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GRAFFITI -- June 13, 2005 thru June 19, 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.

MONDAY    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
June 13, 2005

1730 - Good afternoon. Busy day, topped off by the fact that the car didn't start when I climbed in it to drive home. This is going to be an expensive month, I can tell. More later from home, or possibly just tomorrow morning. Happy freaking Monday!

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Mon    TUESDAY    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
June 14, 2005

0700 - Good morning. No word on the car yet, of course. The tow service used by the dealership was very prompt, showing up about 20 minutes after the call was placed. It must have been a bit slow yesterday evening. The other good news was that the traffic was pretty light for evening commute going both ways. I called Marcia at about 1640, she made the trip around and up, then we drove home, arriving by 1830. Quite good, actually. This morning, she's off to her club for a workout, then once back she'll be in for the day and I'll take the truck to the dentist to get the packing removed from the extraction site, then on to work.

I was busy tuning rules on the firewall yesterday, bringing secondary services online appropriately. I found myself alternately breaking, then quickly fixing, other things that were apparent side-effects of my changes, or simply mistakes. That happens, I didn't break anything really badly, and nearly everything was working properly except active FTP connection proxying, by the time my day was done.

Today is Windows Patch Day. There are to be, I think, 7 patches issued, several of "critical" importance. If you've got Automatic Updates turned on, then just let it happen. On the other hand, if you hand-administer your patches, then give it a day or two, as I do, to make sure there's nothing heinous about the patches that breaks things. Then update your systems, certainly by close of business Thursday.

My appointment is at 0830, I'll be leaving no later than 8, so I'd best start getting ready to roll. Have a great day!

1128 -A brief stop-in to correct a negative drive time. But relativity works, Gary!

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June 15, 2005

No Post!

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June 16, 2005

1407 - Good afternoon. Yesterday was a blur. No, not in a bad way (much, although I forgot my anti-inflamatory med), just busier than hell. And the moment I got home, we bailed out the door to get to our last night of "Anatomy of a Murder Mystery" class at the Smithsonian. Much fun with an author's roundtable, including Noreen Wald, Donna Andrews, Ellen Crosby, Maria Lima, and Laura Durham. Backtracking a bit, we solved my FTP problems, and I put another couple of hot items on my to-do list to bed. Today I'm building a new Kickstart server using White Box Enterprise Linux 3 respin 2, getting some passwords transcribed into my Treo while updates run on said server, then having some more fun documenting my kickstart process so that someone else can replicate it if I get hit by a bus.

I'd better get back to it. Have a great day!

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    FRIDAY    Sat    Sun   
June 17, 2005

0840 - Good morning. On my list for today is to pull down the assorted applicable Patches from the MS site and place them in our local network for people to apply them. There's something about our proxy/firewall setup that Windows Update (XP edition) doesn't like. Then I'll send out the Staff message, including the stock warnings about phishing, attachments and whatnot. I've got accounting software to install on someone's machine, a CSR to generate for one of our sites, more fun with RH Kickstart ...

I was reading Bob's post on phishing the other day, and I caught myself wondering about the wisdom of the implied course of action. That is, getting everyone to follow the links and put deliberately false information into the poseur's sites. Overwhelm their theft mechanisms with crap data. That's sweet, as far as it goes. But the real risk here is the installation of trojans, keystroke loggers and the like that happens in the background at these types of sites. So, from that perspective, I can't endorse Bob's recommendation. But I do have an alternative... Why not just STOP warning people about phishing? Who is vulnerable to phishing? Um, people who shouldn't be online, right, because they're incompetent in determining what's legit (very little) and what isn't (almost everything). So, these people (the prior description is too long, let's just use the term moron, and be done with it), these morons will follow links, become poorer, not be able to afford their broadband connections, and drop off the net! Result: Many fewer spam zombies on the Internet, and a definite shift to the right of the bell curve for those people still connected. I could count that as a win, and extremely Darwinian to boot.

Okay, busy day ahead, I'd better get to it. Ciao!

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June 18, 2005

1959 - Back from the Barnes Foundation gallery, safe and sound. Long day, catch you tomorrow.

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June 19, 2005

1228 - Good afternoon. I've got pictures from the gardens at the Barnes Foundation, later, or perhaps tomorrow. Inside the Barnes, where no picture taking is allowed, there are some 2000 works of art hanging on the walls of perhaps 4000 square feet of exhibition space in the Gallery. That's densely packed art, of which 180 or so were Renoir. Frankly, I'll be happy to never see another red-faced girl, clothed or unclothed, in a red-tinged setting on canvas ever again. However, I've gained a great deal of appreciation for Cezanne, which I wouldn't mind having some prints of, one of these days.

We've done with our shopping, and I have many chores to attend to. But first, let me take a moment to see how our soldiers are paying the price...

• Sgt. Larry R. Arnold Sr., 46, of Carriere, Miss. died on June 11 in Owesat Village, Iraq, when his armored personnel carrier was hit by an improvised explosive device.
• Spc. Terrance D. Lee Sr., 25, of Moss Point, Miss. died on June 11 in Owesat Village, Iraq, when his armored personnel carrier was hit by an improvised explosive device.
• Lance Cpl. Mario A. Castillo, 20, of Brownwood, Texas died June 10 as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations in Saqlawiyah, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Andrew J. Kilpela, 22, of Fowerville, Mich. died June 10 as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations in Saqlawiyah, Iraq.
• Spc. Casey Byers, 22, of Schleswig, Iowa died June 11 in Al Taqaddum, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle.
• Sgt. 1st Class Neil A. Prince, 35, of Baltimore, Md. died June 11 in Al Taqaddum, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle.
• Lance Cpl. John J. Mattek Jr., 24, of Stevens Point, Wis., died June 13 from wounds received as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, on June 8.
• Cpl. Stanley J. Lapinski, 35, of Las Vegas, Nev., died June 11 in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle.
• Sgt. David J. Murray, 23, of Clinton, La., died June 9 in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle.
• Sgt. Larry R. Kuhns Jr., 24, of Austintown, Ohio died on June 13 in Ramadi, Iraq, where his military vehicle came under a grenade attack while conducting combat operations.
• Spc. Anthony D. Kinslow, 21, of Westerville, Ohio died on June 13 in Ramadi, Iraq, where his military vehicle came under a grenade attack while conducting combat operations.
• Pfc. Joshua P. Klinger, 21, from Easton, Pa., died June 14 as a result of an explosion from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Fallujah, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Jonathan R. Flores, 18, of San Antonio, Texas died June 15 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
• Cpl. Jesse Jaime, 22, of Henderson, Nev. died June 15 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
• Cpl. Tyler S. Trovillion, 23, of Richardson, Texas died June 15 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Dion M. Whitley, 21, of Los Angeles, Calif. died June 15 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
• Pfc. Michael R. Hayes, 29, of Morgantown, Ky., died June 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, where a rocket-propelled grenade hit his HMMWV while he was providing security cordon for an improvised explosive device found earlier.
• Sgt. Anthony G. Jones, 25, of Greenville, S.C., died June 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle.
• Petty Officer 2nd Class Cesar O. Baez, 37, of Pomona, Calif., died June 15, as a result of enemy small arms fire while conducting combat operations in al-Anbar province, Iraq.
• Pfc. Nathan B. Clemons, 20, of Winchester, Tenn., died June 14 from wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Ar Rutbah, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Chad B. Maynard, 19, of Montrose, Colo., died June 15 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
• Spc. Anthony S. Cometa, 21, of Las Vegas, Nev., died June 16 in Safwan, Kuwait, when his HMMWV rolled over.
• Staff Sgt. Christopher N. Piper, 43, of Marblehead, Mass., died on June 16 at the Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, from injuries sustained on June 3 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle in Orgun-E, Afghanistan.
• Lance Cpl. Erik R. Heldt, 26, of Hermann, Mo. died June 16 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
• Capt. John W. Maloney, 36, of Chicopee, Mass. died June 16 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

Rest In Peace.

Now, chores! Happy Father's Day, all you fathers, out there. Ciao!

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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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