I’m off to Rock Springs, WY today, and then will be off to Edmonton, Canada for the rest of the week.
I’ll probably post from there, but if not… I’ll be back Saturday.
Month: January 2006
Another weekend over, and all that.
*sigh* I must say, this weekend has been a mix of both work and laziness; I’ve either been hard at work on stuff or laying in bed and sleeping. I guess part of the problem has been the fact that my trip to Wyoming and Canada is on Tuesday, yet I’m not exactly motivated to go quite yet. *sigh* Oh, well…
Part of my job this weekend has been getting data off this one drive; even on a 100 Mbps LAN connection, 30 GB takes a while to transfer. The worst part is that the only place I could store the data was on my iPod, as I’ll need to take the data to work with me tomorrow so I can transfer it back onto that hard drive once it’s been formatted with NTFS. (If anyone from work is watching; the machine was heavily firewalled and only I had access to it the entire time.) Once that was done, I had to put the test server the drive was sitting in back on the outside network, and put my spare 80 GB drive in place of the drive from work so that it could be used for backing up the MK Online site data. Most of that stuff has been hurry up and wait type stuff… *sigh*. Oh, well.
Tomorrow’s not going to be fun, either. I have to do some general cleanup around my desk area, check a gate card for someone at another company at our campus, burn a couple of data discs for the trip, transfer the data off my iPod and then resync it with my iTunes collection, etc. Then, when I get home, I need to make sure my laptop bag is packed only with the equipment and paperwork I need (I REALLY don’t need to have TSA asking about the computer toolkit should I forget to take it out), pack my bags, and then be up in time for me to leave for the airport at 4:45 AM. :-/
Ah, well. I suppose I should see about getting some AA batteries charged for my digital camera; I’ll need it for the trip to Rock Springs. Fun fun. Once that’s done… who knows.
Another stolen from groovychk…
WHITES are motivated by PEACE, seek independence
and require kindness. They resist
confrontation at all costs. (Feeling good is
more important than being good.) They are
typically quiet by nature, they process
things very deeply and objectively, and they
are by far the best listeners of all the
colors. They respect people who are kind, but
recoil from perceived hostility or verbal
battle.
WHITES need their quiet independence and refuse to
be controlled by others. WHITES want to do
things their own way, in their own time. They
ask little of others, and resent others
demanding much of them. WHITES are much
stronger than people think because they dont
reveal their feelings. WHITES are kind,
non-discriminate, patient and can be
indecisive, timid, and silently stubborn.
When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept
(and support) their individuality, and look
for nonverbal clues to their feelings.
What Color Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Waco finally gets itself a Hooters…
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/3613286.html
WACO – Hundreds of patrons – mostly men – munched on chicken wings and hamburgers served by waitresses in low-cut tank tops and tight shorts Tuesday at Hooters’ grand opening, months after about 60 ministers tried to stop the restaurant’s construction.
The Rev. Greg Brumit, who disapproved of the increased traffic in the neighborhood as well as the skimpy outfits, said no more protests were planned.
“We’ve done all we can do. We’ll just leave the rest to the Lord,” said Brumit, pastor of Kendrick Lane Baptist Church. “They’re welcome to come down the street to our church.”
Last fall, Brumit was among dozens of ministers who wrote a letter to city and county officials, saying Hooters should not come to Waco.
…
Company officials say they are not surprised by the protests because the restaurant blatantly uses sex appeal, but “believes the Hooters girl is as socially acceptable as a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model or Radio City Rockette,” according to the Hooters Web site.
“Some towns are a little skeptical at first, but then we get involved because we want to be part of the community, and we know that’s part of our success,” said Scott Wilkinson, executive vice president of Texas Wings, the Dallas-based franchise of Hooters of America.
Wilkinson said the Waco restaurant worked with the neighborhood about traffic concerns and sponsored a little-league football team. Hooters also held a VIP reception Monday night, and a Catholic priest was there to say a blessing.
Moving closer to the feminine side, are we, Jacko?
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/features/3611407.html
MANAMA, Bahrain — Pop star Michael Jackson was spotted shopping in a Bahrain mall on Wednesday, hiding his face behind a veil and donning a black robe traditionally worn by women in the Gulf.
…
In November, Jackson stirred controversy in the United Arab Emirates by entering the ladies room in a shopping mall. His publicist said Jackson, who arrived in Dubai as the guest of a champion rally driver, did not understand the Arabic sign on the door and left the bathroom when he realized his mistake.
But local newspapers reported that the performer was applying makeup in the woman’s toilets in a Dubai mall. Jackson’s host, Mohammed bin Sulayem, dismissed the story as rumor.
Alaska declares state’s raw voting data a company secret…
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7386582p-7298824c.html
The state Division of Elections has refused to turn over its electronic voting files to the Democrats, arguing that the data format belongs to a private company and can’t be made public.
The Alaska Democratic Party says the information is a public record essential for verifying the accuracy of the 2004 general election and must be provided.
The official vote results from the last general election are riddled with discrepancies and impossible for the public to make sense of, the Democrats said Monday. A detailed analysis of the underlying data could answer lingering questions about an election many thought was over more than a year ago, they say.
“Basically what they say is they want to give us a printout from the (electronic) file. They don’t want to give us the file itself. It doesn’t enable us to get to the bottom of what we need to know,” said Kay Brown, spokeswoman for the party.
At this point, it’s impossible to say whether the correct candidates were declared the winner in all Alaska races from 2004, Brown said.
…
“The issue is not about whether public information can be released, because the Division of Elections has already offered to provide the information requested by the (Alaska Democratic Party),” elections director Whitney Brewster said in a written statement. “The issue is that the (Democratic Party) is asking for a file format the state of Alaska uses but does not own.”
Diebold told the state it owns the format, which can’t be released because it’s a company secret.
Diebold maintains its voting systems produce accurate results, as proven through recounts in numerous close races, said Mark Radke, Diebold director of marketing.
Questions still hound the company. Some elections officials in other states are questioning whether its electronic machines are secure. Investors have sued the Ohio-based parent company, Diebold Inc., over whether it concealed problems with its voting machines, among other issues. Its chief executive, who once vowed to deliver Ohio electoral votes to President Bush, recently stepped down.
What the article doesn’t mention is that there’s no way of proving it produces accurate results, as there’s no paper trail to confirm the results. I’ve never understood why people trust these things; I work in IT, yes, but I also am familiar enough with technology to know that you ALWAYS have a separate paper trail on something as mission-critical as this. I can’t understand why people would just blindly trust those who make the machines and aren’t willing to do the bare minimum to make sure they’re trustworthy. As my parents always taught me, “Never trust anyone who says `trust me’.”
*sigh* Oh, well. I’ve since ceased being angry about this. Now all I feel is disgust towards those who blindly accept this, mixed in with a twinge of sadness. I’m not sure that’s any better…
Stargate SG-1 game officially cancelled…
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=7877
According to online reports, Perception, the Australian developer of Stargate SG-1: The Alliance, has cancelled the near-finished title and appears to be in the process of closing its doors, following continued issues regarding the game.
Posts by forum administrators on the game’s website forum appear to confirm the news that the game has been cancelled, suggesting that an official statement from MGM and/or Perception will be forthcoming in the next few days.
I had played this at E3 and didn’t think it was TOO bad… though I can understand why it’d be cancelled at this point. The big problem, to me, was the fact that the plotline revolved around Anubis and his quest for power… and the “incarnation” of Anubis they used stopped being seen at the end of season seven. It’s season nine now, the Goa’uld are defeated, O’Neill is gone, and the Ori are the big bad guys. The game’s plotline’s too out of date now.
Still, it is a disappointment.
Finding out the hard way…
Okay, what I’m about to say does not reflect the views of the other staff at MK Online, nor is it meant to be a mean-spirited jab at other site webmasters. That said…
We at MK Online have had a policy on the site for a few years that I’m sure several of the members never quite understood. This policy is referred to as the “no scan” policy. In effect, we don’t allow scans from magazine articles to posted in news articles or on the forum. Not only is it a breach of the magazines’ copyright to post the scans, it’s also a show of respect to the magazines to not post them. (Posting scans deprives them of sales.)
A couple of weeks back, a magazine called Game Informer released an issue with a preview of the next game in the MK series, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. A few sites decided to post scans of the magazine. We held back and just reported what we saw. To the average user, it probably looked like we dropped the ball on it. We held back for what we felt was a good reason, and I even warned one of the webmasters to tread very lightly. For the record, Game Informer was one of those mags whose threats had lead us to implement the “no-scan policy”.
I just found out tonight that, well… as of the time I write this, two of the most prominent sites hosting the scans have had their webhosting accounts suspended. I don’t know if the scans were the reason, but it seems most likely, as I see no other common denominator between the sites.
All I have to say is this: let this be a lesson to everyone. Try and respect other people’s copyrights. Not only does it put them on better terms with you… it avoids a potential smackdown later on down the road.
The weekend in review…
Well, all in all, it’s been a fun weekend… though this morning I did NOT get as much sleep as I had hoped. That’s a story in and of itself, though…
It pretty much started yesterday when I headed over to Louie’s after getting my hair cut. I was bringing a 3Com network card and my unused copy of Windows XP Professional upgrade so that Louie could have a working PC that would support his printer and scanner. (He has Windows XP Professional X64 Edition, but HP and Nikon didn’t have 64-bit drivers for his printer or scanner, respectively.) When I got there, I saw that Dave had beaten me there, so I went ahead and gave him his Christmas gift: a DVD boxset entitled Doctor Who: Lost in Time, which is a collection of rare Doctor Who episodes from the 1960’s. In return, Dave gave me my Christmas gift: Fritz Lang’s Metropolis on DVD. We went and had lunch at Fuddrucker’s while waiting for the drive to format and Windows to install… and then things took a turn for the wrong.
Dave had ordered a copy of Flesh Gordon on DVD (no, that is NOT a typo), and had brought it along with him just so we could all see what the hell it was. What followed was a porn parody of the serials of the 30’s and 40’s that, well… words cannot express how wrong it was. It wasn’t the sex or anything… it was, just, well, everything. The sad thing is, at one point Louie put the movie on pause to go into the study and see how the format of his machine’s second hard drive was going. He stepped up to it, looked at the percentage indicator, and read it off: “Sixty-nine.” Of course, reading that after an hour’s worth of Flesh Gordon was the straw that broke the camel’s back; the absurdity of the whole situation hit us and we spent the next few minutes dying laughing.
Anyway, when Louie was all set up and the movie was over, I went ahead and made my way to Sean’s and Jinny’s house for Sean’s 32nd b-day/PJ party. I’m sure Sean, Jinny, Henry, or any of the others could give a more accurate detailing of the night’s goings on than I could, though admittedly I was probably one of the most sober of the bunch by the time the night was over. We did play a few games including the Story Game, Haggis and the McBastards (aka a murder mystery type game), and an attempt at a karaoke game that fell flat on its ass. Personally, the most fun was the murder mystery game, where all the house lights were turned off, everyone ran in and hid (given thirty seconds between each person entering), and then one person (designated the killer) would try and “kill” everyone. I got nailed in the first game… but in the second game, I hid behind a door and as soon as the killer walked past me I booked and got downstairs as quick as possible… in the process slipping and falling down the steps, losing a shoe. During the third game, I went to the bathroom and stood behind the shower curtains. Then, inspiration hit me and I lay down in the tub. It ended up benefitting me considering Sean (the killer in that game) went into the bathroom, pulled the shower curtain, and moved on… not realizing someone might be laying in the tub.
Later on in the night, after everyone but myself, Bryan (Sean’s brother’s brother-in-law), and Henry had left, we all decided to make a run over to Denny’s for food. Seeing as it was a PJ party, Henry, Sean, and Jinny were all wearing PJ’s there. I ended up telling Sean he had a really nice Arthur Dent look going. After food and coffee, I ended up saying goodbye to the group and heading back home. I was in bed by around 5:45 AM or thereabouts. All in all, it was a great night, and I enjoyed meeting epiphany, Psy-Guy, Henry, and the whole crowd.
… and at 10:45 AM, I was woken up by Louie calling my cell phone. Apparently he was having issues with his keyboard; he has a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard/mouse set exactly I have, and his mouse had been acting weird. Now that the keyboard was being wonky too, I’m kinda convinced his USB Bluetooth transceiver is defective and needs replacing. Oh, well…
I’ll probably end up going to bed early tonight, as I only got less than five hours of sleep this morning. Tomorrow does not look like it’ll be a fun day, so I want to be well-rested for it. *sigh*…
Hmmm… this explains some of the changes I noticed at LJ…
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/01/account_hijacki.html
Account Hijackings Force LiveJournal Changes
LiveJournal, an online community that boasts nearly 2 million active members, on Thursday announced sitewide changes for users logging into their accounts — changes prompted by a hacker group’s successful hijacking of potentially hundreds of thousands of user accounts.
In an alert posted to its user forum, LiveJournal said it was instituting new login procedures for users because “recent changes to a popular browser have enabled malicious users to potentially gain control of your account.” Company officials could not be immediately reached for comment. I also put in a query to Six Apart, which owns LiveJournal (and the service we use to produce this blog), but have yet to hear from them either.
An established hacker group known as “Bantown” (I would not recommend visiting their site at work) claimed responsibility for the break-in, which it said was made possible due to a series of Javascript security flaws in the LiveJournal site.
A trusted source in the security community put me in touch with this group, and several Bantown members spoke at length in an online instant-message chat with Security Fix. During the chat, members of the group claimed to have used the Javascript holes to hijack more than 900,000 LiveJournal accounts. (Although I quote some of them in this post, I have chosen to omit their individual hacker handles — not because we’re trying to protect their identities, but because a few of them could be considered a tad obscene.)
LiveJournal’s stats page says the company has more than 9.2 million registered accounts, but that only 1.9 million of them are active in some way. The largest percentage of users are located in the United States and Russia.
Bantown members said they created hundreds of dummy member accounts featuring Web links that used the Javascript flaws to steal “cookies” (small text files on a Web-browsing computer that can be used to identify the user) from people who clicked on the links. Armed with those cookies, the hackers were then able to either log in as the victim, or arbitrarily post or delete entries on the victim’s personal page.
“It is impossible to know how many of these are nonfunctional, but we have an 85% success rate on usage, so it may be fair to state that 85% of those are valid,” one member of Bantown told Security Fix. “However, we have only used approximately five hundred of these cookies so far, so it is impossible to tell whether this sample is statistically valid. Still, a massive number have been compromised.”