Time keeps slipping slipping slipping away

I have never been this busy in my entire life.

A computer architecture project, AI robotic projects, a Java implementation of Backgammon for software engineering, and two semester research papers all vie for my time. They are all due close to the same time as well.

I yearn for the time where I can lay in bed and watch TV for a whole day.

Quakecon 2007

Quakecon 2007 was amazing. More exhibitors, bigger BYOC, and tons more free stuff than the years before.

I was fortunate enough to win a Zboard and Battlefield 2 keyset during one of the Quake 4 Quick Draw tournaments. I still haven't taken it out of the box, but it feels good to actually win something.



It was a good trip overall. I gained 4 pounds from all the crap I ate. (the 14 bawls I drank didn't help much either) It was totally worth it.

Finished Linear Algebra

I made an A in Linear Algebra. I am very proud of myself.

All that hard work really did pay off.

RIP CPU Fan

My CPU fan died. Sigh.

I am now facing two weeks of no computer while AMD ships me a new heatsink and fan. I am stranded in the land of the real.

At least I have no excuse for not doing my Linear Algebra homework now.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

So, yesterday was my boss Rhonda's birthday so I got treated to a free lunch at work.

We went to this southern jazz restaurant named Suga's downtown. It was a pretty nice place with a nice dark atmosphere and outside atrium with a waterfall. I especially loved the old-timey ceiling fans powered by a system of pulleys. Awesome.

So the waiter proceeds to tell us the daily special of Buffalo steak. I was thinking, "Hey, a spicy and tangy steak sounds pretty good." so I waited my turn to order.

When it was my co-worker Allen's turn to order, he asked if it was Buffalo style steak or Buffalo steak. It kinda stunned me for a second, I had never thought that it could be actual Buffalo meat. Wow.

So I jumped at the chance to order my first Buffalo meal. This was a rare opportunity to try something new (for free!).

It was pretty good. Buffalo tastes a lot like regular beef, but with a firmer texture. It was tough, more "gamey" than beef steak, but I liked it.

I really need to get out more often.

Homework

I just figured out that homework is a good thing.

I have done every homework that has been assigned for Linear Algebra and I just walked in and aced the test. It feels good.

I guess I will have to continue with the homework in the Fall.

Joost

I just started using Joost today.

So far it is really amazing. I can watch high quality National Geographic shows whenever I want. I have been watching a show on lions in Africa for 20 minutes and haven't had a single hiccup.

This is what TV is supposed to be!

p.s. If anyone needs an invite to the Joost beta, just leave a comment and I will invite you.

Someone tried to hack my Linux server yesterday

While I was browsing ubuntuguide.org today, I found a post on how to check your sudo logs. Natural curiosity got the best of me and I opened up the file in /var/log/auth.log to see what it looked like.

It was farely mundane information, mainly showing my ssh logins from work, until I got about 50 lines down where the log started to get really interesting.

Feb 20 05:17:16 James-Linux sshd[23003]: Invalid user seby from 200.21.18.136Feb 20 05:17:16 James-Linux sshd[23003]: (pam_unix) check pass; user unknownFeb 20 05:17:16 James-Linux sshd[23003]: (pam_unix) authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=ssh ruser= rhost=200.21.18.136Feb 20 05:17:17 James-Linux sshd[23003]: Failed password for invalid user seby from 200.21.18.136 port 59712 ssh2Feb 20 05:17:19 James-Linux sshd[23005]: Invalid user sebastian from 200.21.18.136Feb 20 05:17:19 James-Linux sshd[23005]: (pam_unix) check pass; user unknownFeb 20 05:17:19 James-Linux sshd[23005]: (pam_unix) authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=ssh ruser= rhost=200.21.18.136

Apprently some guy from 200.21.18.136 (which turns out to be from Columbia) tried to crack the password on hundreds of fake accounts on my box. The first two hundred or so lines were attempts to crack the password on root, which thankfully all failed.

I feel pretty proud to finally have a hack attempt against one of my systems. He never got in, but this attempt brought security into perspective for me. I usually go about my computer life with no regard to people wanting to get my insignificant information and resources, but as of now I will start treating my computers just like a real system administrator (BIOS passwords, encryption of valuable files, etc). Better safe than sorry.

After nearly two years, I post once again

A lot has changed since I started this blog nearly two years ago.

Google took over Blogger and has since transferred over the Blogger accounts to Google accounts. This is a great thing since I tried to create a blog today and found that my name was taken.

It turned out that I had taken my own name long long ago when Blogger was still a fledgling. Google provided a simple process to switch over blogs to the Google accounts, so it was pretty painless.

I also took the liberty of creating a worthwhile blog called "A How To For Me". I created the blog simply to help myself learn, and if anyone else reads it then I will be very surprised.

I think it will be a great little project. Knowledge is a wonderful thing.