Today’s clothes in haiku

I’ve seen the following plot far too often in the last two weeks in stories / TV / etc:

There is a person who’s tired of living… so he hires a professional to off him, but the moment he’s done that, along comes a boyfriend/girlfriend, and he decides to renege on the deal. Suddenly the tables get turned. Somehow the client-victim manages to escape and get rid of his killer.

Attention Professional Killers… Snuff the romantic interest first. Sure, you’re doing a freebie, but it’ll save you all sorts of trouble in the long run.

Via the big cheese–

Fun with DDoS attacks.
LiveJournal’s been under attack for the past couple days… worst DDoS attack we’ve ever experienced (and there have been many).

Much stress. Little sleep. Lots of coffee. 27+ hours of downtime, for much of the net.

But…. we got some excellent help from a number of people (one in particular, whom I owe as a result many a beer) and we’re basically ignoring the attack now.

Also, the attack highlighted other bottlenecks, easily fixed once noticed, and the prolonged downtime gave me time to work on things that have been on my list for a while.

End result: things are faster & more efficient than ever, even though the attack continues.

Thank you, script kiddie. The site’s more robust as a result. Now, go get laid. Or— keep attacking and talking to your owned zombies while the FBI Cybercrimes group works with us tracing things back to you.

The last time in memory that it hit as hard was June 2001. Which resulted in a firewall and rate limiters. I’ll be interested in seeing the tech info on what was repaired.

Is it me, or does Brad’s icon make him look like he’s aged quite a bit? His older one strikes me as much younger.

Friday Five:

1. What is your most prized material possession? Well, under the law, Newt’s a possession, though I think of him as a little buddy. Very prized. Inanimate object? The bundle of letters from my sweetheart, a gold ring and silver dollar from my father Digitally, I have a lot of photos stored redundantly on the web/home/elsewhere that I’m happy to have. Hard to balance them out.

2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest? hmm… that gold ring. It has my (his) initials on it.

3. Are you a packrat? Pretty much. I go through major cleansings every time I move, though.

4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum? Well, there’s some clutter regardless. I like it to feel lived in, but not a museum or a dump.

5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there? The only theme is “Stuff Scotto likes.” When I get a larger home, I’d like to have a nicely laid out library.

Extra long work day today… pesky Pablo didn’t get a 5-hour print job to me until 4:30. He’s fortunate I was still sticking around… I don’t see Kev or Island boy staying late for that trivial a task.

Hot shower, mighty and strong. I love to get times when nobody’s used any hot water in the complex for like 7 hours. Scaldy-good! I can feel layers of my tough, rhino-like exterior dropping off, leaving only the soft pink baby skin. Perfect pre-bed prep.

LJ still seems a little horked. I’ve posted info on my dj and blurty, just in case folks there don’t know about status.livejournal.org

I wonder if they’ve figured out the culprit yet?

for historical reasons

Well, I’m still at the old job, until the maybe-new job decides if there’s a place for me. I’m very fortunate that the old regime is as understanding as it is.

Still waiting on a callback from the maybe-new place. I left another voicemail there at about 4pm, with my phone number as a friendly reminder. I’ll leave ’em alone tomorrow, and get back on following them up on Friday.

Sappho’s off for vacation starting tomorrow, so things will be hopping there for the next week or two.

Semagic seems to be dead, so post-mcpost from the web it is.

From The status of LiveJournal:

I’m tired, despite going to bed early last night… probably stress. A little thick-skulled as a result.

Today’s a new day. Let’s see if it can be better than yesterday, hm?

I’d like to get a straight answer about the nordis gig. Supposedly, I’ll find out today what exactly the situation is over there. Yesterday, they wriggled a bit on the line… Perhaps the Ronnie meeting will clear things up. Until they do, I’ll renew my search elsewhere, just in case of disaster. As it stands now, I’m soured on the company, if nothing else.

I’ve still got a positive outlook (with a side of annoyed), despite the setback.

Ah well, back to the mill.

Until later, dear journal!

I called Nordis this afternoon to find out when they needed me to come in. (On Friday, He said to call monday to set up more particulars… when I asked when he wanted me to start, he mentioned that monday would be good, because of how shorthanded they are.)

I call monday, to arrange for Wednesday, maybe Thursday. He’s in meetings, so I leave two messages at opposite ends of the workday, including my work and home phone numbers. He never calls back.

I call today, and He’s in a meeting, and on speakephone, I tell him “Hey, it’s scott… just checking on what time you need me to come in.” He replies that he’s in a meeting, and that he’ll call me back. Ok. I call him back at 4 to let him know that I’m heading out, but would like to know when he’d like me to come in tomorrow to start work.

He says that they managed to keep Tuan, and that I probably won’t be needed. Um, What? I say.I told him that I’d already given my parting time to Kev. He says that we hadn’t settled on a starting time. I was so stunned, I neglected to mention to him that he wanted me on monday. He claims that he’s going into a meeting with Ronnie and that he will let me know the final decision later. I’m not holding my breath.

Fuck. Even if I *do* get the job now, I’m soured on the whole unprofessional level that it’s been handled. If I *don’t* get the job, I’ve blown a whole week of potential job searches into the toilet.

I’m skipping my beriatric appointment for tonight, because I just can’t afford to skip any hours. I’ll be back at FMM tomorrow.

Killer Japanese Seizure Robots. Warning, cheesy midi, and possibly actually seizure inducing.

Last day at my old job… I’m going to miss some of the folks there. Others, I’ll be glad to see fade into the mists of history. I plan on keeping in contact with a few… Sappho, Kev and Island Boy. I imagine I won’t see much of Pablo after I leave, though he’s a nice guy. I’m planning on getting together with Kev to celebrate my birthday and of vocation location this weekend.. Maybe Saturday?

Lore raises a question that I’m keen to know the answer to. Given that Salon has over 47 thousand subscribers–according to a Miami Herald article on its financial problems–is that circulation a success or a failure? Is it a refutation of the conventional wisdom that “people won’t pay for Web content” or support for it?

That’s a better circulation than my home town’s newspaper. More people subscribe to Salon than bought Batman #587. More people subscribe to Salon than buy a given issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. Granted, these aren’t the sort of publications that make People magazine envious, but they’re all viable publications. So is Salon’s continued downward spiral due to not charging enough for subscriptions, or due to overspending?

I certainly don’t know how to make legitimate money off the Web. But at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if sites that are going down the drain ostensibly because of the resolute unwillingness of surfers to pay for content are suffering at least in part from acting like bigger publications than they are. I know I’ll never subscribe to a news or information source when I can find similar (or identical) content for free.

Sex position guide, using bendy-Barbie look-alikes. Probably not safe for work. I like how they mosaic’ed out the faces. #2/7 / 8/ 10 / 12/ 28/ 22/ 37/ please!

Interesting discussion with Kev and the Finn tonight for about an hour. A fairly varied political spectrum. Kev’s primarily conservative, Finn’s a Left-leaning Centrist, and I’m more of a Moderate (depending on which topic you ask me about.)

Discussion covered presidents, Korea (N&S), China, India, Iraq, and the news media in general. I feel that Kev is weighted toward the “Fox News” perspectives, and Finn forms very strong opinions before evaluating the situation for more than a little while. I feel that I may do too much research before forming an opinion.

We were at an impasse, when the Finn didn’t want to “agree to disagree” when I decided to impugn her beliefs regarding people’s desire to be educated. I feel that most people *don’t* want to do any hard stuff. The preference lies with Ricki Lake or other fluff TV… very few people want to educate themselves about history, or the world around them, unless it’s presented in an entertaining way. You can teach folks with sex, gore, humor and melodrama… but dry facts appeal to precious few. The trick lies in getting the mix right.

Both of them disagree with me regarding what it is to have truly free speech… though I agree with the idea that there should be accountability for what folks say in a public forum, I’m of the belief that if you don’t like what’s on television…you can turn it off. If you don’t like it, turn the channel. If you really don’t like it, don’t buy products advertised on the show being broadcast.

I like the idea of a Jeffersonian Democracy. “The government governs best which governs least” I hold a strong belief in a free press, freedom of religion and speech.

Kev likes speech control (via limiting celebrities being able to buy TV time, and editorialize at whim), is against gun control. He finds Iraq a more immediate threat than North Korea. He truly is concerned about how China will react if/when the USA starts getting tough with Korea.

Finn’s also in favor of censoring people’s opinions.

Bleh, tired of writing about this. Too rambly. I’ll come back to it later.

Nighty night, dear journal.

I really like that Newt will lay on a pillowcase on top of the futon… that saves me from having to rub down the whole thing when the inevitable cat hair accumulates.

Went to bed *really* early last night.. Like 10:30ish. I slept all the way through to 7am. I’m not sure why I needed the rest, but I’m confident that I needed it. Maybe all the time out in the sun?

Schools, banks and federal offices are closed today… I wonder how well Danny’ll do at the RenFaire today with his students? (Unofficial field trip.) I bet that they’ll have a grand time, but I think the performers will suffer… School kids aren’t known to be great tippers when pass the hat time rolls around. I’d like to go with ’em, but I’ve got work-duties to fulfill.

Appointment tomorrow at Holy Cross to talk to the doctor about upcoming surgery. Possibly the same as my last day at current work?

I was expecting the brother to come over this morning, to call about his appointment with Marcie re: a short-term gig… but he didn’t make it. I hope he goes over!

Criminy… 11 again! Time for me to fly. Until later, dear Journal.

News of the unusual

Got a mega-keen valentine from meredith today, for being fast on the aim draw.

Very spiffy… all hand drawn… witty and beautifully done. I’ll scan it sometime soon. 🙂

Today’s shopping venture was a success! And look! More than two colors (Well… more than just black and white… some mid-tones, too, for fun)

A pair of Dressy black sneaker-shoes, two pair of fresh boxers. Four new Undershirts, four polos and two regular nice collared shirts. I’m stylin’. Just about everything in my wardrobe mixes and matches… with a few exceptions. (White socks and black shoes, for example)

I wore the sneaks out of the store, and they did well.

After big and tall, I waited at the stop for about ten minutes… I realized I was across the street from the Solid Gold building… it’s closed, but it was worth taking a snapshot of someplace that was very educational and lucrative at the time.

I jumped from there to Barnes and Noble, to burn off a little of the gift card I got for my birthday. It’s *very* easy to spend money in there. I got a raspberry slushie and Dark Knight Strikes Again… It was a quick read, and I was rather disappointed at some of the plot elements. Overall, thought, I liked it. I think it shined the most in the first two-thirds of the story, and the sketchbook at the end is interesting. The art side of it… it seems like his skill went down a notch. Nice to see some other folks brought out of retirement. It’s not one of my top 20 comics, but it’s not in the bottom 20, either. Maybe a 6 out of 10 rating overall.

Wow… Google bought blogger! I wonder if that’s good or bad news for LJ? I know that LJ isn’t fond of being indexed by Google, for fear of bandwidth issues. Here’s a perspective that might make LJ come out on top.

Okie… got to go shoppin’. Going to swing by the bro’s place, see if he wants to join me, and then it’s off to get some new duds.

See you later, dear journal!

Holy cow…nice piece of reproduction. I had the Donkey Kong Jr. LCD game way back when.

Newt a Year ago

What sweets did people eat at the fair before cotton candy? Pie? Fruit? Cotton Candy was invented in 1897, and sold as “fairy floss” at the same fair with the first ice-cream cone if memory serves. I’m guessing before that, the popcorn and peanuts were the thing… maybe peanut brittle? Cracker Jack wasn’t until 1893. I’m not sure how old funnel cake is… maybe that’s the stuff.

Random Scotto Factoid – We actually had sporks as part of our silverware (made from stainless steel) when I was a kid. I also enjoyed eating with my scout knife’s spoon and fork.

The photos are chilling.

“On January 7th, 1942, one month after Pearl Harbor, T.W. Smith, Jr., the owner of the Sun Rubber Company, and his designer, Dietrich Rempel, with Walt Disney’s approval introduced a protective mask for children. This design of the Mickey Mouse Gas Mask for children was presented to Major General William N. Porter, Chief of the Chemical Warfare Service. After approval of the CWS, Sun Rubber Products Company produced sample masks for review. Other comic book character designs were to follow, depending on the success of the Mickey Mouse mask. The mask was designed so children would carry it and wear it as part of a game. This would reduce the fear associated with wearing a gas mask and hopefully, improve their wear time and, hence, survivability.”

“Very few of these Mickey Mouse gas masks survived. The US Army Chemical Museum at Fort McClellan, Alabama, has a hand-made prototype. The 45th Infantry Division Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has a production specimen on permanent display with other gas masks in the combat support area of the museum. The Walt Disney Archives, Burbank, California, has a face piece without ears, lenses, or a canister, and a mask owned by the founder of the Sun Rubber Company was on display at the Summit County (Ohio) Historical Society’s “Toys Made in Summit County” exhibit in 1982.”

Hmm… What would it be today? Yu Gi Oh? Hamtaro?

Whatever grows out of the dry soil of the Florida Keys is fragile and slender and delicate. That goes for the wildlife, too.

These are miniature deer, found nowhere else on earth but in the lower Keys of Florida. There came a glacier long ago to cut the keys off from the mainland. The Key deer, isolated from their mainland cousins, adapted to island life by learning to drink brackish water and by eating less. That’s why they’re so small. Small in number, too. Sixty years ago, on Big Pine Key, which really has the core of the Key deer herd, there were probably fifty Key deer, and the human population was under a thousand. In the last two decades, we’ve seen the human population go to over five thousand and the deer population rise to nearly about six hundred.

The little deer barely look up now when cars pass. Every year, some of their lives are taken by speeding cars, and free-roaming dogs. Protection plans include building underpasses for the deer to cross safely under roadways, especially U.S. 1, and strict management of dogs on the islands. What if the Key Deer are wiped out? Whether I see them or not, to know that they’re around means something to me.

They have been in the Keys all along. We are the newcomers. The little Key deer have learned to make do with less. How much less than less can they learn to make do with? I’m glad that there are people looking out for them, and hope that it’s enough to let them flourish.

Some facts about ’em:

The shoulder height of Key deer is between 24-28 inches. Does weigh 45-65 pounds while bucks weigh 55-75 pounds.

The earliest mention of Key deer is found in the memoirs of Fontaneda, a shipwrecked Spaniard held captive by the Calusa Indians. Records suggest that the deer were found around Key West and were used for food by residents and ship crews alike. Although early records indicated sporadic wider distribution of Key deer throughout the lower keys, current data indicates they occupy a range from Johnson Keys to Saddlebunch Keys.

Random Scotto fact: I lived in the keys during the winter with my family, from Marathon to further south, Big Pine Key. I used to see those deer all the time, and had no idea that there were more kids my age in the Keys than an entire species. I always thought it was neat that there were raccoons that could rear up taller than the deer.

Ingredients:

• 1 can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced (1 large clove or 2-3 small cloves)
• 2-4 tbsp cilantro, roughly chopped (I used about 1/4 cup)
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt & pepper to taste
• dash of Tabasco sauce
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped (From my herb garden!)

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a food processor and whiz until fairly smooth…does not have to be completely smooth, but you want to eliminate large chunks of garlic.

Serve on Warm Pita wedges.

Thanks go to my bro who provided me with a can of black beans and a can of garbanzo beans because he didn’t want ’em in the house any more.