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GRAFFITI -- October 17, 2005 thru October 23, 2005 >> Link to the Current Week << Last Week << Mon   Tues   Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun >> Next Week Search this site : Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable.     About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message.

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October 17, 2005

0636 - Good morning. A very good morning, today. Generally, I've not been overly pleased by the activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - they've always seemed a bit to political in their mission. But today I stand and applaud as unsealed documents indicate that they managed to use CAN-SPAM language to take all of Alan Ralsky's computers from him as they investigate his misuse of email to send spam out in the hundreds of millions. Of course, what's really the awful fact to know is that one person in seven is said to purchase one or more items that are brought to their attention first by unsolicited commercial email. If it didn't make money, then spam wouldn't be a problem. Thanks to Slashdot for brightening my Monday blues.

We had Linda Rose over for a visit: knitting, sewing, supper and Black Adder all made it onto the agenda. I'd picked up a pork tenderloin while shopping yesterday, and chopped it out for freezer storage. I used the end bits to make up a stir-fry for our supper last night. Yum!

It was a virtually computer-free weekend, so I'm likely in for a shock to the system, as I drop back into gear for the week. I'll be configuring a slew of laptops that are slotting in for systems long-overdue for replacement, as well as building a few more dev tower systems, and everything else I can get involved in. Have a great day, see you later...

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October 18, 2005

No post, too tired, sorry.

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October 19, 2005

0804 - Good morning. It was the pretty beginnings of sunrise that greeted me as I clambered from my car and stood in the parking lot here at work, a few minutes after 0700. Yeah, I got an early start today. Lots to do, and not enough time, as usual. Yesterday I bought the components for and fully assembled six systems with Antec cases, Intel 915GAGV motherboards, and sundry other components. I also got four of them tested with an OpenBSD install, and delivered to the recipients. Not a bad day, when meetings were also involved.

Today, I'll finish off the last two of those, and spend some time reviewing training documentation. I've got an HP ProCurve POE switch sitting here that needs installing. And that list server keeps pushing to the back of the burner stack. Soon, soon. I'd best get to it.

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October 20, 2005

0656- Good morning. Hmmm. Exploding dishwashers! I don't have much else to say. My plate is full, and more is coming, so let me get my butt to work. Have a great day.

0825 - I'm back ... Here's some interesting and important information from this morning's ISC/SANS Handler's Diary:

Here is an update regarding the Snort Back Orifice pre-processor vulnerability...(Kyle Haugsness Oct. 20 05:30 UTC)

When this vulnerability was announced yesterday, I was curious to see how difficult this would be to exploit due to the widespread nature of Snort. After doing a little research on the encryption method in Back Orifice, I was able to develop working exploit code in 2 hours. Bad news!! Of course, we aren't in the business of releasing exploits, so this code is staying private. Now, it appears that HD Moore is very close to having exploit code working as a plugin to metasploit. If we haven't said it loudly enough already, PLEASE UPGRADE your Snort sensors or disable the BO pre-processor if running the vulnerable versions of Snort 2.4 series. I checked the 2.3.2 source tree today and it is not vulnerable.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

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October 21, 2005

0628 - Good morning. This all comes to just under 2700, not counting tax and shipping.

• (2) SAMSUNG 940b-Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 0.294mm Pixel Pitch
• (1) Asus A8N5X
• (1) AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4200+
• (1) Corsair 2GB PC3500 DDR DIMM Memory Kit (PDF)
• (1) Leadtek WinFast PX7800GTX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card
• (2) Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA NCQ 3Gb/s
• (1) Plextor PX-716AL
• (1) Antec Sonata II

So is an Apple 15" 1.67GHz G4 Powerbook with 1G of RAM. But you know what? I would/should only get the above system if I was really into hardcore gaming ... but I'm not. I don't need better frame rates, I need more time in my day, and more productivity would be nice. I've got a nice full-size Vaio laptop of my own, and a tiny one that work lets me use. I might consider just going for a decent dual-head video card and the dual flatscreens, though. That's tempting. Lessee, that could run as high as $1100, less depending on the video card. Must remember AGP only, though... I guess I'd better ask Bob what I want. Grin. Okay, it's pizza Friday, following a company meeting this morning. I'd better be on my way.

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October 22, 2005

0936 - Hullo. Let's see what "strong" government has done for America. By some accounts reviled in the rest of the world (except for tourist dollars, that may be accepted with ill grace), and with less and less freedom and independence at home. Bono has it wrong: "Outside It's America" just ain't so, no more. I'm barely old enough to remember America, a United States, a republic. Witness this: Officials seize sex offender's baby

It's not America outside, America is just a memory, a dream. I look back at the fun I had with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in one man's fight against Idiot's Denial 'Intelligent Design' and realize that all there is left of America is bitter humour. That's unbearably sad.

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October 23, 2005

0952 - Good morning. Did I neglect to mention the additional honey-do that appeared as if by magic Friday evening? No? I thought not. Well, Marcia said, before you fix anything else, please, please, do something about that kitchen light.

The kitchen light was flourescent, one of those four-bulb 48" honkers with the diffuser hung off the metal frame which was affixed to the sheetrock with molly bolts. Too ugly to even take a picture of. I had that down and the molly bolt holes with a first round of spackle in before bedtime last night. This morning I put on the finish spackle, with a bit of texturing to match the pre-existing icky ceiling texture. Then we went out shopping.

Stuff that hangs down is all well and good, but not in the middle of the walking space in a room with 8' ceilings. So we picked something relatively sleek and modern, then came home. By then the second spackle had dried sufficiently to prime, so I did, with Killz (latex), in the center of the room where there was a dingy brownish paint that I needed to bring whiter before recoating the whole ceiling with white. An hour later I went back in and used painters tape around the perimeter, protecting the band of wallpaper around the soffit. I brush coated the edges, then rolled paint over the whole ceiling.

A couple hours after that, I started mucking about with how to solidly attach the new fixture to the ceiling. After a bit of thinking and experimentation, I choose to put a piece of wood above the sheetrock (worked in through the rather oversized hole through which the wiring appears) and fix that in place with a couple of sheetrock screws. Then, after wiring up the fixture, I screwed the fixture to the ceiling with 3" deck screws, which covered the intervening 1.5" of dead space within the fixture, the half inch of sheetrock, and right into the wood I'd set above. Very, very solid. It's a nice looking light, I think. With two 26 watt compact florescent bulbs, it casts as much light as 200 watts of incandescent, and uses about a third of the juice of the previous fixture. So there we go! Less than 24 hours from assignment to completion.

And while I'm doing mundane around the house chores, our folks in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world are putting their lives on the line protecting what's left of our way of life. I'll take a few minutes here to regard the names and ends of some young American lives in our service...

• Sgt. Brian R. Conner, 36, of Baltimore, Md. died in Al Taji, Iraq, on Oct. 14, when they were conducting convoy operations and an 18-wheel tractor trailer accidentally struck the rear of his HMWWV, starting a fire and causing ammunition to detonate.
• Spc. Samuel M. Boswell, 20, of Elkridge, Md. died in Al Taji, Iraq, on Oct. 14, when they were conducting convoy operations and an 18-wheel tractor trailer accidentally struck the rear of his HMWWV, starting a fire and causing ammunition to detonate.
• Spc. Bernard L. Ceo, 23, of Baltimore, Md. died in Al Taji, Iraq, on Oct. 14, when they were conducting convoy operations and an 18-wheel tractor trailer accidentally struck the rear of his HMWWV, starting a fire and causing ammunition to detonate.
• Sgt. Mark P. Adams, 24, of Morrisville, N.C., died Oct. 15 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Saqlawiyah, Iraq.
• Pfc. Joseph Cruz, 22, of Whittier, Calif., died in Bagram, Afghanistan, on Oct. 16, of non-combat related injuries sustained in an accident at Organ-E, Afghanistan, on Oct. 15.
• Lance Cpl. Christopher M. Poston, 20, of Glendale, Ariz., died Oct. 17 from a non-hostile vehicle accident in Hit, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Chad R. Hildebrandt, 22, of Springer, N.M., died Oct. 17 from small-arms fire while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Rutbah, Iraq.
• Petty Officer 3rd Class Fabricio Moreno, 26, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was killed Oct. 14 in a single-vehicle accident in Manda Bay, Kenya.
• Lance Cpl. Daniel Scott R. Bubb, 19, of Grottoes, Va., died Oct. 17 from small-arms fire while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Rutbah, Iraq.
• Spc. Lucas A. Frantz, 22, of Tonganoxie, Kan., died in Mosul, Iraq, on Oct. 18, when he was hit by enemy fire while performing a combat mission.
• Chief Warrant Officer Paul J. Pillen, 28, of Keystone, S.D., died in Salwa, Kuwait, on Oct. 17, of a non-combat related cause.
• Staff Sgt. Tommy I. Folks Jr., 31, of Amarillo, Texas, died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Oct. 19, of injuries sustained on Oct. 18, in Iskandariyah, Iraq, when multiple improvised explosive devices detonated near his HMMWV during convoy operations.
• Lance Cpl. Norman W. Anderson III, 21, of Parkton, Md., died Oct. 19 from a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Karabilah, Iraq.
• Spc. Daniel D. Bartels, 22, of Huron, S.D., died in Mosul, Iraq, on Oct. 19, of a non-combat related cause identified there on Oct. 18.
• Spc. Kendall K. Frederick, 21, of Randallstown, Md., died near Tikrit, Iraq, on Oct. 19, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during convoy operations.
• Sgt. Arthur A. Mora Jr., 23, of Pico Rivera, Calif. died in Balad, Iraq, on Oct. 19, when his HMMWV was struck by enemy indirect fire during patrol operations.
• Spc. Russell H. Nahvi, 24, of Arlington, Texas died in Balad, Iraq, on Oct. 19, when his HMMWV was struck by enemy indirect fire during patrol operations.
• Spc. Jose E. Rosario, 20, of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, died in Balad, Iraq, on Oct. 19, when his HMMWV was struck by enemy indirect fire during patrol operations.
• Staff Sergeant Richard T. Pummill, 27, of Cincinnati, Oh. died Oct. 20 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Nasser Wa Salaam, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Andrew D. Russoli, 21, of Greensboro, N.C. died Oct. 20 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Nasser Wa Salaam, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Steven W. Szwydek, 20, of Warfordsburg, Pa. died Oct. 20 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Nasser Wa Salaam, Iraq.

Of the twenty-one people, five were Marylanders. May all our fallen soldiers rest in peace, their part in the fighting done.

Another DOD announcement touts their "anti-drug awareness" among other things during a "Red Ribbon Week". Are they going to cut the air force amphetamine rations during the week? Ah, well. Anyway, we need to get out and do our shopping. Then I have some work to do in PowerPoint... yes, sometimes life is like a box of Lark's Vomit. Happy Sunday!

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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.

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