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So, finally decided to give the whole web journal/blog thing a go. My apologies right from the start: I lead a boring life, I'm hoping that'll change with the whole going to university thing but I can't promise anything. I doubt anybody cares though since filtering through X million blogs to find mine isn't what I'd expect anyone to do.... Nevermind eh? It's always nice to just have a place to ramble on (and in public to)! |
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There was a news article about a new vulnerability in the firefox browser today. I'd just like to take a minute to say I think that this could well be a bit of BS. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for real software problems being found and published but the author of this one is either totally wrong (this "exploit" simply redirects *me* to a google keyword search rather than crash my browser) or irrisponsible (he only told mozilla about this on sunday...hardly what I'd call enough time for them to find the problem and patch it). Lets just take a minute to digress: when a security flaw is found in any software it is polite to tell the developers of such software, announce publically that a problem exists and then work with the developers until either a) a patch is ready or b) they're sitting on their asses not doing anything else about it. THEN and only then should more details be released. A working exploit is never really needed. This just helps the script kiddies hurt peoples systems. Back to the point. This "exploit" doesn't appear to do much, was released *way* before full disclosure was nessessary and doesn't actually seem to do anything at all for many people. That's not to say it should be ignored. If there is a flaw the mozilla folks should get it fixed but don't get swept up in the hype of this being a "critical" security problem. In fact go and reproduce the error (details can be found on the link above) yourself and see**. ** It could harm your computer and data. Don't do something just because it was suggested in a blog, it COULD HURT YOUR COMPUTER/DATA/ANYTHING and I won't take responcibility for anything that happens to it/you/anyone you know. NOTE: I already know my spelling sucks today. |
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In the news today the head of MI5 has stated that in order to protect britons from terrorism civil liberties may have to be "eroded". This is c**p. Civil liberties are what make the difference between police state and democracy. IMHO even a small "erosion" of liberties will kick start the road to an orwellian nightmare. Ok, ok, so it probabaly won't mean that big brother will start to moniter our every move but we'll have a lot less freedom and any new laws may well allow the state (as it were) more freedoms to harrass law abiding citizens for no apparent reason. I'm pretty sick of governments hiding their agendas behind that big bad word "terrorism". The fact that there are probably more londoners than terrorists out there doesn't appear to register with them. I'd even go out on a limb here and say that you're more likely to get hit by a meteor than be killed in a terrorist attack. Oh, and how come there wasn't any of this rubbish when the IRA were bombing london? Perhaps it was because there really wasn't that much of a threat? Civil liberties are ours. They should not be taken away. If it means the difference between a terrorist cell pulling off a bombing or them getting caught I don't care. I wouldn't care if somebody close to me was a victim (they very nearly were in the last bombings). In ther words of Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." This still rings true. I'd prefer a successful attack on the UK by a terrorist cell than an attack on civil liberites by any government. At least the terrorists are limited in there scope of damage. Governements can continue their attack(s) for many years. Ok, enough of my civil liberties rant. Please feel free to continue on your way and onsider me a nut ;-) |
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# Begin rant It would seem that Australia has decided to join in with the whole stamping-on-citizens-freedoms thing by adopting some new terror laws. I really wish they'd stop hiding behind the word "terrorism" and actually come out and say it: they want to be able to spy on their own citizens/tourists more effectively. Terrorisms a bad thing, no doubt about that. There *are* terrorists out there and yes, many of them do want to hurt people but I've yet to see a law passed that would effectively stop them. For example, the proposed ID cards in the UK. Considering every single other form if ID in history has at some point been forged (and been forged well enough to pass as the real thing) I fail to see how these new ID cards will be any different. It only takes *one* smart person to figure out how to break it's security and it's a dead duck. It should also be rememberd that all of the 9/11 attackers had valid ID, there wasn't even a need for them to fake it. Then there's things like detaining people without charge, less restricted access to people's internet accounts etc. If a person is suspected of something there should already be a good reason for it. I don't see a need to be able to hold people without charge for a length of time greater than current laws allow. And why on earth would an actual terrorist be using their own private internet account to send incriminating clear text messages? I get nervous about sending rather mundane personal information by email. I'd think that a person wishing to commit a few murders would be more paranoid about it than me and my birthdate. All in all Id' have to say it gets me kind of angry to see governments taking such unthought out actions. Infringing upon civil rights is *not* the way to stop terrorism. # End rant And now back to your regular programming schedule.... Comiserations to anybody effected by the recient bad weather (hurricate Rita and the Vietnam typhoon to name a couple). Everyone using the Firefox browser (and people who arn't) should go and get/upgrade to version 1.0.7. It takes care of a few of those pesky security problems. It would seem that China is reviewing parts of the death sentance proceedures. I'm not sure if that means executions will become less frequent or if it's all lip service to stem the critisism so we'll have to wait and see. And to finish off, here's todays fortune cookie: "May your camel be as swift as the wind." |