13 Jun 2007
Attacked?

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday, but I was busy fighting off what appears to be some sort of weird "attack" on the server. My web traffic to this blog has spiked over the last couple of days to levels unheard of, and most of the hits were pretty obviously from a botnet of some sort, hitting on date URLs. Some of them were munged with my PayPal donation form.

I have no idea why they were doing this: the way the URL's were constructed they couldn't have possibly thought they'd break into my PayPal account (and they didn't). What they did manage to do was to expose a flaw in the way Blosxom handles date URL's, which I have since "fixed" (read: "hacked and patched, sorta"). So if you have permalinks here that go to a specific date you may notice some weirdness.

I'll keep ya posted.

06:45 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Television's 'Mr. Wizard' dies at 89

I watched regularly as a child, and Mr. Wizard was one of my real heroes. RIP.

Don Herbert, who as television's "Mr. Wizard" introduced generations of young viewers to the joys of science, died Tuesday. He was 89.

(link) [CNN.com]

06:38 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

NC Man Fined For Using Vegetable Oil As Fuel

I've got an idea: let's let government "save" us from dependence on foreign fossil fuels ...

The News and Observer reports on an Charlotte, NC driver who has been fined $1000 for not paying a fuel tax when he fills his tank with vegetable oil. Perhaps the funniest quote is this one: "With the high cost of fuel right now, the department does recognize that a lot of people are looking for relief," said Reggie Little, assistant director of the motor fuel taxes division. "We're not here to hurt the small guy, we're just trying to make sure that the playing field is level." Sure, since the field is so plainly tilted against Arab oil interests.

(link) [Slashdot]

06:36 /Politics | 10 comments | permanent link

Belching Bovines Are Bad for the Environment: How to Clear the Air

This has to go under 'Humor' just because it's so insane: cow farts as a primary cause of global warming, indeed! Especially when we know that it's really termite flatulence that's the real cause ...

Thanks to a ruminant stomach and a diet heavy in grass, a single heifer belches up to 300 pounds of methane a day. Here are five ways to cope with a gassy cow.

(link) [Wired Top Stories]

06:34 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link