Tietoisuuden Tiivistymä

SOPA Emergency IP list

Benjamin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:16:58 +0000

SOPA Emergency IP list:


So if these ass-fucks in DC decide to ruin the internet, here’s how to access your favorite sites in the event of a DNS takedown
        tumblr.com 174.121.194.34

        wikipedia.org 208.80.152.201
        # News

        bbc.co.uk 212.58.241.131

        aljazeera.com 198.78.201.252
        # Social media

        reddit.com 72.247.244.88

        imgur.com 173.231.140.219

        google.com 74.125.157.99

        youtube.com 74.125.65.91

        yahoo.com 98.137.149.56

        hotmail.com 65.55.72.135

        bing.com 65.55.175.254

        digg.com 64.191.203.30

        theonion.com 97.107.137.164

        hush.com 65.39.178.43

        gamespot.com 216.239.113.172

        ign.com 69.10.25.46

        cracked.com 98.124.248.77

        sidereel.com 144.198.29.112

        github.com 207.97.227.239
        # Torrent sites

        thepiratebay.org 194.71.107.15

        mininova.com 80.94.76.5

        btjunkie.com 93.158.65.211

        demonoid.com 62.149.24.66

        demonoid.me 62.149.24.67
        # Social networking

        facebook.com 69.171.224.11

        twitter.com 199.59.149.230

        tumblr.com 174.121.194.34

        livejournal.com  209.200.154.225

        dreamwidth.org  69.174.244.50
        # Live Streaming Content

        stickam.com 67.201.54.151

        blogtv.com 84.22.170.149

        justin.tv 199.9.249.21

        chatroulette.com 184.173.141.231

        omegle.com 97.107.132.144

        own3d.tv 208.94.146.80

        megavideo.com 174.140.154.32
        # Television

        gorillavid.com 178.17.165.74

        videoweed.com 91.220.176.248

        novamov.com 91.220.176.248

        tvlinks.com 208.223.219.206

        1channel.com 208.87.33.151
        # Shopping

        amazon.com 72.21.211.176

        newegg.com 216.52.208.187

        frys.com 209.31.22.39
        # File Sharing

        mediafire.com 205.196.120.13

        megaupload.com 174.140.154.20

        fileshare.com 208.87.33.151

        multiupload.com 95.211.149.7

        uploading.com 195.191.207.40

        warez-bb.org 31.7.57.13

        hotfile.com 199.7.177.218

        gamespy.com 69.10.25.46

        what.cd 67.21.232.223

        warez.ag 178.162.238.136

        putlocker.com 89.238.130.247

        uploaded.to 95.211.143.200

        dropbox.com 199.47.217.179

        pastebin.com 69.65.13.216
Here’s a tip for the do-it-yourself crowd: Go to your computer’s Start menu, and either go to “run” or just search for “cmd.” Open it up, and type in “ping [website address],”

Once you have the IP for a website, all you really need to do is enter it like you would a normal URL and hit enter/press go. Typing in “208.85.240.231” should bring you to the front page of AO3, for example, just as typing “174.121.194.34/dashboard” should bring you straight to your Tumblr dashboard. Since we’re obviously bracing for the worst case scenario which would involve you not being able to access the internet regularly, you should, save this list.

Scaling: Why Giants Don’t Exist

Benjamin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:19:34 +0000

Scaling: Why Giants Don’t Exist

Michael Fowler, UVa 10/12/06

Galileo begins “Two New Sciences” with the striking observation that if two ships, one large and one small, have identical proportions and are constructed of the same materials, so that one is purely a scaled up version of the other in every respect, nevertheless the larger one will require proportionately more scaffolding and support on launching to prevent its breaking apart under its own weight. He goes on to point out that similar considerations apply to animals, the larger ones being more vulnerable to stress from their own weight (page 4):

Who does not know that a horse falling from a height of three or four cubits will break his bones, while a dog falling from the same height or a cat from a height of eight or ten cubits will suffer no injury? … and just as smaller animals are proportionately stronger and more robust than the larger, so also smaller plants are able to stand up better than the larger. I am certain you both know that an oak two hundred cubits high would not be able to sustain its own branches if they were distributed as in a tree of ordinary size; and that nature cannot produce a horse as large as twenty ordinary horses or a giant ten times taller than an ordinary man unless by miracle or by greatly altering the proportions of his limbs and especially his bones, which would have to be considerably enlarged over the ordinary.

For more of the text, click here.

To see what Galileo is driving at here, consider a chandelier lighting fixture, with bulbs and shades on a wooden frame suspended from the middle of the ceiling by a thin rope, just sufficient to take its weight (taking the electrical supply wires to have negligible strength for this purpose). Suppose you like the design of this particular fixture, and would like to make an exactly similar one for a room twice as large in every dimension. The obvious approach is simply to double the dimensions of all components. Assuming essentially all the weight is in the wooden frame, its height, length and breadth will all be doubled, so its volume—and hence its weight—will increase eightfold. Now think about the rope between the chandelier and the ceiling. The new rope will be eight times bigger than the old rope just as the wooden frame was. But the weight-bearing capacity of a uniform rope does not depend on its length (unless it is so long that its own weight becomes important, which we take not to be the case here). How much weight a rope of given material will bear depends on the cross-sectional area of the rope, which is just a count of the number of rope fibers available to carry the weight. The crucial point is that if the rope has all its dimensions doubled, this cross-sectional area, and hence its weight-carrying capacity, is only increased fourfold. Therefore, the doubled rope will not be able to hold up the doubled chandelier, the weight of which increased eightfold. For the chandelier to stay up, it will be necessary to use a new rope which is considerably fatter than that given by just doubling the dimensions of the original rope.

This same problem arises when a weight is supported by a pillar of some kind. If enough weight is piled on to a stone pillar, it begins to crack and crumble. For a uniform material, the weight it can carry is proportional to the cross-sectional area. Thinking about doubling all the dimensions of a stone building supported on stone pillars, we see that the weights are all increased eightfold, but the supporting capacities only go up fourfold. Obviously, there is a definite limit to how many times the dimensions can be doubled and we still have a stable building.

As Galileo points out, this all applies to animals and humans too (page 130): “(large) increase in height can be accomplished only by employing a material which is harder and stronger than usual, or by enlarging the size of the bones, thus changing their shape until the form and appearance of the animals suggests a monstrosity.”

He even draws a picture:

Gallileo Picture of bones

Galileo understood that you cannot have a creature looking a lot like an ordinary gorilla except that it’s sixty feet high. What about Harry Potter’s friend Hagrid? Apparently he’s twice normal height (according to the book) and three times normal width (although he doesn’t look it on this link). But even that’s not enough extra width (if the bone width is in proportion).

There is a famous essay on this point by the biologist J. B. S. Haldane, in which he talks of the more venerable giants in Pilgrim’s Progress, who were ten times bigger than humans in every dimension, so their weight would have been a thousand times larger, say eighty tons or so. As Haldane says, their thighbones would only have a hundred times the cross section of a human thighbone, which is known to break if stressed by ten times the weight it normally carries. So these giants would break their thighbones on their first step. Or course, big creatures could get around this if they could evolve a stronger skeletal material, but so far this hasn’t happened.

Another example of the importance of size used by Galileo comes from considering a round stone falling through water at its terminal speed. What happens if we consider a stone of the same material and shape, but one-tenth the radius? It falls much more slowly. Its weight is down by a factor of one-thousand, but the surface area, which gives rise to the frictional retardation, is only down by a factor of one hundred. Thus a fine powder in water—mud, in other words—may take days to settle, even though a stone of the same material will fall the same distance in a second or two. The point here is that as we look on smaller scales, gravity becomes less and less important compared with viscosity, or air resistance—this is why an insect is not harmed by falling from a tree.

This ratio of surface area to volume has also played a crucial role in evolution, as pointed out by Haldane. Almost all life is made up of cells which have quite similar oxygen requirements. A microscopic creature, such as the tiny worm rotifer, absorbs oxygen over its entire surface, and the oxygen rapidly diffuses to all the cells. As larger creatures evolved, if the shape stayed the same more or less, the surface area went down relative to the volume, so it became more difficult to absorb enough oxygen. Insects, for example, have many tiny blind tubes over the surface of their bodies which air enters and diffuses into finer tubes to reach all parts of the body. The limitations on how well air will diffuse are determined by the properties of air, and diffusion beyond a quarter-inch or so takes a long time, so this limits the size of insects. Giant ants like those in the old movie “Them” wouldn’t be able to breathe!

The evolutionary breakthrough to larger size animals came with the development of blood circulation as a means of distributing oxygen (and other nutrients). Even so, for animals of our size, there has to be a tremendous surface area available for oxygen absorption. This was achieved by the development of lungs—the lungs of an adult human have a surface area of a hundred square meters approximately. Going back to the microscopic worm rotifer, it has a simple straight tube gut to absorb nutrients from food. Again, if larger creatures have about the same requirements per cell, and the gut surface absorbs nutrients at the same rate, problems arise because the surface area of the gut increases more slowly than the number of cells needing to be fed as the size of the creature is increased. this problem is handled by replacing the straight tube gut by one with many convolutions, in which also the smooth surface is replaced by one with many tiny folds to increase surface area. Thus many of the complications of internal human anatomy can be understood as strategies that have evolved for increasing available surface area per cell for oxygen and nutrient absorption towards what it is for simpler but much smaller creatures.

On the other hand, there is some good news about being big—it makes it feasible to maintain a constant body temperature. This has several advantages. For example, it is easier to evolve efficient muscles if they are only required to function in a narrow range of temperatures than if they must perform well over a wide range of temperatures. However, this temperature control comes at a price. Warm blooded creatures (unlike insects) must devote a substantial part of their food energy simply to keeping warm. For an adult human, this is a pound or two of food per day. For a mouse, which has about one-twentieth the dimensions of a human, and hence twenty times the surface area per unit volume, the required food for maintaining the same body temperature is twenty times as much as a fraction of body weight, and a mouse must consume a quarter of its own body weight daily just to stay warm. This is why, in the arctic land ofSpitzbergen, the smallest mammal is the fox.

How high can a giant flea jump? Suppose we know that a regular flea can jump to a height of three feet, and a giant flea is one hundred times larger in all dimensions, so its weight is up by a factor of a million. Its amount of muscle is also up by a factor of a million, and when it jumps it rapidly transforms chemical energy stored in the muscle into kinetic energy, which then goes to gravitational potential energy on the upward flight. But the amount of energy stored in the muscle and the weight to be lifted are up by the same factor, so we conclude that the giant flea can also jump three feet! We can also use this argument in reverse—a shrunken human (as in I shrunk the kids) could jump the same height as a normal human, again about three feet, say. So the tiny housewife trapped in her kitchen sink in the movie could have just jumped out, which she’d better do fast, because she’s probably very hungry!

Lyhyt oppimäärä saksaa

Benjamin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:54:18 +0000

Saksan kieli on suhteellisen helppoa. Se, joka osaa latinaa ja on tottunut sanapäätteisiin, oppii sitä vaivattomasti. Niinhän saksan kielen professorit tapaavat sanoa aina ensimmäisellä oppitunnilla. Sitten aletaan opetella der, das, den, dem sekä die, joiden sanotaan olevan ihan loogisia.

Jotta ymmärtäisimme, miten helppoa se on, otetaanpa esimerkki.

Aluksi, ostakaapa suurenmoinen saksankielinen kirja, joka kertoo hottentottien tavoista (auf Deutsch: Hottentotten).

Kirjassa kerrotaan kenguruista (Beutelratten), joita pyydystetään ja laitetaan häkkiin (Kotter), jotka on kankaalla (Lattengitter) peitetty. Näitä kankaalla peitettyjä häkkejä kutsutaan saksaksi (Lattengitterkotter) ja koska niissä on kenguru sisällä, niistä tulee (Lattengitterkotterbeutelratten).

Sattuipa kerran, että hottentotit saavat kiinni murhaajan (Attentater), jota syytetään erään äidin (Mutter), siis hottentottiäidin (Hottentottermutter) murhasta. Tällä äidillä on tyhmä ja tankkaava poika (Stottertrottel). Tämän vuoksi äitiä kutsutaan saksaksi (Hottentottenstottertrottelmutter) ja hänen murhaajaansa
(Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterattentater). Poliisi nappaa murhaajan kiinni ja sulkee hänet väliaikaisesti kenguruhäkkiin (Beutelrattenlattengitterkotter), mutta voi – vanki pääsee karkuun!

Suuretsinnät alkavat välittömästi ja eipä aikaakaan, kun eräs soturi palaa kylään huutaen:
“Sain murhaajan (Attentater) kiinni!”
- “Niinkö? Kenet?” kysyy päällikkö.
- “Lattengitterkotterbeutelrattenattentater”, vastaa soturi.
- “Mitä? Senkö murhaajan, joka oli kankaalla päällystetyssä kenguruhäkissä?” kysyy hottentottien päällikkö.
- “No sen juuri,” vastaa hottentotti, “Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterattentater” (Murhaajan, joka tappoi hottentottiäidin, jolla oli tyhmä ja tankkaava poika)
- “Mutta siinä tapauksessa,” sanoo päällikkö, “olisit voinut heti sanoa, että kiinni on otettu Hottentotterstottertrottelmutterlattengitterkotterbeutelrattenattentater!”

Anonymous – The Plan

Benjamin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 07:49:48 +0000

Mielenkiinolla jään odottamaan mitä tämä vuosi tuo tulleessaan.

Jos ei muuta niin vähintään sen että anonyymistä tulee tunnettu.

Operation Anti-Security

Benjamin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:43:21 +0000

Jotkut teistä saattaa tietää tämän taustoista jo jonkun verran, mutta kyseessä on siis sodanjulistus kaikkea maailman korruptiota vastaan. Ajatuksena tämä on jalo ja oikeamielinen. Ideologisesti kannatan kaiken korruption kitkemistä enkä nää miksi se olisi huono asia.

Lulz Security on joukko äärimmäisen osaavia yksilöitä jotka tulevat tekemään vähintäänkin loppuvuodesta äärimmäisen mielenkiintoisen tietoturva-alalla. Kuliseissa kuohutaan jo nyt, ja isojen yritysten tietoturva osastoilla varaudutaan pahimpaan.

Tavallaan tämän voisi nähdä sukupolvemme vastineena, toukokuulle 1968 jolloin Ranskan nuoret nousivat barrikaadeille ja vaati hallitukseltaan muutosta. Toivottavasti tämä loppuu hyvin, eikä ristituleen jää syyttömiä sivusta katsojia.

Mitä mieltä olet itse?

Mitä uskot oikeasti tapahtuvan?

Alla julistus kokonaisuudessaan:

Salutations Lulz Lizards,

As we’re aware, the government and whitehat security terrorists across the world continue to dominate and control our Internet ocean. Sitting pretty on cargo bays full of corrupt booty, they think it’s acceptable to condition and enslave all vessels in sight. Our Lulz Lizard battle fleet is now declaring immediate and unremitting war on the freedom-snatching moderators of 2011.

Welcome to Operation Anti-Security (#AntiSec) – we encourage any vessel, large or small, to open fire on any government or agency that crosses their path. We fully endorse the flaunting of the word “AntiSec” on any government website defacement or physical graffiti art. We encourage you to spread the word of AntiSec far and wide, for it will be remembered. To increase efforts, we are now teaming up with the Anonymous collective and all affiliated battleships.

Whether you’re sailing with us or against us, whether you hold past grudges or a burning desire to sink our lone ship, we invite you to join the rebellion. Together we can defend ourselves so that our privacy is not overrun by profiteering gluttons. Your hat can be white, gray or black, your skin and race are not important. If you’re aware of the corruption, expose it now, in the name of Anti-Security.

Top priority is to steal and leak any classified government information, including email spools and documentation. Prime targets are banks and other high-ranking establishments. If they try to censor our progress, we will obliterate the censor with cannonfire anointed with lizard blood.

It’s now or never. Come aboard, we’re expecting you…

History begins today.

Lulz Security,

http://LulzSecurity.com/

Support: http://www.mithral.com/~beberg/manifesto.html
Support: http://www.youtube.com/user/thejuicemedia
Support: http://wikileaks.ch/
Support: http://anonyops.com/

Google goes evil

Benjamin — Sun, 22 May 2011 21:18:40 +0000

Olen tästä aikaisemminkin kirjoitellut, mutta tuli internetin takametsissä vastaan suht kattava listaus googlen hyödyntämisestä tiedon keruuseen. Tai potentiaalisen “Salaisen” tiedon löytymiseen. Hyvä muistutus kaikille siitä mikä kannattaa pitää suosoilla poissa netistä.

En aio selventää mitä millakin lausekkeella löytää koska niitä on suhteellisen paljon. Jaan tämän lähinnä muistutuksena ja varoituksena kaikille. Jos nettiin laittaa arkaluontoista tietoa sen voi löytää joku muukin. Joku jolla ei välttämättä oo puhtaat jauhot pussissa.

Stay safe, stay educated.

admin account info” filetype:log
!Host=*.* intext:enc_UserPassword=* ext:pcf
“# -FrontPage-” ext:pwd inurl:(service | authors | administrators | users) “# -FrontPage-” inurl:service.pwd
“AutoCreate=TRUE password=*”
“http://*:*@www” domainname
“index of/” “ws_ftp.ini” “parent directory”
“liveice configuration file” ext:cfg -site:sourceforge.net
“parent directory” +proftpdpasswd
Duclassified” -site:duware.com “DUware All Rights reserved”
duclassmate” -site:duware.com
Dudirectory” -site:duware.com
dudownload” -site:duware.com
Elite Forum Version *.*”
Link Department”
“sets mode: +k”
“your password is” filetype:log
DUpaypal” -site:duware.com
allinurl: admin mdb
auth_user_file.txt
config.php
eggdrop filetype:user user
enable password | secret “current configuration” -intext:the
etc (index.of)
ext:asa | ext:bak intext:uid intext:pwd -”uid..pwd” database | server | dsn
ext:inc “pwd=” “UID=”
ext:ini eudora.ini
ext:ini Version=4.0.0.4 password
ext:passwd -intext:the -sample -example
ext:txt inurl:unattend.txt
ext:yml database inurl:config
filetype:bak createobject sa
filetype:bak inurl:”htaccess|passwd|shadow|htusers”
filetype:cfg mrtg “target
filetype:cfm “cfapplication name” password
filetype:conf oekakibbs
filetype:conf slapd.conf
filetype:config config intext:appSettings “User ID”
filetype:dat “password.dat”
filetype:dat inurl:Sites.dat
filetype:dat wand.dat
filetype:inc dbconn
filetype:inc intext:mysql_connect
filetype:inc mysql_connect OR mysql_pconnect
filetype:inf sysprep
filetype:ini inurl:”serv-u.ini”
filetype:ini inurl:flashFXP.ini
filetype:ini ServUDaemon
filetype:ini wcx_ftp
filetype:ini ws_ftp pwd
filetype:ldb admin
filetype:log “See `ipsec –copyright”
filetype:log inurl:”password.log”
filetype:mdb inurl:users.mdb
filetype:mdb wwforum
filetype:netrc password
filetype:pass pass intext:userid
filetype:pem intext:private
filetype:properties inurl:db intext:password
filetype:pwd service
filetype:pwl pwl
filetype:reg reg +intext:”defaultusername” +intext:”defaultpassword”
filetype:reg reg +intext:â? WINVNC3â?
filetype:reg reg HKEY_CURRENT_USER SSHHOSTKEYS
filetype:sql “insert into” (pass|passwd|password)
filetype:sql (“values * MD5″ | “values * password” | “values * encrypt”)
filetype:sql +”IDENTIFIED BY” -cvs
filetype:sql password
filetype:url +inurl:”ftp://” +inurl:”;@”
filetype:xls username password email
htpasswd
htpasswd / htgroup
htpasswd / htpasswd.bak
intext:”enable password 7″
intext:”enable secret 5 $”
intext:”EZGuestbook”
intext:”Web Wiz Journal”
intitle:”index of” intext:connect.inc
intitle:”index of” intext:globals.inc
intitle:”Index of” passwords modified
intitle:”Index of” sc_serv.conf sc_serv content
intitle:”phpinfo()” +”mysql.default_password” +”Zend s?ri?ting Language Engine”
intitle:dupics inurl:(add.asp | default.asp | view.asp | voting.asp) -site:duware.com
intitle:index.of administrators.pwd
intitle:Index.of etc shadow
intitle:index.of intext:”secring.skr”|”secring.pgp”|”secring.bak”
intitle:rapidshare intext:login
inurl:”calendars?ri?t/users.txt”
inurl:”editor/list.asp” | inurl:”database_editor.asp” | inurl:”login.asa” “are set”
inurl:”GRC.DAT” intext:”password”
inurl:”Sites.dat”+”PASS=”
inurl:”slapd.conf” intext:”credentials” -manpage -”Manual Page” -man: -sample
inurl:”slapd.conf” intext:”rootpw” -manpage -”Manual Page” -man: -sample
inurl:”wvdial.conf” intext:”password”
inurl:/db/main.mdb
inurl:/wwwboard
inurl:/yabb/Members/Admin.dat
inurl:ccbill filetype:log
inurl:cgi-bin inurl:calendar.cfg
inurl:chap-secrets -cvs
inurl:config.php dbuname dbpass
inurl:filezilla.xml -cvs
inurl:lilo.conf filetype:conf password -tatercounter2000 -bootpwd -man
inurl:nuke filetype:sql
inurl:ospfd.conf intext:password -sample -test -tutorial -download
inurl:pap-secrets -cvs
inurl:pass.dat
inurl:perform filetype:ini
inurl:perform.ini filetype:ini
inurl:secring ext:skr | ext:pgp | ext:bak
inurl:server.cfg rcon password
inurl:ventrilo_srv.ini adminpassword
inurl:vtund.conf intext:pass -cvs
inurl:zebra.conf intext:password -sample -test -tutorial -download
LeapFTP intitle:”index.of./” sites.ini modified
master.passwd
mysql history files
NickServ registration passwords
passlist
passlist.txt (a better way)
passwd
passwd / etc (reliable)
people.lst
psyBNC config files
pwd.db
server-dbs “intitle:index of”
signin filetype:url
spwd.db / passwd
trillian.ini
wwwboard WebAdmin inurl:passwd.txt wwwboard|webadmin
[WFClient] Password= filetype:ica
intitle:”remote assessment” OpenAanval Console
intitle:opengroupware.org “resistance is obsolete” “Report Bugs” “Username” “password”
“bp blog admin” intitle:login | intitle:admin -site:johnny.ihackstuff.com
“Emergisoft web applications are a part of our”
“Establishing a secure Integrated Lights Out session with” OR intitle:”Data Frame – Browser not HTTP 1.1 compatible” OR intitle:”HP Integrated Lights-
“HostingAccelerator” intitle:”login” +”Username” -”news” -demo
“iCONECT 4.1 :: Login”
“IMail Server Web Messaging” intitle:login
“inspanel” intitle:”login” -”cannot” “Login ID” -site:inspediumsoft.com
“intitle:3300 Integrated Communications Platform” inurl:main.htm
“Login – Sun Cobalt RaQ”
“login prompt” inurl:GM.cgi
“Login to Usermin” inurl:20000
“Microsoft CRM : Unsupported Browser Version”
“OPENSRS Domain Management” inurl:manage.cgi
“pcANYWHERE EXPRESS Java Client”
“Please authenticate yourself to get access to the management interface”
“please log in”
“Please login with admin pass” -”leak” -sourceforge
CuteNews” “2003..2005 CutePHP”
DWMail” password intitle:dwmail
Merak Mail Server Software” -.gov -.mil -.edu -site:merakmailserver.com
Midmart Messageboard” “Administrator Login”
Monster Top List” MTL numrange:200-
UebiMiau” -site:sourceforge.net
“site info for” “Enter Admin Password”
“SquirrelMail version” “By the SquirrelMail development Team”
“SysCP – login”
“This is a restricted Access Server” “Javas?ri?t Not Enabled!”|”Messenger Express” -edu -ac
“This section is for Administrators only. If you are an administrator then please”
“ttawlogin.cgi/?action=”
“VHCS Pro ver” -demo
“VNC Desktop” inurl:5800
“Web-Based Management” “Please input password to login” -inurl:johnny.ihackstuff.com
“WebExplorer Server – Login” “Welcome to WebExplorer Server”
“WebSTAR Mail – Please Log In”
“You have requested access to a restricted area of our website. Please authenticate yourself to continue.”
“You have requested to access the management functions” -.edu
(intitle:”Please login – Forums
UBB.threads”)|(inurl:login.php “ubb”)
(intitle:”Please login – Forums
WWWThreads”)|(inurl:”wwwthreads/login.php”)|(inurl:”wwwthreads/login.pl?Cat=”)
(intitle:”rymo Login”)|(intext:”Welcome to rymo”) -family
(intitle:”WmSC e-Cart Administration”)|(intitle:”WebMyStyle e-Cart Administration”)
(inurl:”ars/cgi-bin/arweb?O=0″ | inurl:arweb.jsp) -site:remedy.com -site:mil
4images Administration Control Panel
allintitle:”Welcome to the Cyclades”
allinurl:”exchange/logon.asp”
allinurl:wps/portal/ login
ASP.login_aspx “ASP.NET_SessionId”
CGI:IRC Login
ext:cgi intitle:”control panel” “enter your owner password to continue!”
ez Publish administration
filetype:php inurl:”webeditor.php”
filetype:pl “Download: SuSE Linux Openexchange Server CA”
filetype:r2w r2w
intext:””BiTBOARD v2.0″ BiTSHiFTERS Bulletin Board”
intext:”Fill out the form below completely to change your password and user name. If new username is left blank, your old one will be assumed.” -edu
intext:”Mail admins login here to administrate your domain.”
intext:”Master Account” “Domain Name” “Password” inurl:/cgi-bin/qmailadmin
intext:”Master Account” “Domain Name” “Password” inurl:/cgi-bin/qmailadmin
intext:”Storage Management Server for” intitle:”Server Administration”
intext:”Welcome to” inurl:”cp” intitle:”H-SPHERE” inurl:”begin.html” -Fee
intext:”vbulletin” inurl:admincp
intitle:”*- HP WBEM Login” | “You are being prompted to provide login account information for *” | “Please provide the information requested and press
intitle:”Admin Login” “admin login” “blogware”
intitle:”Admin login” “Web Site Administration” “Copyright”
intitle:”AlternC Desktop”
intitle:”Athens Authentication Point”
intitle:”b2evo > Login form” “Login form. You must log in! You will have to accept cookies in order to log in” -demo -site:b2evolution.net
intitle:”Cisco CallManager User Options Log On” “Please enter your User ID and Password in the spaces provided below and click the Log On button to co
intitle:”ColdFusion Administrator Login”
intitle:”communigate pro * *” intitle:”entrance”
intitle:”Content Management System” “user name”|”password”|”admin” “Microsoft IE 5.5″ -mambo
intitle:”Content Management System” “user name”|”password”|”admin” “Microsoft IE 5.5″ -mambo
intitle:”Dell Remote Access Controller”
intitle:”Docutek ERes – Admin Login” -edu
intitle:”Employee Intranet Login”
intitle:”eMule *” intitle:”- Web Control Panel” intext:”Web Control Panel” “Enter your password here.”
intitle:”ePowerSwitch Login”
intitle:”eXist Database Administration” -demo
intitle:”EXTRANET * – Identification”
intitle:”EXTRANET login” -.edu -.mil -.gov
intitle:”EZPartner” -netpond
intitle:”Flash Operator Panel” -ext:php -wiki -cms -inurl:asternic -inurl:sip -intitle:ANNOUNCE -inurl:lists
intitle:”i-secure v1.1″ -edu
intitle:”Icecast Administration Admin Page”
intitle:”iDevAffiliate – admin” -demo
intitle:”ISPMan : Unauthorized Access prohibited”
intitle:”ITS System Information” “Please log on to the SAP System”
intitle:”Kurant Corporation StoreSense” filetype:bok
intitle:”ListMail Login” admin -demo
intitle:”Login -
Easy File Sharing Web Server”
intitle:”Login Forum
AnyBoard” intitle:”If you are a new user:” intext:”Forum
AnyBoard” inurl:gochat -edu
intitle:”Login to @Mail” (ext:pl | inurl:”index”) -dwaffleman
intitle:”Login to Cacti”
intitle:”Login to the forums – @www.aimoo.com” inurl:login.cfm?id=
intitle:”MailMan Login”
intitle:”Member Login” “NOTE: Your browser must have cookies enabled in order to log into the site.” ext:php OR ext:cgi
intitle:”Merak Mail Server Web Administration” -ihackstuff.com
intitle:”microsoft certificate services” inurl:certsrv
intitle:”MikroTik RouterOS Managing Webpage”
intitle:”MX Control Console” “If you can’t remember”
intitle:”Novell Web Services” “GroupWise” -inurl:”doc/11924″ -.mil -.edu -.gov -filetype:pdf
intitle:”Novell Web Services” intext:”Select a service and a language.”
intitle:”oMail-admin Administration – Login” -inurl:omnis.ch
intitle:”OnLine Recruitment Program – Login”
intitle:”Philex 0.2*” -s?ri?t -site:freelists.org
intitle:”PHP Advanced Transfer” inurl:”login.php”
intitle:”php icalendar administration” -site:sourceforge.net
intitle:”php icalendar administration” -site:sourceforge.net
intitle:”phpPgAdmin – Login” Language
intitle:”PHProjekt – login” login password
intitle:”please login” “your password is *”
intitle:”Remote Desktop Web Connection” inurl:tsweb
intitle:”SFXAdmin – sfx_global” | intitle:”SFXAdmin – sfx_local” | intitle:”SFXAdmin – sfx_test”
intitle:”SHOUTcast Administrator” inurl:admin.cgi
intitle:”site administration: please log in” “site designed by emarketsouth”
intitle:”Supero Doctor III” -inurl:supermicro
intitle:”SuSE Linux Openexchange Server” “Please activate Javas?ri?t!”
intitle:”teamspeak server-administration
intitle:”Tomcat Server Administration”
intitle:”TOPdesk ApplicationServer”
intitle:”TUTOS Login”
intitle:”TWIG Login”
intitle:”vhost” intext:”vHost . 2000-2004″
intitle:”Virtual Server Administration System”
intitle:”VisNetic WebMail” inurl:”/mail/”
intitle:”VitalQIP IP Management System”
intitle:”VMware Management Interface:” inurl:”vmware/en/”
intitle:”VNC viewer for Java”
intitle:”web-cyradm”|”by Luc de Louw” “This is only for authorized users” -tar.gz -site:web-cyradm.org
intitle:”WebLogic Server” intitle:”Console Login” inurl:console
intitle:”Welcome Site/User Administrator” “Please select the language” -demos
intitle:”Welcome to Mailtraq WebMail”
intitle:”welcome to netware *” -site:novell.com
intitle:”WorldClient” intext:”? (2003|2004) Alt-N Technologies.”
intitle:”xams 0.0.0..15 – Login”
intitle:”XcAuctionLite” | “DRIVEN BY XCENT” Lite inurl:admin
intitle:”XMail Web Administration Interface” intext:Login intext:password
intitle:”Zope Help System” inurl:HelpSys
intitle:”ZyXEL Prestige Router” “Enter password”
intitle:”inc. vpn 3000 concentrator”
intitle:(“TrackerCam Live Video”)|(“TrackerCam Application Login”)|(“Trackercam Remote”) -trackercam.com
intitle:asterisk.management.portal web-access
intitle:endymion.sak?.mail.login.page | inurl:sake.servlet
intitle:Group-Office “Enter your username and password to login”
intitle:ilohamail ”
IlohaMail”
intitle:ilohamail intext:”Version 0.8.10″ ”
IlohaMail”
intitle:IMP inurl:imp/index.php3
intitle:Login * Webmailer
intitle:Login intext:”RT is ? Copyright”
intitle:Node.List Win32.Version.3.11
intitle:Novell intitle:WebAccess “Copyright *-* Novell, Inc”
intitle:open-xchange inurl:login.pl
intitle:Ovislink inurl:private/login
intitle:phpnews.login
intitle:plesk inurl:login.php3
inurl:”/admin/configuration. php?” Mystore
inurl:”/slxweb.dll/external?name=(custportal|webticketcust)”
inurl:”1220/parse_xml.cgi?”
inurl:”631/admin” (inurl:”op=*”) | (intitle:CUPS)
inurl:”:10000″ intext:webmin
inurl:”Activex/default.htm” “Demo”
inurl:”calendar.asp?action=login”
inurl:”default/login.php” intitle:”kerio”
inurl:”gs/adminlogin.aspx”
inurl:”php121login.php”
inurl:”suse/login.pl”
inurl:”typo3/index.php?u=” -demo
inurl:”usysinfo?login=true”
inurl:”utilities/TreeView.asp”
inurl:”vsadmin/login” | inurl:”vsadmin/admin” inurl:.php|.asp

Code:

nurl:/admin/login.asp
inurl:/cgi-bin/sqwebmail?noframes=1
inurl:/Citrix/Nfuse17/
inurl:/dana-na/auth/welcome.html
inurl:/eprise/
inurl:/Merchant2/admin.mv | inurl:/Merchant2/admin.mvc | intitle:”Miva Merchant Administration Login” -inurl:cheap-malboro.net
inurl:/modcp/ intext:Moderator+vBulletin
inurl:/SUSAdmin intitle:”Microsoft Software upd?t? Services”
inurl:/webedit.* intext:WebEdit Professional -html
inurl:1810 “Oracle Enterprise Manager”
inurl:2000 intitle:RemotelyAnywhere -site:realvnc.com
inurl::2082/frontend -demo
inurl:administrator “welcome to mambo”
inurl:bin.welcome.sh | inurl:bin.welcome.bat | intitle:eHealth.5.0
inurl:cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=login
inurl:Citrix/MetaFrame/default/default.aspx
inurl:confixx inurl:login|anmeldung
inurl:coranto.cgi intitle:Login (Authorized Users Only)
inurl:csCreatePro.cgi
inurl:default.asp intitle:”WebCommander”
inurl:exchweb/bin/auth/owalogon.asp
inurl:gnatsweb.pl
inurl:ids5web
inurl:irc filetype:cgi cgi:irc
inurl:login filetype:swf swf
inurl:login.asp
inurl:login.cfm
inurl:login.php “SquirrelMail version”
inurl:metaframexp/default/login.asp | intitle:”Metaframe XP Login”
inurl:mewebmail
inurl:names.nsf?opendatabase
inurl:ocw_login_username
inurl:orasso.wwsso_app_admin.ls_login
inurl:postfixadmin intitle:”postfix admin” ext:php
inurl:search/admin.php
inurl:textpattern/index.php
inurl:WCP_USER
inurl:webmail./index.pl “Interface”
inurl:webvpn.html “login” “Please enter your”
Login (”
Jetbox One CMS â?¢” | ”
Jetstream ? *”)
Novell NetWare intext:”netware management portal version”
Outlook Web Access (a better way)
PhotoPost PHP Upload
PHPhotoalbum Statistics
PHPhotoalbum Upload
phpWebMail
Please enter a valid password! inurl:polladmin

INDEXU
Ultima Online loginservers
W-Nailer Upload Area
intitle:”DocuShare” inurl:”docushare/dsweb/” -faq -gov -edu
“#mysql dump” filetype:sql
“#mysql dump” filetype:sql 21232f297a57a5a743894a0e4a801fc3
“allow_call_time_pass_reference” “PATH_INFO”
“Certificate Practice Statement” inurl:(PDF | DOC)
“Generated by phpSystem”
“generated by wwwstat”
“Host Vulnerability Summary Report”
“HTTP_FROM=googlebot” googlebot.com “Server_Software=”
“Index of” / “chat/logs”
“Installed Objects Scanner” inurl:default.asp
“MacHTTP” filetype:log inurl:machttp.log
“Mecury Version” “Infastructure Group”
“Microsoft (R) Windows * (TM) Version * DrWtsn32 Copyright (C)” ext:log
“Most Submitted Forms and s?ri?ts” “this section”
“Network Vulnerability Assessment Report”
“not for distribution” confidential
“not for public release” -.edu -.gov -.mil
“phone * * *” “address *” “e-mail” intitle:”curriculum vitae”
“phpMyAdmin” “running on” inurl:”main.php”
“produced by getstats”
“Request Details” “Control Tree” “Server Variables”
“robots.txt” “Disallow:” filetype:txt
“Running in Child mode”
“sets mode: +p”
“sets mode: +s”
“Thank you for your order” +receipt
“This is a Shareaza Node”
“This report was generated by WebLog”
( filetype:mail | filetype:eml | filetype:mbox | filetype:mbx ) intext:password|subject
(intitle:”PRTG Traffic Grapher” inurl:”allsensors”)|(intitle:”PRTG Traffic Grapher – Monitoring Results”)
(intitle:WebStatistica inurl:main.php) | (intitle:”WebSTATISTICA server”) -inurl:statsoft -inurl:statsoftsa -inurl:statsoftinc.com -edu -software -rob
(inurl:”robot.txt” | inurl:”robots.txt” ) intext:disallow filetype:txt
+”:8080″ +”:3128″ +”:80″ filetype:txt
+”HSTSNR” -”netop.com”
-site:php.net -”The PHP Group” inurl:source inurl:url ext:pHp
94FBR “ADOBE PHOTOSHOP”
AIM buddy lists
allinurl:/examples/jsp/snp/snoop.jsp
allinurl:cdkey.txt
allinurl:servlet/SnoopServlet
cgiirc.conf
cgiirc.conf
contacts ext:wml
data filetype:mdb -site:gov -site:mil
exported email addresses
ext:(doc | pdf | xls | txt | ps | rtf | odt | sxw | psw | ppt | pps | xml) (intext:confidential salary | intext:”budget approved”) inurl:confidential
ext:asp inurl:pathto.asp
ext:ccm ccm -catacomb
ext:CDX CDX
ext:cgi inurl:editcgi.cgi inurl:file=
ext:conf inurl:rsyncd.conf -cvs -man
ext:conf NoCatAuth -cvs
ext:dat bpk.dat
ext:gho gho
ext:ics ics
ext:ini intext:env.ini
ext:jbf jbf
ext:ldif ldif
ext:log “Software: Microsoft Internet Information Services *.*”
ext:mdb inurl:*.mdb inurl:fpdb shop.mdb
ext:nsf nsf -gov -mil
ext:plist filetype:plist inurl:bookmarks.plist
ext:pqi pqi -database
ext:reg “username=*” putty
ext:txt “Final encryption key”
ext:txt inurl:dxdiag
ext:vmdk vmdk
ext:vmx vmx
filetype:asp DBQ=” * Server.MapPath(“*.mdb”)
filetype:bkf bkf
filetype:blt “buddylist”
filetype:blt blt +intext:screenname
filetype:cfg auto_inst.cfg
filetype:cnf inurl:_vti_pvt access.cnf
filetype:conf inurl:firewall -intitle:cvs
filetype:config web.config -CVS
filetype:ctt Contact
filetype:ctt ctt messenger
filetype:eml eml +intext:”Subject” +intext:”From” +intext:”To”
filetype:fp3 fp3
filetype:fp5 fp5 -site:gov -site:mil -”cvs log”
filetype:fp7 fp7
filetype:inf inurl:capolicy.inf
filetype:lic lic intext:key
filetype:log access.log -CVS
filetype:log cron.log
filetype:mbx mbx intext:Subject
filetype:myd myd -CVS
filetype:ns1 ns1
filetype:ora ora
filetype:ora tnsnames
filetype:pdb pdb backup (Pilot | Pluckerdb)
filetype:php inurl:index inurl:phpicalendar -site:sourceforge.net
filetype:pot inurl:john.pot
filetype:PS ps
filetype:pst inurl:”outlook.pst”
filetype:pst pst -from -to -date
filetype:qbb qbb
filetype:QBW qbw
filetype:rdp rdp
filetype:reg “Terminal Server Client”
filetype:vcs vcs
filetype:wab wab
filetype:xls -site:gov inurl:contact
filetype:xls inurl:”email.xls”
Financial spreadsheets: finance.xls
Financial spreadsheets: finances.xls
Ganglia Cluster Reports
haccess.ctl (one way)
haccess.ctl (VERY reliable)
ICQ chat logs, please…
intext:”Session Start * * * *:*:* *” filetype:log
intext:”Tobias Oetiker” “traffic analysis”
intext:(password | passcode) intext:(username | userid | user) filetype:csv
intext:gmail invite intext:http://gmail.google.com/gmail/a
intext:SQLiteManager inurl:main.php
intext:ViewCVS inurl:Settings.php
intitle:”admin panel” +”
RedKernel”
intitle:”Apache::Status” (inurl:server-status | inurl:status.html | inurl:apache.html)
intitle:”AppServ Open Project” -site:www.appservnetwork.com
intitle:”ASP Stats Generator *.*” “ASP Stats Generator” “2003-2004 weppos”
intitle:”Big Sister” +”OK Attention Trouble”
intitle:”curriculum vitae” filetype:doc
intitle:”edna:streaming mp3 server” -forums
intitle:”FTP root at”
intitle:”index of” +myd size
intitle:”Index Of” -inurl:maillog maillog size
intitle:”Index Of” cookies.txt size
intitle:”index of” mysql.conf OR mysql_config
intitle:”Index of” upload size parent directory
intitle:”index.of *” admin news.asp configview.asp
intitle:”index.of” .diz .nfo last modified
intitle:”Joomla – Web Installer”
intitle:”LOGREP – Log file reporting system” -site:itefix.no
intitle:”Multimon UPS status page”
intitle:”PHP Advanced Transfer” (inurl:index.php | inurl:showrecent.php )
intitle:”PhpMyExplorer” inurl:”index.php” -cvs
intitle:”statistics of” “advanced web statistics”
intitle:”System Statistics” +”System and Network Information Center”
intitle:”urchin (5|3|admin)” ext:cgi
intitle:”Usage Statistics for” “Generated by Webalizer”
intitle:”wbem” compaq login “Compaq Information Technologies Group”
intitle:”Web Server Statistics for ****”
intitle:”web server status” SSH Telnet
intitle:”Welcome to F-Secure Policy Manager Server Welcome Page”
intitle:”welcome.to.squeezebox”
intitle:admin intitle:login
intitle:Bookmarks inurl:bookmarks.html “Bookmarks
intitle:index.of “Apache” “server at”
intitle:index.of cleanup.log
intitle:index.of dead.letter
intitle:index.of inbox
intitle:index.of inbox dbx
intitle:index.of ws_ftp.ini
intitle:intranet inurl:intranet +intext:”phone”
inurl:”/axs/ax-admin.pl” -s?ri?t
inurl:”/cricket/grapher.cgi”
inurl:”bookmark.htm”
inurl:”cacti” +inurl:”graph_view.php” +”Settings Tree View” -cvs -RPM
inurl:”newsletter/admin/”
inurl:”newsletter/admin/” intitle:”newsletter admin”
inurl:”putty.reg”
inurl:”smb.conf” intext:”workgroup” filetype:conf conf
inurl:*db filetype:mdb
inurl:/cgi-bin/pass.txt
inurl:/_layouts/settings
inurl:admin filetype:xls
inurl:admin intitle:login
inurl:backup filetype:mdb
inurl:build.err
inurl:cgi-bin/printenv
inurl:cgi-bin/testcgi.exe “Please distribute TestCGI”
inurl:changepassword.asp
inurl:ds.py
inurl:email filetype:mdb
inurl:fcgi-bin/echo
inurl:forum filetype:mdb
inurl:forward filetype:forward -cvs
inurl:getmsg.html intitle:hotmail
inurl:log.nsf -gov
inurl:main.php phpMyAdmin
inurl:main.php Welcome to phpMyAdmin
inurl:netscape.hst
inurl:netscape.hst
inurl:netscape.ini
inurl:odbc.ini ext:ini -cvs
inurl:perl/printenv
inurl:php.ini filetype:ini
inurl:preferences.ini “[emule]”
inurl:profiles filetype:mdb
inurl:report “EVEREST Home Edition ”
inurl:server-info “Apache Server Information”
inurl:server-status “apache”
inurl:snitz_forums_2000.mdb
inurl:ssl.conf filetype:conf
inurl:tdbin
inurl:vbstats.php “page generated”
inurl:wp-mail.php + “There doesn’t seem to be any new mail.”
inurl:XcCDONTS.asp
ipsec.conf
ipsec.secrets
ipsec.secrets
Lotus Domino address books
mail filetype:csv -site:gov intext:name
Microsoft Money Data Files
mt-db-pass.cgi files
MySQL tabledata dumps
mystuff.xml – Trillian data files
OWA Public Folders (direct view)
Peoples MSN contact lists
php-addressbook “This is the addressbook for *” -warning
phpinfo()
phpMyAdmin dumps
phpMyAdmin dumps
private key files (.csr)
private key files (.key)
Quicken data files
rdbqds -site:.edu -site:.mil -site:.gov
robots.txt
site:edu admin grades
site:www.mailinator.com inurl:ShowMail.do
SQL data dumps
Squid cache server reports
Unreal IRCd
WebLog Referrers
Welcome to ntop!
Fichier contenant des informations sur le r?seau :
filetype:log intext:”ConnectionManager2″
“apricot – admin” 00h
“by Reimar Hoven. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer” | inurl:”log/logdb.dta”
“Network Host Assessment Report” “Internet Scanner”
“Output produced by SysWatch *”
“Phorum Admin” “Database Connection” inurl:forum inurl:admin
phpOpenTracker” Statistics
“powered | performed by Beyond Security’s Automated Scanning” -kazaa -example
“Shadow Security Scanner performed a vulnerability assessment”
“SnortSnarf alert page”
“The following report contains confidential information” vulnerability -search
“The statistics were last upd?t?d” “Daily”-microsoft.com
“this proxy is working fine!” “enter *” “URL***” * visit
“This report lists” “identified by Internet Scanner”
“Traffic Analysis for” “RMON Port * on unit *”
“Version Info” “Boot Version” “Internet Settings”
((inurl:ifgraph “Page generated at”) OR (“This page was built using ifgraph”))
Analysis Console for Incident Databases
ext:cfg radius.cfg
ext:cgi intext:”nrg-” ” This web page was created on ”
filetype:pdf “Assessment Report” nessus
filetype:php inurl:ipinfo.php “Distributed Intrusion Detection System”
filetype:php inurl:nqt intext:”Network Query Tool”
filetype:vsd vsd network -samples -examples
intext:”Welcome to the Web V.Networks” intitle:”V.Networks [Top]” -filetype:htm
intitle:”ADSL Configuration page”
intitle:”Azureus : Java BitTorrent Client Tracker”
intitle:”Belarc Advisor Current Profile” intext:”Click here for Belarc’s PC Management products, for large and small companies.”
intitle:”BNBT Tracker Info”
intitle:”Microsoft Site Server Analysis”
intitle:”Nessus Scan Report” “This file was generated by Nessus”
intitle:”PHPBTTracker Statistics” | intitle:”PHPBT Tracker Statistics”
intitle:”Retina Report” “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION”
intitle:”start.managing.the.device” remote pbx acc
intitle:”sysinfo * ” intext:”Generated by Sysinfo * written by The Gamblers.”
intitle:”twiki” inurl:”TWikiUsers”
inurl:”/catalog.nsf” intitle:catalog
inurl:”install/install.php”
inurl:”map.asp?” intitle:”WhatsUp Gold”
inurl:”NmConsole/Login.asp” | intitle:”Login – Ipswitch WhatsUp Professional 2005″ | intext:”Ipswitch WhatsUp Professional 2005 (SP1)” “Ipswitch, Inc”
inurl:”sitescope.html” intitle:”sitescope” intext:”refresh” -demo
inurl:/adm-cfgedit.php
inurl:/cgi-bin/finger? “In real life”
inurl:/cgi-bin/finger? Enter (account|host|user|username)
inurl:/counter/index.php intitle:”+PHPCounter 7.*”
inurl:CrazyWWWBoard.cgi intext:”detailed debugging information”
inurl:login.jsp.bak
inurl:ovcgi/jovw
inurl:phpSysInfo/ “created by phpsysinfo”
inurl:portscan.php “from Port”|”Port Range”
inurl:proxy | inurl:wpad ext:pac | ext:dat findproxyforurl
inurl:statrep.nsf -gov
inurl:status.cgi?host=all
inurl:testcgi xitami
inurl:webalizer filetype:png -.gov -.edu -.mil -opendarwin
inurl:webutil.pl
Looking Glass
site:netcraft.com intitle:That.Site.Running Apache
“A syntax error has occurred” filetype:ihtml
“access denied for user” “using password”
“An illegal character has been found in the statement” -”previous message”
“ASP.NET_SessionId” “data source=”
“Can’t connect to local” intitle:warning
“Chatologica MetaSearch” “stack tracking”
“detected an internal error [IBM][CLI Driver][DB2/6000]”
“error found handling the request” cocoon filetype:xml
“Fatal error: Call to undefined function” -reply -the -next
“Incorrect syntax near”
“Incorrect syntax near”
“Internal Server Error” “server at”
“Invision Power Board Database Error”
“ORA-00933: SQL command not properly ended”
“ORA-12541: TNS:no listener” intitle:”error occurred”
“Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_VARIABLE” “on line” filetype:php
“PostgreSQL query failed: ERROR: parser: parse error”
“Supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource”
“Syntax error in query expression ” -the
“The s?ri?t whose uid is ” “is not allowed to access”
“There seems to have been a problem with the” ” Please try again by clicking the Refresh button in your web browser.”
“Unable to jump to row” “on MySQL result index” “on line”
“Unclosed quotation mark before the character string”
“Warning: Bad arguments to (join|implode) () in” “on line” -help -forum
“Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent”
“Warning: Division by zero in” “on line” -forum

“Warning: mysql_connect(): Access denied for user: ‘*@*” “on line” -help -forum
“Warning: mysql_query()” “invalid query”
“Warning: pg_connect(): Unable to connect to PostgreSQL server: FATAL”
“Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid File-Handle resource in”
“Warning:” “failed to open stream: HTTP request failed” “on line”
“Warning:” “SAFE MODE Restriction in effect.” “The s?ri?t whose uid is” “is not allowed to access owned by uid 0 in” “on line”
“SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Line 1: Incorrect syntax near”
An unexpected token “END-OF-STATEMENT” was found
Coldfusion Error Pages
filetype:asp + “[ODBC SQL”
filetype:asp “Custom Error Message” Category Source
filetype:log “PHP Parse error” | “PHP Warning” | “PHP Error”
filetype:php inurl:”logging.php” “Discuz” error
ht://Dig htsearch error
IIS 4.0 error messages
IIS web server error messages
Internal Server Error
intext:”Error Message : Error loading required libraries.”
intext:”Warning: Failed opening” “on line” “include_path”
intitle:”Apache Tomcat” “Error Report”
intitle:”Default PLESK Page”
intitle:”Error Occurred While Processing Request” +WHERE (SELECT|INSERT) filetype:cfm
intitle:”Error Occurred” “The error occurred in” filetype:cfm
intitle:”Error using Hypernews” “Server Software”
intitle:”Execution of this s?ri?t not permitted”
intitle:”Under construction” “does not currently have”
intitle:Configuration.File inurl:softcart.exe
MYSQL error message: supplied argument….
mysql error with query
Netscape Application Server Error page
ORA-00921: unexpected end of SQL command
ORA-00921: unexpected end of SQL command
ORA-00936: missing expression
PHP application warnings failing “include_path”
sitebuildercontent
sitebuilderfiles
sitebuilderpictures
Snitz! forums db path error
SQL syntax error
Supplied argument is not a valid PostgreSQL result
warning “error on line” php sablotron
Windows 2000 web server error messages
“ftp://” “www.eastgame.net”
“html allowed” guestbook
: vBulletin Version 1.1.5″
“Select a database to view” intitle:”filemaker pro”
“set up the administrator user” inurl:pivot
“There are no Administrators Accounts” inurl:admin.php -mysql_fetch_row
“Welcome to Administration” “General” “Local Domains” “SMTP Authentication” inurl:admin
“Welcome to Intranet”
“Welcome to PHP-Nuke” congratulations
“Welcome to the Prestige Web-Based Configurator”
“YaBB SE Dev Team”
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XOOPS Custom Installation
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Sinä kuolit

Benjamin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:36:14 +0000

Olit matkalla kotiin kun kuolit.

Se oli auto-onnetomuus, ei mitään erityistä mutta tappavaa jokatapauksessa. Jätit jälkeesi vaimon ja kaksi lasta. Kuolema oli kivuton. Ensihoitajat tekivät kaikkensa pelastaakseen sinut, mutta onnettomuus oli liian vakava. Vartalosi oli jokseenkin riekaleina, joten usko minua kun sanon että näin on parempi.

Sen jälkeen tapasit minut.

“Mitä… Mitä tapahtui?” kysyit, “Missä olen?”

“Sinä kuolit,” Totesin asiantuntevasti, mitä sitä turhaan kiertelemään asian ympärillä.

“Näin rekan, se… se luisui autoani päin”

“Jep” Sanoin.

“Minä… Kuolin?”

“Jep, mutta älä soimaa itseäsi siitä, niin käy kaikille” Sanoin.

Katselit ympärillesi ja näit vaan tyhjyyttä. “Paikalla” oli vain sinä ja minä. “Mikä tämä paikka on?” Kysyit, ” Onko tämä tuonpuoleinen?”

“Enemmän tai vähemmän.” Sanoin.

“Oletko sinä jumala?” Kysyit.

“Jep” Vastasin, “Minä olen jumala”

“Entä lapset ja vaimoni?” Kysyit

“Tuosta pidän,” sanoin “Olet juuri kuollut, ja päähuolenaiheesi on vaimosi ja lapsesi, tuossa jos jossain on oikeaa asennetta”

Katsoit minua lumoutuneena, mielestäsi en näyttänyt jumalalta, lähinnä vaan joltain mieheltä. Ehkä naiselta. Joltain hädintuskin auktoriteetti hahmolta, lähempänä peruskoulun opettajaa kuin maailmankaikkeuden valtiasta.

“Älä huoli,” vastasin “Heillä tulee kaikilla olemaan asiat hyvin. Lapsesi tulevat muistamaan sinut täydellisenä jokaisella kuviteltavalla tavalla, he eivät ehtineet tuntea sinua tarpeeksi kauan oppiakseen halveksumaan isäänsä. Ja vaimosi itkee ulkopuolisesti, mutta on salaa sisäisesti helpottunut. Rehellisesti, avioliittonne oli murenemassa palasiksi. Vaimosi tuntee kuitenkin suurta häpeää helpotuksestaan, jos se yhtään lohduttaa.”

“Ai,” sanoit “Mitä nyt? Joudunko taivaaseen, tai helvettiin, tai jotain?”

“Et kumpaankaan” sanoin, “Seuraavana vuorossa on reinkarnaatio”

“Ah,” sanoit “Hindut oli siis oikeassa!”

“Kaikki uskonnot on omalla tavallaan oikeassa” sanoin ” Kävellään”

Astelimme tyhjyydessä. “Mihin olemme menossa?”

“Ei mihinkään erityiseen paikkaan” sanoin “Kävellessä on vain mukavampi jutella”

“Mikä järki tässä on?” kysyit “Kun synnyn uudestaan,tulen olemaan tyhjä kangas, enkö? Vauva. Kaikki kokemukseni ja kaikki mitä tein tässä elämässä on yhtä tyhjän kanssa.”

“Ei suinkaan!” sanoin “Sinussa on kaikki tieto, ja kaikki kokemuksesi menneistä elämistäsi. Et vaan muista niitä juuri nyt.”

Pysähdyin ja laitoin käteni olkapäillesi. “Sielusi on kauniimpi, mahtavampi ja suurempi kuin voit ikinä kuvitella. Ihmismielesi voi vaan sisältää pienen murusen siitä mitä olet. Ajatelle sitä vaikka näin, jos laittaisit sormesi vesilasiin selvittäksesi onko se lämmintä vai kylmää, laitat vaan pienen palan itseäsi lasiin, mutta nostaessasi sen sieltä pois olet saanut kaiken kokemuksen minkä sormenpääsikin sai”

“Olet ollut ihmisessä edelliset 37 vuotta, joten et ole ehtinyt vielä löytää tajuntasi rajoja. Jos lorvisimme täällä tarpeeksi kauan muistasit taas kaiken. Mutta siinä ei ole mitään järkeä jokaisen elämän välissä.”

“Kuinka monta kertaa olen sitten syntynyt uudestaan?”

“Hmm, monta kertaa. Monia monia kertoja. Moneen eri elämään myös” sanoin “Tällä kertaa, pääset kiinalaiseen maalaistyttöön vuonna 540.”

“Häh, mitä?” änkytit. “Lähetät minut ajassa taaksepäin?”

“Niin, no, teknisesti, aika, niinkuin sen käsität, on olemassa ainoastaan universumissasi. Asiat on eritavalla muualla”

“Muualla, tuletko sinä sieltä?”

“Jep, toki” huomautin “Tulen jostain, jostain muualta, ja minunlaisiani on muita. Tiedän että haluaisit tietää millaista siellä on, mutta et oikeasti ymmärtäisi”

“Ai” sanoit hieman pettyneenä. “Entä kun, synnyn uudestaan toiseen paikkaan, ja toiseen aikaan, olen saattanut törmätä itseeni!”

“Jep, sitä tapahtuu koko ajan. Ja kun kumpikin elämä on tietoinen vain omasta eliniästään et edes tiedosta sen tapahtuvan”

“Mikä tämän kaiken tarkoitus sitten on?”

“Ai, kaiken tarkoitus?” kysyin naurahtaen. “Kysyt siis elämän tarkoitusta, eikö tuo nyt ole hieman stereotyyppistä?”

“No, se on silti ihan kohtuullinen kysymys”

Katsoin sinua silmiin. “Elämän tarkoitus, syy miksi tein tämän kaiken, on se että kasvaisit ja kypsyisit”

“Tarkoitat ihmiskuntaa? Haluat, koko ihmisrodun kasvavan aikuiseksi?”

“En, vain sinun, tein tämän koko universumin sinua varten. Jokaisella uudella elämällä kasvat ja kypsyt jonka tuloksena sinusta tulee parempi ja suurenmoisempi ajattelija”

“Vain minä? Entä kaikki muut?”

“Ei ole ketään muuta” sanoin. “Tässä universumissa on vain sinä ja minä”

Tujotit minua tyhjänä “Mutta kaikki ihmiset maapallolla…”

“Kaikki sinä, eri inkarnatioita sinusta”

“Hetkinen, minä olen joka ikinen?!”

“Noniin, nyt alkaa valkenemaan” sanoin onnitelevalla selkääntaputuksella.

“Olen jokainen ihminen joka on koskaan elänyt?”

“Tai, joka tulee koskaan elämään, kyllä”

“Olen Eugen Schauman?”

“Olet myös, Nikolai Ivanovitš Bobrikov” Lisäsin

“Olen Hitler” Sanoit pahoinvoivana

“Ja ne kymmenet miljoonat jotka hän tappoi”

“Olen jeesus?”

“Ja kaikki jotka häntä on koskaan seurannut”

Hiljenit ja laskit katseesi maahan.

“Joka kerta kun teit jostain muusta uhrin” sanoin “Teit itsestäsi uhrin, jokainen ystävällinen ele, ja kaikki hyvät teot mitkä teit, teit itsellesi. Jokainen koettu ilon ja surun hetki, joka on ollut, tai joka tulee olemaan. On sinun kokemasi.”

Ajattelit pitkään.

“Miksi?” Kysyit minulta “Miksi tehdä tämä kaikki?”

“Koska, sinusta tulee vielä minunlaiseni, se on mitä sinä olet. Olet yksi meistä. Olet lapseni”

“Enhän” sanoit epäuskoisena “Tarkoitatko että minä olen jumala?”

“Et. Et vielä. Olet sikiö, kasvat vielä. Kunhan olet elänyt kaikkien ihmisten elämät, kaikissa eri ajoissa, olet kasvanut tarpeeksi, jotta voit syntyä”

“Eli koko universumi,” sanoit “se on vaan…”

“Muna” vastasin “Sinun on nyt aika siirtyä seuraavaan elämääsi.”

Ja lähetin sinut takaisin.

Why do we believe in electrons, but not in fairies?

Benjamin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:39:45 +0000

Why do we believe in electrons, but not in fairies?

by Benjamin Kuipers

No one has directly observed either electrons or fairies. Both of them are theoretical constructs, useful to explain observations that might be difficult to explain otherwise. The “theory of fairies” can actually explain more things than the “theory of electrons”. So why do we believe in electrons, but not in fairies?

Is the issue a political one, where the “electron” fans got the upper hand in the nineteenth century, so by the twentieth century the “fairy” fans were a scorned and persecuted minority? Or, have we proved for sure that fairies don’t exist?

No, to both. The real difference is that for electrons, we have accumulated a set of quite narrow and specific rules about how electrons will behave under various circumstances. Those rules let us make very specific predictions about electron behavior, and about the observations that will result. If those predictions don’t come true, we know that either we didn’t set up the circumstances correctly, or there is something wrong with the rules. But over many decades, we have repeatedly fixed problems with the rules, so we can now make really good predictions about electrons, especially in certain highly contrived circumstances (i.e., circuits).

Fairies are much more free. A fairy does what it decides to do. We haven’t been able to find any useful rules for predicting how a fairy will behave under particular circumstances, or even for telling when a fairy has been involved in a particular observation. (At least I don’t know of any such rules. I stand ready for correction on this.) Over many, many decades, it has not been possible for people to try out pretty-good sets of fairy-prediction rules, find out where they make mistakes, and replace them with better sets of rules.

It’s always possible that there really are fairies. But the theory of electrons has been far more successful because it makes testable predictions. Because it doesn’t make testable predictions, the theory of fairies hasn’t enjoyed the same process of incremental improvement. So we have lightbulbs and microprocessors and the Internet, all based on electrons, and no fairy processors.

The scientific method is an amazing procedure for incrementally improving certain kinds of theories: those that make testable predictions. A theory that doesn’t make testable predictions could still be true, but it doesn’t participate in the scientific method. (There are people who believe that the only truths are scientific truths, but this is essentially a religious faith on their part.)

The theory of evolution is a scientific theory, because it implies a large number of specific testable claims. The specific rules leading to testable predictions have been tested, modified, and refined over many decades (roughly as many as the theory of electrons). Simple versions of the rules for evolution have been tested and refuted long ago, and replaced by better, more specific ones, just as they have for electrons. We are about as confident in the theory of evolution as we are in the theory of electrons.

The theory of intelligent design could be true. The biological world is a marvelous place, with truly amazing complexity. The theory of evolution assumes certain random processes for generating mutations. If an Intelligent Designer could influence those random processes, then perhaps both theories could be true simultaneously. But the theory of intelligent design does not make testable predictions, just like the theory of fairies. The Designer does what He does because He decides to, not because He is governed by rules. (See Matthew 4:5-7.)

The scientific method is an enormous intellectual asset to the human race. All citizens should understand what it can and cannot do, and all children should be taught to appreciate and apply it. It is important for them to understand why the theory of electrons is a scientific theory, while the theory of fairies is not. Likewise, of course, for evolution and intelligent design.

In the debate between evolution and intelligent design, I believe that we scientists are missing an important opportunity to educate people about the difference between “truth” and “scientific truth”. There is a perfectly reasonable role in society for faith in truths that are not scientifically testable. But we and our children need to understand and respect the difference.

Atheism is a religion, too!

While one driver in this controversy comes from people with a fundamentalist religious agenda, there are scientists on the other side who pursue an essentially religious belief that “There is no Designer.” Occam’s Razor is a useful piece of practical advice about preferring simpler theories, but it has no more empirical content than the Apostle’s Creed.

An advocate for Intelligent Design provided the following quotes from leading evolutionary biologists:

“Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind” (George Gaylord Simpson, The Meaning of Evolution);
“If humankind evolved by Darwinian natural selection, genetic chance and environmental necessity, not God, made the species” (Edward O. Wilson, On Human Nature);
“By coupling undirected, purposeless variation to the blind, uncaring process of natural selection, Darwin made theological or spiritual explanations of life processes superfluous” (Douglas Futuyma,Evolutionary Biology).

These are not scientific conclusions. These are statements of sincere personal belief by these authors, who doubtless feel strongly that their beliefs are consistent with their experiences as scientists. But they are essentially statements of faith, and they are out of place in a textbook. (An interesting essay by Michael Ruse, Is evolution a secular religion?, sheds historical light on evolution and this kind of “religious atheism”.)

On the other hand, scientists in general are very careful to avoid making religious (including atheist) statements in a scientific context. Simpson’s and Wilson’s books are opinion pieces, not textbooks, so expressions of personal faith are appropriate. Futuyma’s book is a leading textbook, but the above quote seems not to appear in the current (third) edition.

There is a widespread claim that evolutionary biology textbooks argue against Christianity, or against religion in general. You can read (here) a careful examination of a number of accused textbooks, refuting that claim.

Teaching better science

In our pluralistic society, some people believe in God or in the absence of any God (both faith-based positions), while some people don’t know and some don’t care. In our pluralistic society, it is important to teach science without imposing on others one’s own religious beliefs, including the belief in the absence of God.

Science education is about teaching the scientific method, and about teaching some of the knowledge that the human race has acquired by applying the scientific method. It would be a useful part of a science class to teach the distinction between theories that are scientific because they make testable predictions, and other theories that could be true, but are not scientific because they don’t. Comparing fairies with electrons, or comparing evolution with intelligent design, should be an opportunity to teach better science.

60 ways to make life simple again

Benjamin — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 20:04:32 +0000

Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple,
and the simple thing is the right thing.
- Oscar Wilde

Don’t try to read other people’s minds. Don’t make other people try to read yours. Communicate.
Be polite, but don’t try to be friends with everyone around you. Instead, spend time nurturing your relationships with the people who matter most to you.
Your health is your life, keep up with it. Get an annual physical check-up.
Live below your means. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need. Always sleep on big purchases. Create a budget and savings plan and stick to both of them.
Get enough sleep every night. An exhausted mind is rarely productive.
Get up 30 minutes earlier so you don’t have to rush around like a mad man. That 30 minutes will help you avoid speeding tickets, tardiness, and other unnecessary headaches.
Get off your high horse, talk it out, shake hands or hug, and move on.
Don’t waste your time on jealously. The only person you’re competing against is yourself.
Surround yourself with people who fill your gaps. Let them do the stuff they’re better at so you can do the stuff you’re better at.
Organize your living space and working space.
Get rid of stuff you don’t use.
Ask someone if you aren’t sure.
Spend a little time now learning a time-saving trick or shortcut that you can use over and over again in the future.
Don’t try to please everyone. Just do what you know is right.
Don’t drink alcohol or consume recreational drugs when you’re mad or sad. Take a jog instead.
Be sure to pay your bills on time.
Fill up your gas tank on the way home, not in the morning when you’re in a hurry.
Use technology to automate tasks.
Handle important two-minute tasks immediately.
Relocate closer to your place of employment.
Don’t steal.
Always be honest with yourself and others.
Say “I love you” to your loved ones as often as possible.
Single-task. Do one thing at a time and give it all you got.
Finish one project before you start another.
Be yourself.
When traveling, pack light. Don’t bring it unless you absolutely must.
Clean up after yourself. Don’t put it off until later.
Learn to cook, and cook.
Make a weekly (healthy) menu, and shop for only the items you need.
Consider buying and cooking food in bulk. If you make a large portion of something on Sunday, you can eat leftovers several times during the week without spending more time cooking.
Stay out of other people’s drama. And don’t needlessly create your own.
Buy things with cash.
Maintain your car, home, and other personal belongings you rely on.
Smile often, even to complete strangers.
If you hate doing it, stop it.
Treat everyone with the same level of respect you would give to your grandfather and the same level of patience you would have with your baby brother.
Apologize when you should.
Write things down.
Be curious. Don’t be scared to learn something new.
Explore new ideas and opportunities often.
Don’t be shy. Network with people. Meet new people.
Don’t worry too much about what other people think about you.
Spend time with nice people who are smart, driven, and likeminded.
Don’t text and drive. Don’t drink and drive.
Drink water when you’re thirsty.
Don’t eat when you’re bored. Eat when you’re hungry.
Exercise every day. Simply take a long, relaxing walk.
Let go of things you can’t change. Concentrate on things you can.
Find hard work you actually enjoy doing.
Realize that the harder you work, the luckier you will become.
Follow your heart. Don’t waste your life fulfilling someone else’s dreams and desires.
Set priorities for yourself and act accordingly.
Take it slow and add up all your small victories.
However good or bad a situation is now, it will change. Accept this simple fact.
Excel at what you do. Otherwise you’ll just frustrate yourself.
Mature, but don’t grow up too fast.
Realize that you’re never quite as right as you think you are.
Build something or do something that makes you proud.
Make mistakes, learn from them, laugh about them, and move along.

Oh, and enjoy life’s simple pleasures. They’re free and better than anything money can buy.

The relativity of wrong

Benjamin — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:07:35 +0000

The Relativity of Wrong

by Isaac Asimov

I received a letter from a reader the other day. It was handwritten in crabbed penmanship so that it was very difficult to read. Nevertheless, I tried to make it out just in case it might prove to be important.

In the first sentence, he told me he was majoring in English Literature, but felt he needed to teach me science. (I sighed a bit, for I knew very few English Lit majors who are equipped to teach me science, but I am very aware of the vast state of my ignorance and I am prepared to learn as much as I can from anyone, however low on the social scale, so I read on.)

It seemed that in one of my innumerable essays, here and elsewhere, I had expressed a certain gladness at living in a century in which we finally got the basis of the Universe straight.

I didn’t go into detail in the matter, but what I meant was that we now know the basic rules governing the Universe, together with the gravitational interrelationships of its gross components, as shown in the theory of relativity worked out between 1905 and 1916. We also know the basic rules governing the subatomic particles and their interrelationships, since these are very neatly described by the quantum theory worked out between 1900 and 1930. What’s more, we have found that the galaxies and clusters of galaxies are the basic units of the physical Universe, as discovered between 1920 and 1930.

These are all twentieth-century discoveries, you see.

The young specialist in English Lit, having quoted me, went on to lecture me severely on the fact that in every century people have thought they understood the Universe at last, and in every century they were proven to be wrong. It follows that the one thing we can say about out modern “knowledge” is that it is wrong.

The young man then quoted with approval what Socrates had said on learning that the Delphic oracle had proclaimed him the wisest man in Greece. “If I am the wisest man,” said Socrates, “it is because I alone know that I know nothing.” The implication was that I was very foolish because I knew a great deal.

Alas, none of this was new to me. (There is very little that is new to me; I wish my corresponders would realize this.) This particular thesis was addressed to me a quarter of a century ago by John Campbell, who specialized in irritating me. He also told me that all theories are proven wrong in time.

My answer to him was, “John, when people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical, they were wrong. But ifyou think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.”

The basic trouble, you see, is that people think that “right” and “wrong” are absolute; that everything that isn’t perfectly and completely right is totally and equally wrong.

However, I don’t think that’s so. It seems to me that right and wrong are fuzzy concepts, and I will devote this essay to an explanation of why I think so.

First, let me dispose of Socrates because I am sick and tired of this pretense that knowing you know nothing is a mark of wisdom.

No one knows nothing. In a matter of days, babies learn to recognize their mothers.

Socrates would agree, of course, and explain that knowledge of trivia is not what he means. He means that in the great abstractions over which human beings debate, one should start without preconceived, unexamined notions, and that he alone knew this. (What an enormously arrogant claim!)

In his discussions of such matters as “What is justice?” or “What is virtue?” he took the attitude that he knew nothing and had to be instructed by others. (This is called “Socratic irony,” for Socrates knew very well that he knew a great deal more than the poor souls he was picking on.) By pretending ignorance, Socrates lured others into propounding their views on such abstractions. Socrates then, by a series of ignorant-sounding questions, forced the others into such a mélange of self-contradictions that they would finally break down and admit they didn’t know what they were talking about.

It is the mark of the marvelous toleration of the Athenians that they let this continue for decades and that it wasn’t till Socrates turned seventy that they broke down and forced him to drink poison.

Now where do we get the notion that “right” and “wrong” are absolutes? It seems to me that this arises in the early grades, when children who know very little are taught by teachers who know very little more.

Young children learn spelling and arithmetic, for instance, and here we tumble into apparent absolutes.

How do you spell “sugar?” Answer: s-u-g-a-r. That is right. Anything else iswrong.

How much is 2 + 2? The answer is 4. That is right. Anything else is wrong.

Having exact answers, and having absolute rights and wrongs, minimizes the necessity of thinking, and that pleases both students and teachers. For that reason, students and teachers alike prefer short-answer tests to essay tests; multiple-choice over blank short-answer tests; and true-false tests over multiple-choice.

But short-answer tests are, to my way of thinking, useless as a measure of the student’s understanding of a subject. They are merely a test of the efficiency of his ability to memorize.

You can see what I mean as soon as you admit that right and wrong are relative.

How do you spell “sugar?” Suppose Alice spells it p-q-z-z-f and Genevieve spells it s-h-u-g-e-r. Both are wrong, but is there any doubt that Alice is wronger than Genevieve? For that matter, I think it is possible to argue that Genevieve’s spelling is superior to the “right” one.

Or suppose you spell “sugar”: s-u-c-r-o-s-e, or C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁. Strictly speaking, you are wrong each time, but you’re displaying a certain knowledge of the subject beyond conventional spelling.

Suppose then the test question was: how many different ways can you spell “sugar?” Justify each.

Naturally, the student would have to do a lot of thinking and, in the end, exhibit how much or how little he knows. The teacher would also have to do a lot of thinking in the attempt to evaluate how much or how little the student knows. Both, I imagine, would be outraged.

Again, how much is 2 + 2? Suppose Joseph says: 2 + 2 = purple, while Maxwell says: 2 + 2 = 17. Both are wrong but isn’t it fair to say that Joseph is wronger than Maxwell?

Suppose you said: 2 + 2 = an integer. You’d be right, wouldn’t you? Or suppose you said: 2 + 2 = an even integer. You’d be righter. Or suppose you said: 2 + 2 = 3.999. Wouldn’t you be nearly right?

If the teacher wants 4 for an answer and won’t distinguish between the various wrongs, doesn’t that set an unnecessary limit to understanding?

Suppose the question is, how much is 9 + 5?, and you answer 2. Will you not be excoriated and held up to ridicule, and will you not be told that 9 + 5 = 14?

If you were then told that 9 hours had pass since midnight and it was therefore 9 o’clock, and were asked what time it would be in 5 more hours, and you answered 14 o’clock on the grounds that 9 + 5 = 14, would you not be excoriated again, and told that it would be 2 o’clock? Apparently, in that case, 9 + 5 = 2 after all.

Or again suppose, Richard says: 2 + 2 = 11, and before the teacher can send him home with a note to his mother, he adds, “To the base 3, of course.” He’d be right.

Here’s another example. The teacher asks: “Who is the fortieth President of the United States?” and Barbara says, “There isn’t any, teacher.”

“Wrong!” says the teacher, “Ronald Reagan is the fortieth President of the United States.”

“Not at all,” says Barbara, “I have here a list of all the men who have served as President of the United States under the Constitution, from George Washington to Ronald Reagan, and there are only thirty-nine of them, so there is no fortieth President.”

“Ah,” says the teacher, “but Grover Cleveland served two nonconsecutive terms, one from 1885 to 1889, and the second from 1893 to 1897. He counts as both the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President. That is why Ronald Reagan is the thirty-ninth person to serve as President of the United States, and is, at the same time, the fortieth President of the United States.”

Isn’t that ridiculous? Why should a person be counted twice if his terms are nonconsecutive, and only once if he served two consecutive terms? Pure convention! Yet Barbara is marked wrong—just as wrong as if she had said that the fortieth President of the United States is Fidel Castro.

Therefore, when my friend the English Literature expert tells me that in every century scientists think they have worked out the Universe and are always wrong, what I want to know is how wrong are they? Are they always wrong to the same degree? Let’s take an example.

In the early days of civilization, the general feeling was that the Earth was flat.

This was not because people were stupid, or because they were intent on believing silly things. They felt it was flat on the basis of sound evidence. It was notjust a matter of “That’s how it looks,” because the Earth does not look flat. It looks chaotically bumpy, with hills, valleys, ravines, cliffs, and so on.

Of course, there are plains where, over limited areas, the Earth’s surface doeslook fairly flat. One of those plains is in the Tigris-Euphrates area where the first historical civilization (one with writing) developed, that of the Sumerians.

Perhaps it was the appearance of the plain that may have persuaded the clever Sumerians to accept the generalization that the Earth was flat; that if you somehow evened out all the elevations and depressions, you would be left with flatness. Contributing to the notion may have been the fact that stretches of water (ponds and lakes) looked pretty flat on quiet days.

Another way of looking at it is to ask what is the “curvature” of Earth’s surface. Over a considerable length, how much does the surface deviate (on the average) from perfect flatness. The flat-Earth theory would make it seem that the surface doesn’t deviate from flatness at all, that its curvature is 0 to the mile.

Nowadays, of course, we are taught that the flat-Earth theory is wrong; that it is all wrong, terribly wrong, absolutely. But it isn’t. The curvature of the Earth isnearly 0 per mile, so that although the flat-Earth theory is wrong, it happens to benearly right. That’s why the theory lasted so long.

There were reasons, to be sure, to find the flat-Earth theory unsatisfactory and, about 350 B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle summarized them. First, certain stars disappeared beyond the Southern Hemisphere as one traveled north, and beyond the Northern Hemisphere as one traveled south. Second, the Earth’s shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse was always the arc of a circle. Third, here on Earth itself, ships disappeared beyond the horizon hull-first in whatever direction they were traveling.

All three observations could not be reasonably explained if the Earth’s surface were flat, but could be explained by assuming the Earth to be a sphere.

What’s more, Aristotle believed that all solid matter tended to move toward a common center, and if solid matter did this, it would end up as a sphere. A given volume of matter is, on the average, closer to a common center if it is a sphere than if it is any other shape whatever.

About a century after Aristotle, the Greek philosopher Eratosthenes noted that the Sun cast a shadow of different lengths at different latitudes (all the shadows would be the same length if the Earth’s surface were flat). From the difference in shadow length, he calculated the size of the earthly sphere and it turned out to be 25,000 miles in circumference.

The curvature of such a sphere is about 0.000126 per mile, a quantity very close to 0 per mile as you can see, and one not easily measured by the techniques at the disposal of the ancients. The tiny difference between 0 and 0.000126 accounts for the fact that it took so long to pass from the flat Earth to the spherical Earth.

Mind you, even a tiny difference, such at that between 0 and 0.000126, can be extremely important. That difference mounts up. The Earth cannot be mapped over large areas with any accuracy at all if the difference isn’t taken into account and if the Earth isn’t considered a sphere rather than a flat surface. Long ocean voyages can’t be undertaken with any reasonable way of locating one’s own position in the ocean unless the Earth is considered spherical rather than flat.

Furthermore, the flat Earth presupposes the possibility of an infinite Earth, or of the existence of an “end” to the surface. The spherical Earth, however, postulates an Earth that is both endless and yet finite, and it is the latter postulate that is consistent with all later findings.

So although the flat-Earth theory is only slightly wrong and is a credit to its inventors, all things considered, it is wrong enough to be discarded in favor of the spherical-Earth theory.

And yet is the Earth a sphere?

No, it is not a sphere; not in the strict mathematical sense. A sphere has certain mathematical properties—for instance, all diameters (that is, all straight lines that pass from one point on its surface, through the center, to another point on its surface) have the same length.

That, however, is not true of the Earth. Various diameters of the Earth differ in length.

What gave people the notion the Earth wasn’t a true sphere? To begin with, the Sun and the Moon have outlines that are perfect circles within the limits of measurement in the early days of the telescope. This is consistent with the supposition that the Sun and Moon are perfectly spherical in shape.

However, when Jupiter and Saturn were observed by the first telescopic observers, it became quickly apparent that the outlines of those planets were not circles, but distinct ellipses. That meant that Jupiter and Saturn were not true spheres.

Isaac Newton, toward the end of the seventeenth century, showed that a massive body would form a sphere under the pull of gravitational forces (exactly as Aristotle had argued), but only if it were not rotating. If it were rotating, a centrifugal effect would be set up which would lift the body’s substance against gravity, and the effect would be greater the closer to the equator you progressed. The effect would also be greater the more rapidly a spherical object rotated and Jupiter and Saturn rotated very rapidly indeed.

The Earth rotated much more slowly than Jupiter or Saturn so the effect should be smaller, but it should still be there. Actual measurements of the curvature of the Earth were carried out in the eighteenth century and Newton was proved correct.

The Earth has an equatorial bulge, in other words. It is flattened at the poles. It is an “oblate spheroid” rather than a sphere. This means that the various diameters of the earth differ in length. The longest diameters are any of those that stretch from one point on the equator to an opposite point on the equator. The “equatorial diameter” is 12,755 kilometers (7,927 miles). The shortest diameter is from the North Pole to the South Pole and this “polar diameter” is 12,711 kilometers (7,900 miles).

The difference between the longest and shortest diameters is 44 kilometers (27 miles), and that means that the “oblateness” of the Earth (its departure from true sphericity) is 44/12,755, or 0.0034. This amounts to 1/3 of 1 percent.

To put it another way, on a flat surface, curvature is 0 per mile everywhere. On Earth’s spherical surface, curvature is 0.000126 per mile everywhere (or 8 inches per mile). On Earth’s oblate spheroidical surface, the curvature varies from 7.973 inches to the mile to 8.027 inches to the mile.

The correction in going from spherical to oblate spheroidal is much smaller than going from flat to spherical. Therefore, although the notion of the Earth as sphere is wrong, strictly speaking, it is not as wrong as the notion of the Earth as flat.

Even the oblate-spheroidal notion of the Earth is wrong, strictly speaking. In 1958, when the satellite Vanguard 1 was put into orbit about the Earth, it was able to measure the local gravitational pull of the Earth—and therefore its shape—with unprecedented precision. It turned out that the equatorial bulge south of the equator was slightly bulgier than the bulge north of the equator, and that the South Pole sea level was slightly nearer the center of the Earth than the North Pole sea level was.

There seemed no other way of describing this than by saying the Earth was pearshaped and at once many people decided that the Earth was nothing like a sphere but was shaped like a Bartlett pear dangling in space. Actually, the pearlike deviation from oblate-spheroid perfect was a matter of yards rather than miles and the adjustment of curvature was in the millionths of an inch per mile.

In short, my English Lit friend, living in a mental world of absolute rights and wrongs, may be imagining that because all theories are wrong, the Earth may be thought spherical now, but cubical next century, and a hollow icosahedron the next, and a doughnut shape the one after.

What actually happens is that once scientists get hold of a good concept they gradually refine and extend if with a greater and greater subtlety as their instruments of measurement improve. Theories are not so much wrong as incomplete.

This can be pointed out in many other cases than just the shape of the Earth. Even when a new theory seems to represent a revolution, it usually arises out of small refinements. If something more than a small refinement were needed, then the old theory would never have endured.

Copernicus switched from an Earth-centered planetary system to a Sun-centered one. In doing so, he switched from something that was obvious to something that was apparently ridiculous. However, it was a matter of finding better ways of calculating the motion of the planets in the sky and, eventually, the geocentric theory was just left behind. It was precisely because the old theory gave results that were fairly good by the measurement standards of the time that kept it in being so long.

Again, it is because the geological formations of the Earth change so slowly and the living things upon it evolve so slowly that it seemed reasonable at first to suppose that there was no change and that Earth and life always existed as they do today. If that were so, it would make no difference whether Earth and life were billions of years old or thousands. Thousands were easier to grasp.

But when careful observation showed that Earth and life were changing at a rate that was very tiny but not zero, then it became clear that Earth and life had to be very old. Modern geology came into being, and so did the notion of biological evolution.

If the rate of change were more rapid, geology and evolution would have reached their modern state in ancient times. It is only because the difference between the rate of change in a static Universe and the rate of change in an evolutionary one is that between zero and very nearly zero that the creationists can continue propagating their folly.

Again, how about the two great theories of the twentieth century; relativity and quantum mechanics?

Newton’s theories of motion and gravitation were very close to right, and they would have been absolutely right if only the speed of light were infinite. However, the speed of light is finite, and that had to be taken into account in Einstein’s relativistic equations, which were an extension and refinement of Newton’s equations.

You might say that the difference between infinite and finite is itself infinite, so why didn’t Newton’s equations fall to the ground at once? Let’s put it another way, and ask how long it takes light to travel over a distance of a meter.

If light traveled at infinite speed, it would take light 0 seconds to travel a meter. At the speed at which light actually travels, however, it takes it 0.0000000033 seconds. It is that difference between 0 and 0.0000000033 that Einstein corrected for.

Conceptually, the correction was as important as the correction of Earth’s curvature from 0 to 8 inches per mile was. Speeding subatomic articles wouldn’t behave the way they do without the correction, nor would particle accelerators work the way they do, nor nuclear bombs explode, nor the stars shine. Nevertheless, it was a tiny correction and it is no wonder that Newton, in his time, could not allow for it, since he was limited in his observations to speeds and distances over which the correction was insignificant.

Again, where the prequantum view of physics fell short was that it didn’t allow for the “graininess” of the Universe. All forms of energy had been thought to be continuous and to be capable of division into indefinitely smaller and smaller quantities.

This turned out to be not so. Energy comes in quanta, the size of which is dependent upon something called Planck’s constant. If Planck’s constant were equal to 0 erg-seconds, then energy would be continuous, and there would be no grain to the Universe. Planck’s constant, however, is equal to 0.000000000000000000000000066 erg-seconds. That is indeed a tiny deviation from zero, so tiny that ordinary questions of energy in everyday life need not concern themselves with it. When, however, you deal with subatomic particles, the graininess is sufficiently large, in comparison, to make it impossible to deal with them without taking quantum considerations into account.

Since the refinements in theory grow smaller and smaller, even quite ancient theories must have been sufficiently right to allow advances to be made; advances that were not wiped out by subsequent refinements.

The Greeks introduced the notion of latitude and longitude, for instance, and made reasonable maps of the Mediterranean basin even without taking sphericity into account, and we still use latitude and longitude today.

The Sumerians were probably the first to establish the principle that planetary movements in the sky exhibit regularity and can be predicted, and they proceeded to work out ways of doing so even though they assumed the Earth to be the center of the Universe. Their measurements have been enormously refined but the principle remains.

Newton’s theory of gravitation, while incomplete over vast distances and enormous speeds, is perfectly suitable for the Solar System. Halley’s Comet appears punctually as Newton’s theory of gravitation and laws of motion predict. All of rocketry is based on Newton, and Voyager II reached Uranus within a second of the predicted time. None of these things were outlawed by relativity.

In the nineteenth century, before quantum theory was dreamed of, the laws of thermodynamics were established, including the conservation of energy as first law, and the inevitable increase of entropy as the second law. Certain other conservation laws such as those of momentum, angular momentum, and electric charge were also established. So were Maxwell’s laws of electromagnetism. All remained firmly entrenched even after quantum theory came in.

Naturally, the theories we now have might be considered wrong in the simplistic sense of my English Lit correspondent, but in a much truer and subtler sense, they need only be considered incomplete.

For instance, quantum theory has produced something called “quantum weirdness” which brings into serious question the very nature of reality and which produces philosophical conundrums that physicists simply can’t seem to agree upon. It may be that we have reached a point where the human brain can no longer grasp matters, or it may be that quantum theory is incomplete and that once it is properly extended, all the “weirdness” will disappear.

Again, quantum theory and relativity seem to be independent of each other, so that while quantum theory makes i seem possible that three of the four known interactions can be combined into one mathematical system, gravitation—the realm of relativity—as yet seems intransigent.

If quantum theory and relativity can be combined, a true “unified field theory” may become possible.

If all this is done, however, it would be a still finer refinement that would affect the edges of the known—the nature of the big bang and the creation of the Universe, the properties at the center of black holes, some subtle points about the evolution of galaxies and supernovas, and so on.

Virtually all that we know today, however, would remain untouched and when I say I am glad that I live in a century when the Universe is essentially understood, I think I am justified.