Tuesday, February 15, 2005
I guess blogs all have a limited lifespan, and this one seems to be dying almost as I type. A combination of a new busy job, and a sudden unexpected dearth of internet access, has put the kibosh on my self-published web drivelling. However I want you to know, that it's not because I don't care. As soon as I hook up with an hour's decent broadband, I promise you a veritable smorgasbord of intarweb action. It shall be a link-o-ramic orgy, the likes of which you have never known. But for now it has to wait...
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Epoc.cabir, the herpes simplex of phone viruses.
Almost incredibly I caught a wild bluetooth virus today. Walking down the street I got bluejacked twice from someone called "Kash", and the message payload was a virus. Just 6 months ago, epoc.cabir was described as the first "proof of concept" symbOS virus that could spread between phones. Only Nokia 3650s, 6600s, and N-gage's are vulnerable, and then only if they have bluetooth set to "discoverable". When you receive the message, it asks to install a program called "caribe.sis", that hijacks your bluetooth connection, attempting every 20 seconds to send itself onwards. It doesn't do any harm to your phone, though it drains your batteries pretty fast.
Interestingly, just like a real virus, a symbOS virus with few or any symptoms is the only kind with a chance to survive in the real world. Most bluetooth viruses are actually being "caught" right now from downloads off the web. epoc.cabir is clearly more successful. Since bluetooth transmission is only effective over about 5 metres, and hardly anyone has bluetooth on and switched to discoverable, transmission must occur very rarely. If the virus caused major problems, phone users would take action to disable the virus before it could spread. A virus that lies unnoticed by the user (after initial installation) is the only kind that will ever get a chance to "breed".
In that respect Epoc.cabir, is a lot like herpes simplex. One in three Americans has herpes. Mostly after you first catch herpes, you would never know it was there. Sure some people get plagued by sporadic cold sores, and a few die from encephalitis, but mostly you would never know you had it. Herpes isn't as contagious as ebola or marburg, but because it hangs around forever, it still manages to spread.
The incidence of epoc.cabir is likely to grow and grow. However it's not going to last forever, at least not in the UK, because phone users here typically change handset every 12-18 months. Which must be the reason why 02 and Vodafone aren't worried enough to arrange some kind of mass recall.
Almost incredibly I caught a wild bluetooth virus today. Walking down the street I got bluejacked twice from someone called "Kash", and the message payload was a virus. Just 6 months ago, epoc.cabir was described as the first "proof of concept" symbOS virus that could spread between phones. Only Nokia 3650s, 6600s, and N-gage's are vulnerable, and then only if they have bluetooth set to "discoverable". When you receive the message, it asks to install a program called "caribe.sis", that hijacks your bluetooth connection, attempting every 20 seconds to send itself onwards. It doesn't do any harm to your phone, though it drains your batteries pretty fast.
Interestingly, just like a real virus, a symbOS virus with few or any symptoms is the only kind with a chance to survive in the real world. Most bluetooth viruses are actually being "caught" right now from downloads off the web. epoc.cabir is clearly more successful. Since bluetooth transmission is only effective over about 5 metres, and hardly anyone has bluetooth on and switched to discoverable, transmission must occur very rarely. If the virus caused major problems, phone users would take action to disable the virus before it could spread. A virus that lies unnoticed by the user (after initial installation) is the only kind that will ever get a chance to "breed".In that respect Epoc.cabir, is a lot like herpes simplex. One in three Americans has herpes. Mostly after you first catch herpes, you would never know it was there. Sure some people get plagued by sporadic cold sores, and a few die from encephalitis, but mostly you would never know you had it. Herpes isn't as contagious as ebola or marburg, but because it hangs around forever, it still manages to spread.
The incidence of epoc.cabir is likely to grow and grow. However it's not going to last forever, at least not in the UK, because phone users here typically change handset every 12-18 months. Which must be the reason why 02 and Vodafone aren't worried enough to arrange some kind of mass recall.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
It's practically a truism that if you go to a job interview for a job you don't want or need, you always get the job. Anyway, that's exactly what happened to me today. I have now officially graduated from SHO to Registrar, and as of Monday will be cruising the wards of a particularly glam London teaching hospital. Wish me virtual luck.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
My 28th Birthday is coming up real soon, The theme for the party is Teenage Mutant Ninja Tokyo. If you think I forgot to invite you, email me for the details. My birthday wishlist has exactly one item: the Franzie Boys EP (pointed out by).
"The Queen's favourite film is Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)"
In the midst of The Florence pub quiz last night, after too much Rhubarb and Crumble Vodka, former guest blogger Charlie Beez said that he had "read this in The Guardian, and The Spectator." It seems totally unbelievable now in the cold light of day, but somehow it was accepted as truth.
30 seconds fact checking this morning reveals that it was nothing more that a bald lie, sourced from a partially spoof Jubilee article. (In fact rumour suggests that Yellow Submarine is the Queen's actual favourite.)
Despite this blurring of truth and fiction, "Team Duck Butter", as we chose to be called, rolled to a stunning pub quiz win (of £40 of beer vouchers). The essential pub quiz problem is not basic General Knowledge. With enough people on a team, someone will probably have a fair idea of the correct answer. The problem to be overcome is one of alcohol vs quality control. As everybody gets drunker it gets harder to distinguish inebriated guesswork from inspired trivia knowledge. As with poker, pub quiz supremacy is probably easiest to acheive sober.
In the midst of The Florence pub quiz last night, after too much Rhubarb and Crumble Vodka, former guest blogger Charlie Beez said that he had "read this in The Guardian, and The Spectator." It seems totally unbelievable now in the cold light of day, but somehow it was accepted as truth.
30 seconds fact checking this morning reveals that it was nothing more that a bald lie, sourced from a partially spoof Jubilee article. (In fact rumour suggests that Yellow Submarine is the Queen's actual favourite.)
Despite this blurring of truth and fiction, "Team Duck Butter", as we chose to be called, rolled to a stunning pub quiz win (of £40 of beer vouchers). The essential pub quiz problem is not basic General Knowledge. With enough people on a team, someone will probably have a fair idea of the correct answer. The problem to be overcome is one of alcohol vs quality control. As everybody gets drunker it gets harder to distinguish inebriated guesswork from inspired trivia knowledge. As with poker, pub quiz supremacy is probably easiest to acheive sober.
Monday, February 07, 2005
All the ads UK Superbowl viewers missed; though GoDaddy have their own extended director's cut of their gratuitously busty commercial.
Knitting...possibly less cool than you'd think.
Contrary to what The Guardian recently claimed, I haven't taken up knitting in order to support the War On Terror™. Nor as (the doubtless ficticiously monikered) Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs suggests, do I find that knitting allows me a "conscious retreat, to contact my inner divine presence".
Instead I find that knitting allows me the luxury of a rather fetching sheep's wool scarf, ingeniously crafted with diagonal stripes. If there's any political/spiritual aspect to my knitting, it's that I feel rather smug, having reclaimed a traditionally female craft as a vaguely legitimate male pursuit. Apparently Larry Fishburne, is with me on this point.
My recommended knitting resources? Knitty.com (home of the knitted uterus doll), the Stitch 'N' Bitch Handbook, and some nice yarn from the friendly people at Rowan.
Rest assured this is not about to become a Knitblog.
Contrary to what The Guardian recently claimed, I haven't taken up knitting in order to support the War On Terror™. Nor as (the doubtless ficticiously monikered) Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs suggests, do I find that knitting allows me a "conscious retreat, to contact my inner divine presence".
Instead I find that knitting allows me the luxury of a rather fetching sheep's wool scarf, ingeniously crafted with diagonal stripes. If there's any political/spiritual aspect to my knitting, it's that I feel rather smug, having reclaimed a traditionally female craft as a vaguely legitimate male pursuit. Apparently Larry Fishburne, is with me on this point.
My recommended knitting resources? Knitty.com (home of the knitted uterus doll), the Stitch 'N' Bitch Handbook, and some nice yarn from the friendly people at Rowan.
Rest assured this is not about to become a Knitblog.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
I am still unconvinced that this blog is being revived. Being unemployed has given me a new lease of life. Long hours to read, study the crossword, and knit. Almost none of these hours seem worth wasting on blogging. However as I type I am wearing an item of such indescribable comfort and luxury, that I felt it justified wider circulation:
Keep Bees At Bay The Sherriff Way!
I'm not sure this deluxe beesuit will be of much benefit to many blog-readers. However as I sit here swathed in polycotton twill, viewing the world from behind a double-zipped black UV resistant nylon veil, I feel deliciously secure from the predations of apis mellifera. Really I can't recommend it enough for apiarists and apiphobes alike. Should you choose to order one today, you get a free pair of leather gloves, similar to those in the photo. The model above seems to have teamed up his beesuit with a pair of Tigers, as favoured by The Bride, whereas I shall be donning snazzy surgical boots when proper beework is required.
Keep Bees At Bay The Sherriff Way!
I'm not sure this deluxe beesuit will be of much benefit to many blog-readers. However as I sit here swathed in polycotton twill, viewing the world from behind a double-zipped black UV resistant nylon veil, I feel deliciously secure from the predations of apis mellifera. Really I can't recommend it enough for apiarists and apiphobes alike. Should you choose to order one today, you get a free pair of leather gloves, similar to those in the photo. The model above seems to have teamed up his beesuit with a pair of Tigers, as favoured by The Bride, whereas I shall be donning snazzy surgical boots when proper beework is required.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Back from retirement, prompted by two incredible things:
Extreme Hunting
It's like a highly intense, bloody, immoral version of Virtua Cop. You load up a weapon in the hunting lodge, then head out into the wilderness to different "stands", where you pick off innocent mammals.
There's a choice of weapons: rifle, shotgun, bow; and these are augmented as you get "power-ups" with a slingshot, power-rifle, and other various tools of mayhem. Obviously the user interface is a crappy pump action shotgun, but this takes nothing away from the thrill of downing a black bear at 200 yards with a longbow.
The animal choice determines the game play: Elk, Moose, Grizzly, Deer, Black Bear. There's a moratorium on killing bear cubs and female deer, which gets challenging as your critical senses get overwhelmeed by bloodlust. Plus you have extremely limited ammo, forcing you to go for headshots and direct hits on the heart.
I recommend you petition your local pub to order one of these from Sammy Games today.
The Framley Examiner
Suggested by the mysterious "mk", The Framley Examiner, purports to be a local paper, of distinctly local concerns. A particular delight are the Classifieds:
Extreme Hunting
It's like a highly intense, bloody, immoral version of Virtua Cop. You load up a weapon in the hunting lodge, then head out into the wilderness to different "stands", where you pick off innocent mammals.
There's a choice of weapons: rifle, shotgun, bow; and these are augmented as you get "power-ups" with a slingshot, power-rifle, and other various tools of mayhem. Obviously the user interface is a crappy pump action shotgun, but this takes nothing away from the thrill of downing a black bear at 200 yards with a longbow.
The animal choice determines the game play: Elk, Moose, Grizzly, Deer, Black Bear. There's a moratorium on killing bear cubs and female deer, which gets challenging as your critical senses get overwhelmeed by bloodlust. Plus you have extremely limited ammo, forcing you to go for headshots and direct hits on the heart.
I recommend you petition your local pub to order one of these from Sammy Games today.
The Framley Examiner
Suggested by the mysterious "mk", The Framley Examiner, purports to be a local paper, of distinctly local concerns. A particular delight are the Classifieds:
TERRIFYINGLY SOFT MATTRESS £110. Must sell soon. Mattress is too soft. Much too soft. Also hard pillows. Call 01999 920 132 any time of day or night.Hours and hours of provincial pleasure.
BBC MODEL "B" MICRO with two games: 'Text Tennis' and 'BBC Windowbox', and FORTRAN light-operated tortoise. £800ono. Box FE8390
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