January, 2009 archive
Rickrolling Along, No Sense of Humor Dept. 0
As reported in El Reg. Be sure to play the ad spot at the bottom of the story.
The Joy of Linux 0
El Reg reports (emphasis added):
It’s been confirmed that more than 800 computers have been infected with self-replicating Conficker code. Insiders at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust said they suspect many more machines are affected but have not been reported to IT.
The Trust told The Register it now has the outbreak under control and is engaged in “clearing up” remnants. Non-urgent appointments in the medical imaging department had to be cancelled while its computers were disinfected. A Trust spokeswoman said no other direct impact on patient care was known.
The decision to disable automatic security updates was taken during Christmas week after PCs in an operating theatre rebooted mid-surgery. Conficker was detected on December 29.
Of course, turning off Windows updates is a bad idea, because Windows security is so fundamentally flawed that fixing it is a career, not a task.
I set my Windows boxes to download updates and let me decide when to install them. That way, the updates can’t install themselves while the user is, say, committing surgery.
Running around and manually installing updates on 8,000 computers, either directly or remotely, would be a daunting task for the IS folks, but it sure would be better than rebuilding 800 computers that have been conflicked up.
Truthiness in Lending 0
Marketwatch summarizes “how to detect unfair or deceptive credit-card practices . . ..”
This story is worth a read for anyone who still has a credit card.
Fix It Again, Tony 0
Fiat wants to come back to the States:
No cash is changing hands. Fiat’s investment is all “in kind.”
I don’t think Tony will have much luck fixing this one.
Future Shock 0
The Onion, January 17, 2001.
That’s right. 2001.
I’m going to follow their stock market advice from now on. Read the whole thing. It’s eerily prescient:
Bush swore to do “everything in [his] power” to undo the damage wrought by Clinton’s two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.
During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
Via Noz.
End. Beginning. 0
The Backwards Bush Clock over there
——————————–>
on the sidebar has been retired.
Bush is and will remain backwards, but his clock has run out.
Now, God willing, the polity will return to reasonable fights over sane policies, rather than unreasonable fights over insane policies.
God be with us as we return to reality.
Watchful Waiting 2
No pardons yet, just a clemency for ICE agents who shot a brown person in the back. Had he been a white guy sneaking over the border into North Dakota from Canada, I guarantee, no clemency.
I expressed my thoughts on pardons yesterday over at Noz’s place.
Neo-Voodoo 0
Paul Krugman:
But recent news reports suggest that many influential people, including Federal Reserve officials, bank regulators, and, possibly, members of the incoming Obama administration, have become devotees of a new kind of voodoo: the belief that by performing elaborate financial rituals we can keep dead banks walking.
But, then again, Wall Street bankers wear three-piece suits (even the female ones), drive (or are driven in) expensive cars, and vote Republican, so it must not be their fault. Right?
Truth. No Reconciliation. 0
From the Guardian:
But now, these circumstances are changing. The torture issue may turn out to be too big to ignore.
(snip)
The Bush White House is about to disappear. It can no longer wield the political or institutional clout necessary to enforce a strict code of silence. Meanwhile, there are certain advantages to coming clean, and as time goes by they will grow more compelling. Some lower-level officials in the Bush-era Pentagon, justice department and intelligence agencies will want to clear their consciences and be on the right side of history. Some will want to go on the record to secure legal protections from prosecution.
Prosecutions are not needed. Truth is.
Governing 0
The Booman discusses the difference between governing and kvetching.
Tragic. Just Tragic. 2
What Susie said.
Highlights Reel 0
Warning: Language
H/T Alison for the link.
“Dust to Dust” 0
There was a whole crowd in my desk either coming or going.
Addendum:
They have now been evicted. I even moved the La-Z-Boy and vacuumed under it.
76 Years Ago . . . 0
. . . The Nation’s editorial board wrote the editorial from which I took the excerpt below and which they republish in this week’s edition.
Some things have not changed.
Remember, it wasn’t Bush. He is just another Republican doing what Republicans do:
Making the rich richer and the poor poorer.
It was Republicanism.
Follow the link. Read the whole thing. And realize that history can indeed repeat itself when citizens do not pay attention to it.
Drinking Liberally: Special Edition 2
Courtesy of Philadelphia City Paper and others, Tuesday, The Plough and Stars, Second between Market and Chestnut, Philadelphia, Pa., 6 p.
Addendum:
I won’t tell anyone about my secret parking place. Rox reports that over 1000 persons have RSVP’ed.
Damn, I better print up some more business cards for tomorrow!
Recruiting Drive 0
Looming poverty raises enlistments:
Recruiters also report that more people are inquiring about joining the military, a trend that could further bolster the ranks. Of the four armed services, the Army has faced the toughest recruiting challenge in recent years because of high casualty rates in Iraq and long deployments overseas. Recruitment is also strong for the Army National Guard, according to Pentagon figures. The Guard tends to draw older people.
“When the economy slackens and unemployment rises and jobs become more scarce in civilian society, recruiting is less challenging,” said Curtis Gilroy, the director of accession policy for the Department of Defense.
Sour Orange Juice 0
Newt Gingrich is on Marconi’s Magic Box talking about how those who live in civilized society shouldn’t have to help pay for it tax cuts.