More Spyware using new Microsoft Vunerability
You MUST update your machines
Please be sure to run Windows Update as frequently as possible
Microsoft has learned of a Trojan program that is downloaded by the Download.Ject malware, also known as Scob, to client machines from infected IIS servers. When a user visits a Web site hosted on an IIS server that is infected with Download.Ject, the Web pages downloaded to the user's system contain an additional JavaScript program that downloads another Trojan program to the user's system. This second Trojan is called Backdoor:W32/Berbew, also known as Backdoor-AXJ, Webber, or Padodor. When this second Trojan runs on the user's machine, it performs several actions, including:
- Monitoring Internet access. When the user visits one of several financial or ISP Web sites, the Trojan captures sensitive information-such as log-in names, passwords, and so on-and sends it to a Web server for the Trojan's author to retrieve.
- Installing a proxy server that allows the user's system to be used as a relay for such actions as sending spam.
- Opening fake dialog boxes that prompt the user to enter confidential information such as ATM card codes, credit card numbers, and so on. This information is then sent to a Web server for the Trojan's author to retrieve.
Microsoft has released a tool to help you remove Backdoor:W32/Berbew Trojan variants from your computer. You can download this tool from the Microsoft Download Center and run it on your computer to remove Backdoor:W32/Berbew.A, Backdoor:W32/Berbew.B, Backdoor:W32/Berbew.C, and Backdoor:W32/Berbew.D, Backdoor:W32/Berbew.E, Backdoor:W32/Berbew.F, Backdoor:W32/Berbew.G and Backdoor:W32/Berbew.H infections. This tool is discussed in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 873018. This KB can be found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=873018
X-Sanguin-III Costume Quest
I don't want to give to much of my costume away, but over time this post will have everything I need to make it.
To start with I'm looking to have a coat that looks kinda like a cross between the one in Hellraiser, and that Neo wears in the Matrix. I've found several neat links to costumes... some way to expensive. But hopefully I can find a place locally that has costumes that I can actually try on.
The Coat - DONE
This is the one I went with...
Abbyshot.com - Neo - Expensive, but checkout the movie clips. The coat really has a nice flow to it.
SubCultureArray.com - Hellraiser - Good starting point, and sleeveless
Retailslut.com - Hellraiser - Cheaper price, same thing, and a Velvet offering...
Pinhead Costumes - other people dressed up
Hellraiser Website
The Bracers / Gauntlets - DONE
Found some 4 piece leather gauntlets that lace up the arm. I forgot the store name, but its some leather store in hollywood.
Ringold Alley - 30th and Upas (8 blocks south of University)
The Crypt - Park Ave
Head Make-up
Talking with Jacob, to see if he or Lauren have something that won't end up all over my black coat.
Horns
I think I found some inexpensive 'pink' horns, that with some white paint, or body makeup I can turn into real good looking ones. Will play with them and see. And with the special glue I bought it should stick pretty well to my little noggin.
Pants - Skirt
Yes folks, maybe even a skirt. If you look at the above picture i could pull off black pants, or maybe a thin black skirt... i'm thinking something custom. Need to talk with the folks at Aphrodites Closet to see what I can get made.
When ahead and got a black pleated skirt made up, with a little pocket. Should work out perfect.
Boots
Gonna get some links from Jacob, and they have some neat ones at the Crypt. But still haven't found anything that screems out at me. Definately want something monster boot ish, that gives me a little boost in the height department, and comes up my legs a bit.
Fingernails... pointy? Black... not sure yet.
VoIP and Vonage to make Area Codes obsolete
Voice-over-IP vendor Vonage has for some time let subscribers pick the area code of their choosing. Now, it says customers can make local calls without having to dial an area code at all. Some think area codes could disappear all together.
Coupled with number portability for cell phones and the ability of VoIP subscribers to pick their area codes, the fundamental geographical reason for area codes is disappearing, according to one observer of the telecommunications business. “Five years down the road, the word 'area code' will be a misnomer,†said Kevin Mitchell of Infonetics in an interview Thursday.
After offering subscribers the option of choosing 179 area codes in 40 states, regardless of where subscribers are located, Vonage took another step Wednesday towards rendering area codes obsolete by offering to eliminate them entirely. “Many [subscribers] have been asking for seven-digit dialing to make it easier and quicker to dial local friends and family,†said Vonage chairman and CEO Jeffrey Citron in a statement.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040708S0002
Windows Media Center 2005 review by a TiVo owner
I found this article about the pending Windows Media Center 2005 review pretty interesting. I am not convinced that I would spend $2000 for a WMC, versus another TiVo. But you have to admit things are heating up in this space. The next version of the TiVo should keep pace with this. But it definately put TiVo on notice... which sucks since I have stock in them. 🙂
http://www.robichaux.net/archives/000859.php#000859
What Happy OS are you?
How to backup your TiVo
Well, after my TiVo crashed, I have gotten back in and learned how to recreate the system from scratch. 🙁 I am able to start with a brand new drive, use the 25xtreme image, then upgrade it to upgrd310. But this leaves me with a basic config.
Update: Well it seems that I need to run the upgrd252.sh script, since 3.1 doesn't work with my TiVo. Also key to the upgrade process is ensuring you have a compatible drive. I am now using the 40Gig ST340810A. It work much better than the IBM. The IBM would get through the first install pass of just 25, but then would not upgrade giving me some funky error. BTW, also use a good motherboard. The system I have at home is now going into the trash. POS machine cost me 2 days of my life fuckin with the TiVo. Its onboard IDE1 channel is flaky.
Update 2: Don't upgrade with another tivo in the same room. I ran the commands to wipe my TiVo, and another one in the room was listening, and it wiped too. 🙁 I feel like a total heel. On another note. You may lose your local channels, if this is the case, just wait several days (argh), or call your local provider and say you reset your system and you don't have them. They put you in a priority que, and the programing comes down in about 15-30 minutes. Call: 1-800-DIR ECTV
I have started this system up. Added the xPlusz commands. They were:
#21,1 - NOPHONE
#22,1 - T30SS 30 Second skip
#43,1 - TELNET
#45,1 - TIVOWEB (1.9.4)
#46,1 - TIVOFTPD
#47,1 - NOSCRAMBLE
#54,1 - Activate NOSCAMBLE#28,1 - CRON
#30,1 - CALLERIDmight need
#53,0 - noscramble.o
It takes a while for all these services to start up... once the TiVo boots. So be patient. So now that it was setup this way, I wanted to save all my hard work. So i found the MFSTools2.ISO, and used it to boot up. A good reference on what commands to backup your TiVo can be found in an article written by TomsHardware.com. It basically states what I did. Boot with the MFSTools CD then type:
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hdd1 /mnt/dos
mfstool backup -9vso /mnt/dos/mytivo.bak /dev/hdc
This is assuming you have a FAT32 drive as the SLAVE on the SECONDARY drive chain, and your TiVo drive as the MASTER on the SECONDARY drive chain. My CDROM boots as the master on the PRIMARY.
DEAL DATABASE FORUMS
DarkWing's DTiVo Basics And Beyond 3.1
Restoring Mfs Tools backup image
Deal Database HowTos Only Thread
TiVoStuff.COM - Thee place for file downloads
Do You Know Your 80s Hair Band Lyrics?
So... how well do you know your hairband lyrics...
10-9 correct: I bet you had your hair cut short in front and very long in back.
7-8: You were a head banger, but your friends knew more bands that you did.
5-6: You wanted to fit in, but didn't quite get the big hair and makeup thing.
0-4: You probably listened to the Pointer Sister's "Neutron Dance" and "Jump For Your Love."
Your final score is 10 out of 10 questions.
http://html.thepittsburghchannel.com/sh/quizine/833988/
TJ - 10
Gabe - 8
M - 4
Let me know your hairband scores....
The eventual downfall of any collector
As many of you know, I am an advid penny collector... i count them, I sort them, and I hoard them in large quantities. Like most hobbies for collectors, the value is in the collecting and the personal gratification... and when that ends... liquidating the collection has costs... not gains. As is the case with my brothers comic books... he will lose money selling all of his collection, with stores only buying them for 5-10 cents on the dollar. When I go to sell my pennies, you can also expect the banks to want to charge me to take them back as well. As was the case for this guy:
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1982289&nav=EyAzOLAN
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Granada Hills man is trying to get rid of his pennies -- all one million of them.
Ron England bet his brother 30 years ago that he could save a million pennies in exchange for a dinner in Paris.
And he did, eventually stacking up 20,000 rolls that fill 13 boxes in his garage.
England is moving and wants to cash in the 3.6 tons of pennies. But he's having a tough time finding someone who will take them without a price.
Coin collectors said to call a bank.
But his bank, Washington Mutual, is charging extra fees and won't take all the rolls at once. The best he's found is a branch that will take 200 rolls, or 100 dollars per week. That's 20 months of deposits.
England, however, refuses to pay. He says he'll haul all the pennies to his new home in Oregon if he has to.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)