Is Barnes & Noble https site untrusted for you today?

On 3/4/2017 1:31 PM, Stijn De Jong wrote:
Just tried to claim a Nook book on Barnes & Noble on the iPad (which took
about two dozen steps, believe it or not, because that's how iOS works) but
something seemed to be wrong with the B&N encrypted site:
http://i.cubeupload.com/ZnKOrv.jpg

Tried the https Barnes & Noble site on Windows (which only took one step):
http://i.cubeupload.com/PqkGgI.jpg

And on Android (which again, took only one step):
http://i.cubeupload.com/UGiXkT.jpg

All three failed.
Why?
Do you see the same thing on your os?

Yes.

On Sat, 4 Mar 2017 18:44:43 -0800, sms wrote:

All three failed.
Why?
Do you see the same thing on your os?

Yes.

Thanks for confirming that it doesn't work, because when everyone but
nospam tested it, they came to the same conclusion.

Only nospam seems to "report" a working system when none is possible.

However, I think it's even worse than what Ralph Fox wrote in the Windows
newsgroup because, armed with the fact that Ralph explained which is that
Barnes and Noble doesn't have a certificate for "barnesandnoble" but for
"www.barnesandnoble", I looked again at the URL in the Gmail which is he

http://i.cubeupload.com/18FA40.jpg

In article , Stijn De Jong
wrote:


All three failed.
Why?
Do you see the same thing on your os?

Yes.

Thanks for confirming that it doesn't work, because when everyone but
nospam tested it, they came to the same conclusion.

Only nospam seems to "report" a working system when none is possible.

i went to barnesandnoble.com, chose a random book and proceeded to
purchase it. i went as far as entering credit card info, at which point
i stopped since i did not want to purchase anything.

On Sat, 04 Mar 2017 19:33:16 -0500, nospam wrote:

It turns out that iOS is too stupid to figure out ahead of time if there is
enough room on the device, so, I started the download of the latest iOS OS
version last night, and this morning when I woke up, it had failed for lack
of room. (You'd think they would write better code!)

absolutely false.

Remember, I back up every statement I make with tenable fact.

1. The nook app won't load unless iOS is updated.
http://i.cubeupload.com/qDcfWq.jpg

NOTE: Updating iOS in the past broke connectivity to Linux and Windows
(e.g., infinite loop of trust) which Apple doesn't even test and
specifically Apple says they don't support the real world where iTunes
isn't on a separate computer just to allow the iOS device to do the
simplest of things).

2. Despite huge reservations (since iOS isn't tested in the real world),
before heading to bed, we hit the button for iOS to update.
http://i.cubeupload.com/HTdU4W.jpg

3. At daybreak, we open the iPad, to see that it failed.
http://i.cubeupload.com/6qnsCb.jpg

Typical of iOS, you're completely on your own as to why.

Assuming iOS is just stupid is just occam's razor yet again, so, we delete
5GB of video and try again.

It works.
Hence the tenable conclusion:

iOS is so stupid that it doesn't bother to check if there is enough space
to download the operating system, even though it can easily check how much
space there is.

Worse, iOS now requires you to have valid bogus credentials!
Yup.

If you don't want to give Apple your real name, credit card, phone number,
home address, etc., they will still let you ... but you have to give it a
real zip code!
http://i.cubeupload.com/icRnMv.jpg

iOS is It's *that* stupid now ... getting dumber with each new version!

And, still, there's not a single bit of functionality that *any* iOS user
has ever found that an unjailbroken Apple iOS device can do, all by itself
that Android can't do all by itself (without the need of system admin and
another computer with hundreds of megabytes of Apple software).

Yet, anyone who knows anything about Android can list scores of things that
Android does (all by itself) that iOS can't hope to ever do (even with the
fact that Apple MARKETING designed the device to be crippled without a
computer, system admin, and iTunes).

On Sat, 04 Mar 2017 22:06:41 -0500, nospam wrote:

Only nospam seems to "report" a working system when none is possible.

i went to barnesandnoble.com, chose a random book and proceeded to
purchase it. i went as far as entering credit card info, at which point
i stopped since i did not want to purchase anything.

Thanks for running that test, which we appreciate.

I didn't know at the time that I asked the question that the link emailed
by Barnes and Noble didn't work because the B&N link specified a "nook" web
url that B&N didn't purchase a certificate for.

So the link mailed by B&N won't work for anyone unless they accept the
insecure connection, but you still need to give B&N valid credit card
credentials in order to obtain a free gift.

What was absolutely astounding is the number of permissions and agreement
screens that you have to wade through after installing the latest iOS.
Utterly shocking how many there were, from Apple ID Verification screens to
iCloud Requred skip screens, to Set up Family Sharing skip screens, to
Sign-In Required skip screens, to Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions
have Changed screens to Require Password for Additional Purchases on this
Device screens, to Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions have Changed
verification screens, to Account Settings where you need to give them a
valid zip code screens, etc.

What iOS users put up with is amazing because you're not done yet.

When you try to simply download that Nook app, you get an iTunes Store
Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions have changged screen (again!),
where iOS is so stupid it doesn't realize you already accepted that huge
document just moments before! Then you get to sign in (yet again!) into the
iTunes Store, and guess what?

I kid you not. (I have screenshots of *all* of this!)

You get yet again (for the *third time!) an "Apple Media Services Terms and
Conditions have Changed" screen! (I kid you not!) which you then have to
(for the third time!) scroll to the bottom and accept before you can move
forward.

There's more than that but that was just a quick summary of the stuff that
iOS users have to put up with.

In article , Stijn De Jong
wrote:


It turns out that iOS is too stupid to figure out ahead of time if there is
enough room on the device, so, I started the download of the latest iOS OS
version last night, and this morning when I woke up, it had failed for lack
of room. (You'd think they would write better code!)

absolutely false.

Remember, I back up every statement I make with tenable fact.

bull**** you do.

1. The nook app won't load unless iOS is updated.
http://i.cubeupload.com/qDcfWq.jpg

that wasn't the issue.

NOTE: Updating iOS in the past broke connectivity to Linux and Windows
(e.g., infinite loop of trust) which Apple doesn't even test and
specifically Apple says they don't support the real world where iTunes
isn't on a separate computer just to allow the iOS device to do the
simplest of things).

that's because linux is not supported. go bitch at whoever wrote the
driver. they ****ed up.

2. Despite huge reservations (since iOS isn't tested in the real world),
before heading to bed, we hit the button for iOS to update.
http://i.cubeupload.com/HTdU4W.jpg

3. At daybreak, we open the iPad, to see that it failed.
http://i.cubeupload.com/6qnsCb.jpg

Typical of iOS, you're completely on your own as to why.

Assuming iOS is just stupid is just occam's razor yet again, so, we delete
5GB of video and try again.

It works.
Hence the tenable conclusion:

bogus conclusion, you mean.

iOS is so stupid that it doesn't bother to check if there is enough space
to download the operating system, even though it can easily check how much
space there is.

it absolutely checks and will not download anything if there's not
enough space to do so.

as usual, you haven't a ****ing clue.

Worse, iOS now requires you to have valid bogus credentials!
Yup.

bogus credentials cannot be valid, by definition.

If you don't want to give Apple your real name, credit card, phone number,
home address, etc., they will still let you ... but you have to give it a
real zip code!
http://i.cubeupload.com/icRnMv.jpg

so what?

how hard is it to come up with a real zip code?

the real question is why you want to use bogus credentials. what are
you hiding from?

iOS is It's *that* stupid now ... getting dumber with each new version!

the only thing that's getting dumber is you.

And, still, there's not a single bit of functionality that *any* iOS user
has ever found that an unjailbroken Apple iOS device can do, all by itself
that Android can't do all by itself (without the need of system admin and
another computer with hundreds of megabytes of Apple software).

more bull****.

Yet, anyone who knows anything about Android can list scores of things that
Android does (all by itself) that iOS can't hope to ever do (even with the
fact that Apple MARKETING designed the device to be crippled without a
computer, system admin, and iTunes).

even more bull****.

In article , Stijn De Jong
wrote:


What was absolutely astounding is the number of permissions and agreement
screens that you have to wade through after installing the latest iOS.
Utterly shocking how many there were, from Apple ID Verification screens to
iCloud Requred skip screens, to Set up Family Sharing skip screens, to
Sign-In Required skip screens, to Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions
have Changed screens to Require Password for Additional Purchases on this
Device screens, to Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions have Changed
verification screens, to Account Settings where you need to give them a
valid zip code screens, etc.

if it did things behind your back without asking, you'd be bitching
about that too.

On Sat, 4 Mar 2017 23:59:46 -0000 (UTC), Stijn De Jong wrote:

On Sat, 4 Mar 2017 23:00:39 +0100, J.O. Aho wrote:

Nothing, he only shared his screenshot which he had uploaded to
cubeupload.com

The screenshots showed the error which showed that the encryption was bad.
NOTE: The error doesn't occur with http; just with https.

Here is the encryption error as reported by Firefox on Windows XP.
https://barnesandnoble.com

This is the screenshot of the error:

This is the error:
Your connection is not secure

The owner of barnesandnoble.com has configured their website improperly. To
protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to
this website.

barnesandnoble.com uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is
only valid for *.barnesandnoble.com Error code: SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN

The Vivaldi browser reports similarly:

Your connection is not private

Attackers might be trying to steal your information from barnesandnoble.com
(for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards).
NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID

Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

On Sun, 5 Mar 2017 00:18:57 -0000 (UTC), Stijn De Jong wrote:

If you finally get past the fact that the certificate is for 'www' but the
URL they give you doesn't have the "www", you find you have to create an
account on Barnes and Noble just to get the free ebook.

Of course, you have to put in a credit card (why?) to get the free book.
And a real name and address and a phone number (just to get a free book).

I hope you no longer wonder why Amazon is eating B&N for lunch :-) .

Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

Stijn De Jong wrote:

The error doesn't occur with http; just with https.

Shocking! encryption error doesn't happen with unencrypted protocol.

The certificate is only valid for
*.barnesandnoble.com Error code: SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN

They expect you to visit e.g.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

or
https://somethingelse.barnesandnoble.com

but you've visited

https://barnesandnoble.com

They could have put one of more SAN (Subject alternate names) on the
certificate instead of using a wildcard and it would allow for that.

For me the https: site redirects me to the http: site (the opposite of
what many sites do).

Stijn De Jong wrote:

1. The nook app won't load unless iOS is updated.
http://i.cubeupload.com/qDcfWq.jpg

You don't consider that a previous version of the Nook app would have
been supported on previous versions of iOS?

On 3/4/2017 10:49 PM, tlvp wrote:
On Sun, 5 Mar 2017 00:18:57 -0000 (UTC), Stijn De Jong wrote:

Of course, you have to put in a credit card (why?) to get the free book.
And a real name and address and a phone number (just to get a free book).

I hope you no longer wonder why Amazon is eating B&N for lunch :-) .

I enjoy browsing for new books at my local B&N store. When I find one I
like I just buy the Kindle version right there in the store. Yes, I
really do like B&N...

On 03/05/17 00:59, Stijn De Jong wrote:
On Sat, 4 Mar 2017 23:00:39 +0100, J.O. Aho wrote:

Nothing, he only shared his screenshot which he had uploaded to
cubeupload.com

The screenshots showed the error which showed that the encryption was bad.
NOTE: The error doesn't occur with http; just with https.

Here is the encryption error as reported by Firefox on Windows XP.
https://barnesandnoble.com
This is the screenshot of the error:

This is the error:
Your connection is not secure

Sorry, but the OP visited https://www.barnesandnoble.com which is has a
valid certificate.

--

//Aho

On 03/05/17 01:18, Stijn De Jong wrote:
On Sat, 4 Mar 2017 17:27:56 -0500, John McGaw wrote:

FF 52.0 (32 bit) under W10-64: the plain http site loaded fine but the
https site failed with a bad certificate just as you saw. Samo-samo
with IE and Chrome. I'd say that their secure site/certificate is
screwed, to use the technical term.

What's odd is that some people report it failed and some reported that it
worked.

Either the people who reported that it failed ran the wrong test, or they
already accepted a bad certificate.

The test is simple (where the "s" is critical and NOT accepting the wrong
certificate is also critical):
https://barnesandnoble.com

Why did that URL give a certificate failure for some people but not others?

Visiting https://barnesandnoble.com will give a certificate error, as
the wildcard certificate only covers subdomains, but the OP did visit
https://www.barnesandnoble.com which works fine as it has the correct
certificate.

--

//Aho

On 3/4/2017 7:40 PM, Stijn De Jong wrote:

So the link mailed by B&N won't work for anyone unless they accept the
insecure connection, but you still need to give B&N valid credit card
credentials in order to obtain a free gift.

One of my credit cards offers virtual card numbers where you can specify
a $ limit and an expiration date. This turns out to be an exceptionally
useful feature when dealing with "free offers" that require a credit
card, buying from merchants that you're not sure have secure systems
(though even large merchants have had breaches), getting rebates that
require signing up for a free trial that will renew unless canceled, etc..