THIS STUFF MAKES ME MAD AND/OR SAD

1. Top Maryland cops ordered nonviolent peace activists' names added to anti-terror, drug trafficking databases... - So a bunch of non-violent peace activists get entered into national terrorist databases, just because. Nice. Remember -- don't just look at laws and legal tools based on what their purpose is, but how it can (and, thus, will) be abused.
2. Fundies wail over Hallmark's line of same-sex couple cards... - Includes a nice link to Hallmark's feedback site where you can actually send them a thank-you note.
3. Clickjacking: Web pages can see and hear you - Mutter mutter mutter ....
4. Past 15 months have resulted in a $2 trillion loss in retirement accounts ... - Um ... good thing my retirement is just far enough away to either see the economy finely recover, or to make my comic book collection invaluable for its fire-starting capabilities.
5. Lawmakers steamed over ritzy AIG retreat after bailout... - Crikey. Even if a retreat were a good idea (which it may well have been), you schedule it for the local Holiday Inn and no room service, I mean it, guys!
6. Data-mining sucks: official report - "What? We read all your private information and we still can't definitively tell you're a terrorist! Rats! Back to the drawing board!"
7. "We as Christians, We are Persecuted and Oppressed" - "... because they won't let us preach as state officials in the name of Jesus! That's violating our First Amendment rights!"
8. New religious reality TV show: “The Holy Hookup.” - Or you can watch something a lot more wholesome and uplifting, like "Fear Factor" or "The Bachelor."
9. the stupid, it burns - Now announcing the Global War on Student Pencil Sharpeners. Which is great, unless you're a student caught with one.

THIS STUFF MAKES ME THINK

1. Decluttering for Geeks - Just for other people to read. I mean, it's not that that I need help decluttering. No, really, I can stop with the clutter any time I want. No, really. Hey, why is everyone laughing?
2. Ford Announces Family-Friendly Safety Features - Some very spiffy safety features (and teen-control key systems).
3. Do Toddlers Dream of Electronic Pets? - Very cool -- but "real" pets have some features that robo-pets don't, teaching kids about life processes (and its value), the need care for others, and how you can't just turn off everything that bugs you at 3 a.m. (though you can boot it off the bed).
4. The Toll of Coal - Even the "clean" kind.
5. 'Intelligent' computers put to the test - Not your father's Eliza.
6. New in Labs: Stop sending mail you later regret - This is one of the most bizarre, yet intriguing, ideas to come out of Google Labs in some time. When you try to send an email late at night, it prompts you first with some math problems, to make sure you are thinking clearly (or soberly) enough to be sending an email you might otherwise regret.
7. Some folks substituting toys for candy on Halloween... - I'm okay with candy. Katherine has a ton of it, probably some from last Halloween, because it gets very slowly rationed out. The biggest problem with Halloween candy in our house is that we buy stuff to give away that we actually like. And there are always left-overs.

THIS STUFF MAKES ME HAPPY

1. Justice Delayed, But Justice Nonetheless - A federal judge orders that Gitmo detainees found not to be a threat can't just be held indefinitely because the government isn't sure what to do with them. Jeez, what concept.
2. APOD: 2008 October 5 - Earth at Night - Mary forwards a spiffy satallite image of the world at night. Purty.
3. Peugeot HYmotion3 Compressor concept is high tech,... - A high-efficiency, pretty-safe-looking motorcycle. Oooooooh ...
4. 2008 Ig Nobels honor best, weirdest scientific research - Brilliant!
5. Suburban mom's duet with Sting - A very cool story.
6. Educators Say Art Education Improves Test Scores - But it's not the 3 Rs! It must be cut for more NCLB test prep!
7. PHOTOS: Best Science Images of 2008 Announced - National Geographical glee!
8. Internet Mad Scientist Has Best Personal Library in the World... - Money can't buy happiness? This would make me damned happy every time I walked into it.
9. Replicate Yourself in LEGO ... for just $60K - Okay, this would make me happy, too.
10. Cool Stuff: WETA’s $6000 Steampunk Raygun | /Film - Um ... as would this.

THIS STUFF SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN A POLITICAL POST

1. PANIC! - A remarkable number of conservatives think Tuesday's debate was the death knell of the McCain candidacy.
2. ANALYSIS: What The Primaries Can Tell Us About The Last Month Of The General Election... - An interesting analysis of the primaries, and how the two candidates' experience affected the campaign to date. Ironically, while the bitter-to-the-end Democratic struggle was thought to have harmed Obama, it may have strengthened him against last-man-standing-by-default McCain. After all, there's no accusation they can toss at Obama that he didn't already have to answer to Clinton.
3. This Is How to Write an Endorsement - The New Yorker does a thorough analysis, and writes some very complementary words about Obama.

Filed under :: Big Business :: Cars :: Environment :: Gay Stuff :: Hi-Tech :: Home Improvement :: Homeland Security :: Media - Books :: Media - Music :: Media - TV :: Parenting :: Pets :: Politics & Law :: Potpourri :: Religion :: School Daze :: Science :: Virii :: ZT & PC
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So  the previous firewall note had to do with the office Internet gateway firewall.  This one's about my PC.

I started running a firewall on my laptop about a year ago.  Between the office and home and various hotels and the like, my PC's exposed more than I like to the Bad Guys.  XP has a default firewall which operates at kindergarten level, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick but not quite robust enough for my paranoia.  So I installed Comodo Personal Firewall.  It's done a good job for me since then, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a personal firewall.

I mentioned this to one of our Security guys at a meeting a few months back, and he mentioned that we actually license (and, upon request, recommend) Symantec Client Firewall, to go with our corporate Anti-Virus standard (as part of the Symantec Client Security package).

So I just got that done today.  It seems a bit more fiddly than Comodo, though it does have the capability of recognizing different locations (and so allowing different rules).  But I've found one thing that makes me seriously love it:

It can block the ads in Yahoo Instant Messenger. 

Huzzah.  That's worth the inconvenience right there.

I'm sure I'll find things about it to hate or at least be annoyed by, but that one feature is soooooo nice.

Filed under :: My Computer :: Spam :: Virii
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Mirabile dictu, the UAL terminals (7, at least) at LAX now have Tmobile WiFi.  I spotted the access point on top of the gate counter, and checked it out while waiting for my plane last night.  Previously, WiFi was only available via leakage from the United Red Carpet room.

Booting up, I quickly spotted the Tmobile access point.  I did hesitate a minute -- recalling security warnings past and current, even tricksier hacks,  But I went ahead with it via a VPN client, since the one on my laptop for company access includes Tmobile access.  That made me feel quite a bit more secure, it worked like a champ, and the charges were automagically routed to the company rather than requiring a credit card of my own.

Wasn't there long (fortunately), since I got on stand-by, but it was nice I could get on at all.  Did some office work, a bit of writing, and then headed home.

Filed under :: Hi-Tech :: My Computer :: Travel :: Virii
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Heh. After citing this article a few weeks back, I was ... amused at the airport when I looked up available WiFi connections and got ... this. ATTWiFi is (probably) the official "AT&T formerly Cingular now AT&T again" pay WiFi spot. The others, though ...

So ... tempting ... :-)

Filed under :: Virii
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Bizarro case from Connecticut. A substitute teacher, Julie Amero, has been convicted of four counts of "risking injury to a child" for a popup atttack on the classroom PC that had X-rated images streaming across the monitor. Despite plentiful evidence (some of it blocked on a technicality) that the machine was infected, that the district had minimal (and outdated) safeguards against such things, and the sub asked for help but got none, she's potentially facing 40 years in prison.

Unbelievable. These two articles have all the gory, outrageous details.

Now, having said that (and trusting that there will be appeals of the conviction, regardless), and acknowledging that the school district (and its IT group) were incompetent and the prosecutor's office vindictive and insane ...

I just don't completely buy Amero's story.

1. She didn't know how to turn off a computer? Or even a monitor? She knows how to e-mail her husband, or close a window, but not those things? I don't believe it. I do believe that she had had drilled into her by permanent teachers to never touch their computers without instructions, and that she'd been told not to logoff the system that was in the class. But her level of incompetence, as described, is a bit beyond belief.
2. I will accept that she didn't have a jacket to throw over the monitor, but, really -- over the course of a minute or two, if not the hours that seem to be involved, she couldn't have found anything other than (unsuccessfully) her body to block the monitor? A book? A piece of paper? A student's sweater or backpack? She couldn't turn around the monitor, or even turn it face down? Give me a break.

None of this warrants a conviction. I don't believe she acted in an improper fashion to have those popups start streaming across her system. But some of the excuses actually given strain my credulity, and probably didn't help her credibility before the jury that convicted her.

Filed under :: Politics & Law :: Spam :: Virii :: ZT & PC
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I'm sure in a year or two this will be as obvious as "don't hand your credit cards to strangers (except, y'know, at restaurants)," but for now, it's good info.

The next time you're at an airport looking for a wireless hot spot, and you see one called "Free Wi-Fi" or a similar name, beware -- you may end up being victimized by the latest hot-spot scam hitting airports across the country.

You could end up being the target of a "man in the middle" attack, in which a hacker is able to steal the information you send over the Internet, including usernames and passwords. And you could also have your files and identity stolen, end up with a spyware-infested PC and have your PC turned into a spam-spewing zombie. The attack could even leave your laptop open to hackers every time you turn it on, by allowing anyone to connect to it without your knowledge.

[...] First, let's take a look at how the attack works. You go to an airport or other hot spot and fire up your PC, hoping to find a free hot spot. You see one that calls itself "Free Wi-Fi" or a similar name. You connect. Bingo -- you've been had!

The problem is that it's not really a hot spot. Instead, it's an ad hoc, peer-to-peer network, possibly set up as a trap by someone with a laptop nearby. You can use the Internet, because the attacker has set up his PC to let you browse the Internet via his connection. But because you're using his connection, all your traffic goes through his PC, so he can see everything you do online, including all the usernames and passwords you enter for financial and other Web sites.

In addition, because you've directly connected to the attack PC on a peer-to-peer basis, if you've set up your PC to allow file sharing, the attacker can have complete run of your PC, stealing files and data and planting malware on it.

The underlying theme is "Don't connect to anything you're not sure of, and make sure your autoconnecting is either turned off or tightly controlled."

I do a fair amount of business travel, and have had multiple occasions to connect into WiFi access points at airports (and other locations). While I've tried to be careful, this article will have me being even moreso.

Filed under :: Hi-Tech :: My Computer :: Virii
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Because of virus/malware distribution problems from infected machines, the security folks at the office are going to put out a workstation policy (the "part of the Windows operating system" kind) to shut down port 25, used by SMTP. Not blocking SMTP at the gateway or something like that. No, making all workstations unable to send things out on port 25.

Which will, essentially, put paid to my using an e-mail client, e.g., Thunderbird. I'll have to instead use a web-based client -- more, a web-based client that stores crap.

Like, possibly, GMail. Which would irk me mightily, if I ended up not being able to use my own freaking domain to receive and send mail from. Bleah.

Irked.

Filed under :: My Computer :: Virii
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Okay, here's one that will make you sleep better at night: how Micro$oft is continuing its drive to be the only real resource for anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-blackhat security.

Many of you will look at the events I've described and shrug them off — a notification oversight here, a bit of sloppy Web site updating there, with an unfortunate kernel conundrum thrown in for good measure. But I, for one, am getting more and more uneasy about Microsoft leveraging its monopoly in operating systems to unfairly compete with antivirus, antispyware, antiscum, and firewall manufacturers.

It currently appears as if the US Department of Justice is going to roll over and play dead. At least, if there are any rumblings at DOJ, I certainly haven't heard them. Whether the EU will take it lying down remains to be seen. There's more than a little irony in the thought that the European Union may represent Americans' best hope for consumer protection.

This much I know for sure: If you're paying Microsoft to protect your computer, you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.

I've never had a real problem with a lot of what Windows has bundled into the OS/NOS, only when it's bundled as something inextricable and unbypassable. But M$ has proven time and again that they simply cannot be trusted as the gatekeepers for computer security, not so much because they're scum-suckers, but because (a) they're incompetent at it, and (b) a robust, diverse "ecology" of security services is far better able to deal with the real competition, the black hats.

Filed under :: Big Business :: Hi-Tech :: Spam :: Virii
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Our corporate e-mail system is currently fubar -- a combination of a major virus attack plus a new corporate e-mail policy being automatically rolled out that's doing massive deletions of old e-mail. So, for example, though some people seem to be getting stuff through, I have received maybe three e-mail messages all day, and I'm fairly certain very few of the ones I've sent out have gone out.

*sigh*

And I keep wanting to send people e-mails saying, "My e-mail is down -- please give me a call if you need to get hold of me ..." ... except, of course, the e-mail is down.

Rrg.

Filed under :: Job Jollies :: Virii
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So, a potpourri of links:

1. A new faster search tool for MT blogs.
2. An Indian anthem that's causing more of a ruckus than the Pledge of Allegiance is here.
3. Countering conservative anti-Episcopal rhetoric with a bit of "by their fruits shall you know them."
4. Fact-checking an anti-Bill Ritter ad. Actually stumbled on this the other night, one of the few times I've watched local news in the past several months.
5. The Rise and Fall of Roger Rabbit.
6. Crap. Need to upgrade my wiki.
7. Not all "orthodox Christians" believe we were founded as "a Christian nation."
8. I could use a better way to archive stuff out of Thunderbird.
9. The 911 Story, Comic Book Style.
10. Holy Hot Jupiters, Batman!
11. The rarest Calvin & Hobbes strip.
12. Inscribe your own Tarot Card.
13. Yet another anecdotal example of why Zero Tolerance is such a craptastic idea.
14. A pretty spiffy-looking service to make artwork from your MMORPG characters.
15. Google makes image tagging into a game. Clever.
16. Pope Benedict and evolution.

And just to add a bit more surreality ...

Many of the harsh interrogation techniques repudiated by the Pentagon on Wednesday would be made lawful by legislation put forward the same day by the Bush administration. And the courts would be forbidden from intervening.

Which is about all one needs to know to pas judgment on that legislation, you ask me.

Filed under :: 9-11 :: Blogging :: Gaming :: Geopolitical Brouhaha :: Hi-Tech :: Homeland Security :: Media - Cartoons :: Media - Movies :: My Computer :: Politics & Law :: Potpourri :: Religion :: Science :: Virii :: ZT & PC
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