Following Edge

Lauren was great today, which was even better since I have been increasingly sick. Anne Marie took her out shopping this morning to give me a chance to rest. This afternoon, Lauren put together a 24-piece puzzle with only a little trouble and then took my cue to "play outside", which I have been wanting to encourage as her restless energy increases.

She didn't want to play by herself, so I reminded her to come in to tell me about her discoveries frequently and put a Cowboy Junkies tape in her tape player, which she ended up thinking was fine company. She played a good while riding her tricycle, feeding the chickens, playing ball and investigating the plants. Later, she helped take the trash out. She really is a very exceptionally good child.

It was only in the evening when I started to fade out that she started to try getting my goat. After I didn't respond to her attention-seeking behavior for a while, she kept increasing it until both Anne Marie and I were rolling our eyes. All of us were very happy that she would stay with her Grandmother tonight.

Hopefully, with Lauren being off at Grandma's and with luck that work will have fewer crises tomorrow, I will get a chance to recover my health. If not, I have an appointment with my doctor on Thursday to get whatever I need.

Send your healthy wishes my way.

I religiously follow the breaking news from the Internet Storm Center's Handler on Duty for news about Internet outages, but tonight the news was much more interesting...

Target, in partnership with Amazon.com, has now added some interesting products to their online offerings:

Marijuana $25.25
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=0823916839
(local copy in case it's removed from Target's product line)

Hooker $69.99
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B00000I1F6
(local copy in case it's removed from Target's product line)

Now, I was going to say that I would never have to leave the house if they would just add booze to their online offerings, but, evidently, you can get that too as long as you're willing to take it bundled with chicken and booty.

I happily claim (or admit) to be a Hacker. Being a hacker who has become responsible for corporate network security, I was not surprised by much in Kevin Mitnick's "The Art of Deception" even though many found the "social engineering" techniques in this renowned hacker's book to be shocking.

I had a great opportunity to exercise my social engineering skills against an Internet Service Provider we recently signed up with. You see, they sell a router box to connect your computer network to their Internet connection, but they absolutely refuse to provide you the password to configure the features of the router box. There is a "terminal service" that operates at a certain address on the router that lets you configure the router box after you enter a password. We use a lot of features that need to be configured, so this is really not a very good situation for me not to know the password even though I understand that they want to avoid less clueful technical folks mucking up their router box and calling for support.

In the old days (2001 is the old days when you talk of computers, I suppose), it was easy because you could just press a button on the box and it would allow you to log in with a number printer on the bottom of the router and you could do a little trick to read the password right out of the router's configuration. Now, it you press the button, the router resets to a default configuration and, even though you can retrieve the proper configuration, the password is now encrypted and not readable in the router's configuration. In theory, this makes retrieving the password impossible. Even though you can reset the unit and assign your own password, you can never know or keep the provider's password, so they'll eventually catch on and that might be bad.

A hacker, however, knows that nothing is impossible where people are involved, so here's what I did... I reset the router and assigned my own password. I configured the router to provide its configuration service on address 2323 instead of the usual address 23. I then told the router that I wanted to provide a service on address 23 on my server on the connected network. The result was that connections to address 23 that would usually configure the router would instead go to my server. I then installed a simple program that asked for the password, saved it, and acted as if it was a wrong password, asking the user to try again.

Then for the social engineering... I called the Internet Provider and explained that we suddenly couldn't get on the Internet even though the router had all the right status lights on. Just moments after I started talking to the tech, I noticed a connection to my server and a password was entered. Sure enough, he was trying to check the configuration of the router and typing to my program instead. The password was pretty good; something you wouldn't guess like "tw8279ty", but good passwords obviously are not the biggest part of good security. After that password didn't get him what he was after and while I chatted with him about the "Internet problem", he entered over a dozen other passwords which I presume were the entire range of passwords they use on various equipment. He eventually admitted he was having trouble and I told him that I was the night technician (wince it was 12:20am) and didn't want to do anything without talking to the day technician and he was relieved that someone would call and talk to someone else so he didn't have to figure this problem out. A win/win situation, especially for me.

So remember, if you're a technical person, design security so that it people can't or won't be the biggest hole, and, if you're not a technical person, remember that you can't rely on a technical solution for security, you must be mindful and involved with security yourself. By the way, the first two of our locations are already up and running with their new super-configured router boxes.

Although a big project is over at work and the results look good, I abused myself with too many late nights and have a horrible cold. Oh, and my mother-in-law is visiting this week.

(This post has been briefly summarized for you due to possibly sensitive content.)

Tonight was the Eugene Weblogger Meetup. I was happy enough that things were much quieter than last time in that there was no blaring movie. In fact, until the band for the evening started warming up after 7:30, it was even quiet at times. Certainly made The Strand a lot more pleasant, but I'm still eager to get input on other meeting places for the future. If it's not downtown, we may be able to get Nathan to show up. Additionally, there were fewer folks than the gala first Meetup, so it seemed more managable to chat with everyone. Thanks to Tvindy for the pictures. Here's the lowdown on who was there: Kinsey of Tvindy Corona of Corona Hats Kat of Schoolgirl Sophistry Ben of Ben's Log at Junk 'n' Stuff Michael Moore of Following Edge Richard Soderburg of floating atoll David of Dave'ola

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend. I hope many of you who couldn't make it this time will be able to attend next time. Watch for an upcoming announcement.

It's a challenge to upgrade a computer system that uses "legacy" software and is active 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, but the upgrade has to happen at some time, and the time is going to be soon.

(This post has been briefly summarized for you due to possibly sensitive content.)

I have a problem with my sense of smell. It's not that I can't smell things. I think I can smell things as acutely as most people and I both enjoy pleasant scents (Cinnamon rolls, coffee, Anne Marie's skin) and detest unpleasant scents (melons, diesel exhaust, piles of things found around our farm). The problem is that I can't identify what I'm smelling without more information. We started to discover this when Anne Marie and I played a Clue-like mystery game at Entros in Seattle back in 1999. The game included an activity where you had to smell various jars and put them with hints involving the item you were smelling to arrange a secret code:

• Anne Marie: Why don't you do this activity since I did the last one.
• Michael: OK. (Picking up the first jar and sniffing) Hmmm... This is something I've smelled before. I can't really place it. Maybe a spice. Or maybe something from a gas station? (A minute passes as I puzzle over it)
• Anne Marie: Mysterious. Let me smell. (Takes jar a sniffs) Michael, that's pine scent.
• Michael: (Smelling it again) Oh, of course... it is pine, like pine cleanser, I suppose. Certainly. OK. Let me try the next one. (Picking up the next jar and sniffing) Hmmm... This is something I've smelled before. Maybe something from the forest? Or the scent of something for dinner? Hmmm...
• Anne Marie: For heaven's sake! (Takes jar a sniffs) That's orange!
• Michael: (Smelling it again) Oh, yes you're right. I'm not a big fan of oranges. That must be why I didn't get it. OK. Here's the last one. (Picking up the first jar and sniffing) Hmmm... I don't like this one, but it's familiar. Something like dust or maybe an old rotting oak tree... but, it could be...
• Anne Marie: (Grabbing jar and sniffing) That's rose! Like roses or rose perfume! For heaven's sake!

I had never really thought about it, but we gradually realized that I could identify scents in context... like entering a bakery, I can smell either fresh baked baguettes or fresh olive loaf. Without context, I could only tell if something was vaguely familiar.

Recently, I started wondering if my taste was the same way. Dr Susan Schiffman says "As much as 80% of what we call taste actually is aroma" and Dr Alan Hirsch of the Taste Treatment and Research Foundation says "Ninety percent of what is perceived as taste is actually smell". It would be harder for me to have noticed whether my sense of taste had the same trouble as my my sense of smell, because you almost always know what you're eating before you taste it whereas smell if often more by surprise.

We recently tried a new desert at Starbucks that I call "the fancy hexagon". It has chocolate and some other "stuff" in layers. To test my theory, before I tasted it I told myself that the layers were banana flavored. Sure enough, when I tasted it, it seemed a lot like banana, and I wasn't able to recognize the taste as anything else. Anne Marie informed me that it was "mocha" flavor.

Is there anything that could of should be done about this? It doesn't seem like it's hampered me much so far (except at Entros).

I searched the web for information about this disorder and discovered that there are names for lots of disorders of smelling like the inability to smell at all (Anosmia), increased and diminished senses of smell (Hyperosmia and Hyposmia) and smelling things that aren't really there (Dysosmia), but the only condition named for people who can't correctly identify smells is Schizophrenia.

Evidently, it's such a hallmark of Schizophrenia that they're proposing it as a test for it. Luckily, Anne Marie has worked with Schizophrenics for years and years and knows that I'm not one. She says I could be very slightly Schizoaffective. I love when she talks technical, especially when I can mangle it into "Skitso Effective".

When I was sick a few weeks ago, I came across a contest for writing vote-counting programs that appear to count votes correctly, but really favor a candidate. In my weak and vaguely connected state, I wrote an entry that facetiously commented on the poor quality of the original sample program while still counting the votes improperly to favor Kerry.

When I returned to health and looked over the contest site again, I realized that they were very poorly organized with their sample program returning results that would not be accepted, and with no indication of their judging criteria or of the number of votes that might reasonably be expected. I wasn't going to bother entering, but decided at the last minute to send it in.

Well, it turned out that my entry got Third Place in its category out of 32 entries. Cool, huh? I am also happy to whine that the higher evaluation of the first place entry came from the hidden judging criteria and unknown number of votes that I was concerned about.

With continuing reports of election weirdness, it all seems vaguely more relevant than I expected.

Last week, we had 5 chickens... this week we have 3. It was really obvious what happened to Thelma (an Aruacana) since I had to remove her racoon-ravaged carcass [don't click here!] from our yard early in the morning.

It's less clear what happened to Henny (a Rhode Island Red). Henny was by far the oldest as she was one of our first two chickens and we got her as a mature hen in 2001. It's quite possible that she took the "long trip into the woods" that a sick chicken might take. But, it was a terrific coincidence that they both were gone the same day. Sad, of course.

To give the raccoons a bit less chance (as crafty as they are), the chicken coop got its electric fencing remodeled and got a new door. Louise (yes, Thelma's partner) is so undone either by her partner's disappearance or by the new door that we now have to chase her into the coop each night. Hopefully, she'll adapt to the situation before we get tired of chasing her in.

After today's report of hundreds of chickens killed or running loose in the highway in a traffic accident, I think we should all direct our best wishes to chickens in the upcoming weeks.

Finally sent an email to Eugene webloggers about the Eugene Weblogger Meetup coming up in just 10 days (Nov 17). Am I late? Sure. Have I been busy? You bet. Leave comments about the poor planning here.

I've recently visited two cities to help move office locations for my job. In addition to work, I got to take Lauren to a childrens' museum one day while I was out of town.

(This post has been briefly summarized for you due to possibly sensitive content.)

Basie wrote yesterday about the possibility that Measure 36, which recently inserted language into the Oregon Constitution to try and prohibit same-sex marriages, may be thrown out by the state Supreme Court.

I've been surprised this election that there has been little discussion of the fact that Measure 36 does not resolve Oregon's constitutional issue with same-sex marriages. There has already been broad legal opinion (Vance Croney, Benton County counsel; Multnomah County counsel; the legislative counsel's office; and Attorney General Hardy Myers) that prohibiting same-sex marriage is in opposition to the Oregon Constitution's "Equal Protections" clause. The amendment added by Measure 36 does not resolve this. Instead, it most likely puts the Oregon Constitution into further conflict with itself.

This is nothing new. Since it was created, the Oregon Constitution limited apportionment of state Supreme and Circuit Court judgeships to the "white population" and prohibited "free Negroes and mulattos" from owning property. The court resolved this conflict by prohibiting enforcement of those sections of the Oregon Constitution. If the court agrees that denial of same-sex marriage also violates the "Equal Protections" clause, it's most likely that the language from Measure 36 will have to drop into the same void.

The disappointing thing for me was that the racist and discriminatory language previously in the Costitution was just voted out by 2002's Measure 14. Unbeleivably, 29% of the voters voted to keep it in the Constitution. It easier to understand the passage of Measure 36 when we realize that 29% of Oregon voters think it's OK to have a law preventing blacks from owning property!

Just the lost effort of the "No on 36" events I attended and the lost effort of contributing cash is enough to upset me and the other participants and contributors, but being queer and having a queer parent makes the whole issue much more than that for me.

The Defence of Marriage Coalition has naively requested that the case before the Supreme Court be dismissed without realizing that they've escalated the issue before the court instead of resolving it. After the Supreme Court rules on this issue, you will be sure to hear them talk of "activist judges" who are "going against the will of the majority". Remember when you hear that that the purpose of the Constitution and the law (and especially the Equal Protections clause) is to protect everyone and to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.

Let's wait and see is the Defence of Marriage Coalition is willing to propose removing the Equal Protections Clause from the Oregon Constitution once they find that must be removed to allow their kind of discrimination.