Category: Randomosity…

During normal lapses of insanity…


Great things happen…

Maybe not how we wanted…but they do happen.

Once…

As you may have guessed from references in some of my posts, I’ve been doing odd internet jobs for people for a long long time now. I’ve been offering hosting/email services for almost eight years now, and even been helping a number of online communities stay alive even longer. Not just to help them out, but get a feel for the market and see if I could make it in a completely different and far more satisfying lifestyle. The answer is yes, it’s working. Slowly but surely, I am getting more and more savvy in an arena of IT I’ve never really considered to be my forte. Well…as it happens, tinkering around with a gazillion operating systems, reverse engineering hardware, and breaking the hell out of websites eventually leaves you with a few skills. I can build a server blindfolded, have a business set up with a virtual office, email, and a competent website in less than 4 hours. I am not bragging, I’ve done all those things in the last couple months without realizing that it might actually be something that could make me a buck or two. So it’s happening. Slowly but surely as i build my business, hopefully it will someday enable me to shrug off the 9-5 and live a little better.

Twice…

Every time a new book is published from the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, I have to get my hands on an autographed copy. This became problematic, or at least I thought it would become so, when this great writer passed away.

As it happens, the author chosen to continue the legacy, Brandon Sanderson, has been releasing autographed copies of each new publication, with an imprint of Robert Jordan’s autograph on the title page, directly above Mr. Sanderson’s own mark. Waiting for me when I got home was an autographed first print copy of the latest novel in the Wheel of Time series. This = Awesome.

Three times!

As if on queue, a final great thing happened. If you’ve been here before, you might have read about some of the insane problems a friend has been going through. I read some incredibly good news today regarding all this insanity. The abusive asshole that seemed to have been getting away with murder for years and albeit terrorizing her and her kids is finally seeing some repercussions for his actions and protective orders have finally been placed protecting them from him. I am sooo glad for you and the kids Andria. Take care and know that there is always light to see by. You deserve some happiness.

Anyhow…I am done sharing until the weekend. Have a great night!

-Tony




A message to a childhood icon…

Rick Martin, I used to pretend I was you while playing hockey as a kid. You we’re one of my heroes in all things Hockey. You’ll be remembered.




Tony’s White Hat

If you’re not entirely clueless…you already know I am a computer & electronics security hobbyist. On the side, I help people clean up their messy machines, and when they pay the bill on time, they also enjoy a ton of extra information in the way of best practices.

Usually before the end of their first session with me, they are either already convinced I’m some sort of hacker, or suspect it on some level, and because I like to keep my options open and would very much prefer not to have Big Brother’s Hot Poker waving in my direction, I would very much like to clarify.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away. I was exposed to the Hacker movement. Not the silliness that involved bragging rights on who got unlimited ratios on the best BBS’. The real stuff. I learned about both sides of the coin and by the time “The Hacker Crackdown” was written, everything in that book was sort of common knowledge in these circles. At the time, the tools of the trade were quite dependent on a level of trust whereby people weren’t publishing technical manuals or social engineering mechanisms for fame or money, it was only done to expose the rift in security…not to cause harm. It was like a game. The digital underground strikes a server and leaves a glaring banner on it usually claiming credit for exposing illegal or amoral activities on part of the company involved.

The technical side never really appealed to me, as I saw how harmful sitting in front of a computer all the time was to getting some relationships, but I loved the social engineering end. In addition, I loved all the jazzy words that were almost a secret code because they were used properly only by people with a clue, those words are now more or less the foundation catch phrases for a media sorely lacking in the fundamental knowledge some of us older geeks would consider necessary to even consider credibility in the Author. Anyhow, this is my hat. Please…by all means…pick one up for yourself.



So here it is. My favorite White Hat. I know…funny eh?

Like I said…if you like it, please buy one. Half the proceeds will go to hookers and donuts me, and the other half will go to some good cause I haven’t honestly decided on yet. (Probably a local outreach/employment program).

Thanks for the Bandwidth! …and yes. One of my favorite movies is Sneakers 😉

-Tony