Marvin

Marvin, March 1988 - October 2006

Today we had to say goodbye to Marvin. Marvin was Kimmie's baby and has been with her since she was 16. We know he has led a good long life and lived to a ripe old age of 18 because Kimmie took exceptional care of him. Unfortunately, he had been suffering from renal failure for the past 5 years, so we knew that the best care we could give him could only delay the inevitable. The vet had said it was a testament to the care that Kim gave him that he had lived this long. His health had been going downhill steadily and had deteriorated very quickly the past couple of weeks. Today when Kim took him to the Vet, he told her that it was time for us to decide, because there was nothing else he could do for him. We knew this day would come, but it was very hard to make the decision to end his life and not prolong his suffering. Based on the drastic amount of weight he was losing, we knew he was slowly starving to death, and it would have been selfish and irresponsible of us to continue. He wouldn't take his medicine and even that was more to alleviate his nausea more than giving him any real relief.

As many years I have been in EMS, this was still hard for me. So I can't imagine what Kim is going through. I am not ashamed to say I bawled like a baby today. Marvin was a sweet loving cat with not a hint of aggression or aloofness. He always wanted to be around you and never knew a stranger. His greatest joy was to curl up in your lap and take a nap. I am blessed to have known this sweet gentle soul. A true gift from God.

We used to always tease Marvin that he was a messy cat. So cleaning up his litter box today for the final time was deeply saddening but somehow cathartic for me.

Goodbye old man. We love you and we will miss you.

Tin Foil Run Amok

And now for something lighthearted.

So here I was playing around in GoogleEarth (I am addicted to it BTW) and was flying over the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in Mumbai. This is the place where all the nuclear research brains of India hang out. (My Dad would of course dispute that fact as he worked for the Engineering Division - you know - the guys that actually build the big nuclear power reactors - while the scientists play around with the toy reactors). There's probably a greater concentration of PhD's in this 2 square mile complex than anywhere else on the planet. And of course there are a bunch of Nuclear Reactors. Here's an aerial shot of the complex. Click on the images to open the full size images.



So I zoomed in on the complex and something caught my eye. Here's the image of the two main nuclear reactors - Dhruva and CIRUS. What caught my eye was this bizarre pattern just North of the CIRUS reactor beside the waste treatment ponds. Now, I have actually been to this place and seen the reactor complex. I did a summer Co-op there during my Junior year in college. But for the life of me I couldn't remember something that big being there. And looking at the image you can see that it is large, almost as large as the CIRUS complex. I racked my brain for days trying to think of what that could be. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about nuclear technology, but this one had me truly stumped. The pattern just didn't make sense. I thought of underground bunkers, baby cyclotrons, UFO landing strip, you name it. I thought of what could have been there that has since been removed. I was deep in full blown tin foil bunker mindset.



And then perusing around the web one day, I came upon this picture of the same reactor complex.



I couldn't believe my eyes. Landscaping! Of all the things it could have been, it turned out to be just a creative landscape artist. I couldn't help but laugh at myself. If you look closer you can see his/her handiwork all around the complex. I guess someone thought funky patterns like those were appropriate for a nuclear research center. LOL.

Of course this got me thinking about all those military recon guys poring over high altitude pictures during the cold war. I wonder if any of them ever made a stupid mistake like I did? Heh.

Oh and I used to live less than 2 miles from this place, so you know I glow green during the night.

IE7 - Years Late and Still Buggy

Microsoft released IE7 yesterday complete with all that (cough) "innovation" that Ballmer keeps yapping about. Hey look - Tabs! Here's the CNet review. I couldn't have said it any better.

The bottom line: IE 7 was Microsoft's one chance to leapfrog ahead of the competition, but the company has only barely caught sight of the current front-runners. For more features and greater security, switch to Mozilla Firefox.

And of course, this being Microsoft, what's a new browser without an exploit. It took less than 24 hours for Secunia to report a vulnerability. Talk about PATHETIC! Of course the apologists are already claiming that this is not a "new" bug and that it existed 6 months ago - which to me is worse. That means Microsoft knowingly released their new browser with an unpatched vulnerability. It also means that all that talk about "brand new secure code" is just bunk, and IE7 is just IE6 code with new features copied from Firefox and the other browsers.

It will be interesting to read the reactions (spin) of George Ou, John Carroll and all the other MS shills. Still think VISTA will (once again) be the "most secure OS" ever?

Video iPods shipped with Virus

And now from the really bad oops category. It appears that Apple shipped a "small number" of Video iPods with the Windows RavMonE.exe virus.

Small Number of Video iPods Shipped With Windows Virus

We recently discovered that a small number -
less than 1% - of the Video iPods available for purchase after September 12,
2006 left our contract manufacturer carrying the Windows RavMonE.exe virus. This
known virus affects only Windows computers, and up to date anti-virus software
which is included with most Windows computers should detect and remove it. So
far we have seen less than 25 reports concerning this problem. The iPod nano,
iPod shuffle and Mac OS X are not affected, and all Video iPods now shipping are
virus free. As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more
hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching
it.

The iPods came from a contract manufacturer. All jokes aside this is really bad for a company like Apple that prides itself on quality control. In addition, they compound the error by adding this line to their website

As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, ...

OK Apple, that is just nonsense. I am an ardent supporter of Apple because it does a lot of things right, and I obviously don't have any love for Microsoft. But the above line is just a cheap shot and a weak attempt to deflect blame. This is NOT a Windows problem. This is the fault of your crappy quality control for:

a) having the potential for a brand new iPod to get infected at a contract facility, and
b) not having the proper checks in place to catch it

The old rule of being a "Man" and taking your licks when you deserve it apply here. If I were apple, I would take down that line immediately and reprimand the person that put it up there. I would also get on your PR department for letting a line like that be put on your official website. That sort of comment belongs on a Mac Centric Blog NOT on a company website.

This story was bound to go viral and you know the Microsoft shills like George Ou, Thurrot et. al are just salivating at the chance to indulge in Apple bashing. What Apple displayed here was a lack of class and because of that the MS shills can wag their finger at the Mac faithful. And THAT really gets my goat. Sigh ....

Vista Underwhelms

Chris Pirillo is a lot of things. But the one thing he is NOT is some Mac fanatic under the influence of Steve Job's RDF. In fact, Pirillo is a self described Windows fanatic. So when he talks about being completely underwhelmed by Windows Vista, you can tell draw your own conclusions about the quality of this long awaited OS.

Of course, due to the current PC ecosystem, I don't think it will make a dime's worth of difference in Windows marketshare. Microsoft will continue to be a marketing company that also makes software. Their monopoly will continue unabated and the fan boys will continue to thumb their noses at people that use an alternate OS. But to those like myself that dumped Microsoft's crapware for something better years ago, Vista is another affirmation that I made the right choice.

The Emmerson Connection

Updated ... See end of Post.

Remember when two years ago the buzz spread on the web that Microsoft was backing SCO in it's ridiculous lawsuit / assault on everything Linux. The self-righteous indignation of Microsoft and SCO was something to behold. Then there were leaked emails and a certain Mike Anderer was exposed. SCO still maintained that there was no Microsoft connection despite BayStar openly admitting they had been contacted by Microsoft to invest $50 Million in SCO.

Here's the SCO quote so there is no mistake and no more mischaracterization

"We believe the e-mail was simply a misunderstanding of the facts by an outside consultant who was working on a specific unrelated project to the BayStar transaction and he was told at the time of his misunderstanding. Contrary to the speculation of Eric Raymond, Microsoft did not orchestrate or participate in the BayStar transaction."

Fast forward two years to today.

As always, Groklaw in its unrelenting detailed analysis of this case has now uncovered a true gem in the court documents. In IBM's recent motion for summary judgment is a Declaration from BayStar general partner Larry Goldfarb.

"Mr. Emerson [Microsoft's senior VP for corporate development and strategy] and I discussed a variety of investment structures wherein Microsoft would 'backstop,' or guarantee in some way, BayStar's investment. Microsoft assured me that it would in some way guarantee Baystar's investment in SCO. Mr. Goldfarb states that after BayStar made the investment, Microsoft "stopped returning my phone calls and e-mails, and to the best of my knowledge, Mr. Emerson was fired from Microsoft."

The above is a direct quote from page 27 of the pdf file. I looked at it myself just to be sure I wasn't quoting from a secondary source. I am sure the denials will be out soon. Here's one from Info World.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. In a report in the online edition of The Wall Street Journal, a Microsoft spokesman said it never made any such guarantee to BayStar.

Remember folks, unlike Microsoft's PR department, Larry Goldfarb was not talking to the press here. He was under oath making a Declaration in front of the Nazgul lawyers of IBM. Who do you think is more credible? I wonder where Richard Emerson is today, and if he indeed got fired, when and why did that occur? How much do you want to bet that MS will now claim that Emerson was acting all alone. That he had no authority to make such a deal. That Ballmer, Allchin, Gates, et. al had no knowledge of such shenanigans. Why, heavens no! As soon as they found out, they promptly fired Mr Emerson. That he dreamed up this scheme to effectively destroy the credibility of IBM and of Linux all by himself.

Boy, do I need a tin foil hat today!

To me, this declaration by Goldfarb is the smoking gun if ever we needed one. It once again proves who was behind this whole saga. You still think Microsoft is the new benevolent "Open Source" loving company that it claims to be? I have never lost my distrust of Microsoft, and this just reaffirms my distrust. They are the same evil, repugnant, morally and ethically bankrupt monopoly they have always been. They are no longer able to do evil things first hand due to the DOJ scrutiny, so they get scumbags like Darl McBride to do their dirty work for them. Every Microsoft shill in the Tech Media that pooh poohed the MS / SCO connection as a tin foil hat Linux Looney conspiracy theory two years ago now needs to eat crow. And Ballmer and company need to remember the lesson we teach little kids every day. Liars ALWAYS get caught in the end.

Updated... This is apparently a fast developing story. Groklaw now has the full text of the Goldfarb Declaration. It reinforces what I have stated above. It appears that Richard Emerson was not the only Microsoft employee Goldfarb was dealing with.

"In addition, I had discussions with Kenneth Lustig, Microsoft's managing director of intellectual property and Tivanka Ellawala, from Microsoft's corporate development department regarding the SCO deal. As part of these discussions, Microsoft assured me that it would in some way guarantee BayStar's investment in SCO. However, Microsoft would not agree to put anything in writing on this point."

Oops. There goes the lone ranger theory. An absolutely laughable response from the Microsoft Spin department.

"Microsoft has no financial relationship with BayStar and never agreed to guarantee any of BayStar's $50 million investment in SCO. The BayStar declaration confirms that no guarantee was ever provided."

Folks, someone's pants are seriously on FIRE.

Autumn is here

The morning air is crisp. The leaves are turning. The signs are in the yard.

Autumn is here !



I know it sounds corny, but I love the way Kimmie pays attention to these little details. I can honestly say I am incapable of making the effort to do stuff like that. I came home the other day and the summer decorations in all the flower beds had been replaced with fall stuff. Here are some more pictures.

I love fall. I love the way the morning air feels when I let the dog out in the morning. And the way the grass looks against the setting sun. The temperature is perfect to open all the windows and breathe the fresh air. This is my favorite time of the year, as I am sure it is for many others. It's the kind of weather that puts me in a good mood. Can't your tell ? Heh...

Get your Zero Day Fixes here.

In the tragic, and from my perspective hilarious saga of Microsoft Security, we now have security vendors who are beating Microsoft to the punch when it comes to patches to its own operating system. This is truly pathetic, but when confronted with zero day exploits left and right, I guess many companies can't sit around and wait for Microsoft fixes and have to take matters into their own hands.

Remember folks, Vista is just a few months away and this is the same company that claimed you can trust Vista on Day one. I am sure all these security issues will magically disappear the day Vista gets released sometime next year. :-)

An interesting sidebar to the above linked article is the following quote by Ballmer. Microsoft is "at the beginning of 12 months of the greatest innovation pipeline we have ever had." That link is from October 2005. Quick - name 3 things Microsoft has "innovated" in the past year. Heck, name just one.

Heh ... I thought so.