Profile of a Virus Writer
The New York Times has published a great article on virus writers. Nice detailed analysis that is worth the read.
"This is how easy it has become.
Mario stubs out his cigarette and sits down at the desk in his bedroom. He pops into his laptop the CD of Iron Maiden's ''Number of the Beast,'' his latest favorite album. ''I really like it,'' he says. ''My girlfriend bought it for me.'' He gestures to the 15-year-old girl with straight dark hair lounging on his neatly made bed, and she throws back a shy smile. Mario, 16, is a secondary-school student in a small town in the foothills of southern Austria. (He didn't want me to use his last name.) His shiny shoulder-length hair covers half his face and his sleepy green eyes, making him look like a very young, languid Mick Jagger. On his wall he has an enormous poster of Anna Kournikova -- which, he admits sheepishly, his girlfriend is not thrilled about. Downstairs, his mother is cleaning up after dinner. She isn't thrilled these days, either. But what bothers her isn't Mario's poster. It's his hobby.
When Mario is bored -- and out here in the countryside, surrounded by soaring snowcapped mountains and little else, he's bored a lot -- he likes to sit at his laptop and create computer viruses and worms. Online, he goes by the name Second Part to Hell, and he has written more than 150 examples of what computer experts call ''malware'': tiny programs that exist solely to self-replicate, infecting computers hooked up to the Internet." Full Story
All About the Dads Tonight
I've got the Grammy awards playing in the background and it is a surprisingly emotional evening with a theme about fathers. Having spent the weekend alone with my daugther, it is striking a chord with me. I found Warren Zevon's son the most impressive with his simple request that "when all you parents out there get questions about who Warren Zevon was after this, I hope you will add that he was a wonderful father to your description of him." (paraphrased of course). In addition, the Luther Vandross song, Dance with My Father was a clear crowd favorite.
Dance With My Father (Luther Vandross Lyrics)
Back when I was a child, before life removed all the innocence
My father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me and then
Spin me around 'til I fell asleep
Then up the stairs he would carry me
And I knew for sure I was loved
If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him
I'd play a song that would never, ever end
How I'd love, love, love
To dance with my father again
Read more
What's wrong with the NHL?
Martin St. Louis was elected as a first team all-star, so you've got my atttention. I've tuned into the all-star game with my Powerbook on my lap hoping to catch some great moves and get some work done at the same time. However, and it is a big however, the game isn't being broadcast in High Definition! They claimed they were broadcasting in HDTV format at the start of the game, but it hasn't happened yet. Big disappointment...
UPDATE: Whatever was wrong is fixed now and the broadcast is in HDTV. Thanks for your responsiveness ABC!
Shake things up...shake up the world.
I am nearing my goal of having a Windows free environment at the Devost household. Our desktops are running OS X and my servers are running Linux (RedHat and Fedora). One lone Windows machine remains, used only for Groove, which does not support Mac OS X. It shouldn't be surprising that my favorite SuperBowl commercial was the Linux one. In fact, IBM has produced a series of outstanding Linux commercials, which can be found here.
"Never. Never make me no underdog. And never talk about who’s gonna stop me. Well, there ain’t nobody gonna stop me. I must be the greatest. I shook up the world. (Inaudible background voices) I shook up the world. I shook up the world. I shook up the world."
The RSS Solution
Eric posted a link last week to BlogLines, an online RSS reader. I've been using the site ever since Eric posted it, and I must admit I am very impressed. If you read RSS feeds, and are looking for a solution that works from any location using any platform (Palm device, laptop, desktop) then check out Bloglines. It has already significantly enhanced my RSS experience.
Microsoft in Human Rights Row
Technology sold by Microsoft to the Chinese government has been used by Beijing to censor the internet, and resulted in the jailing of its political opponents. An Amnesty International report has cited Microsoft among a clutch of leading computer firms heavily criticised for helping to fuel 'a dramatic rise in the number of people detained or sentenced for internet-related offences'. Full Story
More Mac Fun
"Never ask a person what computer they use. If it's a Mac, they'll tell you. If it's not, why embarrass them?" -- Tom Clancy
The Dean Scream
Here is an interesting take on the Dean scream that was played by the media over 700 times the next day. It turns out that the footage we've been seeing on TV had his voice isolated, so the viewer hears the scream out of context. Turns out, had you been in the room, or had his voice not been processed through the isolator, you would have heard the background noise of the crowd that he was trying to talk above. An interesting insight into the impact of technology and the media on a 30 second snapshot in time.
The Shoe Bomber Can't Fill His Own Shoes
Doc first brought this statement by the Judge in the Richard Reid case to my attention:
"There is all too much war talk here. And I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, where we deal with individuals as individuals, and care for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach out for justice, you are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or that happens to be your view, you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice. So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I know warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders."