Wikipedia, The Independent, and the Art of Revision

This is just too rich. I see that the UK’s Independent newspaper took a swipe at Wikipedia for the recent revelation that (gasp!) anyone can edit entries.

The news here isn’t that people or companies sometimes edit unfavorable material. That happens all the time. The real news is that because Wikipedia is a wiki, such changes are easily discovered and corrected. Nothing ever disappears with wikis: all changes, whether additions or subtractions, are precisely tracked and can be reversed at any time.
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Watching The Detectives

Elvis plays Koka Booth Amphitheatre next month with the N.C. Symphony. I am so there.

Watching The Detectives
Elvis Costello

Nice girls not one with a defect
cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct
Red dogs under illegal legs
She looks so good that he gets down and begs

She is watching the detectives
“ooh, he’s so cute!”
She is watching the detectives
when they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
They beat him up until the teardrops start
but he can’t be wounded ’cause he’s got no heart
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Boom and Bust

I should’ve known not to get my hopes up. The storm fizzled about the time it passed Durham. We got lots of thunder and a few drops but nothing substantial.

Anyone got a hurricane they’re not using?

Drop Everything for a Drop

I had to leave my desktop and run outside because I heard a sound we haven’t heard in a while: thunder! The radar shows a nice fat, red blob headed for our house. Hurray! A moment ago the weather radio’s alarm began sounding, reporting the thunderstorm. Music to my ears!

How sad is it that I get giddy from the mere possibility of rain?

Toy Blimp Attracts Chicks!

I’ve been looking into aerial photography platforms lately as part of a special project. Google served up this page on an RC blimp which I found thoroughly entertaining. Under the uses for this stuff, you’ve got this list:

IDEAS WITH THIS TOY!!! GRADUATION CEREMONY, SPY ON STUFFS, INDOOR FUN, ADVERTISEMENT, ATTRACT CHICKS, TRADE SHOWS, MARKETING, JUST ABOUT ANYTHING!!!

I don’t see anyone “attracting chicks” whilst playing with a toy blimp. On the other hand, there might be some “chicks” out there who are, for some reason, attracted to toy blimps.

Me, I just want to be able to take cool aerial photos, preferably without having to get a pilot’s license. Attracting chicks is only secondary, I swear.

Fifteen Years With UNIX and the Internets

My earlier post regarding my history in Raleigh also brings up another important milestone: this month marks fifteen years I’ve been using the Internet. My first email address was an EOS one at N.C. State’s College of Engineering and I got it August 1992. I spent my early time online downloading bootleg copies of OS/2 from the New Mexico State University’s Hobbes OS/2 collection. Apologies to all the schmucks playing nettrek who’s latency suffered as a result. 🙂 (Apologies also to IBM. Hey, I was young and foolish.)
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Orcas Island’s Revenge

Remember how I said that the start of our Orcas Island vacation began with my breakfast getting airborne before we did? Well, that little bug behaved itself while we were actually on vacation but it apparently never left. Kelly had quite a restless night, spending more time upright than horizontal. I had a not-so-fun day. Fortunately for me I think my issues may be over. I hope Kelly’s are, too.

When it’s 100+ degrees outside is not the time to be dehydrated. Be well, y’all.

Tracking Phone Phishers

We’ve gotten a few calls from what we’ve taken to be solicitors, judging by their CallerID, and let them go to voicemail. They never leave a message which seems to validate our approach. Today we got a call from a similar number, but this time the CallerID shows a different company. Same result: no message.

Looking for this number on the Internets reveals a number of people have been called by these guys. It appears to be some kind of phishing scam, judging by the comments. The scammers are using the VoIP DIDs of a Las Vegas company, thus the 702-520-xxxx numbers, and likely also manipulating their CallerID information. Whitepages.com shows the numbers belong to a company called Digitcom. At this point, I’m assuming Digitcom knows nothing about the scam, but I’ll give them a call today just to make sure they know.

If you get a call from “Tuscany Industries” or “Insider Events” at 702-520-1122 or 702-520-1117 (or other numbers in the 702-520 exchange), beware. As for myself, I’ve already configured my home phone server to record all interactions with this number. Might be useful for any investigation. Asterisk may be used for fraud as it apparently is in this case, but it can also be used to bust these chumps.