Timeo Danaos et dona ferentis.
April 24, 2012 7:24 AM   Subscribe

Multiple analysts warned of vulnerabilities, but instead of being heeded they were severely punished After a lengthy DDOS attack, some determined hacking, and repeated attempts to penetrate its hardened security layer, the host was finally rooted by a cunningly designed piece of social and mechanical engineering. When the malware released its payload, not only was the system completely wiped, but the culture that created it as well. This day in tech: the original Trojan.
posted by unSane (28 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
Brilliant. Thanks!
posted by infini at 7:31 AM on April 24, 2012


Well done!
posted by gauche at 7:38 AM on April 24, 2012


Also, if you think about it, sort of a bad name for a condom.
posted by exogenous at 7:43 AM on April 24, 2012 [9 favorites]


"hacking"
posted by DU at 7:44 AM on April 24, 2012


Also, if you think about it, sort of a bad name for a condom.

Unless you're Greek.
posted by infini at 7:46 AM on April 24, 2012


Also, if you think about it, sort of a bad name for a condom.

A person of my acquaintance suggested Hermes as a better Greek name for condoms but I objected on both rhyming grounds and because of Hermes' other well-known attribute.
posted by DU at 7:46 AM on April 24, 2012


Also, if you think about it, sort of a bad name for a condom.

Yeah, as condoms go, Trojans are problematic in several ways.
posted by Naberius at 7:48 AM on April 24, 2012


DU: "Hermes' other well-known attribute ..."
A winged helmet?
posted by brokkr at 7:59 AM on April 24, 2012


He was the father of Priapus.
posted by infini at 8:01 AM on April 24, 2012 [2 favorites]


He usually got there very fast.
posted by koeselitz at 8:06 AM on April 24, 2012 [2 favorites]


but I objected on... rhyming grounds

Wait, what rhymes with.... oh. HAHAHAHA.
posted by blue t-shirt at 8:18 AM on April 24, 2012


Herpes doesn't rhyme with Hermes.
posted by spicynuts at 8:27 AM on April 24, 2012


Herpes doesn't rhyme with Hermes.

"Spermies" does, though.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 8:28 AM on April 24, 2012


because of Hermes' other well-known attribute.

A dick?
posted by kenko at 8:51 AM on April 24, 2012


I mean come on you've got your logo all set!
posted by kenko at 8:52 AM on April 24, 2012


A former cheerleader of a school that met USC on the field of mock battle every year told me that a favorite gambit was dressing up one of the males on the squad in a giant garbage bag with holes for the arms and legs.

I'm sure you can imagine the kinds of routines they performed.
posted by jamjam at 8:53 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]


Well this thread didn't go where it was supposed to, did it?
posted by Naberius at 8:56 AM on April 24, 2012


Anybody have a good explanation for the origin of this traditional date? I can't find anything satisfying; just unsourced wikipedia pages and people copying from unsourced wikipedia pages....
posted by mr_roboto at 9:08 AM on April 24, 2012


Polyphemus would be more appropriate than Trojan.
posted by benzenedream at 9:11 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]


Well this thread didn't go where it was supposed to, did it?

Where was it supposed to go?


I thought herpes did rhyme with Hermes?
posted by infini at 9:15 AM on April 24, 2012


because of Hermes' other well-known attribute.

He was a guide to the underworld?
posted by octobersurprise at 9:18 AM on April 24, 2012


Messenger of the gods?
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:30 AM on April 24, 2012


Anybody have a good explanation for the origin of this traditional date?

It appears to source from Ephorus (via third parties), who cited the night of the 23rd of Thargelion; sources disagree on when exactly this might be for us. I found an entire chapter on the dating of the capture of Troy in an 1823 work on the Hellenic calendar.
posted by dhartung at 9:55 AM on April 24, 2012


but I objected on... rhyming grounds

Squirmies? Burmese?
posted by hattifattener at 10:14 AM on April 24, 2012


The perks of Hermes.
posted by kenko at 11:37 AM on April 24, 2012


Metafilter: I can't find anything satisfying; just unsourced wikipedia pages and people copying from unsourced wikipedia pages....
posted by 445supermag at 12:10 PM on April 24, 2012


Surprised that no one has linked to this old gem yet... IIRC it went around listservs in the early 1990s.
posted by IAmBroom at 12:23 PM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


A friend of mine who is currently a TA was talking about the april date thing recently.
They asked for the 'commonly accepted' date of the trojan war ending in a recent exam, and were somewhat perplexed to find several answers that stated it was April 24th, precisely.

We are talking about a somewhat apocryphal event over three thousand years ago. It's only a little more justified than James Ussher declaring the world was created Saturday, 22nd October 4004 BC.

However, this is a fantastic coincidence, given that we are in New Zealand, and ANZAC day (our Veterans Day) is on the 25th of April, a public holiday marked by dawn services in memory of the soldiers who died at Gallipoli, which is very close to the location of ancient Troy.
This lead to a vigorous suggestion in the Classics department that they hold their own dawn ceremony to remember the 'end of the war' - the Trojan war!
posted by Elysum at 6:57 PM on April 29, 2012


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