Date : Mon, 18 Oct 2010 04:59:39 +0100
From : mike@... (Mike Tomlinson)
Subject: Fw: DD & HD Floppies
In article <4CBB379A.2000102@...>, Rick Murray <rick@...>
writes
>This is perhaps why my Credit Mutuel (Mastercard) does *NOT* work
>on-line. Point blank refusal.
A lot of places won't take Amex or Ma$tercard 'cos the merchant fees are
much higher than Visa.
> In fact, anything where I'm not present to
>enter my PIN is refused (bizarrely with a "security code invalid" response).
Well, you're in France. Whoever said the French were logical?
>My bank gives me a "virtual card" where I tell it how much the
>transaction is for, and I get a one-time-only credit card generated for
>me.
Yes, I'd definitely consider something like that if travelling to, say
parts of the Far East or South America. Or get a preloaded card with a
spend limit.
>* - Anybody about to post about how Linux is impenetrable
heh. I know of Linux networks that have been hacked, some belonging to
respectable organisations with a high level of clue. The vector was a
gaping hole in sshd (OpenSSH).
The nice thing though is with Linux, once a vuln is found it's fixed
very quickly. M$ tend to sit on them until the complaints get too loud
to ignore.
> and Apples
> don't have viruses,
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2271652/top-security-myths?page=6
> kindly don't show your stupidity. The latest
> W3C Schools report quotes Linux as a 4.6% share and Mac as 7.2%.
A very valid point. As they gain market share, they will become more
attractive targets.
> Linux will, I predict, remain fairly secure because it is an OS
> aimed at smarter people who know the ins and outs of the system.
Agreed.
> Mac, on the other hand, is aimed at flash gits with more money
> than sense
And not even money. Mate has every single Apple product made in the
last five years and isn't exactly a high earner. His living room is
like a shrine to Saint Steve.
> [http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple]
heh. Thought I'd looked at them all. Like the 'will gargle balls for
money' panel. Must send that to mate :o)
> so how long will
> it be before iPads and the likes are broken?
<shame> I have to make a confession here. After studiously ignoring
Steve Jobs and his evil works for nearly thirty years, I'm seriously
contemplating getting an iPad. </shame>
Very few tech gadgets make me cackle like a witch. The first was
replacing my hard drive with an SSD (Windows gets to a usable desktop in
< 10 sec.) The other was borrowing matey's iPad and playing with it for
a while. I'd written it off as an expensive toy, but can see the
potential in it. The touch-screen "keyboard" is unbelievably good.
>What can I say? http://www.xkcd.com/792/
That is just so true. I have my passwords written down, there is no way
I could remember them all (and I do try to use different ones for
different sites.)
>Hackers only work alone in movies. Or people like me, but then I'm the
>_other_ sort, the sort that wishes people would use a different phrase
>to refer to criminals.
Indeed. The meaning of 'hacking' has changed from 'a harmless fun
pastime' to 'a criminal activity'. Anyone here remember the furore
caused by the printing of the Hacker's Handbook by Hugo Cornwall? About
1985?
And what about state-sponsored hacking? The Chinese are the worst. Of
the attempts to 'sploit sshd on my work PeeCee, 95% come from Chinese
IPs.
tacnuke://N=39?54'17.67"&E=116?23'54.99"
is starting to look like an attractive option.
M.
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