February 26, 2007
I was thrilled to death to see Martin Scorsese win an Oscar for his directing The Departed. I am of the belief that honoring this wonderfully talented and visionary director has taken way too long. After all, Scorsese has directed some of the most widely remembered movies in American cinematic history. He always has an eye for the keen, and makes movies that are of such high quality they are generally unmatched by his peers.
The one thing that I truly find odd about Scorsese being honored for The Departed is that this particular script is merely a remake of a Hong Kong movie entitled Infernal Affairs. Although I think most followers of the Academy Awards are breathing a collective sigh of relief knowing that Scorsese finally received what he has long deserved, it certainly comes at a peculiar time. Why not recognize the true talent of this man when he directed something a little more original?
I know, I should feel good that he was finally honored, especially knowing how odd the Academy is when it comes to sniffing their own asses, but come on. Scorsese deserved this years ago and it is just strange to award him for essentially a remake, even though he did do the story some major justice.
Anyhow, on top of all that, congrats to Scorsese and his family. He is a genuine guy who totally deserved this long overdue award.
February 22, 2007
Just a heads-up to all you out there that are not really security conscious. Microsoft “Patch Tuesday” was last week, with a number of important security updates having been released by the software giant. If you run Windows XP then chances are that you need to install most of these patches in order to ensure that you will not be 0wned by some wannabe script kiddie who thinks it would be fun to make your computer a wreck.
The following is a list of what new goodies our faithful friend, Microsoft, has offered us peasants:
MS07-005: Vulnerability in Step-by-Step Interactive Training Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 923723
Severity: Important
MS07-006: Vulnerability in Windows Shell Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
KB Number: 928255
Severity: Important
MS07-007: Vulnerability in Windows Image Acquisition Service Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
KB Number: 927802
Severity: Important
MS07-008: Vulnerability in HTML Help ActiveX Control Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 928843
Severity: Critical
MS07-009: Vulnerability in Microsoft Data Access Components Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 927779
Severity: Critical
MS07-010: Vulnerability in Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 932135
Severity: Critical
MS07-011: Vulnerability in Microsoft OLE Dialog Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 926436
Severity: Important
MS07-012: Vulnerability in Microsoft MFC Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 924667
Severity: Important
MS07-013: Vulnerability in Microsoft RichEdit Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 918118
Severity: Important
MS07-014: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 929434
Severity: Critical
MS07-015: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Could Allow Remote Code Execution
KB Number: 932554
Severity: Critical
MS07-016: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer
KB Number: 928090
Severity: Critical
MSRT-001: Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool (February Update)
I highly recomment that these patches be installed once they have been delivered to you via Microsoft’s automatic update service. If, for whatever reason, you do not see them show up anytime soon then I strongly recommend that you force-check for new updates. Once prompted to install these security patches then do so immediately.
Until the second Tuesday of March, I sincerely hope that you enjoy this round of fun in the sun, all thanks to Microsoft!
February 21, 2007
There is a lot of talk about global warming in the news these days. It is an interesting topic, and one that has been pushed in to the forefront of many people’s minds. Global warming, although not exactly proven to the highest level of provability, is dangerous and may lead to leaving earth in ruins in the future. I just wanted to pass along my thoughts on this highly volatile issue.
Global warming, otherwise known as a temperature increase in the troposphere, is one of many causes of the various climate changes that the Earth has been undergoing throughout the years. This particular issue is rather large these days, especially because of the vast amount of exposure that ex-Vice President Al Gore has shed on global warming. The dilemma that the world is faced with is attempting to narrow down on a particular culprit, which the world can aim to reconcile in an attempt to thwart the ill effects of global warming.
Since, you know, I am nowhere near what a layperson would describe as a scientist, I thought it would be interesting to explore what I believe are a few key effects of a climate change due to an increase in the base temperature of the earth.
It is quite possible that a rise in the earth’s temperature may create a situation in which the polar ice caps, and other large bodies of ice, start melting. Not on the grand scale that was seen in the movie The Day After Tomorrow, but nonetheless in a manner that may be detrimental to the inhabitants of our precious planet.
If such an event were to occur, more land surface ends up exposed to the sun, which in turn results in warmer temperatures. Once the base temperature of the planet starts to rise, the warmer temperatures make the ice melt at a greater rate, creating an evil cycle that may rapidly deplete the polar ice caps. It is like an evil cycle that is quite difficult to stop, assuming that enough momentum was gained.
Again, not exactly on the grand dramatic scale seen in the aforementioned movie, depletion of the polar ice caps due to warmer temperatures on earth may lead to a major shift in global weather. The likes of what may happen are unknown, although scientists do have their theories. Al Gore clearly depicts such in his documentary on global warming, Inconvenient Truth.
There are a number of other effects that may be seen as well. A decrease in the population is highly plausible, onset because of a possible increase in deaths attributed to the higher temperatures. Higher temperatures also tend to disrupt the precious food supplies that we rely upon for nourishment. Death and famine, while spectacular sounding, is a distinct possibility.
Along the same lines, an increase in droughts may be seen, as the warmer temperatures affect the cycle of rain that the agriculture industry relies upon in order to feed humans. Crops may end up yielding less food because of the harsher temperatures, leading the agriculture industry to charge more for their valuable products. The added pressure on the ecosystem, no thanks to warmer temperatures, affects more than meets the eye.
Whether you believe in the global warming phenomenon that is sweeping the world over or not, you have got to admit that many of the ideas proposed to stop global warming are just common sense measures for life. Regardless of the intent, it just makes sense to take care of the world today, so that there is a world out there tomorrow.
February 13, 2007
It has been a while since I posted anything about little ole Max. In case you have forgotten, or in the event that you are new to this part of the intarweb, Max is the most recent addition to our family. Max is an 11 month old steel and tan Yorkshire Terrier, heavy on the steel side. He has very few tan, mainly relegated to subtle highlights around the base of his legs.
In any event, Max sure is looking new and improved after he “suffered” through a haircut this past weekend. This was not the first grooming that he has had to endure, but this is the first time that I managed to snap a few pictures afterward.
Max apparently went from a scruffy and scrappy little Yorkie to being a clean-cut, sexy looking beast of a man-dog!
Since both Junko and I are working, and Anthony is obviously a full-time elementary school student, we do not have loads of time to train the little guy. At the moment he is more than capable of “taking care of business” in his allotted area and can do a couple of tricks. Max sits, shakes (with either hand, capable of switching hands when told “other hand”) and is now at the end run of his training on laying down. Next up: fetch Dad a beer!
About a week ago, here’s what Boston actually thought. (via)
If this does not make the people of Boston sit down and truly think about what took place in their city last week then I have no idea what will. I did not intend to write anything about that “incident” because there was far too much air time devoted to such acts of stupidity. Not stupidity on behalf of the Turner Broadcasting System. Not stupidity on behalf of the Cartoon Network.
Instead, chalk it up to stupidity no thanks to the elected government officials that run the city of Boston. Their wonderful fear-mongering campaign managed to scare the living hell out of the entire city a whole week after the “hoax devices” were “strategically” placed.
This video points out the blatant stupidity, and incompetence, of the Boston city officials in exquisite detail through simple mockery. The elected officials of Boston should be ashamed of themselves, and will hopefully have to pray that their constituents vote to keep them in office come the next election cycle.
February 10, 2007
I have entertained quite a bit of discussion on the Snap Preview Anywhere functionality for the site here. All the feedback has been highly valuable, both for myself as the guy who runs the site, as well as for the Snap folks who are monitoring the sites that use the technology.
I want to thank each and every one of you for offering up your honest and helpful thoughts. Based on your feedback, I have a pretty good idea where I plan to go with the use of SPA. However, I have one last request for everyone, before the decision is finalized.
In response to feedback from users, the good folks at Snap have developed an enhancement to Snap Preview Anywhere which adds a very small icon to SPA-enabled links. The implementation on jarkolicious.com is such that the link text is no longer the trigger for the preview; hovering the small icon on the right of the link text will display the preview as opposed to the link text.
The basic idea is to offer a visual cue to denote which links are SPA-enabled, thereby effectively eliminating the potential “surprise element” and drastically reducing the number of instances of “accidental triggering.”
I have been asked to help “sneak preview” this enhancement, and thought it would be prudent to help the good folks at Snap out. This gives you a chance to offer your input on the updated implementation. More than likely, this will be the final trial of Snap Preview Anywhere here on jarkolicious.com, so I would appreciate any last thoughts that you may have.
At the moment, I have only modified the code so that SPA-enabled links within blog entries are using the enhancement. The links on the site that are outside of the blog posts may still use the “old” SPA functionality for the time being. Based on the overall feedback of both the updated and “old” functionality will determine the path that I take with the implementation here on-site.
So, with all that said, what are your thoughts on the enhancements? Better, worse or more of the same? Keep or remove?
Update: There appears to be a known issue with the icon display and Safari. The issue is being worked and will be fixed soonest.
