Attention Intelligent Systems Users
I imagine a few of you were curious enough to check out this page even though I told you there was nothing to see here, so I figured I would reward your curiosity somewhat. It is true that this site is horribly out of date, it will not remain so for long! I have a top secret project in the works that some of you will most certainly be interested in. It won't happen for a couple more months, but it will be worth the wait. Until then, I plan on adding some real content to the site and changing up the layout again and maybe putting my newly acquired PHP skills to good use. So I would recommend bookmarking this site and checking it weekly, or every-other-weekly, and I should have some real, interesting content posted. I have a few ideas in mind, I just need to find the time. thus concludes 2008.5.7
I Find That Hard to Believe...
Amazon.com has been spamming me at an increasing rate with advertisements for products gleemed from their reccommender engine. I received this spam from them today, and it looks like their reccommender needs a little tweaking...
thus concludes 2007.9.20
Adam Rocks Off With His Socks Off
I've created a goodly smattering of my all-time favorite musics. I created the list in Rhapsody, so if you have an account (free or premium), you should be able to listen to them by clicking on this link: Adam's Rhaplist. The songs are, in no particular order, these:1. I'm Shipping Up To Boston - Dropkick Murphys
2. The Saints Are Coming - U2
3. Worry Rock - Weezer
4. Believe - Yellowcard
5. Trouble Breathing - Alkaline Trio
6. Give Up the Grudge - Gob
7. Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
8. Barely Legal - The Strokes
9. People Like You - Live
10. Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly
11. When You Were Young - The Killers
12. Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World
13. Helena - My Chemical Romance
14. Jaded - Aerosmith
15. Move Along - All American Rejects
16. Brighter Side - OPM
17. On the Radio - Regina Spektor
18. My Own Worst Enemy - Lit
19. Should I Stay or Should I Go? - The Clash
20. Oh! Ellin! - Gob
21. Unwell - Matchbox 20
22. Fat Lip - Sum41
23. Every Morning - Sugar Ray
24. Closing Time - Semisonic
25. Kick Some A** - Stroke 9
26. The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
27. The Dirty Glass - Dropkick Murphys
28. Experimental Film - They Might Be Giants
29. Bouncing Off the Walls - Sugarcult
30. While You're Waiting - Alkaline Trio
31. Get Over It - Ok Go
32. Greyskies Turn Blue - MXPX
33. California - Phantom Planet
34. Anarchy in the U.K. - Sex Pistols
35. El Scorcho - Weezer
36. Jet Pack - Eve 6
37. The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows - Br
and New 38. The Way - Fastball
39. One Headlight - The Wallflowers
40. Heaven is a Halfpipe - OPM
41. Fidelity - Regina Spektor
42. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces - Ben F
olds Five 43. Soleil - Maxeen
44. When I Come Around - Green Day
45. 99 Red Balloons
46. Old School Reasons - Alkaline Trio
47. Polyamorous - Breaking Benjamin
48. Sullivan - Caroline's Spine
49. Black Friday Rule - Flogging Molly
50. Little Things - Good Charlotte
50. The Fallen - Franz Ferdinand
51. Cold Hard Bitch - Jet
52. That Much Further West - Lucero
53. Turn It Up - Save Ferris
54. Mercy Me - Alkaline Trio
55. O Valencia! - The Decemberists
56. Buddy Holly - Weezer
57. American Idiot - Green Day
58. Just Like Heaven - Goldfinger
59. Hey Driver - Lucky Boys Confusion
60. I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
thus concludes 2007.6.9
Graduation Pictures
Brittany graduated last weekend and my parents were at the commencement to take a couple of pictures, enjoy!
Geek Theatre
I've been crazy busy with the move and finishing up the semester these past few weeks, but I have found time to view a few interesting videos that I think you too should find the time for.The first is a talk by Van Jacobson at Google on his non-traditional perspective on networks. He gives a background on the history of networking from the invention of the telephone to the possible future. He mixes in how the scholar's perception of networks has changed over time and how the telco/ISP's perception has not. He then goes on to how the problems associated with this can be changed, with an emphasis on networks worrying about data rather than conversations. He doesn't get very technical until the end, but even if you're not a techie, I really can't reccommend this enough. Watch this if you want to really know what networks are and what they can be.
Link: Van Jacobson on "A New Way to Look at Networking"
Next is a series of videos, created by university students, on the basics of network security. These are made to be short (30 second to 3 minute) commercials for the non-techie public. If you or someone you know needs an incredibly short but effective crash course in the net security basics, check them out.
Link: EDUCAUSE Security Awareness Videos
thus concludes 2007.5.16
Puzzle #1
My mind wandered tonight and spawned this puzzle for the intrepid computer geek. Try and solve it - it's not too hard - and give yourself a pat on the back.
thus concludes 2007.4.21
Lollapalooza and the Storm Worm
The 2007 Lollapalooza lineup has been posted on the official site. Noteworthy bands include Perl Jam, Muse, Modest Mouse, Interpol, Snow Patrol, Regina Spektor, Pete Yorn, Silverchair, Motion City Soundtrack and Blue October. I'm interested to hear Regina Spektor live; her albums are a guilty pleasure of mine. I've also since become a fan of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, which I'm listening to right now and enjoying very much indeed.Check out this article about a series of worms that started getting noticed today. Ironically, it propagates through e-mails with headers warning the reader about a dangerous worm and includes (infected) files that can allegedly be used to remove the worm. I've said it before and I'll probably never stop saying it: never download a file you're not expecting. Ever. On these same lines, never click on a link in an e-mail that you're not expecting. It's safest to not even open an e-mail from an unknown sender. Abstinence is the best prevention!
thus concludes 2007.4.12
MySpace Insecurities
I could write a book about this. Fortunately, MOMBY is doing a good enough job covering this topic that I don't have to. I've always assumed - no, known that MySpace is insecure, but outside of the Samy exploit, which affected about 1.5 million accounts within a few hours, I've never been able to give one single example that proves how insecure it really is. MOMBY's Saturday post was on how login credentials (id AND password) are sent as cleartext across the network. This means that anyone sniffing the network you're on will be given enough information to hijack your account as soon as you log on. Personally, I thought that this trend ended in the late 90's, but I guess not. I'm not an avid Facebook or MySpace user, but at least Facebook sends your credentials over TLS.The official ANI fix came down the series of tubes on Tuesday, one week before the monthly Patch Tuesday. So if you're not patched... well you should be. Otherwise, you're stupid. Speaking of which, I was incorrect in my explanation of the exploit. It actually takes advantage of the user32.dll's lack of length checking on the ANI file header. A huge or mislabeled file header could then cause a buffer overflow, which is utilized to install Very Bad Things. The patch was simply a change from "If file is ani then..." to "If file is ani AND 36 bytes long then...". Yes, it's that simple.
thus concludes 2007.4.8
ANI Vulnerability Unleashed
Remember the ever-important NORAD threat meter in War Games? The ISC Infocon meter listed above is not really anything like that. Infocon measures widespread Internet insecurity. Normally it's green, but last night it turned yellow [NOTE: since the above graphic is dynamic, it may or may not be yellow by the time you read this] which means the ISC is tracking what could be a significant threat - they liken it to the sasser outbreak - and that everyone should be ready for it to get worse.
A Microsoft ANI vulnerability tipped this trigger. An .ani file is used to load a custom cursor graphic on a web page. Malicious code can be squeezed in its place, allowing for it to be executed and granting a hacker system level privileges (which is BAD). A user can be affected by simply visiting a web page or opening an e-mail. Of course, you have to be using Windows for this to affect you. And you have to be using Internet Explorer (Firefox is vulnerable but it is much more difficult and won't do as much damage). And you have to be allowing scripts. Unfortunately, close to 100% of computer users fit all three of those prerequisites.
On Friday, March 30th, the vulnerability was officially announced, which led to Evil People learning of it and utilizing it, which prompted the Infocon change to yellow by Sunday. However, Microsoft seems to have been aware of this vulnerability in December of last year (that's four months ago!), but unsurprisingly did nothing. They are expected to release an out-of-cycle patch soon. Until then, ZERT has released an unofficial patch, found by clicking here.
thus concludes 2007.4.2
OpenOffice 2.2 Released
The newest incarnation of the best office suite in the known universe was released today. If you're not familiar with it, it's a free and more than capable alternative to Microsoft Office. Unlike MS Office, it supports a wide range of file types from .doc to .odt and everything inbetween. I've been using it for about two years now with in .doc format with none of my professors or peers knowing any difference. Their own publicity site does a better job explaining its awesomeness than I ever could. Did I mention it's open source and free?
thus concludes 2007.3.31
7th Potter Cover Revealed
IGN has an article about the new Harry Potter covers which were recently revealed. Click on the above image to check out the American version and some speculation on what's in store. The covers above are from the UK adult and child versions. For those not aware that there are different versions, both have the same content, just different covers. Why that's necessary in the same country that spawned Hugh Grant is beyond me.
thus concludes 2007.3.30
Hilarious:
thus concludes 2007.3.29
Merry Festivus! Let us partake in the airing of grievances... Actually, I don't really have any right off hand I feel like airing, with the exception of the cat chewing on my laptop power cable. And this beer has turned skunky, but not too skunky so I won't complain.
I actually have good news! I received my final grades for this last semester on Friday and I passed everything. As
anyone who speaks with me at all could tell you, I wasn't feeling too sure about a couple of them (namely one), but I
passed with nothing lower than a C. I had failure so deeply ingrained into my mind that I don't think I have fully
acknowledged passing yet. I almost acknowledged it earlier today, but it quickly slipped away. Sometimes in the near future
I will randomly scream with joy and begin dancing sporadically. It is that time of the year to be joyous, what with
Christmas and New Year's. I have a shortened work week next week, but I'll still be there while others are recovering
from the Christmas meal. I'll even hopefully have those new links on the left side of the page fleshed out and full of
juicy content. Hopefully. Juicy.
I hope all of my readers (yes, I mean both of you) has an excellent Festivus, Christmas, and New Year's! Don't eat too much turducken - I know I will - and don't return bad gifts the day after Christmas - wait until Wednesday!
thus concludes 2006.12.23It really is that time of the year again. Time for cold weather, for finals, insane trips to the store, and yes, Christmas. If you're the charitable type, but have yet to find a charity that you really believe in, I suggest Child's Play.
Started by the Penny Arcade guys a few years ago, Child's Play is the self-proclaimed "gamer's charity" - and
rightly so. Thirty-eight childrens' hospitals around the world have posted their wish lists on the CPC site (linked above
or visit ChildsPlayCharity.org) for you to order/donate. The wish lists consist of video games, movies, board games, books,
and other toys to be donated to the childrens' hospital of your choice. This year's total donations has already reached
$498,000 - so help out and prove that not all gamers are gun-toting Grand Theft Auto psychopaths! Even if you are in fact
a gun-toting Grand Theft Auto psychopath, take some time out of your busy schedule to help those less fortunate.