I can't believe that came from your mouth!
Archive for July, 2009
Ladybug at Bellagio
Jul 31st
The Bellagio has an awesome indoor botanical garden called the Conservatory. This is a big ladybug made of red flowers.
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Loading ...Venus Pool at Caesar’s Palace
Jul 30th
There is a topless swimming pool called Venus at Caesars Palace and it is just outside the window of the conference center where Black Hat was being held. Throughout the day geeks have had their noses pressed against the window and in many cases these were the first half-naked women these nerds have seen.
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(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 6) Loading ...IPhone Hack Unveiled at BlackHat
Jul 30th
Due to an SMS vulnerability, iPhones can be knocked off the network by flooding them with malformed SMS messages.
iPhone says, “Hack me and you fail.”
From InformationWeek here:
In a presentation at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas on Thursday, security researchers Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner are scheduled to discuss SMS vulnerabilities iPhone.
Using the Sully fuzzing framework, the researchers have developed a way to identify flaws in SMS systems in mobile devices. Fuzzing is a form of automated software testing that involves entering random or unexpected data. Crashes or unexpected behavior arising from such input can then be analyzed as a potential vulnerability.
The two researchers created a layer, called the injector, just above the bottom of the telephony stack that performs a man-in-the-middle attack by intercepting communication between a mobile device’s modem and multiplexer.
The pair state that they found multiple SMS vulnerabilities on Android and iPhone systems and are still working on Windows Mobile systems.
In iPhone OS 2.2 and 2.2.1, they were able to crash the iPhone’s SpringBoard window management application and the iPhone’s CommCenter, which manages iPhone connectivity.
“This bug can be utilized for a serious denial-of-service attack since the victim can be effectively barred from making and receiving phone calls,” the researchers claim.
Other phones were vulnerable as well and patches are being issued as I write this. Bottom line, however is these are attacks that require some specialized equipment. I don’t expect any widespread exploitation.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Court Room Smells Like Earth Day
Jul 29th
An interesting tidbit I found on FARK today regarding a trial case in Louisiana. A guy murdered his girlfriend and stuffed her dismembered body in a trunk in New Orleans just before hurricane Katrina hit. Four years later they open the trunk up in court to show it as evidence. It stunk so bad the judge had to have the courthouse fumigated.
From WWL here:
New Orleans prosecutors are trying to convince a jury that a man killed his girlfriend, cut up her body, then stored it in a trunk that he kept with him for years. Years after the crime was discovered, the trunk that held the woman’s remains filled the courtroom with a foul odor.
The smell was so bad that Judge Julian Parker had to call in a janitorial crew to deodorize the courtroom.
John Morgan killed his girlfriend, who was last seen alive in 2002. They say he chopped up the body, and stuffed it in the trunk.
Morgan left New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and left the trunk in his old apartment. The landlords found the foul-smelling trunk in the residence in October of 2005. Forensic experts identified the remains, and last year, police arrested Morgan in North Carolina. Now he faces life in prison in Angola if convicted.
I think opening a putrid trunk in court is a grand slam for the prosecution. How can a juror not recoil at this type of evidence?
I mentioned Eath Day in the title because the holiest day of Liberal Ecoworshippers was founded by a madman who did the same exact thing to his own girlfriend. Click here to see my previous post on the Unicorn Killer, founder of Earth Day.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Buyer Might Not Pay for Pirate Bay Site
Jul 29th
This is hilarious. Pirate Bay, the Torrent Search engine that enables millions of downloads of pirated and copyrighted software and music and videos was up for sale because the owners are going to jail for breaking copyright laws. But the buyer might not pay for the site after all. Ironic, don’t you think? Getting something for nothing? Surely there is a word for that?
From PCWorld here:
The Pirate Bay’s shot at legitimacy may be over before it even began, as Swedish firm Global Gaming Factory hasn’t produced enough money to buy the legendary torrent tracking site.
GGF has a week to come up with $7.8 million but that seems unlikely as the company’s key business relationship is crumbling. Wayne Rosso, the former Grokster CEO who joined the new Pirate Bay to broker deals with the music industry, has already jumped ship. He said that GGF wasn’t coming through on several promises, and has yet to pay him or his partners.
GGF was hoping that The Pirate Bay’s user base could be tapped for extra bandwidth, which would be sold to Internet service providers. This would generate revenue for the site, but it would also subsidize users’ membership fees. Rosso was working on bringing the music industry on board, so users could download all they wanted.
The problem is that a bandwidth-sharing scheme assumes The Pirate Bay has a critical mass of users. But illicit-file-sharers are a fickle lot, more loyal to the idea downloading free music, movies, and software than to the site that had served them for so long. Pirate Bay has no certainty of heavy traffic — never mind the fact its new business plan is unique and untested.
It’s not clear what will happen to Pirate Bay if the sale indeed falls through. The Pirate Bay’s founders are fighting to keep the site running while its legal battle continues on appeal, but the damage to its reputation — as a place to get content illegally, mind you — won’t easily wash away.
So the Pirate Bay users won’t stick around to help share bandwidth and purchase music legally. Duh. Pirate Bay is being scuttled.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...New York Casino at Sunset
Jul 29th
The BlackHat conference is going well and the vendor area has been swamped. I would have posted a picture of lots of guys with funny colored spiky hair running around but I thought this photo was way more interesting.
On a cyber related note I uncovered a covert channel of communication going to Antarctica during a demonstration. Who knew there were any IP addresses in freaking Antarctica?? Coldest webfarm evah!
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Pork Tenderloin at Mesa Grill
Jul 28th
I grabbed an early dinner at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. This was a pork tenderloin rubbed in chili and chipotle, drizzled with a sweet barbecue and hot chipotle sauce. On the side was a cornmeal wrapped in a corn husk and a twice-baked potato with chipotle sauce and creme fresche. And of course it wouldn’t be complete without a Dos Eqis beer.
It was expensive but so damned yummy!
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Beatles Love
Jul 28th
Beatles Love, originally uploaded by BelchSpeak.
The view outside of my window at Caesar’s Palace for the BlackHat convention, posted mostly to make my wife groan with envy. So close, but yet so far! I did find out that Bobby Flay has a Mesa Grill here on premises and I might have to go and get me some good eats- again, posted purely to make her jealous.
I have to go get registered for the conference so I will try to update more later.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Black Hat Briefings
Jul 28th
Black Hat Briefings, originally uploaded by BelchSpeak.
I have been in the Infosec field for over 10 years but have never had the opportunity to attend the BlackHat briefings in Las Vegas. I went to Defcon once when I worked at DHS but have been unable to attend these hacker conferences since. I have mostly had to rely on bloggers and the mainstream press to relay details about new threats and new hacks presented at these briefings.
Now I get to learn this new info firsthand. Stay tuned for updates!
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Muslim Medics Refuse to Use Hand Gel
Jul 27th
The Pig Flu is spreading around the world and muslims refuse to use alcohol-based sanitizing gels to sterilize their hands because they say the Koran forbids it.
From the Dailymail here:
Some Muslims have refused to use alcohol-based hand gels to combat the spread of swine flu because they claim it is against their religion.
Some of those employed by St Albans Council in Hertfordshire have complained about the antibacterial lotion, which is considered a key strategy in containing the virus.
Officials were concerned because the Koran bans Muslims from consuming alcohol, so council chiefs issued them with non-alcohol hand gels, which studies have shown to be less effective in killing bugs.
Given that many modern soaps are made from rendered pork fat, will Muslim Medics use anything to keep their hands clean? Would it be ironic that muslims would contract “swine flu” from their patients because they refused to use alcohol based antiseptics?
Its a good thing they killed all of the pigs in Egypt, tho.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Disney Cranking Out Awesome 3D Movies
Jul 27th
First up is Tron Legacy. Up until I saw this posted over at Geeks Are Sexy, I thought Tron was just another Hollywood Remake. It seems like there are no original ideas in Hollywood, so they just pull any story that is 30 years old and they put a fresh coat of paint on it. Not so with this movie. Its a true sequel in which Sean Flynn, son of noted video game designer goes in search of his father Kevin Flynn, missing for 25 years. In Disney Digital 3D, this is going to be epic.
Next up is the remake of Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton and starring his usual actors. Johnny Depp will play the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts will be Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway will play the White Queen. This movie will be fantastic in Digital 3D as well.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Michael Jackson Rides Falcor to Receive the Nobel Peace Prize
Jul 27th
Michael Jackson may end up being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize if the rotting pedophile’s fans have anything to say about it. Hey, why not? If moonbats Al Gore, Jimmy Carter and terrorist Yasser Arafat can receive the peace prize, then Michael Jackson can too, Sham On!
And to clarify, Michael Jackson is not just riding the luck dragon. He is buried to the hilt in Atreyu, who is bent over in this shot, hiding behind Falcor’s head.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Obama Says Doctors Perform Unnecessary Surgeries
Jul 27th
Obama caused a huge uproar when he gave a press conference saying that he wants government to dictate whether or not a child’s tonsils are allowed to be taken out by a doctor. He claimed that doctors are all evil capitalists who only want to cut things out of little kids because its like mining for gold. Check it out:
Of course Obama is a crackpot and is wrong about healthcare if he thinks the government should step in and make these decisions on how to treat your family members instead of your doctor.
But you want to see an example of a doctor being greedy and performing unnecessary surgery? And seriously, why hasn’t the government stopped surgeries like this?
From CBS13 here:
“Renee” Ramsey is recovering from the surgery that
she’she’s been dreaming of for decades.“Since I was about 13, I always knew something was different,” said “Renee.”
SheHe used to be Richard; a green beret specialist in Vietnam. A tough guy who privately dreamed of wearing dresses.Richard was in the military for over 20 years and married twice. Richard eventually started to dress like a woman, but switched back into the uniform for official duties.
“Renee” is 77, and while genital re-assignment surgery is complicated, age, as long as there are not medical problems, usually isn’t an issue.
Renee says
shehe waited untilherhis wife died to have the surgery, and finally feels normal.The surgery can be expensive, $20,000.
The press and liberal world celebrate this as a good thing- a sexually imprisoned person is finally liberated after 77 years of suffering by having his dick cut off. They don’t see this as an old man likely suffering from grief and despair who wanted to mutilate himself.
Why wouldn’t the doctors talk this old man out of this horrifying surgery? Who is this old codger planning on having sex with? No one? Then what was the point of the surgery? Gender reassignment doctors like those at the Philadelphia center are greedy and should have very tight government regulation.
But in Obama’s world, having your dick and balls cut off is a matter of choice and the patient’s privacy should be respected. But having your kid’s tonsils removed is a dangerous procedure and must be decided, not by your doctor and you, but by a faceless bureaucracy.
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(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 6) Loading ...Morning in Natural Bridge
Jul 26th
Fog sits on the mountain above Natural Bridge. What a great way to spend a weekend!
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(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 6) Loading ...Giddyap Lil Raptor
Jul 26th
We had to go rescue my SSR from Roanoke so we stopped at Natural Bridge VA for a quickee mini vacation. This cowboy is outside of the giftshop and seems a bit incongruous with the surrounding mountains.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Double Dipping Two Yr Old
Jul 24th
Cartney nomming on cucumber and dip during Friday Night Live at Herndon. He wouldn’t eat the fried chicken but veggies and popcorn are just fine. There is a decent Jimmy Buffet cover band playing and life is good.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Blue Meanies Got Him
Jul 24th
Artist Heinz Edelmann, artist and director of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine passed away this week.
The story is here from the Times.
The bulbous Blue Meanies, which personify an evil mood as actual villains, pursue the innocent, well-coifed cartoon Beatles across an ever-shifting milieu of mysterious seas and holes that can be magically picked up and moved. The yellow submarine itself stops in an ocean of pulsating watches, representing time, to light a cigar for a friendly sea monster.
The story goes on to mention that inspiration for the movie came after the Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein went to the Tate gallery and were captivated by the painting “Peace — Burial at Sea” by JMW Turner. That piece is below, and yeah, its pretty awesome. How they got what looks like South-Park style psychodelic animation from this beautiful painting, however, seems like a big leap.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Obama, Angry Over Arrest of Black Harvard Professor Declares:
Jul 24th
It is Opposite Day! Under Presidential Directive 4409, black officers are entitled to drag white people from their homes, but for one day only, beginning next Tuesday.
Today the officers of Cambridge Mass demanded that Governor Deval Patrick and President Obama apologize for stirring racial animosity for calling a routine arrest “every black man’s nightmare” and a “stupid” arrest. From Fox News here:
Gates was arrested July 16 by Sgt. James Crowley, who was first to respond to the home the renowned black scholar rents from Harvard, after a woman reported seeing two black men trying to force open the front door. Gates said he had to shove the door open because it was jammed.
He was charged with disorderly conduct after police said he yelled at the white officer, accused him of racial bias and refused to calm down after Crowley demanded Gates show him identification to prove he lived in the home. The charge was dropped Tuesday, but Gates has demanded an apology, calling his arrest a case of racial profiling.
Obama was asked about Gates’ arrest at the end of a nationally televised news conference on health care Wednesday night and began his response by saying Gates was a friend and he didn’t have all the facts.
“But I think it’s fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry,” Obama said. “No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And No. 3 — what I think we know separate and apart from this incident — is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that’s just a fact.”
This post is incomplete without:
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Dirt-Worshipping Pot Smoking Mindset
Jul 24th
The morons in the so-called “Green Movement” know nothing about the science they espouse. Despite the earth getting cooler they insist that we are undergoing “Global Warming.” They want to ban tobacco, which is tightly regulated, but marijuana, grown by some mountain degenerate using questionable farming methods is just fine. Anything “organic” equals good. Anything made by scientists working in a corporation equals poison. Want proof? Listen to this moron who called Loveline in 2004:
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If you want to see the effect pot farmers have on the land check out this video. They litter and pump unauthorized chemicals and fertilizers into the soil and surrounding streams.
And the story here says that for every acre of marijuana plants grown by drug suppliers, they contaminate ten acres.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Food Activists Now Targeting Denny’s
Jul 24th
Nick DeBenedetto, who is likely related to someone at CSPI if past history is any basis of a trend, is suing Denny’s because he thinks they have been poisoning his dumbass with salt because he eats salty food there. He got all butthurt when he found out that eggs, bacon and sausage have sodium in it. If you don’t like the food somewhere, don’t go in there and eat it, dumbass.
From UPI here:
A class action lawsuit filed Thursday by a New Jersey man alleges meals at Denny’s contain unsafe salt levels, a non-profit group said.
The lawsuit, filed with the support of the food
advocacynazi group Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, seeks to compel Denny’s to disclose on menus the amount of sodium in each of its meals and to place a notice on its menus warning about high sodium levels.Nick DeBenedetto, a 48-year-old resident of Tinton Falls, N.J., said he has eaten for many years at Denny’s restaurants but does not cook with salt or use the salt shaker at home. He is being treated for high blood pressure.
“I was astonished to find that these simple sandwiches have more salt than someone in my condition should have in a whole day,” DeBenedetto said in a statement.
I have written about CSPI before and how they use family members to file frivolous lawsuits in order to have everything you eat papered with dozens of labels. The Chief Kook of CSPI, Michael Jacobsen only wants people to eat at most, a little bread, a carrot and a potato per day. He goes on to explain that ice cream will kill you.
Let’s hope that New Jersey judges do what is right and tosses this stupid lawsuit out of the court.
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