Today marks at least 27 days in the triple digits here in texas. I believe the total days –this year– in the triple digits is now 40. It’s too hot! Meanwhile, in the cool confines of our library, we’ve been hosting the Texas Poetry Listserv: an email list devoted to discussing poetry and poets in Texas –join by sending an email to macjordomo@datawranglers.com with subscribe texaspoetry as your message. The list generates a large number of calls for submissions for poetry and other artwork. A webpage —www.datawranglers.com/word/resources/journals.html— is now available with those publications; including contact information, subscription rates, submission guidelines and more. Share with: TwitterRedditEmailLinkedInFacebook

Today marks at least 27 days in the triple digits here in texas. I believe the total days –this year– in the triple digits is now 40. It’s too hot! Meanwhile, in the cool confines of our library, we’ve been hosting the Texas Poetry Listserv: an email list devoted to discussing poetry and poets in Texas –join by sending an email to macjordomo@datawranglers.com with subscribe texaspoetry as your message. The list generates a large number of calls for submissions for poetry and other artwork. A webpage —www.datawranglers.com/word/resources/journals.html— is now available with those publications; including contact information, subscription rates, submission guidelines and more. Share with: TwitterRedditEmailLinkedInFacebook

On a completely non-computer note… a letter recently arrived: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the ACLU?" As outrageous as it seems to anyone who remembers the shame of the McCarthy Era and its ugly legacy of witch hunting, this is the very question Senator Jeff Sessions is now using in the Senate Judiciary Committee to disqualify nominees for the federal bench! As you might guess, the letter is from the ACLU. And no, we haven’t confirmed the quote, but we will be sending a letter to Senator Sessions’ office, asking him whether that is his statement and the context of the statement. But, if it’s true, it’s part of a trend that is at least worrisome. The United States –for all the country’s problems– has something that is worth protecting: a set of basic rules that we –the people, the government, companies, everyone– play by: the Constituion and the Bill of Rights. The ACLU bothers a number of people because they look at someone the ACLU represents in a case –Nazis, immagrants– or the particulars of some case the ACLU is arguing –everyone deserve decent legal representation no matter the crime, religion and prayer should not be government sanctioned– and decide that the ACLU is part of what is undermining America’s moral fabric. Or the ACLU is a bunch of left-over 60’s hippies. The rules we play by, in particular those in the Bill of Rights, were created for very good reasons. Freedom of … Continue reading 1998-07-26 →

On a completely non-computer note… a letter recently arrived: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the ACLU?" As outrageous as it seems to anyone who remembers the shame of the McCarthy Era and its ugly legacy of witch hunting, this is the very question Senator Jeff Sessions is now using in the Senate Judiciary Committee to disqualify nominees for the federal bench! As you might guess, the letter is from the ACLU. And no, we haven’t confirmed the quote, but we will be sending a letter to Senator Sessions’ office, asking him whether that is his statement and the context of the statement. But, if it’s true, it’s part of a trend that is at least worrisome. The United States –for all the country’s problems– has something that is worth protecting: a set of basic rules that we –the people, the government, companies, everyone– play by: the Constituion and the Bill of Rights. The ACLU bothers a number of people because they look at someone the ACLU represents in a case –Nazis, immagrants– or the particulars of some case the ACLU is arguing –everyone deserve decent legal representation no matter the crime, religion and prayer should not be government sanctioned– and decide that the ACLU is part of what is undermining America’s moral fabric. Or the ACLU is a bunch of left-over 60’s hippies. The rules we play by, in particular those in the Bill of Rights, were created for very good reasons. Freedom of … Continue reading 1998-07-26 →

Virus reports are not our normal gig, but a major one has been reported. The CIH virus only affects Windows 95 and Windows 98. Macintosh, Windows NT and (presumably) Linux/Unix systems are not affected. According to the report ( www.utexas.edu/cc/ds/alerts/win32cih.html the virus “attempts to overwrite the flash-BIOS in infected machines.” The BIOS on a machine holds the programming that runs when a machine first starts. The virus also destroys the harddrive. It’s set to attack the 26th of a month, so check out the article today if you’re running 95 or 98. Share with: TwitterRedditEmailLinkedInFacebook

Virus reports are not our normal gig, but a major one has been reported. The CIH virus only affects Windows 95 and Windows 98. Macintosh, Windows NT and (presumably) Linux/Unix systems are not affected. According to the report ( www.utexas.edu/cc/ds/alerts/win32cih.html the virus “attempts to overwrite the flash-BIOS in infected machines.” The BIOS on a machine holds the programming that runs when a machine first starts. The virus also destroys the harddrive. It’s set to attack the 26th of a month, so check out the article today if you’re running 95 or 98. Share with: TwitterRedditEmailLinkedInFacebook

Well, we’ve been pretty tied up lately, but (hopefully) we’re back to updating this little news and nonsense spot a little more regularly. Speaking of this little spot… you may have noticed that we’ve been unreachable since late Thursday or early Friday. It appears that someone hacked the ISDN router that connects this machine to the internet. With the expert help of Trevor at Cyberramp, the router has been reconfigured and is working like a champ. And I believe that the security whole has been plugged. We’ll see. Those of you connecting with a modem should be immune to this type of attack. If you have a statis IP, check the manual on your router –ISDN or otherwise– and change any default passwords and –unless you configure your router from the beach– turn off remote administration. The upside to our situation is that our server was never compromised. I’m not an expert on security on other platforms, but the MacOS does an admirable job in that regard. Not perfect, but solid. We’re a small operation: myself, and a few people that help on a part-time basis. So, my sarcastic side wonders why this target? Perhaps… chance. Perhaps… someone doesn’t like that we believe that businesses can support the arts and political causes and have no problem hosting material on our business site of a political or artistic nature. My really sarcastic side wonders, how weak a hacker has to be to go after a one-person company. Perhaps… the individual isn’t … Continue reading 1998-07-21 →

Well, we’ve been pretty tied up lately, but (hopefully) we’re back to updating this little news and nonsense spot a little more regularly. Speaking of this little spot… you may have noticed that we’ve been unreachable since late Thursday or early Friday. It appears that someone hacked the ISDN router that connects this machine to the internet. With the expert help of Trevor at Cyberramp, the router has been reconfigured and is working like a champ. And I believe that the security whole has been plugged. We’ll see. Those of you connecting with a modem should be immune to this type of attack. If you have a statis IP, check the manual on your router –ISDN or otherwise– and change any default passwords and –unless you configure your router from the beach– turn off remote administration. The upside to our situation is that our server was never compromised. I’m not an expert on security on other platforms, but the MacOS does an admirable job in that regard. Not perfect, but solid. We’re a small operation: myself, and a few people that help on a part-time basis. So, my sarcastic side wonders why this target? Perhaps… chance. Perhaps… someone doesn’t like that we believe that businesses can support the arts and political causes and have no problem hosting material on our business site of a political or artistic nature. My really sarcastic side wonders, how weak a hacker has to be to go after a one-person company. Perhaps… the individual isn’t … Continue reading 1998-07-21 →

For those intrigued by XML, the new standard that promises to fix many of HTML’s problems, there is a new site: xml.com. The site is already up, even though the official launch is May 1. There are already pieces by Tim Bray (co-editor of the XML 1.0 specification), articles on various applicaitons (CSS, ICE), a rumour collumn and an article on PERL and XML. Looks to be a nice online magazine. Share with: TwitterRedditEmailLinkedInFacebook