One born every minute
Subject: Wincent is mad at youHe's mad about the "Deja doom" image on your site:
Did you send those e-mails to him? I'm inclined to believe that it was some jerk pulling a prank in reaction to Wincent's original post. I hope so anyway. You sending those e-mails would *not* be cool.
Steve
Yeah, I had that passed on by 3 readers, two of which weren't as polite. Since their claims look a little silly when things are put into context, I'll do them the favor of using yours. It's a hysterical funny read by the time you get to the emails and see him building on wild assumption after wild assumption, yet kinda scary in its way. I've included a screenshot in case it goes away, as one of two things seems to be going on:
- Wincent Colaiuta is mental, and just making the emails up. People that delusional are pretty rare, so I consider this to be a very low probability.
- Someone is pranking him, and he doesn't know enough about how these things work to realize what's going on or what to look for, and is jumping to hysterical conclusions all across the board. I consider this to be a very high probability.
Now, to be extremely clear...
- I have no clue who Wincent Colaiuta is.
- To my knowledge I'd never seen his site before that I can recall, and certainly never saw his post.
- I certainly never sent him any emails.
- The gmail address referenced isn't mine, and emails that are site-related only go out with one prefix from one of two domain names, although that's only relevant in this case, as spoofing headers is ridiculously easy.
- Even if I had seen his post, I don't care if someone disagrees with me or has a problem with me. I generally only care if things are misrepresented or misconstrued, but not even that frustrates me very much anymore, as caring about those types of things doesn't scale after a point. There'll always be someone building strawmen or with horridly poor reading comprehension.
- I poked about on his site and saw he codes a little apps for OS X called Synergy and WinSwitch and such, so asked about to see if anyone knew him as it's generally best not to call out the retarded kid for saying ponies can fly. While they can't, anyone listening that isn't retarded knows they can't, and those that are retarded would prefer to think they can fly anyways. One person had helped him understand how to get his app to work with iTunes 4.7 in passing, but that's about my knowledge.
- If you have time, a good samaritan should probably give this guy a heads up that Bill Gates won't really give him a dollar for forwarding on emails, and sending money off to Nigeria would probably a really bad idea.
This sort of thing is just going to happen, although personally I'm still partial to what happened in I Did Not Hack Your Computer, but that's mostly because of the capitalization and that guy at least opened up Google to do a search.
People are going to go onto forums and register user names akin (or identical to) yours, and do and say all sorts of things. I know I've had to delete a few comments on this site after recognizing the name but something being off, and then checking to see if the real person actually wrote them. If there is some interest in your name, people are going to go onto forums and say all sorts of whacked out things about you if they have an axe to grind or just because it sucks attention their way.
I see these things every once in awhile when they're forwarded onto me for a laugh, and while I could spend all day all day refuting or correcting them everywhere, it truly just doesn't scale and there are better places to be spending one's day, especially when it's so ineffectual as a whole. People walk around with their presuppositions and axes to grind, and if what they're taking in fits into it it's adopted (and regurgitated), and if it doesn't it's rejected and in extreme cases feared. Petty tribal behaviors.
After a quick search of his site for recent references to DrunkenBlog, my personal opinion is it didn't even occur to this guy they weren't from me, or that I'd never even seen his post. He had some resentments to grind, they fit in, his ego massaged out all the big red blinking warning signs that are all right there, and off he went. I certainly don't expect a correction or retraction, as that's how these things go. In a way, it's always good to have a reminder that the weakest link when it comes to security is usually not the tools within the system, but a tool sitting in front of it.
Posted by drunkenbatmanApril 06, 2006, at 10:42 AM
Comments (84)
Posted by: Justin Williams at April 6, 2006 11:39 AM
Its not being a dick. It's called making a point.
Posted by: Romain at April 6, 2006 11:45 AM
DB actually warned you in the title of his post. It's readable from within your RSS reader and if you chose to open the page you have nothing else to do than complain about your own stupidity.
But of course, it MUST be someone else's fault. Not YOURS.
Posted by: Tom Insam at April 6, 2006 11:57 AM
Of course, in the incredibly unlikely event that anyone acually visit the _front_ _page_ of the site, they would also have been given a warning that... oh. no. Apparently not. But honestly, who uses anything so obsolete as a web browser any more, eh?
Posted by: FredB at April 6, 2006 12:14 PM
You act like a dick, then you're surprised than people think you're a dick?
Your name is now associated with malware, deal with it.
Posted by: eggsnatcher at April 6, 2006 12:31 PM
It sounds like a misguided soul is trying to make it appear he is doing things intentionally as "punishment". THAT is sick.
Posted by: Stephen WG Sullivan at April 6, 2006 12:56 PM
Don't let them get you down DB. I don't think you are doing anything wrong, I saw the subject title in my RSS reader and decided to read that post ;-)
As for Wincent, I don't know, previously I had thought of him as a very rational and intelligent Mac developer. He really didn't give you the benefit of the doubt on this one though, and from the sounds of things, he has no experience with your blog.
I am a registered user of Wincent's Synergy.
Posted by: Old Europe at April 6, 2006 12:57 PM
Come on you spoiled kids: one (1) crashed browser session. One! That's nothing compared to what used to happen in the past...
And btw if DB wants to be a dick, don't tell HIM, he knows already.
-- Old E.
PS: Looks like old Wince read to much unserfriendly lately and got an inspiration how to generate some traffic for his b-list blog. Just leave the blighter alone.
Posted by: )O( at April 6, 2006 12:59 PM
> DB actually warned you in the title of
> his post. It's readable from within your
> RSS reader and if you chose to open the
> page you have nothing else to do than
> complain about your own stupidity.
> But of course, it MUST be someone else's fault.
> Not YOURS
Vist the front page. Nice warning, eh? Why would it be my fault for a bug in core image and someone using it to exploit people? He is a dick because of the way he choose to report it.
To dick: please add some style for quote tags. Right now they do nothing to differentiate from other text.
Posted by: at April 6, 2006 01:00 PM
Wow, i'm kind of surprised at this outlash of condemnation.
Hey guess what: your browser crashed. Oh no. I guess you'll have to open it again. Boy, that put a major dent in everything you were going to do today. This trauma may cause you to cease being functional for at least a few hours (well, seconds probably, how long does it take for Safari to open?) You should probably get right back online and rant about it. :)
BTW, an image is not "malware" if you're _that_ touchy about your security, why aren't images turned off in your browser? Because it's inconvenient. Just like having a bug in a browser that causes it to crash when certain images are displayed is "inconvenient."
In any case. It's a pretty minor complaint that's been blown way out of proportion, thanks in part to a foolish email, and a guy who got personally outraged a little too quickly.
Besides, frequently, the only way to effect change, is to cause some minor outrage. Simply reporting a bug to Apple won't do that, whereas, posting an image, a proof-of-concept if you will, is an impetus for change in a much more dramatic fashion.
Thanks DB, for pointing out a stupid bug to the teeming masses, and possibly actually getting something done. :)
Posted by: at April 6, 2006 01:21 PM
Yeah, my browser crashed, big whoop, right?
Well, it was annoying and it happened twice, since I didn't come to the article via RSS, but by choosing to visit the front page. The first time I didn't know it was DB's choice to crash my browser, the second time I figured it out.
But the second time it wiped out my preferences and fucked with my bookmarks. Great.
Nice work, asshole.
Posted by: at April 6, 2006 01:23 PM
Anyone notice AAPL stock dipped the day he posted?
Posted by: Jesper at April 6, 2006 01:45 PM
I'm still buying the fact that DB inserted the image to make a point - however, grudges against Apple's Q&A department aside, I do think that it'd be *reasonable* to move the image from inline to linked.
I totally get that it's Apple's bug, but it being Apple's bug doesn't free DB of, beyond a certain threshold, being a dick, just like similar bugs in Windows/IE/Outlook/whatever doesn't free creators of malware from being dicks because they take advantage of them.
Posted by: Not condemning, but PO'd at April 6, 2006 01:58 PM
"Hey guess what: your browser crashed. Oh no. I guess you'll have to open it again. Boy, that put a major dent in everything you were going to do today."
Yes, it did. I'm self-employed, in the middle of working, with a score of tabbed windows in each VIenna and Safari. All cross-referenced info I had just spent the past two hours locating.
Yes, I was pissed.
Food for thought,
NCBPOd
Posted by: ??? at April 6, 2006 02:04 PM
To dick: please add some style for quote tags. Right now they do nothing to differentiate from other text.
I thought the block quote tag worked on this site. In fact, it appears it does.
And I believe if you're going to refer to our host as a dick, you should either capitalize the word (To Dick:) to give it proper noun status, or insert an article (To the dick:) to treat the word as a standard noun.
HTH
Posted by: Duncan Oliver at April 6, 2006 02:25 PM
I also believe that it would have made more sense to move the image to a link. It is a bit of an inconvenience to start up Firefox to read the one post, but that was an option.
Save for some off-site links, it's pretty difficult to get to the article without warning. As such, I don't think DB was being an ass. I really can't fault him for telling us the gun was loaded.
Posted by: Ben Donley at April 6, 2006 02:25 PM
Justin Williams:
Its not being a dick. It's called making a point.This is stated as if "being a dick" and "making a point" should contrast, when in this case they were the same.
DB was making a point. And being a dick. He did not trust his readers to take him seriously enough unless he crashed their web browsers. That is incredibly insulting, imho. I didn't get my browser crashed, and I still lost respect for DB.
He was wrong to underestimate his readers. He was wrong to crash their browsers. I know that for most people it was not a hardship, but given the size of his audience, I guarantee that it was a problem for someone. He should apologize.
Posted by: jacob at April 6, 2006 02:45 PM
Hey DB,
apparently you've angered this wincent guy enough to make him remove all mention of you from all other pages of his site. witness:
google cache, updated version
Posted by: jacob at April 6, 2006 02:46 PM
well apparently i messed those links up somehow...
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:KDe32TStMRsJ:wincent.com/a/about/wincent/weblog/archives/2005/05/the_internet_a.php&ct=clnk&cd=2
http://wincent.com/a/about/wincent/weblog/archives/2005/05/the_internet_a.php
Posted by: Steven Fisher at April 6, 2006 03:27 PM
Awesome -- this is funnier than the comments on the original post! I didn't even think that was possible!
Posted by: Frank Gipert at April 6, 2006 03:27 PM
I've come to this blog for a couple of years. Attended Evening at Adler (which was a hoot and very informative), but this is disrespectful and ignorant. Really shows his true colors.
I've removed the bookmark and will not return. Fun while it lasted.
Posted by: Chucky at April 6, 2006 04:12 PM
"Its not being a dick. It's called making a point."
If I wanted to instruct people that they should have working batteries in their smoke detectors, dousing their houses with gasoline and lighting a match would make my point.
It would also mark me as a psychopath.
-----
"I certainly never sent him any emails."
Ain't it funny how when you act like an anti-social 14 yo script kiddie hacker, that folks might start to get the wrong idea about you?
I think it's funny.
Before the JPG incident, I would've assumed without any thought that you were telling the truth and didn't send Wincent any emails. But, to tell you the truth, sending the emails and then lying about it is the same kind of behavior that the JPG incident showed.
Perhaps you're simply a liar. Works for me.
Posted by: Chucky at April 6, 2006 04:13 PM
"Wincent Colaitua is mental, and just making the emails up."
I find it revealing that this is the first place your mind went...
Posted by: Cochrane at April 6, 2006 04:19 PM
I still think posting the image inline was wrong, but someone else pulling pranks with a wrong name is a completely different story, and after reading the blog entry, I get the idea that in this particular case, Wincent appears to be more unfriendly than DB, even if he did not crash my browser.
Posted by: googel at April 6, 2006 04:22 PM
Before the JPG incident, I would've assumed without any thought that you were telling the truth and didn't send Wincent any emails. But, to tell you the truth, sending the emails and then lying about it is the same kind of behavior that the JPG incident showed.Perhaps you're simply a liar. Works for me.
Nah Chucky, I've been following your posts about DB here and on other blogs regarding BareBones and you said the same things. Your feelings about him are clear: you are a troll, this is a bullshit FUD comment. Show some dignity.
Posted by: Chucky at April 6, 2006 04:30 PM
"Nah Chucky, I've been following your posts about DB here and on other blogs regarding BareBones and you said the same things. Your feelings about him are clear: you are a troll, this is a bullshit FUD comment."
I've been coming to this site because I enjoyed DB and found him insightful.
I thought he was dead wrong about the Bare Bones controversy, but I thought he was unquestionably operating in good faith while being wrong. No problem there. Good people can occasionally be dead wrong.
The JPG incident is not in good faith. It's a whole different kettle of fish. I find it deeply wrong, harmful to the general vibe of the Mac community, and something all good folks should condemn.
And if DB wants to act like an anti-social asshole in the context of the JPG incident, he shouldn't be surprised when folks begin to think he's an anti-social asshole in other contexts. That's how human perception works.
If you think that makes me a troll, then that's what you think.
Posted by: Mark Washburn at April 6, 2006 04:36 PM
Nah Chucky, I've been following your posts about DB here and on other blogs regarding BareBones and you said the same things.
Do the comments collect IP addresses? I've noticed this person while reading the archives going back to June '05. Consistently every comment is negative or accusing Drunken Batman of something. He appears to have "an axe to grind."
Posted by: )O( at April 6, 2006 04:39 PM
Hey guys --
April Fools!!111one
Oh wait… it wasn't a joke, he really is a dick. I guess he made that point clear.
Posted by: googel at April 6, 2006 05:06 PM
Chucky,
You *seem* personally obsessed with him. It is becoming creepy.
Posted by: Nabil at April 6, 2006 05:18 PM
*deleted by request*
Posted by: aaron at April 6, 2006 06:35 PM
You know what would have been funny? If the image Wincent had on his post crashed Safari. I'd have laughed my ass off.
Posted by: Nathaniel at April 6, 2006 06:54 PM
This is a clear case of the boy who cried "wolf".
You purposely posted an image meant to crash a browser. Now when people are sent an image purposely meant to crash a browser (embedded into an email reader), well, you have to understand that you've lost a bit of deniability. That's how reputation works.
Posted by: Tom at April 6, 2006 06:58 PM
Aww boo hoo my browser crashed, DB is a dick, blah blah BLAH. Shut the fuck up dorks.
Posted by: Anthony at April 6, 2006 07:36 PM
Thank you Mac Users, for turning an image bug into a personal crisis of faith and making me ashamed to own my Powerbook. You are now trying to stretch this to unbelievable levels. Take a step back, and see how bad it looks to someone who is not a fanatic and considering a new iBook or Powerbook.
Please just stop.
Posted by: Chucky at April 6, 2006 07:58 PM
"Take a step back, and see how bad it looks to someone who is not a fanatic"
I'd venture that this site's readership is close to 100% fanatics. We wouldn't be here otherwise...
Posted by: Frank at April 6, 2006 08:18 PM
Ha ha, so you act like a stupid script kiddie, then you feel like you were the one wronged? Let me tell you something, kid: assuming responsibility when you screw up is one of the important things about adulthood. You deserve any shit you'll get for that, including lack of future work opportunities.
Posted by: Mat at April 6, 2006 08:53 PM
Thank you Mac Users, for turning an image bug into a personal crisis of faith and making me ashamed to own my Powerbook. You are now trying to stretch this to unbelievable levels. Take a step back, and see how bad it looks to someone who is not a fanatic and considering a new iBook or Powerbook.Please just stop.
DB's blog appeals to more than just Mac users in fact he has mentioned previously that he wants to move away from the Mac focus.
As for the image that crashed Safari, yay for Camino.
Posted by: Chucky at April 6, 2006 09:06 PM
"DB's blog appeals to more than just Mac users in fact he has mentioned previously that he wants to move away from the Mac focus."
And he's moving away from the Mac by talking about WebKit rendering bugs?
-----
Look, what DB did is basically indefensible. He intentionally caused some minor but real data loss to more than a handful of souls.
Data loss? Yup. I don't use Safari, but I currently have over 40 tabs open in my browser. That's how I store URL's that I need to further check out. If I went to some site that intentionally caused me to lose all of those tabs, I'd have lost some data relatively important to me, and I'd be pretty annoyed with the proprietor.
Judging from screenshots, DB stores URL's by filling up his Dock with lots of webloc files. Can you imagine how he'd feel if he went to some site that intentionally trashed all those webloc files to prove some point about OS X security?
You can argue about how serious a matter this all is, but like I said, what DB did was basically indefensible. If it were me, I'd say I was wrong and that I hadn't thought it through well enough before I did it. But it's not me.
Posted by: -m at April 6, 2006 10:34 PM
One always forgets one thing: THIS IS HIS FUCKING BLOG!
I'm sorry, but he may do with it what he pleases. Sure, data loss, etc, etc. But, when it all comes down to it, this is his place.
Posted by: George at April 6, 2006 10:57 PM
Is it safe to open this post in Safari?
Posted by: Mac Developer at April 6, 2006 11:25 PM
I didn't read the original entry, but proving a point by causing people to lose data (even just their URL history) is at best disrespectful and can't be justified.
If he really wanted to prove a point, he should have targeted those responsible for the flaw. But even that is immature.
Posted by: Colin Barrett at April 7, 2006 02:53 AM
There's a difference between proving a point and being destructive.
"You just ran me over with your car, and now I'm bleeding to death and my spine is broken!"
"I was just proving a point; always look both ways before crossing the street."
Posted by: Devon Shaw at April 7, 2006 05:50 AM
So far today I've seen a woman at my store scream "I want my McAfee!!!" for 45 minutes after clearly optioning Norton Antivirus for her new computer;
A second customer refuse a diagnostic fee because he wanted us to fix his computer without knowing what was wrong with it;
A third decide against a purchase because we wouldn't price match a $2 difference on a $30 item;
And now "You crashed my feeds you suck!"
Get a guh-rip, people. Reading comments is like perusing a banned eBay account name.
"DRUNKENBATMAN CRASHED MY BROWSER FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF"
"wuld not read from again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Fuck all these hosers. I lost a few open feeds too, but still laughed my ass off.
Posted by: Henrik Nørgaard Hansen at April 7, 2006 08:21 AM
From the get-a-freaking-life-dept:
If DB says he didn't send those mails - then he didn't send those mail, simple as that.
Wincent should have known better than to believe information from an obvious attempt to spam him. He is no fool and surely knows how this works.
Some of you are pi**ed because you lost your tabs. I hope you've all reported the bug to Apple, no ? It would be a lot more responsible, and productive, than ranting at DB.
Btw: DB, I just love your dry humour.
Posted by: Dan Todd at April 7, 2006 08:27 AM
All these people are seriously getting their knickers in a knot because their browsers crashed?
Do these people get this upset if another app crashes their machine and if they do, who do they complain to or about?
If this post caused you to loose work - please, as a matter of urgency, review your workflow and make some changes.
Software crashes. Its a fact. Learn to manage it and get over it.
Posted by: Ted Frapp at April 7, 2006 09:10 AM
I don't think this has been mentioned before, but do people know that this image could have been linked to ? I am pretty computer savvy and often use applications like iPhoto, so I know a thing or two about digital images. From what I know, digital images can be linked to using hyperlinks (as stipulated by the W3 consortium).
I don't know what happened to other folks, but my browser actually crashed and I lost a *lot* of tabs (about 347) and that was before I even visited this site !! Has that happened to anyone else ?
I was a devout reader of this blog, but now I am done. I despise this blog and all of the visitors to it. I am sick and tired of it.
Last night, I tried to sleep but couldn't. I awoke early in the morning due to stress. All I could think of was my tabs that had crashed. I had even had a name for one of them : Tabby, the tab. It was so cute with all its google results and everything. But, it too was lost. Because of this, I will do what I had threatened to do for months. I don't care if everyone at the institute howls in protest, but I will remove the Bookmark from my Bookmarks bar ! Take that, all of you.
Posted by: Nick Peelman at April 7, 2006 11:49 AM
1) if you keep that many tabs open...wow...ever hear of bookmarking and coming back later?
2) it is making a very valid point. You people act like he sent you spam, filled your mac with spyware, and pwned your machine into an IRC server, all at the same time while shaking your hand. he crashed your browser, that is if you were dumb enough to be using Safari. Take a leap of faith and use Camino. You'll be much happier, and have more time when you don't have to sit around and wait on pages to render.
Posted by: Mindflayer at April 7, 2006 02:13 PM
Ted - great comment.
"Data loss"? Give me a fucking break. Losing tabs is not data loss. That's ridiculous. Database crash? Hard drive crash? That's data lost. You lost at the most time, and if you have 30 or 40 tabs open, you're not being efficient, so get over it.
I've had other email addresses spoofed before. It's annoying, and it's been a case of 1) someone trying to create drama 2) someone using it to attempt to create a point. Annoying, since what do you do when faced with dishonesty?
In any case, DB, time to remove and link that image, please. I want to be able to hit your page with Safari.app, and you're point is now established. :)
Posted by: Old Europe at April 7, 2006 03:50 PM
Mindflayer you are so right.
I kept coming back to read those comments. They have a strange and alienating quality. People reading drunkenblog have a sense of humor and know a thing or two about computers -- that's what I thought. Looks like I was wrong.
Data loss? Drivel I say.
Malware? Gibberish!
Sleepless nights because of Tabby the Tab? Irony. I'd sleep like a babbling baby if that was my only problem.
And what's the matter with you guys being so pissed about batsy? If he does it with someone else you are cheering. Now that it's you, you're whining. Accept it: unrequited love hurts. He doesn't love you back. Now go home.
-- Old E.
Posted by: Movi at April 7, 2006 07:14 PM
"OMG I lost my tabs! DB is a dick!"
It's called "browser history" you dimwit.
Posted by: Movi at April 7, 2006 07:17 PM
On a second thought, less idiots reading the blog is a good thing - seems it filters out the tab-using no-lifes. Kinda like natural selection.
Posted by: O-(^_^Q) at April 7, 2006 11:26 PM
I don't really fucking care my browser crashed. I can get over that. DB is still a dick for posting the image inline.
But really, those defending him have great arguments, like calling those who went to the front page of his site idiots, or that they shouldn't even be using Safari in the first place. Personal attacks are a great defense.
Posted by: flood at April 8, 2006 02:20 AM
This guy sounds like a douche and a half. I guess that's not much to add as I'm sure you already knew that.
Posted by: Dean Shavit at April 8, 2006 02:47 AM
Wincent Colaitua posted some of the first truly useful information about Mac OS X when it was released five years ago. I don't know if he's a hothead or not but I can safely say that his blog is not a b-list blog and his contributions to the general understand of Mac OS X is as important as John Welch's, John Gruber's, or even Mark Liyanage's. So, DB being a newcomer in comparison to Wincent might not know him, but Wincent does deserve props for his seminal web site for those of us who were just getting our feet wet with Mac OS X.
I think some of the comments on here are just out of bounds, like:
"This guy sounds like a douche and a half. I guess that's not much to add as I'm sure you already knew that."
This is the second most disappointing moment as a reader of Drunkenblog. (DB, you certainly know the first).
Posted by: Wes McGee at April 8, 2006 05:05 AM
Wincent Colaitua may know a lot about OS X, but he knows shocking little about mail headers. OK, to lay all the cards on the table, I have coversed with DB three of four times about things through email. I won't use that to say I know him intimately, he doesn't seem to be the type of guy who'd pull that wreckless a stunt (even given the most recent image of doom post). That said, I don't think anyone would ever intentionally falsely accuse someone else of sending such a malicious payload, so I looked closely at the headers as posted on Colaitua's blog. Unless he used some judicious clipping (which would me those messages aren't "in full") most all of the headers are forged (IP addresses in the 10.*.*.* block can't be used on the Internet-- they're for internal networks, and there's no gateway IP to provide network transport, so that given routing in the header is impossible).
That said, what I am concerned is the possibility that some anonymous malcontent may be 'targeting' prominent Mac users with this.
Posted by: Patrick at April 8, 2006 06:40 AM
(IP addresses in the 10.*.*.* block can't be used on the Internet-- they're for internal networks, and there's no gateway IP to provide network transport, so that given routing in the header is impossible).
Uh. What?
1. It's quite possible to route mail inside on mail servers within the RFC1918 private ranges.
2. Note the gmail stuff? Go look at any mail that goes in or out via gmail. Most of their servers sit in those ranges (for good reason: they have lots of them, but very few need public ip addresses. Why waste them?)
While it might make you sound smart to mention those ranges, it didn't.
As to DB, well... I find your blog entertaining and all, but posting that last image inline? Yeah, a tad immature. Intentionally exploiting a bug is never ok. That's what radar.apple.com is for, and http://www.apple.com/support/security/. Sure it's his blog, but does that really make it right?
Posted by: DBfan at April 8, 2006 08:07 AM
Give DB a break!!!!!! Can't u idiot's see he's done people a favor.
Posted by: at April 8, 2006 10:22 AM
In a way, it's always good to have a reminder that the weakest link when it comes to security is usually not the tools within the system, but a tool sitting in front of it.
Oh snap.
>> quotefile.txt
Posted by: Ted Frapp at April 8, 2006 10:52 AM
Sleepless nights because of Tabby the Tab? Irony. I'd sleep like a babbling baby if that was my only problem.
Why do you hate Tabby the Tab ?
Posted by: Patrick at April 8, 2006 06:12 PM
DBfan: what favour?
Posted by: eco2geek at April 8, 2006 07:12 PM
Man. I know this is a Mac-oriented site, but as a Linux user, I'm feeling seriously discriminated against here.
Firefox? Image displays fine. Konqueror? A-OK. Opera? Great. Dillo? Yeah. Galeon? All right. Epiphany? No problem. Lynx? Oh, wait, that's text-only.
So would you please put something up that crashes a browser in Linux? We want to call you a dick, too. Please, please, please?
Posted by: FulNameRequired at April 8, 2006 08:21 PM
I viewed his post on the same day it was made. I was using safari. my browser didn't crash.
why dont you pinheads keep up with the security updates?
thanks DB btw, Ive been reading your posts on and off for a couple of years and have derived much pleasure from them in that time. if you *had* crashed my browser I think I would have seen it as a pretty minor transgression in the scheme of things....considering how much enjoyment you have given me.
Posted by: Arden at April 8, 2006 08:30 PM
I would simply like to point out that I, too, viewed the Post of Doom™ containing the Image of Doom™™™ in Safari, and it, too, crashed. I was not particularly discouraged, however, because I use the excellent Safari plugin Saft, which saves all my open browser windows and tabs, as well as their browsing history. The only things I lost were session variables for some dynamic sites, which is no big loss because the logins are stored anyway.
So the answer is clear. Don't be a weenie, use Protection™™™™™™™™™™™™™.
And how can you people hate such a happy-looking guy? (Yes, DB is the one in the middle. Yes, I took this picture. No, I've not deluded myself into thinking anyone really cares.)
Posted by: Skorp at April 8, 2006 11:43 PM
Wincent is hilarious.
As for the jpg of death, well, do what I do: nowadays I use my Safari bookmark for drunkenblog as a more amusing shortcut than #Q to quit Safari. You should try it.
More seriously: yes, DB was a bit of a dick, but the point was worth making.
Posted by: cmon at April 9, 2006 01:34 AM
apple really needs to get their act together with regards to security. recent security holes were horribly embarrasing to say the least. some of the comments above sound a little bit too religious for my taste. there are real security problems and they need to be adressed yesterday. microsoft is way ahead in caring about security. they make use of the nx-bit and use stack canaries afaik as well as following a (more or less) rigorous design/review/audit cycle. the .net framework contains some interesting security features as well (kind of like capability-based os stuff).
what does apple have? steve, peddling the old (ridiculous) unix == secure meme?
Posted by: Troy Phillips at April 9, 2006 08:01 AM
DB, When you asked around if anyone knew him, you must have forgotten to ask your friend in the red shed:) He seems to know him.
PS: I have Safari 1.3 which didn't crash so once again I have a small reason to be happy about being behind on the upgrade cycle.
Posted by: Old Europe at April 9, 2006 12:55 PM
Why do you hate Tabby the Tab ?
I don't hate Tabby the Tab. Really, if you loved Tabby as much as I do, you would have bookmarked him savely away in his cradle. Be more protective. Take care in the future and learn.
And... Hey wait a minute! Didn't you say you'd remove Batsie from your bookmark bar? Ted Frapp you didn't, did you?
A propos bar, anyone in the mood for a stiff b & soda?
-- Cheers, Owldyoupop
Posted by: at April 9, 2006 10:21 PM
1 vote for db=dick
Posted by: Grod at April 10, 2006 10:36 AM
Counting the epithets used during this storm-in-a-teapot confirms one thing the rest of the world already knew: Mac users sure love the cock!
Posted by: Brian Pan at April 10, 2006 03:52 PM
> This is a clear case of the boy who cried "wolf".
I agree with this. Ya kinda brought this upon yourself.
And you brought the hundreds of useless comments to your blog too. Please no more! Wading through the comments is painful!
I like the ham story though.
Posted by: Peter da Silva at April 10, 2006 04:33 PM
"It's readable from within your RSS reader"
It's also readable from within Camino, but just because I have come to distrust Safari (see my link for why) doesn't mean I think that this "har har" image should have been included inline (let alone on the front page) for longer than a day (if at all).
Posted by: Former Reader at April 10, 2006 09:06 PM
Dear DB
I recently started reading your blog and up until now I have enjoyed your writings. My Safari browser crashed when I tried to open your front page but luckily I did not lose any data as others have reported, but I took offence to your stunt. Subsequently reading articles written by you will not hold great importance to me in the future.
My computer system is my property and I consider anyone who performs unsolicited manipulation of my computer system that result in my applications crashing to be a malware author and a mere crook. You are no different than the much hated spammers that send me unsolicited mail. I am not interested in your motives only the consequences of your actions.
All this boils down to common courtesy and manners that you and your choir do not apparently possess.
With increasing market share the Mac OS X will probably become a bigger target for malware authors of all kinds and the need for security software will increase in the near future. I hope future security software on the Mac OS X will handle this and possible future attacks from you ;-)
I work for a antivirus company (we mostly handle windows malware) and that may explain my intolerance towards such stunts. My work revolves around malware and I read your blog in my free time not expecting this from the supposedly good humoured Drunken Batman.
PS. With regards to your "sulky" intentions of abandoning the Mac in favour of Windows, well ... Bon voyage.
Best regards,
F. Reader
Posted by: Former Reader at April 10, 2006 09:55 PM
Oops.
Well so much for my grand departure :-) It just dawned on me as I deleted all traces of your blog (well a single bookmark) that I recall once reading about you using Linux and therefore you are probably insinuating that you are abandoning the Mac in favour of Linux, th3 l33t uberhax0r that your are, using the terminal and top and all.
Well good luck using Linux, and as a long time Linux user I am confident that an experienced user such as yourself will have no trouble handling the idiosynchrasies of Unix and Linux in particular.
The Linux community is in dire need of an astute observer and let us not forget, prolific typist, such as yourself.
And finally. As I have been programming in Cocoa for about a year now and I really enjoy reading the blogs of great software developers such as Wil Shipley, Gus Mueller and many more I would like to thank you for bringing to my attention the blog of Wincent Colaiuta. He has some very interesting articles on technical matters and sounds like a very rational person and a knowledgable Mac OS X developer.
Best regards,
F. Reader
PS. Note to the devout
Posted by: Skorp at April 10, 2006 11:16 PM
You are all so constipated.
Posted by: Mark Stultz at April 11, 2006 02:15 AM
WE GOT MOTHER FUCKING SNAKES.
Why do people get so upset about small things? Especially over the internet.
Keep up the good work DB.
Posted by: simplisticton at April 11, 2006 08:23 AM
DB, what can I say? You're a lightning rod for idiots :-)
Posted by: Formerly Irritated Reader at April 12, 2006 12:25 AM
Ok, I'll admit I'm a bit of a hothead, as is DB, in my opinion, but as I don't want to sow ill will and discord, I want to share with you the following remarks and leave it at that.
DB has provided us with a lot of good stuff in the past, many interesting and enjoyable articles and let us not forget the evening at Adler which I found very informative and interesting, as did many others, but lately I find DB turning into a bit of a prick (or a rod as simplisticon suggests).
This is of course a common ailment that many suffer from, from time to time, myself included.
I don't particularly take well to the notion that DB dictates what browser I should use to browse the web and his site in particular.I really hope Apple will fix this bug soon but let me tell you the situation in Macland is not so dire yet that it warrants such a campaing as DB is attempting to spearhead. Have you used Windows lately? How many malware items or other malicious exploits are currently in the wild in the Mac OS X environment? How many are in the wild in the Windows environment? Please contrast and compare among yourselves.
And DB I find it rather distasteful that a man in your position attacks someone in your blog with such vehemence and hostile innuendos as you did in your latest article. Your assumptions are very likely right, someone other than you was pestering him. But I fail to see how your "righteous" indignation is somehow more righteous than his. After all your actions were the catalyst in this whole affair.Why not just explain your side of the deal without all the strange Lynchian imagery. I mean flying ponies, strawmen, tribal behaviours? :-) Well .. don't change your weird style but I think you should lighten up. I would like to see the former perhaps a bit more inebriated, and laid back, batman return.
Regards,
F.I. Reader
PS. I will probably still check out the site but I refuse to read it in anything other than Safari :)
Posted by: Sandy at April 12, 2006 12:45 AM
Every one of you missed the boat. Obviously the Batdude has encountered a Hot Babe who demanded evidence that he was a Bad Boy. All he need do is produce this post's comments for her perusal.
Paradise by the dashboard lights.
(Did I mention that Meatloaf plays poker DB?)
95% of you are men and would do the same or worse presented with this opportunity. What was that about your high ethical standards? I...can't...hear...you?
Pffft. The sooner I rule the world the better.
Posted by: Old Europe at April 12, 2006 01:47 PM
Pffft. The sooner I rule the world the better.
Is it possible? I just left for a drink or two and now someone else wants to rule the world. That is so mean.
Pffft to you Sandy. You married woman with two kids. Owner of a business and a PiC.
But you seem more then the rest -- perhaps 95% -- of us. So tell us, Sandy, is it The Girl Batguy has fallen for? Your The Girl or The Batgirl or are they i-den-ti-cal??? (With riddling three question marks.)
Sober again,
O.E.
Posted by: Sam Deane at April 13, 2006 08:02 PM
Hmm... we're not talking about the same Vinnie Colaiuta who played drums for Frank Zappa presumably. That would be just too weird...
Posted by: Henrik Nørgaard Hansen at April 22, 2006 10:31 PM
So, did anyone see this coming: http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?storyid=1282&rss
ps: better save your tabs, now.
Posted by: mac at April 24, 2006 06:07 PM
I continue to be astonished at the depth of the arrogant, ignorant stupidity DB has uncovered and put on display in such a marvelous fashion. Whats that say over there?, "Do appear to be sane"? Mofo crashed my browser- I'm insulted and my life is ruined. The nerve.
Posted by: Sandy at April 26, 2006 02:50 AM
Old Europe,
The Girl is too young and much much too in-no-cent for the likes of the Batdude.
The Boy advertises The Cow Abides.
Me? I've fallen off the face of the earth. Just visiting my favorite Batdude between All Ins......
You're still a dick for embedding the image instead of using a link.