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There is a really nasty new internet worm similar in design to Code Red, called w32.nimda.a@mm or just plain Nimda. If you use a version of Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 prior to 5.01 service pack 2, you can get infected just by going to a web site that has been infected! If you run a web site using Microsoft Internet Explorer, you may be vulnerable and should patch your server right away. It's nasty even if you don't use IE5, Outlook, or IIS, because it's chewing up a lot of bandwidth as it spreads, beating on randomly selected machines to try and infect them. I've been hit over 1300 times so far and the worm only appeared about 7 1/2 hours ago! If you run a web site, there are automated things you can set up to notify administrators of infected servers, or to disable infected servers altogether. See http://salfter.dyndns.org/codered.shtml and http://ogg.2y.net/default.txt for scripts you can set up and hack as needed to combat the worm.
We got back from Cancun safely, although it took a long time. More about our trip later - I'm still catching up with stuff I missed while I was gone. (No, we didn't miss the big terrorism story.) I just came across a really interesting piece on the war on drugs written by Willam F. Buckley, Jr. The drug war is a joke; it doesn't affect habitual drug users except to increase prices. It really only affects poor people whose income cannot fund their drug costs (which are only so high because of prohibition) and who are addicted, so they have to commit crimes to fund their addiction. The drug war clearly destroys poor communities. I've been fairly pro-legalization for a while, and this is an interesting piece supporting that point of view.
On Wedeneday, Kim, Jason and I went to see Cake at the Warfield. Getting there early paid off since it's partially a sitting-down venue (a raised platform area with tables and chairs covers about 2/3 of the floor area, with a standing area in front of it and immediately in front of the stage). They were great. It was interesting to see the wealth of talent that the band members have - the trumpeter also plays a variety of strange little instruments and percussion doo-dads, and (contrary to what I had thought) the singer is not the main guitarist, so there's a separate guy playing that gritty goofy electric guitar from the singer who plays acoustic guitar. Interestingly, there are 4 official bandmembers but there were five people onstage. Tomorrow morning Kim and I leave for Cancun, Mexico, to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. |