It's Black Friday! For those of you stuck at work (or not in the US), here's a fun classic. Smooth, Like a Factory was originally published on November 9th, 2006.
Daren S knew that his days were...
Daren S knew that his days were...
A smashing car rental bill. Plus, giving thanks for a terminal vacation and Southwest Airlines strikes out.
Today is Black Friday in the United States.
Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and is traditionally the start of the Christmas holiday shopping season.
Almost all big retailers promote "early bird" sales on Black Friday. How does one learn where the best deals are located?
Well, either you buy a newspaper and look through the inserts — or — you use an Internet search engine.
We fully expect to see search engine optimization (SEO) attacks this year. Our Browsing Protection Portal can be used (for free) to determine the safety of unknown sites.
In addition to search engines, we also expect that sites such as Twitter will be used to promote special offers.
Common to Twitter and other such sites are short URLs (such as those provided by tinyurl.com and bit.ly) which are very convenient services but obscure the real URL source.
Is there a way to check the source of shortened URLs?
Yes. URLs can be expanded with longurl.org.
If you use Firefox, there's even an add-on available.
When installed, hovering over a short URL looks something like this:
And another example from Mikko's Twitter feed:
Handy.
Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and is traditionally the start of the Christmas holiday shopping season.
Almost all big retailers promote "early bird" sales on Black Friday. How does one learn where the best deals are located?
Well, either you buy a newspaper and look through the inserts — or — you use an Internet search engine.
We fully expect to see search engine optimization (SEO) attacks this year. Our Browsing Protection Portal can be used (for free) to determine the safety of unknown sites.
In addition to search engines, we also expect that sites such as Twitter will be used to promote special offers.
Common to Twitter and other such sites are short URLs (such as those provided by tinyurl.com and bit.ly) which are very convenient services but obscure the real URL source.
Is there a way to check the source of shortened URLs?
Yes. URLs can be expanded with longurl.org.
If you use Firefox, there's even an add-on available.
When installed, hovering over a short URL looks something like this:
And another example from Mikko's Twitter feed:
Handy.
On 27/11/09 At 12:18 PM
Norman adds "flight simulator support" to his desk.
"I moved across the country and did not bring any furniture with me, only belongings. I was looking for a desk to house my computer, but had some criteria. I like to flight sim on the PC therefore I had a yoke and throttle unit that I had to accomodate. Also, the yoke and throttle clamp onto the desk in such a manner that if there was a lip on the front edge of the desk it does not clamp well. I also didn't have too much room and did not want a huge elaborate solution. In addition many dedicated gaming-desk type setups are quite costly compared to the price of what I got. Compactness, simplicity, and ease of assembly/modification (no access to a workshop here!) were important to me in my choosing. I spent quite a while at the nearest Ikea until I thought up the following solution:
- The desk pictured is the Mikael computer workstation.
- I merely assembled the bottom half of the desk as instructed. I didn't want the top pieces, however, because I like to have a lot of open desk space I just left the top half off. The thick, lip-less pieces of the desk surfaces provide ideal clamping for my yoke and throttle.
- To accomodate the throttle quadrant in a "realistic" position, I merely took the very top piece (with the filing "stands") which fortuitously is just about the same width as the CPU cabinet. Therefore, simply taking that piece as a large plank and installing a few L-brackets in the CPU cabinet I was able to get it to stick out as a platform on which I could mount my throttle.
- I used a total of 8 L brackets, four installed in the "L" shape and four in the "7" configuration. This means the plank is not held into the desk by screws, and can be easily slid out if you need to for example access the computer, or want to store it away for a neater appearance. Now that there are two monitors on my setup I don't really pack it away anymore though.
- Since my PC is a small form factor it is low and fits perfectly in its little "cubby" on the bottom. If I had a bigger tower I don't know that this hack would work.
- Later on I purchased a larger monitor and moved my old LCD down to the platform as a secondary display, providing further realism to serve as a second "instrument panel". You can see that the secondary monitor is bent far down enough such that you can pull out the desk and access the contents with no interference issues. As the monitor is pretty easily adjustable I can stand it straighter or fold it down depending on preference/need to get into the drawer.
As far as cable management goes, because the pieces of the desk are quite thick, I bought some of the Ikea cable tubing and nailed it to the rear of the desk. Therefore all the cable runs kind of follow the contours of the desk on the rear thus you can't really see wires if you're looking at the desk despite the fact that there is no backing material to hide cables behind.
Like I said the hack is absurdly simple, especially it only requires 8 L brackets in addition to whatever you get in the Mikael pack.
In all I found it's worked out quite nicely, I get enough desk space on the top surface and have a great little compact but very effective flight sim setup. The "correct" positioning of the throttle levers helps increase the immersion factor and the secondary monitor there adds to the experience as well. In reality I found the Mikael workstation (without the top) to be a great compact computer desk for any need. I admit that my little modification might not have a lot of use for a lot of people but I'm sure in typical IKEAhacker like fashion others might find inspiration to expand on the concept... Something similar would probably work well for people who have racing wheels on their computers as well."
"I moved across the country and did not bring any furniture with me, only belongings. I was looking for a desk to house my computer, but had some criteria. I like to flight sim on the PC therefore I had a yoke and throttle unit that I had to accomodate. Also, the yoke and throttle clamp onto the desk in such a manner that if there was a lip on the front edge of the desk it does not clamp well. I also didn't have too much room and did not want a huge elaborate solution. In addition many dedicated gaming-desk type setups are quite costly compared to the price of what I got. Compactness, simplicity, and ease of assembly/modification (no access to a workshop here!) were important to me in my choosing. I spent quite a while at the nearest Ikea until I thought up the following solution:
- The desk pictured is the Mikael computer workstation.
- I merely assembled the bottom half of the desk as instructed. I didn't want the top pieces, however, because I like to have a lot of open desk space I just left the top half off. The thick, lip-less pieces of the desk surfaces provide ideal clamping for my yoke and throttle.
- To accomodate the throttle quadrant in a "realistic" position, I merely took the very top piece (with the filing "stands") which fortuitously is just about the same width as the CPU cabinet. Therefore, simply taking that piece as a large plank and installing a few L-brackets in the CPU cabinet I was able to get it to stick out as a platform on which I could mount my throttle.
- I used a total of 8 L brackets, four installed in the "L" shape and four in the "7" configuration. This means the plank is not held into the desk by screws, and can be easily slid out if you need to for example access the computer, or want to store it away for a neater appearance. Now that there are two monitors on my setup I don't really pack it away anymore though.
- Since my PC is a small form factor it is low and fits perfectly in its little "cubby" on the bottom. If I had a bigger tower I don't know that this hack would work.
- Later on I purchased a larger monitor and moved my old LCD down to the platform as a secondary display, providing further realism to serve as a second "instrument panel". You can see that the secondary monitor is bent far down enough such that you can pull out the desk and access the contents with no interference issues. As the monitor is pretty easily adjustable I can stand it straighter or fold it down depending on preference/need to get into the drawer.
As far as cable management goes, because the pieces of the desk are quite thick, I bought some of the Ikea cable tubing and nailed it to the rear of the desk. Therefore all the cable runs kind of follow the contours of the desk on the rear thus you can't really see wires if you're looking at the desk despite the fact that there is no backing material to hide cables behind.
Like I said the hack is absurdly simple, especially it only requires 8 L brackets in addition to whatever you get in the Mikael pack.
In all I found it's worked out quite nicely, I get enough desk space on the top surface and have a great little compact but very effective flight sim setup. The "correct" positioning of the throttle levers helps increase the immersion factor and the secondary monitor there adds to the experience as well. In reality I found the Mikael workstation (without the top) to be a great compact computer desk for any need. I admit that my little modification might not have a lot of use for a lot of people but I'm sure in typical IKEAhacker like fashion others might find inspiration to expand on the concept... Something similar would probably work well for people who have racing wheels on their computers as well."
With days left to go, I didn’t post anything yesterday. Crash bang wallop indeed.
I’m back in the office at work today, clearing paperwork, getting expenses paid, and sorting the various minutiae out. This afternoon will no doubt be back to the grindstone, neck deep in Javascript, Webservices, .NET and Microsoft SharePoint again. My work is going well though, so I can’t complain.
I arrived home from another 4 day stint on-site last night in time to put the children to bed. As is the usual pattern of things in our house I actually arrived home to an empty house – it suddenly occurred to me that Thursday night is Brownies night. I set about washing up, tidying up, and putting things away, and had just about finished when the rabble re-appeared. Little miss 4 immediately ran to me for a hug. No shouts, no laughing – just a hug.
It’s good to be home. The spectre of another 3 weeks of this madness remains though.
When you return your rental car, your liability for the vehicle ends, right? Wrong.
Jessica Siegel brought her sedan back to Avis in London recently. A few weeks later, she got a bill for triple the amount she’d expected.
What happened? She’d dropped off the car after hours, and during...
Cartoon for Today, Nov 27, 2009
Symphony of science: Science and Philosophy set to music. Thanks to FNORDer for the link.
I haven't figured out the problems with the date on my computer, but I have figured out that Firefox thinks it is a day ahead of the real date.
My computer has the real date. Drivel Journal Editor detects the real date.
I've not tried using Opera yet.
However, I figured out that Firefox thinks it is a day ahead because when I went to tvguide.com to look up the listings in Seguin, it had the listings for the next day. It did that every time I had to reopen the page because I had closed the tab or the browser.
I have no idea about fixing the date detection or fixing the date in Firefox or if that is even an option.
I guess I'll have to look unless somebody truly knows the option.
My computer has the real date. Drivel Journal Editor detects the real date.
I've not tried using Opera yet.
However, I figured out that Firefox thinks it is a day ahead because when I went to tvguide.com to look up the listings in Seguin, it had the listings for the next day. It did that every time I had to reopen the page because I had closed the tab or the browser.
I have no idea about fixing the date detection or fixing the date in Firefox or if that is even an option.
I guess I'll have to look unless somebody truly knows the option.
![What? Oh, no, the 'Enchanted' soundtrack was just playing because Pandora's algorithms are terrible. [silence] ... (quietly) That's how you knooooooow ...](http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/pandora.png "What? Oh, no, the 'Enchanted' soundtrack was just playing because Pandora's algorithms are terrible. [silence] ... (quietly) That's how you knooooooow ...")
- Location:Buckingham Palace
- Mood:
pleased - Music:"Flower of Scotland" by The Corries
Microsoft published a Security Advisory on Monday for a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 6 and IE7 that could allow for remote code execution. IE8 is not affected.
Currently, there are no reports of this vulnerability being exploited in-the-wild.
Our Exploit Shield analysts have been looking into this case and based on their initial tests, the code that they tested doesn't work reliably, and is more likely to result in a crash (DoS) than Remote Code Execution (RCE) on an unprotected computer.
But how about a computer protected with our Exploit Shield technology? How does our Internet Security handle an exploit targeting CVE-2009-3672?
No problem at all. The exploit is blocked by our heuristics. No specific shield is required.
Our customers using Internet Security 2010 were protected against this exploit before it was even discovered. Nice.
The Flash animation below demonstrates:
• Real-time scanning is OFF
• Browsing protection with Exploit Shield is ON
• The exploit POC is opened
• Exploit Shield protects the browser
Demo
Updated to add: SANS Diary notes that the advisory is now updated to include mitigations and that workable exploits are starting to surface on the web.
Currently, there are no reports of this vulnerability being exploited in-the-wild.
Our Exploit Shield analysts have been looking into this case and based on their initial tests, the code that they tested doesn't work reliably, and is more likely to result in a crash (DoS) than Remote Code Execution (RCE) on an unprotected computer.
But how about a computer protected with our Exploit Shield technology? How does our Internet Security handle an exploit targeting CVE-2009-3672?
No problem at all. The exploit is blocked by our heuristics. No specific shield is required.
Our customers using Internet Security 2010 were protected against this exploit before it was even discovered. Nice.
The Flash animation below demonstrates:
• Real-time scanning is OFF
• Browsing protection with Exploit Shield is ON
• The exploit POC is opened
• Exploit Shield protects the browser
Demo
Updated to add: SANS Diary notes that the advisory is now updated to include mitigations and that workable exploits are starting to surface on the web.
On 26/11/09 At 01:24 PM
Divide your room with lights. This one is from XedMada.
"It's quite simple really, for each unit you need just one Orgel paper lamp and one Dioder color LED unit. Take two of the bars from a Dioder LED kit, gently slide them under the bars on the top front inside of the paper shade of the Orgel paper lamp shade. Be careful not to poke a hole in the paper.
It's easiest to slide the bars in one at a time then connect the two in the center and the power cord at one end. Install the shade, again, careful not to rip the shade. The bottom bar just slips in from underneath once you have the shade installed and rests on the bottom inside against the lamps power supply. A little double sided tape helps you keep it in place and properly focused. Run the cord of the top LED bar to the inside supporting pipe and down the back so it doesn't cast a shadow. In the photo I have two side by side, using one Dioder controller for the top colors and a second set for the bottom. Using the mini CFL replacement lamps I was able to meter a safe load of 5 of the units in one series (the box says only to use three in a series, but that's with the higher draw tungsten lamps.)
An important side note: If you plan to use multiple LED sets together make sure to buy them all from the same batch. Even a week later was long enough for me to get a different run of LEDs that didn't quite match the color of the two sets I purchased previously."
"It's quite simple really, for each unit you need just one Orgel paper lamp and one Dioder color LED unit. Take two of the bars from a Dioder LED kit, gently slide them under the bars on the top front inside of the paper shade of the Orgel paper lamp shade. Be careful not to poke a hole in the paper.
It's easiest to slide the bars in one at a time then connect the two in the center and the power cord at one end. Install the shade, again, careful not to rip the shade. The bottom bar just slips in from underneath once you have the shade installed and rests on the bottom inside against the lamps power supply. A little double sided tape helps you keep it in place and properly focused. Run the cord of the top LED bar to the inside supporting pipe and down the back so it doesn't cast a shadow. In the photo I have two side by side, using one Dioder controller for the top colors and a second set for the bottom. Using the mini CFL replacement lamps I was able to meter a safe load of 5 of the units in one series (the box says only to use three in a series, but that's with the higher draw tungsten lamps.)
An important side note: If you plan to use multiple LED sets together make sure to buy them all from the same batch. Even a week later was long enough for me to get a different run of LEDs that didn't quite match the color of the two sets I purchased previously."
Here's a heart-warming story for the Thanksgiving holiday: James Thomson and a longtime friend, who is suffering from terminal cancer, ran into trouble with their flights from San Francisco to Bali. One leg of Thompson's flight was canceled, which threatened to end his friend's final vacation.
Anyone know if there's more to this story than what's being reported?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=3EH&num=100&newwindow=1&q=%22Biological+Mom+Ordered+to+Give+Up+C
A Vermont judge rules Lisa Miller must turn over her daughter to her former lesbian partner.
Superior Judge William Cohen ruled last week that Lisa Miller, a former lesbian who is now a Christian, must hand her daughter, Isabelle, over to her former partner, Janet Jenkins by Jan. 1.
Miller conceived Isabella through artificial insemination while she was in a civil union with Jenkins. About a year later, Miller left homosexuality.
Jenkins sued for custody, even though she has no biological tie to the child.
Miller admits she made mistakes, like signing a custody agreement while still in the relationship with Jenkins, but Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel and legal counsel for Miller, said that wouldn't stop him from appealing the decision to the Vermont Supreme Court.
"This judge in Vermont ultimately ruled that he is going to switch custody from Lisa Miller," he said, "and take her own biological daughter Isabella and move her from Virginia and put her into an activist lesbian household up in Vermont with a person she really doesn't know, who's not her biological mother, and frankly who's not acted as a parent."
The courts had ordered to spend time with Jenkins in the past, and Miller complied until her daughter complained.
"Every time that the visitation actually occurred, Isabella had violent reactions, because Janet exposed her to the lesbian lifestyle," Staver said. "(Jenkins) tried to convince her that she has two moms and even tried to scare her by saying that she was going to be taken from Lisa and transferred to Vermont."
Eventually, Miller refused the court-ordered visitations.
Historically, courts have sided with the biological mother in custody battles, and Staver said the judge has never questioned Miller's fitness as a parent.
"How can a third party, a stranger," he asked, "interfere with the parental rights of a biological parent when that parent is fit?"
Rena Lindevaldsen, professor at Liberty University School of Law, said it's another example of where activist courts are taking the culture.
"To have the first reported decision in the country stripping a biological mother of her child," she said, "solely because she has refused to give visitation to a legal stranger, is shocking.
"There's a lot of talk nowadays about drawing that line in the sand and understanding that government can't order certain things. When you're ordering a child to be stripped from her biological mother, you've got to wonder, has the court overstepped its bounds?"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=3EH&num=100&newwindow=1&q=%22Biological+Mom+Ordered+to+Give+Up+C
A Vermont judge rules Lisa Miller must turn over her daughter to her former lesbian partner.
Superior Judge William Cohen ruled last week that Lisa Miller, a former lesbian who is now a Christian, must hand her daughter, Isabelle, over to her former partner, Janet Jenkins by Jan. 1.
Miller conceived Isabella through artificial insemination while she was in a civil union with Jenkins. About a year later, Miller left homosexuality.
Jenkins sued for custody, even though she has no biological tie to the child.
Miller admits she made mistakes, like signing a custody agreement while still in the relationship with Jenkins, but Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel and legal counsel for Miller, said that wouldn't stop him from appealing the decision to the Vermont Supreme Court.
"This judge in Vermont ultimately ruled that he is going to switch custody from Lisa Miller," he said, "and take her own biological daughter Isabella and move her from Virginia and put her into an activist lesbian household up in Vermont with a person she really doesn't know, who's not her biological mother, and frankly who's not acted as a parent."
The courts had ordered to spend time with Jenkins in the past, and Miller complied until her daughter complained.
"Every time that the visitation actually occurred, Isabella had violent reactions, because Janet exposed her to the lesbian lifestyle," Staver said. "(Jenkins) tried to convince her that she has two moms and even tried to scare her by saying that she was going to be taken from Lisa and transferred to Vermont."
Eventually, Miller refused the court-ordered visitations.
Historically, courts have sided with the biological mother in custody battles, and Staver said the judge has never questioned Miller's fitness as a parent.
"How can a third party, a stranger," he asked, "interfere with the parental rights of a biological parent when that parent is fit?"
Rena Lindevaldsen, professor at Liberty University School of Law, said it's another example of where activist courts are taking the culture.
"To have the first reported decision in the country stripping a biological mother of her child," she said, "solely because she has refused to give visitation to a legal stranger, is shocking.
"There's a lot of talk nowadays about drawing that line in the sand and understanding that government can't order certain things. When you're ordering a child to be stripped from her biological mother, you've got to wonder, has the court overstepped its bounds?"
Page Summary
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif)
garfieldminus : Please support Garfield minus Garfield this Christmas and buy... [+0] - daily_wtf : Classic WTF: Smooth, Like a Factory [+0]
- elliott_travel : What’s new on Elliott: A smashing car rental bill, giving thanks for a terminal vacation and Southwe [+0]
- f_secure : Black Friday 2009 [+0]
- ikeahacker : Ikea desk with flight simulator [+0]
- cheesebeans : Crash bang wallop – out of NaBloWriMo [+0]
- elliott_travel : A smashed window on my rental car — and a surprise bill [+0]
- xkcd_rss : Christmas delivery from the xkcd store [+2]
- userfriendlyrss : Cartoon For Nov 27, 2009 [+0]
- userfriendlyrss : LOTD: FNORDer [+0]
- dilbertdaily : Comic for November 27, 2009 [+0]
- apod : M78 Wide Field [+1]
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
kagomeshuko : Date Problems [+1] - xkcd_rss : Pandora [+84]
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
gsa_lj :: bifilms : [UK]: bisexual actor Alan Cumming receives award for service [+2] - garfieldminus : Photo [+3]
- f_secure : Exploit Shield FTW [+0]
- ikeahacker : A LED room divider [+0]
- elliott_travel : Thank you! United fixes “last vacation” for terminal cancer patient [+0]
- gsa_lj :: cloudchaser_s : Biological Mom Ordered to Give Up Child [+28]