Posts by slarty
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I'm still not entirely sure why the parking machines needed to retain credit card numbers, but if there is a need then why aren't they stored in an encrypted format?
Like I say, the most insidious form of attack...
All devices connected to the EFT network must comply with PCI DSS... so this is almost certainly an aggressive attack, not just someone picking up a few numbers...
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Personally for small-value transactions I'd prefer no PIN... less chance of disclosure. It's mainly there for contract, not security purposes!
NZ has pretty much the lowest CC fraud rate in the world (it's 1/3 of that in Australia - but my info is a couple of years old). It's because we are quite unusual in a) only having 2 EFT switch networks and b) we've been real-time for a long time (many countries "batch" their CC transactions and process them overnight).
Like I say, I have no qualms using my card in NZ. But when I go overseas I order a new card in advance, use that while I'm travelling and destroy it when I get back. My bank does this for nothing. A good alternative is the stored value cards (but they can be expensive...)
And yes, a bit of common sense online is good! Visa, MC or the PCI site all have good, simple tutorials on what to look for...
[H-T RB!]
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You'll never get figures from the Banks around the number of breaches.
Globally PCI (payment card industry) operate some seriously scary surveillance systems. I get to see these things. I have no concerns about using my card...
There are surges of activity as breaches tend to be detected in batches - so you will see a raft of cards replaced in clumps.
The PCI system is continuously under attack (many originate from Eastern Europe). The techniques evolve on a daily basis. Basically it's an ongoing battle.
A routine approach is to cancel cards that are old and not being used (just because villains tend to either use them straight away, or save up thousands and then do a concerted attack).
It is fair to say there have been two or three breaches over recent months. The Car Park issue is the most insidious kind, and you need to think carefully about why they did a release...
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Many years ago (<sigh> here he goes again) when I was a kid doing a bit of sound engineering with the NYT we got a one hour mandatory session at the beginning about volume. And what it did to your ears. Too much makes you deaf...
So occasionally I'm at a thing where it really is loud and nasty. You can tell if the tech has had too much of their own art when they wind up the mid / top-range: it sounds like there's some white-noise/broken-glass sound involved.
You can't hear what is being shouted at you unless it's straight in your ear, and your ears ring when you put your hands over them. It genuinely is hurting you - and you won't notice the damage until a significant other leaves you because they've been driven wild by you constantly saying "what" and "pardon".
You'll be the aural equivalent of those older people with long hair and ripped jeans who think they're still 25. Only when they were 25 they were just ripped, and therefore have missed out on one of the few benefits of getting older - getting wiser. Man.
Anyway, in these situations (like when I went to see Fat Freddies Drop a few years ago... except I didn't... see below) you genuinely need to be able to defend yourself, so take some ear-plugs. It makes the world of difference, and the next morning you don't have Tinnitus.
And yes, so maybe I'm old, but FFD billed at 8.30 (my special surprise Birthday treat, hotel in town etc.) and have to listen to some whining amateur for nearly 3 hours... that's just rude.
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I reckon Lucy's on the right track...
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How will we know whether our organisation has a “charitable purpose”?In order for a purpose to be charitable, it must —
* fall within one of the four charitable purposes set out in section 5(1) of the Charities Act and
* provide a public benefit and
* not be aimed at creating private financial profit.-----------------------
So it's not enough to believe in the great soup-dragon: you have to clearly intend not intend to make a living so to speak, and distribute all that soupy goodness to your fellow dragon bretheren.
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Leo says we should lock it in a box where it will stay for 700 years before being used to disable SkyNet with its unmatched ability for FAIL. That sounds like a cunning plan.
Gold.
I remember decommissioning an old system in the 90's. Everyone hated it. So we (as a joke) sold tickets for people to come and hit it with a sledgehammer (we're talking an old computer about the size of a fridge) one Saturday in the Car Park.
Dozens turned up. We had to pull one guy off - I swear he was crying with joy at his revenge on the misery this crock had caused his life...
So maybe in a car-park in Redmond this weekend...
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Depresses me how cynical you all are about the ability of NZ to design and build something cool. Our only real barrier is that we're all such a bunch of tightwads. "Think Big" really messed with this nations psyche in the long term didn't it? Maybe that's why I take a different view - I was out of the country at the time :)
Anyway, David, I just read your post about flogging Philomel. Makes a lot of sense... but keep in mind the sort of things that are out of site at a military base, and the cost of reproducing them!
I still think we should have flogged Eden Park and built a proper stadium on the water... three sides doubling as passenger terminals. Right next to the strategic transport hub for Auckland.
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Good luck Emma. My specialist was brilliant when he came out of theatre to tell me I had a tumour in my leg. And they played nice music for me in the MRI... must confess I went a bit mental for a while between diagnosis and biopsy results! Shame you didn't get to use the excuse longer :)
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I love to swear. I often get on trouble for it. I am in awe of any word that can be used so generously, and still make sense. One day on the farm a tractor packed in, and my uncle uttered the immortal phrase.
"Fuck the fucken fucker, the fuckers fucked".
See? Magnificent.
I have a theory that over time words are "classified" by cliques. The young tend to adopt words to be trendy. Others classify them as 'vulgar' as a way of establishing class.
In the UK it is the very upper and lower classes who swear (you can probably guess where I originate). I can picture the emerging middle classes in Victorian times 'banning' words, as a mechanism to distinguish and exclude the not-quite middle classes.
A bit like the person who decided that British English would stop using the letter 'z' in recognize, and the poncy twat who decided that in New Zealand we would put an 'r' in data (date, datum, darta: WTF?).
Splitters.