Patch your servers! Patch your IIS Servers!! New HOLE, new patch, as of this week. Patch them now, before it's too late - InfoWorld:�US Army hacked via IIS hole:�March 18, 2003:�By�Paul Roberts:�Security. I'm going to go out on a limb and say "2 weeks" - that's when the worm will start. And....let me guess....60% vulnerable....

I've got something to say about this Wired News Article and it's implications, but it's been said by many others before me (even years ago). As an example, just take this test at the Llama Party web site. Think about it, do airplanes get hijacked by people with poor credit ratings, or do airplanes get blown up by terrorist Extremists? Just what the HECK are they thinking?

Now coming at you in full 1280x1024 in 17" LCD color! I purchased a Kogi 17" LCD monitor for $299. It's black bordered and has built-in speakers (although I doubt I'll use them..). I wanted the extra resolution for doing graphics work, and I started up Blender already to test it out. It looks fantastic on the screen. Let's see, what else is going on? Oh, yeah - got a B in pre-calc, and an A in Internet Applications. Just signed up for my 3rd semester at Limestone College. I'm taking Introduction to Programming II and Legal Issues in Technology. At the same time, I'm going to try to study for the CLEP test for Calculus. Taking math classes over the Internet is a ridiculous idea. I found myself turning to people near me to help with difficult concepts (e.g. logarithms, ugh). Why should I pay for the whole class when I can test out of it? Ramble later...

If anyone else out there is trying to learn the piano, you might be interested in this: A Chords Speller chart I found online, complete with fingerings. Since I've taken up piano, I've found that it can be hard to find simple one-stop FREE resources to answer questions about piano. Fake books are a great resource for learning songs, but if you don't know all of your chords, you DEFINITELY need a chart.

Think your government isn't watching you? Think your privacy is safe? Remember the article I wrote about the Visa card monitoring program that Poindexter was starting? Well, go and get yourself a copy of Wired magazine for April 2003, and open it up to page 29 of the Special Report insert (Life in 2013). You know, it used to be a net joke to attach 'keyword lists' to your emails as a snafu to the good old NSA. You know, a list like: assassinate kill murder president AK-47 nuclear weapons grenada terrorist, etc.....' just to make sure your email was flagged for monitoring.... I used to think it was a joke by paranoid delusionists...certainly such a list of key words would be thrown away were they not in any context to incite. Well, it looks like many Americans are not as paranoid as we all thought they were (well, ok - maybe those UFO freaks and the guys with the tin-foil hats...). This (fictional, for now, but how far do you think this is from the current truth?) report about how they monitored movements, followed a citizen, did biometric scans, voicescans, RESPIRATORY MEASUREMENTS during surveillance, all based on the Visa card purchases of an individual for (and this, friends, is the KICKER.......) buying BOOKS!

Just yesterday, I was watching television, and a commercial came on: A kid walks into a library/book store and asks for a list of books. The stern old lady behind the counter says: I'm sorry, sir, but these books are no longer available. At this point, two goon-types walk up behind the guy who asked for the books...the commercial then puts up a big set of words: What if this weren't America? (or something to that tone....what if you didn't have rights to read what you wanted...) It was all very ominous...but the majority of the American public may NEVER know how true it is....go get April's WIRED magazine. Read it...especially those pages....and if I don't blog for another 6 months, I'm probably rotting in a jail cell somewhere under the U.S. Patriot Act. Someone call Senator McCarthy and tell him he can come back.

Note: Macromedia has released another security update to their Flash player. If you have this plugin (and 75% or more of you do), please click on Yes when asked if you'd like to accept the flash update when you come to this page. It will help protect your computer against worms, viruses, and other nasties...

My 15" LCD screen is too small. Working on this modeling software with the small screen is starting to get on my nerves. The screen only goes up to 1024x768 and working with graphics applications comfortably, I think I want more screen real estate. Looking around, it seems $336 after rebate is the lowest (according to Price Watch) to be found...still slightly out of my price range. 18" LCDs are coming down in price, though, so I'll keep my eyes/ears open. If you hear of any really good deals let me know..

I started a group on Yahoo Groups. If you read this blog, you might be interested in joining - it's called Rich's Random Hobby, since I have a tendency to jump around amongst so many. Go here to sign up if you're interested in files/photos, chat, shared messages, curiosity, whatever.

Who says nothing good comes out of Open Source? (Ok, no one that I know - but here's more proof). A group of donators got together and bought the rights to a defunct commercial package. They're publishing it as Open Source, and they're freely distributing it at this time. It's 3-d modeling software, with built-in animation and rendering tools. I've been playing with Blender now for about a week, and I must say that it is FUN to be able to create 3-d stuff on the fly, and make AVI's from easily created keyframe animation. Apparently Blender has been around for years, and if you're motivated enough, you could create a whole game from it (use version 2.25 - 2.26 is broke in this area). While my own efforts PALE in comparison, I have found it a cheap and quick way to get into the hobby.

Just got back my midterm results for Pre-calc. Got a 76 on it - ugh. Looks like I might pull a C in the class...Final is whenever I'm ready to take it. I'm more confident about the second part of the class, though, so I should be fine....we'll see....part of the exam will cover logarithms...something I'm not all that good at. In my other class, I finished up early - midterm and final - have an A for the class, but that's not saying much - the class was definitely below my challenge level.

Looks like I haven't written anything in here for a long time. I've taken up all kinds of hobbies lately, 3-d modeling, chess (again...), but mostly I'm trying to concentrate on schoolwork. Taking mathematics over the Internet is not much different than trying to read a book and I may forgo the classroom experience for Calculus. In Term 2, I'm going to take a light load (from a brain perspective) so I may just study Calc and go for a CLEP. Been busy at work, too - lots of changes going on....new people coming on board, etc.....well, back to work.