Nick at Nite

Maybe Nick at Nite was just a victim of its own success. Years ago, tuning into channel 35 past 8 p.m. meant seeing a glimpse of history, TV-style. Nostalgia reigned, and there wasn't a microwave oven -- or a drop of color -- in sight. Color shows seeped in over time, of course, but still, there wasn't a show that didn't premiere earlier than the 60s.

But the TV archives are vast, and kids stay up beyond 8 p.m. Nickelodeon "stayed up late" and Nick at Nite was pressed for time . . . eventually, we got TV Land, 24 hours a day of classic TV shows. But with a whole classic TV network, what was left for Nick at Nite to show?

Well, there was always the more recent half of the archive . . . And suddenly, Nick at Nite looked a lot less like TV Land and a lot more like TBS.

Why all these ruminations? For weeks, Nick at Nite (and TV Land) have been promoting the premiere of their latest "modern TV classic," Roseanne (a show I never enjoyed much -- among many popular shows I don't enjoy much). I was ambivalent; I wasn't surprised.

But now! Now I've just seen a commercial touting a new fall lineup including Full House. God save us.

"Terrorism"

SCO, the company trying to cover its lack of innovation by enforcing vague intellectual property rights (that it purchased from someone else), had its web site hit with a denial-of-service attack over the weekend. SCO CEO Darl McBride commented:

"Terrorists do things designed to intimidate people, and we see a lot of that going on all the time -- people trying to attack us or people that we're associated with," he said at the time. "If you look at a DOS attack, that's a form of cyber-terrorism," he said. "when you're shutting people's Web sites down, you are impacting commerce. That's against the law."

But apparently it's not against the law to profit off of other people's work. In fact, doing that is protected by copyright law. As is violating the Fair Use principle that once was part of copyright law, back in the pre-DMCA days. Ask the entertainment industry . . .

Anyway, another recent incident, a protest against SUVs targeted especially at dealers of the vehicles (commentary), is now being termed "domestic terrorism" by the government. Those regular old crimes, vandalism and arson, aren't good enough anymore, it seems.

Since when did the world become so full of "terrorism"?

All acts of violence are horrific, no matter what label you give them. But why do we allow some, even some that are relatively trivial and do no physical harm to people, to be called "terrorism" while celebrating others, even others that kill and maim hundreds, as "justice"?

I better stop writing now before I'm accused of stirring up cyber-terrorism.

The Cog

This is old, but it's worth linking to anyway, in case someone hasn't seen it. Here is the commercial that Honda believed we on this side of the pond were too stupid to understand:

The Cog

Factoids

Some notes of interest about the Sobig worm:

It was originally developed by or for spammers so that they could take advantage of unwitting, vulnerable home PCs to send spam, a useful technique when ISPs quickly shut down the accounts of more open spammers.

On Friday, all infected computers attempted to download software from 20 servers, 19 of which were taken offline in order to avert the internet traffic jam this would cause. Those that managed to contact the 20th server only redirected their hosts to a porn site.

The computers that didn't succeed in downloading the software on Friday will try again every Friday and Saturday until Sept. 10. At that point, the virus will mercifully delete itself, finally ending the e-mail deluge.

Rankings

For any and all interested, Northwestern managed to pull an 11 (tied again with Columbia) this year, a decline of one from last year. But at least we still laid the smack down on U of Chicago.

U.S. News Rankings

An Open Message to My Windows-Using Friends

As you may or may not have heard, there are a number of computer viruses running rampant in the e-mail system right now. The most virulent appears to be the Sobig worm, which arrives in your inbox as a file attached to a message, possibly from someone you know, with an innocuous subject line. When it gets on your computer, it sets up its own SMTP (that is, mail-sending) server and searches your computer for any and all e-mail addresses, which it uses to propagate itself and falsify "From:" headers.

For more information on the virus and what it does to your computer, see these pages:

McAfee Security: W32/Sobig.f@MM

Symantec Security Response: W32.Sobig.F@mm

Sophos Virus Analysis: W32/Sobig-F

You may have this virus and not know about it.

Outlook and Outlook Express are especially notorious for opening attachments automatically, but other programs could download it, too, based on your settings. Plus this is a particularly bad situation, as many servers block messages that appear to contain viruses, which bounces them back to the falsified "From:" address rather than the infected computer, which may spread the infection even more.

I have been getting tons of these bounced messages, which means at least one person who has my Northwestern e-mail address stored somewhere on their computer is infected. Please do everyone a favor and download the removal tools from the above web sites and make sure your computer is secure.

If you're using a Mac, you can't get infected yourself, but you might accidentally forward the virus to a Windows user if you don't delete these infected messages.

Never open attachments if you don't know what they are! Who knows what a ".pif" file could contain?

Interesting

How's this for turning conventional wisdom on its head? An acting job for which having incredibly disgusting teeth is a plus. Such are the joys of playing a Cro-Magnon.

Ohhhh . . . there's a big, yucky bug crawling around next to me. I have no idea what it is, but I've just found that it can fly. Gross. Since the boys didn't close the sliding glass door, a whole bunch of bugs have found their way into the house through the holes in the screen. No one in this house believes me when I say that all the downstairs windows should be closed at night because even the screens in good condition don't keep out the gnats. And gnats, like all bugs, love to fly toward the light.

Zoe is scared now since thunder has started rumbling in the distance. Our dogs are living on edge these days as on Tuesday, they got their first taste of invisible fencing shock. Oscar cried and Zoe jumped "like a jackrabbit!" and now neither dog is quite so fond of the outdoors. Zoe's been shocked several times since Tuesday because of her tendency to rush down the lawn to bark at passersby, and she's become leery of leaving the safety of the minivan shade. Oscar's mental boundary gets closer and closer to the house every day -- if you toss a ball for him to fetch beyond his boundary but nowhere near the shock zone, he will fight tooth and nail to avoid having to go get it.

Of course, Oscar isn't too bright, so he likes to go out ever more frequently and simply stalk the five feet between the garden and the path to the driveway. Oh well, he makes up for in enthusiasm what he lacks in brains.

Ow

My teeth hurt.

Leery Eye

I watched a second episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy last night, and I don't know what to think. Clearly, the concept is horribly stereotypical: Gay men, those natural mavens of culture and style, take that straight slob, Joe Schmo, and turn him into something presentable, if charmingly unable to absorb their lessons fully. The show perpetuates the idea that gay men must be superficial and that straight men can't like things like interior decorating, and that's a step backward for society in many ways, especially in light of the Episcopalian bishop election debacle.

But what can I say? It's an entertaining show.

Putting aside qualms for a minute, the show's "Fab Five" have tremendous chemistry. Their repartee is so natural that it seems like they've been giving makeovers together for years. Plus they're credible experts in their fields, professionals down to the Broadway actor in charge of "culture." On top of all that, they pile on the humor, between fashion expert Carson, who spouts endless one-liners, and interior decorator Thom, who steadily grows more disgusted and depressed as he goes through apartments full of enormous smiley-face candles, old porn and bathroom fixtures growing their own kind of culture.

And you can't help but admit that they do a fantastic job cleaning up these cleanliness-challenged men, what with teaching them everything from basic grooming to gourmet cooking and performing apartment redecoratings that would put Trading Spaces to shame.

So what to think of all this?

Go China

Fight the power, Manchuria: The government has been pushing the development of a homegrown software industry and a national standard for open-source Linux software to counter the spread of Microsoft in the last few years.

Chinese ministries upgrade homegrown software

Angry Muscles

I have some wicked saddle sores from the stationary bike right now. Don't I love exercise.

So far, I've logged about 40 minutes on the thing (10 minutes yesterday, 30 today). Since I've dragged it into my room in order to watch cable TV while I bike now, I'm hoping boredom won't overwhelm me and I'll be able to get at least 30 minutes a day until I leave. But I don't know if my pelvic bones are going to tolerate this attempt to build up my biking endurance.

I am fully intending at the moment though to start making regular trips to SPAC next year to exercise (I figure it's probably not so far away now). I'm sure Kathy will be happy, considering I consistently refused to accompany her last year.

Power Outage

Yeah, we were affected by the power outage in the Northeast, if anyone is wondering. Erie was pretty much the only city in the state to lose power. We had brownouts (the power fading slightly in and out) all Thursday afternoon and then later on the power went completely. That really sucked because it was hot and we then had no fans, but I guess we can be thankful we weren't stuck on a subway for eight hours. Anyway, the power came back just as we were sitting down to dinner that evening, with no major interruptions since.

I did hear from my aunt that power went out down where her brother works (either in Philadelphia or New Jersey) for a while. Apparently, when the lights went out in their office building, everyone started screaming: "Oh my God!" "Blessed Mother, what are they doing to us now?!"

Running a Tight Ship

Check out these two literally consecutive paragraphs:

Microsoft did not know how many computers were involved in the attack, but Sundwall pointed out that Microsoft's Web site is a popular target and is designed to withstand even large-scale attacks without disruption.

The attackers probably have a very large network of compromised "zombie" machines that are being coordinated to attack Microsoft, he said. With two successful attacks in one week, Microsoft is looking into software and other technology to prevent future threats, Sundwall said.

I think this bears repeating: Microsoft's Web site is a popular target and is designed to withstand even large-scale attacks without disruption . . . two successful attacks in one week.

Yup. Paragon of security.

Microsoft.com falls to DoS attack

The Real Radio

Here's a column explaining why I want to get satellite radio, despite the fact that you have to pay for it: Heavensent satellite radio great for music lovers.

I would note the similarity between these services and PC streaming music subscription services. The PC services, as we well know, have turned out to be extremely unpopular, despite costing about the same amount per month as satellite radio and not requiring extra hardware (you can't put this music on your MP3 player). Why? I think the fact that they more or less cut out the possibility of "extra hardware" -- you're stuck at your desktop if you want to listen to music. Not only does the machine produce lots of heat, but if you're like most people, it has pretty crappy speakers, too. Who wants to endure that when you can take your satellite radio wherever you want?

Or your iPod, for that matter. Hence the success of the iTunes Music Store.

MSSucks

Here's an excerpt nice Microsoft-bashing editorial from the Windows-centric tech site, CNet News.com, regarding the latest Windows worm, MSBlast:

If this were the exception rather than the rule, I would agree that the customer should be held responsible for making sure the latest fixes were downloaded onto a company's computers. But after two decades' worth of Swiss cheese software security, the world's biggest supplier of operating system software has run out of excuses. It took scientists less time to map the human genome.

Here we go again.

Here's a helpful tip: Switch mission-critical computers from repeatedly proved insecure Windows to Linux or another open-source, Unix-based operating system. Not only are they designed to be much more secure, what are the odds that hackers are going to create or exploit security flaws in the software they contribute to and use?

Busy Busy

I've been plugging away at setting up a new family web site. Let me know if you like the design: http://fischer.notlong.com/.

My shoulders are sunburned after sitting outside for hours during the weekend's third party. Ouch.

Isolation

Honestly, I'm starting to feel like I'm losing my mind.

I can't keep my thoughts straight, I'm not sure what's happened and what I only dreamed the other night, and I keep feeling like I'm not quite in control of myself.

I think my brain is talking to itself, too.

Good God, I need some intelligent conversation.

And So I Write

I write merely to have an entry for today. I have had an entry so far for every day in August, so it must be good karma to keep going.

Of course, I didn't check to see if I already have an entry for today before writing. Or if I have already missed a day, for that matter.

Actually, it doesn't matter. I'm here, (see title).

Materialism

I got new clothes yesterday!

I now own two more pairs of pants, nearly completing my mission to secure myself more variety in legwear than dark and light blue jeans. I got a pair of gray-green belted cargo pants and a pair of dusky rose "karate pants" from Old Navy, as my mom had a coupon for 20 percent off of everything. I'm wearing the pink pants now, and they are lovely and soft.

I also got three new shirts, one a burgundy v-neck with long sleeves and the other two short-sleeved t-shirts. One is heather green, one is heather pink -- notice a pattern?

I think I'm going for the "tulip" look.

Red Hat to the Rescue?

Red Hat, the company behind one of the most popular Linux distributions, has sued evil tech company SCO, for using "unfair and deceptive actions" in trying to claim Linux for itself. While IBM has finally started to put up a fight against SCO recently (and, of course, the open-source community has roundly ridiculed them), I'm impressed by Red Hat's action. It inspires me with some hope that the corporate world may not roll over and let SCO stomp all over the free software movement.

Red Hat takes the fight to SCO

By the way, I updated the Design page today. The blog template available there can now be used for either Movable Type or Blogger.

Zhee-lee

Here is a short compendium of the hilariously bad reviews for Ben and Jen's big new movie, Gigli that, as few people know, came out this past weekend: J. Lo and Affleck Finally Get Some Privacy.

The Onion, of course, saw it coming all along: Gigli Focus Groups Demand New Ending In Which Both Affleck And Lopez Die.

Spoke Too Soon

Alas, it seems iChat AV's magical burst of working last night was merely a fluke. Despite repeated attempts, I can't connect today.

Of course, for most of the day I couldn't do anything on the internet, as Adelphia, our cursed cable ISP, went down for more than 12 hours. That company has committed fraud in more than one way; the commercials they run about how PowerLink is "always on!" are blatant lies. And digital cable is not as good as satellite.

No more news from the ants today. Between them and the gnats and the roaches, it seems that the bugs are mounting a full assault on humankind. So why are all those troops all the way over in Iraq when a true war is clearly brewing on the homefront?!

It Works!

By some miracle, iChat AV worked just now and made an audio connection to Scott's computer! I've been using it for weeks and not once have gotten it to connect to anyone. But I just clicked the talk button at random, thinking I'd file a complaint with Apple, and it connected.

I don't know what I did, but I'm grateful. It's much better than the phone.

Sound Problems

My computer is not making IM noises. Sometimes I just hear this sort of crackle noise. Is it iChat AV? Or is it a hardware problem?

I wonder if I can make a profile in iChat. I don't think so. It's too bad since you can read profiles in iChat, which is a cruel tease.

Ant Attack

My mom reached in the pantry this evening, perhaps for a box of crackers or the canister of flour, and she let out a shriek! Ants had come crawling down her hand.

I may or may not have mentioned it, but we've been plagued by ants this summer. They've come crawling into the kitchen through every conceivable orifice, showing up everywhere from the counters to the dishwasher.

For the past couple of weeks, it had looked like we'd beaten the ants, having sprayed the kitchen with some sort of bug repellent and set up traps. But now it looks like they had just found a richer cache of food.

My parents emptied the pantry, wiped it all down and stared in horror as the ants started escaping through the tiny crack between the built-in pantry and the wall. As my mom sprayed Raid into the crack, I poured the newly opened box of pancake mix into a clean canister, cleverly taping the box's instructions to the outside that we might not forget how to make them.

I don't think the bottom pantry got cleared out -- my mom said "she didn't see any ants in there." I disagree with this argument for the improbability of a second ant invasion, but then, I don't want to be the one finding ants crawling up my arm while checking.

Complete!

I have finished putting together all of the sections of the site. Everything from Diary to Beyond is up and running now. Check them out!

And to celebrate the second anniversary of my diary, I finally managed to import the previous two Augusts.

Week's End

The family arrived back from the shore at about 5 p.m. today. (Actually, Dan and Sean arrived yesterday.) Since they're newly back, the house hasn't yet swung into full gear, so it's still relatively quiet. But I'm sure tomorrow the parade of adolescent boys stopping by to play Xbox will wend its way in this direction.

Speaking of Xbox, I found out today that somehow, my name is on the house's Xbox magazine subscription. Perhaps this explains why Kyle's name is on my MacAddict subscription.

I managed to throw away all of the leftovers in the fridge this week. It's a bigger job than you might imagine; my mom is like a pack rat when it comes to food. At least two Tupperware containers ended up in the garbage can outside because they were too moldy to be saved. I came across meals we'd first had weeks ago in my purge. I also found a moldy container of blueberries hiding in the back. That fridge is too big for its own good.

Look Before You Leap

The Homeland Security Department has issued a warning about the grave risk of attack faced by people using the software developed by Microsoft. In case we've forgotten, said Department recently granted said software company a contract to provide software for its computer systems.

Check out the advisory:
Potential For Significant Impact On Internet Operations Due To Vulnerability In Microsoft Operating Systems.

And here's an article about the advisory: Experts anxious over possible Web attack. What the mainstream media (and the mainstream in general) just doesn't seem to see is that hackers are constantly targeting Windows, not open-source systems . . . anyone wonder why?

Who's In Control?

The author of this commentary argues that Linux is process rather than a product. What's that mean? It's like the internet versus Windows. So my question, unfortunately not addressed here, is can a corporation patent the internet?

Linux is not a product

In other news, I'm trying out the latest release of Mozilla Firebird for Mac OS X today. Unfortunately, it's still not quite up to snuff: it has all the Windows-like buttons and menus of Mozilla and, curiously, no "Window" menu or any equivalent. What's that mean? There's no way to get to any browser windows behind the front one without moving it off the screen. I wish the Mozilla people would release a new version of Camino that fixes its quirks. Safari has a lot of conveniences Camino lacks, but Safari doesn't have as many security features as the Mozilla browsers.

Oblivious

Since when does respecting Judaism mean showing how the religion is the "root" of Christianity? Knock, knock, anybody home in there? Don't go following up your claim that your movie is not anti-Semitic by refusing to show it to your script's critics and by claiming Judaisim is important because Jesus was a Jew.

Months Before Debut, Movie on Death of Jesus Causes Stir

New Page

Check out the Links page, newly added as of a minute ago. It's under Beyond.

Six Hours

Wednesday evening, for no apparent reason, the power went out. That is, the power went out again. In fact, for the fourth time this week. The other three times happened during a storm and lasted for only a short time each. This time, though, the power went out and stayed out, for six hours.

What is six hours? It's 360 minutes. More important, it's a quarter of a day and 37.5 percent of the time one remains awake on average. To make it all worse, it happened right after I'd finished eating dinner with my three-year-old cousin Grace, part of our "one-two-three sleepover!" party planned for that night. Instead of baking cookies and watching movies, we went on an "adventure" to find flashlights and a carseat.

At Target later that evening, we bought a package of 30 AA batteries and some Clifford stickers. Grace picked up and put back many toys as we wandered around. (Strange that she didn't insist on keeping any.) We also swung by Krispy Kreme (just opened) to watch the doughnuts being made. And then we drove home, hoping against hope our trip to the store had been in vain.

We spent the next 20 minutes putting batteries into flashlights. Grace took a bath by tap-light, and I spent the evening calling people and the power company on our sole non-cordless phone.

On the bright side, the power did come back on an hour before the limit the power company gave (that would have been 1 a.m.).

And by the way -- on Thursday, another thunderstorm hit, and the power went out for the fifth time. What a fun week.