Completely Off Topic Chat

glittersloth · 2020-07-26 08:14:44

^ The logic usually is; If they don't do as promised (either delete data or un-encrypt machines or whatnot), future victims won't bother paying the ransom.

.... which means that people trust cyber criminals more than ISPs or governments

johnraff · 2020-07-26 08:55:28

^But of course there's no way of knowing if they've got the data stashed away somewhere anyway. Just in case it comes in handy some day...

ohnonot · 2020-07-26 09:33:08

^^ I wouldn't want to be in Blackbaud's situation.

Playing devil's advocate for the criminal:
I'm sure they won't sell the data on immediately because they want to keep their "reputation". But I'm sure they won't delete it either: keep it for a rainy day (I'm saying essentially the same as the most-voted answer on the SX topic).

Another possibility:
The criminal asked for too little money and the company thought "what the heck, let's spend some peanuts on this, can't hurt".
OTOH, that's not how ransomware works. With ransomware, you'd have to pay for a password to decrypt your own data, not for a mere promise.

The statement describes a combination of ransomware & simple data theft; again, not sure if that's standard practice in the world of IT criminality. It actually sounds pretty exiting, how they interrupted the criminals in the middle of their attack and they "managed to get away with some of the loot"...

glittersloth · 2020-07-26 10:55:27

Need some help from anyone familiar with how Windows works.

Story: few months ago I helped someone set up a new desktop at their small office. The comp had 2 drives. One SSD (C:) for Windows+ProgramFiles+Boot+Whatever, and a second HDD (D:) for their documents and whatnot. I did that thing in File Explorer where you point/symlink all the "Quick Access" folders to specific locations locations I created in D:

Today I find out that the C: is almost full and the D: is virtually empty. The only files in D: were the ones I tested with all those months ago. Turns out this person is the type that floods the entire Desktop with their folders and documents. Like, I literally can't even make out what the wallpaper is supposed to be thanks to this mess. It's like @hhh in the music thread on drinking day.

I assume whatever this person is saving on Desktop is going into C: so how do I change that, if possible? I mean, I can relocate them manually of course, but how do I configure it so that whatever folders or documents she saves onto Desktop to go into D: in future?

Last edited by glittersloth (2020-07-26 11:41:39)

rbh · 2020-07-26 13:04:26

glittersloth wrote:

Need some help [...] I hear that in theory it's possible to move C:\Users to D:\ but given the state of Windows software I'd expect this to break random things in hilarious ways. I know that NTFS has support for symbolic links and even stuff called "Junctions"

In the old WinNT4 time, I often installd the system to an very small partition and user files / programs on second partition. The location of user directory, can be set in the registry.

Here is one simple description for window 10: https://www.easeus.com/pc-transfer/move … ws-10.html

ohnonot · 2020-07-26 17:54:24

glittersloth wrote:

...a damaged friendship and doubt in your """IT""" skills

Love the sextuple quotes!

Glittersloth, isn't it possible to shrink/expand partitions in Windows?
Basically, make D: smaller, make C: bigger?

hhh · 2020-07-26 18:36:14

glittersloth wrote:

It's like @hhh in the music thread on drinking day.

Ladies and gents, I'm working hard on it. I've been depressed a lot lately, which hasn't helped. Getting called out helps, but do it when it happens, not retroactively, please. Sloth is a friend who wants nothing but the best for me and I have thick skin, but it's still embarrassing.

Progress...

New electric fiddle and amp purchased
First time radio show achieved, Episode 9 is on the way
I still bicycle everywhere, new saddle and grips installed today before a 12 mile ride in extreme heat (for fun!)
New laptop purchased, I finished initial cinnamon tweaks today
New Sennheiser headphones and Logitech satellites/sub-woofer with internal amp for the computer/phone purchased, sounding great
BL Lithium Release in the next few days, and I've contributed quite a bit
Eating better
Drinking less
Sleeping better
Still covid-19 free (fingers crossed)
Saving money for the first time ever, I'm up to USD $3,000. Not much, but that's in 3 months with help from the US stimulus payment. I saved the entire $1200 check. Also, I have zero debt other than the upcoming months' bills (no mortgage, no car payment, and my rent is cheap)
Bored to tears with my job Dealing with my job for the time being, I'm lucky to be working at all in this US pandemic nightmare

Go hhh!

Apologies for my former spamming.

hhh · 2020-07-27 22:05:10

And I've killed Off Topic. May it Rest In Peace.

These are not the droids we're looking for. Move along. Move along.

@George Lucas, what in the actual... This is not the Star Wars I was looking for. Move along. Move along.

Crappy quality, but the original release...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=532j-186xEQ

ohnonot · 2020-07-29 19:39:55

This was under "Good News of the Day":
Nobody Likes Me. It Must be My Personality. - potus gains self-awareness.

A little later, I watched the Star Trek Episode Samaritan Snare.
I imagined a version where all the Pakleds have the face of DJ Trump

hhh · 2020-07-29 20:12:16

I like TOS. Spiner did great as Data and Stewart as Picard, but the Shatner/Nimoy/Kelley combo is hard to beat. Also, trippy set designs and lighting beat Hilton Hotel conference rooms and lighting and potted plants on any day. Twice on Sundays.

hhh · 2020-07-29 20:43:30

@schwim made a post on the main forums about spending hours on Google and rebooting to solve installing LAMP stack, to no avail.

I can relate. We all can. Linux works for 98% of the system but finding the solution or workaround to the remaining 2% can suck days out of your life.

Case in point, trying to enable SMPlayer>Options>Interface>Style>GTK on my new Buster Cinnamon desktop. Installed qt4-qtconfig, that brought up the option in the SMPlayer options menu but selecting it crashed the player and reverted it to the last style chosen. Installed qt5-style-plugins, same thing.

After over an hour, I finally found a workaround posted by @stevep A.K.A @stevepusser on the Debian forums (the Qt 4 trolltech file was fine, it was the Qt 5 export file/reboot that was needed)...

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? … 97#p660527

Over an hour to make the theme match. If I was a beginner, this might have taken days or weeks to figure out. I would have given up and lived with the ugliness.

Pic or it didn't happen...

https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic … 22#p104222

deleted0 · 2020-07-29 22:56:40

ohnonot wrote:

A little later, I watched the Star Trek Episode Samaritan Snare.

Haven't watched TNG in ages. Found and watched that episode. That show hasn't aged well; stiff acting, uninspired writing. That was only the second season, hopefully it got better as it went on.

Turn the sound down and enjoy watching Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi).

8bit

Last edited by deleted0 (2020-07-29 23:01:20)

hhh · 2020-07-30 01:21:31

She's hilarious at conventions.

One of the better Honest Trailers, TNG...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Zc8Co2H3w

johnraff · 2020-07-30 01:39:35

hhh wrote:

...trying to enable SMPlayer>Options>Interface>Style>GTK on my new Buster Cinnamon desktop. Installed qt4-qtconfig, that brought up the option in the SMPlayer options menu but selecting it crashed the player and reverted it to the last style chosen. Installed qt5-style-plugins, same thing.
After over an hour, I finally found a workaround posted by @stevep A.K.A @stevepusser on the Debian forums (the Qt 4 trolltech file was fine, it was the Qt 5 export file/reboot that was needed)...
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? … 97#p660527
Over an hour to make the theme match. If I was a beginner, this might have taken days or weeks to figure out. I would have given up and lived with the ugliness.

The BunsenLabs Lithium ~/.xsessionrc holds:

# for qt5 apps ( needs qt5-style-plugins and libqt5svg5 )
export QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=gtk2

qt5-style-plugins and libqt5svg5 (for svg icons I think) are in the default package list.
Do we need to add stevepusser's other two lines? (That was a 2017 post.)

export QT_PLATFORMTHEME=gtk2
export QT_PLATFORM_PLUGIN=gtk2

Last edited by johnraff (2020-07-30 01:40:14)

glittersloth · 2020-07-30 13:35:37

hhh wrote:

Ladies and gents, I'm working hard on it. I've been depressed a lot lately, which hasn't helped. Getting called out helps, but do it when it happens, not retroactively, please. Sloth is a friend who wants nothing but the best for me and I have thick skin, but it's still embarrassing.

You know I was just messin, right? Sorry if it cut the wrong way. Wasn't my intention.

hhh · 2020-07-30 20:32:41

glittersloth wrote:

You know I was just messin, right? Sorry if it cut the wrong way. Wasn't my intention.

Of course. No harm, no foul. I meant to address my addiction to beer (99.9% of the alcohol I've consumed for the last decade, 0.1% vodka cocktails) and the annoyances I've caused. Writing that progress list felt very good! About 3 1/2 years ago I was homeless for ten months. I'm doing rather well now, I'd say.

Wow, apparently I'm now humble and quite British for a Damn Yank. Dammit!

hhh · 2020-07-30 23:33:42

I was wicked retahted! Now I'm getting wicked smaht!

/Boston, Good Will Hunting, etc...

MAC the Bloody · 2020-07-31 06:28:52

hhh wrote:

About 3 1/2 years ago I was homeless for ten months. I'm doing rather well now, I'd say.

Glad you are doing better. Being homeless sucks. I know because it happened to me too. It was about 31 years ago and didn't last as long as it did for you, but I had enough of a taste of it to never repeat the experience.

Now I own my own house, although it took me until 2017 to accomplish that. I call it my "crap shack" but it's all mine and all payed for.

Lesson for anyone else who has fallen on hard times. Never give up!

hhh · 2020-07-31 20:32:13

For seven months I camped in the southern tip of Francis Marion National Forest, so I had a home, my campsite by Fogarty Creek, but no address. That part was actually really cool except for the deadly 40 mile round-trip bicycle commute, and mosquitoes are a given. Lots of bug spray. But I had found employment again so I had gear, supplies and plenty of firewood. And cycling the park on my days off on a fixie was magical, epic. I was doing bike delivery as well, I was riding a 30 pound, fixed gear bike (no freewheel, no coasting, you pedal always) 400 miles a week, half of it in sprints. I had Bruce Lee abs at age 53.

It was the last 3 months when the weather got too cold that I had to go to the homeless shelter. That is pretty low on the list of life experiences you want to have, I can assure. It was finding an apartment that I could afford that took so long.

deleted0 · 2020-07-31 20:53:54

^ I can relate. Camped out for almost a year waiting for my senior housing to come through. 100°F in the summer, 30°F in the winter. Saving up $$ for deposits, furniture, cookware, etc.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fcf4zf … sp=sharing

8bit

Last edited by deleted0 (2020-07-31 21:11:11)

#3021 2020-07-26 08:14:44

Re: Completely Off Topic Chat

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#3024 2020-07-26 10:55:27

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