Blog Posts

I was devastated yesterday when Mizzou lost to Norfolk State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. I had hopes that this would be the first time that Mizzou would make it to the Final Four.

At least we got this hilarious quote for our loss:

I’d like to personally thank President Obama for allowing us to bust his bracket.

Norfolk State’s Jamel Fuentes

The burden of poverty isn’t just that you don’t always have the things you need, it’s the feeling of being embarrassed every day of your life, and you’d do anything to lift that burden.

Shawn Carter – Decoded

Facebook could spy on your text messages… but doesn’t (maybe).

A report out over the weekend says that the Facebook app for Android reads the text messages off of your phone.

Facebook has responded by saying the Times piece as “completely wrong”, but acknowledges that the Android application permissions require SMS read and write permissions for “testing purposes”.

A lot of Android apps ask for a lot of ridiculous permissions. ZDNET put together this awesome table of Android apps permission.

By now you are asking: So, What do I do?

If you own an Android phone all you can do is not install apps that ask for ridiculously over reaching apps. Is accessing your Facebook on your phone really worth them having access to your text messages (even if they arent reading them)?

Securing Your Pinterest Account

Over the last couple of months Pinterest has become a super popular website among people who love arts and crafts and has steadily been filling up my facebook timeline with stuff they want to do or think is “really cute”.  I really hadn’t given much thought to the website until someone asked me how to secure their account (then of course I was hooked).

The first thing I noticed was the pinterest is in a “closed beta” right now and you have to be on a waiting list or have a member invite you. Luckily just by asking on Twitter and Facebook I was able to snag 8 invites!

When you get an invite it looks like this:

From there you are asked to connect it with your Facebook (or Twitter) account:

On this screen is where you get to decide who gets to see your pinterest “pins”.

I configured mine to Only Me. At a maximum yours should be set to Friends. I couldnt see a time when having it open to the Public would be smart. 

From here your Facebook and Pinterest account are connected and you are given an opprounity to go back to the Pinterest website.

Once there you need to take a look at your setting on pinterest:

On the settings page the one thing I noticed you should do is to “Hide your Pinterest profile from search engines”. This will stop your pintrest board from coming up when people google your name.

As with all social media services you need to perodically look at the setting pages and see what they have added. As of now Pinterest doesnt have a monetization plan (that I can find) so your information seems to be safe. At some point they will likely either add ads to the site or start selling your information. At that point I will revisit this blog post.

My son raps ice ice baby! Yes, he did get his dances moves from me. Why do you ask?

Success is never owned, it is only rented; and the rent is due everyday.

When fired IT staff go bad.

I just read this press release from the FBI.

 ST. LOUIS—The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that a former employee of a local shipping company has pleaded guilty to damaging their computer systems.

According to court documents, Jason Schrum was employed by Axis Worldwide Supply Chain & Logistics, Inc., a company that provides services related to international and interstate shipping and logistics, including shipping large materials used in construction projects. Schrum was a transportation manager for Axis and an administrator for their computer system until his termination over a dispute in April 2011. He then went to work for a competitor of Axis and had no reason to access their systems or any Axis computer after mid-May 2011. On June 12, 2011, in the late evening, without authorization, the Schrum accessed the Axis computer system and carried out numerous actions, including deleting customer shipment records, customer shipment history, and manipulated shipping rate tables. The company has estimated that the damage/cost was more than $25,000 to repair and correct. JASON SCHRUM, Desoto, Missouri, pled guilty to one felony count of computer fraud before United States District Judge Henry Autrey. Sentencing has been set for May 8, 2012.

This charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. In determining the actual sentences, a Judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John Bodenhausen is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

When I see stories like this my questions are always:

What responsibilities do companies have when they let an employee go to make sure they no longer have access to their network?

Obviously what this guy did was bad but is there a legal liability for companies who have turn over in their IT shops to make sure their ex-employees cant access the network?

My Superbowl of Chili…

Get it, SUPERBOWL? ROFLCOPTER!

This is a super simple recipe but it is awesome!

You need:
2 pounds of cubed steak
5 cans of black beans
3 cans of pinto beans
2 cans of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes.
1 Jar or spicy salsa.

Brown the steak and then mix everything together in a crock-pot and let simmer until half time (6 hours). The spicy salsa really is all the flavoring my family needs but spice to taste.

Have the humility to prepare but the confidence to perform!

The Great Twinkie War of 2012

Let this be the official record of The Great Twinkie War of 2012. 

Thursday, January 12th:
An innocent conversation was had about Hostess filing for bankruptcy protection. One of the new developers in my office admits that they hate Twinkies.

Friday, January 13th:
I happen to have some Twinkies in my office. I leave a Twinkie on the new developers desk.

Monday, January 16th:
The Twinkie is back on a desk with a sticky note saying “Eat Me”.

Tuesday, January 17th:
I deposit 10 freshly bought Twinkies on the developer’s desk.  He neatly stacks them on the corner of his desk where they remain for the next 7 days.

Tuesday, January 24th:

This Happens:

I have now been Twinkie bombed with 60 Twinkies. I now have to let this go or retaliate by locating the nearest hostess distributor and buying 600 Twinkies (Which cost $167.87 with tax delivered, if you were wondering).

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