5 ms·

This is great. That a program can learn about and exploit the CPU on which it is running from unprivileged userspace reminds me of the notion in Charlie Stross'

This is great. That a program can learn about and exploit the CPU on which it is running from unprivileged userspace reminds me of the notion in Charlie Stross' Accelerando of running a timing attack against the universe to learn about the virtual machine in which we are being simulated.

michaelmior 9y ago
It would be even better if there was a web service that would collect these logs for different processors so everyone didn't have to invest the time to run the analysis.
- tux1968 9y ago
  Well they do mention in the description: The results of a scan can sometimes be difficult for the tools to automatically classify, and may require manual analysis. For help analyzing your results, feel free to send the ./data/log file to xoreaxeaxeax@gmail.com. No personal information, other than the processor make, model, and revision (from /proc/cpuinfo) are included in this log.
  - collinmanderson 9y ago
    It would be nice if there were something like Geekbench where it publicly listed the results from different processors.
  - michaelmior 9y ago
    That's great, but doesn't solve the problem of how long it takes to run a scan.
qubex 9y ago
I'd never heard of Charlie Stross or his Accelerando book. Thanks for mentioning that, it looks right up my hard-sci-fi alley.
- vsviridov 9y ago
  Then definitely also check out the Quantum Thief trilogy, by Hannu Rajaniemi.
  - okreallywtf 9y ago
    Seconded, in the beginning it almost has a fantasy vibe since what it describes for the most part is so advanced it almost seems magical, but stick with it because it is fantastic.
  - eridius 9y ago
    Amusingly, the cover of The Quantum Thief (at least on iBooks) has the following quote: > "The best first SF novel I've read in years. Hard to admit, but I think he's better at this stuff than I am." -Charles Stross
    - moomin 9y ago
      I remain completely unmoved by HR's output. But I'm most definitely in the minority.
- moomin 9y ago
  He actually posts on here from time to time... He's fairly prolific and very talented. The only one of his books I wouldn't particularly recommend is his first. The sequel's great, though. Many of his straight up thrillers e.g. Saturn's Children have well realised universes they inhabit.
pmarreck 9y ago
I believe there was also a Rick & Morty episode about this (of course...)
- winter_blue 9y ago
  You mean the first episode of the third season where Rick breaks out of the virtual reality interrogation room he was in, by simply presenting some data (i.e. equations) that turned out to be code that took control of the system?
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    Posting spoilers is not clever.
    - winter_blue 9y ago
      Sorry, I should've just mentioned the season & episode number. Or nothing at all. I would like to delete the comment, but it seems I just passed the 2-hour mark wherein editing/deletion is possible, and I can't remove it.
      - anigbrowl 9y ago
        Oh well, we've all made similar mistakes :)

michaelmior 9y ago

It would be even better if there was a web service that would collect these logs for different processors so everyone didn't have to invest the time to run the analysis.

tux1968 9y ago
Well they do mention in the description: The results of a scan can sometimes be difficult for the tools to automatically classify, and may require manual analysis. For help analyzing your results, feel free to send the ./data/log file to xoreaxeaxeax@gmail.com. No personal information, other than the processor make, model, and revision (from /proc/cpuinfo) are included in this log.
- collinmanderson 9y ago
  It would be nice if there were something like Geekbench where it publicly listed the results from different processors.
- michaelmior 9y ago
  That's great, but doesn't solve the problem of how long it takes to run a scan.

qubex 9y ago

I'd never heard of Charlie Stross or his Accelerando book. Thanks for mentioning that, it looks right up my hard-sci-fi alley.

vsviridov 9y ago
Then definitely also check out the Quantum Thief trilogy, by Hannu Rajaniemi.
- okreallywtf 9y ago
  Seconded, in the beginning it almost has a fantasy vibe since what it describes for the most part is so advanced it almost seems magical, but stick with it because it is fantastic.
- eridius 9y ago
  Amusingly, the cover of The Quantum Thief (at least on iBooks) has the following quote: > "The best first SF novel I've read in years. Hard to admit, but I think he's better at this stuff than I am." -Charles Stross
  - moomin 9y ago
    I remain completely unmoved by HR's output. But I'm most definitely in the minority.
moomin 9y ago
He actually posts on here from time to time... He's fairly prolific and very talented. The only one of his books I wouldn't particularly recommend is his first. The sequel's great, though. Many of his straight up thrillers e.g. Saturn's Children have well realised universes they inhabit.

pmarreck 9y ago

I believe there was also a Rick & Morty episode about this (of course...)

winter_blue 9y ago
You mean the first episode of the third season where Rick breaks out of the virtual reality interrogation room he was in, by simply presenting some data (i.e. equations) that turned out to be code that took control of the system?
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Posting spoilers is not clever.
  - winter_blue 9y ago
    Sorry, I should've just mentioned the season & episode number. Or nothing at all. I would like to delete the comment, but it seems I just passed the 2-hour mark wherein editing/deletion is possible, and I can't remove it.
    - anigbrowl 9y ago
      Oh well, we've all made similar mistakes :)