Animated Cursors Zero Day Vulnerability

CNet News

A new security vulnerability puts Windows users at risk of serious cyberattacks, Microsoft warned late Wednesday.

The vulnerability affects all recent Windows versions, including Vista, which Microsoft has promoted heavily for its security. The operating system software is flawed in the way it handles animated cursors, Microsoft said in a security advisory.

Here's the Microsoft Advisory.

Lest we forget ....

Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine. - Bill Gates

Speaking of which, apparently someone heard Gates' challenge and decided to take him up on it. We will see how far this goes.

Update: As many suspected (based on the timing of this thing) the WOVB was an April fools gag. Hence my cautious line of "We will see how far this goes".

Mediocrity

Yet another chapter comes to a close in the storied tradition that is KY basketball. And as another year has gone by, the descent to mediocrity continues unabated. Many of us have been screaming about this for the past few years, but we are dismissed by the general media as dumb fanatics who simply have unrealistic expectations. The Dick Vitales of this world keep harping on Tubby Smiths' 26 win seasons, his performance in the SEC and his one National Championship.

I have said it numerous times before. This is KY basketball. We expect to be a top tier team every year. The loss yesterday to Kansas was almost a given. Last year when we lost to UConn, we at least put up a fight. Thanks to a Kentucky Boy named sparks who single handedly played his heart out. This year, we didn't stand a chance. Every honest KY fan who saw that game knows in his heart that we could have played that team 100 times, and we would have LOST 100 times. KY is no longer a powerhouse. We are an OK team that cannot beat a decent top 25 team. Period. And the times we won against moderately good teams this year, someone was always hurt/missing form the opposing team. Else we wouldn't even have made the tournament.

Here are some staggering statistics for the Tubby lovers out there.

Tubby Simth is the:

First UK coach to go 8 straight years without a final four.
The First UK coach to lose 10 or more games three years in a row, and 4 of the last 7 years.
First UK coach to be swept by Vandy in a season in 32 years.
First UK coach to lose 4 straight to an SEC opponent in 30 years.
Only coach to lose to Ole Miss at Rupp.
Only coach to lose to Vandy twice at Rupp.
Most Double Digit loss seasons of any UK coach
Has NEVER recruited a player to play in a final four in 16 years as a head coach.
Only UK coach to lose consecutive games to Kansas.
Only coach to ever lose to a number 1 ranked team at rupp.

This is our first season with 0 wins against ranked opponents going into the tournament in 33 years. We have now lost 6 in a row to Florida. They OWN us on the hardwood floor.

People used to FEAR KY and be intimidated by Rupp Arena. Today we are just another ordinary road win for ordinary teams.

It is downright sickening. And the administration will let it continue for NO other reason than the fact that they are scared to be labelled "racist" by that niche crowd who will immediately play that card if Tubby gets fired. The fact of the matter is that niche crowd will never go away. Pandering to them to the detriment of KY basketball makes a mockery of all the equality that blacks have faught for over the years.

It is time for Tubby Smith to go.

Dan Wetzel Get's it

Dan Wetzel has an article on the Yahoo Sports page. One of the most lucid, rational articles I have read about this subject in a long time. It shows that we are NOT knee jerk, irrational fans upset over one season. Dan gets it. Most of the media in this country don't!

His job is to coach. It is why he was hired a decade ago. He does it as well as anyone in America.

Unfortunately, at Kentucky, there is more to the job than that. At some point, everyone in Lexington is going to have to sit down and admit that

Apple Obsessed

Apple released its latest security update and the Apple/Mac haters couldn't wait to start their finger wagging.

Here's one ZDNet blogger headline "Apple bumper patch vindicates MOAB, MOKB hackers"

Ryan Naraine uses the classic "bait and switch" argument of how Mac ads potray Windows Security vs Apple Security updates.

"...there’s a lot of work to be done at Apple if the security reality is to match those Mac commercials."

First, other than Artie MacStrawman, NO ONE ever said OSX was bug free or 100% secure. The Mac ads were about the 114,000 viruses that affect Windows computers and DO NOT affect Macs. That is a truthful honest statement. Much more honest than Microsoft's assertion "We have never had vulnerabilities exploited before the patch was known". If Apple's security updates vindicates the hackers, then Microsoft's GAZILLION updates over the years surely vindicates all of those who have called Windows a lousy, buggy, insecure operating system.

My favorite quote from the blog

"...but, truth be told, Apple has a long way to go to match Redmond’s seriousness around security."

That's right. It's now all about Microsoft's GRAVITAS and has nothing to do with their record. Of course, Stephen Colbert's definition of Gravitas -"the ability to make whatever one's talking about sound extremely important." really fits here.

Rest assured, the more Apple gets back into the mainstream of computing, the worse these Mac Obsessed attacks are going to get.

Another First

On Sunday March 4, 2007 Florida became the first team in History to beat Kentucky SIX times in a row. Vandy has already beaten us 4 in a row. We have NOT beaten a SINGLE ranked team this season? How many more of these infamous "firsts" do we have to go through before Tubby and/or the administration realizes that he is NOT the man for the job. Tubby Smith has stated where he stands with comments like "I don't have to defend my record". It is shameful that Kentucky basketball fans have now been reduced to rooting for a 1st round win in the SEC tournament. We used to OWN that place with names like Rupp Arena South and CATlanta. Now we will be lucky to get past the 1st round. KY will probably make it into the NCAA based solely on their name.

Here'a a great stat to chew on. Over his 16 year coaching career at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky, a Tubby Smith recruited player has NEVER been to a Final Four.

I would have never thought I'd be saying this but I hope we lose in the SEC 1st round and either don't make it to the NCAA or lose in the 1st round there. That should eliminate all hope of a resurgence and we can finally fire this mediocre coach. Time to bring on Travis Ford or John Pelphry and bring back some HEART into this team.