Not at all amusing; sad, really

Post #64,576 by rickmoen 11/22/02 10:52:24 PM Reply	Not at all amusing; sad, really Doug, I'm sorry that this keeps happening to you -- especially since it's a sign of further decline in my old home town. (I grew up at 7B Bowen Road, Victoria, HKI, and attended Peak School, up near the top of the Tram.) Your surmise that your systems have been compromised and played with seems reasonable. Personally, in a situation like that, I'd want to operate from an LNX-BBC or Knoppix disk, which would be a real challenge for the spook agencies to attack in the usual ways. Rick Moen rick@linuxmafia.com If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.
Post #64,627 by dmarker 11/23/02 6:38:49 AM 11/23/02 7:21:13 AM Reply	Re: Not at all amusing; sad, really Rick, What a surprise - an old HongKongonian. Everyone tells me the place has changed over the years - much cleaner since 1997 - (I 1st came here in 1980 but in the many intervening vists learned nothing about the place except it was full of Cantonese & a few Gweilos. I am not sure where the security problem is but I have made the following deductions ... PS(this post is coming via my usual ISP but using Mozilla on RH8 & so far seems to be getting thru). 1) At work if I use my normal login I get blocked on controversial material to IWETHEY (I don't post anywhere else) 2) Same at home 3) No prob if I login to attglobal.net using my or wife's account 4) No problem at work if I use one of the many servers I have installed 5) No problem at home (thus far) using RH8 More soon - dinner is calling #2 - back from rice & stir-fry <grin> (actuallywas lamb chops on a bar-b-que) I first began to experience blocks about 6 months ago but they were few & I always managed to post the original material eventually. But I was aware over the past 9 months of a growing volume of emails arriving with attachments that I would never open in a fit (because they were some form of executable). I have enough experience from BackOrfice days to know when my computer is compromised (has happened approx 4 times since 1999). I always maintain two primary computers that can access thru the same cable & maintain several more that can use dial-up accounts. Now if I dial-in to my usual ISP rather than use cable - I don't get blocked. It seems that I don't get blocked using RH8 & Mozilla from the same computer I use Windows2K (which does get blocked). In fact both my main Win2K computers seem to get blocked but I have all sorts of strange failures to get recognised by my ISP & I haven't got a theory for these yet. Both these computers go thrugh a Buffalo AirStation. I am now working how to install an IDS (SNORT) so that I can filter & monitor ip traffic anytime I think there is strange activity. It did come as a bit of a suprise to me when I realised I was losing control of my mouse & keyboard but I am ruthless when I see that - I just hit reset. The good thing is I have other computers that have my real work on & these are nearly always switched off when my 2 main computers are up & accessing the net. My suspicion is that the blocking is occuring via my ISP - now the tricky part about this bit is that my ISP is also my employer!!!. But the belief here in HK is that HK Telecom does have a relationship with HK & Mainland security. Cheers Doug PS how long did you live in HK - what age did you arrive ? - leave? My wife & I really like it here & we enjoy visiting the emerging mainland - I am amazed at the changes since 1990 when I 1st went to Beijing - it isn't the same place I saw back then - nothing like it & the people are transformed in a way I find astounding. Edited by dmarker Nov. 23, 2002, 07:21:13 AM EST Expand All History
Post #64,658 by rickmoen 11/23/02 6:53:20 PM Reply	Re: Not at all amusing; sad, really Doug: RH8 is certainly liveable. You'll want to probe its security using [link\|http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-2000-08/lw-08-expo00-hacking.html\|nmap] and make sure any services you leave enabled are tightly configured and kept up to date. If you choose to ssh/scp into it from elsewhere, you might make a policy of doing so only using the aforementioned LNX-BBC or Knoppix disks. (Either is a Linux system on a bootable CD. The LNX-BBC is burnable to business-card-sized media, and I was one of its designers.) And of course never, ever use for that machine passwords you use elsewhere. If you have a PalmOS PDA, you can get one of several encrypted password-storage utilities for it, such as GNU Keyring, from my [link\|http://linuxmafia.com/pub/palmos/\|archive] of open-source code for and about PalmOS. I lived in HK in the late '60s, because my father was transferred there by Pan American World Airways, for whom he was a captain. That was before the Harbour Tunnel, so I saw a lot of the Star Ferry. Alas, we never got to cross the border from the New Territories: We were always jealous of the Brits, whose passports were valid over there. (Except, during the Cultural Revolution, the presence of that border was rather ominous.) I'm curious: Do you know if Peak School is still in operation? It was or is a government-run grammar school, a few blocks from the top of the Peak Tram. Rick Moen rick@linuxmafia.com If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.
Post #64,720 by dmarker 11/24/02 6:40:48 AM Reply	Re: Rick PS is still there, neibour teachs there ... Yup PS is pretty well known. Here are a couple of links (not much in them but they exist). The 1st link shows the PS home page & the women with the kids at the bottom right is out neibour (just had 1st baby - a son). Cheers - Doug [link\|http://www.ps.edu.hk/\|Peak School Home Page] [link\|http://www.esf.edu.hk/schools/peak_school.html\|Another link] [link\|http://www.shambles.net/hongkong/\|Map of Hong Kong] (We live in Discovery Bay which is at the tip of Lantau Island - the map doesn't show the big bridge from mainland to Lantau. We travel by ferry to Central each day) Cheers Doug
Post #64,740 by boxley 11/24/02 9:36:32 AM Reply	WOW!!! Kowloon used o be where cheap lodging was available when I was there circa 1970 etc now it looks larger than the Island itself!. I guess the Day of the 99$HK silk suit is long gone. thanx, bill will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] GRAYBOAR-Strangleur Extraodinaire "Have Thumbs Will Travel" Customised Asphyxiations No Gullet Too Big, No Weasand Too small My Motto Satisfaction Garoteed, or the Chokes on Me! Eric Flint
Post #64,804 by dmarker 11/24/02 7:28:03 PM Reply	Re: And cheap girls <grin> - actually ... Where it shows Kowloon are the suburbs of Mong Kok, Prince Edward, Kowloon Tong, Sham Shui Po etc: Kowloon is pretty much an area as well as a suburb (Kowloon Tong) Tsim Sha Tsui is the tip below that & where the Star ferry crosses to Central. Cheers Doug
Post #65,077 by rickmoen 11/26/02 2:11:18 AM Reply	Re: Rick PS is still there, neibour teachs there ... Doug wrote: Yup PS is pretty well known. Thanks for the links. Since we're off-topic, I'll try to keep my comments short: Nice to see the old place, a bit. E.g., photos at [link\|http://www.ps.edu.hk/oldsite/school%20prospectus/history.html\|http://www.ps.edu.hk/oldsite/school%20prospectus/history.html]. The changes since the '60s, inevitable in a handover from the UK government to the English Schools Foundation are quite apparent: The big one is heterogeneity. Back then, the students were all-British other than me, my sister, and one other Yank -- and we got in over stiff official opposition. Bizarrely, no Chinese students, then! Or staff, I think. It was also run by a headmistress, vs. today's "principal", and didn't have a "PTA". Creeping Americanism, or at the least fading of Empire, is mostly a blessing, I'm sure. I could have done without the mandatory singing of "Onward Christian Soldiers" and such at 10AM assembly, at least. (We live in Discovery Bay which is at the tip of Lantau Island - the map doesn't show the big bridge from mainland to Lantau. Lantau was a boat ride, back in the day. I remember Discovery Bay well, as we had friends there. Also at other points around HKI, such as Deepwater Bay, where we shot off fireworks for American Independence Day and Guy Fawkes Day, every year. (For Chinese New Year, of course, the fireworks came to you.) Rick Moen rick@linuxmafia.com If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.

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