Wolf Web Hackers Get Charged With Computer B&E

A few regulars on The Wolf Web website easily cracked the N.C. State Public Safety police blotter website and posted bogus entries, much like they did for News-14‘s site during last winter’s snowstorm.

While breaking into computers is wrong, the perpetrators thought it was a harmless prank, and in my view it was. The kids got unspecified charges, but the cops should also charge themselves with failure to secure one’s computers by picking the easily-guessable password of “PSDblotter.”

Duh! Can you say “entrapment?” You might as well leave the bank vault door wide open with a welcome mat in front of it.

I don’t think this action merits jail time. Let’s hope the campus police department comes to their senses and moves on to more important matters, like directing traffic at university sporting events.

Comdex Pulls The Plug

I read today that Comdex, the biggest tech trade show around, has cancelled their November Vegas show. The Show Has Gone On for 25 years, but not this year.

Is this a sign that the economy is still sucking wind? Is it that Comdex itself has run out of gas? Or trade shows in general?

I know that the many shows I’ve worked seem to blend together in my mind. The exception being the Linux-focused ones, which seem to bring more creativity to them. At most shows, I breeze past the $100,000+ booths and look at the grubby tables in the back. That’s where you find the really innovative stuff! And Linux shows are full of those tables.

The Linux Expo in Raleigh a few years back was a really interesting show. Lots of buzz about the stuff seen there. It was, of course, right before the local Linux company went public, and arguably the height of the dot-com boom. It was a fun show, and quite rare for Raleigh’s small convention center to host any kind of trade show at all. Seems like shows went downhill from there.

Maybe Comdex shutting down is a sign of the PC industry moving on. I think Bill Gates has probably had a few sleepless nights worrying if the Glory Days of the PC have faded away.

I think we’re into the post-Comdex phase, for good.

Galaxyvoice And Broadvoice

Two other VoIP providers, Galaxyvoice and Broadvoice, provide nice services, but neither one provides service here in North Carolina.

Broadvoice has told me they expect to serve NC by the end of the summer. Ditto Galaxyvoice. Lots of room for someone to step up and get folks some dialtone.

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Boxed In

I’m flat beat. The old house still needs cleaning out. The new house still needs stuff. Furniture is screaming out to be moved. A million things to be done cross my mind and then disappear maddeningly from my recall.

But the heck with it. It’s 10:30. Tonight I’m having an early bedtime.

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Bellsouth Is 0 for 4

Unbelieveably, Bellsouth managed to screw up my phone order one more time. I was promised that as of 6 PM today, a message would play on my old number directing callers to my new number.

A call was placed at 6:01 PM and then twenty minutes later. No joy.

I can’t begin to express how mad I am at Bellsouth right now. The old number is on all the resumes I sent out. What if someone calls with a job offer and can’t find me? What if I miss out on a job?

I decided yesterday that Bellsouth just doesn’t deserve my business anymore. I’m shopping around for a VoIP provider which:

a) serves this area with local numbers, and
b) offers Local Number Portability, because I want to be able to take my number with me if their service sucks, too.

I don’t know how Bellsouth went so fast from earning my admiration to earning my scorn. It’s truly unbelievable. If there’s ever been a time to cut the landline, this surely is it.

This Is What I Call A Neighborhood

We blew off cleaning the old house tonight (got too late) in favor of taking a walk around the neighborhood. Met my friend Mandy’s sister-in-law, Candace, who was out walking her dog. We chatted for a bit before continuing on to the Path.

The Path is the neighborhood path that leads into Durant Park. We wheeled Hallie down the path and were pleased to find ourselves in the middle of Durant Park. Kelly and I laughed and hugged the whole way down the path, both of us thrilled to be within walking distance of such wonderful woods.

I remember taking Kelly mountain biking through Durant Park early on in her Raleigh days. As we rode past overhanging flowers and open ampitheatres, I remember thinking what a great place it would be to have our wedding. The magic of the park stayed with me and still holds me in its spell.

People say we lucked out in happening upon this house, and upon this neighborhood. The truth is, it felt like home six years ago.

Asterisk class notes posted

I put up my class materials from the Asterisk talk I did for TriLUG on June 12th. I’m still working on the audio portion, but it’s forthcoming.

I took video, but it mostly features me walking out of the frame. And the few times I’m on camera, my balding head washes everything else out. So audio-only seems to be the way to go. 🙂

SpaceShipOne Makes History With First Private Flight To Space!

Scaled Composites, the commercial venture of Burt Rutan and Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen, successfully reached space this morning during a test flight of its SpaceShipOne vehicle. The pilot, Michael Melvill, becomes the first astronaut to earn his wings on a privately-funded flight to the 62.5 mile boundary of space.

Allen spent a mere $20 million on Rutan’s company, which is most certainly chump-change by NASA’s standards (and by Allen’s. Heh). It costs upwards of $500 million to get the shuttle off the ground: each time! I hope this flight sends NASA back to the drawing boards. A little competition in space flight can go a long way towards lowering costs.

No word yet on when Rutan’s team will make a try at the X-Prize. The $10 million prize will be awarded to the first company or individual who sends three people into space and does it again in less than two weeks using the same vehicle.

My money’s on Burt!