A lazy system administrator is a good system administrator.
Mark Turner
Arizona Day 4: More hiking
We got in a lot more hiking during day 4 of our Sedona vacation. The day began overcast and a bit cooler (mid 50s) than we had had before, though not uncomfortable. All throughout the day’s hike I was conflicted about what to wear. In the span of 15 minutes I think I had three different arrangements of shirts and jacket.
Heading up
Our target hike this day was Doe Mountain, a flat mesa that we could see from our beautiful “Sedona Hideaway” rental house. Kelly’s parents joined us for this hike along with our nephew, Wesley. At the base we gathered our things and set out for the hike.
Overpollenated
This spring has been exceptional for the amount of pollen dumped on us by our friends the trees. I was surprised to see how light the street looked Monday morning when I took the dog for an early-morning walk. The street below the streetlight was almost as bright as if it had snowed.
Fortunately I haven’t been sneezing like I can sometimes. And with any luck this pollen will disappear as quickly as it arrived. As of right now, though, it’s unreal the amount of the yellow stuff that’s coating everything!
Update 5:51 PM: The Division of Air Quality says pollen counts in Raleigh have reached record highs. Check the daily pollen count here.
Court rules against FCC in Net Neutrality case
A federal appeals court ruled today that the FCC lacks the authority to enforce Net Neutrality in a case against Comcast.
“This decision destroys the F.C.C.’s authority to build broadband policy on the legal theory established by the Bush administration,” said Ben Scott, the policy director for Free Press, a nonprofit organization that advocates for broad media ownership and access.
Chinese hacking: the Shadow network
This morning’s paper told of a massive cyber-espionage network being uncovered, with most of it leading back to China. The report, called Shadows in the Cloud: An investigation into cyber espionage 2.0 is quite revealing:
Complex cyber espionage network – Documented evidence of a cyber espionage network that compromised government, business, and academic computer systems in India, the Office of the Dalai Lama, and the United Nations. Numerous other institutions, including the Embassy of Pakistan in the United States, were also compromised. Some of these institutions can be positively identified, while others cannot.
Theft of classified and sensitive documents – Recovery and analysis of exfiltrated data, including one document that appears to be encrypted diplomatic correspondence, two documents marked “SECRET”, six as “RESTRICTED”, and five as “CONFIDENTIAL”.
Evidence of Collateral Compromise – A portion of the recovered data included visa applications submitted to Indian diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.
Command-and-control infrastructure that leverages cloud-based social media services – Documentation of a complex and tiered command and control infrastructure, designed to maintain persistence. The infrastructure made use of freely available social media systems that include Twitter, Google Groups, Blogspot, Baidu Blogs, blog.com and Yahoo! Mail.
Links to Chinese hacking community – Evidence of links between the Shadow network and two individuals living in Chengdu, PRC to the underground hacking community in the PRC.
Read more of the report here.
Visiting the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon Railway
On Day 3 of our vacation in Sedona we took a trip to see the Grand Canyon, by way of the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, AZ. We got up early to get there as the “cowboy show” at the depot began at 9 AM and the train boarded at 9:30 AM. The twisty Hwy 89 Alternate kept us occupied as it guided us through Oak Creek Canyon, with its varied topography and beautiful views.
Back from Sedona
We arrived back from our trip to Sedona late last night. Our travel was quite easy, with both kids being travel superstars.
On the way out of the RDU airport we met a family who we’d also seen in Sedona. After riding back to the long-term parking lot and fetching our car, we came upon them standing around their minivan. A quick jump-start later and we had sent them on their way. It was a great way to finish off our vacation.
We’re glad we have Easter Sunday to catch our breath before diving back into the work week. And it’s a beautiful day, too. This evening I’ll catch you up on all the things we did on our vacation.
More fun in Sedona
We got a big break yesterday in our Sedona trip because the rain and snow that were predicted came much later in the day than expected. We got in a good hike along Fay Canyon and enjoyed a lunch in downtown Sedona before the rain clouds began to gather. Around the time we drove the few miles back to the house we were greeted with snowflakes! In the span of one week we’ve gotten three seasons worth of weather!
Today we’re going to Flagstaff to visit the famous Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered in 1930. I’ve also been intrigued by Flagstaff since I first caught a glimpse of it during our trip to the Grand Canyon. Because the messy weather that was expected for the end of this week didn’t materialize we’ve got a few “free” days to explore other cool things.
Grand Canyon
We made it to the Grand Canyon yesterday. Drove to Williams, AZ and hopped aboard the Grand Canyon Railway for the 65-mile trip to the park itself. Stayed about 3 hours at the Canyon and then returned again by train.
It was a great trip. I’ll blog more about it when we’re not on the way to somewhere else!
Day 2 in Sedona
Birthday Boy
We all awoke this morning with a better feel for this week’s time zone. The sun rose through skies a touch cloudier than the day before. We began the day with a pancake breakfast, then stashed Easter eggs around the house for the kids to find.
After all eggs had been discovered, we celebrated my nephew Wesley’s fourth birthday with balloons, cake, and ice cream. The kids didn’t seem to mind, but I couldn’t take on ice cream and cake at 8:20 in the morning!
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