Geekularity

Justin Kan is 23 and the CEO of the newly live company justin.tv He wears a camera on his head 24 hours a day and broadcasts his life, in real time, to anyone who wants to watch. Yes, I reluctantly include myself as one of his followers. It’s really addictive! So between justin.tv, all of the buzz over twitter (disclosure: also an avid user), and a recent report from the Wall Street Journal (link - behind pay firewall sorry!) that says that more than half of the tech companies that are currently seeking IPOs are in the Red, I’m ready to admit that I am worried.

I’m listening for the *POP*

You know the same *POP* that we all heard in 2000 when all of these crazy ventures were dumped on their arses the first time. Except this time, I’m listening for the entire San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley to collectively mutter “Wow man! It’s like déjà vu all over again!” shortly after this bubble explodes.

I hope justin.tv proves to be a wildly successful marketing venture; if not, one heck of a cool socialization experiment. However, it registers in my mind as technology hysteria which, while really cool, has no sustainable business model. It’s very similar to what I saw here in the Bay Area in 1999, and I think it’s just history repeating itself. Nevertheless, I’m along for the ride Justin! I just hope your sticking any money you make from this under a mattress or into the bank, because I think you’re going to need it fairly soon!

Am I too late to play in the lolcats meme? Here’s my addition to the party!

This will be what users see on 5XX server messages on some of my sites. Yay, the Internet is so fun… And so cute!

Microsoft disclosed today that most active versions of Windows (2000 through Vista) have a serious security flaw in how they handle animated mouse cursors. In this security advisory, Microsoft describes that, clicking on a link in an email message, stumbling across a malicious website, or even a legitimate website that’s been compromised can lead to unintended code execution. Just about the only safe environment is Windows Vista with IE7 in full lock down mode. This security threat is considered a zero-day exploit, meaning that examples of exploitation have already been observed in the wild, and currently there is no fix from Microsoft. So, keep running your windows update over the next few days or check back here for links to helpful resources. In the meantime, don’t open emails from people you don’t know, and stick to surfing the websites that you do know… you know… normal, safe Internet practices.

[UPDATE 2007-04-02 1:00 PM PST ]

Security Firm eEye Research has released an unofficial security patch in response to the animated cursor vulnerability. Please see their press release for details. However, Microsoft is expected to release their official hotfix or patch tomorrow.

[UPDATE 2007-04-03 3:00 PM PST]

Indeed, Microsoft has released a security patch out of cycle in order to guard against known, real-worl threats from the Animated Cursor flaw. If you have not done so already, please run Windows Update to grab the most recent patches.

Kathy Sierra, a prominent blogger and author, who’s blog I read constantly, has quietly endured cyber-bullying in the comment sections of her blog and through other online forums. This unacceptable behavior has recently risen to threats of sexual torture and death. As a result, Sierra has canceled her speaking engagements and has become reluctant to venture out her front door. In what may become her last blog post, she explains what has been going on and then she apologizes to her readers and fans for withdrawing from the community for a while.

It’s an absolute shame, if not ironic, that such a brilliant person, who so thoroughly understands and is able to explain the intricacies of computer user behavior, has fallen victim to the antics of such a disturbed computer user. Kathy Sierra has taught me how to become a better software developer, and I have always looked forward to reading her insights. How anyone could find reason to hate her for what she does is beyond me or any other sane member of the human race. Unfortunately, that’s not who she is dealing with. Should Kathy choose to permanently withdraw from the blogosphere as a result of these events, I think we would all understand. However, she will be sorely, sorely missed.

I suspect that much anger and outrage will be expressed in the blogoshere over this topic. And as strong as my emotions are over this, I will not offer a call to action or an opinion of what should happen. Rather, I will suggest that Kathy has many friends in this community and that our demonstration of support for her is much more helpful than any witch hunt or mob action. Let law enforcement do there job, while you, as a friend of Kathy Sierra, send her your love and support.

You’ve been a part of my daily routine for a year, and now I will find something new. It’s been difficult to think for myself again -blink-

Thank you to Ze Frank and The Show for such a wonderful addition to the Geek Zeitgeist!

P.S. We think Ze’s facemelting didgeridoo solo (pictured at right) produced the brown note for our son!

Apparently Rodrigo Sanchez, of the super awesome guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, is having some problems with his travel visa. As a result, Rodrigo y Gabriela has canceled their show at SXSW tomorrow night. It’s not like I was going to be there to see them, but a bummer none-the-less. All I hope is that they get the visa problems squared away by April, so they can make their appearance in San Francisco! Because I will definitely be there!

On the left is my office phone hooked to AT&T’s Callvantage VoIP service. I’m calling it from my cellphone on the right. Notice the difference in time! If you use the Caller ID timestamp to log your phone calls, make sure it’s giving you the correct information. I also checked the call logs on my CallVantage administration website, and it does display the correct time there. I even reset my VoIP terminal adapter and phone to confirm that the time discrepancy wasn’t coming from my own equipment.

This weekend marks the first time that Daylight savings will take affect based on the changes from recent energy legislation. The fear mongers may have you believe that this is another Y2K bug that will plunge us all into darkness, empty our bank accounts, and crash airplanes. That’s simply not the case. At worst, your coworker, Jim, will be an hour late to your staff meeting on Monday. But then again, he blames Daylight Savings for that every year!

The major computer operating systems, Linux, Unix, Windows, and Mac, have issued fixes via their automated update systems. And if you are a good little netizen, you have already installed them. Nevertheless, here are a few links to help you make sure your systems are in tip-top shape.

• Linux: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols wrote a nice howto article over at Linux-Watch. He shows you what files to check, and where to get the updates if your system isn’t already up-to-date.

• Mac: Steve Jobs and Company released an update for the various editions of OS X on February 15, 2007. Please see this support document for details.

• Windows: Please see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB931836 for details on the various hotfixes available for download.

For those of you who are flying somewhere this weekend, please rest assured that Air Traffic Control and airline flight services all standardize on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which are one in the same, and are unaffected by daylight savings. At worst, the arrival departure displays may have a hiccup here or there, but even that is highly unlikely.

This is a clever use of telephony integration. Apparently your plants can call when they need water. If you call the botanicalls phone number (212.202.8348) you can hear clever biographical data from each of the plants hooked up to their test system. [link]