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Monthly Archives: April 2010
Miniature world of moss
By Foto Fransen from Flickr
Propane explosion more common than admitted
Propane industry wants consumers to ignore facts
After an explosion like the one in West Devon PEI where the house was essentially demolished, the propane industry trots out the stories that pretend disasters are rare. As George Gershwin said “It ain’t necessarily so.”
The big lie is that it was the homeowner’s fault. The reality is that propane does not protect the homeowner from catastrophe. Propane is too volatile for our human imperfection. It is virtually impossible for humans to get through their live without making a mistake. When those mistakes involve propane, the results can be catastrophic.
A Google search turned up numerous law firms specializing in damages from propane explosions. Propane explosions kill or injure thousands each year says Lawyers and Settlements.
Ron Hynes Man of a Thousand Songs
New movie is about to be released about one of Atlantic Canada’s best singer songwriters
This is the trailer for a new film being made about him. The film will be released in the fall of 2010.
Ron Hynes has been writing and singing songs since I can’t remember when. He’s a great guy. He is generous with other musicians and willingly helps out whenever he can.
Sonny’s Dream video follows the break. Continue reading
Midnight Hour with BB King Stevie Ray Etta James
Ebony Showcase Theatre in Los Angeles, April 15th 1987 – an all star cast with B B King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Etta James and Gladys Knight
Network Solutions hosting compromised thousands of accounts
Three weeks of “grep” attacks are over for now but their customers are nervous and leaving Network Solutions
"Grep" virus hacked inside Network Solutions servers
Network Solutions hosting service mis-handled its customer service for weeks with the “grep” iFrame redirect virus. The same virus was also reported to be attacking GoDaddy hosted websites. Due to the lack of security at Network Solutions, we did the prudent thing and moved NJN Network to a more secure site.
The attacks started three weeks ago with more than 5% of Network Solutions’ customers infected with the Trojan. While site owners are responsible for their own security, Network Solutions did not provide reasonable care in protecting their customers. We asked them months ago if the site was protected by a virus checker. Yes they said. We subscribed to their nsProtect Safe service which was a useless piece of junk.
The Hack
The virus created an iFrame re-direct. When someone visited an infected site, they were redirected to a site that said their browser or operating system needed to update.
Spotted Tawee
Spotted Tawee by Foto Fransen
Reasons why people leave Network Solutions
The technical support is on life support and non-responsive
As reported in Hackers access Network Solutions mail accounts, the mail server at Network Solutions is set up to allow re-directs. Some hacker has figured that out. They are relaying emails using made up account names.
Faced with a customer request, most companies try to find a way to make it happen. At Network Solutions they want more forms filled out.
Network Solutions’ response to this obvious “security alert – high risk” is to ask me to fill out forms. I don’t mind doing that except that’s how I reported the hack in the first place.
Being a ‘boy-scout’, I ventured back into their labyrinth system only to find their instructions impossible to execute.
Why not to use propane
Never never never will I use propane in a home
West Devon home destroyed in propane explosion photo: Charlottetown Guardian
A propane stove exploded in the home of Horace and Pearl MacNevin, West Devon PEI.
There isn’t much left of the house. Mr. MacNevin is in the hospital with first and second degree burns. He was airlifted to Halifax.
His wife is in the Prince County Hospital with undetermined injuries.
The explosion is blamed on a malfunction in the stove or line feeding propane to the stove.
The couple are lucky to be alive.
Call me silly but that’s why I don’t use propane. If the electric stove malfunctions, it might start a fire. I’ve seen that happen. It won’t blow the walls off my home and me on top of the rubble.
For more on this story including a slide show, see the Charlottetown Guardian
Avatar Blu-Ray won’t play on all players
Studios continue to harass paying customers with DRM that locks Blu-ray players
Avatar was last weekend’s most popular DVD. The disk has become a nightmare for some buyers. The Blu-Ray disks won’t play because Fox Studios has put a new DRM scheme on the disks.
When you pop the disk in the player it warns you of disk compatibilities. Users are advised to check with their manufacturer for assistance with a firmware upgrade.
One owner of an expensive Denon Blu-Ray player found out the hard way that firmware upgrades are not automatic.
“How about not playing on a 4500 buck Denon which when the company was contacted said “we’ll make a note of it” I guess it’ll play on a PS3 but everything else will be a crap shoot. Owners of older machines that are no longer getting firmware support will be SOL.” Amazon.com Continue reading
Hackers access Network Solutions mail accounts
Open SMTP ports allow hackers to relay phishing emails
US hosting and domain registrar Network Solutions has been hacked again. This time someone has gained access to email accounts on Network Solutions servers.
They are sending phishing emails that can reveal your real email accounts. Accounts that have email on Network Solutions servers should move to secure them. Network Solutions are not doing enough to protect their user base from hackers.
After more than two weeks of hacks using the ‘grep’ virus, Network Solutions began to run security audits on its hosted accounts with Nessus software.