What the hell is wrong with Canadians?

[dataworm]

Originally posted by ck3k
..and now they are trying to shut off america's power.....wtf :D

No comment please! :(
My internet access at home is currently down, while we have no electricity issue in Quebec, my ISP is in Ontario and it's completly down... I really can't understand what make that bad electricity network to fail that way... Last time I used a ISP not located in Quebec!

[ck3k]

..and now they are trying to shut off america's power.....wtf :D

[spahkle]

One two many hockey sticks to the head...

Sheila: Heck no, blame Canada, blame Canada, with all their hockey hollabaloo


http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/south...lamecanada.htm

[ripshy]

Originally posted by Effugas
I wonder if "Unlicensed Packet Radio" is a better nom de hackeur...

I like that term, never thought of it either.

[Effugas]

Chris--

I'll concede modem has evolved into a term used almost exclusively to refer to modulation and demodulation over POTS lines.

I wonder if "Unlicensed Packet Radio" is a better nom de hackeur...

--Dan

[dataworm]

Originally posted by renderman

It gets better; check this one out http://www.canada.com/montreal/montr...0-D2BA4CDB2DDC

I Just meet the guy that was interviewed for that article, he came to the wifi meetup(in montreal) with his news article in his hand, I was fucking laffing when i saw it... All I will say is that he left without paying his beer

[Chris]

Ok, I am willing to concede the modem issue to an extent since there are technically modulation techniques used with 802.11x (CCK, DQPSK, DBPSK etc) but still feel that radio is a better term than modem. I guess it is a modem to the same degree that a cell phone is.

[Effugas]

<b>First of all, no modulation/demodulation takes place with a wireless NIC
card. That is what a MODEM (MOdulator DEModulator) does.</b>

There's no concievable context in which a wireless NIC is not a modem. Given a slice of analog bandwidth, digital data is shoved through that slice using all sorts of symbolic encoding. I can track down the precise modulations for each data rate (it's different for 1, 2, 5.5, and 11), but WiFi cards are undeniably wireless modems.

--Dan

[renderman]

Originally posted by Chris
Now for the big shocker....he actually responded to me. I will not post his response here as I didn't request permission to post his communications, but suffice it to say he passed the buck, blaming one of his interview subjects for pretty much ALL of the inaccuracies (count up 11 posts and play guess who haha). He offered to do another story if I would let him interview me.

Why am I not surprised he blamed me. It's easy to blame the guy 3000 miles away.

I wonder if he would have assumed that Blackwave as a first or last name?

Not once did I mention Shipley was speaking this year. I mentioned that he spoke at DC9 and that piqued my interest in trying out wardriving. I also distrinctly remember saying that Shipley retired from it long ago.

Note to self: Record Interviews for later blackmail

[Chris]

guano,

Thanks for the reply. I'll disagree with you on the modem issue, just because of the way the reporter was using the term. It wasn't an EE term, he was attempting (or his interview subjects were) to "dumb down" a wireless NIC to a term joe fuckwad could understand.

I will agree with your point on radio shack. I should have been more specific about the types of 802.11 equipment I meant.

Now for the big shocker....he actually responded to me. I will not post his response here as I didn't request permission to post his communications, but suffice it to say he passed the buck, blaming one of his interview subjects for pretty much ALL of the inaccuracies (count up 11 posts and play guess who haha). He offered to do another story if I would let him interview me.

I politely (ahem) declined. I have seen his style of "quoting" people and that's a can of worms I am not going to open.

On a side note, my experience has been that if you CC God and everyone when pointing out a reporters stupidity, they rarely get back to you. Since the reporter isn't likely to get fired over an email, and we both know that the word retraction was removed from reporters dictionaries looong ago, I would rather hear their explanations.

[guano]

Originally posted by Chris
Just in case anyone was curious here is the email I sent the author of this story. As usual I do not expect a reply:
...

You should also send this to the editor, assistant editor, and post it in their forums.

As an side... While technically accurate, your reply may be too technical for their staff. I'd recommend:

- Removing the paragraph about net stumbler, et. al. (A "map" does not need to be an image -- it could be directions or data. In this case, you *were* provided with a "map".)

- Paragraph about Radio Shack: I know a few EE's who would argue that a radio is a type of modem since it coverts between impulses into radio modulations. It's not the computer definition, but it is the EE definition. (Similarly, people who argue that a "router" is not a "gateway" is confusing technical with representative definitions.)

- Paragraph about Radio Shack: I like your point that Radio Shack does not sell wireless networking equipment. But, replace 802.11 with "wireless networking" since most canadians are technically stoopid. (And most USA residents are just stoopid overall.) Be careful: My local Radio Shack sells APs and wireless NICs, but not antannas or connectors. I'd also ask if the author has some other adjenda for advertising Radio Shack.

Finally:
- Begin with a small summary of grievances: The article (1) discusses a presenter who neither presented nor was present, (2) does not credit the actual presenter nor reference the actual presentation, (3) references a source with a fictitious name, (4) grossly exagerates costs and impact, and (5) repeatedly uses technical terms incorrectly. The author of this article not only failed to check their facts, but embelished details and intentionally presented fictitious information.

And if you really want to get mad, say that the author should be demoted back to the mail room.

Having said that... I'm off to write my own grievance.

[ripshy]

Originally posted by Chris
[B]Just in case anyone was curious here is the email I sent the author of this story. As usual I do not expect a reply:

Nice letter, I will be sending one in sometime today. Im on the hunt for his personal email address...doubt I will find it though.

[blackwave]

Originally posted by Chris
I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't even at DefCon, or in Vegas.

it's no mystery our pal brad renderman confessed to his crimes a few posts above in this thread... :)

[Chris]

Heh...yeah, I was feeling mellow...and you are right, there is no way he was at the presentation...I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't even at DefCon, or in Vegas.

[ck3k]

Whoa, Chris talking to press without the usual curse word, or him calling them a bunch of "fuckerzz" I already commented on this article on the ns forum, But it is my idea that said reporter was gambling and not acually at defcon, or at Chris's speech.