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Over The Hedge: bringing back a T-Rex
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Lynn McGuire
Oct 25, 2019, 5:45:42 PM10/25/19
to
Over The Hedge: bringing back a T-Rex
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/10/25
Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
Lynn
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/10/25
Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
Lynn
Kevrob
Oct 25, 2019, 6:30:10 PM10/25/19
to
Kevin R
Lynn McGuire
Oct 25, 2019, 8:19:08 PM10/25/19
to
reference ?
Lynn
Dorothy J Heydt
Oct 25, 2019, 8:50:03 PM10/25/19
to
In article <qovqe1$teu$1...@dont-email.me>,
Oh yes, I cannot resist reposting this:
======================================================================
JURASSIC PARK
A security analysis by Michel E. Kabay
Copyright 1993 Network World
IS YOUR SECURITY PROCESS A DINOSAUR?
The current hit movie JURASSIC PARK stars several holdovers
from 65 million years ago. It also shows errors in network
security that seem to be as old.
For those of you who have just returned from Neptune, JURASSIC
PARK is about a dinosaur theme park that displays live dinosaurs
created after scientist cracked extinct dinosaur DNA code
recovered from petrified mosquitos. The film has terrific live
action dinosaur replicas and some heart stopping scenes. It also
dramatizes awful network management and security. Unfortunately,
the policies are as realistic as the dinosaurs.
Consider a network security risk analysis for Jurassic Park.
The entire complex depends on computer controlled electric fences
and gates to keep a range of prehistoric critters from eacing the
tourists and staff. So at a simple level, if the network fails,
people turn into dinosaur food.
Jurassic Park's security network is controlled by an
ultramodern UNIX system, but its management structures date from
the Stone Age. There is only one person who maintains the
programs which control the security network. This breaks Kabay's
Law of Redundancy, which states, "No knowledge shall be the
property of only one member of the team." After all, if that
solitary guru were to leave, go on vacation, or get eaten by a
dinosaur, you'd be left without a safety net.
Jurassic Park's security system is controlled by computer
programs consisting of two million lines of proprietary code.
These critical programs are not properly documented. An
undocumented system is by definition a time bomb. In the movie,
this bomb is triggered by a vindictive programmer who is angry
because he feels overworked and underpaid.
One of the key principles of security is that people are the
most important component of any security system. Disgruntled and
dishonest employees cause far more damage to networks and
computer systems than hackers. The authoritarian owner of the
Park dismisses the programer's arguments and complaints as if
owning a bunch of dinosaurs gives him the privilege of treating
his employees rudely. He pays no attention to explicit
indications of discontent, including aggressive language,
resentful retorts, and sullen expressions. If the owner had
taken the time to listen to his employee's grievances and take
steps to address them, he could have prevented several dinosaur
meals.
Bad housekeeping is another sign of trouble. The console
where the disgruntled programmer works looks like a garbage dump;
it's covered in coffee cup fungus gardens, historically
significant chocolate bar wrappers, and a treasure trove of
recyclable soft drink cans. You'd think that a reasonable
manager would be alarmed by the number of empty calories per hour
being consumed by this critically important programmer. The poor
fellow is so overweight that his life expectancy would be short
even if he didn't become dinosaur fodder.
Ironically, the owner repeats, "No expenses spared" at several
points during the movie. It doesn't seem to occur to him that
with hundreds of millions of dollars spent on hardware and
software, not to mention the buildintgs and grounds and an entire
private island, modest raises for the staff would be trivial in
terms of operating expenses but significant for morale.
In the movie, the network programmer is bribed by competitors
to steal dinosaur embryos. He does so by setting off a logic
bomb that disrupts network operations completely. The network
outage causes surveillance and containment systems to fail,
stranding visitors in, well, uncomfortable situations. Even
though the plot is not exactly brilliant, I'd like to leave at
least something to surprise those who haven't seen the movie yet.
When the systems fail, for some reason all the electric locks
in the park's laboratory are instantly switched to the open
position. Why aren't they automatically locked instead?
Normally, when a security controller fails, the default should be
to keep security high, not eliminate it completely. Manual
overrides such as crash bars (the horizontal bars that open
latches on emergency exits) can provide emergency egress without
compromising security.
As all of this is happening, a tropical storm is bearing down
on the island. The contingency plan appears to consist of
sending almost everyone away to the mainland, leaving a pitifully
inadequate skeleton crew. The film suggests that the skeleton
crew is not in physical danger from the storm, so why send
essential personnel away? Contingency plans are supposed to
include redundancy at every level. Reducing the staff when more
are needed is incomprehensibl.
At one point, the systems are rebooted by turning the power
off to the entire island on which the park is located. This is
equivalent to turning the power off in your city because you had
an application failure on your PC. Talk about overkill: why
couldn't they just power off the computers themselves?
Where were the DPMRP (Dinosaur Prevention Mitigation and
Recovery Planning) consultants when the park was being designed?
Surely everybody should know by now that the only way to be ready
for dinosaurs, uh, disasters, is to think, plan, rehearse, refine
and update. Didn't anyone think about what would happen if the
critters got loose? Where are the failsafe systems? The
uninterruptible power supplies? The backup power generators?
Sounds like Stupidosaurians were in charge.
We may be far from cloning dinosaurs, but we are uncomfortably
close to managing security with all the grace of a Brontosaurus
trying to type.
I hope you see the film. And bring your boss.
Best wishes, Mich
Michel E. Kabay, Ph.D.
Director of Education
National Computer Security Association
The above text is Copyright (c) 1993 by Network World. All
rights reserved.
Permission is granted by the copyright holder and the author to
distribute this file electronically or otherwise as long as the
entire file is printed without modification.
=====================================================================
--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/
======================================================================
JURASSIC PARK
A security analysis by Michel E. Kabay
Copyright 1993 Network World
IS YOUR SECURITY PROCESS A DINOSAUR?
The current hit movie JURASSIC PARK stars several holdovers
from 65 million years ago. It also shows errors in network
security that seem to be as old.
For those of you who have just returned from Neptune, JURASSIC
PARK is about a dinosaur theme park that displays live dinosaurs
created after scientist cracked extinct dinosaur DNA code
recovered from petrified mosquitos. The film has terrific live
action dinosaur replicas and some heart stopping scenes. It also
dramatizes awful network management and security. Unfortunately,
the policies are as realistic as the dinosaurs.
Consider a network security risk analysis for Jurassic Park.
The entire complex depends on computer controlled electric fences
and gates to keep a range of prehistoric critters from eacing the
tourists and staff. So at a simple level, if the network fails,
people turn into dinosaur food.
Jurassic Park's security network is controlled by an
ultramodern UNIX system, but its management structures date from
the Stone Age. There is only one person who maintains the
programs which control the security network. This breaks Kabay's
Law of Redundancy, which states, "No knowledge shall be the
property of only one member of the team." After all, if that
solitary guru were to leave, go on vacation, or get eaten by a
dinosaur, you'd be left without a safety net.
Jurassic Park's security system is controlled by computer
programs consisting of two million lines of proprietary code.
These critical programs are not properly documented. An
undocumented system is by definition a time bomb. In the movie,
this bomb is triggered by a vindictive programmer who is angry
because he feels overworked and underpaid.
One of the key principles of security is that people are the
most important component of any security system. Disgruntled and
dishonest employees cause far more damage to networks and
computer systems than hackers. The authoritarian owner of the
Park dismisses the programer's arguments and complaints as if
owning a bunch of dinosaurs gives him the privilege of treating
his employees rudely. He pays no attention to explicit
indications of discontent, including aggressive language,
resentful retorts, and sullen expressions. If the owner had
taken the time to listen to his employee's grievances and take
steps to address them, he could have prevented several dinosaur
meals.
Bad housekeeping is another sign of trouble. The console
where the disgruntled programmer works looks like a garbage dump;
it's covered in coffee cup fungus gardens, historically
significant chocolate bar wrappers, and a treasure trove of
recyclable soft drink cans. You'd think that a reasonable
manager would be alarmed by the number of empty calories per hour
being consumed by this critically important programmer. The poor
fellow is so overweight that his life expectancy would be short
even if he didn't become dinosaur fodder.
Ironically, the owner repeats, "No expenses spared" at several
points during the movie. It doesn't seem to occur to him that
with hundreds of millions of dollars spent on hardware and
software, not to mention the buildintgs and grounds and an entire
private island, modest raises for the staff would be trivial in
terms of operating expenses but significant for morale.
In the movie, the network programmer is bribed by competitors
to steal dinosaur embryos. He does so by setting off a logic
bomb that disrupts network operations completely. The network
outage causes surveillance and containment systems to fail,
stranding visitors in, well, uncomfortable situations. Even
though the plot is not exactly brilliant, I'd like to leave at
least something to surprise those who haven't seen the movie yet.
When the systems fail, for some reason all the electric locks
in the park's laboratory are instantly switched to the open
position. Why aren't they automatically locked instead?
Normally, when a security controller fails, the default should be
to keep security high, not eliminate it completely. Manual
overrides such as crash bars (the horizontal bars that open
latches on emergency exits) can provide emergency egress without
compromising security.
As all of this is happening, a tropical storm is bearing down
on the island. The contingency plan appears to consist of
sending almost everyone away to the mainland, leaving a pitifully
inadequate skeleton crew. The film suggests that the skeleton
crew is not in physical danger from the storm, so why send
essential personnel away? Contingency plans are supposed to
include redundancy at every level. Reducing the staff when more
are needed is incomprehensibl.
At one point, the systems are rebooted by turning the power
off to the entire island on which the park is located. This is
equivalent to turning the power off in your city because you had
an application failure on your PC. Talk about overkill: why
couldn't they just power off the computers themselves?
Where were the DPMRP (Dinosaur Prevention Mitigation and
Recovery Planning) consultants when the park was being designed?
Surely everybody should know by now that the only way to be ready
for dinosaurs, uh, disasters, is to think, plan, rehearse, refine
and update. Didn't anyone think about what would happen if the
critters got loose? Where are the failsafe systems? The
uninterruptible power supplies? The backup power generators?
Sounds like Stupidosaurians were in charge.
We may be far from cloning dinosaurs, but we are uncomfortably
close to managing security with all the grace of a Brontosaurus
trying to type.
I hope you see the film. And bring your boss.
Best wishes, Mich
Michel E. Kabay, Ph.D.
Director of Education
National Computer Security Association
The above text is Copyright (c) 1993 by Network World. All
rights reserved.
Permission is granted by the copyright holder and the author to
distribute this file electronically or otherwise as long as the
entire file is printed without modification.
=====================================================================
--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/
Kevrob
Oct 25, 2019, 9:21:56 PM10/25/19
to
Quadibloc
Oct 26, 2019, 7:23:01 PM10/26/19
to
On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 3:45:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
Absent frog DNA, the damage from bringing only one dinosaur with them will at
> Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
least be limited in scope.
John Savard
Quadibloc
Oct 26, 2019, 7:28:49 PM10/26/19
to
One expects, in Hollywood movies, and TV shows, for the actions of characters to
be dumbed down so that the audience can understand the mistakes of some of the
characters.
It is indeed sad that the security errors in Jurassic Park almost didn't need for
that to be done compared to what sometimes happens in real life.
John Savard
be dumbed down so that the audience can understand the mistakes of some of the
characters.
It is indeed sad that the security errors in Jurassic Park almost didn't need for
that to be done compared to what sometimes happens in real life.
John Savard
Lynn McGuire
Oct 26, 2019, 9:33:34 PM10/26/19
to
your house ?
Lynn
Robert Woodward
Oct 27, 2019, 12:59:34 AM10/27/19
to
In article <552230bf-dda5-4de0...@googlegroups.com>,
Frog DNA? Why the hell didn't they use Bird DNA to fill in all the gaps?
Even in 1960s, scientists had known that birds came from the same branch
of the reptilian evolution tree as dinosaurs. IIRC, by the late 1980s,
they had realized that the relationship was even closer.
--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robe...@drizzle.com
Even in 1960s, scientists had known that birds came from the same branch
of the reptilian evolution tree as dinosaurs. IIRC, by the late 1980s,
they had realized that the relationship was even closer.
--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robe...@drizzle.com
Dorothy J Heydt
Oct 27, 2019, 2:40:03 AM10/27/19
to
In article <robertaw-92CAEA...@news.individual.net>,
thud providing an extra, necessary element of DOOM to the plot.
This was a Michael Crichton plot, after all.
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>In article <552230bf-dda5-4de0...@googlegroups.com>,
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>> On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 3:45:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>
>> > Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
>>
>> Absent frog DNA, the damage from bringing only one dinosaur with them will at
>> least be limited in scope.
>
>Frog DNA? Why the hell didn't they use Bird DNA to fill in all the gaps?
Because frogs have this occasional tendency to gender-switch,
>In article <552230bf-dda5-4de0...@googlegroups.com>,
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>> On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 3:45:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>
>> > Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
>>
>> Absent frog DNA, the damage from bringing only one dinosaur with them will at
>> least be limited in scope.
>
>Frog DNA? Why the hell didn't they use Bird DNA to fill in all the gaps?
thud providing an extra, necessary element of DOOM to the plot.
This was a Michael Crichton plot, after all.
Gene Wirchenko
Oct 28, 2019, 8:58:00 PM10/28/19
to
On Sat, 26 Oct 2019 00:34:25 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:
>In article <qovqe1$teu$1...@dont-email.me>,
>Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>Over The Hedge: bringing back a T-Rex
>> https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/10/25
>>
>>Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
>
>Oh yes, I cannot resist reposting this:
>
>======================================================================
>
>JURASSIC PARK
>A security analysis by Michel E. Kabay
>Copyright 1993 Network World
[snip]
Heydt) wrote:
>In article <qovqe1$teu$1...@dont-email.me>,
>Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>Over The Hedge: bringing back a T-Rex
>> https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/10/25
>>
>>Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
>
>Oh yes, I cannot resist reposting this:
>
>======================================================================
>
>JURASSIC PARK
>A security analysis by Michel E. Kabay
>Copyright 1993 Network World
Beautiful.
Have you seen this?
http://2012.video.sector.ca/video/51119497
How Not to Do Security
Lessons Learned from the Galactic Empire
Kellman Meghu
The first two minutes is some flat copyright joke. The actual
presentation starts at ~2:04.
Sincerely,
Gene Wirchenko
Robert Carnegie
Oct 29, 2019, 7:24:42 AM10/29/19
to
they can probably hear us. (For all that I know of this
strip, that may be established.)
Lynn McGuire
Oct 29, 2019, 1:32:06 PM10/29/19
to
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/10/26
And, the authors need to bone up on their Jurassic temperatures.
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/10/28
Lynn
peterw...@hotmail.com
Oct 29, 2019, 2:38:57 PM10/29/19
to
On Saturday, October 26, 2019 at 11:59:34 PM UTC-5, Robert Woodward wrote:
> In article <552230bf-dda5-4de0...@googlegroups.com>,
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
> > On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 3:45:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >
> > > Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
> >
> > Absent frog DNA, the damage from bringing only one dinosaur with them will at
> > least be limited in scope.
>
> Frog DNA? Why the hell didn't they use Bird DNA to fill in all the gaps?
> Even in 1960s, scientists had known that birds came from the same branch
> of the reptilian evolution tree as dinosaurs. IIRC, by the late 1980s,
> they had realized that the relationship was even closer.
Actually. they DID try bird DNA at first, but it wouldn't fly.
> In article <552230bf-dda5-4de0...@googlegroups.com>,
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
> > On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 3:45:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >
> > > Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
> >
> > Absent frog DNA, the damage from bringing only one dinosaur with them will at
> > least be limited in scope.
>
> Frog DNA? Why the hell didn't they use Bird DNA to fill in all the gaps?
> Even in 1960s, scientists had known that birds came from the same branch
> of the reptilian evolution tree as dinosaurs. IIRC, by the late 1980s,
> they had realized that the relationship was even closer.
Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist
art...@yahoo.com
Oct 29, 2019, 3:24:06 PM10/29/19
to
On Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 12:59:34 AM UTC-4, Robert Woodward wrote:
> In article <552230bf-dda5-4de0...@googlegroups.com>,
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
> > On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 3:45:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >
> > > Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
> >
> > Absent frog DNA, the damage from bringing only one dinosaur with them will at
> > least be limited in scope.
>
> Frog DNA? Why the hell didn't they use Bird DNA to fill in all the gaps?
> Even in 1960s, scientists had known that birds came from the same branch
> of the reptilian evolution tree as dinosaurs. IIRC, by the late 1980s,
> they had realized that the relationship was even closer.
That's still too far away. Good luck with that. They also didn't use fresh dinosaur eggs which are a delicacy. Scientists have done experiments where the nucleus(not just DNA) from one organism were put into the egg of a different organism. Unless the organisms were really closely related it didn't work. Of course that would have made for a lousy movie.
> In article <552230bf-dda5-4de0...@googlegroups.com>,
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
> > On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 3:45:42 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >
> > > Oh no ! That is not going to work out. I saw the Jurassic movies.
> >
> > Absent frog DNA, the damage from bringing only one dinosaur with them will at
> > least be limited in scope.
>
> Frog DNA? Why the hell didn't they use Bird DNA to fill in all the gaps?
> Even in 1960s, scientists had known that birds came from the same branch
> of the reptilian evolution tree as dinosaurs. IIRC, by the late 1980s,
> they had realized that the relationship was even closer.
Paul S Person
Oct 30, 2019, 12:34:35 PM10/30/19
to
If you seen /Raiders of the Lost Ark/ (for the beginning), /The Swiss
Family Robinson/ (for the "family in the wilderness" core of the film)
and any two "creature features", you've seen the original /Jurassic
Park/.
The /only/ part of it that was original was the human v raptor clash
at the end. It was very exciting, and hard to see which would prevail.
So hard, in fact, that the scriptwriters gave up the attempt and
invoked the oldest bit of theatrical corn known to man -- the T Rex ex
machina.
But there is no accounting for taste, so, if you liked it, good for
you.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."
art...@yahoo.com
Oct 30, 2019, 12:45:26 PM10/30/19
to
Lynn McGuire
Oct 30, 2019, 1:42:59 PM10/30/19
to
royalty checks.
Lynn
Paul S Person
Oct 31, 2019, 12:23:17 PM10/31/19
to
I never said it wasn't well made.
They earned those checks.
It's just a pity they didn't earn them making a better (IMHO) movie!
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