Posts by Ubuntu Is a Better Slide Rule

Coder Android love (nearly) matches iPhone lust

@Have to agree

Works both ways. You can port even more perfectly working C code to the iPhone. You can't do this for the Winphone, as they refuse to give developers a C/C++ API. And that will provide 9 of 10 nails for the WinCoffin.

US Wikileaks investigators can't link Assange to Manning

@DrXym

German phone books use non-existent subscribers to this end.

Tunisia plants country-wide keystroke logger on Facebook

@David Dawson: Justification

Here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Communications_Headquarters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesnachrichtendienst

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Signals_Directorate

They all want a convenient way of tracking people. And certainly "doing a Tunisian", when required.

The German Way Of "Tunisian":

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundestrojaner

SSL makes this process a bit inconvenient and might compromise their filthy work's effectiveness. The cost of SSL is negligible for a major web company like facebook.

@poohbear: SSH and SSL are different

look it up on the wiki-intertube thing.

Huawei moves to stop Nokia's Motorola grab

That's Excellent

Chinese companies realize that IP is indeed worth something. Huawei definitely has the ear of the Chinese government so Huawei can be used as a lever to actually change the way China operates.

The CEO of Huawei was (now reserve ?) a General in the PLA, so I am sure he knows how to talk to the government.

China is now a prosperous country (if seen as a whole, not these poor villages behind the mountains) and we should seriously engage them into setting up rules which benefit everybody. But "engaging" does not mean "dictating", dear Americans. Think about it.

Lawyer wants WikiLeaker kept off suicide watch

@Matt Bryant

I hope you will one day be "treated" by Chinese special police, when you travel to China in a quest for $$$.

Think about Bradly Manning then.

@mhenriday: I think they call it

"Revenge-Based Justice" in Langleyspeak.

The downfall of any military organization comes with this kind of uncivilized behavior. Moral rots and then the organization itself rots. U.S. military officers are merely "master-thugs", if they need "an order from the top" to stop this shit. Officers must first and foremost stop cold-blooded brutality, also called "revenge". If they can't, they are morally rotten and the whole thing will break down. Eventually, we will see these officers themselves being treated like Private Bradley Manning.

Prost Mahlzeit !

@Queos lvl42 mage: The Same Applies For The K.G.B.'s Actions

Didn't you know they shoot their opponents without trial ? You opened your mouth and were shot in a dark prison corner. That's entirely your own fault. At least that's the logic of your arguments.

@AC: Yes

I did as I said on Saturday. The only offended person was my own missus. The sign read

"Beendet die Folter von Bradley Manning"

"Schlafentzug"

"Einzelhaft"

"Quantico, U.S.A."

Apart from your negative comments, what did YOU do ? Ranting on the intertubes ? I also do this, but I felt it was impressive to stand for 40 minutes in the cold. Was it effective ? Should I have done more ? What exactly ?

Maybe the spooks and civil coppers who certainly watched all for a few minutes have some minor idealism and conscience left. After all, Wiesbaden hosts both German and U.S. intel/security organizations.

Doing nothing, that's exactly what the Tshekist International wants us to do. It does not matter whether they are based in Langley or Moscow.

What YOU Can Do To Help Bradley Manning

It is very clear that the United States Government maltreats Private First Class Bradley Manning. Depriving Bradley Manning of sleep and social contact to other prison inmates or other non-government personell is a clear case of Torture.

This is very much like the Geheime Staatspolizei of Nazi Germany treated Admiral Canaris:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_Canaris#Downfall_and_execution

And like General Erich Fellgiebel was treated:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Fellgiebel#Trial_and_death

And of course very much like the Tshekists (NKWD, KGB, FSB etc) treat(ed) their opponents.

If there is a tiny speck of "Freedom" left, we can go to the streets and protest this. Don't wait for anybody to "organize" this. Just paint a sign, which at least says "Bradley Manning" and simply display that on the high street.

I will do this in Wiesbaden in front of the railway station today. Let's see what kind of reception the "Powers that be" will have at the ready.

GO TO THE STREET.

Who are the biggest electric car liars - the BBC, or Tesla Motors?

@jbam / Loaded Battery Reserves

I have also thought about this problem, but thankfully I.T. comes to the rescue:

Fact I: Traffic patterns are predictable. Most people now carry a mobile phone with them. Mine the data for car usage patterns and crunch the data through a server farm. This is already done to predict and detect traffic jams.

You can even perform near-real-time predictions based on movement patterns during the holidays, for example. As soon as the Autobahn starts to fill up into southern direction, the "Battery Companies" (who were the former "oil companies") can load batteries on trucks and ship them with the "car migration" (so to speak) to the south. Spare batteries would move to southern Europe along the cars which use them, on trucks.

Fact II: Holiday migration patterns are most often determined by school holidays. Very predictable.

Fact III: You can simply reserve batteries. As soon as you enter the destination into your navigation system, the latter talks to BP, Total, Aral etc to check for battery availability along the route. The navi and the "battery companies" can even negotiate a route which has enough batteries in case the straightforward route is short of batteries. As a last resort, the Navigation system will warn you of the shortage and suggest to wait for a few hours. As soon as reservations succeed, you get an SMS to your phone.

Fact IV: Traffic shaping. Your navigation system will warmly suggest to make a break at the next Autobahn drive-in as soon as a shortage is predicted along the route. This allows the Battery Companies' Battery Trucks to "overtake" their customers. People will learn that they better listen to their navi system or wait at a place they do not like.

Here's A Proper Battery (Changing, Not Charging) Concept

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place#Battery-switching_stations

Let's see how it works out. I feel the Diesel is far from dead, though.

CO2 Emissions From Diesel Production

According to

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/e_s_assets/e_s_assets_2009/downloads_pdfs/bp_sustainability_review_2009.pdf

BP customers generated about 500 Million tons of CO2, and BP generated about 120 Million tons of CO2 (if I interpret the numbers correctly. maybe it is just about 70 million tons by BP).

So there is an overhead of 13 to 20 % from hydrocarbons of a large, integrated company like BP. So please adjust my numbers by 20%. The result will be that Diesel is still in the same range as electric cars, especially if cars like the VW Lupo are in the competition. 3 liters/100km is hard to beat.

VW Lupos are still driving around in Germany, but the high cost did not make them a success. I am still waiting to see a Tesla.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VW_Lupo#Lupo_3L

If VW teamed up with the likes of Airbus or Boeing, they could certainly bring down the weight to 300kgs or less by using carbon-fiber materials. Safety would be achieved by electro-optical, millimeter-wave radar and wireless systems which automatically operate the brakes of all vehicles on the road. The technology is certainly ready, all what's lacking is the social will to make it happen. 1 liter Diesel per 100km is possible without reduced safety or comfort.

The Lupo does not really use high-tech materials, they simply use aluminum, magnesium and unsophisticated plastics. Most other cars are lumps of steel, which makes them heavy gas-guzzlers.

Changeable Battery Packs

I also don't get why manufacturers cannot come up with a changeable battery pack standard. We are in 2010 and each pack would have its own ARM or PowerPC CPU and sensors to manage loading, temperature control and power delivery (unloading).

The car might request 50 Amperes, but the battery pack would only return 18 Amperes because the current state (temperature, loading/unloading history, voltage levels) would not allow for more in a way that preserves the expected battery lifetime.

Also, the car and the battery could report any exceptional behaviour to the "battery company" (which could be named Aral, BP, Exxon or Total) so that they can remove this battery from the pool for repair or recycling. The "battery companies" could compete on reliability, amperage, cost and so on.

U.S. Department of Energy Research of Nuclear Hydrogen Generation

Despite the widespread mockery of wikipedia, it provides references like this:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/doctor.pdf

Just focusing on a single technology (battery + electric motor) is clearly the wrong way. Hybrids, Synthetic Fuel, Alcohol, Woodchips ("Holzvergaser"), Stirling Engines, Overhead Electric Rails deserve to be studied at least on paper.

For example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasification

(Running a car using wood chips or coal)

Gasification could actually be a strategy adopted in case of an energy emergency. Instead of invading an oil-rich country, produce gasifiers ("Holzvergaser") which would be operated with wood and/or coal. In addition to a strategy of dramatically increasing public transportation, dynamic vehicle scheduling and teleworking, of course.

An intelligent energy strategy can simply "sit out" an energy boycott by switching to coal or wood gasification, as coal (or wood) is abundant in many jurisdictions. On the long run, buring wood is not sustainable, though.

@Peter 76: Meep. Wrong Units. Wrong Numbers.

The SI Unit kW measures Power, not Energy. The Si Unit Ws or Joule measures Energy. One litre of Diesel is between 30 and 40 Million Joule of Energy, if burned with Oxygen. So 12 kWh/litre seems Ok for Diesel, except for the Units.

I would dispute your Diesel Engine efficiency numbers, though.

According to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine#Modern

"The MAN S80ME-C7 low speed diesel engines use 155 gram fuel per kWh for an overall energy conversion efficiency of 54.4 percent, which is the highest conversion of fuel into power by any internal or external combustion engine."

Diesel engines do not need to drive the wheels directly but can store energy in a small battery or flywheel and be turned off when the latter is filled. This allows for the most efficient revolutions per minute and also for recovery of energy while braking.

Also, what is the volumetric energy density of batteries ? (measured in Joule/m^3 ?). Apparently very bad for the Tesla car.

@Bobbyllew, "truth"

Apparently you did not learn on school that freedom is first and foremost "freedom of expression". Different people will bring up different arguments and categorically labeling Diesel advocates' arguments as "tosh" or "mistruth" etc is neither civilized nor rational.

Maybe you can refute other people's arguments with hard numbers and physics ?=

Or are you just a "believer" ?

It appears to me that electric cars would only in France be able to save carbon emissions. Now please refute these arguments. Also, please write a little bit about economics.

And please be fair. Comparing a dysfunctional two-seater electric car to a family car does not cut it. Both types of cars must have same capabilities to make the comparison fair. Also, please write about the pollution and energy consumption required for making the materials of the electric car and the Diesel car. It might turn out making a battery is quite energy-intensive and bad for the environment.

But maybe you want only a small battery and overhead power rails ? Put your arguments to the mathematical test and publish. That's rational.

@Bobbyllew: Internal Combustion Engine Efficiency, Nuclear Cars

First I have to admit that I do not like at all to be dependent on the politically instable sources of oil. So a nuclear-powered mobility infrastructure would indeed contribute to peace.

Having said that, coal-powered electric power stations and the "grid" are definitely less efficient than a Diesel engine driving an electric generator and a small battery. MAN Diesels now can reach up to 50% thermodynamic efficiency in the best situation. Diesel-electric-battery propulsion allows the Diesel to run at optimum revolutions/minute as the battery is a power buffer. I guess a Diesel-electric-battery-supercapacitor system could reach 40% efficiency (fuel to wheel).

The GM Chevrolet Volt concept is very similar to this idea. If GM only could flush out most of their "finance talent" from the topmost suite and have engineering CxOs, they might be able to become great again. I am sure German engineers will take the lead sooner or later, as Diesel-electric locomotives are quite popular on German railway lines. MTU and MAN are world leaders in Diesel technology, which is no wonder as MAN is the inventor of Diesel engine technology. The Leopard 2 tank engine (made by MTU) will run on any kind of fat, Diesel kerosene, Petrol, JP-8, french fries fat, old motor oil and delivers more than 1500 HPs. It is also used in trains.

To get the oil-controlling tyrants out of the picture America could kick off a huge engineering program:

A) build 100 or more new 1500MW class nuclear reactors

B) use said reactors to generate hydrogen via electrolysis

C) use the said hydrogen to power cars. Technology is ready:

http://www.focus.de/auto/neuheiten/spritsparkonzepte/zukunftsantrieb-wasserstoff-diesel-von-bmw_aid_379820.html

(BMW-designed Diesel consuming hydrogen)

D) use Smartphones, the mobile phone network and large server farms to schedule public transport dynamically. No more empty or overcrowded buses. No more inefficiently used taxis. No more empty or overcrowded trains. Simply request your trip by mobile phone one hour in advance and let the server farm schedule taxis, buses, trains and airplanes according to the needs of the users. Replace inefficient fixed scheduling with optimal dynamic schedules. Share cars. Design driverless taxis (also a ready technology). Have U.S. soldiers protect U.S. citizens in U.S. buses, trains and taxis. If a constitutional problem put the soldiers in National Guard uniforms.

This kind of program could employ every redundant person in Detroit for the next ten years just to build the reactors or mine the Uranium or Thorium. It would reinvigorate U.S. Industry just as the Hoover Dam and the Tennesse Valley authority or the Federal Highway building projects did. But alas, there very few minds in America who posses the technological and political skills necessary to realize this. Too much talent wasted at pointless endeavors in New York, I assume.

Bot attacks Linux and Mac but can't lock down its booty

The Big Linux Insecticide

Are of course

Linux Security Modules

SE Linux

and

AppArmor.

Even a completely broken browser would be contained by LSM. Windows only has Sandboxie, which is a strange, third-party tool.

@Linux infection check

As competent Linux admins never have to deal with rootkits, there are no ready-made tools. But a good Linux admin or security consultant would simply:

1.) Mount a suspicious Linux disk in a diagnostic machine, but not boot from it or run programs from it from the suspicious disk. That's what experts also do with Windows disks, btw.

2.) Do md5 sums of all executables and executable library files. Maybe also standard config files.

3.) Compare these md5s against a known good Linux disk of the same OS version and patch state.

4.) Maybe write a script which will download RPMs from e.g.

http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2002-055.html

,unpack RPMs and calculate md5s to compare with 2.)

5.) write a tiny script to list all scripts on the system and look at them. If they have not been tweaked (only the case for complex servers), just compare md5 against the package source (as in 4.))

The places where a virus could still, theoretically (!!) hide are

A) application files of applications which have a zero-day hole (PDFs / Acrobat Reader for example). But these would be user-level only, no full pwning.

B) in a file-system-based exploit directly hiding in file system structures. I have never heard of that kind of exploit on any operating system.

I suggest everybody uses the brain and deinstalls Java, Acrobat Reader and Flash. And/Or use a different, non-priviliged user to view youtube and the porn sites. That works for Windows, Linux and MacOS. NoScript does not hurt either.

Lame Stuxnet worm 'full of errors', says security consultant

Occam, Razor ?

Look it up.

Google plonks downloads on Iran after US lifts sanctions

Is This Satire ?

Surely the bearded guys can obtain TOR somewhere and then appear as if they are Inuits from Greenland. Or gun-toting Alaskans. Most often they will look like Swede from Querswordgongburg (or another name I can't remember).