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- September 21, 2016
- Adventures in Coldfusion
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We're having issues at work surrounding the new 64 bit Coldfusion Enterprise Server whereby stuff which used to work very well on earlier versions dosen't work at all now.
These changes involve essential methods and those we're seeing appear to be outside a set of foundation class changes and bleed into the realm of WTF error looking mess.
I wouldn't put this past the operating system nor the middleware if you want to know the truth regarding culpability.
Perhaps an update will take care of it. We may need to blow it away and reinstall from scratch.
Tomorrow I shall take down the server and give it the once over.
Love the challenge, hate the bother.
Oh well, the task falls to me. Duty calls ...
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- September 20, 2016
- The audacity of 'an insult to my legacy'
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The news has the great whining lame duck saying how a Trump presidency would be an insult to his legacy.
Anything that insults the Obama legacy is certainly alright with me.
The single worst thing to happen in the history of our Republic turned Oligarchy is the Obama administration with it's innumerable handouts, tax and spend penchants, never ending vacations on Airforce One, and this notion of executive privilege being some legal rule by decree construct designed to let a president circumvent the law.
The "nasty, hateful charlatan" is Barack Obama, not Donald Trump.
Yeah, Trump can be a braggart but he hasn't damaged the country as the Obama administration with it's overstepping of the constitution and the law in a never ending pursuit of corrupting the fabric of our nation with his taint of illegality draped in totalitarian control by this person who was placed into office by the stupidity and ignorance of the electorate.
The innumerable breaches of statutes and never ending breaking of the law has been telling on the Obama administration continuously and a Clinton administration would be just as fraught with such shenanigans only she would have to be paid under the table as well.
Barack Obama has tried to over run the nation with illegals at every turn. He has aided and abetted our enemies with billions in tax dollars.
Enough of Barack Obama, his constantly vacationing family, and their freeloading on the US taxpayer.
Enough of his coddling and giving our tax dollars to our enemies and kowtowing to the muslim leaders in all his lack of presidential comportment.
Enough of this biggest mistake in the history of the United States of America.
Enough of taking Airforce One on incessant trips to campaign for Hillary Clinton, his acolyte.
Enough of the insult he has brought on our nation.
Obama begone !
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- September 19, 2016
- Pondering Creativity
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Last night I hit the bing news as is my habit anymore after checking once again to find that google simply can't get geolocation correct to save their lives ...
Anyway a thread on where creativity comes from caught my eye so I went to the Scientific American site and gave it a read.
I was taken with the notion of the "interconnectedness of society, enabling us to connect and share more" as a root causation of the creative process and recall from my own youth how reading numerous sets of encylopedias instilled within me not only that fantasy world which was the chagrin of my early adulthood ...
but that creative flair which has seen me through the innumerable projects I have undertaken over the years with mostly success — and a few failures thrown in there as well.
The crux of that which struck me most was the thought that I might truly be a product of society given my distinctly unsocial nature and all of the solitary hours I log to this day.
But had I been some social butterfly pursuant of parties and popularity I dare say that I would have been significantly less successful than I am right now for in that crucible which exists between the ears of a person the one thing that never failed me is my natural ability to tackle a problem with a satisfactory algorithm even though my cohorts might not have a clue as to how the coding works or where it ultimately goes aside from that end result with which they operate.
Maybe I did learn somewhat more over the years than I give my education credit for imparting.
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- September 18, 2016
- First Euthanasia in Belgium for Child
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I have been following this item since the middle of last week.
A child in Belgium has been administered euthanasia due to protracted terminal illness. The age and identity of this child remain unknown.
This is the first case of a child being euthanized since the laws were changed to permit assisted suicide to children during the course of Belgian legal affairs on the matter.
Initially Belgium legalized euthanasia during proceedings in 2002 with minors having been originally included then removed from the final legislation due to opposition by political elements in the country.
While I am certainly apalled that any child would be so ill as to request mercy killing ...
I feel that a child should be afforded the same consideration as an adult when they meet the specified criteria:
constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be alleviated
Our capacity for compassion toward others should certainly include children who are suffering.
This child has been afforded mercy which is unavailable to me where I live because of those statutes we have on the books.
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- September 17, 2016
- Ars technica UK Homebrew Router Competition
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So I was just beboping around the various news outlets this morning when I encountered a very interesting item testing various routers home made "from scratch" to the "off the shelf" competition.
I have to say that I was taken somewhat aback by the stated metrics and the fact that a home made router actually beat the retail counterpart in various testing. It seems that a DIY router configuration of linux beat the very router I upgraded to a scant year back and it has me somewhat in a tiz ...
HOWEVER, my penchant for swapping out the old with the new to try and gain an edge on emerging tech and to get the stuff replaced before it fails was upheld in the verbiage to my only gratification.
Just because my rationale is sound doesn't mean that my choices have been so.
It appears that instead of buying my various retail brands I may opt for something a little more esoteric and a skillset taxing variant on the stuff I normally buy.
Anyway the metrics revealed a distinct advantage but is the effort worth that extra "umph" provided to the networking as a result ?
It all remains relevant to how much time you have on your hands and how ambitious you are. I'm pretty doggone happy with the high end wireless and gigbit portage I presently have with my off the shelf router.
I suppose I'll just have to ascertain my "laziness coefficient" in the final calculations of whether I'm going to go homebrew or off the shelf next time.
Titilating to say the least. At least I have a while to think about it. Besides, my security devices are eating up a bit of that throughput because I simply hate the thought of someone getting over on me.
Decisions, decisions, decisions !
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- September 16, 2016
- Covering Your Webcam
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The director of the FBI said that he covers his webcam at a conference this week. Others do it as well. People like the CEO of facebook and a multitude of IT people known to me.
Some even go as far as to place a piece of tape over the embedded lenses on notebooks just to keep prying eyes away ...
They even make a lovely set of self-adhesive sliding covers in a variety of colors ready to attach to your device !
A few years back I learned of the exploits available for webcams and laughed them off seeing how I do little at a notebook that requires hiding.
But as I became more aware of the possibilities I began covering various web cameras throughout my home and even rewired the router and reconfigured the webcam server so as not to have any of the redundant utilization of which I used to be so fond.
While I don't think that anyone can get past my firewall to access a webcam on my network ... I am quite sure that I could inadvertently mess around in front of one unaware so now I just make like Barney Fife and nip it in the bud.
So if you have a web cam that remains attached to something likely to provide surreptitious access under the right conditions ... be it an infrastructure, notebook, USB, or smartphone web cam — you would do well to cover that lens.
Federal machines with web cams have built in covers at the ready.
I have always felt that we overshare nowadays and that privacy is a boon commodity anymore to be sure.
No need to provide any shows to the masses just because they may seek one.
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- September 15, 2016
- USB Kill Sticks
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Now for just $49.95 you can kill your computer with an electrical surge via the USB port.
The device, called USB Kill 2.0, operates by being inserted into a USB port on the target machine.
It then quickly charges onboard capacitors via that same port and quickly discharges them, essentially similar to a "juice jacking" attack performed on a charging port in use on a phone or other device.
The Hong Kong company also sells a USB protection shield called Test Shield for a scant sixteen bucks which ostensibly allows testing of the USB Kill 2.0 product without destruction of the target machine.
Kind of a technological hara kiri / seppuku when those compromising moments have arrived and there's no place to run or hide.
There is a model of machine presently invulnerable to the device. It seems that late models of the Apple MacBook have optically isolated portage data lines.
So then ... you either keep these particular devices away from your machine or risk it becoming toast by and large.
I have read threads expressing skepticim regarding the completeness of the kill procedure but really, do we want to take a chance?
I suppose that if you're a whistle blower or individual in a tight spot it may even be worth it to fry your machine quickly and easily to prevent sensitive data from acquisition by law enforcement or cyber (or other) criminals.
I would certainly think a suitable DR plan would be indicated up front in any standard operational procedural scenario involving the total distruction of mission critical machines. I'd have backup sets scattered all over the place myself.
Pitiful rationale as well from the standpoint of waste. Self destructs are not really ports in a storm.
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- September 14, 2016
- vDOS Perps Arrested in Israel
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Last Thursday Itay Huri and Yarden Bidani, two 18 year old Israeli teens, were placed under house arrest by the FBI for involvement in an "attack for hire" distributed denial of service (DDOS) called vDOS.
The "service" floods certain web sites with access requests rendering them inaccessible by others.
This site allegedly utilized huge botnets on the order of tens of thousands of machines compromised by malware.
These persons seeking the rendering of inaccessible web sites were required to pay fees up front.
Other cash flow sources allegedly consisted of funds extorted from the victims of those targeted sites to obtain cessation of said DDOS attacks.
These rather unsophisticated teenagers were questioned and released on $10K bail and had their passports confiscated. They were ordered not to utilize any form of electronic communication for the next 30 days.
It seems that this malicious entity, vDOS, is felt to be one of the most disruptive attack-for-hire services on the internet.
Fortunately, the insight and skills of these two cyberthugs weren't all that as was their decidedly flawed business model.
In the spirit of "what goes around comes around" vDOS fell victim itself to a massive hack leveled upon it resulting in the rather lame consequences described above.
Boo!
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- September 13, 2016
- You make me feel like a natural ...
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In my never ending quest for the esoteric social statement I was drawn to an article in Sputnik International regarding the portends of individuals who have sex with various machines designed for that purpose.
In the vein of my UTTER disdain for Roxxxy the seven thousand dollar notebook computer connected foam rubber paramour from a consumer electronics trade show a few years back I reiterate those same thoughts now:
Just what does this say about the user's social skills?
Now I'm certainly as liberal as the next guy when it comes to freedoms pursued behind closed doors ... and if a person want's to blow seven thousand bucks on a reusable respondent type love doll I suppose that it's all swell but really.
As the title to the Sputnik article intimates:
'In Love' with a Robot? Why Sex with Machines May 'Cause Psychopathic Disorders' ... it's because your interactions are total fantasy with no foundation in those realities which consist of the court and spark behaviors indigenous to real interpersonal relationships where you get in there and talk to another human being pursuant to real human intimacy — or sex and/or love if that's what you're pursuing.
Flipping a switch and having some program spout REAL sweet nothings while sensors tell you how much they enjoy your sensuous touch and what a big manly stud you are simply could never do it for me.
I suppose, to each their own however vast that deep dark chasm between "personality" and "technology" truly is.
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- September 12, 2016
- 5G Wireless ... perhaps not !
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I was reading a thought provoking tidbit in CIO from IDG saying that the upcoming 5G wireless networks were touting a 10x increase in capacity over the present 4G networks at the cost of "millions of new cell phone towers".
This next generation mobile monstrosity is likely to require much more tower infrastructure to handle the traffic according to the FCC.
This tower density would support various cells in the network ... and the requirement would be for a lot more of them dotting the landscape.
A number of communities have already blocked the construction of cell phone towers in their neighborhood ... many touting concerns regarding the health problems associated with the proximity to ionizing radiation.
Others simply hate this monster which is verizon and therein the proliferation which is likely from the 5G implementation some decade or so away.
So. The robust connectivity of 5G may be a pipe dream for most depending on how tower friendly your area happens to be. Me, I don't require much from a cell phone as I don't live and breathe wireless internet like so many of the others in my midst.
Call me old fashioned, but give me a full sized small form factor desktop, a server cluster (or two ... or four) and high bandwidth fiber/copper hybrid wiring topology any old day.
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- September 11, 2016
- September 11, 2001
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The other day I had a young lady engage me in conversation regarding the 9/11 attack on the United States in 2001.
Apparently the topic came up in a history discussion and she wanted some background information to shore up her understanding.
Her innocence regarding the facts of the matter was at once disarming and disturbing ...
but her sincerity and sweet disposition gave me pause and provided the impetus for a brief discussion regarding the facts.
I decided to go with the mainstream set of facts leaving any conspiracy theories off the table as inappropriate in this particular handling of what might be a delicate subject for a younger person who was not around at that time.
Two hijacked aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.
A third impacted The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia.
A fourth which was recaptured by passengers crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
These acts of aggression were perpetrated by 19 members of al-Qaeda in a series of coordinated suicide attacks.
In total 2,996 people were killed.
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- September 11, 2016
- Remembering Martha McGougan
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I'm here to lament the passing of Martha McGougan. I did not have the opportunity to know her later iteration as Reverend Martha McGougan Horn; for I was a fleeting memory from her past as an x-ray tech in that time she referred to as 'fleshy' much later in her life (and rightfully so with all the risque talk and joking around).
I missed my opportunity to reconnect with her at the Office Despot in Dutch Square Mall when I failed to realize who she was until well after departing the premesis that day.
Those times when we were familiar having long gone I recognized her all too late by the tatoo she sported on her ankle after a lot of thought afterward.
We both went on our separate ways early as so many people do. When I knew her she was quite religious and we had discussions of religion on occasion and I fear that my relevancy with the topic was very late in it's arrival ... but I digress.
Martha became a mother and a priest having been ordained shortly before her passing from the sequela of metastaic breast cancer. Though we had grown far apart I still realize all that the world lost on Monday, December 28, 2015 which was likewise an abundance of Heaven's gain.
As is the case with regrets if I could go back to that day and realize in who's presence I was in at the computer rack of Office Despot I would have surely taken the time to reconnect because she provided me with a gracious plenty of opportunity which I promptly missed in my preoccupation with the moment and those comparatively petty pursuits of machines in my midst.
I now feel as though I missed a little heavenly glory that day. Rest in peace, Martha McGougan. I have never forgotten nor will I ever forget you as someone who was always a special part of my life.
Reverend Martha McGougan Horn, 63, of Ridgeland, South Carolina, wife of Reverend J. Robert Horn IV finished the days that God had given her and entered into his heavenly kingdom Monday, December 28, 2015. Her Funeral Service will be held Saturday, January 2, 2016 in Saint James Church, 1872 Camp Road at 2:00 p.m. Interment, Churchyard. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Downtown Chapel.
Martha was born November 5, 1952 in Charleston, South Carolina, daughter of Lt. Col. Bruce A. McGougan, Jr. (USAF ret.) and Lillian Brockington McGougan. She received her Master's Degree from Trinity School of Ministry and was an assistant rector at St. Luke's Church in Hilton Head. Her lifelong passion was preaching and teaching in order to bring many to Christ. Prior to the priesthood, she excelled with her organization, 100 Fold Life Ministry leading missions nationally and internationally.
In addition to her husband and parents, she is survived by her daughter, Martha Legaré Horn of Bluffton, SC; granddaughter, Alexandra Legaré Horn; three brothers, Michael B. McGougan (Debbie) of Clarksburg, WV, Bruce A. McGougan, III (Tamara) of James Island, SC, and Markley Eugene McGougan (Tracey) of Johns Island, SC; and her aunt, Sandra Brockington of Saluda, NC.
She was preceded in death by her son Joseph Robert Horn V.
Memorials may be made to Victorious Ministry Through Christ, Attn: Rev. William Westlund, P.O. Box 1804, Winter Park, FL 32790.
J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Downtown Chapel.
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- September 10, 2016
- Not Counting Trump Out
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Not Counting Trump Out
Yeah, the bung hole co founder of facebook has layed a bunch of cash on the democrats in an effort to defeat Trump.
The Clinton campaign has always maintained overflowing coffers due to questionable dealings which appear to be trading on their governmental influence.
Is it any wonder that Trump is underestimated to a point where the democrats can't even be optimistic or cocky in the presence of abundant cash because their candidate simply isn't wholesome or presenting of a forthright and honorable appearance.
That competitive race presented by Trump is representative of we who are fed up with the self serving politicans who quarry public office for every dollar they can exploit by any means necessary.
Add to that the mysterious disappearance of various operatives and the bitingly rapacious debauchery otherwise and guess what ...
the Trump braggadocio doesn't appear nearly so bad after all.
Character is who you are when you think no one is looking.
This is why Trump is still in the race ... and likely to win I might add. I'm still voting for him.
As for Clinton's claim that Trump constituency consists of a "basket of deplorables" ...
To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the 'basket of deplorables.' Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.
That basket of deplorables is topped only by you and your immoral foundation donation hawking whore hopping husband.
Hillary Clinton
LGBT gala fundraiser
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- September 9, 2016
- Content Marketing ... the new SEO
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I've been reading a lot about the marketing of content as it relates to the public domain and I must say it's a whole lot of hooey in the vein of search engine optimization — that throwback back to a time when search engines couldn't navigate DIVs and TABLEs and other content constructs as well as they do now.
The most amusing aspect of all this malarkey is how many people have distilled the methodology down to a set of "essential" steps as though they were a cheat cheat on some course in life in the technological mainstream.
Now we will have a bunch of "experts nouveaux" spring up all over the place with their various strategies available for a price, of course.
These consultants may even talk a good show but the underlying truism will remain missed:
Proper content with good control structures, security, and innovative containers will always sell itself without some corporate image consultant playing spin doctor at your expense.
I suppose it all falls back to how marketing people always want to make you think they have something of value to offer when in fact they're just another layer of overhead with outstretched palms looking to be paid.
In my domain the AI infused intranet and vpn subnet work I do sells itself.
A strong database with scripting having just the right amount of splash illustrates all of the "essentials" described and I didn't need any marketing assistance to sell it either.
The rest of you pigeons flock right on up to the bullcrap on sale.
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