Friday, June 30, 2006
Newbie's Guide to Detecting the NSA (From Wired's Blog here)
If you're a Windows user, fire up an MS-DOS command prompt. Now type tracert followed by the domain name of the website, e-mail host, VoIP switch, or whatever destination you're interested in. Watch as the program spits out your route, line by line.
C:\> tracert nsa.gov 1 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 12.110.110.204 [...] 7 11 ms 14 ms 10 ms
as-0-0.bbr2.SanJose1.Level3.net [64.159.0.218] 8 13 12 19 ms
ae-23-56.car3.SanJose1.Level3.net [4.68.123.173] 9 18 ms 16 ms 16 ms
192.205.33.17 10 88 ms 92 ms 91 ms
tbr2-p012201.sffca.ip.att.net [12.123.13.186] 11 88 ms 90 ms 88 ms
tbr1-cl2.sl9mo.ip.att.net [12.122.10.41] 12 89 ms 97 ms 89 ms
tbr1-cl4.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.10.29] 13 89 ms 88 ms 88 ms
ar2-a3120s6.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.123.8.65] 14 102 ms 93 ms 112 ms
12.127.209.214 15 94 ms 94 ms 93 ms
12.110.110.13 16 * * * 17 * * * 18 * *
In the above example, my traffic is jumping from Level 3 Communications to AT&T's network in San Francisco, presumably over the OC-48 circuit that AT&T tapped on February 20th, 2003, according to the Klein docs. The magic string you're looking for is sffca.ip.att.net. If it's present immediately above or below a non-att.net entry, then -- by Klein's allegations -- your packets are being copied into room 641A, and from there, illegally, to the NSA.
Of course, if Marcus is correct and AT&T has installed these secret rooms all around the country, then any att.net entry in your route is a bad sign.
If you're a Windows user, fire up an MS-DOS command prompt. Now type tracert followed by the domain name of the website, e-mail host, VoIP switch, or whatever destination you're interested in. Watch as the program spits out your route, line by line.
C:\> tracert nsa.gov 1 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 12.110.110.204 [...] 7 11 ms 14 ms 10 ms
as-0-0.bbr2.SanJose1.Level3.net [64.159.0.218] 8 13 12 19 ms
ae-23-56.car3.SanJose1.Level3.net [4.68.123.173] 9 18 ms 16 ms 16 ms
192.205.33.17 10 88 ms 92 ms 91 ms
tbr2-p012201.sffca.ip.att.net [12.123.13.186] 11 88 ms 90 ms 88 ms
tbr1-cl2.sl9mo.ip.att.net [12.122.10.41] 12 89 ms 97 ms 89 ms
tbr1-cl4.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.10.29] 13 89 ms 88 ms 88 ms
ar2-a3120s6.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.123.8.65] 14 102 ms 93 ms 112 ms
12.127.209.214 15 94 ms 94 ms 93 ms
12.110.110.13 16 * * * 17 * * * 18 * *
In the above example, my traffic is jumping from Level 3 Communications to AT&T's network in San Francisco, presumably over the OC-48 circuit that AT&T tapped on February 20th, 2003, according to the Klein docs. The magic string you're looking for is sffca.ip.att.net. If it's present immediately above or below a non-att.net entry, then -- by Klein's allegations -- your packets are being copied into room 641A, and from there, illegally, to the NSA.
Of course, if Marcus is correct and AT&T has installed these secret rooms all around the country, then any att.net entry in your route is a bad sign.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
I have a feeling that the guy who runs Casa D'Ice restaurant has a few more opinions he'd be willing to share with you.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Social engineering the USB way
We figured we would try something different by baiting the same employees that were on high alert. We gathered all the worthless vendor giveaway thumb drives collected over the years and imprinted them with our own special piece of software. I had one of my guys write a Trojan that, when run, would collect passwords, logins and machine-specific information from the user’s computer, and then email the findings back to us. The next hurdle we had was getting the USB drives in the hands of the credit union’s internal users. I made my way to the credit union at about 6 a.m. to make sure no employees saw us. I then proceeded to scatter the drives in the parking lot, smoking areas, and other areas employees frequented. Once I seeded the USB drives, I decided to grab some coffee and watch the employees show up for work. Surveillance of the facility was worth the time involved. It was really amusing to watch the reaction of the employees who found a USB drive. You know they plugged them into their computers the minute they got to their desks.
We figured we would try something different by baiting the same employees that were on high alert. We gathered all the worthless vendor giveaway thumb drives collected over the years and imprinted them with our own special piece of software. I had one of my guys write a Trojan that, when run, would collect passwords, logins and machine-specific information from the user’s computer, and then email the findings back to us. The next hurdle we had was getting the USB drives in the hands of the credit union’s internal users. I made my way to the credit union at about 6 a.m. to make sure no employees saw us. I then proceeded to scatter the drives in the parking lot, smoking areas, and other areas employees frequented. Once I seeded the USB drives, I decided to grab some coffee and watch the employees show up for work. Surveillance of the facility was worth the time involved. It was really amusing to watch the reaction of the employees who found a USB drive. You know they plugged them into their computers the minute they got to their desks.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Ever uttered the words "pickles are destroying my life!" in a tear-soaked fit? Hey, don't feel bad: we all have. Instead of merely exploding the life-destroying pickles or blaming them for the world's problems as I've tried to do countless times (mixed results. I don't not recommend it), this woman bravely decides to confront this devastating and completely rational fear. On TV. On Maury. Until we can cost-effectively launch all pickles into space so they menace humankind no more, this solution may have to do. Let's watch! (youtube, via boingboing)
The Bush Code of Secrecy (Salon, watch ad for free access)
"It would be hard to overstate the significance of this proceeding," Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, said in an e-mail. "It is not just a dispute over surveillance. It is a test of our whole system of government. They are not only arguing that the courts cannot adjudicate the matter, but that Congress is powerless to limit the government's activities. If the administration prevails, then we will be well on our way to a different form of government in which executive authority is effectively unchecked."
"It would be hard to overstate the significance of this proceeding," Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, said in an e-mail. "It is not just a dispute over surveillance. It is a test of our whole system of government. They are not only arguing that the courts cannot adjudicate the matter, but that Congress is powerless to limit the government's activities. If the administration prevails, then we will be well on our way to a different form of government in which executive authority is effectively unchecked."
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
The database of world currency design has lots of examples of money that looks better than ours. Check Macedonia's atomic spacepod
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Earth temp at 400yr. high.
The Bush administration has maintained that the threat is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls that the White House says would have cost 5 million Americans their jobs.
The Bush administration has maintained that the threat is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls that the White House says would have cost 5 million Americans their jobs.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Effective Friday, AT&T is changing its customer privacy policy, giving itself broad permissions to share private customer data with the Bush Administration.
AT&T is being sued by San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation for allegedly allowing the NSA to tap into the company's data network, providing warrantless access to customers' e-mails and Web browsing.
AT&T is also believed to have participated in President Bush's acknowledged domestic spying program, in which the NSA was given warrantless access to U.S. citizens' phone calls.
The sound of pi
Flash app plays the first 10,000 digits of pi. While great at circles, pi sucks at music.
Flash app plays the first 10,000 digits of pi. While great at circles, pi sucks at music.
Monday, June 19, 2006
"Hi! Come on in. Let me get you a cup of coffee and tell you about the swell bridge you'll be buying."
Sunday, June 18, 2006
[Too Much Fab Book-Lernin']
People tend to get really analytical about the Beatles. Here are a few of the most fevered.
Semantic Shifts In Beatles Chord Progressions
The intention of our experiment was to investigate whether harmonic shifts can be perceived as shifts in the semantic contexts of a song excerpt. To this end we presented progressions of two and three chords to a sample of 40 subjects. The first chord was meant to induce a tonal context for the next ones, which we asked the subjects to rate on both semantic dimensions. The stimuli contained a minimal amount of musical information. The song fragments with the relevant chord transitions were reduced to chords played on a piano, each lasting only a couple of seconds. The approach taken thus can be called highly reductionistic.
The Beatles Biography
Beatles Money. Just what it sounds like. I have no idea why anybody would want to know who lent who money.
Sample fact: In a promo sheet from '65 it states George bought a bow and arrow. Purpose unknown
And saving the best for last, Alan Pollock's The Official Beatles Canon
which features detailed analysis of every single Beatles song. The fanboy geek-factor is cranked to an unbelievable level, but there's just a lot of great info in hear that even the most studious listener would never have picked up.
"Surprisingly, barely six different chords are used within the entire song to exploit such a complex tonal situation, in which your sense of where the home key is is kept continually in flux. I'd suggest that this changeability is so strongly a subliminal hook element of the song that the final ending on C sounds a tad abrupt and forced; perhaps a fade-out would have worked better."
People tend to get really analytical about the Beatles. Here are a few of the most fevered.
Semantic Shifts In Beatles Chord Progressions
The intention of our experiment was to investigate whether harmonic shifts can be perceived as shifts in the semantic contexts of a song excerpt. To this end we presented progressions of two and three chords to a sample of 40 subjects. The first chord was meant to induce a tonal context for the next ones, which we asked the subjects to rate on both semantic dimensions. The stimuli contained a minimal amount of musical information. The song fragments with the relevant chord transitions were reduced to chords played on a piano, each lasting only a couple of seconds. The approach taken thus can be called highly reductionistic.
The Beatles Biography
Beatles Money. Just what it sounds like. I have no idea why anybody would want to know who lent who money.
Sample fact: In a promo sheet from '65 it states George bought a bow and arrow. Purpose unknown
And saving the best for last, Alan Pollock's The Official Beatles Canon
which features detailed analysis of every single Beatles song. The fanboy geek-factor is cranked to an unbelievable level, but there's just a lot of great info in hear that even the most studious listener would never have picked up.
"Surprisingly, barely six different chords are used within the entire song to exploit such a complex tonal situation, in which your sense of where the home key is is kept continually in flux. I'd suggest that this changeability is so strongly a subliminal hook element of the song that the final ending on C sounds a tad abrupt and forced; perhaps a fade-out would have worked better."
Friday, June 16, 2006
Check out The Jive's house band, Jet Weston and the Atomic Ranch Hands, playing live on WDVR's Heartland Hayride. The show runs Saturday evening from 6-8pm. The Ranch Hands will be playing a half dozen songs throughout the course of the show.
WDVR's Audio Feed Here
WDVR's Audio Feed Here
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Looks like whale's back on the menu, boys!
"There are stocks of whales that are very abundant. What's the idea of having them just there, increasing, increasing and increasing," he said.
"There are stocks of whales that are very abundant. What's the idea of having them just there, increasing, increasing and increasing," he said.
Death by DMCA
Emboldened by their successes, U.S. entertainment companies are pushing for another wave of even more restrictive legislation. “Broadcast flag” legislation could require that all consumer electronics devices recognize protected television broadcasts and potentially refuse to copy them; a so-called “radio flag” bill would prevent or restrict the manufacture of hard disk recorders for digital radio; and an “analog hole” closure would restrict the connections new digital devices can make with analog devices.
Emboldened by their successes, U.S. entertainment companies are pushing for another wave of even more restrictive legislation. “Broadcast flag” legislation could require that all consumer electronics devices recognize protected television broadcasts and potentially refuse to copy them; a so-called “radio flag” bill would prevent or restrict the manufacture of hard disk recorders for digital radio; and an “analog hole” closure would restrict the connections new digital devices can make with analog devices.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
This quiet 51-year-old Californian (above, on a ladder) for the past 22 years has been creating giant plywood people who pop up in fields and on storefronts all over Monterey County, California.
Spiritual album or serial killer's confession? You be the judge. Anyway, old Freddie should be arrested for the white hi-rise leather boots alone. I must have made a dozen bad album cover posts, but there's always something new. Here's another site full of horrible ideas.
Folgers: Wake up to torment by glowing yellow clowns singing "You can sleep when you are dead".
Monday, June 12, 2006
Sunday, June 11, 2006
For more urban decay photography, check out Satan's Laundromat. Tons of great stuff, including the imitation chicken gallery.
I could really go for some Utah fried chicken.
Michael Berg talks about the death of his son and al-Zarqawi
I find it incredible that someone can be so hopeful, rational, and forgiving when something this bad has happened to them.
Well, my reaction is I'm sorry whenever any human being dies. Zarqawi is a human being. He has a family who are reacting just as my family reacted when Nick was killed, and I feel bad for that. (Watch Berg compare Zarqawi to President Bush -- 1:44)
I find it incredible that someone can be so hopeful, rational, and forgiving when something this bad has happened to them.
Well, my reaction is I'm sorry whenever any human being dies. Zarqawi is a human being. He has a family who are reacting just as my family reacted when Nick was killed, and I feel bad for that. (Watch Berg compare Zarqawi to President Bush -- 1:44)
I feel doubly bad, though, because Zarqawi is also a political figure, and his death will re-ignite yet another wave of revenge, and revenge is something that I do not follow, that I do want ask for, that I do not wish for against anybody. And it can't end the cycle. As long as people use violence to combat violence, we will always have violence.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Oneworldexpedition is the online diary of 2 guys trying to cross the arctic icecap before it melts. Sponsored by Greenpeace's Project Thin Ice
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Gallery of huge beings
Every huge roadside guy I've ever seen has had a beard. Big lumberjack. Big Amish guy. Big farmer. Trucker. You get the idea. Actually, I'm pretty sure the beard is these sculptors' only priority. I'll be damned if this blimp-holding welder (wtf?) isn't sporting one under his mask. Huge-guy-sculpting is truly a beard-enthusiast artform. So this is a welcome sight.
[Tri-tarded] Since the early 50's when electric guitars first gained popularity with players, people have been screwing up a perfectly good thing with idiotic schemes trying to come up with a better way to make them. Now there's this y-shaped... oh forget it.
Monkey Chow Guy is 4 days in and 5 pounds down.
It's all in the monkey sauces.
But can a human subsist on a constant diet of pelletized, nutritionally complete food like puppies and monkeys do? For the good of human kind, I'm about to find out. On June 3, 2006, I began my week of eating nothing but monkey chow: "a complete and balanced diet for the nutrition of primates, including the great apes." Maybe I'll lose weight. Maybe I'll gain superhuman monkey strength. Maybe I'll go crazy. Maybe it's too late. Check back here every day to follow along with the Monkey Chow Diaries. Comments, criticisms, questions and advice can be left on the blog.
It's all in the monkey sauces.
But can a human subsist on a constant diet of pelletized, nutritionally complete food like puppies and monkeys do? For the good of human kind, I'm about to find out. On June 3, 2006, I began my week of eating nothing but monkey chow: "a complete and balanced diet for the nutrition of primates, including the great apes." Maybe I'll lose weight. Maybe I'll gain superhuman monkey strength. Maybe I'll go crazy. Maybe it's too late. Check back here every day to follow along with the Monkey Chow Diaries. Comments, criticisms, questions and advice can be left on the blog.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Monday, June 05, 2006
Stephen Colbert's Commencement speech at Knox College
And when you enter the workforce, you will find competition from those crossing our all-too-poorest borders. Now I know you’re all going to say, “Stephen, Stephen, immigrants built America.” Yes, but here’s the thing—it’s built now. I think it was finished in the mid-70s sometime. At this point it’s a touch-up and repair job. But thankfully Congress is acting and soon English will be the official language of America. Because if we surrender the national anthem to Spansih, the next thing you know, they’ll be translating the Bible. God wrote it in English for a reason! So it could be taught in our public schools.
So we must build walls. A wall obviously across the entire southern border. That’s the answer. That may not be enough—maybe a moat in front of it, or a fire-pit. Maybe a flaming moat, filled with fire-proof crocodiles. And we should probably wall off the northern border as well. Keep those Canadians with their socialized medicine and their skunky beer out. And because immigrants can swim, we’ll probably want to wall off the coasts as well. And while we’re at it, we need to put up a dome, in case they have catapults. And we’ll punch some holes in it so we can breathe. Breathe free. It’s time for illegal immigrants to go—right after they finish building those walls. Yes, yes, I agree with me.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
[Would you like 50 lbs. of fries with that?] There's a place in Clinton, New Jersey called the Clinton Station that serves what has to be the world's biggest cheeseburger. It's 50 lbs. (demolishing their old record-breaking 15 pound "Zeus" burger, because, hey, why the hell not?), and if 5 people can finish it in 3 hours, it's free. Otherwise, they pay the $100. These guys tried, but failed.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Thursday, June 01, 2006
The Fate of the Ocean
A long (12p) but very worthwhile article on the effects and probable outcomes of man-made climate change and pollution-causing hypoxic zones on the oceans (Mother Jones)
A long (12p) but very worthwhile article on the effects and probable outcomes of man-made climate change and pollution-causing hypoxic zones on the oceans (Mother Jones)
["Yeah.... but why?" dept.] Gallery of the Absurd is gossip-page art, I guess.
The artist makes really nice paintings using empty celebrities as themes.
The artist makes really nice paintings using empty celebrities as themes.