Someone strapped a bomb to a pig and sent it inside of an office building....

It was a Sooey-side bomb. (ba-dum bum!)

Now that might sound like it wasn't appropriate in this day and age, but it was damn funny!

From time to time, I will bring up info I think is of important and/or entertaining value because that is what I do. There will be links to other places that I would urge be follwed to get the full story. That being said, let's start with this...

If you haven't heard already (if you are a geek, you would anyway), Sony has put potentially dangerous software on some of their audio CD's within the last month. I submit to you these articles:

Short version: DRM this, Sony
Long version: Sony CD protection sparks security concerns

Basically, the story is this. In Sony's bid to stop pirating, they had a third party developer put in a different type of copy protection on their audio CD's(Sony/BMG is one of the big 3 or4 in the music biz). Well, this copy protection would put what is called a RootKit on you computer, potentially letting others do bad things on or with your computer. A Rootkit is a program, or set of programs, that are undetectable to you and your computer that can be used to take over said computer. In Sony's case, it was supposed monitor things like how many times you played Sony's CD in the computer. It also "called home" for whatever reasons. In other words, with an active internet connection, it would tell Sony what was being done with that CD.

WHAT??

Now before you go throwing away your CD's, let me explain how it worked and what CD's are affected. It goes like this. If you bought a Sony/BMG CD within the last, i'd say, month or two (it hasn't been said when they started doing this that I know of), and there are certain things on the CD case, then you might have one of the CD's in question. Now, if you don't play CD's on your PC, then you are good. Have you ever played a CD in your PC and the first thing that happens is that a program comes up with an install for a player that is on the CD. Well, if you let it install, then you have installed the Rootkit also. Only on SONY/BMG CDs, though. If your PC doesn't let CD's run automatically, you are in good shape. And by the way, the EULA(that long stretch of legalese that everyone just says OK to before you install a program on your computer) says nothing about it. So even if you are one to read it(I'd like to meet you), you wouldn't know it. So what are the CD's and how do you know if that is that one? Well go check out this article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation(EFF) website (Don't worry they are consumer activists. The good guys).

Are You Infected by Sony-BMG's Rootkit?

What's being done about this?

Well, lawsuit's are being thrown, people are rightly pissed. Sony did put a patch on it's website, but supposedly it does nothing but makes the invisible parts visble. It doesn't get rid of it. And guess what if you could, it is pretty much against the law according the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(DMCA), but that's another story. Never fear, Microsoft's on it, believe it or not:

Microsoft will wipe Sony's 'rootkit'

Oh, and if you just want to disable Autorun on your PC, here is how(I got you covered):
Enable/Disable Autorun

Make sure you pass this along. Any questions? You know where to send them.

Eventually I will get to the meat and potatoes of this site but right now, i'm sick, and apparently you wanted to know about this. I will say that this space will be used for tech, music, and maybe some literary (and occasionally some sex) news as well as links to things I think might be interesting in those areas on the 'net. Some of which may or may not be work safe (i'll try to let you know). Be warned that if you've known me for any length of time, you know that I love these subjects in a more erotic fashion, too. I also absolutely LOVE video games, but will be covered here so that's straight. Oh, and photography. I love photography and really taking taking pictures also, but I don't have a digital camera, yet. I do have a 35mm, though. That's a camera that actually used film, kids. Film is...Never mind. I'm totally off the subject, but that is what is to occupy this space.

So let me reign this back in. I'm sick and hate it. And it just really manifested itself a couple of hours before this post. Now, i'm at work at this time and i've been sneezing constantly for the last few says while i've been here. I thought that I was just allergic to work (and I still might be), but apparently that was not it. Every time I walk into the room, I sneeze every few minutes. It's annoying. Now, how did I get sick? Well,

it recently got cold here so change of weather could be a factor. Nah. Ok, I do work in a cold room, so THAT could do it. NOPE. Let me tell you. When I got in to work earlier, I was told my one co-worker called and

said that he wasn't coming in. Not a problem except for the fact that he didn't call me directly. He called the job. At the time he was supposed to be here, no less. Now, he has my home phone number and has

called me for less than this. Alright, he called me a while later and said,” I’m not coming in tonight. I've got some personal business that came up." He did not say WHAT it was. I tried to give him a chance to say anything. Why does this matter? Well, i'm his supervisor, for one. If you were an employee and was calling

in from work, you would tell your supervisor why even if you outright lied to them (you know you've done it). He said nothing. Ok, I don't really care about his personal life, but as his supervisor, I have to know why he isn't coming in because that is where my concern lies. He's scheduled to work, he should be here unless

physically unable to (or death in the family, etc). I got nothing. I could have excercised my to make him tell me or demand that he come in. I was trying to be nice and give some rope. I let it go with a stipulation. If there was a medical problem, I need a doctor's excuse (which I would need). He said nothing still. Not five minutes later, my former supervisor comes over to ask my co-worker about an email he had sent earlier in the morning (Hi, I work night shift, by the way). I knew nothing about it. My co-worker didn't tell me, and all seemed fine. To make a long story short, my co-worker was called(I didn't talk to him) and they talked. Whatever the situation was, happened supposedly between 2 other people on the other shift and that my former supervisor supposedly knew about(since it is his shift anyway). Stuff was said. A comment " I didn't want him(being me) to start prying into his personal life" or something like that was said. What?? I'm already heated for him not coming and telling(not asking) me otherwise. Now he is said to have said something like this. I get really peeved now. And this, in case you forgot, is where I start getting sick because as I'm getting pissed, my immune system goes down. How do I know this? Because this is not the first time this has happened. Fairly recently, I might add. Remind me to tell you that one. It's a doozy. So anyway, after the phone call, my former supervisor and talk, he leaves and i'm pissed. This causes my slow decline rather fast, if that makes sense. Now i'm sick and the story is not done(well, it may be as far as you concerned). I may tell the rest later, but probably not. I'm lazy and hate to write(or type as it were). That's another story for another time. I have a headache.

Oh, In case you were wondering, usually if I know i'm about to be sick, then I would start drinking some ginger tea mixed in with some ginseng. That usually brings it out and knocks it out a cold in a few days (which is way short for me). Well, this time, I didn't have either of those. I did have this stuff caled Airborne. It's basically like Alker Seltzer, but with a different make up. Now i'm in full blown cold status. ICK!! Now it's all soup and flat food once my wife gets wind of this.