FBI rises to the challenge and nets a big fish

This post is regarding an NPR article Malware And Hacking Forum Darkode Is Shut Down; Dozens Arrested http://n.pr/1Odoi1m.

Hacking groups have evolved over the years. Most recently they have a shape and feel like organized crime syndicates. This new shape and feel governs their inner workings such as tiered management, financial incentives and secretive missions. You have to know someone and prove yourself to join. Membership is closely guarded by enforcers.

In this particular case, the FBI had quite a challenge before them. Working with other countries is not small among those challenges. That takes a level of cooperation beyond even seasoned investigators.

Police work ranged from the usual infiltration/sting operation to forensic analysis of a massive botnet. The latter being no small task.

To avoid being taken advantage of by these malicious parties, users are encouraged to do the usual things: keep your system up to date, avoid suspicious banking practices and alert authorities to unusual personal offers and behavior. Avoid contact and business with international organizations that you cannot fully vet.

Excellent work by the FBI.

PIX-inc: Week 1 NFL Season

PIX-inc: Week 1 NFL Season: Week one is upon us!!  Just a few more days until we hear the hits, feel the excitement the NFL brings us.  Perhaps you have enjoyed the pre...

Denver Broncos because I'm liking them this season.

Don't much care for Kansas City Chiefs but they've got this game.

Seattle Seahawks for sure.

Indianapolis Colts - I'm also liking.

Detroit Lions - easy.
Pittsburgh Steelers - easy also.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - I like the Jets, but not this season.

New Orleans Saints - torn on this one, but gotta go with NO.

Cleveland Browns - boo Dolphins anyway.

Chicago Bears - not an easy one. I'm 50/50 mostly, but I think the Bears will do it.

New England Patriots for sure.

San Francisco 49ers - gut says NE, but I think 49ers will have a good season, including this game.

St. Louis Rams - easy.

Dallas Cowboys - both the heart and head agree on this one.

Washington Redskins - not 100% on this one either.

Houston Texans - Chargers will do well, but not this game.

... IMHO anyway.

Demystifying IPv6

demystifying IPv6 I intend to be getting more into IPv6 and enjoyed the article as well as a recent presentation by Timothy Martin on the subject. Hmm.. NetReg for IPv6?

Jeans were better in the old days?

My jeans have never fit well. I'm told I have no butt, but really? Never a good pair of jeans? However, I still wear them all the time. My other pet peeve in regard to jeans is how they tear. They always tear the same place no matter the brand or quality. It is always the belt loops. Perhaps this is related to my problem in the previous paragraph? Why can't we make the perfect pair of jeans? According to the "History of Jeans" this was the original idea: a cloth that resists tearing. Were jeans made better in the past?

Killing Run-away Process on My MAC

My battery power was being drained quickly. After unplugging my laptop and walking across campus my battery left was less than 2 hours. Very odd for my macbook pro.

I dropped to a Terminal window and found the following really helped.

 top -o cpu -O +rsize -s 5 -n 20

Whatever process floated to the top I killed. The first was an old wine process that should have already been gone. Another was a screen process that I was using to open a com port for configuring a wireless router. Neither were needed and killing both immediately helped.

My fan has quit running constantly, the processor is cooling down and I gained an hour of battery life in 5 minutes.

Garden: Day 40

All is well on Day 40 so far, although Tornadoes will hit Oklahoma within about 2 hours of this picture. Everything survived so far.

The Tomato plants are probably over-watered, however, everything else is loving this rain.

Garden: Day 12

Store-bought tomatoes and jalapeno plants (2 each). Still need a cage for the 2nd tomato plant.

Fort Knox! of the Rabbit world.