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GeekNights 070514 - IT Security Overview

RymRym
edited May 2007 in Technology
Tonight on GeekNights, we briefly go over the world of IT Security in preparation for a longer-running series on the topic. In the news, a Harvard Professor thinks information should be purposefully lost, and Blender 2.44 has been released.

Scott's Thing - Roland 909 in Flash
Rym's Thing - Randi pwns James Hydrick

Comments

  • SailSail
    Holy crap! A GeekNights episode actually posted at a reasonable time!
  • whateverwhatever
    Someone needs to make a .gif of James Hydrick moving his fingers 4:15-4:18. XD
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    edited May 2007
    Proof of the paranormal?

    How about walking up to Randi and just saying these few words: "George Bush is President".

    Better yet, just drop a ball in front of him. When he says it's just gravity at work tell him to explain gravity and prove it 100%.

    Magic and the paranormal are just things that science has not yet fully explained.

    What if the guy doing the blowing is able to expel more air than his lungs should be able to hold? Would that be paranormal?

    I've been around some of these crunchy-granola-eating paranormal types and I have to say that they are a lot of fun for a night and the occasional booty-call but not so good for the long term relationship. I don't want to say too much about that though 'cause those "Internet Cache Nazis" might come after me in twenty years.

    Think about this though, if someone truly had paranormal powers would 1 million dollars be enough to lose your privacy? I mean, if you had the power to do any of the freaky shit that you see on the Heroes TV Show, would you even consider going public? If I were psychic I would consider 1 million dollars to be far to low a price for my privacy. Besides, if my power was cool enough I could use it to make millions!

    What if you hd the power to see through woman's clothing, would you really want the world to know that?
    Post edited by HMTKSteve on
  • MagL33ToMagL33To
    I watched up till 12:45 on that Randi video. I can't bear to watch people make fools of themselves.
  • navelfluffnavelfluff
    Think about this though, if someone truly had paranormal powers would 1 million dollars be enough to lose your privacy? I mean, if you had the power to do any of the freaky shit that you see on the Heroes TV Show, would you even consider going public? If I were psychic I would consider 1 million dollars to be far to low a price for my privacy. Besides, if my power was cool enough I could use it to make millions!
    [sarcasm]
    So, Sylvia Browne doesn't take the million dollar challenge because she is afraid of the impact of becoming famous would have on her private life? That seems very likely.
    [/sarcasm]
  • HankHank
    Not that it discounts the "Randi friends with Houdini" remark from Rym, but Houdini died 31 October 1928, and Randi was born 07 April 1928. There was overlap, but I don't imagine any fruitful conversations would have taken place. Maybe he does it using psychic powers.

    Randi is the Man [TM], however.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Think about this though, if someone truly had paranormal powers would 1 million dollars be enough to lose your privacy? I mean, if you had the power to do any of the freaky shit that you see on the Heroes TV Show, would you even consider going public? If I were psychic I would consider 1 million dollars to be far to low a price for my privacy. Besides, if my power was cool enough I could use it to make millions!
    [sarcasm]
    So, Sylvia Browne doesn't take the million dollar challenge because she is afraid of the impact of becoming famous would have on her private life? That seems very likely.
    [/sarcasm]
    If Sylvia Brown (no idea who she is) is already in the public eye and not taking the challenge she is likely a fraud.

    What better promotion and proof of her power is there than taking Randi's money?
  • AndrewAndrew
    edited May 2007
    Proof of the paranormal?

    How about walking up to Randi and just saying these few words: "George Bush is President".
    First off, I'm not even sure what that means. How does that have any relevance to the topic of paranormal occurance?
    Better yet, just drop a ball in front of him. When he says it's just gravity at work tell him to explain gravity and prove it 100%.
    Randi says he is not a scientist, he is a skeptic. In the video he even refers to the panel of skeptics to see if, in their professional opinion, the foam would produce that strong static force. They said it didn't, so he took their judgement. Just because you are ignorant of a particular issue, that does not mean that it is any less real or valid. This is also a strawman argument.
    Magic and the paranormal are just things that science has not yet fully explained.
    Define "magic" or "paranormal". Are you talking about psychics? Ghosts? Unicorns? Harry Potter? Do you have any evidence for even the existence of such occurrences? No. Things that science hasn't fully explained are issues like Abiogenesis and the Big Bang, which is not magic.
    What if the guy doing the blowing is able to expel more air than his lungs should be able to hold? Would that be paranormal?
    No, because it is in the realm of scientific possibility and explanation. Even if that was the case, are we to assume that people with big lungs have "telekinesis" powers?
    Think about this though, if someone truly had paranormal powers would 1 million dollars be enough to lose your privacy? I mean, if you had the power to do any of the freaky shit that you see on the Heroes TV Show, would you even consider going public? If I were psychic I would consider 1 million dollars to be far to low a price for my privacy. Besides, if my power was cool enough I could use it to make millions!
    So what you are saying is that just because we can't disprove it exists, it could exist? I'm sorry, but that is not how science works. Even if you were to make a million dollars with your "power", you would have to prove it works somewhere along the way.
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • CramitCramit
    Rym, you have been talking about getting this new computer from almost the first episode of geeknights! You did not just start looking.
    I quote from the Just Talking episode from February 13, 2006: "...and I'm going to continue to use this busted-ass video card until next when I buy a whole new computer..."
    Scott wins this one!
  • RymRym
    You did not just start looking.
    I did just start looking. I have indeed been thinking about getting a new computer, but I did not begin the requisite research until recently.

    When I buy a computer, I begin the process about two months before the actual purchase. There is quite a bit of research involved. I have to learn about what new hardware standards there are, which motherboards work with which RAM chips and OSs, how much power to get, etc...
    "...and I'm going to continue to use this busted-ass video card until next when I buy a whole new computer..."
    I did in fact continue to use that busted-ass video card. The only reason I didn't continue to use it all the way until I got a new computer was that it failed entirely before that time.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    edited May 2007
    What I was trying to say is that magic and science are virtually identical to someone without the Intelligence to understand how things work. Even if you had telekinetic powers, with enough scientific observation and testing, your power would no longer be psychic and would instead become a matter of science. If someone had a Polaroid camera back in 1492 do you think the people of that time would have considered it magic?

    And yes, if you can not disprove it 100% there is always a small chance it may exist. That does not mean I believe it, just that it is possible.

    Now, you would never have to "prove" your power worked along the way to making your millions. As an example let's say you have the power to see tomorrow's stock news while you dream at night. You then use this information to make money on the market. Would you ever tell anyone you had this power? Hell no! You would have no reason to "prove" your power to anyone.

    Randi's offer will likely never be taken by someone who actually has psychic powers because it is not worth it. Don't read into that statement a belief that I think psychics are out there. Randi's offer is only open to frauds who think they are good enough to fool him.
    Post edited by HMTKSteve on
  • RymRym
    He's not disproving the possibility of anything. The only people Randi ever goes after are those who make a specific claim to a power or profess a belief in something specific for which there is no evidence.

    Saying there might be psychic powers out there is one thing. Saying you believe there are, or that you have them, is another thing entirely.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    I understand what Randi does. I also feel that if someone truly had psychic powers they would not be motivated to "win" his million dollar challenge because it is not worth the loss of privacy and anonymity.

    I have never seen anything to make me believe psychic powers exist.
  • JameskunJameskun
    This just reminded of me of a fortune I saw a while back:
    Clarke's Third Law:
    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

    G's Third Law:
    In spite of all evidence to the contrary, the entire universe is composed of only two basic substances: magic and bullshit.

    H's Dictum:
    There is no magic ...
  • CramitCramit
    edited May 2007
    You stated that you would get a computer in March in that podcast and then again in the podcast on the following day.
    Post edited by Cramit on
  • SailSail
    Did you guys really say there wasn't any tech news yesterday?

    Wtf? This seems pretty significant to me. Especially with you guys on your patent kick.
  • LiquidTimLiquidTim
    edited May 2007
    That video was awesome. Thanks for sharing it.

    Carl Sagan, James Randi, Penn Jillette, Teller, and Richard Dawkins need to get together sometime.

    [QUOTE=Sail]Did you guys really say there wasn't any tech news yesterday?[/QUOTE]

    Microsoft claiming open source violate patents? That's not news!
    Post edited by LiquidTim on
  • SailSail
    edited May 2007
    Use the HTML button, please.

    Scott, can you just get rid of the BBCode option?
    Post edited by Sail on
  • AprecheApreche
    Use the HTML button, please.

    Scott, can you just get rid of the BBCode option?
    Soon, very soon.
  • N15PCAN15PCA
    I fine it funny on the same night on Geek Nights podcast they called about the moron Professor talking about how information should be lost on the computer and at the same podcast Geek NIghts talked about protecting your computer though security and firewalls. I think both points tie into this this podcast esp. really well. That Professor sounded like that computer program in MGS 2 that was pretending to be Col. Roy Campbell when it came to information. Pretty scary stuff.
  • RoosterRooster
    I just gotta say that this episode restored my faith in the Monday shows. For a little while, I had stopped listening to them simply because I didn't want to listen to you guys talk about How Computers Work. But now, with this new series, I have good reason to listen to Monday once again. Mad props and many thanks.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited May 2007
    Regarding the James Randi video...
    Was that guy's costume really necessary?
    I looked like cosplay gone bad.

    I also like the look on his face when he is told that he'll be going "head to head" against Randi.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • SparkybuzzedSparkybuzzed
    BTW, is calling Randi a "god" sort of hypocritical? :)
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    I am opposed to the government keeping it secret if they want to invade Australia. I'd like those plans on Digg. Or at least an email. I need a few hours notice to make it to Sydney or Melbourne to get to the US embassy with me US passport.
  • AndrewAndrew
    I am opposed to the government keeping it secret if they want to invade Australia. I'd like those plans on Digg. Or at least an email. I need a few hours notice to make it to Sydney or Melbourne to get to the US embassy with me US passport.
    The only reason we are going to invade is because Australia only continent that doesn't have it's honey bees dying off...
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    I am opposed to the government keeping it secret if they want to invade Australia. I'd like those plans on Digg. Or at least an email. I need a few hours notice to make it to Sydney or Melbourne to get to the US embassy with me US passport.
    The only reason we are going to invade is because Australia only continent that doesn't have it's honey bees dying off...
    I was going to say that was the lamest reason for invading somewhere but then I remembered all the other reasons people invade places.
  • HecateHecate
    You've probably seen the Bruce Schneier "facts" page...

    http://geekz.co.uk/schneierfacts/

    "I don't bother with WEP or WPA, I just got Bruce to autograph my wireless access point."
  • CremlianCremlian
    Is there a decent reason to have a HDD password and file encryption? wouldn't that be redundant security. I'm in a situation where instead if I choose to not use HD encryption, I have to put a password on the HDD and use file encryption, where I'd rather use just file encryption (and standard login). I need an argument that this amount of security only hurts our ability to provide tech support and does not increase security by much.
  • okeefeokeefe
    Different threat models. Encrypt at the disk if you're worried about theft of the disk or the machine. Encrypt at the filesystem to control user access (who's allowed, when to unencrypted).
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