Tech FAQ

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Tech FAQ

Please post any technical questions you have here, and we welcome those with technical backgrounds to contribute answers. (from the help desk)

For Last Resort Human Help, email Elizabeth Stark <estark <at> law.harvard.edu>

1. How much technical knowledge will be required for the course?

Technically, none. In fact, what we are looking for more than anything is a willingness to learn about and experiment with new technologies!


2. Is there a site with info about how to do different kinds of linking in wikis?

Yup. Check out the help pages on the MetaWiki.


3. There was a reference during the discussion with Barlow to "RFCs." What are they?

Requests For Comment is "a set of technical and organizational notes about the Internet" from the IETF.


4. Here's a useful link for those who want to know more about tech issues:

Class I took in undergrad with more technical overview of the whole Internet and network thing, lectures notes 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 18, 23, 24 and 25 in pdfs are pretty understandable, kinda


5. i see that there is a blogger page, but i don't see what points to it. assist?

Hmm weird. I don't see a blogger page... Usually if you click "what links here" you can figure out what links to it. There's also a tool for "orphan pages" that don't have anything linking to them.

Here is Blogs and Wikis page someone has setup. Many pages can be setup where someone intends to put stuff there, but not yet got a round TUIT. AlMac


6. What's this podcasting thing?

Check out the Wikipedia article on Podcasting. You might also want to check out What makes for a good law podcast and the Legal Underground for examples.


7. how do i add an extra blank line before == headinngs?

I think that you just put an extra line using the enter key? I meant, how do you change the == heading so that it automatically inserts a blank line before it --cc

I just use the key on my keyboard that simulates a carriage return on the old manual typewriters. AlMac


8. I have visited the metawiki site to look for info on how to do specific things in wikipedia, but is there a tutorial page that takes you from A to Z on how to program in wiki language? I feel that when I look at some of the individual help sites, I don't know enough of the basic language to understand what is being said. Thanks.

  • I have been looking for that also. Seems to me the Wiki language is a scripting language structurally very similar to HTML and UIM. So if you pick up something like HTML for Dummies (if there is such a title), it should be a good starting place. AlMac
    • Notice that you do not need to know the wiki language to do many things on Wiki. If you tell me what your Group page is here or on Wikipedia, I can post something on your Talk page with links to A-Z on doing stuff on Wiki without needing to know anything more than using the square brackets, tildes, and those buttons on the top of the edit box, or sysop can ask me to place that kind of thing on a general page for everyone. AlMac
  • This site has a listing of many of the basic Wikipedia commands.


9. What exactly is the difference between an ISP and an OSP? Why was Ginsberg opinion so subtle?

It may be smart to spell out what the letters stand for, since there are some non-internet word strings that have the same acronym,

  • ASP Application Service Provider ... they can host your applications on their system, take care of backups, all sorts of maintenance, then if they go bankrupt, you lose access to your data, and you also go bankrupt.
  • ISP Internet Service Provider
    • Note that my ISP, Sigecom, performs some great on-line services in addition to high speed Internet connection, such as anti-malware. They intercept 99% of viruses attached to e-mail before they even get to me, and 90% of the spam. There are some false positives, which I keep them informed on.
  • OSP On-Line Service Provider, such as AOL, which provides a large spectrum of services in which their connection to the Internet could be seen as a tiny fraction of their total business.

AlMac

10. What is a root kit, precisely?

11. What is port 443?

IANA's list of well-known ports assigns port 443 to https (encrypted web traffic):

  • https 443/tcp http protocol over TLS/SSL
  • https 443/udp http protocol over TLS/SSL

12. What is ssh?"

Secure SHell is a more secure replacement for telnet, offering encrypted remote connections to another machine. It can also be used to create an encrypted tunnel, securing at least part of communications between insecure endpoints.

13. I have an unprotected wireless network in my apartment. I don't care about my neighbors freeloading on my bandwidth, but I don't want them doing something that could get me in trouble with the RIAA. I don't really know a lot about technology, do I have to encrypt the network to protect myself or would any freeloaders from my IP address be distinguishable from myself by a MAC or something else.?

In theory, if anyone in range of your network can connect to it, then they can do anything and effectively be anonymous with the evidence trail stopping at you. They can sit in auto parked in street just outside your residence. They can do anything on your computer, or on the Internet. There's a lot of people out there who just want to steal bandwidth, but there are also people who enjoy vandalism, criminal behavior, even terrorism. Any computer system ought to be protected from vandals, whether through wireless, or malware. AlMac

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