E-mail addresses and how not to use them

Let me explain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Naw, I'll stick to explaining.

So I have an email address that I don't technically use anymore (o'kay a lot of them) but that is still tied to things that I do use. This address is hosted through Gmail and the username is my old name. What's my old name you ask? Not important. I know, my parents were weird. That's not what this is about, though.

Somewhere around the late 00s, I started getting emails that seemed to be from real people and intended for a real person, just not me. A bunch of elementary school newsletters, court documents, home sale documents, bank statements, and divorce papers. I finally manage to figure out the actual email address of the person these things were meant for. Reaching out to them to let them know I've been receiving all of these things did mostly stop that from happening. Seems they were just forgetting that their email address username was FirstNameMiddleInitialLastName and frequently left out the middle initial part. This oversight instantly turned their email address into mine.

Neat. Sure I got a BUNCH of very personal and private info about this other person but problem solved, end of story. Right? Well no, because that would be boring, and if that's all this post was about I would have given you a lot more of the details. No, that was just the first of many.

Next was someone in a different country that set up an internet-connected security camera to send an email every time there was motion near the structure where they stored their ATVs that included a video clip of the action. I tried to make these emails stop but they contained no unsubscribe method. Eventually just had to blackhole all emails coming from that service and never buy their hardware. Not a huge loss but still annoying.

After that were the emails from that same country containing service invoices from a Volkswagon dealership. That was easy enough to deal with. Just emailed the service department, explained that their customer had given them someone else's email address and never heard from them again.

So back to my own country, halfway across it, I get emails from another car dealership service department. Same deal. Took longer to get the emails to stop. About a year. But did finally make contact with a human who was very apologetic and again the problem went away.

This continues a few more times, primarily from US-based businesses and from a few individuals. I can mostly pin each of these emails as having been intended for one of three different people in the US and one or two in Canada. Years go by, and aside from the occasional uptick in spam and the odd purchase invoice from a furniture store, it's pretty quiet.

Then, years later, I start getting emails from Ionos about a domain expiring. I know this can't be for me as I don't use Ionos for domain registration or anything else. I had never even heard of them before getting the emails. Initially, I just deleted them as they came in but the volume increased. Account updates, policy changes, etc. I got tired of seeing them and I didn't want to blackhole everything from them and forget about it as I might end up needing to get emails from them someday for some reason that wasn't occurring to me just then. So I send an email to their support department letting them know that I was not their customer and that their customer had likely given them the wrong email address. What I get back from Ionos support was an email that very matter-of-factly stated that I was, indeed, their customer and that I owed them money.

So that didn't sit too well with me. One might say I was a bit annoyed. This is when I go very against my nature and make a phone call. I don't hate making phone calls but I do hate making phone calls to people I don't know. This was a whole company full of people I don't know and that had demonstrated that reading comprehension was not a high priority in their hiring process. Apprehension was high but that call was made nonetheless.

The first person I speak to is clearly a front-line rep, of which I have been one, and was not prepared for the story I had to tell. It took a few times of explaining the issue for it to sink in that I was not their customer but that my email address was being used by their customer. So once the rep grasped the situation and that it was resulting in me receiving communications from them intended for someone else I was transferred to someone in their security department.

The security department rep didn't have as hard of a time understanding the problem. Likely hears all kinds of weird stuff. This person tells me that they have other means to contact their customer and that they will reach out to the customer by those means. They thank me for letting them know about the issue and we part ways. I, foolishly, assume this is the end of it as it seemed that my initial contact was just one person failing to understand what they were being told. So I was a little taken aback when I later find an email from Ionos stating that a credit had been applied to "my account" and that there was an attached PDF containing the details of this credit. A PDF which included, among other things, the street address of the customer.

So Ionos had gone from insisting that I owned them money, to issuing their customer an account credit and in the process sending me their customer's personal information. All because they failed to confirm their customer's email address when the account was created and failed to remove the email address from the account when they were told that it was not correct.

Now here we are, almost a year later, and I receive yet another email from Ionos. Seems there was some change in how taxes will be applied, and they are letting all of their customers know. Of course, I am not their customer, but telling them that doesn't seem to make any difference. Getting this email brings back all of the frustration from the first encounter, so I send another email advising that I am still not their customer, have never been their customer, and that the complete incompetence displayed shows that I should never be their customer.

I bet you can guess how well that worked, can't you?

This is what I get back in response:

Thank you for contacting us.

I apologize for inconvenience and confusion this issue have caused.

Our record shows that last May 5, 2019, you signed up for a domain contract to register the domain, [DOMAIN REDACTED]. The domain expired last May 2020.This does not automatically cancel the domain contract. Please note that we did not charge you since the contract is empty.

I understand that you do not want to keep the empty contract so I have processed its cancellation. You will receive an email confirmation about the cancellation in a separate email.

If you still need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone at 1-484-254-5555 (US), 1-844-296-2059 (Canada), +1 (816) 621-4796 (International) or simply reply to this email. Alternatively, you can schedule a call back using the link below:

https://contact.ionos.com

Yeah, it's "Let's Ignore You Part 2 - Electric Boogaloo". This also did not go over very well. Not at all. I might have responded with a lot of swearing. I might also have tweeted about my opinion that doing business with Ionos would be ill-advised unless one was o'kay with having their personal information sent to third parties who were trying to stop them from doing just that.

The next day I get a tweet from Ionos customer support apologizing for "the confusion" and stating that they don't know what I mean but also stating that the company doesn't send personal information out. A bold claim from someone that just said they don't know what I mean. Even bolder since that is exactly what had happened in June of last year.

We go back and forth; them trying to get me to move this into DMs, and me very much not being willing to do that. Ionos' chance to address this without public disclosure was a year ago. We were well past that now. I did, though, give them enough information to locate the customer account and I did later get another email advising that the account would be closed due to using fraudulent contact data. I think the wording was a little strong. It's most likely that this person failed to type their own email address correctly, and Ionos failed to perform the most basic of checks to make sure that the customer was reachable by this address. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Do I have any faith that this is actually over? None whatsoever. Do I expect to keep getting emails from Ionos? Absolutely. Will I do anything further if it happens? Just blackhole all emails from them, as there's no way I will ever do business with them at any point, ever.

To the social media rep that I was in communication with, I've done customer support before and understand the situation you found yourself in. I do not envy it. You had to do what you were doing. I respect that. I had to make sure that this was not kept a private matter.

All of this could have been avoided if Ionos had included email reachability checks in their signup process. Maybe this caught the attention of someone in the company that can make sure that something is added to future versions of their product. Again, I'm not holding my breath.

Shoes just keep dropping

Some days are easier than others, some days I don't even have to think about it. On other days the other shoe drops and just keeps dropping.

Of course there was a time in my life when I didn't have to brace myself, with each new person I met, for that inevitable moment when they would say or do something that would show that they couldn't be trusted. Display that they did not see me or people like me as part of their tribe, or even see me as a person at all. At least that's what I tell myself when I think back on my childhood, as there are large chunks of it of which I have no memory. It has to be the case, though, as I didn't always know I wasn't straight, or cis, or monogamous.

There was a point in my life where I lived and worked in the queer-Mecca of my area. So long as I didn't venture outside of that area, and I rarely did, I didn't have to worry about or even think about what aspects of myself I presented, how, and to whom. Almost everyone I interacted with was open-minded and accepting of other people just as they are. Or at the very least they put on a good show. Those that weren't accepting were so outnumbered that even if you could see their disapproval on their face they wouldn't dare say anything.

Don't misunderstand, where I live now isn't too bad or maybe it's just that everyone is too worried about their problems to spend time bothering anyone else. Where I work, on the other hand, is a totally different story. I'll just say that the business I work in is stereotyped as one that would attract “good ol' boys” both as customers and employees. Obviously, not everyone I work with is an issue, nor is every customer. Though that's the thing about waiting for the other shoe to drop, isn't it? You don't know until you know. And not a week goes by that I don't get to learn that someone else isn't safe.

There is very little about myself that I'm out about at work. I don't hide that I'm an atheist; I have a flying spaghetti monster badge on my car's trunk lid as well as both an "Athiest Inside" and an A in a circle vinyl decal on the back window. I know at least one of my co-workers is an atheist. She is also one of the very few people at work that I'm out to about anything else. The other two are the HR person and, as far as I know, the only Pagan there.

Being pansexual and genderfluid are things I keep very close to the vest. Most work days fail to pass without me having to listen to one or more people go on about their homophobic or transphobic ideas and stories. I spend each day knowing that people who treat me as one of their own actually hate me, find me disgusting, think of me as not a person, etc; or would if they knew to. I hear how they speak about me without knowing it. How they speak about my friends, my partner, and people I care about, but just don't know it. They call me friend, buddy, pal. Say they appreciate what I do for them. All the while making it very clear that I don't measure up to what it means to be human to them.

What I'm Not

Too often people are defined, and confined, by what they are, to themselves, and to others This seems to help push us deeper into our little holes. It’s hard to be who you really are when the definitions keep getting in the way.

Perhaps a better way to define ourselves, letting other people get a feel for who we are before they get to know us, and helping ourselves visualize who we’re becoming, would be to define ourselves by what we’re not.

To that end, and to perhaps clear up some long-held misconceptions, I present a list of what I’m not. As with all things, these are relevant within the framework of my ideas/beliefs, your mileage may vary.


I am not …

cisgender, a crossdresser, or a drag queen. I don’t put on “women’s clothes” for any different reason than I put on clothes “for men”. I don’t seek sexual gratification from it, nor to perform. I’m not a man or a woman, I don’t live at either of the poles. My gender is not binary, nor is it static. I appreciate it if you find any of my shades of expression attractive but never mistake that I express as I do for anyone other than myself.


I am not …

heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual. I do not place restrictions on whom I love; things like what’s between someone’s legs, or what department they buy their clothes from mean nothing to me. It’s not a phase, I’m not experimenting, and I’m not going to “grow out of it”. I can’t choose to be attracted to whom I am any more than anyone else can. Seeing me on the arm of a man doesn’t mean I’ve accepted I’m gay any more than seeing me on the arm of a woman means I’ve accepted I’m straight (or vice versa, depending on how I’m expressing at that moment).


I am not …

Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Taoist, Buddhist, Druid, or Thelemite. I do not worship “the devil”, Satan, Lucifer, or any incarnation, or embodiment of evil.


I am not …

Monogamous, a swinger, cheating, or selfish. I don’t believe that love is a finite resource. Loving one person does not mean I have to stop loving another. I do not own my partners, nor do they own me. I don’t believe any one person can satisfy all the needs of another, nor would I ever expect them to. I don’t need more than one lover, but I don’t even need one. I want to share my time, and myself with anyone worthy of me, and in turn share in the time, and person of those I’m worthy of.


I am not …

a looser, boring, anti-social, or trying to isolate myself from the world. I don’t base my interests on trending topics, or what shows up in a “most popular” list. My taste in music will not be well represented by what you can pick up over the air, and video did, in fact, kill the radio star. My favorite TV shows have legions of fans who take every chance they can get to dress up as their favorite characters... and have all been canceled. I am not likely to be found watching sports, any sports, most likely ever... and should I ever be, it will not be that of a misnamed oblong ball. I do not see learning as a means to an end, but itself an end worthy of obtaining for no reason other than the joy of it. I was not popular in school, well except for with all the others who weren’t popular right along with me. Think about that for a moment.


I am not …

what you think I am, nor am I ever likely to be. Truth be told I probably don’t even want to be. Not that there’s anything wrong with what you think I am, it’s just not me.


I am none of those things, but I am so much more than any list of things I could tell you I am. For they are just words, and I am fluid, I change with time in ways you will never be able to predict. Love me, or hate me, but do so for what I am not, for what I am will be different tomorrow. If you’re lucky I’ll let you come along for the ride.

Unintentionally in the closet

So I went to Out in the Park yesterday, a local gay pride celebration. I've been before, though usually with my sister. I've never felt out of place there before, well before now.

This time I wasn't there with my sister, she was off visiting an ex-girlfriend. This time I was there with my girlfriend. Most of the time things were fine, we were with her daughter and her daughter's girlfriend, and my most awesome friend Stephanie.

As my girlfriend and I were leaving, though, I could feel the thoughts of the people we passed. "Look at the straight couple hanging out with us." My girlfriend and I are both pansexual, so the feeling I was getting was certainly unwarranted. Later I asked her about it and she said she was getting the same feeling as I was.

I've finally reached a point where I've decided to be totally open with people about my sexuality and now because I've found joy in the company of a woman I'm made to feel out of place within my own community. It's bad enough dealing with people who should be supportive telling me that I'm really just gay and don't want to admit it, but now I'm not even acknowledged as being a part of my own community.

I shouldn't have to wear a sign to be acknowledged for who and what I am. With all the misunderstanding and misconceptions about the whole LGBT community from the outside, the last place I should be made to feel as though I have to prove myself is within it. Alas, that is how I feel, how I've always felt.

I don't need the acceptance of others in order to feel good about who I am, but it would be nice to be supported from within the group of people who have been fighting to be accepted for the same reasons I am... I just want to be free to love who I love without being judged for it. Just like everyone else.

Is perception reality?

What we see, hear, feel, taste, and smell; this is reality? Right? What is real or real to us is what is presented to us, and how we perceive it. My view of reality is likely just ever so slightly different than everyone else's. Our lives and the lives of those we interact with color our view, and change what is real to us.

Those that know me well know I'm big on truth. It's a long-standing goal of mine to be as honest and upfront about who I am, and how I feel, as I can be with any given person when the situation allows. Most people can't handle 'the real me', which is why I don't show it to them. That, along with each person's life experiences, forms the idea of who I am to them. Most people have it very wrong.

A good friend of mine, very recently, advised me on why they think I have such trouble getting close to people... or more, them close to me. She said I'm "too honest". She meant it as a compliment as she, like I, respects that kind of honesty. She also was right, though. When you present people with the whole truth of a situation they generally can't take it. Personal reality is a powerful thing. It's how we construct our lives. When that is shaken the foundation of how we see the world and ourselves is brought into question. Some people also seem to feel that level of honesty is expected in return, which also is an uncomfortable thing. The average person can't even be honest with themselves not to mention others.

The more I thought about this I realized something, despite how honest I am, there are large parts of me that I cover up. Things that shape the core of who I am, how I see the world, and the people in it. Things that I just don't share. By doing so I not only fail in my attempt to be open about myself but I also paint an inaccurate picture of myself to those that know me. Even worse, a few days back I caught myself covering up a part of myself not out of conscious thought, but totally out of impulse. I'd become so used to doing it that it had gone beyond choice and became a part of me. At that moment I knew I had to stop, take control of my life back from whatever it was I'm so afraid of. I don't even remember what that is anymore. Sure there are things about me that some people will not be comfortable with. There are even things that may cause a few people to not talk to me anymore, or new people I meet to decide not to in the first place. Outside of the possibility of some professional relationships that I might harm, people that aren't willing to accept me for who I am, 100% who I am, I don't need in my life.

If you've made it this far you likely fit into one of a few groups. 1) You are already my friend, as I define a friend, and nothing I'm going to say beyond this point will be of any surprise to you. 2) We know each other rather well but some of this you may not know or may have only suspected. 3) We're acquaintances, follow each other on Twitter/Facebook but don't really know each other, or work together, and much of this you didn't know. 4) Lastly, you stumbled into this and can't find your way out.

Since you're still reading you're prepared to know the bits about me that you think maybe you don't. I prefix the following with this. I have never been of the "loud and proud" people about anything. I am not saying this to get attention, push it in anyone's face, or further any agenda. This is my personal expression of who I am, what makes me the person you know, and hopefully like. If upon reading what follows you question your relationship with me, whatever it is, then I ask you first question your view of your world, and what defines it in your eyes. If you liked me before, then you already liked what these things mean to me, and how they've shaped me. This is my life, who I am...

- I love my friends. Let me be clear on this. I use the term friend very exclusively. There are people I've known for years with whom I am very close, who I do not think of as my friend. There are those I've known for a very short time which I do. If I call you my friend that is functionally equivalent to me telling you that I love you. Furthermore, I do not define levels of love. I don't love someone 'like a brother' or use any such restrictions on my emotions. That does not mean I necessarily have romantic feelings for my friends, it just means that those I call friends all hold a very special place in my life, and I would do anything for them, give anything for them. If you are one of these people you know it because I've told you. If you feel we are friends by your definition but notice I never use the term, now you know why. We probably are friends, by your definition, just not mine. That doesn't mean I don't care about you, just means I don't love you, at least not in the way and to the degree that I love.

This last one is the one that I've kept the quietest. I've been more vocal about it as of late, even so of all of those that will read this only about 1% of you will already know. That being said many of you will likely realize you were aware of it without knowing it once you read it. This is one thing I just didn't tell people. There's a part of me that even now feels that I shouldn't, but this is also the thing that I caught myself covering up as an automatic response.

- I am pansexual. I can be rejected by 100% of the world's population. I'm not selfish, I'm not confused. I don't like men and women and don't feel I'm entitled to be with both. I simply don't have a preference for the sex or gender of those I would be with intimately. I do have a bias toward feminine people, I just tend get along with them better and bond more easily with them emotionally. Most of my friends are, and always have been women. From a purely sexual standpoint, to be honest, I prefer men. For day-to-day life, it all balances out, and it's approximately equal most of the time. In my experience, and of those of the other bisexual/pansexual people I know with whom I've had this conversation, we are among the least understood of the LGBT (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender) group. We stick out because we break the rules. Also in my experience, we're more understood by heterosexuals than homosexuals. That isn't saying much, but it's the way things seem to be. It's been said that homosexuals "don't trust us". We also are accused of feeding into the idea that homosexuals chose to be so because we 'choose'. I can no more choose who I am attracted to than anyone else. I just have a much larger pool of people I can meet, get to know, develop a crush on, then find out they're seeing someone else, or have them tell me I'm a "good friend". I love, I feel, no different than anyone else; have the same issues with love and relationships. Yet I'm made to feel out of place because of my lack of defining preference. I admit that I have had very little experience with this feeling directly, but I have watched my friends experience it, and as it affected them so it did me as I knew had I been open I would have received the same treatment. I realize now that I've been doing the same in this part of my life that I didn't want to do in the religious part. It doesn't mean I'm going to put a rainbow sticker on my car... though I don't rule that out. It does mean that when situations come up where I could comment honestly, I will... and it means when people unknowingly insult me, I will let them know they have.

There are, of course, a lot of little things about me that I don't always share, some of them aren't so little, but they have no place in a public forum. For that reason, and because part of the joy of making friends is getting to know new things about people, I will leave much behind the closed doors where they sit... but if you've come this far, and still want to know me, the real me, I welcome you to get to know me better. There are those who would say it's worth the time spent. Those people are my friends. :D

What dreams may come, and from where?

Not sure what brought it on but Friday night I had a really weird dream. Mostly it was one of those where time is distorted, and things that just shouldn't happen seem as though they're totally normal. I wouldn't think anything of it except that the focus of the dream was someone that I haven't seen, and hardly even thought about since high school.

Most of the interaction with her made sense even though little else did. Most, that is, except how she kept insisting that things I had told her about myself when we knew each other in high school weren't true. The things she said I'd told her were really odd. Such as she said I'd told her I lived in an apartment, which I certainly wouldn't have, as I didn't. Other things equally as weird. She said that if we were going to be together we had to start being honest with each other.

No frigging clue. If anything the reality would have been her not being honest with me. Back in high school, she transferred in around the beginning of my Sophomore year, and as would be normal for someone coming into a school full of people that don't know each other, she was pretty well left on her own. I wasn't exactly the welcoming committee, but I did my best to try to make her feel less alone. For a few months, we actually talked regularly and she seemed to enjoy my company. Then she ended up making friends with a few of the (shall we call them) snobs and promptly stopped talking to me, and a few of the other people that had tried to be her friend. It hurt, not so much that she acted like she didn't know me anymore as high school is a shark pit and you have to build your allegiances with whomever you think is the biggest shark, no what hurt was that she would never admit to me what was going on. Just did her best to look right past me for the rest of the three years.

Usually, I'd say she was just a fill in for whatever my subconscious thinks I'm not being honest about, but the direct interactions with her in the dream, the weird conversations aside, had the same feel to them as the dreams I have in which the events eventually end up happening. No idea what it is my mind thinks it’s figured out.

Guess it is what it is, and will be what it will be... just strange.

The world is rubbing off on me

It's been a few days since I got back from Richmond, VA. Still have TMBG songs stuck in my head, though a little Massive Attack and some Oingo Boingo have popped up, so I think the effects of the concert are wearing off. I may be 'normal' soon.

After I checked out of the hotel I made my way to Short Pump, VA, and the mall there. Nice two-story open-air place. There was still a lingering dampness in the air from the rain the night before, the air was cool, but not cold. Was a nice afternoon. Hit up a Coldstone Creamery, and enjoyed a little sweet cream. I don't do fancy for ice cream, simple makes me happy.

After I left I started thinking about something a friend said to me. I've been dealing with a fair amount of neck pain lately. More than usual. Mostly the hazards of being a tall person in a 'normal' person's world. Well, I've been lamenting the lack of anyone to rub my neck or shoulders... of course, it's not like people ever really have done that for me with any regularity. Makes me wonder why I did it for others for so long with no reciprocation. I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of the mall and decided on a whim to run the word massage through Google on my phone and see if there was anything close by.

I have never had a professional massage before, or one at all in a very long time. I've been on a 'go with it' thing for a while, seeing where the world takes me when I just let it all happen... well after a few dead ends, I found a place a few minutes away with a very low first-time customer rate and an opening in a few hours. So I arrange for that and then take a little drive. Found my way to the local cemetery, because that's where I end up when I don't know where I'm going. Totally not intentional, but it never is.

So I spend some time walking the grounds and took a few pictures. Lovely place, calm. Never have been sure why I end up at burial sites when I go wandering, I think if I should ever understand that I'll know far more about the me I'm told I don't see.

Making my way back to keep my appointment it sinks in that for the first time in two years someone will touch me intentionally. Sure I've had a few hugs and such over the years, but I'm talking about direct skin-to-skin. Furthermore, it will be more than just my hands; it will be the majority of my body. I shake it off, and try to not think about how after two years the first person to touch me will be a total stranger; someone I'll likely never see again. Head in, fill out some 'new customer' questionnaire, and meet the person who'll be in charge of how I feel for the next hour.

The whole thing went more or less how I expected it to. Was weird, but relaxing. Found it interesting that with only minor exceptions the motions she made were the same as those I've always used when massaging other people. Not sure what to make of it, if anything, just think it's interesting how I with no training came to using the same techniques as someone who does it for a living.

Still feel a little strange that the only person to intentionally touch my skin, touch my body, in the last two years was a total stranger. Otherwise, it wasn't a bad experience. I may try to find someplace locally that I can go to every so often. I try to keep my muscles happy, but most of what I know to do I can't do to myself as it just causes strain on other parts of me because of the way I have to contort myself to do it.

Other than that, nothing much to comment on at the moment. Something is coming, something important. Just not sure what it is yet.

My birdhouse has a nightlight

Last night I attended the They Might Be Giants show in Richmond, VA. The first thing that comes to mind is wow!

Got into town at 15:00, checked in, and as anyone that knows me would expect, I set up my laptop and got to seeing what I'd missed in the two hours I was on the road. Well, o'kay I was keeping up with 'life' via my phone, but whatever.

Caught up with old friends for dinner, then made my way in and up to the stage, because that's just how I roll, yo! ;) I don't see either of them often; it's always a trip back to my teenage years when I do.

The opening act was Jonathan Coulton, which alone was enough reason to make the trip up. Sure he didn't perform my two favorite songs (Code Monkey, and I'm Your Moon) but his performance of Mr. Fancy Pants was awesome. The set was way too short for my liking, but as an opening act, it's about what I expected.

TMBG took the stage in grand fashion. Played for about 10 minutes or more before even talking to the crowd. Then a few more songs from various albums before getting to the meat of the event. It was a Flood show after all, and Flood is what we were there to hear, and hear it we did. Backward. Well in reverse order that is. A great amount of energy, and the confetti, oh my gawd the confetti, I think I may still have some in my coat... perhaps even in my pants.

Wonderful show, best concert I've seen since the first time I saw Fighting Gravity play at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. Great time, really worth the trip. I should do this more often.

Chew on this

First off I want to give mad props to Google for making Blogger work in lynx. You guys rock my console.

With that out of the way, I thought I'd give a little update as to what I've been doing lately. Most of my 'free time' has been spent helping to bring a hackerspace online in Norfolk, VA. 757 Labs is a project formed from a local technology social group called HRGeeks. I've been hanging out with these guys for a while, and even used to know a few of them when I was in high school. It's been a lot of fun, and as I seem to have become the network admin it's been a great learning experience. My home network just didn't offer the level of complexity that the lab network does. Maintaining a number of VLANs, making sure that visitors have working internet connection while keeping the main network secure with both hardline and wireless access for everything. I've learned that there were things I didn't even know that I didn't know. Of course, that's part of why I'm here, so it's all good.

My own personal projects have mostly been on hold for the time being, partly because this has been much more fun, and partly because once the space is active I'll be able to use it for my projects. Win/Win!

I can't believe I just typed that. I feel so lame. Oh well, it stands.

Now, why did I happen to come to know that Blogger works in lynx? Well, I'm at the lab now, upstairs at the server racks, about to shut down the audio stream I've been running, and got the urge to type this. As for that audio stream, Matt Lestock (former Hak5 host, and all-around spiffy fellow) has restarted his old internet radio show. What, you didn't know? Well carry yourself over to www.jeffandchew.com, and check it out. I'll wait...

Got the skinny? Good. Listen weekly, you'll be glad you did. Just don't listen with small children or people that can't take a joke. You've been warned.

That's about all I have for now. I'm going to try to get back into posting more, now that I'll have more to post about. Until then, keep doing what you do, as no one else can do it better than you.

Rocking the Con

Spent this weekend braving the snowpocolypse (or snowpocalypse depending on which Twitter hashtag you were following) in Washington DC. Obviously, I survived. YAY ME!

Why was I in DC? Well if you're reading this you prolly already know, but I was attending ShmooCon. I've tried many years in a row, but for one reason or another was never able to until now. Got ticket, transportation, and accommodations from the fine people of 757 Labs.

Left Thursday afternoon, and settled in late that evening. Nice ride up. The three people I went up with were split between two cars. Ethan and I in one, Matt and Erik in the other. I had packed my GMRS radios, so we had communications between cars. Ethan and I have very eclectic tastes in music; it was nice to make the ride up with someone whose music selection was varied and interesting.

Friday I ventured out into the early stages of the impending doom to make my way to the Pentagon City Apple store. Picked up a mophie juice pack air, so that my phone would actually last the con without having to spend all my time tethered to a wall. I had been to the Apple store at home, but they only had the thing in eye bleed red. Fortunately, the folks in DC have some taste and carried it in a number of colors, such as black. After that, I hung out while the only entry in the Hacker Arcade was unpacked. I admit I didn't spend much time helping to set it up, but I had already spent a lot of time prepping the lasers for the install, so I was pretty fed up with it at that point. Besides, being my first con I was really in 'oooo shiny' mode. After registering I attended the opening remarks, then wandered around meeting people. Later that day I attended the talk on insecure web apps, and then the keynote on the flaw in TLS authentication. There was supposed to be a gathering at HacDC but was preemptively canceled that morning because of the threat of flaky white death. That night, while chilling in the lobby, part of the glass ceiling at the hotel broke and it started snowing inside. That was cool... very... actually cold. It was pretty chilly for the rest of the night.

Saturday I caught the second half of the talk on smartphone security. What does your data device say about you, and who is listening? Good stuff. Lots to think about. Especially since I want to get into iPhone app development., Then a very sobering talk on GSM security, or more accurately the lack thereof. I knew it was broken, but ZOMFG I had no idea how broken. After that was lunch. Didn't make it to the talk on UAVs on the cheap, but that's o'kay, 757 Labs has a UAV project which was back burnered a while back. There's talk of reactivating development on that, which I'll be happy to help with. Later was a "we're already doing it wrong" talk on cyborg infosec. How can we expect to build future bioelectrical enhancements when current pacemakers are programmable wireless over unencrypted links?

Later Saturday night I attended the podcaster's meetup. Ran into Darren, Paul, and Shannon. Haven't seen them in quite a while, so that was cool. Went out with them for Chinese food, then to the party at club Heaven & Hell. Don't ever let anyone tell you that geeks don't know how to party. That place was jumping. int80 of dualCORE performed, and really the whole night just rocked. I haven't danced that much in a LONG time. Walked back around 01:30 Sunday morning, and hung out at the hotel bar until 04:00. Chilled with int80 and the DC949 crew. Awesome people. Were great fun to party with. If I ever find myself in Orange County I will definitely look them up.

Sunday was pretty much getting packed up and escaping DC proper. I would have liked to have stayed for the closing, but the roads were just too much of a mess to risk it.

Had a hell of a time. Shmoo rocked my socks, nuff said.

Took a few pictures, which I'll get up on Flickr eventually. Right now it's well past my bedtime.

New Hobbies Are The Best Hobbies

I've been idle lately. Not just 'technologically' but physically. Three years ago, when I changed departments at my employer, I went from climbing ladders and crawling under buildings to sitting at a desk all day. I also went from 175lbs to 220lbs. It took just a few months to get to the new weight, but it took over a year to get back (o'kay so I'm 180 now; close enough). I changed my eating habits to match my new less active job and made a point to get out now and then. That had been going pretty well until a few months ago, at which point I just kind of stopped. No real reason; just did. I also noticed that I wasn't doing much of anything else. It had all kind of run together. Sure, my various hobbies and such were still fun, but they were also old hat. I needed something new. I also needed to get moving or risk regaining the weight. If you've never been there, you can't really know, but it's a lot harder to keep the weight off once you've gained and lost it than it is to just not gain it.

I've been playing around with various GPS related applications on my phone lately. Mostly the 'check in' at a location variety. I have Brightkite, and Loopt; picked up Gowalla recently. They're all fun in their own little way, but I really enjoy the Geohash app. It's based off an XKCD comic, and though I usually don't go to the locations that it generates, I like looking at the info every day. I've yet to meet anyone else at a generated location, but I hold out hope that it'll happen.

Ever since I got an iPhone 3G (I have a 3GS now) I've played with the idea of getting a dedicated GPS device too. The iPhone serves me well for getting from point A to point B, but it's not all that accurate. A few years ago I read about a thing called Geocaching. The idea being that using just a set of coordinates and a few clues you would set out looking for a can, box, or other containers that someone else hid with the hope that others would find it. Sometimes there might be odds and ends to trade or clues to the location of yet another hidden treasure. Maybe an object that wants to travel to a faraway place, and if you can help it get closer by moving it to another hidden place then it's just accepted that you will.

Last night, on a whim, I decided that I was going to stop thinking about it, and actually give it a try. I signed into geocaching.com from work, set up an account, and searched for a few caches nearby. After work, I set out looking and using Google Maps and my phone's built-in compass I made an attempt to find two different places that seemed as though they would be pretty easy. I failed. A lot. All the while I was cursing the highly inaccurate GPS on my phone. Sure it was great for plotting a route to follow in my car, but when trying to find something that may be smaller than my hand and hidden from view, it just didn't seem to be good enough. Most handheld GPS devices I've looked at have a clear sky accuracy from 10 to 30 feet. My iPhone didn't seem to want to do better than about 40 to 60 feet. So combining the probable inaccuracy of the device that tagged the location and the error in location from my phone and I realized it was possible I could be almost 100 feet away from my target at any time and think I was right on top of it.

I tried one more, that was closer to home, later last night after an HR Geeks (Hampton Roads, not Human Resources) meeting that sprung up because some people couldn't make it to the scheduled meeting last week. It was quite dark by that time, and after a few minutes, I realized that it was a lost cause. This morning I was woken up far earlier than I had planned to get up and was forced to leave the house. After taking care of what I needed to, I decided to give it another go. I picked a different cache, as it was on my way back home. This time after just a few minutes I found a hidden glass jar with a few tiny seashells, an equally small toy car, and a rolled up piece of paper in a plastic bag. I unrolled the paper, left the date and my name, packed it all back up and hid it away again. There was another less than a quarter mile away, so I went for it. I also downloaded the iPhone application that Groundspeak (the group that operates geocaching.com) offers which gives access to the cache database, and an easy way to update entries. Sure it cost $10, but sometimes the free route isn't the best route.

So pulling up to the second attempt of the day I can already tell where it's hidden. Mostly because it was hidden in the same way the first one was, but on some level, it was like I could just feel it. This time it took longer to sign the log and put it back than it took to actually find it. Feeling good about myself I decided I want to try to find the last one I looked for last night. On the way, I'd be passing two others. First one is on the road I live on. Spent a few minutes looking, and started to think that perhaps it wasn't there anymore, despite only being put into place a short time ago. It's a pretty high traffic area and on the edge of private property. Just as I was about to walk away I see it, in plain sight. How I missed it until then I have no idea. Then off to the next one. At this point, I was feeling pumped. Silly I guess, but on some level, I felt like those shady characters in spy movies in their long black coats deftly snatching little-hidden objects off the back of park benches in plain view of everyone.

A few minutes down the road and I find myself along a line of shrubs. Trying not to collect too much of the bush inside of my coat, I start poking around the ground just under the leaves. As I do I start thinking back to my days as a cable tech, looking for pedestals which had been grown over. Falling into this mindset I spot it. My gaze hadn't moved and yet something that was totally invisible to me just moments ago was there as plain as the nose on my face. That's when I realized that yesterday I had been looking at things all wrong. My inability to find the caches I was looking for yesterday wasn't because my GPS devices wasn't accurate enough, it was because I wasn't looking. I was trusting my equipment to show me where to look. The point of the GPS is to get me there, it was still my job to actually search. Resealing the large film canister and feeling in the zone I roll out to what I'd decided would be my last attempt of the day. Off the side of the road, in view of the interstate, I start poking around wondering if anyone zipping by at 60+MPH even notices me and if I'm about to wake up a sleeping snake I creep farther into the trees. No geocache, but did find the remains of a beer cache. Looked like it had been abandoned some time ago. A slightly broken foam cooler, and mostly empty beer cans covered by black plastic and pine needles. Again, just as I was ready to leave, out of the corner of my eye I catch something that doesn't look right. A magnetic key box tucked away from view. Another signature log and a small rubber lizard that might have been trying to be the Loch Ness Monster. Left my mark, and having very much enjoyed the morning, headed home.

I don't see myself regularly checking off five a day, even on my days off. I do see myself venturing off course every now and then, to spend a few minutes searching out a little slip of paper to scribble my name on. I may never meet any of the people whose names mine is sharing space with, but still I feel that in a way they all were there with me when I found the cache. We all saw the same thing, in the same place, just not all at the same time. I really think I'm going to enjoy this.

I like flowers, especially in HD

So I finally got around to getting the PS3 title Flower. I know, I know, I'm late to the party. It was on sale for $4.99 this weekend, so I figured even if I didn't like it not all that much lost, right?

Well, I played around with it for about 20 minutes, and now I keep thinking about it, wanting to play more. It's kinda sad, but also cool how something so simple can be so engaging. Direction and speed, that's all you get to control. There is no winning, no losing, no time limits. Just wake up the flowers along your way, and move on. Sure, if you get all of them you get rewarded, but if you don't it doesn't matter.

I tweeted about it, and a friend asked for a "Quick review/synopsis?". I responded in less than 140 characters and figured I'd come here later and really write about it. Thinking about it now, I think my original tweet should do all the talking, so here it is.

Sad city flower, dreams of the country. You live the beautiful dream. Get bonuses for finishing the level 100%. Happy flower. YAY

That's it, and that's the awesome of the game. There's nothing else to say. So if you have a PS3 and you haven't played it yet, go do it. For a few more days it's still $4.99, but even at full price, I think it would be worth it.

DJ Hero - First Impression

To put my impressions in proper context a little backstory is in order, so stick with me for a moment.

Rhythm games have been around for a while, and for the most part, I have not been a fan of them. Up until Guitar Hero in 2005, the games in the US seemed to consist of button mashers which didn't really fit the gamepad for the console it was being played on. With the notable exception of Dance Dance Revolution playing rhythm games was pretty dull for me and left me wondering what all the fuss was about.

When I had first heard about Guitar Hero the idea was intriguing. A game that gave me a controller that was meant to bring me into the game. Something that I knew how to use, and could relate to. It sounded great, then I got my hands on it. The controllers were way too small and felt cheap. the fret buttons were 'unnatural' to use, and totally ruined the suspension of disbelief that the game needed to make it engaging.

A few years later Rock Band comes out, and not only did they make the same promise of engaging me with familiar controllers which were designed to be used in a way that made sense for the game, but they also offered me a chance to do more than tap a strum bar. If I wanted to rock with sticks or send the cat running in terror with my voice, Rock Band was welcoming me with open arms.

I was very skeptical. Guitar Hero was three iterations in when the first Rock Band was released, and no notable improvements had been made in the awful controllers that came with the game. They still felt cheap, still were clumsy to use, and still ruined the fret experience. Rock Band had done better. Much better, though I didn't realize it at the time because I totally ignored the game.

Don't misunderstand, the Guitar Hero software was never bad, but with the sort of title it was the software was way less than half the experience for me. The Rock Band software was also decent, but so were the controllers. Sure the guitars still felt a little cheap, and the drum kits had a nasty habit of not being able to withstand the abuse of an overzealous bandmate. It was still a step in the right direction.

Rock Band 2 comes along, and the controllers last as well as they play. O'kay the kick pedal is still a little touchy if you've got a heavy foot, but then you're not supposed to stomp on the kick pedal anyway. Guitar Hero's controllers have gotten better; I don't think they're up to par with the Rock Band 2 controllers, but that might just be my own bias as I own that game.

This all brings me to DJ Hero. I heard about this game and my heart lept a little. Now I'm no house DJ, but I'm no stranger to crossfaders and tonearms. The idea that I could 'play along' with some of my favorite DJs was appealing. I was a little worried as it was in the Hero series, but I figured the other titles in the series had seen controller improvements enough to assume that the turntable controller would be at least decent.

Tonight I found myself in my local Best Buy (probably the worst Best Buy I have ever been in, ever, BTW) and they had the game running on a PS3. I was watching a kid play it, and having a rough time of it. Was obvious he really didn't get the concept. I don't blame him, DJ'ing isn't really showcased like it was when I was a kid. Rap videos were a camera on the voice talent, a camera on the DJ, and one on the crowd. You really got to see what they were doing, and it made sense. In today's videos, you usually don't even see a record... assuming the song has real scratching in it at all.

Reading the information on the display it shows that two player local and networked-based modes are available. Local two player requires either another deck or a guitar controller, though I'm not sure how that's supposed to work exactly with a guitar. I would like to see a two DJ battle game played, though. As that does have the potential to be cool. Though that just might be the DJ in me talking, and no one else but fans of the scene may care.

So the boy I was watching finished up, and no one else was in line to try, so I thought I'd give it a spin so to speak. The graphics were what I'd come to expect from modern rhythm games, with lots of flash and style. The on-screen interface also was fairly familiar. It took no time at all to figure out what I was supposed to be doing, and when. The demo has a three-track round with songs that are popular, and good choices for mixing. On the other hand, the controller sucked ass. I'm sorry, but there is really no other way to put it.

Look, I'm willing to forgive the single turntable interface. This is a game that is supposed to be accessible, and managing two records and a mixer is a skill that takes a long time to even get good at, let alone master. I'm willing to forgive the buttons on the platter, as you need something to make it a rhythm game, and it would make the controller overly complicated for casual gamers to add an effects board. I can not, and will not, forgive the piss poor build quality of the controller. The platter feels cheap and unbalanced. The buttons are too small and packed too close together. The platter itself is too small and makes scratching awkward. Then there's the overall size of the deck and it's attached 'mixer' console which places the platter and the crossfader so close together that you have to be 10 years old to use it comfortably.

DJ Hero is an awesome concept, and the game itself looks to be well designed, and fun. It's a shame the errors of the past were not learned from. Per the DJ Hero website there is apparently a premium addition of the game available which includes a different and supposedly 'better' controller. Why should I have to pay more just to get a usable controller, and until I get my hands on one I am left to assume it's the same POS deck with metal crossfader and effect knobs. Until a 3rd party controller comes out that gets it right, I'm afraid what could otherwise be an awesome addition to the list of 'party games' will be nothing more than an overpriced wannabe.

Things that make you go "WTF mate?"

So yesterday my supervisor calls me into his cube to deliver my end of year evaluation. I wasn't too worried about it and turns out I didn't do too badly. YAY!

Nothing WTF about that, right? (the answer is 'no, that's normal, you're good at your job' kthxbi) Right.

The weird and wacky comes in at the point where while at work I am informed that there is a rumor which says 'one of the single ladies here is interested in you'. That may not have been the exact wording, but it covers the idea pretty well.

Say it with me now: WTF mate?!?

I was not told who it was (even though the person who told me led me to believe they knew), nor was I told where this person got this information, but it's pretty weird all the same.

*shrug* Not sure what the point was of giving me this information if they're not going to tell me who it is, but perhaps it's not supposed to make sense to me.

More if I ever hear more. Not that I expect to.

Apple sent my phone to jail, and why I broke it out

I've had a cell phone for about 8 years now, and have had four different carriers (well three if you don't count when AT&T bought up Cingular which had bought up AT&T Wireless years before) and seven phones. I started with Sprint back before they merged with Nextel and brought the worst of both companies together. I was quite happy with Sprint from a technical standpoint and never had to deal with their customer support. I left them to go with T-Mobile so that I was on the same network as my then-girlfriend. The move was purely financial. It was just more cost effective to have unlimited calling with the person I called the most than to have a plan that provided enough minutes. When she left T-Mobile for Cingular over a really poorly handled customer service issue, I followed for the same reason I left Sprint for T-Mobile. I'd never had any real issue with T-Mobile's network, and never really had to deal with their customer service either. I'm a pretty good customer like that. If you don't give me a reason to call you, I don't call. Cingular became AT&T Mobility and I went long for the ride.

Through that trip, I was a pretty picky handset owner. I never took the 'free phone', because you get what you pay for in mobile handsets. I've owned two really good Samsung handsets when I was with Sprint, basic, but good. With T-Mobile, I had a Nokia 3650 which was a serious dose of awesome, and the first generation of the Motorola RAZR. To this day I still miss my 3650. When I went to Cingular I went with a Sony Ericsson W810i, which is a solid music player and has a decent FM radio. It would run a nice assortment of Java applications for using Google Maps, and a pretty good Gmail client, as well as a number of different messaging clients. It also sported a very nice 2MP camera with a very good depth of field. I still use that camera today.

I tell you all this so that you really understand where I was coming from as a handset owner. I knew what I wanted, and liked what I had. So when the iPhone first came out, it was tempting, but not tempting enough to pry me away from my W810i. The camera was bad to put it nicely, it was a 2G phone in a 3G world, and it couldn't run ANYTHING that Apple hadn't put on it to start with. My phone kicked it's ass in every way except it was also a 2G phone. The App store comes out, and the iPhone 3G. It was tempting. Very tempting. So much so that I drake the Kool-Aid and became part of the iPhone cult. I was happy with it, mostly. I still pined for the FM radio, but streaming audio took care of that, I didn't like the camera, but I still carried my W810i around to snap pictures with, so it was o'kay. Or so I thought.

Apple has always thought it knew better than it's customers what they wanted, and needed. For that most part, they've made a decent business out of it. Sure they've made some mistakes, but you don't make it as far as they have without doing something right. For all the things my new phone could do, I still felt like I was missing something, but what? Well I couldn't change the ringer to anything but Apple approved ringers, but even when they fixed that I had to pay for them. I have NEVER paid for a ringer, and I certainly wasn't going to start. That was addressed, people figured out how to make iTunes upload audio as a ringer, then Garage Band picked up the ability. I still had to deal with not being able to change ANY of the other sounds my phone made. I didn't like the SMS tone or the Mail tone. I wanted to use other sounds, but I couldn't. I wanted my phone to do other things I knew it was able to do, but Apple said no.

I wasn't the only one, though. Since the first iPhone there was a small, but growing community of people that felt the same way. This group of people who were just as much fans of the phone as I was, but much smarter, figured out how to set the handset free. Apple made no attempt to tell us what we can run on the computers they sold, yet they felt they could control what we ran on their little computers with cellular radios in them. I'm sure at least some of the restrictions they impose came from the carriers that offer their phone. That is a different topic for a different day. Some of it, though, makes no sense at all. Still, I had my iPhone 3G for nearly a year and never did more than think about jailbreaking it. Sure there were a lot of benefits, but it seemed so many people were having issues with it that it just wasn't worth it.

About two weeks ago I bought an iPhone 3Gs and sold my 3G to a co-worker who promptly took it home, jailbroke it, and unlocked it. He is now the happy user of an iPhone 3G on T-Mobile. Sure he can only use it in EDGE mode, but he says it likes it MUCH more than the Blackberry Storm that he's been using, and I made back some of the cost of upgrading. Recently there had been more and more "Apple Rejects _insert useful application here_" stories. Some seem to be carrier pressure (so in the US that means AT&T), and some seem to be for no obvious reason at all. Since Apple won't talk about why it rejects applications, even with the people who wrote it, we can only assume they have their heads shoved squarely up their collective asses. As I said in a recent tweet which has become popular among Twitter sex spam bots, the more App Store rejection stories come out the more I think Apple has ex MPAA Ratings Board execs on staff.

The rejection of Google's own Google Voice application, and the removal of previously approved ones was the last straw. I love my phone, I've bought two versions of it. I like Apple, I currently have one desktop, one laptop, and an Apple TV (which I run Boxee on). I don't think they are the end all, be all, and I know they make mistakes. Now, as with my Apple TV which I have made 10x more useful with Boxee, I have made my iPhone more useful, and more fun by jailbreaking it. I just downloaded redsn0w followed the instructions, and within a few minutes I had my iPhone up and running just like it was before, but better. There are many apps available to make the phone do things that AT&T really doesn't want me doing, but for the most part I didn't care about those. I wanted to make my lock screen background show up as my background from the app launcher, so I installed Winterboard. This also allowed me to change my lock screen charging battery icon to the Aperture Science logo, and my WiFi signal strength icon into a pineapple, or a Triforce as my mood dictates. I also use SBSettings to enable and disable all sorts of options without having to leave an application or even unlock my screen. MobileTerminal gives me a limited but useful local terminal which I can use for remote administration as well as running nmap without having to break out my laptop. I can leave WiFi running when the phone goes to sleep, which is useful with the Boxee app as I don't have to wait for it to reconnect, and my Star Trek themed sounds make me smile because I am a geek. Sure I have things on my phone that AT&T probably wishes I didn't, like Qik (though I've yet to use it) and GV the already approved then removed Google Voice app. I also installed a package that lets me fake out specific applications so that they think they're connecting over WiFi when they are actually connecting over 3G. I mostly use this with YouTube and some audio streaming apps that step down the quality over 3G. I've used it with Skype once, to test it. I might use it again, I might not. I roll 400+ minutes a month on my 450 minutes a month plan, so I'm not hurting for minutes, but there are times when Skype would be preferred. Like if I need to reach my son, who lives in front of his computer.

There was a time when I might have felt bad about getting around these restrictions, but that was when I was just being told I couldn't make my phone go bleep when it went bloop, but when I'm not allowed to use my unlimited data plan to send the data I want, or when I can't access the services I want to access the way I want to access them on a device I bought over a service I pay for, I don't feel bad for anyone but Apple and its various cell partners for thinking they can actually control their customers. Especially now that they've attracted the attention of the FCC in the US. It's coming to an end. Jailbreaking is so easy my dad could do it, and the US government is coming down on cell companies from all directions. Either the companies will back down gracefully, or they'll be regulated. It's just a shame it has had to come to this at all.

So why did I set my iPhone free? Not to 'stick it to the man', or even to hear the Star Trek communicator chirp when I get a message, but because it is just one of the many computers I own and like the others I will run what I want, when I want, and how I want. Anything else is unacceptable.

Cows MOO while MUCKing about in the MUSHy MUD

In the 90's, while the internet was starting to get pictures, most of us were still using text to describe what things look like, what they did, and what happened to them after the dog got a hold of them. There were a great many ways in which this was done; but among the more non sequitur were the MUSH, MOO, MUCK, MUX, MUD (especially of the Tiny variety) etc. Many people connected, much fun was had, and little of it made sense.

So just what are all these acronyms about, and what do they have to do with cows, pancakes, Pop-Tarts®, pennies, dirty diapers, or Gary Numan? Well the MU, for those that have a MU*, stands for Multi-User... the rest is something of a subject for debate, as most are thought to be backronyms. Generally the user base is allowed to create objects and rooms, and to one degree or another program responses to events generated by other players, objects, and rooms in one of a few purpose-built languages fashioned after or otherwise baring a resemblance to gems like Forth (in the case of TinyMUCK) or Lisp (like MUSHcode for all the MUSH variants). What about the cows et al? Well, cows, pancakes, and Pop-Tarts® are easy. They're all awesome. Pennies and dirty diapers are the same things, of course. As are pancakes for different values of pancakes. If I need to explain what Gary Numan has to do with anything you are officially banned from reading my blog from this moment on, so go away.

All the Numan dissing wannabes gone? Good. So where was I? Oh, yes... user programmable text-based social interactions. It was still largely the time of coyotes and tumbleweed on the internet, and most things worth doing were still done with a keyboard. Graphics were for single player games, and the vast majority of the clicking came from our coveted IBM Model M keyboards. Much of this clicking was spent playing combat MUDs and programming. What could be more fun? Combining the two, and tossing in large amounts of insanity, while largely taking out the combat.

There were a lot of different systems up at that time, running different versions, and with different themes, if they had one at all. I was always a fan of the loose role play systems without a defined theme. My favorite was OtherMUSH, with its awesome Toilet Adventure, heavy TMBG references, and the ever popular and often fatal Bring Your Grandparents to OtherMUSH Day.

Today many have passed on into obscurity or otherwise vanished from the face of the net. While there are a few which remain, most are strict roleplay based on sci-fi or fantasy books, movies, or TV shows.

A few weeks ago, I set out trying to find OtherMUSH. The website still lives at other.org/ but the MUSH seems to no longer be there. Discouraged, but not willing to just let it go I decided to set out on a mission to bring some of that weirdness back to the net, or at least try to as best I could. To that end, I downloaded and installed the current version of TinyMUSH on my 'do it all' server, and began to relearn how MUSHcode worked and getting back into the frame of mind that once let me describe the most mundane in very obscure ways.

The documentation provided with TinyMUSH is very useful in setting it up, and o'kay at describing commands, it isn't so good at giving useful examples of how to make the commands work with each other. So I began searching again, hoping to come across a few long-forgotten websites which might prove useful. What I found instead was that while largely out of date there were lists which contained links to many MUSH, MUD, MUCK, MOO systems which are still in operation. Most of them are still of the strict role play variety, but a few worlds which subscribe to the 'if you build it weird, they will stay' mentality still remain. Of them, the two I'm having my mind wrapped around are:

TrippyMUSH is... well... trippy. Nuff said. I'll say more, but that was enough. TrippyMUSH is a wholly wonderful place; if you find surreal worlds which take place only in your own head but made by someone else which is actually happening in an asylum which you can never escape from because you were never actually there, wonderful. If not, you soon will; the strange coloured liquid on drip in the IV in your arm will make sure of that. Sound scary? That's only the first five minutes. Just remember, you can't quit, but you can go home... or at least that's what you'll imagine once you pass out.

telnet to pebkac.trippy.org 7567 to stop the hallucination and accept you are an inmate just like the rest of us.

TinyTIM is NOT just a game... it's a really, really BIG game. You think you're city/town/backwater hole in the world is big? It's got nothing on the world of TIM. TIM is God, and all praise TIM. He's not paying attention, but that's o'kay, he loves us anyway. Powered by Pop-Tarts® and smelling of The Old Man of the Nexus (which is something not unlike Old Spice and nursing homes) TinyTIM is the strangest thing you've seen all week. Yes, even stranger than that. You know you want to visit... you'll never want to leave. Even if you do, TIM will be with you always. Even during your special alone time in the shower.

telnet to yay.tim.org 5440 and come see the most complicated machine in all the MUSHdom, The Clock on the Wall. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder how you ever got through your day without TIM.

As for my MUSH. I'm still planning to subject the world to it. But it's not ready yet. Once it's half-baked I'll let everyone know.

Getting by with a little help from myself

For the second time in the last few weeks, I went to a theater to see a movie. This isn't something that I do very often. Generally speaking, I prefer to wait for a DVD release, or even to be carried on one of the premium movie channels as I get them all for free as part of my employment with my cable provider.

I can't really say why I've been spending money on theatergoing as of late, but I learned something... or more remembered something that I think I lost sight of some time ago. Just because people don't seem to want to spend time with me doesn't mean I'm not worth spending time with.

Sure, I have a few people locally that on some level or another I think of as a friend, and I see them occasionally, but all in all, I spend most of my time in the company of me.

I saw Terminator Salvation tonight, I made a brief mostly non-spoiler-ish comment about it on Facebook in response to an old friend from high school that said I would be disappointed. I might reiterate and expand on it here later, but that's for another time. Leaving the theater I went to the Cold Stone Creamery which is in the same complex, then sat outside in front of the fountain to enjoy the spoils of the war with the line there. As I made quick work of my waxed paper cup of plain sweet cream I realized that everyone else sitting around me on the other benches was with someone else. Usually, that would have made me feel lonely, but this time something was different, something clicked. I wasn't any less happy than they were, I wasn't any less likable, or any less attractive. I wasn't in any way less at all.

It's been well over a year since I was part of a couple. In all that time I thought of myself as alone when the truth of it is I'm still half of what made the nearly 10-year relationship that she and I had together worth having. Sure I miss her, as she was and still is my friend, but I'm still me more or less, and while I may not have 'the other half' of who 'we' were I still have all of who I am.

If that's not good enough for someone to want to spend time with me, then I'm not the one missing out.

A day like any other

So a few months ago I got a two year season pass for Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I've gone a few times since, and I've come to realize that spending three years as a cable tech and climbing ladders has somewhat desensitized me to heights. Sure my ladder was only 28', but still, I think being strapped to a steel cable over a busy street has made me not so impressed by roller coasters. Still fun... though I'm fast realizing that being at the back of the train is much more fun than being at the front.

Anyway, I got there about 4pm, as it seems I just can't get out of the house before noon on Fridays. Good thing I don't work Friday, eh? Decided to hit Alpengeist first, as the park wasn't very busy and I've never ridden the first car on that ride (refer to the first paragraph) and all I can say is WEAK! I'll be sticking to the last car on that one from now on.

Made my way around the park a bit, and to The Big Bad Wolf, which is 25 years old this year. I rode it the first year it was open, and it's still my favorite coaster at the park. Sure it's one of the slower ones, and by today's standards it's pretty tame, but it's still fun.

Sat first car, because the trip through the village is just more fun that way. Usually, I sit alone, as it is a two per row car. Would have this time too, except just as they were about the release the train, the girl that was standing behind me asked them to open the gate so she could get on. Kinda weird, but whatever. Funny, very pretty, seemed to be in her mid 20's, and despite riding on a roller coaster, had a nice little conversation.

Had fun, it's really a nice park.

Wish I'd gotten her phone number.

Hell, wish I'd gotten her name.

Probably wouldn't have made any difference, but even if she'd given me the phone number to a pizza place, it would be nice to at least once be able to say I did that.

It's like a pinch on the neck, bitches!

So I saw the new Star Trek movie Sunday night. It wasn't bad, really. It wasn't what I was hoping for, but at the same time, it had a little of the feel of the first two movies from way back in the day (I was there, I can say that, yo).

There seems to be some rumbling about a scene at the beginning where little Jimmy Kirk plays the song Sabotage by the Beastie Boys. The issue is about another song of theirs called Intergalactic. For those not intimately familiar with the song, and don't have the lyrics handy, there's a line at the end which says "Like a pinch on the neck of Mr. Spock".

The argument follows that as the song Sabotage is played in scene, that the Beastie Boys existed in the Star Trek universe; it further states that assuming all else is equal that the rest of their catalog would have been the same... which would then include Intergalactic. How could the Beastie Boys know about Spock, Vulcans, or that snazzy little number that's defused so many situations on the bridge of the Enterprise and across the galaxy?

Sure it's possible that in the Star Trek universe they just didn't write that song, or that one line didn't appear in it, but assuming it did it would leave one trying to explain how they knew about our Vulcan friend.

Spock, along with most of the Enterprise's bridge crew was in California in 1986, and our pointy-eared friend dropped a guy on a city bus with a pinch. People talk and getting the people that overheard his name, and the people that saw the bus situation to talk to each other wouldn't have been hard. So it's a very small stretch to think that the story would have made it to these fine young rappers, and eventually into a song about things from out of this world.

That is all I have to say on the issue.

It's all about time travel bitches... and remember that's old school warp factor 10 with a slingshot around a star, anything else is slack.

I didn't want Apple flashing me anyway!

For those that don't know, let me set the stage:

The new uni-body MacBooks do not have DVI-I ports on them as MacBooks of past. Instead, they come with a Mini DisplayPort. The upshot of this is two-fold; one is a much smaller port allowing for a thinner body and more ports along a side, the other is a lower cost with a higher potential resolution. The downside is you now need even more adapters to use external displays on a new MacBook.

When I got my 13" MacBook in October of 2008 I picked up a Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter for $30. I thought it was a little costly, but I honestly don't know what's inside the little box so who am I to know? I got it mostly so I can use my 32" Sony Bravia XBR4 as a second display. I used it for that during the Presidential election to have a real-time polling map. Of course, because of an issue that Apple didn't seem to want to publicly acknowledge, every five to fifteen minutes the picture would go black for a few seconds.

I was not the only one... a little searching will show a large number of people who were having the same problem. A lot of speculation was afoot about the cause, but it was my feeling that the issue was with the video driver (turns out I wasn't too far off); Apple, in normal Apple fashion, wasn't talking. At home, it wasn't too much of an issue. I could deal with the brief blank screen as it always came back very quickly, at least at home. I did, though, have one occasion where it was a problem. In the episode of Hak5 in which I covered using PHP to batch change the IP settings of a Windows computer, you can see a very brief moment of black just as Paul switched to my MacBook's display because it chose that moment to blank out. Sure it was a minor problem, but still, for something I had to pay extra for to do something I can do with even some of the cheapest of netbooks, even a minor problem is too big.

So just over six months after the adapter came out, there is a firmware update to the adapter which fixes this issue. No idea why it was released with this flaw, no idea why Apple didn't just come out and say "Yes, we know it's broke, but we're working on it.", no idea why it took over six months after release to fix, but the update is out, and I've been running it for over an hour now with no problems at all.

Thanks, Apple, for finally fixing something that there was no excuse for ever having been broken to start with.