Jadeclaw Denfu
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Posts posted by Jadeclaw Denfu
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A few additional thoughts about signed software and registered clients:
The problem with 'registered' client software is:
You need to certify each file, that contains executable code, not only the main executable. You have to recheck these files
everytime the client is started. You know, how fast the client usually starts up? Double that time. Plus you have to setup the
certification infrastructure to handle that. And that still doesn't prevent altering the code in the main memory of the pc. And we're still not there. To handle all that certification nightmare, new protocols need to be implemented. And that's all only for the
official viewer. Where does that leave the third party viewers? Yep, multiply all that effort by the number of different viewers and you will see, that this is an unworkable solution. It can be handled in a controlled environment, e.g. in a local network with
a few hundred computers in an office building, but surely not for the whole planet.This leaves the only controllable environment in this scenario: The server side.
In other words: It is Linden Lab's duty to fix the server code.Oh, and reinstating a fully functioning Abuse-Department is the other pressing issue here.
Qie Niangao wrote: "Banning individual accounts doesn't work because alts are free; banning by IP and/or MAC address is quite ineffective (although the pretense has been enormously profitable for the snake-oil industry); restricting access by account age has no effect on persistent griefers (the threats I'm discussing here),"Banning individual accounts does work to a certain level - if it is done quickly AND grid wide, as that would take out the fun.
Restricting access by account age also works, as it would prevent using quickly created alt accounts.
Banning by IP and / or MAC-Address is indeed quite useless, both can be quickly circumvented.
Finally banning by hardware profile, using serial numbers and component properties is harder to circumvent,
but it can be done as well, so that's not a permanent solution either.In other words: We're back to square one: It is Linden Lab's duty to fix the server code. And to get the AR-department functioning properly again.
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Qie Niangao wrote: "What if connection to Agni were only possible via registered TPVs? "
Doesn't work. Since it is software, a registered viewer can be spoofed.
There is only one workable solution: Fix the server code. The server code should block all unauthorized accesses,
regardless of the viewer used. There is a rule for server side web applications: Never trust input from the client side,
always clean it up on the server side before handing it over to the application/data process.
And this rule should be fully applied to SL as well. Residents, especially those with a business, have sometimes three, four
figure US$-amounts in their SL-accounts. It is therefore absolutely necessary, that the security of all parts of SL is on a level
you would expect from a bank.That a griefer is able to remove/destroy objects owned by someone else points to some serious security holes in the server code.
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Kenbro Utu wrote:Jadeclaw Denfu wrote:More can be found on Google.
I found this quite humorous considering the topic... :smileyvery-happy:Well, using the search engine is relatively unproblematic, you can throw out the tracking cookies regularly
without loosing nearly any functionality. However, with mail comes login and through that, tracking is always possible,
plus, I don't like it, when my mail is scanned for keywords to present adverts, noone knows, what else is going on there.
The Spam-filter my provider uses is integrated in their mailserver, the scanning results never leave the box,
the only result that leaves that server is an amended subject line, "[*** SPAM ***]" is added in front, I can locally sort those out.
.
Btw, data protection laws doesn't allow more than that, even throwing spam mail away isn't allowed, unless the
account holder specifically activates that.
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Well, a necropost to an old thread isn't very helpful.
francesco Smagda wrote: "i already had o give up my homestead i rented fro more than 3 years"
Wasn't that a bit quick?
When it comes to buying L$ with a non-accepted payment system, a third party reseller might help you out:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Linden_Dollar_%28L$%29_Authorized_Reseller_Program
More third party exchanges will return as resellers. -
Amethyst Jetaime wrote:US law says that companies that collect personal data have to establish a privacy policy that they publish at least annually or when ever they change their policy. They must abide by them too. Any company that doesn't follow this law can also face criminal charges and you can also sue them in civil court. With services such as facebook and google, you agree to their privacy policies by using their services.. They disclose their privacy policies with a link on their main screen. If you don't agree with their policies no one is forcing you to give any personal informaton or indeed even use the service so you have complete control over your personal data. Your government can also block the service. I don't use facebook or any other of the popular social networking sites because I disagree with the way they use my personal data to make money.SL has a privacy policy too where it states that data is only given to third parties under limited circumstances such as when it is needed to provide part of the services connected to SL such as billing or servicesyourequest or to law enforcement authorities if they report a crime or a warrant is presented. LL couldn't just start selling data to another company without your consent or revamping their privacy policy and notifying you of it.Jade asserted thatUS authoritiesact in a way that would violate European laws. She said "A lot of what US-authorities can do, is prohibited under European law." implying she had no choice in the matter and that the authorities here would get her personal data. That is simply not the case so long as she doesn't commit a crime or become a terrorist.
The difference (as Innula points out): Here in Europe, the law sets minimum standards for a privacy policy
and an independent authority (e.g. data protection officer in Germany, the ICO in the UK) makes sure, the company
keeps in line with the law.And in regard to the US-authorities, two examples: NSLs (National Security Letters), where the victim isn't even allowed
to talk to a lawyer. That would not only be unconstitutional in most european countries, these letters would also be a violation
of the relevant EU-directives. Luckily, the US-courts wised up on these and they fell out of favor with the FBI. And the latest
incident, where telephone records of a number of AP-journalists had been accessed. Without a court order. Illegal here in Germany.
As journalists, the clerical officials (e.g. priests) and lawyers too enjoy constitutional protection. As far as I know, in the US
only attorney-client communication/material is protected.But don't get me wrong, not all in the US juidicial system is bad, the possibility to slap a recalcitrant company with punitive
damages is sometimes sorely missed here.Oh, and by the way, I'm male.
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Drake1 Nightfire wrote: "You trust a TPE with your cell number but not LL?"
European TPEs work under european data protection laws. These laws are much stricter than the US-laws.
A lot of what US-authorities can do, is prohibited under european law. Plus, if a TPE screws up something,
it is a lot easier to start proceedings under local or european regulations that to sue an american company. -
I use Thunderbird, it can handle multiple accounts on multiple ISPs, has extensive filtering options (I use that to presort mails
into separate folders), handles SSL/TLS-Encryption and has a bayesian type Spam-filter, which works quite well.My web hoster (Goneo.de) offers two different webmail-clients, comprehensive spam premarking/filtering,
plus a load of options regarding the webhosting service itself.
Price range is usually between a tenner per year for a simple webpage and a few mail accounts
and up to 80, 90 bucks per year for a big business web presence.
Remember, when comparing offers, besides price and options, reliability and customer service are the main important points
to look out for. And a Linden Lab-style communication culture is usually the exception, not the standard.Here are a few comparison sites: http://www.findmyhosting.com/
http://web-hosting-review.toptenreviews.com/
More can be found on Google. -
Best alternative for mail instead of Google, Yahoo and all the other ones:
Your own domain with a good hoster. Of course, it's not free - but everything runs to your specification.
And you can use the e-mail client you like. Plus most webhosters offer webmail too.
Just stay away from GoDaddy and its subsidiaries. -
The question is, to whom this is a material change?
To someone with a valid creditcard and / or working PayPal surely not.
To someone without a creditcard it may, depending how urgent the need to buy L$ is.
To the TPEs definately. Or to quote from the mail of one TPE to me: "This is not a brain fart, this is napalm...".It really depends on the point of view and the Lab is not known for communicating well.
And since we still don't know all the facts behind this clusterf... we don't know, if ignoring the 30-day rule was forced
on the Lab by the government (Stop it, or else...). I'm willing to cut the Lab some slack here to a certain degree.To the resident losing US$900,-- due to the Lab's slow payout: Talk to your bank. Try to get agreed overdraft
established as a fall back, as that would be much cheaper. Here in Germany, agreed overdraft is standard
on most bank accounts, e.g. the equivalent of US$2500,-- cost me US$20,-- in interest per month.
It works automatically and no extra fees are incurred. If you have a good relationship with your bank
and a good credit rating, something should be possible. Unless it's the Bank of America. In that case, run for your life. -
Rommanno wrote:Amethyst Jetaime wrote:This should lay to rest the theory that LL closed the TPE's only because they wanted to monopolize the sale of L's
LOL from reseller TOS:7.Reseller may not purchase or receive Linden Dollars from any source other than through the LindeX. Reseller may not, for instance, purchase or receive Linden Dollars from users on the Second Life platform, except in those exceptional circumstances set forth in Section 10 below.It doesn't lay rest, it enforces it if anything else.By prohibiting cashouts through the TPEs and requiring the purchase of L$ through LindeX, the Lab achieves two things:
1.: It prevents using the L$ and SL for money laundering.
2.: Can keep records of all L$ sold or purchased. The Lab may not know, where someone obtained his/her RL-money,
but the Lab can stick a nametag on the L$ purchased with this RL-money. So everything becomes traceable on the Lab's side.
The fact, that the reseller program started that quick (one week is faster than light for the Lab) shows me, that indeed
government regulation might be behind the TPE-shutdown last week. Plus, if the Lab really wanted to get rid of the TPEs,
they could have done that a long time ago. Or blocked them from the beginning.
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Gordon Wendt wrote: "I truly believe that it is only a matter of time until LL stops L$ to USD sales on the Lindex and makes it so that people can only buy L$ (from them)."
Won't happen. Reason: The Landbarons. The land rental business is only possible in this form, because the landlords can
accept L$ and convert them back into US$ and pay tier with that. Preventing the conversion/pay out via the LindeX
would kill it. Imagine the big landbarons start dropping Estates/Regions - That's similar to a grade 7 earthquake on Battery Street.Btw. Eldexchange has applied as an authorized reseller as well, when they get the permission, I will stay with them,
as they served me well in the past. And good service should be honored. -
And one of the nastiest I think is Wonga.
Ok, back to the topic at hand:
A bunch of forumites have pointed out in other threads, that government intervention and the rise of Bitcoin has something
to do with the TPE shutdown. These forumites might be onto something here.
I found this today: Department of Homeland Security Shuts Down Dwolla Payments to and From Mt. Gox
""The DHS issued a "seizure warrant" for the funds associated with Mt. Gox's Dwolla account.
Warrant Reveals Homeland Security Seized Mt. Gox’s Dwolla Account for ‘Unlicensed Money Transmitting’ "And the way, the TPEs worked, it could be interpreted as 'Unlicensed Money Transmitting'. And LL panicked...
I expect, this isn't the last time we hear something like this about Bitcoin or any other virtual currency. -
You're welcome.
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Sounds like the ExDepart-virus.
The Firestorm-Team has published a solution here:
http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/exdepart -
Why doesn't it surprise me one bit?
And the accounts are the lever, LL can use to shut down any third party service.
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It's a bit different here in Germany, offline(e.g. supermarket checkout) it is either cash or bank issued debit card,
called EC-Card(formerly known as Eurocheque card), it is either chip & pin or magnet strip & pin.
Online, payments are made using bank transfer, direct debit, cash cards like Paysafecard or a system called
'Sofortueberweisung', you enter a few details about your bank account during checkout and the Sofortueberweisung'-Service
does the rest. Easy, quick and much safer than PayPal or a creditcard.This as an example, how diverse Europe really is. According to some posts, Greece is a Paysafecard-Economy.
In countries like Greece and Cyprus, the trust in the banking sector took quite a nosedive, so I expect,
that alternative forms to pay online need to be found.
And I expect an internationally operating online business like Linden Lab to cater for this diverse clientele.
The minimum I expect here is bank transfer (SEPA), being fully compatible to ALL prepaid creditcards and accepting
the major cash cards. The TPEs were that flexible, and if these relatively small operations can do it, why not a big company like LL?
User retention is a sore point dogging SL for years, making payments easy, quick and comfortable is
one major part in improving user retention. Another big part of it would be a different communication culture at the Lab,
this TPE-clusterf... is a prime example of how NOT to do it.And Phil, another thing, that doesn't exist here in Germany is Payday loans.
Agreed overdraft on bank accounts is the standard here, so these fraudsters are unnecessary over here. :matte-motes-grin: -
That still doesn't change the fact, that creditcards are not as common in western europe as some think they are.
I don't have one either. It is time, american companies get used to the fact, that the USA and its usual way of doing business is not the standard in the rest of the world.Oh, and PayPal is NOT an alternative, PayPal keeps freezing accounts randomly, as they are doing for years.
PayPal was again a hot topic in today's BBC Watchdog programme. The first victim was a provider for mobile toilets,
when the event season started and thus the money flow started as well, PayPal froze the account with 34000 pound in it(about US$40000,--).
Second one had used his PayPal-account only once, to sell a pair of old shoes. Value: 99pence. Result: Account frozen.
It was the only transaction ever on that account.
Third one was a supplier of medical equipment, PayPal froze that account with no reason given. PayPal insisted on getting
a long laundry list of documents, which covered practically all merchandise coming in and going out. Note: A good merchant
never discloses his sources and conditions to anyone. But exactly that was, what PayPal wanted to know.
All three victims were given the runaround, until the TV-guys started asking questions.
There were cases in Germany, where pressing charges at the police against PayPal got things going, others had success by contacting the Luxembourg banking authorities. -
Aethelwine wrote: "We buy from the lindex so that should not be a problem."
That may indeed a way to keep operating, routing everything through the official LindeX.
Of course, fast cashouts are a thing of the past, but by going the official route, LL can fulfill the regulations
in regard of recordkeeping and reporting. Of course, the exchange rates will be worse than on the LindeX directly,
as the TPEs have to take additional fees to offset their costs, but even with that, it might be still cheaper,
than to hassle with all that creditcard stuff. And much easier in many european and asian countries.My advice to the TPEs: Keep the connection to the Lab's management open, I have the gut feeling,
that there is a solution possible. -
"Unfortunately, this video is not available in Germany, because it may contain music for which GEMA has not granted the respective music rights."
Therefor for our german viewers the amazing version made by Foxamoore, featuring Colson and guest singer Jenny Lane:
I prefer this one over the original, as the original sounds a bit bland compared to this one.
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Melita Magic wrote: "I do think SL is headed toward no cashouts by the way but that is just a guess."
If LL does that, that would be suicide. All those big landbarons do depend on the fact, that L$ can be converted back
to RL-money. If that is no longer possible, quite a number of these landbarons will simply close down.
A few may stay, offering payment outside SL, but most won't bother, as paying rent on small parcels with a creditcard
is simply not economical.
My vote on this: Won't happen - Unless the government prohibits cashouts in the future. -
Nice Video. Just when the pod turns left into the road, you'll see one of AnnMarie's Bugattis hänging in free air
in the top left corner of the video.Raven Luna wrote: "Matter of fact, why can't the Yavascript Pod be the standard for automated travel in SL. Clearly this person got it right."
It should be. According to Yavanna, the operator of the pods, a lot of the programming went into the pods just for error correction/error trapping.
( We had a nice conversation one day, when she popped into the pod I was on, as it showed an anomaly on her control system).Drake1 Nightfire wrote: "I wonder what dirt she has on whom to keep her so protected..."
That's what I'm wondering about as well. Normally any other resident producing that amount of litter would have been kicked out already.Yevad Doobie wrote: "The Yava pods do not self navigate, so you can't expect AnnMaries to behave the same. You are comparing apples and oranges..."
But we can expect AnnMarie's vehicles to behave better. Her cars follow (according to her) the Linden land used for the roads.
That this is an inherently bad idea, is immediately visible, when you turn on 'Parcel Borders' in the viewer.
A better idea would be using the road prims to navigate, as that would reduce the possibility of running into the parcels on the side of the road.
However, mapping out the road system on the mainland grid would be the best solution, just like the SatNav-makers do it in RL.
And then use that data to keep the vehicle on the road. That would solve most of the littering problem right away.
The public road system in SL is one of the constants, that almost never changes. Unlike real life. That's why a waypoint
controlled vehicle is still the best and most reliable solution for automated travel on the grid. And when done properly,
random travel would still be possible. -
Charlotte Wirtanen wrote: "The sim is getting dropped and I'm done, eat **bleep** Linden Labs."
I guess, the next Gridsurvey-Reports will provide interesting reading material.
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@Wildcat Laszlo as well.
Hmm, a prepaid creditcard should be accepted as well, I've read here on the forum that a number of residents used these
cards successfully in regard with SL(Walmart money card). And yes, prepaid creditcards should be available in practically all european countries.
Since you have to load money on these cards, before you can use them, your credit rating, state of employment or other issue should not prohibit from getting one.I'd say do a Google search for: prepaid kredietkaart Nederland and look, what is on offer and compare features and fees.
When I do this search, I get quite a number of entries.A prepaid card will also my way to replace the high quality exchange I used before this boondoggle started.
Addendum: There are issues wiith prepaid cards as well:
Issues with prepaid and gift cards
A common cause of payment method failure is the use of unsupported card types. At this time, the majority of prepaid cards are not compatible with our system, even if they bear the VISA/AMEX/Mastercard logo. This includes cards purchased at retail stores, rechargeable credit cards, and bank-issued check cards."
( http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Billing/ta-p/700037#Section_.10.8 )
One resident gave this possible reason why: "Please be advised that if its a prepaid card, it might not be accepted by LindenLabs due to the prepaid companies not allowing them from withdrawing funds on it."So, can those residents, who got their prepaid creditcard working with SL/LindeX please state:
1.: Which card is used
and
2.: How they had setup the card/owner information etc.
to make it work.
Would help a lot of european residents. -
Thank you for confirming my point. This is the type of litter, that simply needs to be stopped.
And it is AnnMarie's duty to stop it.Here are three more examples:
1.: Why should landowners put up with that?
2.: Seriously? This parcel in Sorbet owned by university is completely surrounded by water, there is no road in sight:
3.: And last but not least, another masterpiece:
Really? Why should anyone put up with this?
Is there any good reason, why this is in any form acceptable?
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Convicted Over Theft Of Virtual Money
in General Discussion Forum
Posted
That's true, obviously these commenters haven't grasped the issue at hand:
Accessing a computer / computer account without permission.
And that was the basis of the conviction.
That the commenters don't get it, has a simple reason: It's the Daily Mail. Intelligence is hard to find there.