July 01, 2004
New Jersey Rerererevisited
I've been going to Jersey far too much for comfort lately, what with gas prices being out of control and me having enough to keep me busy in Syracuse lately. The latest trip down (last weekend) was to fix my Aunt's computers, as well as her friend Robin's.
|
| Deleting virii |
Janet's computer is a 2.4Ghz P4 with 512MB of ram. When it booted XP, you'd have about 2 seconds in which to do something (for example launch IE) before the computer would become so sluggish as to be unusable. The virus scanner revealed why: 1,800 copies of the Klez worm competing for resources, as well as over 1,000 copies of spyware programs, probably reporting what Klez was doing since the computer was quite unusable. It took about 5 hours to clean the computer, get a virus scanner installed, delete IE, install Firefox (didn't install Firesomething, though it would have been funny).
Robin's computers were more of a mess...most of them wouldn't even boot, one didn't have a CDROM drive, and the fixable computer took 6 hours or so due to slow slow hard drive.
After wearing myself out with computer problems, I headed back up route 17, a beautiful stretch of highway from the Island to Binghamton (and beyond, though that's as far as I go). It meanders along a creek, crossing it every 10 miles or so, such that drivers may envy the flyfishermen enjoying their days with the trout. I couldn't envy them for one reason, though...
Still, the area looks nice enough to live in. Once the motorcycle is running, I may even pick up a fly rod and say hello to the fish...
| TrackBackPost a comment
Further back...
ArchivesFriends and Family
Search
Previous Trips...
-
Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
![]()
Stealing the Network
I first bumped into the Stealing the Network series when reading the exploits of Joe Grand, one of the book's many hacker authors.
The 'Stealing the ...' series of books follows a rather disparate group of computer hackers as they help a former NSA spook (many of them unwittingly) gather the money he needs to retire.
The stories themselves are not fantastic fiction. The writing is uneven and choppy, the characters are stereotypical and not very well thought-out. What is fascinating about this book series is the technical accuracy of the exploits (at some points *too* accurate, with screen shots and step-by-step instructions).
It's a great series to read if you're a system administrator, or just getting into the wonderful field of computer security.
Rated 
by reid
on March 06, 2011
by reid
on March 06, 2011
![]()
Close to the Machine
Ellen Ullman is one of those authors that somehow avoided my radar. Until now...
Close to the Machine is less a book than a collection of loosely related personal anecdotes from Ellen's time as a very rare thing -- a successful female bisexual independent computer programming consultant.
In the course of her work and relationship life, she learns hard lessons about programming, running a business, being lonely, and loving the wrong people. I found it particularly poignant being a crypto-nerd with difficult times in relationships and a more-or-less NDA'd, secret work life.
This book is a must-read for anyone into running their own business, programming, or anyone dating a person that is a business-a-holic or programmer.
Rated 
by reid
on November 23, 2009
by reid
on November 23, 2009
![]()
The Long Trip Home
I had the joy of dining with the author in Florida. We went to a little Brazilian BBQ where he spoke with our waitstaff in (what I can only assume was) flawless Portugese.
Brian Wyllie spent 1969-1971 living in Brazil working for the Peace Corps. His recent book outlines his trip back to the United States via Bolivia, Peru, and the Carribean chain, by way of bus, train, and sailboat. The format comes spattered with observations from the modern day, and makes me think, "this must be what John McPhee's journal looks like."
The trip sounded like a fantastic one, but I was left wanting more detail...where did the gun (being snuck through customs in a variety of places, no doubt) come from? And how did Geneve's hair smell? Alas, we'll have to wait for another book to find the answers.
Rated by reid
on April 16, 2009
by reid
on April 16, 2009