Hey, there’s a buffer overflow in versions off sshd compiled with RSAREF2 support. This problem sounds worse than it is, because support for RSAREF2 is not included in sshd by default. RSAREF2 is generally used by people who want to use RSA encryption without giving money to RSA. (The Tao of Windows Buffer Overflow contains an explanation of what buffer overflows are and how to exploit them, if you don’t know already.)

Laurel Krahn makes some insightful comments about reader feedback in the Windowseat Web Log today. I think I’ll send her an email right now, telling her so.

You knew it wasn’t a question of if, but when … Suckdot has arrived.

If the Salon IPO engendered doubts in the OpenIPO concept, the Andover.Net IPO removed them. Of course, it seems the market has been whipped in such a fervor over “open source” companies going public that no concept is too wrongheaded to discourage investors.

Now that we’re in the throes of the holiday season, and Christmas is right around the corner, Jon Carroll takes time to remind us of something important–air travel sucks. It sucks less than driving for 12, 24, 36 hours, but it still sucks. (Not looking forward to flying up to New England next weekend at all.)

A reader sends along a perspective-enhancing link to a patent that rivals some of the ridiculous software patents I love to rant about in this space, illustrating that the incompetence at the PTO is broad based. Apparently, a patent has been awarded on the idea of exercising a cat with a laser pointer. The patent was actually awarded to two “inventors” … I guess this idea was too big for one person to come up with on their own.

Something to think about when you see those schmaltzy etoys.com ads this holiday season–they’re a bunch of corporate thugs intent on manipulating the legal system to harrass the owners of a domain name similar to theirs. By some unfortunate coincidence, some profiteering greedheads decided to call their company etoys.com, not realizing that the name etoy.com was already in active use. The morons have since figured out that people find their way to etoy.com (an art site) by mistake, and rather than trying to resolve the matter in an honorable or even sensible matter, they’ve convinced the court system to take action against etoy.com, even though it existed long before their pathetic toy peddling Web site. You can read about this sick combination of corporate entitlement and judicial ineptitude in any number of places, including etoys-sucks.com. The upside of this whole thing is that bad acts like the one perpetrated by etoys.com do not go unrecognized or unpunished on the Internet. I feel slack for not discussing this matter on my home page sooner, but it’s been getting plenty of coverage in other places. In any case, I feel confident the court system will overturn the idiotic preliminary injunction against etoy.com. All it takes is a judge who understands complicated issues like, “first come, first served.” The bottom line–just don’t buy toys from etoys.com, OK?

Here’s a USA Today story about the guy who patented “windowing,” the patently obvious Y2K fix that guesses the first two digits of a four digit year based on the value of the last two digits. I’m not sure what offends me most, the fact that someone says you can’t “blame him for being a capitalist,” the fact that this guys is arrogant enough to believe that he actually invented this technique, or the fact that companies are going to knuckle under and pay him. We really, really need some programmers in the Patent and Trademark Office.

Salon has a story today on an issue that just can’t be overreported, the squabbles in the Senate over how military pork should be doled out.

In Linux Today, ESR ruminates on his instant riches from the record-setting VA Research IPO yesterday in his on inimitable manner.