Myths about Computers.

[itsthepham]

are these guys from PC world tryin to pull
http://msn.pcworld.com/msn/article/0,aid,116572,pg,1,00.asp

1) Magnets zap your data - the rated it bogus
Garbage - even the lowest current magnet can cause damage to hardrive files .. from experience

2)Terrible things happen if you turn off your PC without shutting down Windows.
Garbage - theres a reason why M$ created the proper shut down mechanism, afterall it is very convienient just to flick a switch to shut the rig off. Just because after a couple tests they dont recieve any errors doesnt mean it doesnt fuck shit up if you abruptly unplug or shut off improperly

check out the other myths and discuss!

oh yea and did anyone noticed microsoft now owns part of pcworld magazine, since when?

[graywolf624]

They are idiots.

I know for a fact as a computer technician that not shutting down a computer properly is damaging. The disc spins at a high rate of speed. When you suddenly shut off the power the disc drops and can damage itself.

A computer disc is magnitized.. thus a magnet will destroy data. They are shielded, but not that well.

Cookies... I agree with them other then the double click sites that track over all, and the potential for computer hacking/viruses.


The govt doesnt read all your mail, but it does screen them. I can confirm the existance of the system that does just that. I believe its called predator.



Cell phones and navigation. That depends on what frequencies the navigation systems in the plane (aka the radios) run off of. I can see this for the avoidance that one might be on the same band. They are having problems with this in terms of the wireless access points conflicting with airline in airport systems at the moment.

[itsthepham]

couldnt have said it any better graywolf624. :D

[RC45]

Then they ("the government") must have one awesome realtime snooping system - considering I have witnessed email taking less than 1/2 second from private server to private server half way across the globe and not looking very hindered by anysort of filtering of analysis.

And if it's not real-time, then the Feds must still have 86 trillion unread emails in their inbox... ;) :lol:

[cooperluke]

must still have 86 trillion unread emails in their inbox



86 trillion?? lol... I receive more spam than that!!! eheheheh

Those guys from PC World are really suckers... they know so much about computers as I do about washing machines....

[graywolf624]

Then they ("the government") must have one awesome realtime snooping system - considering I have witnessed email taking less than 1/2 second from private server to private server half way across the globe and not looking very hindered by anysort of filtering of analysis.

And if it's not real-time, then the Feds must still

There screened.. Obviously there not going to read every one. Computers pick out ones with a specific ai determined pattern..
They also require most crypto companies right now to provide the cia with a back door key. And the phone system was designed from the ground up with wire taps in mind.

Im privy to this info thanks to my specialization in information security.

[SFDMALEX]

Ahh great............1984........brazil....all coming together. Looks like the good old face to face conversation is the only thing that cant be monitored....assuming that there are no bugs around.

[RC45]

Then they ("the government") must have one awesome realtime snooping system - considering I have witnessed email taking less than 1/2 second from private server to private server half way across the globe and not looking very hindered by anysort of filtering of analysis.

And if it's not real-time, then the Feds must still

There screened.. Obviously there not going to read every one. Computers pick out ones with a specific ai determined pattern..
They also require most crypto companies right now to provide the cia with a back door key. And the phone system was designed from the ground up with wire taps in mind.

Im privy to this info thanks to my specialization in information security.

Then why can't they stop the fucking penis and printer cartridge refill spam I keep getting? ;) Is it that difficult for them to delete every email with the words penis or printer refill in it?

I would love to believe that there is such great co-operation between the phone compnaies, Level-3 style tier 1 backbone providers and the feds, but I have been inside many trunk and tier 1 facilities - and while they have keycard, palm print and card swipe security - 100 camera video systems - they can't even detect which piece of Cisco hardware is causing the slowdown for a city suburb until they receive a million calls from irate off line customers...

Not to mention that IF it was that organized they wouldn't need to sequestor hardrives after the fact for searching... ;)

We know that there is a large amount of data captured and screened over time - but if ECHELON is all it is cracked up to be, we have yet to see it actually prevent any major attacks and threats.

If it did, then they would use them to justify and garner support for continued use of such programs.

Todays ECHELON noise-generating phrase is "pedophile terrorist penis enlargement zambian scam ink jet refill" ;)

[PaulGT2164]

"2)Terrible things happen if you turn off your PC without shutting down Windows.
Garbage - theres a reason why M$ created the proper shut down mechanism, afterall it is very convienient just to flick a switch to shut the rig off. Just because after a couple tests they dont recieve any errors doesnt mean it doesnt fuck shit up if you abruptly unplug or shut off improperly "


hah then let them do that and see how long thier windows works...
and OS that is shutdown properly currupts data...think about it, your system is using XXX amount of files and writing to them all the time....so what happens when you whack the power button and turn it off
all those files arent closed properly, and the data flow stops abruptly.....and those files are no longer valid

haah i hate people who think they know what they are talking about and tell people that stuff like that doesnt hurt things lol