Categories
meta

Hax0red

As sad as this is to admit, it appears there is a folder or 5 on my site that have been sending out some kind of pharmaceutical spam. I guess this is just a lesson that when working with plugins that I’m not too sure about, I need to be extra careful.

The files in question have also written special permissions to themselves making it difficult to just erase them. I’ve contacted my hosting provider and hopefully I will have things sorted out soon.

Some of the names of the noxious files in question include:

  • bucaon.php
  • bucion.php
  • caon.php
  • chca.php
  • chcion.php
  • chva.php
  • chva2.php
  • hoon.php
  • leon.php
  • orfi.php
  • puph.php
  • adon.php
  • bual.php
  • bualon.php
  • buph.php
  • orphon.php
  • orsoon.php
  • orxa.php
  • soon.php
  • ulon.php
  • weon.php
  • buamon.php
  • bufi.php
  • buhy.php
  • chfi.php
  • chhy.php
  • chso.php
  • orci.php
  • orhy.php
  • puxa.php
  • tron.php
  • buhyon.php
  • buleon.php
  • butr.php
  • chal.php
  • chle.php
  • orcaon.php
  • orcion.php
  • orva.php
  • orvi.php
  • pron.php

The interesting thing I found when searching for information about my situation, there appears to be a lot of other sites that also have these malicious php files on their servers and I assume they have no idea about it either—including, and this surprised me the most, many Universities’ sites.

If anyone has any more light they can shed on this, please let me know.

Update: At my request, my hosting provider has blown away the affected directories.

Categories
Art cooking

Death Star Cookie

Death Star CookieTodd Franklin of Neato Coolville has posted the recipe to make your very own Death Star cookie from his 30 year old copy of Darth Vader’s Activity Book.

Mmmmm, death-licious.

Categories
entertainment

Conan at LucasFilm

YodaWhen I took a stroll around the presidio while in San Francisco last January, I stumbled upon the LucasFilm compound—the place where they make so many of the world’s great special effects.

Today I came across a humorous Conan O’brien clip in which Conan visits the studio, checks out some of the movie memorabilia and he even gets suited up in mo-cap gear. His tour was a lot more extensive than mine.

It was interesting to see him interacting in some of the places I had photos, like these ones of Darth Vader andBoba Fett. I also got one outside with a similar background of the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts.

The YouTube video was pulled.

Categories
design work

Karleb Homes Ltd Website

Karleb Homes Ltd. LogoI just finished putting together a site for a small construction company in Drayton Valley, Alberta, Karleb Homes Ltd.

Using cascading style sheets (CSS) I was able to keep the “content” of the site separate from the design. I also used Douglas Bowman’s sliding door technique for the navigation tabs which allows greater accessibility for larger fonts and screen readers than say just using regular, old-fashioned rollover images.

The footer is actually a repeat of the top menu, placed at the bottom of the screen because that’s really where the user needs it most—ie. at the end of the page ready for when he or she is done reading. For the spacing of the fonts, I relied on Richard Rutter and Mark Boulton’s SxSW talk, Typography for the Web.

I took the photos inside Karleb Homes’ newest project. I used my sister’s brand new Canon 5D as well as two of her Alien Bees lighting kits. The yard in the photo used for the header hasn’t been landscaped yet, but will be replaced when the landscaping matches the quality of the house.

I’m very pleased with the outcome of the site and I look forward to the making the next one—I love creating nice, friendly, and accessible websites and I’m currently looking for more opportunities, so if you are in need, let me know.

Categories
Photography

Flash Photography Tip

I just rediscovered a great photography tip. It involves setting the flash to fire at either the beginning or end of a long exposure.

But only when I read this article was I reminded that the rear flash on a long exposure can be a great way to expose those fun low light party situations.

For Nikon DSLR users, like myself:

“Press and hold the flash pop-up button, then rotate the thumbwheel. Try having the camera in the “M”, “A” “S” and “P” modes to see the different flash sync options in different modes.”

Instructions for other cameras are given in their comments.

This is something I learned some time ago but somehow neglected to put into actual use. Now that I’ve been reminded of it, it will change the way I use my on-camera flash; it will tide me over until I get that off-camera flash that I’ve been dreaming about.

Categories
design

Gothamitis: Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik in Conversation

Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik in Conversation

The Design Trust Council held their inaugural event last Wednesday in the Founders Room at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink) was joined by fellow New Yorker magazine writer Adam Gopnik(Through the Children’s Gate, Paris to the Moon), in an entertaining and provocative conversation titled “Gothamitis.”

Gladwell and Gopnik, both keen observers of New York civic life, each relate different perspectives on “Gothamitis” what current development trends mean for the soul of New York City.

Listen to the entire conversation (116.5mb mp3), along with audience questions via Design Trust’s blog, I ♥ Public Space.

Email me if you’d like a copy of the mp3, I still have a copy on my old hard drive

Categories
entertainment Statistics

Deal or No Deal

The American version of Deal or No Deal is airing its 100th episode. When I first watched the show, sometime close to it’s premiere, I was quite bothered by the fact that the game doesn’t really have much strategy to it. You don’t have to know anything, you just pick random cases—something that anybody could do.

Nevertheless, despite the aggravating stalling and the fact that I judged most of the contestants to be greedy morons, I found myself compelled to watch, at least for the first few weeks—each episode hoping that tonight would be the night someone goes home a millionaire.

The greed aspect used to bother me because at a certain point the risk involved in continuing far outweighs the statistical chance of gaining more money. I suppose that’s what makes the show so compelling and I have to admit that within every negotiation, there is a time to get out and a time to stay in, and success hinges upon selecting that sweet spot between too early and too late. I tend to admire those with the sense to get out early more than the romantics who go for it, because I’m not a high roller. Betting tens of thousands of dollars, even when the odds are on your side, is astonishingly reckless. I suppose though, either way it turns out, the suspense is very good for ratings and allows us at home to play vicariously—wondering what it is we would do when put in that same situation.

The following is a YouTube clip from British version of Deal or No Deal that aired last January. The host, or presenter, is a man named Noel Edmonds. The differs from the American version in that there are no lovely models to open cases. Instead they bring in 22 contestants and each choses a case at random. Then one person is selected to play the game and, like the American and Canadian versions, choses cases to open to eliminate from play.

It’ll all become clear in the clip but the main thing you need to know is that the folks opening the cases in lieu of the models are contestants who weren’t selected to play this round. Also, of course, the top prize is in pounds—it’s £250,000.

As of this morning the British pound was worth a hair under two bucks in American money so 250,000 of them is the equivalent of just under half a million US. If that seems horribly lower than the usual top prize in Canada and the States (a million dollars in our respective currencies), remember that on the North American shows, the top prize is in one out of 26 cases, not 22, so the odds are a little different.

Also note that, unlike the States, the winnings in the UK and Canada are tax free.

Categories
humor

Malcolm Gladwell vs. Stephen Colbert

My favorite author goes head to head with Stephen Colbert.

View it on The Colbert Nation site.

Categories
documentary movie religion

The Mormons

“I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously.”

-Douglas Adams

Twenty years ago today, I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That’s right, the Mormons. At this time, I won’t go into any detail how that’s worked out for me.

I will point out though, that a couple of days ago, the American channel PBS aired a documentary titled “The Mormons” which offers at least a relatively fair look at the church, its inspiring history and many of its blemishes. If you’ve ever wondered what the Mormons are all about, this documentary is a good place to start.

The Mormons (PBS Documentary)

I believe the author and producer, Helen Whitney, tries to come off as impartial, however, she did make the impression to one of her interviewees that she really didn’t want to hear any negative comments about the church, even if they are true. In an off camera pre-interview he asked her, “If you love the church so much, why don’t you join it?” She responded, “well maybe if I were younger.” It gives cause to wonder at her true impartiality.

Still the documentary will probably show you whatever you are looking to find, whether it’s support for the church or evidence that Joseph Smith was a con man who was so convincing that he even had himself fooled.

You can view it online in its entirety at pbs.org/mormons/.