com/wonderful22.html Upgrading: http://linuxtoday.com/stories/2291.html
What's a Linux and What Does it Eat? TechWeek columnist Malcolm Maclachlan recently described Linux as an OS by geeks for geeks. But lately users are riding the open source code tide to social vindication. Heck, a Red Hat T-shirt made the scene at the invitation-only, pre-opening viewing of the terrific Van Gogh exhibit in Los Angeles. What are these creatures like? Numbers posted at the WebCMO marketing site say they're educated, (30% have master's degrees), young (80% under the age of 35), and male (only 1% of respondents were female). For more statistics and analysis, read results of the research firm's two-month online survey of 638 respondents. The home page is a paean to the virtues of open source code and the spirit of freedom it embodies. Bill Gates is cast in the role of Josef Stalin. Open source devotees, do your part by filling in the survey questionnaire.http://www.webcmo.com/linux/report/report1.htm Windows Refund Day: Cash Back If You Don't Use Microsoft OS February 15 is Windows Refund Day. According to an amusingly militant band of Linux-philes, that's when you should attempt to exploit a little known provision in the Microsoft End User License Agreement - the legalese you never read - that says if you don't use Windows (and install instead Linux, FreeBSD, BeOS, or OS/2), you're entitled to a refund. According to the agreement, if you don't accept the license, you can return the software and get your money back. The site has many details and links to other sites which have joined the snowballing movement. Geoffrey Bennett's amusing saga of how he got his refund became the first to be widely posted and may have started the ball rolling. Computer retailers who have a clue will be ready for February 15, while the rest will provide us all with a great deal of amusement.Refund: http://www.thenoodle.com/refund/ Geoffrey: http://www.netcraft.com.au/geoffrey/toshiba.html Onsale Abandons Retail Mark-Ups, Aims to Profit from Ads and Fees Computer simulations have shown that in perfectly frictionless commodity markets, the economy evolves ruinous price wars in which competitors lower profit margins to the point where nobody makes a profit. Onsale, an online computer store, has adopted just such a behavior. Onsale announced it will sell everything at wholesale, and will make money by charging a small transaction processing fee and by selling advertising on their Web site. This challenges all other online computer retailers, who must now match the price discount or face a loss of business. In the short term, the consumers clearly win. Unfortunately, this may ultimately lead to the demise of most merchants: those who can't afford to maintain razor thin margins in a market controlled by a few gigantic outlets who set prices at whim.http://www.onsale.com/aboutus/ir/pr/pr1199901.htm CERT Summarizes Security Threat Trends, TCP Wrapper Compromised CERT, which tracks computer security threats on the Internet, released this brief report on last year's trends in security attacks. Among 1998's notable developments was an increase in attacks which scan your machines for vulnerabilities using canned scripts widely available on the Net. The report also notes the evolution of stealthy scanning techniques and an increase in Windows-based Trojan horse programs. In other news, CERT also warns that hackers at one FTP site have altered a popular security program called TCP Wrappers to include a Trojan horse. Check the advisory if you've downloaded this package recently. Bugtraq also has information on this problem.Trends: http://www.cert.org/summaries/CS-98.08.html TCP Wrappers: http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-01-Trojan-TCP-Wrappers.html Bugtraq: http://www.geek-girl.com/bugtraq/1999_1/0269.html RSA Security Conference Coverage, DES Cracked in a Day The recent RSA Security Conference gathered together over 5000 attendees in what is now clearly the pre-eminent gathering of online security professionals. Two sources summarize the conference. PR Newswire (PRN) has collected the press releases and CNet's Tim Clark looked at the trends in the various conference sessions. Read the latter if you're curious and in a hurry. While the security geeks met, the latest DES Challenge cracked a DES code in 22 hours using the now familiar distributed parallel computing and specialized hardware approach. The success hammers another nail in the coffin of DES as an encryption technology.PRN: http://www.prnewswire.com/tech/rsa99.html Clark: http://www.news.com/SpecialFeatures/0,5,31327,00.html Crack: http://www.rsa.com/pressbox/html/990119-1.html More NIC Domain Name Administration Problems Last issue, we reported on a backlog of domain name registrations at Network Solutions (NSI). Now, in a move aimed at curbing abuse of the automated domain name request system, NSI has set the Whois database to report neither the date of domain name registration nor whether a name is on hold. This foils users who every few seconds send NSI automated requests for domains on hold, hoping to get a domain the moment it becomes available. All well and good, but NSI implemented this without notice and didn't acknowledge the change for days, thus breaking several automated query tools. A couple of days later, another glitch (which may or may not have been caused by NSI) allowed an unauthorized individual to gain control of a large chunk of domain address space due to an inexplicable change in the NSI databases. Dan Goodin of CNet has the story.Whois: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,31273,00.html Glitch: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,31507,00.html SURFING SITES A Furby Autopsy - Try This at Home First Norns, now Furbies: the next big thing just may be hacking interactive toys. As dolls go interactive, a growing segment of the hacker population wants them to do more than say "math is fun." Furby Autopsy subjects a dead but still annoyingly cute Furby to the knife and, step by step, strips off the fur to expose the plastic skeleton underneath. Those big, buggy eyes look somewhat unnerving without the surrounding fur. The empty fur looks even stranger. The detailed site explores the subject's probable cause of death and explains how a properly functioning Furby works. The impressive illustrated autopsy report could be used as guide when you strip down your own Furby, but don't get too excited about hacking it - it's internally more complicated than its doleful eyes suggest. NSD salutes that segment of the population who want to verify whether the Furby OS really is based on the Apple II. No Furbies were harmed in the making of this Web site.http://www.phobe.com/furby/index.html If you've ever whiled away an afternoon staring at shapes in the clouds, you'll appreciate Molecular Expressions, a gallery of startling etchings from the surfaces of everyday microprocessors. The microscopic images, which range from hummingbirds to in-jokes to cartoon characters, were photographed with "reflected Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) microscopy and a retardation plate, sometimes with oblique illumination enhanced with filtered gels". Got that? In one case, this complex technology yielded a striking, 50-um-tall Daffy Duck. From the crossword puzzle containing names of chip creators to California license plates displaying processor version numbers, the designs and their origins will intrigue as much as, if not more than, the process used to reveal them. And if you think finding Waldo at the beach is hard, try finding him on the surface of a silicon chip. http://microscopy.fsu.edu/creatures/index.html Understated with a Leonardo da Vinci design sensibility, the Long Now Foundation's intimate site introduces the visitor to the Millenium Clock, a device based on an idea proposed by Daniel Hillis in 1993. Daniel called for "a large (think Stonehenge) mechanical clock, powered by seasonal temperature changes. It ticks once a year, bongs once a century, and the cuckoo comes out every millennium." This clock, yet to be built, is intended as both an icon of time and a metaphor of our transition into the future. The Web site intentionally precedes the clock: the site serves as an information center and fundraising platform, and solicits materials and volunteers. The clock is intended to be massive, so that the viewer can fully experience time and the clock as a cultural tool. http://www.longnow.org/ The sophisticated, satirical Acme Vaporware site supports the Acme Vaporware family of Torpometric Inducing Myers-Borgnine Torpovapor Reticulation products. We don't know what that means either, but you can view pictures of real-looking products complete with asinine product descriptions. If you've had to spend a little too much time surfing self-congratulatory commercial Web sites in search of product information, spend some time with Acme. The acerbic, syntactically correct but nonsensical writing will slap your priorities back in place. Actually, this site's a little too well done, and commercial vendors could take a lesson or two. We especially liked the press release announcing the licensing of '70s bionic technology to increase mail carrier speed and routablility. Yes, Oscar Goldman and Steve Austin are in on the project. http://acmevaporware.com/ Once, in the wild mountains of Canada, lived a rare and beautiful creature called the whooping moose. The tragic, heartbreaking tale of this magnificent animal's extinction despite the valiant efforts of the University of Alberta will bring tears to your eyes - tears of laughter, that is. This site is filled with short, snappy, and hilariously funny apocryphal tales from Jaron. A marvelous blast of fresh air in a stuffy world. http://members.aol.com/jaronsumm/index.html The hulking brick forms of flour mills stand on riverbanks near older settlements throughout eastern and central North America. These were once the high-tech devices that provided the staff of life to their communities, and thus enjoyed a significance far beyond any single type of machine today. Theodore Hazen, who runs a company that specializes in restoring old mills, has gathered together a heterogeneous mass of material about flour mills, their history, and their restoration. The collection includes many articles written during the heyday of the mills, like Sylvester Graham's 1837 treatise on bread, an early broadside on spiritual health food, and an extended analysis of the mill industry in Minneapolis in 1886, which should be read as a report from the cutting edge. Hazen himself provides a number of essays on various aspects of mill construction and operation. Step into this site and in a few hours you will be an expert on a subject you previously had not known existed. http://home.earthlink.net/~alstallsmith/index-page.html One Man's Money Pit, Another Man's (Tax) Shelter Charming turn-of-the-century Queen Anne Victorian, eligible for preservationist tax breaks (needs thousands in earthquake proofing; carelessly wired with extremely dangerous aluminum; leaching lead into tap water, radon into air.) Certainly no self-respecting preservationist would be deterred by trifles such as these. Still, you always want to cross the threshold of your potential castle with eyes wide open. The Old Houses site lays it all out, from tax incentives to repairs to inspection and other legal requirements. Free ads post properties nationwide according to age and status - historical landmark or just an old heap cheap. Even if you're not in the market, check out the great tips on restoring and caring for woodwork and other glories from bygone eras.http://www.old-houses.com/ Some of the Internet's greatest contributions take advantage of the medium's lightning-fast dissemination of data. The Emergency Response and Research Institute (ERRI) deploys Net technology to synthesize the gamut of emergency services data and to replace a hodgepodge of information once scattered among paper-based resources. ERRI's EmergencyNet offers a wide range of breaking emergency news and exhaustive disaster-related information that appeals to everyone from seasoned firefighters to casual rubber-neckers. The site also includes an impressive 24-hour news service that covers misfortune around the world, from Detroit to the Ukraine. ERRI's gaggle of Y2K information, although slightly apocalyptic in tone, impressed us. http://www.emergency.com/ The authors of SecurityPortal mean to get administrators to buy their services but that does not diminish the outstanding collection of resources for public access. Breaking news links cover encryption, e-commerce, private data network issues, viruses, and general hack-attack stuff. Learn the most common breaches, such as the man in the middle or denial of service. The research page is invaluable. Case studies chronicle debugging security and performance problems commonly associated with firewalls. An online store sells security related products. The site may shake your faith in your fellow man, but you'll be a better network administrator for it. http://securityportal.com/ For those of us with too many channels and not enough decision-making skills, TV Ultra chooses the one show each day you shouldn't miss. The info comes on the Web or in e-mail (you can choose that, can't you?) and sparkles. Gareth Branwyn's review of Christopher Lowell's Interior Motives is almost as well crafted as Lowell's classy designs. This intelligent, high-tech bunch selects a quarter of their choices from either Bravo or the History Channel, but selections run the gamut from RollerJam ("And that's always been the novelty with the Roller Derby - watching women circle around and fight") to a documentary on Salvador Dali ("The artistic path from Marcel Duchamp to Andy Warhol follows the curves of Dali's moustache"). http://www.tvultra.com/ While this is, at its heart, just an advertising site for a widget shop, we think it's worth a look just for the quality of its gizmos and gadgets, specially tailored for those enmeshed in the glamorous world of techno-adventures. Doug Mockett and Co. makes grommets, hooks, door handles, and all sorts of doohickeys with care, intelligence, and passion for the mundane. "Mundane" does not describe the products, however. We'd use "neat" (we just did, in fact). "If you read about how we feel about shelf support and our drawer pulls, you can imagine how we feel about coat hooks." Yes, indeed. http://www.mockett.com/ ONLINE TRAVEL Whether your taste is beer in Budapest or parties in Pamplona, Eurotrip reviews some of the most raucous events the Continent has to offer. Geared mostly to younger travelers, the site originated as a review of hostels visited by page creator and Glaswegian Andrew Ogilvie. Since then, the content has grown tremendously thanks to the effusive reviews and comments of innumerable visitors. Lest you think frivolity equates with recklessness, Eurotrip's professional demeanor promotes responsible behavior with tips on topics that range from health and safety to packing your bags. It also includes a newsletter, a discussion board, and links for cheap Eurail passes and discount plane tickets. About the only thing you won't find are directions to the Louvre.http://www.eurotrip.com/ At first glance, Sligo Web (dedicated to Sligo, Ireland) appears to be just like any other local community page. Sure, it has the obligatory listing of schools, government branches, and personal Web pages, but it adds a special twist. The Webmaster who built the site, Alan Finan, holds an intense passion for his home. This passion shows in how the site has grown. Its listing of local businesses includes those which offer online shopping. His community section highlights counties in Sligo, including a Coney Island not known for hot dogs. He lists the local Internet cafes, puts out a mini newspaper, and even provides e-mail addresses for local doctors. He's the one-man-Sligo-band. http://homepage.tinet.ie/~afinan/ We love paradise and are drawn to Web sites about it. Orientation Costa Rica is a portal site with subportals that will be familiar to anyone who uses one. Orientation's categories and their drilldowns are so easy to use that many tourists are likely to prefer this site over travel sites with promotional baggage, even though some links seem slow by comparison. One nifty feature here is Editor's Choice. In December, it highlighted ten Web sites for local birdwatchers; this month, it looks at business and trade sites. (You can access archived Editor's Choice lists through the past reviews pulldown menu.) You can recommend a site in one of six languages. Smooth. Polls and other features are useful for both natives and others. Getting around here is a breeze. http://www.orientation.co.cr/ FLOTSAM & JETSAM Welcome to Merle's World. Today, we're visiting a subsection known as WebMaster Resources, which includes links for everything from choosing background graphics to building a back-end for online shopping. And the best bit is that Merle gives a mini-review of each link before he sends you off.http://www.merlesworld.com/webpages.htm Although we're wary of any site which claims to be helpful to Webmasters but is designed only for 1024 x 768 or higher resolution, we've got to admit that CompAge Solutions does have a solid compilation of Web development resources, from freeware to message boards that encourage discussion. http://www.compagesolutions.com/ Think your site looks spunky? Check out eFuse to see what's missing. Here you can plan, produce, and promote with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of assistance. With info on fonts, graphics and creative content as well as Dot's House of Style - a "glamourific romp through Fusion's fantastic Style View" - it's worth checking out. http://www.efuse.com/ Mac OS 8.5 comes with a nifty search engine called Sherlock that not only searches the Internet or for files on your drive, but can even search through the contents of your files. However, you must prep it first and allow it to snoop. MacSurf offers a slew of pre-searched Sherlock libraries. It'll save hours. http://www.macsurf.net/sherlock.shtml The Cirque de Cliche (CdC) coins new "best of breed" cliches and disseminates them to the public. Judging from the overwhelmingly cliche-rich prose on the site, we already have more of the pesky things than we know what to do with, but perhaps none as peculiar as CdC's "lymph flows breed lymph woes". http://www.jps.net/petista/index.html The Cassandra Project, a non-profit organization, brings you all the news about Y2K: news on health, safety, and preparedness, plus a specialized guide just for seniors. If nothing else, go read their FAQ. http://cassandraproject.org/ The Rebate Company takes Internet discounting to a whole new level by selling products with rebates up to 100% of the purchase price. When we visited, a cardiovascular exercise machine, caller ID box, and alarm clock were among the items being offered free with mail-in rebates. Just don't lose the receipt. http://www.rebateco.com/ SOFTWARE Internet congestion and graphic-intensive Web sites guarantee one certainty among the modem minions: Web wait. Zing Network claims to have found the solution in their recently introduced Zing player. Employing a patented technology, the Zing add-on downloads customizable tidbits, such as photographs, song snippets, humor flash cards, or quotes, while the connection is underutilized. Then, when the user is waiting testily for those cumbersome Web pages to load, Zing pops into action with content themes that range from insults to the photography of Nic Bonuccelli's Europe. We tested Zing on a 28.8 kbps modem connection and found the delivery crisp and reliable. Zing's popularity has precipitated partnerships with some major corporate content (Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, for instance), which is good for the viewers but may portend an overly corporate future for this nifty innovation. Windows only, for now.http://www.zing.com/ Global Music Outlet (GMO) has released a new music format in a bid to compete with the open MP3 standard. The quite different MP4 format is unrelated to MP3: each MP4 song is an executable file that can be played in Windows. MP3 songs require one of the many freely available players to play, but aren't limited to only one platform. GMO has signed as the first artist featured in its music portfolio Chuck D of rap group Public Enemy, who had a run-in with his record company when Public Enemy posted on their Web site MP3 versions of songs from their upcoming unreleased album. The MP4 site allows you to download songs by a number of artists, and the FAQ has more information about the format. http://mp4.globalmusic.com/ New Apache, Sendmail Versions Released The Apache Group has released version 1.3.4 of the Apache Web server. It features over 90 significant improvements and support for features which foil certain denial-of-service attacks. Sendmail version 8.9.2 also patches denial-of-service vulnerabilities in Linux and fixes some minor bugs.Apache: http://www.apache.org/ Sendmail: http://www.sendmail.org/ Samba is arguably the most popular open-source software for networking Windows and Unix boxes. The Samba team has just released the long awaited version 2.0. Major enhancements include a Web-based administration GUI as well as a variety of performance and bug fixes. http://www.samba.org/ |
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