December 30, 2006
It was earlier this morning that I caught myself going through my daily feed reading ritual. I made it about halfway through my list when my wife and son got hungry, so I decided to make some breakfast this morning. I rarely get a chance to make an “American breakfast” so I thought that I would use this opportunity before it vanished in to thin air, as time often does.
Not before long I was frying up some greasy turkey bacon, mixing up some scrambled eggs and warming up some old fashioned corned beef hash. In the midst of my morning ceremony the phone rang. Anthony answered in Japanese but quickly switched over to that familiar broken English of his. Turned out it was my Mom on the line.
Haven spoken to each other about five days ago I wondered what could be going on that would cause her to call at such an odd time (well, odd considering how “often†we speak on the phone). Damn near the first thing out of her mouth was, “congratulations!â€
I was confused. “Congratulations, on what?â€
“You made it in to 9rules,†she blurted out, long before I had a chance to even hit the 9rules feed in my reader, all while I was juggling the two dishes that were at work on the stove. Trying not to burn the hash or screw up the scrambled eggs, we finished a quick conversation that just had me pleasantly surprised. Apparently jarkolicious has been accepted in to 9rules, as part of their final post of the year.
What a nice way to end the year, no?
There you have it. My little piece of the intarweb has made its way in to the 9rules network! All in all there were about 123 total sites accepted as part of round 5, jarkolicious included. BTW, my mom is already a 9rules member!
I want to welcome all of you that are visiting for the very first time. I sincerely appreciate you, and all the “old timers,” stopping by and hope that you enjoy yourself around this part of the intarweb. If you want to know a little more about me then please read my colophon to get a better idea about me, my life and my family.
The next few days will more than likely see very little activity. Since tomorrow is New Years Eve, we plan to cook up a host of unhealthy food and drink an abundance of alcohol, all within the confines of our little ole home here in Japan. What a better way to spend the New Year’s holiday?
Once again, thank you very much for stopping by. Thanks to the entire 9rules crew. Thanks to my Mom. Thanks to, well, everyone. Enjoy your holiday weekend and have a safe, fun and exciting New Year.
Rock on!
December 25, 2006
In an oddly ironic twist of fate that nobody but the relatively unknown group L.A. Style was able to predict, James Brown is dead at the tender old age of 73. The “Godfather of Soul,” as he was known, was hospitalized with pneumonia, although the exact cause of death is currently undetermined. No matter how you look at it, the world has lost an unmatched talent, the likes of which it has never seen.
James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured “Godfather of Soul,” whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.
Copsidas said the cause of death was uncertain. “We really don’t know at this point what he died of,” he said.
James Brown will definitely be missed. His music has touched the heart and soul of so many people that it is almost incomparable. His unique blend of funk and disco helped fuse the music industry in ways that might never have happened had the “Godfather of Soul” not come along.
The one thing that I will always remember him for are those crazy lyrics that were almost incomprehensible at times, coupled with the rapid foot stomping and dancing of his. His antics and music inspired so many musicians that are considered popular today, such as Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, David Bowie and more.
The passing of James Brown definitely, or a more apt word would be “finally,” gives new meaning to the old school techno song by L.A. Style entitled “James Brown is Dead.” If you have never heard the song “James Brown is Dead” then you owe it to yourself to listen at least once in remembrance of this legendary musician. It is no masterpiece, by any stretch of the imagination, but merely brings this event in to perspective. I am not entirely certain that there will be mass hysteria due to James Brown’s death at L.A. Style would have you believe, though I am quite positive that the “Godfather of Soul” will be mourned by the entire world.
Rest in peace James Brown! You were one hell of an artistic legend that can never be duplicated or matched.
Happy Holidays to each and everyone out there. I sincerely hope that your holiday season is all that you asked for, and more, and that you are able to realize all your dreams. The end of the year is always a time for reflection and I genuinely hope that everyone has had no regrets throughout 2006 and will keep the same in to 2007.
We are having a relatively quiet holiday season. Everyone is busy, with work and school, and rather than having a huge party or get-together, we are just hanging out together as a family. Although Junko and Anthony are working and going to school today, Christmas, we did have an enjoyable Christmas Eve. Nothing to write home about, even though it is somehow blog-worthy I guess.
In any event, here’s to hoping that everyone has happiness and good health throughout the holiday season and all through 2007.
Enjoy!
December 21, 2006
The Transformers trailer hit the net earlier today and it just plain rocks. You owe it to yourself to check it out, especially if you grew up in the 80’s, watching the Transformers cartoon.
This live-action version of the Transformers had me wondering at first, and for many reasons, not the least of which is that it was being directed by Michael Bay. However, after seeing the trailer I can safely say that I am genuinely interested in seeing this movie when it is released next summer. Granted, there is not much to a trailer, but this gives me just enough tease to excite my senses!
December 19, 2006
SftpDrive is a really simple application that allows one to easily map their SSH server as a Windows network drive, which then appears as a new drive in the Windows Explorer. This facilitates simple drag and drop file uploads and downloads, all within the familiar Explorer interface.
This is a really good product for those who are not too savvy with technology, but who have the need to publish documents to an SSH server. Using a simple tool like SftpDrive allows users to transfer files solely from within Windows Explorer, which means that there is never a requirement to launch confusing third-party SFTP tools like FileZilla.
A situation that I was faced with was with an public affairs-type individual who had a requirement to publish a corporate website to a newly installed SSH server, after the web server was “upgraded” to IIS on Windows 2003. She had previously been taught to, and thus became accustomed to, publishing via a fairly arcane methodology that was quite laborious, using an odd third-party software tool.
After the upgrade, SftpDrive was installed on her workstation, which allowed her simple drag-and-drop from within Windows Explorer. This cut the publishing time down by about 400% and eased her workload considerably. All the previous complex requirements were eradicated after we got her up and running on SftpDrive.
One oddity that I have noticed thus far with SftpDrive is that there is no easy way to delete sites that can not be connected to. The example site that is depicted in the screenshot above can not be removed because there is no option to do so. A mere “save drive” option exists where the “delete drive” button would otherwise be. There is also no option to right-click -> delete when highlighting a specific entry in the Site Manager of SftpDrive. This makes removal of drives somewhat difficult for those that are used to such a basic feature.
Despite the minor oddities, if you are searching for a really easy way of transferring files to and from your SFTP server then consider SftpDrive. It is definitely a worthwhile utility, especially for novice users and those who do not consider themselves savvy enough to handle third-party SFTP tools. Likewise, SftpDrive is useful even for professionals that are looking to conduct their everyday business without protocol specific tools that might otherwise slow them down or get in their way.
December 16, 2006
Another month and another Microsoft “Patch Tuesday” has come and gone. Microsoft delivers everyone an early Christmas present by releasing patches for 7 security bulletins, 1 malicious software removal tool, and even went so far as to update their previously released MS06-059 patch for Excel 2002.
The following is a list of what new goodies our faithful friend, Microsoft, has removed from their big bag of presents:
MS06-072: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (925454)
KB Number: 925454
Severity: Critical
MS06-073: Vulnerability in Visual Studio 2005 Could Allow Remote Code Execution (925674)
KB Number: 925674
Severity: Critical
MS06-074: Vulnerability in SNMP Could Allow Remote Code Execution (926247)
KB Number: 926247
Severity: Important
MS06-075: Vulnerability in Windows Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (926255)
KB Number: 926255
Severity: Important
MS06-076: Cumulative Security Update for Outlook Express (923694)
KB Number: 923694
Severity: Important
MS06-077: Vulnerability in Remote Installation Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (926121)
KB Number: 926121
Severity: Important
MS06-078: Vulnerability in Windows Media Format Could Allow Remote Code Execution (923689)
KB Number: 923689
Severity: Critical
If you have not already had these patches delivered via Microsoft’s automatic update service then I sincerely recommend that you force-check for new updates. Once prompted to install these security patches then do so immediately. There are no adverse affects after installing the aforementioned security fixes, therefore please do your part and help ensure that your workstations will not be exploited by these widely known vulnerabilities.
One thing of note from the set of patches being released this month: notice the lack of any patches for Internet Explorer 7? Could Microsoft have possibly gotten security right with the latest incarnation of their browser? The next few months should be quite telling.
