oldbloke's mutterings

Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2007 19:58:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: "David Lesher" <xxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: MS WGA Servers down; XP & Vista installs marked "counterfeit"

The Windows Genuine Disadvantage servers all went down.

Result: All attempted OS installations were labeled as counterfeit.
THAT means you get 'limp home' mode for the box..

<http://forums.microsoft.com/genuine/showpost.aspx?postid=2053834&siteid=25>
<http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/25/microsoft_wga_server.html>

The recovery procedure, once you know their server is again working,
involves deleting some special files, and revisiting the WGA server.

{Sigh; haven't we had this conversation before?}

RISKS:

Creating an artificial single-point-of-failure.

Not making that single point robust/redundant enough to defend again all
enemies, foreign and domestic [i.e. outsiders vs the more likely "we have
met the enemy, and he is us..." errors.]

Not having good recovery procedure when the Can't Happen Does
Happen... [Can your mother find her data.dat file?]

I wonder if the server farm has both geographic and network diversity.
(There was a Jan 2001 failure of all Microsoft nameservice; then, they were
in one place, on one segment.)

I also worry about what happens if somehow, sometime, the MS database gets
trashed, and it decides ALL copies of XP/VISTA/Win2009/whatever are
pirated. So when every machine does its obligatory check-in, and gets
castrated...

Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:12:08 +1000 (EST)
From: Dave Horsfall <xxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Risks of a protocol mismatch

When two similar protocols interoperate, the results can be drastic and at
other times humorous; fortunately, this falls into the latter category:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276304
Looks like the response from the Kerberos server got mis-parsed by AD:

If you log on to an MIT realm, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, click Change
Password, type your existing MIT password, and then type a new, simple
password that does not pass the dictionary check in Kadmind, you may
receive the following error message:

Your password must be at least 18770 characters and cannot repeat any of
your previous 30689 passwords. Please type a different password. Type a
password that meets these requirements in both text boxes. Note that
the number of required characters changes from 17,145 to 18,770 with the
installation of SP1.

NOTE: This is not a common case; it occurs only when you configure Windows
2000 to authenticate against an MIT Kerberos domain.

Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2007 09:33:23 -0700
From: Gene Wirchenko <xxxxx@xxxx.xxx>
Subject: Amusing Lack of Software Support

This story is hilarious:

The opening paragraph: "A Linux user who was jailed for uploading a film
onto a peer-to-peer service has been told he will have to switch to Windows
if he wants to use a computer again."

It seems that the monitoring software he is now required to have does not
run under Linux. Also amusing is the closing remark about being *given* two
felonies.

http://news.com.com/Linux+felon+forced+to+install+Windows/2100-1030_3-6204348.html?tag=nefd.pulse

The World Beard and Moustache Championship
It's tomorrow. You can still enter, I believe, and spectator's tickets are available. It's in Brighton.
http://www.handlebarclub.co.uk/wbmc.shtml

There's a category called "freestyle beard". I kid you not.

The USA team, with some impressive facial fuzz, apparently own the domain: http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/

Michael "Beer hunter" Jackson's gone
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1658001,00.html