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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Todd's LiveJournal:
| Friday, October 10th, 2008 | |
| 8:10 am | Heads up. It was only a matter of time. === WiFi is no longer secure enough to protect wireless data. Global Secure Systems has said that a Russian's firm's use of the latest NVidia graphics cards to accelerate WiFi ‘password recovery' times by up to an astonishing 10,000 per cent proves that WiFi's WPA and WPA2 encryption systems are no longer enough to protect wireless data. David Hobson, managing director of GSS, claimed that companies can no longer view standards-based WiFi transmission as sufficiently secure against eavesdropping to be used with impunity. He also said that the use of VPNs is arguably now mandatory for companies wanting to comply with the Data Protection Act. He said: “This breakthrough in brute force decryption of WiFi signals by Elcomsoft confirms our observations that firms can no longer rely on standards-based security to protect their data. As a result, we now advise clients using WiFi in their offices to move on up to a VPN encryption system as well. === If you deal in medical or other confidential data, fix it now. Your auditors will know about this on the next pass. |
| Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 | |
| 12:23 am | The Fail Boat I don't remember how I got here. I don't really care. But someone shot me a link for the FAIL Blog. I've been chuckling all evening. So far, though, despite all the other humorous ones on there (and I've spit my drink out at least twice tonight), this one is my favorite.  see more pwn and owned pictures |
| Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 | |
| 3:16 pm | Weird-o-meter things to check out. Moderately work safe, but in a quiet spot. Safer at home. Mentos Kiss fighting. You can thank Roger. |
| Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 | |
| 8:48 am | Laissez les bon temps rouler! Happy Mardi Gras! |
| Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 | |
| 9:03 pm | Happy Christmas to all... As we head into the great Internet black-out of Christmas where no one is online and celebrating appropriately by killing each other virtually, I hope you all have a very Happy Christmas. |
| Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 | |
| 4:52 pm | Completely Hairbrained Topic I'd love to know what exactly is the determining factor for this, but can someone please tell me exactly why root vegetables seem to be what I'm lusting for? I just went through all the radishes (only 10) and a good hunk of celery and if it weren't for the fact that I'm making beef stew tonight I'd still be chowing down. Just off the wall. |
| Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 | |
| 10:53 am | Really crappy reason to squee, but... My second copies of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels books are here! Yay! Damned hospital. |
| Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 | |
| 9:22 am | Anita Blake has got to go? I'm a die hard Hamilton fan... I still keep buying what is now a largely written-into-a-corner heroine who gains new powers by the handful and instead of adventure invests her time into porn. I liked the adventure. But the last good book was Obsidian Butterfly, in my opinion. Yeah, it's been awhile. When she brought Edward back for the latest Anita Blake, I got very hopeful. And for the first few chapters I was still happy. ... And then, we broke out into more sex. So I was browsing Amazon today to get NEW copies of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy (since my treasures vanished at the hospital last time -- hope the nurses enjoyed them. I've been in withdrawal). I ran across this guide on Amazon Friends that just kind of made me giggle. Replace Anita Blake with a new Paranormal Heroine. If you were a fan before the devolved-into-nothing-but-smut, I can already tell you that the Patricia Briggs books are pretty damned good and feel very similar to early Anita Blake plot-wise, just without some of the more juvenile writing. She's also working on a small dating conundrum, so some of the tension is present, I just hope it doesn't devolve. Roger will be pleased to know that there is less talk about Nike blue swooshes and stuffed penguins. Well orth looking at -- apparently Niki devoured her copies too. I don't know if I can follow the last advice the guide gives, which is wrap up all the books and put 'em in a garage sale pile. But I AM pretty much sold on not buying even one more book. Which is a shame for a writer with that much talent and that much of a following. I think we've all hung in there waiting for more -- but it's also obvious at this point that there's not much to hold onto. You keep wondering if the next book will have to do a "Bobby" from Dallas scene and make the last several books out to be a dream. I'm sure I'll get reeled in. But save yourselves! And peek at the guide! |
| Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 | |
| 5:33 pm | And here's the other piece of "being done with college" news that I wouldn't share before... I didn't want to jinx myself previously. And I just didn't know for sure, but now it's official. So with no further ado, a little blurb from my official transcript. Ahem. Bachelor of Science in Information Technology: Completed 08/14/2007, Conferred 08/2007 -- WOOT! and now the fun part Graduated with Honors Words cannot describe. |
| 11:38 am | I just thought I'd follow along I'm good with computers. I enjoy computers. I'm just unsettled right now and maybe that's midlife and maybe that's blood pressure and not feeling well. So I'd been poking at Lisa's technical college program listing to see what else I might try if working for the Topher-monster didn't work out for some reason (not that I want to leave, boss!) At any rate, the Career Cruising thing seemed interesting at the right time. So let's see. 1. Computer Support Person 2. Computer Engineer 3. Business Systems Analyst 4. Web Developer 5. Database Developer 6. Computer Programmer 7. Video Game Developer 8. Project Manager 9. Webmaster 10. Recreation Therapist I think you get the idea. Massage therapist was on there (waaaaaaay down there), so was race car mechanic. Optometrist, and oddly Botanist and Dental Hygenist. But that's about it. I guess I need to learn to program a lot better. |
| Monday, September 10th, 2007 | |
| 9:32 am | Bonjour! I'm sitting at the Hilton in Paris, right beside Charles de Gaulle airport. Tired, sore, a little jumpy from the coffee (zomg), but it's been an amazing week, really -- particularly considering I didn't want to come in the first place. I'll break it out a little bit when I get home and get a chance, but it really has been a lot more fun than I expected. Hopefully my photos came out OK and I'll have some good things to share. |
| Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 | |
| 1:27 am | Today is a very interesting day. As of Saturday the 18th of 2007, I had 767 points out of 1000 (total for the course) possible in my Java II Programming course. This was before the Week 5 grade had been completed, which is a potential 200 points. 600, I believe, was passing, or 700 if it's in your major course of study. Regardless of the grade for the last week, I think it is safe to suggest that, as of midnight, I passed the course. This gives me three additional elective credit hours. The three hours I was previously short my college degree. It's taken me over five years to say this. Five years after starting quietly in May of 2002 with my first course in over ten years and not telling my family in case I couldn't hack it. Five very long, very tiring, and very trying years working full-time and still trying to live a life. But unless three phone calls previously made to confirm this are in error, with the passing of this course I am finally a college graduate. I've known this day was coming for weeks now. I've waited for it -- impatiently at best -- for years now. And while I was finishing up my last days postings, it still didn't really hit me. Then I let the dog out before going to bed and it washed over me that it's done. It's over, the last program compiled, the last paper written, the last late night working on a team assignment. Tomorrow night I can put Alex to bed and simply not worry about class. There will finally be a little piece of paper on my wall. And that feels really good. |
| Monday, July 30th, 2007 | |
| 12:08 pm | So what I refused to jinx myself with... So we were at the second closing on Friday night, the one for the new house. I handed over the check from the first closing, signed a lot of papers, handed the stack to Lisa, she signed a bunch of papers. We're JUUUUUUUUST about wrapped up, when they come in to say that Wells Fargo hadn't wired the money. There were insufficient funds to close. I had no home to go to. I had three days to get out and get the last house cleaned (which, thankfully, was more than sufficient -- we had everything out of the house by 1:00 yesterday, though the professional cleaners get the house today). Fortunately the listing agent was very cool, looked at us (having paid our 10%) and said "let's step outside". Basically, she had evidence of the wire being ordered, just too late in the day to hit the right account. She said "make sure I still have a job Monday morning by making sure the money gets where it's supposed to go" and gave us our keys. Off we went. I can tell you point blank that professional movers were the bomb. We used B&B Movers in Atlanta and while they were a bit pricier than everyone else, I also had a binding contract -- which was exactly what I paid. I had a GREAT team of four guys do a lot of damned hard work every minute they were there and they took great care of all my stuff. I would definitely recommend these guys. My office is full of boxes, but I can work out of it as it currently stands and just work around the stuff. I'm still going to try to clear it today, though. And I've got two classes to write for today as well, ack. But we're here! |
| Friday, July 27th, 2007 | |
| 11:16 pm | Somehow the impossible has occurred. We closed on both houses -- mostly. There's a story there, but until it resolves I refuse to jinx myself. Moving somewhere tomorrow, mostly back online Monday. |
| Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 | |
| 11:25 pm | Harry Potter thoughts, no spoilers whatsoever, I promise. So it's done. After however many years since Goblet of Fire came out, which was when Lisa first had me looking at the books, one of the turning points in recent fantasy-fiction is finally complete. For me, it was a big deal, in that this fiction showed me a world of fan-authors that I otherwise would never have known existed, as well as just showing me a series that I really loved. Kokopelli, Madlori, Jeconais, JBern, and the list goes on. At times it was an obsession to find the next great story that authors were writing while waiting for the next book. And in many cases still is, as I wait and hope that they will continue to write. It actually leaves me wanting, in so many ways -- and worried, that a bunch of the fan-authors that I truly love may just say "well, she's finished the books, let's move on to the next thing". I really hope not, though some departure is inevitable. But I really enjoy reading good stories, and when an author stops writing their characters (or version of characters), it's truly a loss to me. The excitement, as always, is the journey, not the destination. It's nice to see where JKR wanted to go with the story. But now what? I've found other authors recently that excite me, such as Patricia Briggs or Anne Bishop. But there's something about Harry Potter that really called to me and I hope it continues to pique the minds of the fan-authors that I've grown to love, and keep their pens to paper. If you're interested in what I thought of the book, I thought it was good. Not ZOMG, not great, but good. It left many questions hanging in my mind regarding events in the book and how they resolved themselves, but I think it went where she wanted it to go to cap out the tale. There's a few things that continue to percolate through my head about the book, but all-in-all it was a solid ending to a great series. Current Mood:  blah |
| Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 | |
| 11:26 pm | Melee Huntard FTW! Look at the ranged weapon skills. I doubt his DPS rocks and I'm sure he was an experiment, but um. Wow. |
| 12:16 pm | Karmatically speaking... We received another offer on the house and we're negotiating, but they want to close pretty fast. I like that. So we're negotiating but Lisa's behind me going "take it take it!" Now if Beast Lord Handguards would just drop. Current Mood:  hopeful |
| Friday, June 29th, 2007 | |
| 8:14 am | If there's a better way to try and get up in that great getting up morning, I don't know it. Cowboy Mouth, Voodoo Shoppe. Try Winds Me Up. MySpace has a Cowboy Mouth page. You can play a few tracks off it from there. iTunes also has the album (which I didn't buy when it first came out for some ridiculous reason, as I loooooooooooooooove these guys). breaks me shakes me and I let her, treads on me and I won't forget her... Current Mood:  energeticCurrent Music: Didn't we just go over this? Play it on 11. |
| Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 | |
| 1:55 pm | I want a refund for June What else can we add back to my batch of drama? That's right boys and girls. Yet again, at the very last minute, my closing has been cancelled. This time, we get a termination of contract amendment as a bonus! So now I get to go back on the market and start this whole process again. And we JUST bought the refrigerator. And we JUST bought the washer/dryer. And everything was all nice and neat and settled, and so now we can move in JULY OR AUGUST IN GEORGIA! WOO! So we're turning all the utilities off at the new place and cancelling the appliances and reorganizing the movers and then we get to put all the boxes in the garage since we're obviously not going to unpack what we have, other than the kitchen. You can just shoot me in the head right now. Current Mood:  enraged |
| Monday, June 25th, 2007 | |
| 1:04 pm | Lisa gets her accolades SHOULD still be up on www.athenstech.edu, but Lisa made Teacher of the Year for the school and is in the running for the State. You can see more here. |