From lyger at attrition.org Sat Oct 11 19:53:55 2008 From: lyger at attrition.org (lyger) Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:53:55 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [attrition] Movie: Rules of Engagement Message-ID: http://attrition.org/movies/roe.html Rules of Engagement 2000 review by: martums A pair of Marines who served together in -- wait for it -- Viet Nam are reunited at a retirement party for the one driving a desk. After a life-changing injury during a battle in Cou-Lui, Hodges, (Tommy Lee Jones), becomes a military attorney and divides his spare time equally between fly fishing and alcoholism. Childers, (in an ass-kicking performance by Samuel L. Jackson), earns command of the 54th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Shortly before Hodges' actual retirement, Childers and his Marines are sent in to provide protection for a U.S. Embassy in the Middle East. A protest gets out of hand, the shit suddenly hits the fan, and the Marines find themselves in the middle of a hornet's nest. They come under fire, and after taking casualties, are ultimately ordered to return fire. Men, women and children are injured and killed--a horrible and massive bloodbath. And before you can say scapegoat, weapons and evidence disappear. Childers faces a court martial including multiple murder charges. The ensuing shitstorm provides for some excellent drama and insight. Childers naturally reaches out to the first washed-up, burned-out, drunk, cynical Marine lawyer he can find: Hodges. Engagement is one of my all-time favorite films with an all-star cast which includes Anne Archer, Ben Kingsley, Blair Underwood, and Guy Pearce. [...] From jericho at attrition.org Tue Oct 28 04:04:04 2008 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:04:04 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [attrition] Announcing Errata: Certified Pre-owned (CPO) Message-ID: http://attrition.org/errata/cpo/ Vendor FAIL - Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) How vendors screw up their own products and leave YOU holding the virtual bag Certified Pre-0wned For reasons unknown, vendors occasionally fail to maintain quality control over the media they ship. Whether it is CD-ROM, DVD, USB or some other form of media, it may contain viruses, trojans or even drug-runner music. When this happens, the software you receive obviously can't be trusted in any fashion, and installing software from already compromised media immediately puts your system's integrity in question. This page serves to keep a record of such incidents and remind vendors that shipping "pre-0wned" software is deplorable. This list is designed to capture consumer related exposures, specifically malware or other items of interest. This list will not include incidents of vendors shipping vulnerable software as that list would be extensive. In addition, it will not track targeted malware attacks against specific targets, such as the "Farewell Dossier". For an interesting historical perspective of such incidents until 1996, consult McDonald's list. Some of these incidents are integrated in the CPO list depending on the information available. [..] This list is not complete, yet it should make you realize that nothing is safe. Every piece of electronics you buy and every piece of software you install may come with malware pre-installed. Rather than manufacturers introducing a higher set of quality controls to prevent such incidents, we will no doubt see companies produce new products that will help keep you "safe" from such threats. These "controls" would no-doubt be another bandaid on top of bandaids that make up a lucrative market, which is sad commentary about how customers perceive and receive "electronic security". From lyger at attrition.org Thu Oct 30 02:36:54 2008 From: lyger at attrition.org (lyger) Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:36:54 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [attrition] postal: a puddle of cheese is a place i want to frolic Message-ID: http://attrition.org/postal/p0018.html everyone out of the pool everywhere there's signs love, dee dee a tribute to josh (#7 in a series) when kiddies grow older everyone stand back dueling lyrics the best things in life aren't free ENOUGH WITH THE TODD SHIT ALREADY see above