Dr. Schunke to Gizmodo: Delete Me : Gizmodo

Dr. Schunke is being a royal prick. Just for that: Fuck you, Dr. Schunke

Slashdot | Users Reject MS Independent Study Claims

OK. Here's my take on it: You want to set up a server for your small company. You have DSL and a LAN. You want a web page, email server with spam filters, mailing list for customers and another for staff. Additionally, you want a file server internally and an extranet for your remote users. You have 10 employees. With Windows: MS Windows 2003 Server: $1,199 (Server + 10 licenses) OR MS Windows 2003 Small Business Edition with 5 licenses PLUS 5 more: $1,499 + $489 Norton Antivirus Corporate: (10-pack) $913 Norton AntiSpam: With Linux: Your choice of Linux distros: FREE LAMP system for web, extranet, etc: FREE SpamAssassin: FREE Clam Antivitus: FREE Installation: Windows: 2 days at $100/hr x 8 hrs = $1600 Linux: 2 days at $100/hr x 8 hrs = $1600 Suggested Routine Maintenance: Windows: 1-3 hours on-site every 2 weeks: $100-300 Linux: Scripted, cronjob, and remote maintenance: 3 hrs setup ($300) plus 1 hour every month for a checkup: $100 Emergency Repairs: Windows: At least 2 hours on-site, typically 3-4 hours at $100/hr - Typically 1-3 times a year. Linux: Typically 1-2 hours remote or on-site, minimum 1 hour.- typically once or less a year. Major Software Upgrades: Windows: 4+ hours, on-site Linux: 2-4 hours on-site Security: Windows: Requires firewall plus a (usually commercial) antivirus solution. Encrypted remote access costs more. Susceptable to virii from workstations. Linux: Built-in firewall, free encryption utilities, antivirus available (Linux is very resistant to virii), more agressive security tools available and free. Workstations: Windows: $199 per user, plus Norton Antivirus. Approx. 1-2 hrs per user setup time. Requires: Fairly new PC. Linux: FREE OS. Approx 2 hours initial setup (NIS/YP), plus 5 minutes automated install per user (thin client, boot-to-CD). Requires: Almost any PC with CDROM and LAN. Do the math. Linux sometimes takes a little longer to set up custom stuff (there is a LOT more of ir and there are a LOT more choices), but it requires MUCH less maintenance and licensing fees.

Gizmodo Served Cease and Desist by Lawyer for Sony Ericsson.

Gizmodo, one of my favorite blogs, just got a Cease and Desist order from the mouthpiece for Sony Ericsson.
Full story here.
Here is the message I'm sending to the lawyer:
(Via web form, CC'd to Sony Ericsson's web contact form) Dr. Maximilian Schunke, LL.M. Göhmann Wrede Haas Kappus & Hartmann
Dr. Schunke;
Your Cease and Desist order to Gizmodo has done nothing to improve my opinion of your firm and of your client, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications International AB.
Althought I do fully admit that you and your client were well within your rights to send the notice, I protest on the grounds that it was not only the wrong thing to do, but also was sent to the wrong entity.
Sending that notice is NOT enforcing copyrights. It does nothing but make you look obnoxious, rude, condescending, and bullish. In short, it makes you look like a shoolyard bully, picking on the little guy because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. By attaacking the news outlet, you are going after the wrong entity. Go after the leak from inside, not the news people who are doing their job.
Your notice has sent a clear message: That Sony Ericsson is nothing but one more giant corporation with no care at all for the consumer, nor the small media companies many of your consumers trust for timely information. You have affirmed my long time hatred of lawyers, but most of all...
You have single handedly convinced me to NEVER AGAIN purchase ANYTHING from Sony Ericsson.
Sincerely,

Brian Chabot
Not that I think it'll do anything..... but it felt good to send it.

Getting Rid Of Spammers

I have an idea that should work to get rid of spammers. I know it's been tried before, and a lot of people are against it, but.... First you set up a Realtime Blacklist (RBL) system. With this, people can report spam, and like SpamCop, the headers are checked, parsed, etc. and IP addresses used by the spammer identified. After a certain number of complaints from a certain number of different complaint sources, the IP is added into the blacklist database. There it would sit, for a predetermined amount of time... a set period since the last valid complaint. Not to put it to use... With most blasklists, the IP is blocked from connecting to the mail server or used to filter email. Not in this system. Here, the IP is not just blacklisted, but blackholed. In essense the IP's are blocked at the *router* of the user of the RBL. This doesn't just stop the spam, but it puts a damper on ANY online activity of the affected IP address. This would prevent ANY traffic from going past users of the RBL to or from the spammer's sites. This might include the spammer idly surfing but it also includes things like networking with other spammers, collecting their profits, etc. Overkill, you say? Perhaps. Legitimate users on the same IP? Good source of pressure to stop the spammer if you ask me. The Internet was built on the idea of cooperation. The vast majority of people on the internet do not like and do not want spam. Thus blocking it is cooperating with the vast majority of users out there. There are plenty of other advertizing methods both online and off, and it is the spam that pisses people off. This majority got many of the larger online companies to move against pop-up ads. Why can't we do the same with spam? Block them at the router I say. Blackhole the SOB's and cut off all their communications. They'll learn. If they don't want to play by the accepted rules, they don't get to play at all.