The World According to Dave!

Joey Update!

2008-12-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

It has been a bit since I posted an update on Joey, so here is a small one.

As you can see he is pretty content, and the leg in the forefront is the broken one, as such, he is pretty well mended. While the leg still has more rehab in terms of buildlng muscle and flexibility, he is a happy cat.

Microsoft to replace Live OneCare with 'no-cost' anti-malware

2008-11-20T09:59:00.000-08:00

Microsoft to replace Live OneCare with 'no-cost' anti-malware

"Exactly one year after it re-announced the commercial subscription edition of its anti-malware service for individual Windows users, Microsoft announced it will discontinue Windows Live OneCare, replacing it with a free alternative."

http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_to_replace_Live_OneCare_with_nocost_antimalware/1227049072

Zone Alarm Pro -- Free -- Just For Today

2008-11-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

CHECK POINT CELEBRATES 15TH ANNIVERSARY WITH FREE DOWNLOAD OF ZONEALARM® PRO

Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that in celebration of the company's 15th anniversary and the anniversary of the ZoneAlarm firewall, it will offer Check Point ZoneAlarm® Pro 2009 free for 24 hours to consumers. The promotion begins on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 at 6 a.m. PST and lasts until 6 a.m. PST on Wednesday, Nov. 19. To participate in or learn more about the promotion, please visit www.zonealarm.com/only24hours.

Read the full press release here:
http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/free/pressReleases/2008/pr_9.html

DSLReports Commentary Here:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Zone-Alarm-Pro-Free-Just-For-Today-99156

NOTE: Due to overwhelming demand, you will receive a confirming email within 48 hours that includes a download link for your free copy of ZoneAlarm Pro and a unique license key to activate the software.

What I am reading now...

2008-11-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

What I am reading now...

2008-11-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

Joey - Update

2008-10-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Quick update on Joey. He had his splint replaced twice. This weekend he wore it out again, and it needed to be replaced again. However, rather than spend that money on a new wrap for about a week, we had the vetrinarian run x-rays and based upon the clean look of the mend, he is now operating under his own power.

Since he has not used his leg for so long, he is now much less mobile as he slowly recoups his leg muscles. Once the fur grows back from the rubbing/tape, we will take some photos of him and his recovery.

What I'm Reading Now...

2008-10-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Meet Joey!

2008-09-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

Well it is not a new cat, named just changed again. This one should be the final one. (Hey, don't ask me, ask her!)... Anyhow, we brought him to the vet again to have his dressing changed. They went with yellow this time... he is a kitten and mobile, and seems to not even thing he is injured.

He is scampering around the house without regard, attacking Mary's, Jeri's and My legs, Boyd and him have stayed apart for the most part (partial quarantine, as with any new cat); but as rambunctious as Joey is, they will be testing the waters soon enough.

The Rise and Fall of Invasive ISP Surveillance

2008-09-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Rise and Fall of Invasive ISP Surveillance
Paul OhmUniversity of Colorado Law School

Abstract:Nothing in society poses as grave a threat to privacy as the Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISPs carry their users' conversations, secrets, relationships, acts, and omissions. Until the very recent past, they had left most of these alone because they had lacked the tools to spy invasively, but with recent advances in eavesdropping technology, they can now spy on people in unprecedented ways. Meanwhile, advertisers and copyright owners have been tempting them to put their users' secrets up for sale, and judging from a recent flurry of reports, ISPs are giving in to the temptation and experimenting with new forms of spying. This is only the leading edge of a coming storm of unprecedented and invasive ISP surveillance.
This Article proposes an innovative new theory of communications privacy to help policymakers strike the proper balance between user privacy and ISP need. We cannot simply ban aggressive monitoring, because ISPs have legitimate reasons for scrutinizing communications on an Internet teeming with threats. Using this new theory, policymakers will be able to distinguish between an ISP's legitimate needs and mere desires.
In addition, this Article injects privacy into the network neutrality debate - a debate about who gets to control innovation on the Internet. Despite the thousands of pages that have already been written about the topic, nobody has recognized that we already enjoy mandatory network neutrality in the form of expansive wiretapping laws. The recognition of this idea will flip the status quo and reinvigorate a stagnant debate by introducing privacy and personal autonomy into a discussion that has only ever been about economics and innovation.

The author's homepage: paulohm.com/

"Oh lord, not another Vista article!"

2008-09-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

"Oh lord, not another Vista article!" Like me, I'm sure many of you might be thinking something along those lines whenever you see an article with the word 'Vista' in the title these days. We've had what can only be described as a plethora of articles on Windows Vista, almost all of them repetitive, one-sided and of little practical use. Some of them have bordered on the absurd, such as Infoworld declaring Windows Vista to be the second biggest tech blunder in history, giving as its reason a one paragraph description that serves more to highlight the author's ignorance than provide any actual logic for their decision. We've been suffering under the weight of these nonsensical, sensationalist and opinion-laded pro- and anti-Vista articles for far too long."

This is a very interesting article, and one which does offer some quick fixes to Vista annoyances.

Introducing... Traffic

2008-09-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of traffic. He is a little unkept, as he is still recovering. The splint, really, doesn't allow him much mobility. He is able to play a bit with the ball, in the crate. He will be confined for 2-3 weeks, maybe more depening upon the vetrinarian's recommendation on his leg mending.

What I am reading now...

2008-08-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Warhammer Online - Road to WAR daily poll

2008-08-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

Pets, People, and non-humans

2008-08-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today have been interesting days... I was off yesterday and ventured down to Dragon*Con with some friends. Jeri worked and had a very busy day on top of that. I returned home from Dragon*Con I needed to use the restroom, I ventured in and see a box with a towel over the top and a small scraggly tail hanging out from under the towel. I closed the door and headed upstairs to guest bathroom.

Afterwards, I talk with Jeri and it seems on her way into the office she saw a dead kitten on the road, and further up the road about a quarter of a mile another kitten (not yet dead), the car in front of her clipped the kitten. Understandably, she is a little freaked out and stops to to assess the kitten. It is alive but injured. She picks up the kitten and takes it into a vetrinarian her manager at work uses for his dogs. They briefly assess the kitten, saying it has a broken leg and it will need surgery to repair.

Jeri brought the kitten with her to work and tended it throughout the day and then brought it home, whereas I met it rather abruptly on my way to the restroom. The kitten eat, slept, and relieved itself. We had some worry as its urine contained some blood.

The following morning though it was much less than the night before. We brought the kitten to the emergency veterinary service and had them assess the kitten. After x-rays and a diagnosis, they assessed similarly to the first vetrinarian, but we had more rock solid paperwork to support (and if needed carry with us to other vetrinarians).

The leg was broken at the femur's growth plate. A clean break with no chips or shards.

The diagnosis from the veterinarian was one of two choices,

1.Euthanasia
2.Surgery (estimated at $1,500.00-$2,000.00)

After the sticker shock set in, we had to take a break, so we went out to get some food as we both were a hungry and it was affecting our ability to think clearly. During this time, they were doing the pelvic x-rays, as they neglected to do them the first time, as they just focused on the single leg incident, which in my opinion was a little short sighted as we had fully disclosed the kitten had been hit by a car.

When we returned and spoke with the veterinarian a second time, we asked about a third option, which was just a local set-n-bandage scenario. The break was on the growth plate, one would assume that if they were realigned with the proper rest and treatment the leg would grow back together naturally. The veterinarian seemed to believe this was a possible scenario and worked up an estimate. The hope around this one is a with a clean set the leg would heal normally, and over time, the pelvic area would recover on its own. As the kitten (estimated at only 10 weeks of age) still has a lot of growing to do.

We choose this option, understanding that if not totally successful the kitten would possibly have issues mobility from the leg and/or pelvic trauma over the course of its life, however, that is better than the alternative of either another kitten lying dead on the road or euthanasia.

So how do humans and non-humans fit into my subject?

Well there are two classes of people, one I am calling non-humans. The kittens were found on the median of a six lane road in the middle of an urban area. They were almost no plausible way they could have or would have meandered out in to the middle of that road, as such, the simplest and most likely explanation is a human's (of the non-human variety) cat had a litter, rather than adopt them, sell them, or give them away to (qualified homes), they choose to drop them off one at a time in the middle of a busy road so that they would get hit by cars. This person is not a good person (remember cruelty to animals, more often than not is later translated to human beings as well by the individual).

Now, the flip side of this coin is the normal human being, which cares about life. While we were at the emergency clinic, there was another case. This time a dog was hit by a car. A couple either witnessed it or found the dog shortly thereafter.

They brought the animal into the clinic. They already had two dogs of their own the cost of veterinary care, much less emergency veterinary care is mind-bogglingly expensive... as such, a good samaritan is faced with the desire to help, but perhaps not the financial wherewithal to complete the job. That is a major emotional struggle. This couple filed the paperwork for the dog as a stray, which means they chose not to bear the financial responsibility for this dog, and thus could not dictate what care it was given.

They were clearly torn with this decision, as the couple left . Ten minutes or so later the woman came back in tears, stating that if the costs to save the dog could be kept below $1,000.00; they would take care of them. Sadly, the dog had major internal injuries and was put down later in the afternoon.

Back to the kitten. The third option is the one we choose, which is to have the leg set (which was successful), then splinted. We will be monitoring the kitten and the bandage changed every 2-3 days. This process will be going on for the next 6-8 weeks.

Hopefully the leg will have a clean mend and will the cat will have a chance at a normal life. All this to the tune of $837.33 (Money well spent thus far).

What I am reading now...

2008-07-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

New Coke-Cola Bottles and/or Caps

2008-06-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

If you drink sodas you may have noticed, that Coke-Cola has a new bottle-cap for their twist off plastic bottles. I have purchased two bottles over the past two weeks of Diet Coke and I could not finish either, one because of the stench on the bottles (or the caps). I would smell the outside of the bottle and everything is fine, then when you put your nose over the bottle and sniff, you get a pretty rank smell. I only started to notice this on the bottles with the new caps. I have not checked just the cap, but today was the second occurrence and I thought I would Google it to see if others have noticed it as well. There is at least one person who has.

"Nancy T> // May 19, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I mean they really smell bad. I don't know why but many cokes I have bought with this new cap have a terrible smell to it and it makes me not want to drink another diet coke. Please go back to the original cap!

http://www.sogoodblog.com/2008/03/10/what-do-you-think-of-the-new-coke-caps/

So, is this something that was not QA'd well enough? Did they change the Diet Coke recipe, did they change the bottles, or is it just the cap itself? I know, I will NOT be buying another diet coke (or any other drink with a cap like this, if that smell is present).

What I am currently reading...

2008-06-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

This is the book I am currently reading...

Patch 'em if you have 'em (and you have 'em)

2008-05-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

Nearly everyone has a version Flash on their machines... As such, this applies to everyone. If you are not sure what version you have, head on over and update anyhow. Better safe then sorry. This allies to nearly every program you run on your compluters nowadays... We have reached the period of "liquid code", updates are common and neccessary.

Make sure you update your appliations periodically and when you hear of exploits that is a good time to double-check. It only takes a few moments.

More about this vulnerability :

Malware Attack Exploiting Flash Zero Day Vulnerability on Dancho Danchev's Blog. Adobe Flash zero-day exploit in the wild on ZDNet.com

Hiking at Kennesaw Mountain

2008-05-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today we went for a morning hike at Kennesaw mountain. It was a beautiful day, with a light breeze. Perfect for outdoor activities. The hike was nice, and we got to see a snake on the way back to the car. It was crossing the path and another hiker noticed it first.

We watched it cross the path. It was about 3.5-4 feet in length and looked similar to to the one pictured below, thus at this point I am going to state that it was a Black Rat Snake, primarily because it flicked its tail to simulate a rattle, and this is the closet looking picture I was able to find when we returned.

Video of the F1 tornado in Woodstock, GA

2008-05-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

Nesset740 posted a clip of the tornado from their viewpoint on YouTube. You should be able to see below, or click on the link to go to the YouTube page.

Storms Damaged 1,000 Cherokee Homes

2008-05-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Seems like it may have been a tornado. The above image from CBS46, while below is a story from ABC2

"A spokesman for the National Weather Service told WSB-TV Channel 2 reporter Ross Cavitt some of the damage was caused by a F1 tornado."

Read the slight more expansive reporting here

Storms Damaged 1,000 Cherokee Homes
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/16347555/detail.html

It really was this dark too, however, I was not able to see any light, there was too much, wind, rain, and debris. Also saw a clip for tonights newscast on FOX (I believe), which looks to have video from people in a car.

Alternative Rock Tracks

2008-05-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

Looking for some alternative tracks? Just stopped by this site? Well check out the MP3 clips widget to the right for some alternative rock tracks... covering the whole genre from Ska, through punk, to american alternative.

Intel vPro Resources

2008-05-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

A while back the new machines we ordered began coming with something called Intel AMT; we had not heard of it, nor did we have time to dig into it. We kept getting dialogs that AMT was disabled from our images (we had the drivers loaded), but since we had neither the time nor inclination to dig into the technology we just turned off or removed the drivers.

Well that all changed after this year's MMS. Intel was actively promoting vPro and with the information gleaned there I was able to see real uses that we would be able to begin to incorporate today. Thus, begins the long journey through documentation and is there loads of it (as is always the case nowadays).

I will say this, that AMT (or vPro) looks to be an awesome technology, Intel really needs to work on the sales/marketing folks as the information (as is pointed out in the links below) is not found as easily as it could be and the channels they were communicating through were not probably optimal… many a system admin is AMT? What's that… (The Word 2007 dictionary wants to correct vPro to vapor? I find humor in that.)

What do you really need to know to start?

What can it do?

Discover platform assets using data retained in non-volatile storage
Heals systems remotely even when the operating system is down
Protect against malicious software attacks by making it easier to keep software virus protection consistent and up to date across the enterprise
Limit the effect of "malware" and platform misuse by containing outbreaks and software tampering on the managed client, isolating the infected network element from the rest of the network.
The above is just a partial listing.

Which Provisioning Platform?

Enterprise or Small Business, simply, if you have any security requirements go with enterprise implementation. Our machines are preconfigured for that (as I would assume most are).

What Infrastructure is needed?

Server

Pre-Requisite Patches (see documentation)

Database

Active Directory (w/schema update)

SMS 2003 or SCCM 2007

Add-on for SMS 2003

SP1 for SCCM

As you can see from the partial listing the enterprise deployment is not something that is going to happen overnight, especially when most of the functions that this will address end up crossing multiple group and political lines in most medium-large organizations. First thing ensure you have an executive level champion who can get this moving if you plan on utilizing in your organization.

Core Links

Intel AMT SCS (Setup and Configuration Service) Manual
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/isn/downloads/Manageability/Intel_AMT_SCS_Installation_and_UserManual.pdf
Intel AMT SMS 2003 - Add on
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/1356.htm
NOTE: SCCM 2007 SP1 has native support for Intel AMT.

Additional Links

Intel AMT Console (Developer SDK)
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/1034.htm
WikiPedia on vPro (See AMT link below)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_vPro
WikiPedia on AMT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology
Tips on vPro
http://softwareblogs.intel.com/2008/01/28/tips-tricks-for-setting-up-accessing-an-intel-amt-client/
Toms Hardware Review of vPro Remote Control (Recommended Read
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/command-conquer,1591.html

MMS 2008 – Las Vegas – The Venetian

2008-04-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

The Microsoft Management Summit kicked off today in Las Vegas, NV. The event is being held at the Venetian, which boasts a large conference center amongst the posh environment. We came into Vegas on Sunday a day early. A large number of people fly in on Monday and start the event with afternoon classes, coming in early allows us time to relax (even have a night to ourselves) and schedule a Monday morning session or two.

This being my first trip to Vegas I am excited to see the sites and if time allows play a little black jack or craps. One thing I am pleased to see is (at least the Venetian) still has real cards, instead of the digital ones, most of the smaller casinos in the North Carolina area are using today. However, before we get to the gaming I will briefly talk about the accommodations.

We heard from many people the Venetian was a very nice place and it thus far has lived up to its reputation. In many ways it is a stunning environment, with a lot of attention to detail. The rooms are spacious; contain 2 HD TVs, a business desk, printer/fax, huge bathroom with separate shower/tub and a host of other smaller niceties. See some of the pictures below for the room/view.

Each of the modern hotels basically has its own mall and themed attraction (Think Disney world for Adults). The Venetian has the Plazio, which is a Venice themed mall with a canal and gondoliers running through the middle. The ceiling is styled to look like the sky at the perfect time of dusk and actually provides ample illumination. It is a large and winding shopping area, which provides the guest room to wander.

Since this is a business trip and 90% of my time will be consumed with the expo, lectures, hands-on-labs, and networking there is not much chance we will be leaving the Venetian grounds. We may walk the strip on Friday (as we are staying an extra night to relax some), but largely a true visit of Las Vegas will be required on personal time to explore all the city and surrounding area have to offer.

Tomorrow the conference really begins with breakfast, the first of three keynote speeches, and the launching into the lecture, expo, and labs with full force.

Brief Instant Message Conversation - MMOGs

2008-03-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

The following comes from an instant message conversation with a buddy about the current crop of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs – I removed the R for role-playing as role-playing is not often found in the games today as a norm).

HIM: Will someone dethrone blizzard? (Age of Conan or Warhammer)

ME: No, because most of Blizzard’s subscriber base is Asiatic subscribers, they are still playing StarCraft by the millions and are brand loyal. Warhammer/AoC, unless they have GLOBAL launches planned will end up like EQ2, and unless they are games that fit into the culture they will be in trouble.

HIM: Regarding the upcoming World of Warcraft Expansion Pack “I think I’m just dreading the level 80 grind”

ME: I have done soo much leveling, in WoW nowadays; it is more fun than BGs/Dungeons.

HIM: Coming from the man with 5 level 60's+

ME: Actually only four, and the primary reason for that is there is too much hassle with other people/groups/drama and more importantly wasted time waiting on people... 60-70 are easy. 70-80 should be just as easy.

HIM: See there is a fundamental difference in playstyles, if you are a PvP player that is fine but for raiders you need player interaction, and your progression is based on dungeons so I spend all the time in dungeons and now my progression will be for moot.

ME: I will tell you what, the day (any game maker) releases a game that streamlines the party building/premade building processes, is a game I will go to. That is blizzards weak point, No community management tools, no guild management tools, not easy to find groups, build raids, and hell not even easy to build premade PvP groups.

You solve those problems and have a fun game as well (with low system requirements); you topple WoW.

HIM: So true. Well we have two contenders up we will see.

If Business Meetings Were Like Internet Comments

2007-11-15T17:05:00.000-08:00

This is quite true...

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/08/18/if-business-meetings-were-like-internet-comments/

Think Bigger - Drought Response

2007-10-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Most people who live in the Southeastern, United Stated have heard about the drought having experienced the total ban on outdoor watering. Some folks who travel through the Southeastern region may have heard of the drought on the news and other people may have only heard of the drought in passing on national news.

We recently traveled up to Charlotte, NC for a business trip. I was unaware the drought was “that” pervasive in the southeast. However, the Charlotte area (last I heard) was still in a level 2 drought status. I have heard reports of some 37 year old wells in TN drying out. It seems the largest concerns are the water supplies over the coming months, whereas the northern GA region has been placed under Level 4 drought conditions, which is essentially a total outdoor watering ban.

Having been under this for a number of weeks and seen the influx changes coming into our daily practices (some probably well deserved), I still have a number of questions or concerns regarding our societies reaction to drought.

People Are The Only Concern

While it is understandable that people value “their” own life(style) over all others, we as a human race and as stewards of this planet, need to adjust our perspective in terms of resource management. We must be able to supply, maintain, and react to changes in conditions and work to reestablish the foundations of whatever needs to be changed at the 'entire' ecological level, rather than just what is necessary to spartanly maintain human life.

What I mean, is we must begin to adjust our engineering thoughts to include watering of plant life in droughts. We must begin to design ways to keep water flowing at “green” levels even when it is arid and dry. This IS possible with our technology today, it just is not done because too many people focus on the cost equation. Our society is too cheap, we need to work on grand engineering projects that benefit all life, not just slightly improve the human experience when it is cost effective or a dire emergency.

Outdoor Watering Bans

Outdoor watering bans are the low hanging fruit, they quickly and easily provide savings but they only mask the 'true' problem. The true problem is our societies are overcrowded and under served. We have no infrastructure to support the numbers of people who exist in many regions. If you take a geographical region and dramatically shift its water tables (Too much or too little; New Orleans or what is feared for Atlanta in 2008 and beyond with no rain) people adapt, but the ecological environment does not. It dies. Crops die, trees die, shrubs die, grass dies, yet people are able to last longer... at a reduced quality of life. That is not acceptable.

Infrastructure Enhancements and Postponements

If the drought is as severe as people say, believe, and fear. Then now is the time for action.

Why have the level 4 communities not placed a moratorium on new homes, apartments, and business constructions? Each new building constructed will increase water consumption.
Why have they not introduced impact fees for the constructions? (directed to new water and road engineering efforts)
Where are the grants for engineering and technology schools to begin projects on improvements to eliminate these issues in the near-future.
Where are the new wells and reservoirs being built?

A Grand Solution

One such larger initiative would be a large scale oceanic water desalination and pipeline process. We already pipe oil all around the world, why not water? The technology exists, is proven, and is still being improved upon. Unlike oil, there is a far greater supply of water that exists, that can be moved around to solve problems. All the communities in North America rely on local water pools, which are subject to regional weather patterns. Period of drought, flooding, and otherwise. At least on the side of droughts, we could provide enough clean water to stabilize the entire ecosystem, not just minimalistically maintain our existence, while we watch the crops, trees, shrubs, and grasses die off, which also begins to affect the local wild life and onward with additional ripple effects.

While there are more skilled people already thinking about these issues and working on them, I fear none of them have the scope of vision necessary or the skill sets to teach those who have the resources and influence to move forward with such endeavors. I hope that I am wrong, but the from my vantage point the solution is simple and deliverable within a very short span of time... if we just focus on expanding our vision and stewardship of this planet.

If you have not already take some time to dive deeper into the information that is being made available regarding the drought and the efforts in place. If you see problems with them, take the time to contact your local officials and make suggestions and ask questions. We all do not need to become process experts on on water delivery and conservation... we have those already. Just need to be aware enough to help guide the processes in place to where they should be, or (if needed) encourage those who are doing the work to think in a larger scope.

Some Resources on the Drought

Georgia Drought – Quick Facts
http://www.conservewatergeorgia.net/Documents/georgia_drought.html
Statewide Outdoor Water Use Schedule
http://www.gaepd.org/Documents/outdoorwater.html
For Immediate Release from the Department of Natural Resources
http://www.caes.uga.edu/topics/disasters/drought/
Map of Drought Response Level 4 and Level 2
http://www.caes.uga.edu/topics/disasters/drought/pdf/dreslevel2&4.pdf

Crazy at work? It may just be office ADD

2007-10-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well I can state, that I experience some of the items discussed in the article. I have known that every email, phone call, instant message, or knock on the door put me back, but I did not realize how far or how much impact those items can have on us.

"What's more, when people do finally start working again, they
don't reach their earlier level of concentration for 10 additional minutes.
Total time that can be lost answering just one e-mail: a half hour, and that's
the best case scenario. "Every e-mail interruption is like a hand grenade being
thrown in the middle of your brain," says Dr. Hallowell."

This is an interesting article on too many distractions.

World of Warcraft – Data Mining

2007-09-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

Earlier in 2007 Blizzard released the Armory, which made the data of all their servers available to the public. I have used the Armory a few times to provide information on my character(s) to friends. However I had not looked into data mining or other statistical usage from the database.

However, in general surfing around I stumbled upon some resources and folks who are already neck deep in data being mined from the Blizzard armory for World of Warcraft. The following are a few of those links and sites and I am sure there are plenty that I have not found yet.

The Build Mine

http://www.thebuildmine.com

Llew Mason's Musings on Data Mining

http://www.lsmason.com/blog/2007/05/06/crawling-the-world-of-warcraft-armory/

WoW Insider's write up of Zyph's data mining

http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/05/03/armory-data-popular-and-unpopular-specs/

Zyph's Forum Post regarding his data mining

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=100510812&sid=1

Armory Musing's

http://okoloth.blogspot.com/

This next link is not necessarily related to mining the armory, but is a nice statistical and charting effort of changes to the character classes over time as recorded by a World of Warcraft player.

Charting WoW Balance Changes

http://www.lietcam.com/blog/

The above are some quick links to some existing efforts and analysis, there exists great opportunities for tools to be built of mining data and analyzing based upon specific criteria. One such items are the crop of guild progression tracking websites. One i have used frequently is

WoW Jutsu

http://www.wowjutsu.com/world/

Beyond this there is the possibility of tool sets to aid guild recruitment for PvE and PvP and countless other utilities and tools.

VMware - Endpoint Format is Invalid - Join Domain

2007-09-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

Here was a fun little problem, which hopefully none of you will ever have to encounter. At work we had a project to set-up a number of VMware images of XP under an ESX server. Previously we had images created in Virtual PC and those would not play nice with VMware Converter so we just created a new image.

We SYSPREPed the image and packaged it up and moved it along to the ESX server admin. They loaded it up and we were going to change the machine name via script to something much more functional than the randomized name that SYSPREP generates. However when running the script (which also renames the AD machine account - nifty) it was failing, with a generic error of 1706.

Let the troubleshooting begin...

Upon further research Group Policy was not working because the VMware machine would not hit the SYSVOL on the domain controller. However, when logged into the VMware machine we could ping other nodes on the network, but we could not use file sharing at all. Admins shares, manual shares, nothing anywhere. (Including SYSVOL on the DCs). Strange. Yet, all other resources on the network could reach THIS machines file shares just fine. Research on that topic turns up a lot of other issues which did not apply to this situation many related to the DCs and group policy. Not applicable.

Ask a couple coworkers for thoughts and we jump back to basics and try to disjoin from the domain. Well once disjoined, it would not rejoin to the domain. We received the error message,

The endpoint format is invalid.

Couple of searches later we stumbled upon the following thread on the VMware forums,

Win2003 VM’s will not join domain.
http://communities.vmware.com/message/735321

Once the VMware tools were removed, the machine rebooted we were able to join the machine to the domain again and file sharing resumed normal application along with Group Policy application. We still have to test the rename script on the updated core image, but I am optimistic regarding those results.

Digital Cameras and EXIF Information

2007-08-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

The moral:

There is a lot of hidden metadata stored from digitial cameras and depending upon the photo and how it is prepared for public consumtion may include information you may not want disclosed...

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18807651

Spaces.Live.Com

2006-10-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

I have created an account on live.com and am playing around with their spaces.live.com service. It is an interesting attempt to compete with Google, Gmail, Blogger, etc.

In my optinion the Google services are simpler and more streamlined, but there is promise on the MSFT side. If you get a chance check out my space there, I do not plan to replicate posts on both sides.

http://dwhochsta.spaces.live.com/

Flying Hamster » Blog Archive » EU rejects Spam maker’s trademark bid

2006-10-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

This one is kind of funny. Despite what Hormel may think, when I hear of SPAM emails I do think of the original product SPAM, and how most people have a disdain for the product. (Yeah, I know some people like it).

Despite that, they are a number of years too late. IF they had started up on these actions just as the slang usage of the product name started to become somewhat popular they might have had a shot at what they want today... even then it would be a risky bet.

Flying Hamster » Blog Archive » EU rejects Spam maker’s trademark bid

A Chronology of Data Breaches Since the ChoicePoint Incident

2006-09-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

A Chronology of Data Breaches Since the ChoicePoint Incident

Many people do not think about data breaches, we may hear of then on the news, or read of them in the paper from time to time, but as the following chronology shows, this is a very frequent occurance...

http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm

Online Game, Made in U.S., Seizes the Globe

2006-09-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

Most people, even those who do not play the game have heard of World of Warcraft. Here is another article bringing the game into the light.

Less than two years after its introduction, World of Warcraft, made by
Blizzard Entertainment, based in Irvine, Calif., is on pace to generate more than $1 billion in revenue this year with almost seven million paying subscribers, who can log into the game and interact with other players.

Your Very Own Personal Tank - Popular Science

2006-08-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

Now this thing looks interesting.

Your Very Own Personal Tank - Popular Science

Macworld: News: Microsoft allows anyone to create XBox games

2006-08-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio Express is a new development kit, to be released in beta form in August, that will be available for free to anyone using a Windows XP PC.

Macworld: News: Microsoft allows anyone to create XBox games

BF2 Folder Redirection - Revisted

2006-08-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Fred left me a comment on one of my older posts for BF2 and Folder Redirection. EA programmers or designers are being morons and causing problems by not thinking things through fully and not having the proper level of knowledge of the host OS system and all its features (which they ARE required to know) and to my knowledge, that is still the case today.

However, I have not been playing much BattleField 2 of late. It is still installed and minus a patch or two, I could pop back into the fight, but the only gaming I have been able to do of late is WoW, and not much at that rate.

The following are the only work-arounds I have for this issue and they are kludgy at best. If anyone else has this issue, I urge you to take the time to contact EA and vent on them (politely), and if they are clueless on how to fix it, have them contact me. (My services are not free, but I can be contracted to tell them how to fix this globally on all their products if needed).

Anyhow, usage of a local account is the best work around, though a pain in the ass imposed upon their customers by EA.
The other is manually redirecting the documents back to the local drive (if possible, depending upon if you use Group Policy or not on your home/business network).
A subset to the second option is to use another tool to mirror the data in both locations, on your network file share (as redirected by design) and on the local drive under the profile. The tool I have been using for this is SyncToy from Microsoft, which is freely available for download (requires piracy validation from MS). Nice simple tool to set-up file copies locally or across a network. There are of course other tools, but SyncToy is what I have been using thus far. Then, prior to game time, you can just manually or scriptomatically redirect the My Documents folder and not have to worry about the cached shaders, which are needed to speed up the map loading in BF2.

Otherwise, there is nothing else I am aware of to do other than bug the hell out of EA and get them to get their shit together.

The Road to Know Where: Ultimate List of Free Windows Software from Microsoft

2006-08-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

A Comprehensive listing of the free downloads available of download.microsoft.com.

The Road to Know Where: Ultimate List of Free Windows Software from Microsoft

Whois Hijacking My Domain Research?

2006-07-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

I already knew this was occuring, but never bothering to "prove" it. I'm glad someone has and has posted it in the media. Perhaps something will change in the next year or two.

Whois Hijacking My Domain Research?

Cabinet Magazine Online - How To Grow A Chair: An Interview with Richard Reames

2006-07-21T05:11:00.000-07:00

I have always been surprised that this hasn't been explored more in our society.

Cabinet Magazine Online - How To Grow A Chair: An Interview with Richard Reames

Mark's Sysinternals Blog

2006-07-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

Microsoft aquires Winternals Software and Mark Russinovich. Check out the blog for further details.

Mark's Sysinternals Blog

Google Checkout Reviews. Software Reviews by CNET.

2006-07-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

I am starting to think that Google really does have aims to take over the world. With all the products and services they are working on and now the Google Checkout service, what is left?

Google Checkout Reviews. Software Reviews by CNET.

More Google Betas!

2006-07-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

Do you use Gmail? Do you like it? Want to use GMail with your domain? You just might be able to. Check out the link if you have not already heard about this beta.

This special beta test lets you give Gmail, Google's webmail service, to every user at your domain. Gmail for your domain is hosted by Google, so there's no hardware or software for you to install or maintain.

https://www.google.com/hosted

Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

2006-06-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

AN INQUIRER READER attending a conference in Japan was sat just feet away from a laptop computer that suddenly exploded into flames...

Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

Water Fuel

2006-06-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hmm. Very interesting. The power of water? Now why do we use Oil again?

Water Fuel

Is Your Mechanic Cheating?

2006-06-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

This is a very interesting look at outright theft or sheer laziness. Whichever it is, no wonder things are the way they are.

Do we all have to install hidden cameras in our cars to verify the service we get? What about dry cleaning, Pet Sitting, House Sitting?

When will monitoring cameras be an option or better yet a standard feature of automobiles to verify serivce at the dealer or independant shops?

Is Your Mechanic Cheating?

Save the Internet : Frequently Asked Questions

2006-06-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

Are we too late? Can the internet be saved?

Save the Internet : Frequently Asked Questions

Stolen Sidekick

2006-06-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

This is too funny not to link to...

"The people in the pictures below have my friend’s T-Mobile Sidekick. Instead of doing the honorable thing when finding someone’s phone in a taxi, they instead kept it."

"I’d rather just embarrass the thief as much as possible. Teach them a lesson on the etiquette of returning peoples lost belongings."

"I want GLOBAL humiliation to help these punks realize what they have done."

http://www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/

Flickr: Photos from dhochsta

2006-05-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

Decided to post some pictures on Flickr. See the link below.

Flickr: Photos from dhochsta

Sacred Cow Dung: All Things Web 2.0 - "THE LIST"

2006-05-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have not paid attention to some of the webs latest initatives. However Web 2.0 seems to be all the craze. My attentions have been directed elsewhere, however this site has some good primer information and links to the OpenBC site, which has a lot more links and information. Its a good road to walk down if you have nothing better to do, but almost all the items you will encounter are BETA or first generation projects which in most cases means there is still a lot to be desired.

Sacred Cow Dung: All Things Web 2.0 - "THE LIST"

globeandmail.com : Scientists work up a disappearing act

2006-05-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

globeandmail.com : Scientists work up a disappearing act: "The invisibility cloak that allowed Harry Potter to wander unseen through the halls of Hogwarts is no longer confined to the realm of fiction. "

Friday Fun!

2006-05-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Teleportation

2006-05-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

Does teleportation exist as a possibility for us? This all centers on quantum computing and advances are being made which takes us much closer to exploring the realms of teleportation, if not of human beings, but of simple objects themselves. Based upon some of the research and the advances we have made in the past twenty to thirty years, I believe we are not far off from having some very interesting (if not costly) options regarding the possibilities of teleportation.

When looking at a larger picture of 100 or 200 years down the road, there will most likely be some fundamental shifts in our collective societies to accommodate these technologies, not just of teleportation but also of advances from the general application of quantum computing.

It is amazing when looking back to the early 1970’s and then looking at today. Sure we do not have flying cars and personal robots, but we have cell phones, laptop computers and PDAs, wireless networks, more user IDs and passwords than we can remember, and a valid documentation is more critical today than it ever was.

Non-Lethal Security services are present within corporate environments and major metropolitan areas. The receptionist has been replaced by an automated voice routing system and a security desk.

The following book explores only the topic of teleportation, but gives an interesting history of quantum computing, details the current advances, and explains some of the current obstacles to teleportation. It is an interesting read, if there is a deeper interest into researching the subjects covered it also provides many references forther follow-up.

Research In Motion - News

2006-05-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Waterloo, ON - Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the immediate availability of BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express™, a new offering aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, branch offices and companies new to BlackBerry. BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express provides the same enterprise-level security, reliability, features and functionality of BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1 and is available as a free download from RIM via the Internet to any customer who purchases a new BlackBerry device.*

Research In Motion - News

Online Chat Rooms, Cybersex, and MMOs?

2006-05-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Online Chat Rooms, Cybersex, and MMOs. Combine the three and what do you get? Naughty America. Seems the folks at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) are taking a stand on what is allowed and not in the gaming industry. Interesting debate this will undoubtedly kick up.

First booth babes are ousted, now Naughty America has been banned
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/news/?id=12603

Outside of that, it is in an interesting concept. Will be interesting to see if they recieve commercial success with this product or not.

Full Version: Virtual Server 2005 R2 Enterprise Edition

2006-05-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

This has been bandied about quite a bit, but it is worth it to post again if you have not taken the time to read up on it,

Virtual Server 2005 R2 Enterprise Edition is now available as a free download and requires only basic registration. Combined with the new usage rights in Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition, which allow four concurrent guest OS instances to run under the one Windows 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition license, the use of virtualization will grow rapidly. When Windows Server code name "Longhorn" ships, the Datacenter Edition will allow unlimited Windows guest operating systems at no additional licensing costs.

- Ripped from TechNet Flash 5/4/2006

MMS 2006 Keynote Sessions

2006-05-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

The MSS 2006 Keynote Sessions are on the web for viewing ,

• Bob Muglia Keynote Webcast (April 25, 2006, Windows Media file, 1 hr., 16 mins.)

• Kirill Tatarinov Keynote Webcast (April 26, 2006, Windows Media file, 1 hr., 25 mins.)

• Ron Markezich Keynote Webcast (April 27, 2006, Windows Media file, 1 hr., 10 mins.)

MMS 2006

2006-04-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

Been a busy week or so with the preparations for heading out to San Diego to attend MMS 2006 (Microsoft Management Summit). I will be blogging some of thoughts and experiences from my travel to this, however due to the full schedule and exploring the little bit of San Diego that I can, do not expect a lot.

Monday Morning MMS 2006 Day -0

MMS has not officially opened yet; many people are traveling in from all parts of the country and the world. My flight is on Delta. We board the plane get settled in for a 4:05 flight, then starts to get warm in the airplane while pre-fight preparations are underway. The pilot comes on and tells us the AC is not on because the co-pilot found a fluid leak on the pre-flight walk through and that the maintenance crews were looking into it.

20 minutes and a few degrees later, they state they need to deplane us and move us to another flight. This is an inbound flight from Orlando and the same type of plane so all the seat assignments stay the same. They relayed word along that it was a cracked shut off valve, which caused the leak on the other plan.

1:20 minutes later we are airborne and traveling backward in time (I gain three hours here – Yay!) We arrive in San Diego only an hour 1:10 off the mark, not too bad. A friend of mine was on the earlier delta flight to San Diego and he stated they also needed to switch planes due to maintenance issues and they were an hour delayed or so.

A couple of sessions were scheduled on this day, but the summit does not officially open until 6PM with the opening session of the expo. This is a nice change from some of the other sessions as it contained an open bar and a LOT of food.

We managed to catch up with Dave Jaffe and grab some passes to the MyItForum part that SMSExpert is hosting again this year for Wednesday, that mission accomplished we just hovered through the expo gathering swag and drinking.

Not much else happened this day.

Pickled Beer!?

2006-04-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

I was searching online for the shelf life of sour kraut this evening and stumbled upon a small nugget of information. Sometime the side trails in the search for information can be interesting.

Flemish Sour
AleFlemish Sour Ale is a style of beer made in Flanders that, while a small niche today, probably represents the bulk of European brewing from 1500 to 1800. It is 5-8% alcohol, sour and sweet, with little to no bitterness and hop aroma and a very complex bouquet.

Pickled Beer: Tandem Fermentation of Flemish Sour Ale

Mad Davy Flint

2006-04-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

My pirate name is:

Mad Davy Flint

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Computing in the year 2020

2006-04-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting off my duff and researching a bit more. I've been stagnated in the here and now or in gaming worlds such that I have not been looking ahead enough. So while I play catch-up on some of the possible future directions our technology and society will run I will drop a few links here over the next few days, weeks, or months.

We all know the Giant Microsoft for what it is today and the recent past, but what about tomorrow? Microsoft has a large amount of highly skilled and intelligent people on its payroll, what are they working on when looking beyond the next product releases (Vista, Office 12, etc.)

In the summer of 2005, an international expert group was brought together for a workshop to define and produce a new vision and roadmap of the evolution, challenges and potential of computer science and computing in scientific research in the next fifteen years.
The resulting document, Towards 2020 Science, sets out the challenges and opportunities arising from the increasing synthesis of computing and the sciences. It seeks to identify the requirements necessary to accelerate scientific advances –particularly those driven by computational sciences and the 'new kinds' of science the synthesis of computing and the sciences is creating. Already this synthesis has led to new fields and advances spanning genomics and proteomics, earth sciences and climatology, nanomaterials, chemistry and physics.

Microsoft like Google labs and other R&D outfits at companies have some interesting stuff in the works; some of it immediately practical others very long running in viewpoint (Like Quantum Software, not to be confused with software by the current company named Quantum today). You can check out more of Microsoft's publicly released initatives here

Moskowitz's Rant: Why imaging? Why SMS?

2006-03-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

My three questions are:

Why does Microsoft have 7 ways to deploy a desktop?
Why bother with image-style desktop deployments at all? and
Why bother with SMS-style tools?

http://www.gpanswers.com/newsletters/15

My answer to this rant is,

“Each business has different politics and skill sets of administrators, thus what works for one business does not “work” for another, when only looking at the culture and political situation of the business in question”.

It is rarely technology alone that drives a busines, but the combination of people, politics, and technology. The blend that is achieved by the company leadership is what drives the business. There are some good points in the rant, however the limitations of the current technical skill sets and policital environment are what really rule the business world, these others tools like SMS, Altiris, etc. are what fill the gaps in the different blend of those three forces.

Its the little things that count!

2006-03-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to point out this concept to some of the folks at my current employer, as I believe this is a core concept of what separates good companies from exceptional companies.

Google has the Finance section on their site (In Beta of course).
Google Finance: Forward Industries, Inc.

However, when looking at the site and actually using it, it has many of the hallmark items, which usually make Google, products stand out... Attention to detail, and the little ones at that.

If you are working on a project at work and you want it to be a huge success, take the time to research some improvement in usability and enhancements usually simple little details that people miss until they use the product then say... “Wow, that is great!” Those are what make or break products and services. This can apply in any format of our lives from daily tasks at work to deep and in-depth complex problems. Make sure you pay attention to the details.

If you have not already take trip over to the Google Finance part of the site and give it a whirl, count how many little useful details they paid attention to that YOU notice... now go look at another finance page and look at what they did not notice, how many times can you say, "If they only did..." Now apply this to your own work and see what happens.

Free Games

2006-03-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

Free Games? Are they really free? Are they worth playing? Search online and you will find many onlines games which are free or in development. How many are worth playing? How many ask for too much information for a free game? How many are actually fun?

Not many. My time to play games has dwindled to an all time low. I usually only play one game at a time, and they tend to be big name well produced games, but it was not always that way. I used to tinker with game development and played many small and indie games, there are some good free and indie games out there. They are just hard to find.

If you have some free time check out Runescape. It might be a fun game? I'll post more and I tinker with it (as time allows).

http://www.runescape.com/

What if the tables turn?

2006-03-20T18:17:00.000-08:00

Hmm... Copy protection, people love it, hate it, or do not know about it. Some don't care, some do, well what happens when companies try to bypass the copy protection market leaders? Do they play fair, or not? You decide...

Well apparently a new game called Galactic Civilizations 2 has broken with tradition and does not use any copy protection software. It's a bold move I admit, given that most people pirate anything which isn't nailed down. However it has turned out to be more commercially successful than first thought. So, seeing potential damage to their business, and in an effort to illustrate precisely why they are fast becoming the most disliked feature of the digital era, StarForce have decided to provide a working link to the warez version of Galactic Civilizations 2 on their forums. They do this supposedly to prove their somewhat obvious point that the game is being pirated - much the same way as if one person were to shoot another person during a debate on gun crime to prove their point.

The Super Bowl!

2006-02-05T16:29:00.000-08:00

The first half of the Super Bowl is underway. Seattle is looking good and Pittsburg, while not out of it in any way, is looking a little sluggish and perhaps bruised by their long road to the Bowl. There is still a long way to go but I called SEA earlier in the week, and it looking like they have the edge. Time will tell if that continues to hold true.

EFF: Bloggers

2006-01-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

EFF: Bloggers

If you have a web log, this is a valuable webpage to visit. I have heard of many stories about people being sued over blog posts (Do not know anyone first hand that has), but I am not one to wait for that day. The EFF Guide for bloggers will help you to understand your rights may help you realize when you may get close to the line.

NFL Week 16

2005-12-31T08:31:00.000-08:00

This week ended the post season hopes for a few more teams, MN and ATL both dropping must win games and were eliminated. However aside from those two teams, which I follow dropping out of the picture it was a good week for fantasy football. I won my league with the 13-0-1 record going into the playoffs, then of course won my next two games, to take the league with a final record of 15-0-1. Yay!

John Porcaro: mktg@msft: Keep Checking Back for Xbox 360

2005-11-29T17:36:00.000-08:00

John Porcaro: mktg@msft: Keep Checking Back for Xbox 360

Did you miss out on an XBOX 360? Know some little tike that wants one? Cannot find one? Have you heard the rumors? All these questions are answered and more...

J2ME Downloads

2005-11-29T12:43:00.000-08:00

J2ME Downloads

Those of you who have a Blackberry and are stymied on accessing Local for Mobile may want to take a look at this link until Google offers support for RIM phones.

OSCON 2005 Keynote - Identity 2.0

2005-11-28T18:11:00.000-08:00

OSCON 2005 Keynote - Identity 2.0

Very interesting presenation and discussion about identity, technology, and where things may be going. Good to look at the presentation style and the message as well.

Presentation Zen: Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic

2005-11-28T17:51:00.000-08:00

Presentation Zen: Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic: "Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic"

The title says it all. It is an interesting read.

EFF: DeepLinks

2005-11-14T06:08:00.000-08:00

EFF: DeepLinks

Need to know which CDs to avoid this holiday season? Wonder if you already have purchased a CD with a root kit? (You still buy CDs?)

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has a listing of the known CD's which have the root kit on them. I would expect this listing to grow as there are rumors circulating that some other labels are using similar technology and the company that actually programmed the root kit is still selling the core technology to other companies, and it is doubtful they will stop anytime soon.

Now... This just makes you want to run out and buy some CDs doesn't it? I had a membership to BMG; which I just canceled and I had not purchased a CD in some time, I do have a Yahoo Music subscription but the music companies and collectively RIAA continue to be there own worst enemies.

F-Secure Computer Rootkit Information Pages: XCP DRM Software

2005-11-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

F-Secure Computer Rootkit Information Pages: XCP DRM Software

This is a link to the F-Secure page about the Sony rootkit. More interesting reading.

'Bots' for Sony CD software spotted online | CNET News.com

2005-11-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

'Bots' for Sony CD software spotted online | CNET News.com

Sony's problems just for worse by an order of magnitude. I have been too busy to really follow this story but this will be an interesting one, which will have long reaching after effects for the entire music industry.

Mark's Sysinternals Blog

2005-11-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

Mark's Sysinternals Blog

My, oh, My... I knew this day was coming but I though it would be a while yet before it arrived. DRM and media companies going too far. This links to Mark Russinovich's blog, where he has uncovered Sony doing some very unscrupulous actions and where because of their actions they are actually able to cause harm to a system. Which company is next?

Better yet, how to combat this when most of the people who need to combat behaviours such as this do not understand the even basics of technology... Many more questions than answers.

NFL Week 8

2005-11-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

Well it was bound to happen. A set back, but not a loss. Despite most of my FF team being banged up, my QB scratching, and a goose egg from a WR I managed to squeak out with a tie at 7-0-1

Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility

2005-10-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

This is a nifty little utility to clean up corrupted Windows Installer Configuration Files. If you are familiar with MSIZAP, you will like this little utility. If you are not familiar with Windows Installer, MSI Exec, or MSIZAP, then take some time to goolge them, more than likely you will encoutner a corrupted Windows Installer configuration set in the future.

Another NFL Week

2005-10-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

And another win. 5-0 in Fantasy Football - Yay! (still one other player in reserve ;))

Atlanta Drops another One

2005-10-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

After 18 innings of record setting baseball, the Atlanta Braves drop yet another year. This was a nail biter through 13 plus innings in the longest post season game ever played. Atlanta did not look good through this game or the entire series. The brave’s bullpen having a rough season all year did not blow for them. The game was lost by the usual heroes, Giles, Chipper, Andrew, and Furcal. They had many chances to shut down the game shortly after the seventh inning; however they did not manage to capitalize on it. Francour was a non-factor since before the close of the season after having being figured out by opposing teams (he was still a good player just not on the record setting pace he showed upon his call-up) however they did manage to hang on through 9 extra innings. Yet in the end the last pitcher Houston had to call, Roger Clemens was able to close the game for them.

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | Breaking America's grip on the net

2005-10-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

Local politics are always fun, now expand that to the world and toss in the internet... Wow fun stuff. Here is an interesting article about root control of the "internet". The internet has long been a global utility. Is it right that it moves to a more decenralized and world wide control? Sure (as long as you are not a control freak :)), what will this mean in terms of changes to come? Time will tell.

CPU-Z

2005-10-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

I have been out of the the nitty gritty technical side of hardware for a while now, however I still need to dig into the guts of a processor or mainboard every now and then (for kicks or business). That said I am not as up to speed as I should be on some of the current hardware reporting appliations as I should be (Most of my archived ones were PII era tools). I stumbled upon this one when I got sidetracked digging around on some processor information. If you do not already have this one bookmarked for your toolbag, it is one you should consider.

CPU-Z
http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php

Secret Order of Buffalo's!?

2005-10-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, I turn around and a huge amount of time has passed... Let us see here. It is now football and hockey season, The Atlanta Braves have cliched their 14th straight divisional title, two hurricanes have slammed into the gulf coast (I believe about 4-5 typhoons have hit the other side of the world as well.), fall is here, and it is almost time to start shopping for gifts for christmas time. Egads... That is all I can think of off hand.

Ever heard of the Secret Order of Buffalo's? Me either until today. This is one the closest restaraunts near my residence, which has a decent atmosphere and some decent bar specials. So some friends and coworkers have been gathering there every so often. Now I find out they have a secret order. I cannot help but think of the flintstones!

Fantasy Football

I casually play Fantasy Football, in the casual leagues I tear it up! Three championships and I am always a top contendor into the season. This year is no exception. Going 4-0 thus far and if I keep up with the management of the team more wins should be rolling in. It definatly makes following football more exciting and even bearable at times. There are a number of items about the game I would love to tinker with, most importantly would be the flow of the game. It needs to be sped up just a tad!

In Memoriam - Little Betty

2005-08-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Betty shed this mortal coil. Hers was a hard life, yet one filled with periods of joy of which we are blessed to remember. She was a small kitty who sauntered into our lives one summer afternoon...

Security Advisory: Acrobat and Adobe Reader plug-in buffer overflow - Support Knowledgebase

2005-08-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

Security Advisory: Acrobat and Adobe Reader plug-in buffer overflow - Support Knowledgebase

Yet another vulnerability! This one will probbaly slip under the radar too, but is one of the most commonly installed applications. If you have it, update it!

Uptime – Longer is better?

2005-08-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

A while back Windows 2000 and Windows XP were touted as much more stable and secure operating systems than their predecessors. By in large that is true (despite the monthly patching cycle). However, with that very same patch cycle we now are to the point that if a machine is online for more than 30 days, you can be 100% assured it is missing patches or a patch has not been 100% applied (e.g. Reboot Pending).

I also see machines, which are behind on anti-virus updates. The typical trend I have noticed is that the machine has usually been online for 20, 30, 60 or more days. (Current longest I can recall is 72 days). Up, but not entirely stable, eh?

Hell, which is great right. A mature robust operating system that can stay up and work for 72 days without a reboot. Back in the Win9X days or even some of the NT days who would have thought that? Well, some people I am sure, is that a good thing?

If you have a machine in your environment today that has an uptime of 72 days, you can be assured that it is vulnerable to many exploits. Some minor, some severe. Taking today’s example you would have a machine that is vulnerable to MS-038, MS-039, and MS-043, all wormable exploits. (Some in the wild already, and more to come)

On the workstation side of the coin, you do not want to see long uptimes, and even in the server world you do not as well, because that means the machine has not been patched. Today most patches still require a reboot. We can get them all chained together upon boot, but if that machine is not fully bounced it is not fully patched.

What is the answer? Two fold.

Microsoft must implement patch installs that do not require a reboot (Not much chance for XP/2000 and probably even Vista).
System Administrators will need to ensure that one measure for problematic machines is an uptime report; perhaps even schedule automatic reboots at 7, 14, or 21 days if the patch cycle alone is not enough.

Even with having to shorten the uptime of all machines, we are still a lot better off than the Win9X days…

Microsoft Patches for August

2005-08-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

Today, Microsoft released their security bulletins for August. Six updates (Windows Update returned eight updates for my machine; which was 100% current as of the last patch cycle).

Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for August 2005
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms05-aug.mspx

Some more information on the patches and some guidance from Marc Maiffret on the possible ease of developing exploits for these vulnerabilities,

The two most critical patches to install ASAP are MS05-039 and MS05-043...

This is a very easy to exploit vulnerability. The time to
reverse engineer this patch and find the vulnerability to exploit should only be a few hours (it took us an hour, as we didn't report the bug).
Marc Maiffret

See the full email on the Patchmanagement.org listserv archive
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=patchmanagement&m=112361882832258&w=2

Spyware Warrior ? Massive ID Theft Ring Discovered

2005-08-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

Spyware Warrior - Massive ID Theft Ring Discovered

Which are you more worried about? Spyware or viruses? The lines between these types of malware are merging, but they are still separate issues. As this .blog thread will illustrate I think the real threat is Spyware!

Inside Tech Support

2005-08-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

Inside Tech Support

Ever wonder what happens in a technical support call center, this is a good example of all the little things that are wrong. You could call this deep dark true humor (It gets a chuckle from me), or you could call it stress therapy where this individual is venting off stress from a rough job.

Both are true. This set-up is a mirror image of many IT support environments. The only real question is, can it be fixed? Does overseas support provide better support (even if you cannot always understand them through the accent), than the unskilled or skilled but angry individual?

Wouldn’t a grand social experiment be the following… (many people on some forums are waiting for the day this anonymous OOL tech gets caught and fired), however instead of firing him take the “Office Space” approach and promote him/her, give them the power to making sweeping changes and see if it solves problems.

Okay, now, which company is going to do that!?

Technology apathy?

2005-08-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Lots of talk about patches and vulnerabilities of late, just when I was thinking some of the bigger items were behind us there looms some huge potential issues. However, I have taken a moment to step back to try to look at the larger picture. The following are some key points I noticed,

Sloppy software development techniques
Rushed release dates
inflexible software developers (e.g. support and patching)
irresponsible vulnerability disclosure
general acceptance for BETA software in production environments
unskilled administrators
unskilled end users
lack of resources

I could grow that list a bit more of I wanted, but that is a good enough start. What do those bullet points mean? Overall, those are all contributors to the larger problem that is facing us today… What is it?

I would tenetivly call it technology apathy.

Each of those is a symptom of this issue and often are found in the business world driven by non-technology skilled decision makers. They all have technology apathy…

moreover, they embrace it!

Now how many times are these same people babysat with the technology they need to do their jobs. How much money have they cost their organization by their apathy? That is the possibly one of the deepest roots of the problem.

How many front line administrators have stood up and stated that XYZ needs to be changed or implemented, but it was not allowed for a myriad of reasons? (E.g. Budgets, politics, time issues, or worse apathy towards understanding the true need for the change, product, or service).

There is virtually no job function or industry that is not impacted by technology today and is only going to continue, however as long people are allowed to embrace technology apathy, the symptoms above and many more will continue to plague us.

Small Dog Rescue and Humane Society

2005-08-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

Small Dog Rescue and Humane Society

Remember those two little dogs we found? The humane organization updated their website. They are about 7months old. Wee little ones. Still looking for homes. Click on the link in the title then head over to the adoptables page for more information on those two and more.

Windows 2000 open to IP attack

2005-08-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Windows 2000 open to IP attack - Security Strategy: "Windows 2000 open to IP attack"

Hmm… Here we go again! This could be interesting and I do not mean that in a good way! Microsoft has communicated pre-release details about some of the patches coming next Tuesday, and they have communicated that they will be re-releasing the Windows 2000 security roll-up package… Now comes news that eEye has found a wormable security vulnerability in Windows 2000 and there still exists the possibility that other OS versions are affected also.

No details have been released as is stated in the article on silicon.com one can only hope this get patched and gets silently left behind, however, expect to hear more about this one sooner rather than later…

Small Dog Rescue and Humane Society

2005-07-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Today we transferred the two dogs to this organization Small Dog Humane. They agreed to take the dogs in, run a microchip check, get them dewormed, caught up on meds, and neutered. We dropped them off this afternoon. We never did settle on nicknames, as that probably would've gotten us to attached to them.

They will update their website soon with a picture of the dogs (they are a pug/pekenise mix), and will also state when they have placed them in a good home. We have received no word from the fliers placed out where the dogs were found. It is now believed they were dumped there and are not runaways.

EA - Battlefield 2 - Community Update - Weapons Unlocked

2005-07-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

EA - Battlefield 2

Forgot to grab the official notice in the previous article to the offical EA blurb about the issue. Quoted below as well,

Profiles with all Weapons Unlocked

Many users logged into Battlefield 2 today to discover that they had access to all of the game's weapons unlocked in their profile. We have fixed the root issue that caused this to occur and by tomorrow morning all users will return to having access only to the weapons which they had earned. Once our solution is in place, if you find that you do not have access to weapons appropriate to your in-game rank, please direct inquiries to the Support sites linked below. In some cases users may be prompted to re-select the Unlock weapons that they are eligible for (if you are eligible for two weapons you will get to choose the two you wish to have unlocked)...

Electronic Arts (EA) BattleField 2 (BF2) Stats Servers Hacked

2005-07-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Electronic Arts (EA) BattleField 2 (BF2) Stats Servers Hacked

This topic is being discussed in many forums online as many people (myself included) have all the weapons unlocked for their accounts when playing on BF2 Ranked servers. The following quote is from one of the persons who has claimed responsibility,

Well, what a wonderful few days it has been. Since EA didn't take the time to respond (or maybe even read) our emails about various stats-server security holes, it clearly showed us how much they care. Therefore, we came to the conclusion that modifying 5 million accounts wouldn't be that big of a deal.

That being said, accounts with ids from 40,000,000 to 45,000,000 now have all of their weapons unlocked.

What will be next week? Perhaps we'll give everyone their Distinguished Service Medal, or maybe we'll elevate everyone to the rank of Sergeant Major.

The ball's in your court, EA. Time's up at the buzzer, how well will you play?

In addition, the following quote is from an EA representative,

In the future, if you really are concerned about "exposing security holes" to EA (which I sincerely doubt) rather than grandstanding, please e-mail me personally since it appears that you don't have the correct contact info. I will PM you the address.

All of the changes made will be rolled back in the next couple hours. Users may have to rechoose any unlocks they would have legitimately made in the last day or so as a result of the roll-back, but no stats should be lost.

-ben aka [EA]Die Fledermaus

I deal with many vendors and many different patch methodolies and vulnerability report methodologies in the course of my professional services. The question has been asked about the vulnerability reporting in entertainment products before and now here again.

These incidents are no where near as interesting as mission critical servers and services being patched/hacked (usually containing sensitive information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.) as is the case in the broad IT field, these are usually proprietary applications and services which do not contain sensitive personal information. However, where are the clear guidelines for people to report issues and vulnerabilities with the software?

The retail helpdesk and support services? They often are hard-pressed to handle their current jobs and are not trained enough to handle such escalations, its not that they cannot it is just they there are not trained nor do they have the support infrastructure to do so. When and how will this change things for EA? Is this going to be a small time issues swept under the rug? On the other hand, is this going to wake things and be a catalyst for some improvements in the gaming industry, that the rest of the IT and business world have already been forced to come to grips with.

If as is stated in the claim to the hack, EA was notified? However, not through the “correct” channels? What are the correct channels? I have worked in the gaming industry, and I currently deal with the security industry on the IT side and know what to look for and where, but there exists little information to direct an individual to the correct contact point. (Does one even exist in the some organizations?)

Does that make the actions right, no. As stated by numerous laws local and federal, a crime was committed here, and as such, I am sure EA will pursue all legal interests in this going forward, but there is clear room for all entertainment companies to improve the vulnerability reporting of their products going forward.

More Information:

DSL Reports (AKA: Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13979964

Total BF2 (Thread 1)
http://forums.totalbf2.com/showthread.php?t=18604

Total BF2 (Thread 2)
http://forums.totalbf2.com/showthread.php?t=18732

Total BF2 (Thread 3)
http://forums.totalbf2.com/showthread.php?t=18824
Claim to hack is Post #1 and EA response is #42

Doggie Guests

2005-07-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Doggie guests. This weekend, my better half rescued two small dogs from a busy road. They were winding along the roadside, and all the homes along the way have fenced in yards, such that the animals could not get back into their residence if they were from the area.

Could be they dug under once of the fences and escaped, but they have no collars on them at this point, so hard to say. We will get them scanned for microchips in short order, however in the mean time the house is a lively place with pets galore!

Cute little buggers, Suggestions on nicknames. Click-n-Clack? Ratchet-n-Clank? Bits and Bytes?

Google Weather Maps

2005-07-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

Google Weather Maps

Seems the folks linked in the previous blog entry have a new site they are migrating towards. It is up at the above link, and supports the radar overlays driectly on the website, if you don't have the Google Earth client loaded. (However the full client is half the fun!)

Weather Radar in Earth.Google

2005-07-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

I have posted about and referred many people I know towards the old keyhole trial and now as it is branded Earth.Google… This is a very interesting and novel application, which can have many uses both for business and for recreation.

However, the one item I immediately wanted to see was a real time link to weather data. Would that would be cool. Well it is, this site has tapped in to the database to generate real time weather data,

Real Time Weather Data
Note, the site may be slow, as it has gotten popular…

Development server is having difficulty keeping up with high levels of site traffic. Investigating migration to more stable production environment. Migration to Google Maps version 10 should fix some of the reported issues with Opera, Safari, and Internet Explorer.

However the interesting thing I noticed on this site was on the bottom right hand corner of the page was a pull down to down a .KML file, which is an overlay for Google.Earth. This is what I have been looking for in regards to some of the weather data imports. Should only be a matter of time before someone has something truely wicked pieced together.

Choose your state, and download the .KML file. Then (as long as you have the Earth.Google client loaded, double-click on this file and it will load up the radar data into the application.

By default this is loaded in a temporary place, which you can then choose to save into your “my places” once you have done so you can then view the properties of the specific radar source and then change the update interval. The default is 5 minutes.

Links

Google Map Hacks – Weather Maps Blog
http://weathermaps.blogspot.com/2005/06/weather-maps.html

What is a KML File?

Probably the greatest technological advance in Google Earth is the patent pending Network Link(TM) mechanisms described by Google's Keyhole Markup Language(TM) specification. These Network Links allow individuals, businesses, governments, and other organizations to easily publish dynamic geospatial data layers and have them seamlessly integrated into the unified Google Earth environment where it will be seen by millions of users as they search the globe.

Keyhole Markup Language

War of the Worlds

2005-07-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

Despite my little rant about rehashed movies I have just contributed to the problem a little bit further… My better half wanted to see War of the Worlds in the theater. So we went. (Cha-Ching goes Hollywood)

It was a decent flick, but you know what. It was the same rehashed storyline just “modernized” and had a plethora of eye candy. I did not need to see it, and if she did not want to see it, we would not have until later (when it was free for me to view it, thanks to advertising dollars).

All in all it was a decent movie, but Spielberg could have been better served working on new IP material. Watching the movie you saw all the “typical” Spielberg directorial fingerprints. I would state that nothing new was added from him. The one good thing, is that the storyline eclipsed Tom Cruises persona so you really only see him as his character (that is a good thing too).

If you do not mind forking over money for rehashed material and (literally) nothing new under the sun, then this is a good flick to see. However if you are tired of the rehashed movies and sequels then you can let this one slip by. You will be able to see in 12-24 months anyhow on TV.