The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist • Hacker News Board

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#21

Post by dsfyu404ed » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #5

danso wrote: post #2

The radio version: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/749135286/episode-931-the-it-... The climax of this story involves the belief that “Linux servers don’t just crash”.

I refuse to believe this wasn't just a way to add drama/tension. You can't work in IT and actually believe this.

They don't "just crash"

You need to run stuff you care about on them for that to happen. If you don't they run flawlessly for decades. I know of a switch that was up for 11yr (not a server I know, still a unix/linux based OS though) which is as much a testament to UPSs and backup generators as it is to the OS.

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#22

Post by parliament32 » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #5

danso wrote: post #2

The radio version: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/749135286/episode-931-the-it-... The climax of this story involves the belief that “Linux servers don’t just crash”.

I refuse to believe this wasn't just a way to add drama/tension. You can't work in IT and actually believe this.

I mean, it depends. Services crash, sure, that might be what they meant by "the server crashed". But it's very, very difficult for an actual modern kernel to crash and also not auto-reboot and resume whatever it was doing. Hardware failure is always a possibility though.

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#23

Post by lkschubert8 » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 6:58 PM UTC

homonculus1 wrote: post #8

>WARNER: Joe Healy is sitting in this conference room with Felipe, the IT guy in his buttoned-up shirt. >HEALY: He's a physically little guy... >WARNER: He's 5-foot-4. >HEALY: ...And not overly muscular. Man, Planet Money's constant interruptions and hacked-apart quotations are just as jarring to read as they are to listen to. It's entirely possible to transition your narrative structure between accessible exposition…

That's my issue with RadioLab. It is just constant interjection.

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#24

Post by grendelt » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 7:09 PM UTC

Great story but a little anticlimactic.

It's like yadda-yadda-yadda, he gets arrested and goes to prison. That's it? The story is just an IT guy that tells US authorities before he takes on a job with scammers and is then a mole? It's neat and all, but not a totally captivating tale.

If you haven't heard it, this is a good one: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/6nh3wk

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#25

Post by giarc » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 7:10 PM UTC

gumby wrote: post #17

One of the things I like about Plant money is that they have transcripts for all their podcasts. I used to listen when I was a driver, but now I don't I can just read the transcript in a few minutes instead of spending 20 minutes or so listening.

Increase playback speed. You'd be surprised how your hearing can adjust. Just work your way up in small increments. Just be prepared that if you ever go back to 1x speed, it sounds really weird.

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#26

Post by duiker101 » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 7:24 PM UTC

parliament32 wrote: post #22

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I refuse to believe this wasn't just a way to add drama/tension. You can't work in IT and actually believe this.

I mean, it depends. Services crash, sure, that might be what they meant by "the server crashed". But it's very, very difficult for an actual modern kernel to crash and also not auto-reboot and resume whatever it was doing. Hardware failure is always a possibility though.

maybe the disk filled up?

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#27

Post by parliament32 » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 7:30 PM UTC

duiker101 wrote: post #26

parliament32 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, it depends. Services crash, sure, that might be what they meant by "the server crashed". But it's very, very difficult for an actual modern kernel to crash and also not auto-reboot and resume whatever it was doing. Hardware failure is always a possibility though.

maybe the disk filled up?

That would cause any disk-write-dependent service to crash, yeah, but the kernel isn't one of those. Syslog will stop and a bunch of things will complain, but I've always been able to SSH in and free up some disk.

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#28

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 7:34 PM UTC

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #5

danso wrote: post #2

The radio version: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/749135286/episode-931-the-it-... The climax of this story involves the belief that “Linux servers don’t just crash”.

I refuse to believe this wasn't just a way to add drama/tension. You can't work in IT and actually believe this.

[deleted]

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#29

Post by fencepost » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 7:36 PM UTC

giarc wrote: post #25

gumby wrote: post #17

One of the things I like about Plant money is that they have transcripts for all their podcasts. I used to listen when I was a driver, but now I don't I can just read the transcript in a few minutes instead of spending 20 minutes or so listening.

Increase playback speed. You'd be surprised how your hearing can adjust. Just work your way up in small increments. Just be prepared that if you ever go back to 1x speed, it sounds really weird.

Up to 1.4 is not a big deal, somewhere around 1.5 or starts to get a little strange. Since I generally have technical or industry related podcasts going while doing other things too high a speed becomes a hindrance.

Re: The IT Guy vs. the Con Artist

#30

Post by crag » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 7:39 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #20

paggle wrote: post #12

People who brazenly scam senior citizens like this should get lethal injection. I'm not even being facetious. If we assign this penalty for murdering one person, why not for destroying the lives of thousands of vulnerable people?

You're being downvoted, but I hear where you're coming from. Phone scammers make my blood boil like little else does.

I don't know why he was downloaded. I mean, come too Florida and talk to some 80 year old guy who has nothing, due to being scammed or ID theft.

Frankly, be better if you just killed the guy. Now this guy has to decide between food and meds because his SSI doesn't cover it all. And his savings are gone.