Security and insecurity; Rocks and rockets; Boom, and no boom today

[unixronin]

The next generation of Opteron and Athlon64 processors will reportedly support hardware separation of code and non-executable data segments.  It's being spun as 'plugging the gaps that led Microsoft to issue a "critical security alert" last week'' (referring to buffer overflow attacks).  I think they underestimate the inventiveness of Microsoft.

In related news, the Netsky.b worm, an altruistic worm which deactivates MyDoom infections, is becoming a widespread nuisance itself.  Those who understand the problem will already be aware of the debate over "altruistic" worms and virii and the problems inherent in fighting fire with fire.

Further afield, a sky survey by Caltech has found a Kuiper belt object (designated 2004 DW, for now) which is the largest body to be found in the Solar System since the discovery of Pluto.  2004 DW is estimated to be around 1650 kilometers in diameter (about 1000 miles), about a third larger than Quaoar, the previously-largest Kuiper belt object discovered in 2002.

NASA, meanwhile, has pushed back the next Shuttle flight, STS-114, until early 2005 to give NASA more time to develop in-flight repair procedures and make modifications to the dwindling Shuttle fleet.  Discovery is the designated mission orbiter, with Atlantis scheduled to be ready on standby (for some values of "ready") in case Discovery runs into trouble and a crew rescue mission (designated STS-300) is necessary.  Ready, in this case, turns out to mean "ready to fly within 35 to 70 days" or, according to other sources, 45 to 90.  This does not inspire confidence.  The current ISS completion plan calls for as many as 35 shuttle launches between March 2005 and the Shuttle's currently planned retirement in 2010; that's approximately one launch every two months, from a fleet now reduced to three shuttles.

Elsewhere, at least six people have died in a fire that swept through India's Satish Dhawan space center at Sriharikota.  The fire started in a solid-rocket propellant plant, and is said to have been initiated by an explosion.  The cause of the explosion is unknown, and the extent of the damage is unclear, but Indoa claims the site's launch schedule will be unaffected.

Finally, it is reported by China that North Korea has offered to scrap its nuclear weapons program in return for concessions at six-nation talks due to open in Beijing on Wednesday.  It is unclear what concessions North Korea wants in return, or what guarantees it plans to offer.

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Re: What North Korea will probably do

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

"For once you have paid the Danegeld,
You'll never be rid of the Dane."
-- Rudyard Kipling