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Classic DF – 12/18/01

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December 18, 2001: [•] Ramadan is over (BTW: I hope that all my Muslim viewers had a joyous Ramadan) and 90% of the war in Afghanistan has been won. However, Mohammed Omar and Osama bin Laden are both still missing. [•] US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warns all US citizens to be vigilant against terrorism as the nutjobs of the world begin to embrace new techniques of inflicting pain on others. [•] US Marines injured by a landmine encourage the world to worry about bigger problems instead of their wounds. [•] The Yemeni military has attacked an al Qaeda camp in its country. [•] Even though al Qaeda appears to have been beaten the US government continues to warn US citizens about the possibility of a terrorist attack. [•] US President Bush had several lesions removed from his face. None were cancerous. [•] Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is asking Arab leaders to meet him in Mecca to discuss Israel and Palestine. Go nutjob leader! [•] Siena Heights University has added a philosophy class that examines how The Simpsons handle theology. [•] India is mulling over its response to a terrorist attack on its government. [•] Arctic weather hits Europe. [•] Somali warlords are attempting to convince the US to attack their country’s government in hopes of achieving power. [•] Ebola continues to ravage Gabon. [•] The ousted government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide attempted to regain control of Haiti, but failed. [•] Oh those crazy civil liberty loving Canadians and their crazy civil liberty loving Canadian ways! [•] Thailand will only issue 17 visas this year in an attempt to stop illegal activities. [•] A heavy earthquake hit Japan and Taiwan creating a small tsunami. [•] Spain has arrested 7 suspected ETA members. [•] Princess Buniah al-Saud, the niece of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, has been arrested on charges of beating her maid. [•] A sewerage spill has closed a portion of Laguna Beach, California. [•] A first-grader who dresses as Santa Claus and distributes small toys in a local mall was kicked out by mall owners since (get this) he’s competition to the official mall’s Santa LOL. [•] The Space Shuttle Endeavour has landed. [•] Serious crime fell in the first 6 months of 2001, but murder went up. [•] An equipment failure has stopped progress in clearing anthrax from the Hart Senate Building. [•] Vivendi Universal has bought USA Networks. [•] Be careful, you could end up buying fake FDNY or PDNY goods. [•] Intel is sponsoring an open source code called OpenCV that they hope will allow computers to see in three dimensions. [•] A Japanese zoo’s panda gave birth to a male cub. [•] Utah has introduced the US’s first voice-recognition based travel information service for telephone users. [•] A genetically engineered mouse has been developed who’s milk contains the malaria vaccine. [•] Chicken feces and diesel fuel: What a mix! [•] CERT is warning UNIX administrators who are running Secure Shell on their systems to make sure that they are using SSH2 (full install not upgrade) with no SSH daemons running and all exploits patched. [•] Microsoft has released Service Pack 1 for Office XP. [•] RSA Security Inc. has developed the Wireless Equivalent Privacy protocol to encrypt individual data packets sent over 802.11 wireless networks thus fixing current security issue. [•] A new drug reduces cold symptoms within a day and knocks one day of the actual disease off. FDA approval is about a year away at best. [•] 3/4 of new HIV cases are resisting treatment. [•] Autism seems to be higher in Silicon Valley. Could tech savvy genes be responsible? [•] Google will allow you to now browse 600 catalogues online. [•] Universal Music Group’s new CDs won’t play in a PC. Their solution: Buy another copy in digital format for the PC through the Net. Hey, why not pay a third time just for fun! Hell, let’s go for four! [•] An ISP is claiming the FBI wants the e-mail logs for data logged by the BadTrans.B worm and sent to one of several e-mail addresses including one hosted by the ISP. Why would they want it? Well, they assert that BadTrans.B is actually the Magic Lantern virus developed by the FBI reported on earlier last week. [•] A captured al Qaeda member turned informant claims that Windows XP has backdoors inserted by the terrorist group. [•] Christmas may be here, but thoughts of September 11th still haunt Americans. [•] Everyone’s favorite anti-CVS group, It’s Our Town, has been sponsoring a gift drive for needy families of Warwick, NY. [•] The US Postal Service switches into high gear to meet last minute mail demands. [•] Will a correction officer who is charged with trash compacting a box of contraband kittens face jail time? [•] Newburgh, NY City Comptroller Ed Weber resigns because City Manager Harry Porr was fired. [•] Cory Jones is found dead in New Windsor, NY and police are ruling it suspicious. [•] Local Catholic school teachers are still on strike, a textile union pickets an employer over a wage dispute, a woman is charged after she crashes her auto with a young child unbelted, ’tis the season for ice, the Milford-Montague bridge toll gets raised, an elderly woman is killed crossing a highway, a high speed chase keeps things interesting for the Ulster County Sheriffs, robbers are defeated by a soda machine, the Sullivan County Family Violence Response Team arrested a man on charges of molesting a toddler, and Wurtsboro Police arrest John Kallajian stemming from charges in Connecticut. [•] Hank Williams Jr. and Kid Rock will appear together on CMT Crossroads. [•] Weezer has begun working on their new album. [•] Charlie Clouser has left NIN, but formed a new band called Revenge of the Triads that includes guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen and bassist Jason Slater from A Perfect Circle. [•] The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 rules, but then again you already know that don’t you? [•] Can’t afford the Corvette? Try the Ford Focus; it rules. [•] The 2002 Maserati Spyder is so damn kick ass that I don’t even have a wise ass comment to get you to click on the link. Just do it. [•] Intel has announced an official Pentium 4 chipset using DDR SDRAM. The new AMD Duron mobile ratchets cheap laptop speeds up to 1GHz. And Toshiba has quit the memory business. [•] Viisage Technology licenses its face recognition technology to the US Army. [•] Apple has released a PowerBook with a CD/DVD burner and more memory. [•] Adobe is putting the final touches on multimedia creation software for Mac OS X. [•] Azazel and I had an excellent time at my company’s Christmas party. The food was great and a good time was had by all! [•] C0il is home for Christmas vacation! [•] Sometimes a song can say it all. [•] Note that there is no planned updates for the next three days as I will be attending a three day seminar on VDSL. The next update will be this Saturday. Talk to you then.

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Classic DF – 12/11/01

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December 11, 2001: [•] The Eastern Alliance has issued an ultimatum to al Qaeda forces; surrender by 8 AM local time or die. Meanwhile, US President Bush is marking the 3 month anniversary of the September 11th attacks today and has decided to release a videotape that definitively proves Osama bin Laden is responsible for that aforementioned attacked. [•] The UK will lead postwar peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan. [•] Ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has entered a not guilty plea in his genocide trial. [•] China has joined the WTO. [•] The 2 major parties in Trinidad have both won 18 seats each in the 36 seat Parliament. [•] US military officials met with Somali warlords to discuss terrorism issues. [•] Kenyan authorities have arrested Ahmed Hassan Mursal for unspecified charges. [•] Colombia is trying to rehabilitate and educate captured rebel minors. [•] A fireworks factory explosion in Guatemala City has left 7 people dead. [•] Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has apologized to his people for a government sponsored massacre 19 years ago. [•] Nauru has agreed to allow Australia to detain illegal immigrants in detention centers on the tiny island. [•] Saudi Arabia has begun issuing identification cards to its female citizens to prevent fraud. [•] The Syrian government has resigned to clear the way for reform. [•] A KFC/Taco Bell worker led several of his coworkers into the woods where he shot them in Malvern, Pennsylvania. [•] Norman Pyle McCann was killed when a 15-foot trench wall collapsed on him during construction in Rising Sun, Maryland. [•] The Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are the most often stolen autos. [•] The Lion & Lamb Project, an nonviolent toy advocacy group, has listed the top ten toys it sees as violent and thus harmful to children. [•] Everything is peachy keen up in space. [•] New high resolution images of Jupiter’s moon Io show incredible volcano eruptions. [•] Anonymous e-mail services are on the rise. [•] An international treaty will bring 30 countries into synch as far as copyright laws go. [•] Napster has signed a license agreement with Matador Records. [•] Oracle says that it’s software is unhackable. [•] The Interior Department shut down Net access by court order to protect an Indian trust fund. [•] Another hole has cropped up in Microsoft Outlook Web Access software that can allow unauthorized access to users’ accounts. [•] Can worms create a better fertilizer? [•] Retirees may not realize just how expensive long-term care is. [•] A new device makes facial defects nearly a thing of the past for newborns. [•] Court scribes are protected from libel just like journalists. [•] Life as an accused child porn trader sucks. [•] The Duh Study of The Day: Teens are as likely to trade music online as to seek health information. Isn’t that the point of the Net? [•] A new X-ray machine lets you see bone structure in real time. [•] Nigeria will be the first country to issue inexpensive generic anti-retroviral drugs to HIV and AIDS patients. [•] The New York DMV says that a National ID card wouldn’t be a big deal to issue. [•] Just down the street from me an idiot hunter almost killed a kid simply by being reckless. Please watch where your shooting before you fire! [•] 3 men plead innocent to a murder indictment in Monticello, NY. [•] Orange County Executive-elect Edward Diana defends choosing Justice Catherine M. Bartlett as his pick for county attorney. [•] Melvin Canales is charged with having sex with a minor, Jazmin Roberts poses as someone else, Town of Lloyd historian Dot Gruner is calling it quits after 15 years of service, a pedestrian drug down the street by a car has been identified as Bonnie Flores, 2 men held up the Country Convenience Food Store in Monroe, a basketball tournament will benefit the victims of WTC, Richard Beach gets 15 years for committing burglary, Joseph Rivera is charged with maliciously killing a cat, Daryl Watkins is charged with falsifying his ATV ID number, Milton Munroe is caught with stolen items, and Kenny Mitchell is put in jail for selling drugs. [•] J. Lo, Kid Rock, and Ja Rule performed at a USO show for US troops stationed in Germany. [•] Ocean’s Eleven may be a movie remake, but the music is all original. [•] Eminem’s boyhood bully is suing the rapper for using his name on a track citing that it ruined his potential rap career. Are you buying this crap because I’m sure not! [•] Google will allow you to look up Usenet articles all the way back from 1981 (Now, that’s a news archive). [•] Zacarias Moussaoui has been charged with conspiring with Osama bin Laden in the September 11th attacks. [•] Guns N’ Roses tickets for their New Year’s Eve Concert didn’t sell out in record time like last year. Frustration over lack of new material may be to blame. [•] Why the Acura RSX made Car & Driver’s Top Ten Autos list. [•] Microsoft’s Window Media format will be supported by some DVD chipset makers. [•] I love you wife and daughter! “Phew” Another busy day 🙂

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Classic DF – 10/18/01

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October 18, 2001: [•] The Capital Building has shut down in Washington DC after 31 people tested positive for anthrax exposure.[•] Airborne radio stations are sending Taliban soldiers an ultimatum. [•] The FAA is checking all employees’ backgrounds. [•] Israel has moved tanks into Palestinian neighborhoods hoping to keep the calm during an assassinated official’s funeral. [•] An envelope containing anthrax was sent from Atlanta, Georgia to a private citizen in Kenya. It looks like someone is testing international mail limits, now doesn’t it? [•] Japan’s Lower House has passed an anti-terrorism bill to support the US’s war on terrorism. [•] APEC is meeting in China this week and instead of economics they will be discussing terrorism. [•] Bodies from the sunken research vessel have started to be recovered. [•] Russia has pulled out of a spy base in Cuba. [•] The Canadian Navy has started making its way to join with US allies near Afghanistan. [•] Eliecer Meneses, an ex-Colombian congressman, was assassinated. [•] Diane Pretty, a terminally ill UK citizen, has lost her court case and the right to die on her own terms. [•] Saudi Arabia has asked its citizens not to sympathize with Islamic militants since they are perverting the religion instead of furthering it. [•] An unidentified man tried to hijack a bus and failed. He fled with an unknown woman into a car that was apparently following the bus. [•] Over $1 billion have been raised by charities for the victims and their families of the September 11th attacks. [•] The USS Kitty Hawk is armed with helicopters and special forces. It is only a matter of time now. [•] Before closing, the US House passed a bill that extends the ban on sales tax for items purchased over the Net by 2 years. [•] Microsoft has decided to start labeling security threats by genre and severity since users seem too incompetent to judge for themselves. [•] Apple has announced upgraded G4s and iBooks. [•] Everybody run for cover! AOL 7 is here! [•] The Ozone Hole over Antarctica hasn’t grown or shrunk for 3 years. [•] Due to anthrax fears Bayer is upping the production of the antibiotic Cipro. [•] Fleischmann’s recalls its unsalted stick margarine because whey isn’t listed on the ingredients label though it is used to create the food product. [•] So what’s stopping terrorists from tainting the illegal drug supply? I don’t know, but Wired is wondering the same thing. [•] Bell Labs scientists have developed a transistor a million times smaller than a grain of sand. [•] Yihat is looking for government support to hack terrorists. [•] GovNet may be separate from the Net, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be hackable. [•] The technicalities always get you. [•] How Route 17’s conversion to I-86 will affect traffic in Orange County, NY. [•] A cyclist collides with a van, Wanted: Politicians, a burglar is found guilty, restore your barn for free, Philip Halasz is arrested for fondling a teenage girl’s breasts, a drive-by shooting, switching from O&R Electric saves Port Jervis big money, and the debate over whether or not the Tappan Zee Bridge should be repaired begins. [•] Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson broke his foot when he threw a hissy fit and kicked a steel door. [•] Here’s Ozzy! [•] Sony and Toyota are developing a car that can understand human emotion (Ummm… great… I think). [•] Anthrax shows up at CBS. [•] Surgeons develop a way to insert an implant to restore hearing through a tiny incision. [•] Arrested Rapper of The Day: Jay-z has pleaded guilty to assaulting a record executive. [•] First pictures of the production Mazda RX-8 and 6. Very cool indeed. [•] DaimlerChrysler shows off its Mercedes F400 concept model. [•] 2002 will see the return of the Dodge to the police market with the Intrepid police car package. [•] Volkswagen unveils its new D1 and it has a 411 hp W12 engine. What more could you ask for? [•] If you look close at the 2002 Holden Monaro you can see the Australian version of the Chevrolet Camaro. Just “sigh” and think of all that could have been. [•] Sony continues its trend of integrating all of its products together with the TiVo. [•] Microsoft says that many of the exploits that turn up are due to vendors giving out early source code (Sure, blame someone else LOL). [•] I love you wife and daughter! [•] Immy reports that Reboot, a popular computer animated cartoon, will be running season four in the US. That rules. [•] I’ve been busy as heck at work. I had to compose a training transcript and work up a presentation. I completed a broadband presentation the other day. I keep getting stuck late at work solving implausible problems. I’ve had two meetings this week and next week I am going to an expo on local commerce. So faced with not enough time during prime time I got up a 5AM with Li’l Pooh this morning and had playtime. If one thing irks me about this world it’s that I don’t really see my daughter a lot during the week. I guess it’s time to wake up earlier to get some quality time– I hate getting up before the sun, but for her it’s worth it 🙂

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Classic DF – 2/28/01

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February 23, 2001: [•] Poor Li’l Pooh is still sick! The poor kid gets better only to catch another cold (Deja vu). She’s still smiling though 🙂 [•] Mermaid gives us an update over the AOL verses Trillian situation. [•] What is with Russia? Of all of sudden if they don’t win an Olympic event they demand a recount and when they do win it turns out to be because of “pressure” on judges. Can you say “spoiled sports”. Sheesh. [•] Chuck Jones, the man who nearly single-handedly created all of the Warner Brothers cartoon characters, has died. [•] Wonder why the US puts up with Saudi Arabia’s harsh treatment of its citizens? Wonder no more! [•] Bored? Well, obviously you haven’t looked hard enough at last week’s link. Try right clicking on the page. [•] I doubt that totally cleared up your boredom, so why not check out uComics too? Now, you can get your daily fix of Garfield from the safety of your PC (whatever that means). BTW: Check out Captain Ribman. It’s an… ummmm… interesting (I think that’s the word I’m grasping for here) comic to say the least. [•] Things are looking good on the “My family needs more living space” front. Most likely we’ll be getting the smaller of two apartments we looked at, but it is larger than our existing one so I can deal with that. They are currently completely remodeling it so we’ll have to wait two months before we could move in, but that’s perfect since our lease has four months left anyhow. Just a little too perfect if you ask me 😉

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