Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2009 September 19

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September 19

Screens of Hackers

What do the typical black-hat hacker seen on his/her monitor when he/she is hacking? Do they actually use some sort of command-line interface as often depicted in movies? Or do they use programs with a GUI? Acceptable (talk) 01:19, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

If they were to hack using the equivalent of the remote assistance software that comes with XP then it would probably be capable of a GUI interface. Most likely though there is no command line or GUI interface and whatever they want is handled entirely by pre-programmed stuff and automation. -- Taxa (talk) 01:52, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

You might get more responses if you ask this question at the Computing Desk.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:52, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

It looks like you're hacking a system. Would you like help? I'm not sure there is a "typical black-hat hacker" that we all know about, but it no doubt depends on the exploit and system in question. There are some "hacking" programs like BackOrifice (or whatever the modern equivalent is) and the like that give GUI interfaces for interacting with another system. No doubt there are some who would do it all at a command line. Today much if not most "black hat" activity takes place because of software viruses and worms that give remote control over a machine, which could be either of those possibilities (or, as with a botnet, neither—the machine just starts waiting for instructions that are sent en masse). --98.217.14.211 (talk) 13:59, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

A concrete (and fairly well-known) example would be the appearance of Nmap in The Matrix. 94.168.184.16 (talk) 19:35, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

odc hubs in gurgaon

name the odc hubs in gurgaon

"Please" and a signature would be nice.--88.109.168.43 (talk) 14:06, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Don't bite the newbies. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 14:46, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Did you mean "open database connectivity hubs in Gurgaon" or something else - if this is a computing question please use the computer reference desk83.100.251.196 (talk) 14:44, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Can you clarify what you mean by "ODC"? --98.217.14.211 (talk) 14:46, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Googling "odc hubs gurgaon" seems to indicate the OP is asking about hubs for oDC, Opera's DC++, which is a DC++-based client for the Direct Connect network (according to our disambig page). 152.16.59.102 (talk) 08:59, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

Is there a term for finding a word odd after hearing it repeated....

...may times over? When it starts to seem like a weird word after hearing it over and over.----occono (talk) 15:24, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

No, but I know what you mean—when the sound of the word starts to slip in your mind from the meaning of it! --98.217.14.211 (talk) 18:12, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Semantic satiation. Vranak (talk) 19:02, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks very much!----occono (talk) 20:35, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

There was a very similar discussion recently at the Language Reference Desk (now archived). See Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Language/2009 September 11#is there a term for the phenomenon where - —— Shakescene (talk) 05:24, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

Library Card Limitations

I was told, by a friend, that an Illinois public library card or student ID can be used at any public library in Illinois. Is this true? I'm scouring the web looking for this info, but I'm only finding info on getting cards, not limits or legalities. --HitmanNumber86 (talk) 17:04, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

I do not believe that all Illinois libraries would let you check out books from their collections just because you had a card from some school or some other library. I know that there are clusters of libraries in certain geographic areas which honor each others cards, sometimes with restrictions on how many books the nonresident can check out at a time, but their computers are interconnected, so they can verify that you do not have excessive overdue books at the other library, or that the card has not been reported lost. You are generally welcome to enter a library and read books and periodicals in the library, but you are not always welcome to walk out with an armload of their holdings, when they cannot verify that your card is valid and that your home library hasn't placed restrictions. Edison (talk) 19:21, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

From a quick google i found "A Bloomingdale Public Library cardholder in good standing may use their card at most Illinois public libraries to check out materials."[1] and "You also may use your card at any library in Illinois that participates in reciprocal borrowing."[2] This may not be applicable to all libraries, some make have other terms and conditions and it would be best to check yourself by going into your local library and asking them. Nanonic (talk) 23:50, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

You're always best to call ahead to be certain, but the key words you're looking for are going to be "reciprocal borrowing". Libraries with a reciprocal borrowing arrangement will recognize each other's cardholders and extend them borrowing privileges. They may allow you to use your home library's card to check out materials, or they may have you fill out a small amount of paperwork to issue a new (usually temporary) card for the new location. A quick Google suggests that many of Illinois' public libraries participate in the Illinois Intersystem Reciprocal Borrowing Covenant, which seems to cover all of the libraries on this list. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 13:19, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

what is this snake

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file:///E:/DCIM/101MSDCF/DSC01003.JPG

You need to upload the image to an image hosting service (such as ImageShack) and then post a link here. The file path that you have given us is local to your computer, and can't be accessed by us. 94.168.184.16 (talk) 19:17, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Not by you perhaps, but I'm browsing it right now and, wow, some of the stuff he's got on his hard drive... Daduzi ^talk 09:30, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS - realistic background?

I just saw Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS for the first time today. I knew in advance it included some pretty graphic sex and violence, but I was still amazed about how far the violence went. Now, this is of course a purposeful exaggeration on how far the violence went in Nazi concentration camps, but even what actually happened in the concentration camps is shockingly gruesome. Even though even my father hadn't even been born back in the Nazi times, from what I've read, I know that the Nazis really did do deadly medical experiments on human subjects, such as infect them with diseases on purpose. My question is, how closely does the film match what really happened, or does it exaggerate much? Did the real-life Nazis perform their cruelty primarily out of scientific and militaristic curiosity (with disregard about the human rights of their subjects), or sheer lust for violence? JIP | Talk 19:00, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

At least some of the things mentioned at, for example, Nazi human experimentation do seem to brutally cruel but aimed at yielding useful results. However, I struggle to think of any plausible reason for some things. e.g. (from Mengele: "He supervised an operation by which two Gypsy children were sewn together to create conjoined twins; the hands of the children became badly infected where the veins had been resected, this also caused gangrene."). 94.168.184.16 (talk) 19:25, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

"... a purposeful exaggeration on how far the violence went in Nazi concentration camps, ..."

Wherever you live the school-system has oviously shortchanged you regarding 20th Century History. The Nazi killed nine million people in their death camps: Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Socialist, Russians, Homosexuals, etc, etc. The "medical experiments," gruesome as they were, couned as nothing compared to the millions gassed, starved, or worked to death.

The truth of the matter is that although this didn't take place in ancient or medieval times, or in some far corner of the world, but just a few decades ago in rhe cenrer of Europe, and the Western Democracies did nothing about it. So, ashamed and embarassed, they don't talk about it much, hoping everyone will forget. B00P (talk) 20:15, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Who is "they" here? I studied Nazi Germany for three years at school, and that's by no means exceptional in the UK. Algebraist 21:13, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Until recently, the holocaust was a compulsory part of the UK curriculum. There was quite an outcry when it was removed - it is now up to individual schools (actually, that may not have taken effect yet, it was very recent). So, not having studied Nazi Germany would be exceptional in the UK. --Tango (talk) 00:56, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

A false outcry - it hasn't been removed at all. See [3]. -Elmer Clark (talk) 10:16, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

I was specifically asking about the medical experiments. I do know the Nazis really did gas, starve, and work people to death in concentration camps. My question is, how close to real life are the experiments in this film? Or would exactly such things have actually happened? JIP | Talk 04:56, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

You may also be interested to read the article on the Japanese experimentation on humans during WWII at Unit 731#Activities for an overview of the the types of experiments another combatant country undertook. Nanonic (talk) 01:02, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

Mengele is pretty bad, worse than fiction. Gristly, painful experiments on people. The heredity of eye color and shape was of great interest to scientists at the time—so he cut out the eyes of children, especially twins, especially if they were slightly different from one another, and then killed the kids. Just absurdly cruel stuff, even for the atmosphere of cruelty that it was embedded in. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 03:13, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

A particular scene that comes to mind is where Ilsa invites the General over for dinner, and the main attraction at the dinner is a female concentration camp prisoner who is killed by hanging, solely for the amusement of the dinner guests. Would such an event have happened in real life? JIP | Talk 19:16, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

Probably not—certainly not at dinner. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 00:22, 21 September 2009 (UTC)

While I do not claim to understand the Nazi mindset of the time, I would imagine that something like that would be unlikely. I suspect that even those who condoned mass murder were not doing it for their personal amusement. That said, most populations do have a few sadists. Googlemeister (talk) 20:21, 21 September 2009 (UTC)

After reading the articles about Josef Mengele and Unit 731, which mention some experiments whose cruelty went way beyond that in the film, I think one other memorable scene, where they immerse a nude woman in 85°C water, causing her whole body to be covered in burn marks, is realistic, even if that particular experiment necessarily never happened? JIP | Talk 17:51, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

Actually this did happen, several jews were hung at a dinner party for entertainment, it occured in switzerland at some castle, I forget the names and dates though. some nazi princess was in controll of the castle at the time