20 Apr 2004
Cisco Products Have Backdoors

The Slashdotter asks a very good question. This is the real reason that open source will beat closed in the security department every time.

Transparency = trust.

A Cisco Security Advisory released yesterday admits that "A default username/password pair is present in all releases of the Wireless LAN Solution Engine (WLSE) and Hosting Solution Engine (HSE) software. A user who logs in using this username has complete control of the device. This username cannot be disabled." Can we really trust closed-source vendors, such as Cisco, to develop secure products that are free of backdoors?

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

EarthLink CEO gets big bonus

This seems to be the new formula for business "success" - it's not profitability or anything like that, anymore.

During the same year the ISP lays off 25 per cent of its work force, Chief Executive Garry Betty takes home a bonus of $346,790--up 76 percent from the year before.

(link) [CNET News.com]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Morris Dancing

There's a very nice tale of Morris Dancing "Down Under" over at The Green Man. I've often thought about taking this up, but the only troupe even remotely local to me is in Bloomington, which is about a 90 minute drive.

I've always been fascinated by religious dance (or by dance as a spititual expression). There's quite a good article on it posted at Frigga's Web (which we host, incidentially) called Dance in the Northern Tradition.

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

SimChurch

This is so weird: a "church" of any religion contains a community, and it it very, very difficult to build any kind of community in a purely online venue. Especially one that has no "entrance requirement", which a virtual Christian "church", for obvious reasons, probably can't have.

It's Sunday and some of you might go to a church. But starting on May 11, and for a duration of three months, you'll be able to go to a virtual church. Only the building, with its altar and pews, will be virtual. The preacher, congregation and prayers will be real.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Passwords revealed by sweet deal

No doubt these are the same people who wonder how it happened when their identity get stolen and used for less than legit purposes ...

More than 70% of people would reveal their computer password in exchange for a bar of chocolate, a survey has found.

(link) [BBC]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link