Crashed Pips - Computers, politics, emetic trash

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The Crashed Pips Honeypot Experiment

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , — Jonathan Rothwell @ 19:24

A honeypot is a computer (or virtual computer) designed to catch all those internet nasties that you’d normally want to avoid - so that people can be educated on what they do and how to avoid them, and to study them and find out which ports they use, what files they’re reading that they shouldn’t be etc.

So, with that settled, I can now announce the Crashed Pips Honeypot Experiment 2007. Over the next 30 days, I shall be making occasional posts updating you on the results of the experiment. I may even prepare a report/conclusion at the end.

What is the machine’s setup?

The machine’s a Virtual PC setup using 128mB of RAM and a 15gB hard disk (more than adequate for this purpose). It will be running an installation of Microsoft Windows XP Professional without any security software installed whatsoever apart from what is built directly into the operating system - in this case, nothing more than a firewall. Windows Update warnings will also be ignored.

How will you hose the machine?

I will visit certain websites, and leave ports open deliberately in an attempt to lure viruses, spyware etc into the honeypot. I also intend to follow spoof virus warnings that lead to spyware, and to install certain software that is known to contain advertising and spyware.

How realistic is this experiment? Could I cite it in a paper?

There is no way that this experiment could be called realistic, because a special effort is being made to infect the machine with as much malware as possible. This will therefore make the test wildly unrealistic and inaccurate. If you’re quoting this in a scientific paper or anything serious, you’re a Cornish sardine.



Thursday, August 16, 2007

How Obscure Can You Make Nutritional Information?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — Jonathan Rothwell @ 16:54

A Crashed Pips Exclusive

I dislike McDonald’s. The last time I went I wasn’t off the toilet for weeks. That was around three years ago.

So, with some spare time on my hands earlier today, I decided to find out if the quality of the food and the service had improved in any way (last time I was asked by someone ‘you ea’in i ear?’) by taking myself down to my local McDonald’s.

(Yes, shock horror! Some investigative journalism from this website! You are not hallucinating.)

The trip there was uneventful, apart from seeing some lunatic bump into someone else’s car, causing a mini-traffic jam on the High Street while they filled out each other’s insurance details.

Before I went in, I had some business to settle. This is mainly because I was worried that I might suffer a heart attack after eating the food. Mercifully I did not, although I would like to know what on Earth McDonald’s is doing selling alcohol.

I went in, queued, paid my money for a large portion of fries, six chicken McNuggets (!) and a large Coca-Cola. I was offered a free Coke glass, which was nice. The lady who served me was very kind and friendly, and actually seemed to speak proper English.

Before I was served, I scoured the restaurant looking for nutritional information. There was absolutely no obvious information on the walls or posters. I checked the leaflets - nothing.

I was minorly annoyed to say the least, but I was served the food and took it out of the restaurant.

The fries were OK - this time they actually tasted like they consisted mostly of potatoes. Which is more than can be said of the nuggets. UGH! They tasted like the sort of stuff that a dentist uses to make a mould of your mouth. It tasted utterly McDisgusting.

(I sort-of wished I had had the McHeart attack so that the torture would end.)

The paper cup of Coca-Cola I was given seemed to have some kind of quantum warp at the bottom - it was 500ml. 500ml is a lot - that’s around half the size of a bottle of Coke you’d get from a supermarket. UGH! By the time I’d finished I felt like I’d put on four stone in thirty minutes. (I’m quite a skinny person by nature, so that’s a lot.)

After finishing the food, I finally managed to find the nutritional information. But only just.

McDonalds Nutritional Information

Yes, that is the nutritional information. On the back of the packet of fries. And it seems that they’ve resorted to heiroglyphs.

Even if you follow the website links, there’s no actual reference to what the symbols mean. It seems only to apply to adult women, and also only applies to the fries. What about the nuggets and the Coke? No mention whatsoever.

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