one word--whatever!

When I was younger, my papa used to let me know in no uncertain terms that if I ever got involved with some sort of cult he would kick me 'in the ass!' They were probably the only times that my dad let his emotions get the better of him.

See, my dad had many friends. Some of his buddies had kids that were in their late teens/early 20's in the '60's and early '70's and some of these kids got caught up in the 'flower power' movement. Now my dad would be the first to say that there's nothing wrong with peace activism and standing up for what you believe, and is fully supportive of peace protests, sit-ins and whatever else John Lennon followers were doing at the time

The issue came, with my dad, when these kids took things too far and got involved in some sort of cult. 'Brainwashing!' says pops.

I was reminded of that when I decided to have a look what Mr. Tom Cruise has been going on about lately. Yep, Scientology.

Now, being all of 38 and not being indoctornated into Scientology, this is just a guy "looking through the window" and writing down what I've noticed.

But from my brief read (not to be a 'Tom Delay diagnostic')--anyone considering joining Scientology--don't! And if you're in it up to your armpits--get out--get out now!

Scientology Kills website has a few testimonials from people who have gotten out, as well as a few articles about people who haven't.

One of the testimonials that caught my eye was one by Kathrynn, in which she says--

"If Scientology was supposed to clear the planet, how come it cost so much? Most of the people that I knew in the regular middle class world, couldn't afford the lower levels of Scientology - much less the higher levels of "clearing'. Due to its prices, it seemed to be more of an elitist group than one working to help mankind. I knew of one member who had already paid $300,000 and he was being told he needed to purchase another $60,000 to get to the first level above Clear. "

Anyone, and I mean anyone who comes to you stating that they have the answers to life, the universe and everything, but they want money from you in order for you to get it--turn and walk away. I've been to many churches, and yes, there's a collection plate, but they don't say you have to put money in there to obtain eternal salvation (reading this Pastor Hagee?) Tithing should always come from the heart, not from the need to be 'saved'--you can't purchase your way into salvation.

There's a good checklist on the Scientology-Kills website which offers a few pointers to see if you're getting yourself involved in a cult. Read it and beware.

I think what really bothered me about Mr. Cruises comments recently is his denunciation of the psychiarty profession. I've never had need to see a pshrink (yeah, I know that they don't like that term, but my fingers don't like typing psychiarty), but I'm glad the profession exists.

So with that, here's a man, Mr. Cruise, who has probably more than his share of devoted fans. Reading over the years about 'celebrity stalking' and other related issues, there are probably one ot two 'Tom Cruise fans' who may need, at some point in their lives, to seek out professional help. Yet the guy that these fans are devoting all their energies towards, is telling them, 'Don't bother--psychiatry is 'pseudo-science''.

Great.

Mr. 'Top Gun', you're not wearing any clothes. For the sake of your fans, I'd rethink certain things you've stated recently.

At least, that's how I see it when I look thru the glass...

Hope Sandy'll forgive this one...

So here I am, having this wonderful dream. I won't go into all the gory details, but if your mind is already heading towards the gutter, that wasn't how this dream started.

It was a nice, long dream that had me mountain biking, camping and a whole bunch of fun stuff in it, and I was really enjoying it. Close to the end, however, it got a little strange, so here are the events of strange bit--

Before I start that, I do want to state--for the record--that I do, indeed, dream about Sandy, and they are very nice dreams about us being together for a long time--enjoying life and such. I thought I'd specifically point that out right now.

As well, dreams sometimes don't have to be anaylized to death and can be posted just for what I consider 'humourous content'. Anyway on with the dream.

So I'm biking, and this woman shows up, biking beside me. We start chit-chatting whilst riding, and one thing leads to another and *cough* we kinda end up back at her apartment.

Before you insert your favourite porn music here, I'll tell you exactly what happened in the dream--after a conversation between me and this woman, during which she was dropping all sorts of clues about 'yada-yada-yada', I take note of the actual apartment and ask, 'This place kinda looks like my old dorm room when I was in college'. Yeah, I know I never stayed 'on-campus' when I went to college, but this is the 'dream' part.

Anyways, she says, 'Well, that's because I'm in college, silly!'

'Just how old are you anyway?' I inquire

'20', she states, as if I should already know.

. . .

'20?'

'Yep'

. . .

And then I do my 'let-them-down-easy-'cause-I-don't-want-to-hurt-their-feelings-but-I-really-should-get-out' talk, mentioning that, well, I'm almost 40 and I'm pretty uncomfortable 'gettin' it on with a 20 year old'.

So I leave the 'dormroom', get back on my bike, and go 'riding off into the sunset', at which point I woke up.

Yeah, even my dreams are clean.

Yeah, I know it's sexist

At one time I made an honest effort to banish the 'babe' word from my vocabulary. I didn't want to be demeaning to the fairer sex--oh wait, I did it again.

I've been warned in the past that some women don't appreciate being referred to as 'babe'. I'm fully aware of how this can be demeaning--therefore I really should make the effort and make it stick this time.

For myself, however, it is true what they say--the second thing that goes is the memory--i often find myself forgetting a person's name, even if they've been a life-long friend. I'll be sitting there, having a conversatin with someone I've known for 20+ years and for whatever reason, whether it be that my mind has about 3 dozen different things on the go, or whatever, the name will just vanish.

Drives me bonkers.

I've 'managed' to cover for numerous years by saying, 'Hey buddy...', 'Hey Babe...', 'Hey Hon...' or basically avoiding bringing up names in the converation all together. Unfortunately, avoiding referring to a person doesn't always work. So I find myself saying, 'Hey hon, can we get this done', or 'Hi Babe, let's talk about that.' It saved me the embarassment of stumbling with the other person's name.

All this said, there is a specific individual out there who happens to be shacking up with me at this time (and we may or may not be planning a wedding in the near future--we'll leave that up to your collective imaginations...), and I never forget her name, but I call her 'babe' as well, but for different reasons--she is a babe (not that any other woman I usually talk to isn't, but I'm not dating any of them, and you can see how one can really dig a hole if one's not too careful...)--she's my babe--I'm very attracted to her and try to show her in no uncertain terms and with everything I do that she's the one for me.

So at the end of the day, at the bottom of the page, when all is said and done, I don't want my babe feeling diminished in any way, shape or form, so I'm asking any of you who may be reading this--if I call you 'babe' in conversation, or you hear me using that word (or 'hon' for that matter), call me on it--it's time for that to change.

No hexxes here

We decided early on that we'd try to catch a movie every Sunday at the theatre--go to the matinee when it's not as busy. This has been working well over the last few months--we've missed a few weeks in there due to other obligations, but, for the most bit, we get up to Silver City Ancaster for a flick.

We've caught many movies--movies that we want to see, and have, as yet, to be disappointed. I mean, 'Assault on Precinct 13' had its continuity errors, what, with a big blizzard that was reason fow what happened in the movie, then a few hours later the characters are running through the forest and there's no snow in the trees... thought that was rather odd...

Anywho, I'm here to talk about 'Bewitched'. I should start by saying I'm not the biggest Will Ferrel fan out there. I thought his funniest skit on SNL was the cheerleader thing with Sheri O'Terri, or as Alex, the host of Jepoardy, but I digress.

So here's 'Bewitched, the movie'--first off, I'm not giving anything away when I say that this isn't a 'remake' of the series from the '60's-'70's. The story that takes place in the movie is about Jack (Will Ferrel's character) who is trying to salvage his acting career by starring as Darren in a remake of the television series, 'Bewitched'. He inadvertently hires Isabella (Nicole Kidman's character), a real witch who is trying to put her witchcraft aside to be more 'mortal', to be Samantha.

I really enjoyed the movie. Ferrell pulls off the self centered actor beautifully and Nicole Kidman really shines as a naive 'mortal' person and coming into her own as a 'new actor' in a television series.

The only issue with this movie, from my perspective, is that you have Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine in this movie--use them more! It was wonderful seeing them sparring together, yet there wasn't enough of it. When we saw 'Meet the Fockers', seeing Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand on the screen, almost continously for the entire movie, was wonderful--I was hoping for the same, but alas...

If you saw the original series, you probably remember Aunt Clara and Uncle Arthur. I have no idea how they found actors that looked and acted identically, but they did, and they were in this movie as well. Steve Carell, the actor who played Uncle Arthur, captured Paul Lynde perfectly. (here's a note--I've been going thru my entire life thinking his name was Paul Lynn, and now I read at IMDB.com that it's 'Lynde'--how 'bout that?)

Another little bit that I appreicated was how the writers added an occasional light hearted jab at the 'Hollywood Industry'. One scene--Jack's Expresso Machine, solely for his use--"Make 20 expressos and bring me the best one!!"

Anyway, Bewitched is a wonderful romantic comedy. There is the occasional 'naughty word' and Will Ferrel's character has a dream sequence where he appears on Conan O'Brien naked (but the bad bits are pixelated over) so I'd say keep the kids away from this flick.

Other than that, if you aren't in the mood to watch killer zombies or the latest Batman or other movies in which many things get blown up in many different ways, see this one--it's easier on the ears and it's a fun watch.

but the babies are coming!!

Thankfully, my good friends, Andrew and Booch, decided to make their announcement official--they're expecting. So let's see--Leanne and Joe are expecting, Wally and Barb have just had their first, Mark and Karen are in the throes of parenthood, Sandy's friends Jodi and Dave just had theirs, and Lynda is quite pregnant, and my friend Jenn at work just went off on mat. leave--hypothetically speaking, of course, if Sandy and I had some sort of announcement, it would fit right in with all the babies that have either arrived or en route.

But I'm not saying anything.

and the shared experience

I'm not much of a painter--comes part 'n parcel with being colour-blind, but when the missus came up with the great suggestion that the house needs painting (and it does), I thought I should at least attempt to do what I could.

I have stories from my past that could contribute to this discussion but I shan't bring them up now--I'll just focus on the actual painting of today.

Some say the true test of a relationship is when you paint together. Well, I was lead to beleive that and approached the chore with a little trepidation. My worries were for naught, however--no crises appeared. All said and done, it was actually more fun painting with someone else than my past painting experiences when I've basically gone solo with the mighty brush.

So now the living room is fully painted. We're going to work our way up the stairs soon, but I have to take all the pics down and get the walls ready on the upper floors--moving damage thru the years have left a few nice gouges and holes.

Thanks to Sandy for picking the colours--me, I'm not so good at that, what, with the aforementioned colour-vision thing.

So there you are

In case anyone was wondering...

For some strange reason, my work e-mail isn't functioning at this time. So just giving a 'heads up'--if someone has been trying to contact me via e-mail, I'm not getting it at work.

Dunno when it's gonna get fixed--maybe some IS guys should look into it...

Come with me, my friends, back to a younger time, when the grass was, indeed, greener (at least to my reccollection)

When I was a teenager, I was actively involved in Boy Scouts of Canada. The better bit was that my dad was one of the leaders. One time he came up with this brilliant little game called 'Hare 'n Hounds'. Basically you have a guy on a bike (the 'hare') and you have the rest of the kids on their bikes (the hounds)--the 'hare' gets a 10 minute head start, so he takes off. 10 minutes goes by and then the 'pack of hounds' is released.

How do the hounds find the hare in this little game? Well, glad you asked. See, the hare carries with him some chalk or short pieces of binder twine. At any crossroads, the hare leaves a cross ('+') on the pavement, indicating that he could have gone off in any direction. Then, whichever directoin he decided to go, he'd leave a line, or arrow ('|') a little way down the road from the intersection, indicating that he, indeed, took this particualr path from the intersection.

So the hounds go riding after the hare, looking for these markers on the pavement. When the hounds get to an intersection and see the cross, the pack splits up--various hounds look down the different directions until they see the line, then shout, 'This Way!'. and proceed, letting all the other hounds catch up.

Actually it's alot less complicated than it sounds and we did it a few times over the years--it's lots of fun, and usually my dad had the trail worked out so that at the end of it was some sort of bbq.

Anyway, I was thinking about that last night on the dirt trails, 'cause not only did dad lead all us 'hounds' across highway and backroads, he even went off the pavement, along dirt trails--see, that's what the short lengths of binder twine are for--you can't chalk your crosses and lines in dirt, so dad put down the binder twine in crosses or lines, meaning the same thing.

Remember that this was at a time before anyone even heard of mountain bikes, and BMX bikes were just coming around into mainstram, so most of us were using our Canadian Tire Super Special 10 speeds, going off roading and geting all covered in mud, scrapes, bruises and such--this is what we call fun!

Now that there are things called 'mountain bikes', I'd like to give this 'Hare 'n Hounds' thing another go. The only issue is that I don't think I can find enough interested parties to make up a pack of hounds.

Of the Emergency Posting System

Just to see if I can do this remotely. If so, I can do this when i'm on vacation--lucky you

This time it works

So after much research and trial/error, I've implemented the mod_security module.

For those, like me, who are not web-server savvy, basically mod_security is a module that you can add to your web server that offers you a plethora of possible ways to stop hackers and spammers from accessing your website.

So I implemented it, downloaded a bunch of mod_security rules, as well as my favourite blacklist generator (if you have a chance, read his other blog entries--they're fun!) and I'm good to go!

At least, I hope I'm good to go. I have a better-than-vague-but-not-the-best understanding as to what the mod_security module actually does, so if Sparky's Space completely comes unglued, well, at least the effort was there.

Further, if you notice anything weird, like being unable to post and such, send me an e-mail and I'll investigate.

That's about it for this one--we shall see if it keeps spammers and hackers at bay.

When planning a wedding

And you have 131 'must have' people on your wedding list, yet the place you want to have your reception holds 110, what do you do?

Not that I'm saying anything--this is entirely in the realm of hypothetical.

To bring you strange new content...

To boldly go where every blog has gone before...

Whilst continuing my ongoing efforts to understand mod_security (and to find a mod_security.dll file that'll work with Apache running on Windows 2K Server--pre-compiled and all that), I stumbled across a little Apache module that does a web-counter.

You may have noticed that I already have a webcounter on the main page of Sparky's Space (and I've had it for probably around a decade), but that's a third party website keeping that counter going all the time.

Now I can do the web-counting per page myself, using an Apache module right here on my very own web server.

The bad news is that it would take an extra-ordinary effort for me to go back and add the counter to all my existing pages at Sparky's Space--so I ain't a-gunna do that.

The good news is that it was an extremely quick addition to my blogs--all of them. So now on each and every blog page there is a counter showing how many people have visited that particular blog page.

That said, this counter is as of today, so any previous visits to my blog pages aren't counted. Eh, not really worried about it. We're starting at zero as of today, and we shall go up from here.

You can see the counter to the right. You may have to scroll down until you see the 'Blog Stats' part. I may move it right under the calendar at some future time, but for now I kinda like it where it is.

As a tangent, this is the third entry today--I know I missed a few days this month and maybe I'm making up for it. Then again, probably not.

For lack of a better term

Remember when you first learned the word 'personification'? It was probably brought up with the example, "When you draw the sun and put a happy face on it, that's a fine example of personification."

The definition right from the Literary Terms website--"Personification is giving human qualities to animals or objects."

Well, what I'm about to talk about isn't exactly that, so I'm going to call it 'People Personification'--the act of projecting our personal emotions and qualities onto other people.

An example of this would be, "Person A will feel this because I would in that particular instance."--It's more of a 'they should feel this way because I do'.

The problem, obviously, is that everyone is different, and will react differently--will feel differently--even if they're experiencing the same situation.

As a tangent to this idea, there's always the 'hope' that people will feel what we want them to--"I want to be with person A, and I hope they want to be with me." Giving any of you who are in this situation a 'heads-up'--this hardly ever works. Take it from me--a guy who used to be in high school and was far too shy to ask people out, but was hoping against all odds that someone would notice me enough to ask me out. It never happened once during my entire high school tenure. Not that this particular issue matters now, but then it was one of the biggest issues on my mind.

So I propose the following--the 'People Personification'? Don't do it. Ever. Do not project your hopes, dreams, desires onto another person. If you really want to know how another person feels about something, ask them. I wasted (well, no, not really) my social time during high school projecting my dreams and desires on other people, hoping they would feel the same, and they didn't have a clue.

Since high school, I've tried to be completely honest with the people I want in my life, and, for the most part, it's working. If something is bothering me, I don't 'wish it away' or I don't 'hope the other person will notice'--I come out with it (as nicely as possible, mind you)--"Hey friend, this little issue here has been on my mind--can we discuss it?"

As well, if I'm interested in someone, I've been as forward as my personality can handle, "Hi, would you like to go out for a coffee tomorrow night?" (thankfully I never have to do that again )

In this fashion, you know where you stand with the other person. There's no conjecture, no projecting, no 'People Personifications' happening. Trust me--it's easier to sleep at night without all the angst, "I wonder what she's feeling right now? Wonder if she's thinking about me? I hope she is!"--all gone.

And whatever happens, you can't control the other person--they are different than you, they will feel differently than you do, they will react differently than you. Don't try to project what you think they should be like onto them. I'll paraphrase the famous Casey McCall--"That is who they are and that is who you have to accept".

Anyway, these are just various things that have been on my mind lately.

The luckiest number of them all...

Someone mentioned to me the other day that there are specific numbers that have an odd way of showing up frequently. She pointed out that 11:11 seems to be noteworthy--the chances when people 'check the time', 11:11 is that time more than any other time.

There's 'documented evidence' of this random number frequency, but I'm not here to talk about that.

Right now I'm here to talk about the number 13.

I think that 13 has gotten a bad rap over the years. Along with black cats and walking under ladders, the number 13 got lumped in people's continuing attempt to blame something other than random chance for their bad luck.

The good news for our little number 13 is that, lately it's showing up for good things (at least for me)

I have 3 examples and they all relate to my favourite genre on the telly, science fiction.

First (and I'll lead off with the 'eh, not so good but we have 'em anyway') is the show 'Firefly'. Yes Fox cancelled it, but the good news is now we have a theatrical movie in September. How does 13 relate? 13 episodes were made of this fantastic show! 10 of which were actually aired on Fox before they canned it. But there's good news there as well--the Sci-Fi network bought all eps and will show 'em all in the proper order. I don't have to worry about it, though, because I purchased all eps on DVD. If you have the means, I seriously recommend that option.

Next up, we have the 'retelling' of that wonderful late '70's sci-fi epic, 'Battlestar Galactica'. Seriously, I was blown away about how good this series was. From the sets and CGI, to the acting, to the actual stories--all came across as a cohesive whole. Nicely done! Bringing us this great reteilling is the Sci-Fi Channel. Oh, how 13 plays here? 13 episides as well. Hmmm...

Finally we have a resurrection of another sci-fi television series, this time it's from across the pond--'Doctor Who'. Yep, the BBC thought it was time to continue the franchise, this time with better special effects and hour long episodes, instead of the old half-hour segments. Whatever they did, it worked wonderfully! Thankfully the CBC here in Canada saw fit to show it on this side of the Atlantic. As well, 13 episodes for the first season--there's just something about that.

So here's the thing--the three most recent science fiction television shows, all with 13 episodes per. Now Firefly was cancelled so there's no new episodes coming from that direction any time in the near future. Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who have both been renewed for a 'second season', so there'll be more eps from those two fronts, but I thought that it was rather odd that all 3 only had 13 episodes for the first run through. Many network television shows film 22 episodes a season, so that makes it even more odd.

Anyway, I just thought that the number 13 needed a little good publicity for a change. I know that particular number is making me rather happy this millennium

And it'll be great!

My good friends, Jeff and Jen, are finally getting hitched! So it's off to Peterborough for me!

I'm not going to mention this at the wedding (even though I'll have ample opportunity) but Jen and Jeff brought Sandy and myself together. Jen insists to this day that it wasn't a 'setup' 'cause "I don't do setups!", but one night at dinner last November, there was one chair available and it was beside a person I didn't know... sounds pretty much like a setup to me...

Anyway, it really doesn't matter--I'm just happy that the confluence of events happened such that Sandy and I are together.

So I'm going to go on about that at this time, instead of gushing about how wonderful Jen and Jeff are at thier own wedding, specifically regarding Sandy and me--It'll just be embarassing for all concerned.

I did say I'd have ample opportunity at their wedding to go on about things 'cause for some strange reason, Jeff and Jen asked me to bee their Master of Ceremonies. Dave in front of a microphone is never a good thing--just ask anyone who attended Winona High School between the years of 1981 to 1986.

But I'll get up there, and I'll endeavour to keep the tangents to a minimum.

For me, the bottom line is I couldn't be happier for Jen and Jeff--it'll be a beautiful wedding, full of joy, love and happiness.

Lets just hope that the officaial photographer can capture some of that love, joy and happiness!

A glimmer of hope for Firefly fans

Firefly to be shown on the Sci-Fi Network

The Sci-Fi network will be airing the 13 original Firefly episodes starting this July. On the surface, that's pretty good news.

There may be even better news, however. As far as I understand, FOX, the guys who bought the show the first time around and subsequently cancelled it after airing only 10 episodes, also 'bought' the broadcast rights of any Firefly episodes for the next 10 years. That means, in leagalese, that no other network could show new episodes of Firefly. This was one of the main motivations, again so sayeth the rumour mill, that Joss Weldon, the creator of Firefly, decided to push for a theatrical movie (coming Sept 30!)

All that said, now that Sci-Fi has 'bought out' the rights to Firefly, there is a chance that new episodes can be produced and aired.

Now all this speculation comes via the rumour mill on the internet. The only facts we do know are as follows--the movie is coming out, and Sci-Fi will be airing the original 13 episodes. For that alone, I'm pretty happy.

And his late dog, Blue...

I'm not the hockey fan I should have been, due to a series of convoluted issues during my childhood that I won't dwell on at this time. The one thing that I appreciate about hockey, now that Gretzky's retired, is Mr. Don Cherry. I've always appreciated a person who can speak his mind and do it with style. You can really see that he's passionate about the game and he seems to want what's best for the sport.

So I'm cruising into work the other morning and I hear a Quiznos commercial. Up here in Canada, it looks as if the marketing execs were smart enough to rope our favourite hockey commentator into doing spots for them. Of course, the deal, if there was one, was probably signed before the hockey strike.

What? You didn't hear about the hockey strike? Well, you either are not Canadian or you haven't been paying attention to the news emanating from the Great White North. It's absolutely amazing that our country has survived this national disaster.

Bringing this back to the radio commercial, it went something like this--

Little Kid: "Mom! It's the guy from the radio--y'know--the one that does the Quiznos commercials!!!"

Don Cherry: "It's come down to this, eh. Well, I guess it's good to be known for something..."

The commercial works for me on so many levels--first, that we make fun of fleeting fame, and this commercial touches on that. Secondly, you have the 'eh' in there, which always does it for me--it's really weird how Canadians don't notice it at all, but you add anybody from a different country, and they immediately pick it up. Third, he does allude to the strike, which is a pretty big issue for some Canadians.

My personal take on the strike?

Well, we're in June now, which is right around the playoffs, and nary a worry. Looks as if we're getting along fine without it, which I always surmised but is good to see in concrete terms--we, as fans, can live without hockey. Hockey, on the other hand, cannot live without the fans. I think that'll be abundantly clear if and when the players and owners of the NHL get beyond this strike.

I understand capitalism and people wanting to get paid what they think they can get. Where the sports player is concerned, however, it's become absolutely ludicrous. For chasing a piece of rubber across frozen water, millions of dollars per season are doled to each of the top players.

I could quote my dad--"These guys make tens of millions and a doctor trying to discover a cure for diesease is struggling to get the funds together for research." and then I could quote Ferris--"A person with priorities that far out of whack doesn't deserve this car..."

The problem, however, isn't the players getting payed millions, or the owners getting paid millions. The problem, as it's always been, is the fan who actually pays them. If you, the fan of these 'major league' sports, didn't go to the games, didn't buy the sports paraphenelia, didn't subscribe to 'Leaf TV' (a topic definitely for another time)...these guys couldn't ask for the millions because the owners wouldn't have the millions to give 'em.

So once again it comes down to the average everyday Joe and Jane Citizen. We are the reason the players are getting paid millions. Here's a thought from pop-psychology--we 'enable them' to do these things. It's like giving beer to an alcoholic--"Hey, you drink too much! Here, have another!"

So here's what I propose (and I've heard like sentiments from many people)--When the strike is over, and the players settle on a salary cap of whatever--8 million instead of 12 million a season--don't go to the games. Don't tune into the games. Don't buy the merchandise. Don't do any of it.

No seriously, don't do it. If you do, you'll only add to the problem of overinflated salaries of these professional players.

Of course, my nearest NHL franchise is the Toronto Maple Leafs--the day they don't have a sold out game is the day the world'll end. One professional sports team in all the world has its own cable channel. Guess which one. Yeah, perfect.

Since I am with an SO that appreciates hockey, I'll say this--the Leafs peaked at Darryl Sittler. That was when I loved hockey. 'Nuff said.

with the internet

I didn't think it could happen, what, with the wonderful World Wide Web being as insanely huge as it is, but it happened.

I started getting an inkling a few days back when, after my regular checkups of the sites I visit daily (see the list on the right), I was pretty much at a loss as to where to go next.

I checked out some obscure sites that I haven't been to in a while, but some were gone, some haven't been updated in years, and some were not quite the same as I remember, so that was that.

And since my circle o' friends doesn't partake in much IRC, that part of the internet is pretty much out for me.

So the web is out, chat rooms are out, and that leaves... what? On-line games? I gave those up when I left EQ.

Well, I just hope that in my stumbling around the 'internets', I a) don't wake the dragon (10 points for who can peg that paraphrased quote) and b) find something that'll grab my attention for a bit.

If I do find something, I'll post it here.

Oh, for the record, because I'm kinda bored with the 'net does not mean I'm giving up my on-line presence, especially updating this little dusty corner of the sub-ether.

(or how I'm doing it anyway)

From the top--

I'm running Apache Web Server.

I've set Apache to log any 'script kiddie' or virus script attack in its own log file, called, surprise, hack log. This'll separate script kiddies and virus hacks against my web server from legitimate people surfing to Sparky's Space.

But wait--I'm also running a blog, which seems to attract some nice people, but also attracts all sorts of idiots who want to pad their post count to their dumb sites. What do I do with them?

Well, the good news is Greymatter has phenominal volunteer support--Someone created a 'mod' (short for 'modification) for Greymatter that'll ban posts containing certain words, or throttle multiple posts from 1 IP address. What that means is, if I don't want any comments with the word 'butt-head', I add it to the 'ban' list, and anyone attempting to post a comment containing that word will not be able to post a comment. As well, Greymatter adds a log entry when anyone tries to post a comment with that word.

If a spammer actually posts a comment, I remove that comment and look for any unique words that no ordinary person would use in a comment and add that word to the list. In this fashion, the spammer can never spam me again while using that specific word.

The better news (for me anyway, not so much for the spammer) is the log entry that Greymatter generates is remarkably similar to the log file that Apache generates--it contains IP addresses, dates, times, etc.

This is the good bit and may or may not have Marvin in it--

I take the two log files--hack log from Apache and the Greymatter ban log, get all the IP addresses, and add them to, wait for it--the Apache configuration file.

What?? Why do that???

Well, here's the thing--When I add these IP addresses to the Apache configuration file, and put the words 'Deny from' in front of each IP address, guess what happens? Yep--these hackers/spammers/whathaveyou are not only denied access to my blog, or denied access to run scripts against my site, but are completely denied access to all of Sparky's Space.

The really good bit is, for the first time this decade anyways, I did a little programming and developed a script that generates this ban list (mostly) automatically. Right now I have to run the script manually--I'm thinking once a week, unless the spammers/hackers get really bad, but once a week sounds reasonable.

There are actually places on the internet that publish 'blacklists'--lists of 'bad domains' or hackers, and you can incorporate those lists into various anti-spam/anti-hack tools. Trying to do that was a wee bit convoluted for me and most of them only cover the blogs. There are a few new ones, however, that cover a thing called 'mod_security'. Mod_security is a module for Apache which basically does what I'm doing with the 'Deny from IP addresses', except it probably does it better. I can't seem to get the thing work under Windows 2K server and my solution, though not as 'hard core', does the job and does it well.

I may also publish my generated 'blacklist' of the denied IP addresses and people can do with them as they please. Maybe.

The reason why I'm taking this much interest in this particular problem? I mean, Apache pretty much covers itself in the hack-proof thing and the blog spam wasn't that bad, so why the effort? Well, during my research I noticed that specific IP addresses were hacking/spamming one minute, and checking out portions of my site a little later. That really bugs me. To me, that's like walking into a supermarket, trashing the place, and then, "Hey look! A twinkie!"

So those who try to 'trash Sparky's Space'--that's it--no more access at all.

If anyone wants a more detailed walk through, don't hesitate to ask. It's pretty easy.

And those that are on the list, well, you can't read this anyway, but if you do get on the list and you don't think you should have been put on the list in the first place, e-mail me with your IP address--I can look through my log files and see why you're on the list--if you're legit, you may have spyware or a virus on your system that you don't know about.

And that, like hacking and spamming, is never a good thing.

I could cry...

-Ring

-Hello, Dave Speaking, May I help you?

-Yeah, my e-mail isn't working, I can't get into terminal services, and the internet doesn't work

And that's how it all started.

So 20 minutes of diagnosing, restarting systems, verifying network settings, this wonderful line shows up in the conversation

-oh, we've moved the system out of the building we were in to a temporary location--could that have anything to do with it?

Yeah, thanks for that info.

Maybe it's just me but moving a system from one desk to another, eh, that may not require a call to the IS department if you're good enough to run a network cable and plug everything in properly on the back of the system.

Moving an entire branch out of a building, however--that, at least I'd figure, might send up a few flags to call the IS department--things like cabling, VPN's... y'know, stuff that requires IS staff to at least know about.

They'll call me when their mouse stops working, or they don't know where their brightness adjuster is on their monitor, but they won't call me when they move the entire branch to a different building.

Eh, I'm just venting. I love my job (at least, that's what I keep on saying over and over again.)

with the hackers and the spammers

After an extra-ordinary amount of research, I figured out how to tweak my http.conf file to block access to my entire website from specific IP addresses.

So here's the notice--

I developed a little script that'll look thru my Apache log files as well as my blog entry files and will single out the spammers/hackers and deny them access to my website.

You can hack, you can spam, you can run scripts against Sparky's Space--once.

After that, your IP address will be flagged, and added to the 'Deny' list.

Furthermore, your spam comments on my blog entries will be removed (as I've already been doing), your scripts don't work with Apache, and your 'referer padding' will not work because they are not recorded in my log file.

So there you are.

You hackers and spammers have had your fun. Now the fun's over--Get the hell out of Sparky's Space!

Always start with the flowers...

So I got this mountain bike a few weeks ago, and, on deciding to actually ride it, I 'discovered' some pretty good trails around my abode.

The start of one of the trails looks pretty innocuous--the end of a little street. I've found that many of my great adventures start when investigating the end of little streets, and this one didn't disappoint!

Right after leaving the street and getting onto the trail, this is where the 'good bit' makes itself known.

   

A man-made concrete culvert under the railway tracks actually looks okay, after years of nature doing its thing. Of course, as we can see from the last pic, local artists also have to leave their mark.

Is difficult to see in the picture, but there's a fork in the road. My decision making default switch when faced with a fork in the road is to always take the one less travelled. Which is what I did this time.

This time proved to be, well, not necessarily wrong, but this is what I stumbled upon. Either kids had a fort here once, which is great 'cause I used to do same, or a guy is kinda living out here, in which case I really don't want to be around if that someone returns 'home'. Time to vamoose outta here!

  

Then there's these concrete things--I think they're from the original sewer lines from a long long time ago. We also have tiers and tiers of flowers, that look extra-ordinarily beautiful to see, and not so much that wonderful in the pic, but the idea is there. THe flowers also line the path that I ride, so that's kinda nice as well.

A crossroads! Now what? (yeah my bike has a kickstand--deal)

  

So I went up the hill! Up the hill, as you can see from the second pic, wasn't the best option for path clarity, but fun nonetheless. And, of course, branches across the path don't make for a great bikeride, but I did a lift-over and I was on my merry way again.

The Niagara Escarpment (or a tiny portion thereof)

See, the kickstand makes for taking these kind of pics. Eh, it came with the bike and I'm too lazy to remove it.

Taking a pic of me reflected in the water--have to do some sort of 'photo-avant-garde' every once in a while, y'know!

 

More pics of streams, nature, and concrete

The sky--getting close to dusk, I'd better start heading back.

 

Back to the familiar--the rail line.

Close to home, I noticed a thorn in my tire. Thought it was a little thing, but when I pulled it out, the tire went instantly flat. So that was a nice way of wrapping up this little forray.

Dot Com

Possibly one of my favourite websites--IMDB.com.

Anyway, whilst perusing said site, I came across the entry for 'That '70's Show'. Under 'Goofs', I had a really good laugh, and I really don't know why. Here's one of the entries--

Anachronisms: In the episode that airs on April 16 2002 where the guys go to Canada, in the RCMP office there's a map of Canada that shows Nunavut which only became a territory in 1999, not in 1978

I dunno--I thought that was very funny.

And I thought I'd share it with all of you.

and you

So some eager beavers are working diligently on a modulefor Apache Web Server called mod_security. This module allows you, the web site administrator, to filter who gets access to your website.

It does much much more than that, but that's it in a nutshell.

Two problems--

I'm running Apache on a Windows 2000 Server and I'm not a programmer by any stretch of the imagination.

From my 'extensive' look at mod_security on the internet, I cannot find a windows version of this module. I can find the source code for Windows, but then I'd have to compile it using a Visual C++ 5.0 or something like it. I also searched the 'net extensively for mod_security.dll, which is the compiled version of this module for Apache running on Windows, but to no avail.

First thing--I apologize for the time my server's been down over the last two days--I built a new desk at home and had to move the systems around, and I thought I had grasped all the nuances of mod_security, but really, not so much.

So we're back to basic configuration, and the server is obviously up, and mod_security will ahve to wait until such time when I acquire a compiler, or the people making the module see fit to compile a working Windows version.

(which may or may not have been in 'Die Hard with a Vengance')

The other day a co-worker explained a particular puzzle. Now I'm one that normally likes to figure things out, and this was no exception. That said, the mind isn't as swift as it once was and it took a few days of ruminating before I came up with a solution.

So here's the puzzle--

There are 3 containers--one holds 8 units, one holds 5 units and one holds 3 units (units are whatever you want them to be, whether litres, gallons, quarts... matters not)

The 8 unit container is full of liquid (again, matters not what type of liquid). You must divide the liquid into two equal portions using the containers provided.

So quick figuring, we need 2 x 4 units of liquid.

If you wanna figure this out for yourself, don't look below 'cause a solution is provided! You have been warned!

I made these diagrams to help show the solution--supposedly the 'real containers' won't have graduated lines on them, 'cause dem dar lines is cheatin'! But for our purposes, and ease of understanding the path to the solution, the lines are there.

So we begin--

To begin with, container A can hold 8 units, container B can hold 5 units, and container C can hold 3 units. Container A is full.

Dump what you can from A into C--A now has 5 units remaining, B is untouched at 0 units, C now has 3

Dump all of C into B--A remains unchanged at 5 units, B now has 3 units, C is now empty

Dump what you can from A into C--A now has 2 units remaining, B is unchanged at 3 units, C now has 3 units.

Dump what you can from C into B--A remains unchanged at 2 units, B now has 5 units, and C is left with 1 unit

Dump what is in B into A--A has 7 units, B is now empty, C has 1 unit

Dump what is in C into B--A remains unchanged at 7, B now has 1, C is empty

Dump what you can from A into C--A now has 4 units, B stays at 1 unit, C now has 3 units

Dump all of C into B--A remains at 4 units, B is now at 4 units, and C... well, C had pretty much finished its job and is needed no more.

Well, I thought it was a fun little thing, so I posted the solution here. I'm sure there are other websites that show the same solution, and do it better, but there you are.

Living in a lonely world...

Guess who's seeing Journey at Casino Rama on August 24th?

My second favourite group from my youth, and I'm pretty excited about it!

Saw Supertramp a few summers ago and that was great, but I waited too long and got pretty cruddy tickets. Our Journey tickets, however, look pretty good!

Anyway, I know it's a wait but I'll tell ya all about it when the concert's over.

Thanks to Sandy for getting the tix! You're the best, babe!

Sunset across the tracks

  This was the beautiful part of the evening

   Red Hill Creek Expressway construction

Then there's the new and improved highway infrastructure going in--the Red Hill Creek Expressway! The idea appears to be to enact a plan to remove as many trees as possible! You can see in the last picture the actual Red Hill creek just off to the right. Another picture shows the ultimate demise of some shopping carts--guess kids were sick of playing chicken with trains and decided to do this for fun instead. Brilliant!

 Looking towards Barton Street--and look! The creek looking quite naked--the fabulous look of 'progress'!

 Sign of the times--the Red Hill Valley sign torn down and another stating the end of the bike paths

Not wanting to leave this on a bad note--Wild flowers!

Once upon a time I went hiking and biking many times along the Red Hill creek. The city saw fit to make walking and bike paths thru the valley from Mud Street dwon to Barton Street. Sometimes we would forge our own paths from Barton to the tracks, but that's another story. I have many good memories regarding the Red Hill creek, and now that's all any of us will ever have, all in the name of the almighty 'Progress'.

I dunno--sometimes I think that humanity is shooting itself in it's own proverbial foot.