And sure enough, ask a random programmer when they do their best work and there’s a high chance they will admit to a lot of late nights. Some earlier, some later. A popular trend is to get up at 4am and get some work done before the day’s craziness begins. Others like going to bed at 4am…. Continued at: http://swizec.com/blog/why-programmers-work-at-night/swizec/3198

I arrived at Dan Ryan Woods with my friend Dan and one of his friends. We waited a few hours and then the bikes started moving out. I have to say that it was very well organized and things moved pretty smoothly. We proceeded to go north on Western and almost immediately saw people waving and cheering at us. I didn’t expect this at all. Then we saw the little kids waving at all the bikes going by with huge smiles on their faces. That moment right there made it all worth it. To see the excitement and joy in their eyes was just heartwarming. I can only imagine how happy the child who got one of those toys was. It almost brought a tear to my eyes, literally. The joy and happiness that I felt riding the toys up to the drop off location with all the other bikers was immense.

I will definitely be doing this again and again for as long as I own a motorcycle. Just thinking about the event is giving me goosebumps as I type this out. It’s great to see that there are still some people that truly care and are willing to go out of their way for others. It gives me hope that there are still good people out there. Yes it was cold out that day but it was completely worth it just to bring a little happiness to some kid somewhere on Christmas that would have otherwise gotten nothing.

Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.

On December 1st my co-worker @ThPacketSlinger asked me if I would be interested in going to a meeting for this group called “BurbSec”. He explained that is was for people in the IT field and who are interested in or work in the IT security field. It sounded interesting so I decided to go.

They meet at a nice pub/restaurant in Schaumburg. The food was good and the company was even better. There was everyone from basic IT people to people that have been in the security industry for years. Everyone was friendly and willing to share their stories, experiences, and try to answer any questions that you may have about their line of work. I definitely see this as a good social and business networking opportunity and will be attending their next meeting. They meet every 1st Thursday of the month.

You can check them out @BurbSec on Twitter or at www.BurbSec.com.

This past May I decided to let something special into my life, a motorcycle. I did not realize how big of an impact it was going to have on me until it was too late. I read through the Illinois Motorcycle Handbook and then went to get my M permit, 7 days later I bought my first bike. I was on the fence about buying one as I never saw myself as “biker”. Whenever you hear that someone rides a bike either think of some Jersey Shore looking guy in flip flops and a dago-t on a crotch rocket or some bad-ass looking, tattooed biker on his Harley. I didn’t see where I would fit in.

I bought my 2001 Kawasaki Ninja 500 from a guy on Craigslist for $1400. The bike ran and needed a little work. After a couple hard days of work and help from some of my friends we had her running perfectly. I took a picture of the beautiful machine and posted her on my Facebook. I was immediately bombarded with “Don’t kill yourself”, “You bought a bike?!”, “Why?”, and “I hope your life insurance is paid” (my mother said this) comments on the photo. After all the people had left their thoughts and condolences I decided to call a few friends who I knew rode. They were both average riders and had sportbikes. They showed me the basic operations of the bike and took me out riding occasionally. After a few months it was time to take the MSF course that I had enrolled in at the beginning of the year.

I went through the course learning how to control the bike and how to handle the bike in various situations. The test day rolled around and I passed. I was officially a rider. I took my MSF card over to the DMV and they put a “M” on my license. I felt…free. I drove my car home and took the bike out. I went to the forest preserves and then to the city. I rode for hours and still wasn’t tired of it. I took the bike every chance I could get. I would run into people that I hadn’t seen in a while and they were either really surprised and happy for me or they were extremely “disappointed”. I had one lady that I used to work with ask me if “I valued my life why would I ride one?”. I replied with that’s why I ride one because I value my life and want the most out of it.

Going back to my initial impressions and attitude of a motorcycle. I was always one of those people that said I wouldn’t get one and it was too risky but something changed. From the moment that I shifted the bike from neutral to 1st gear I just knew that it was for me. The only way I can describe how it feels to ride is “alive”. The feel of the wind against your body. The power of the bike beneath you. The sights and smells of the world around you. I have never felt so in tune with the world than when I am on the bike. There is no comparison to flying down the road taking everything in, just you, the bike, and the world. It’s a big change but its for the better.

While the feeling of being on the bike is unsurpassed by anything else there is something else that comes with owning a bike, community. Whether you like it or not when you buy a bike you are automatically enrolled in a “club”. Other bikers will wave or nod at you. Why would they do this do you ask? Because they get it and you do too. Riding isn’t for everyone but for those that do it they get it. Up until I got the bike I wouldn’t be very inclined to talk to random strangers just because they had a Harley jacket on or because they were carrying a helmet. But now I’ve managed to strike up conversations everywhere. I’ve found that most riders are pretty friendly and love talking shop.

I’ve since purchased another bike and I am passing my Ninja onto my father so he can share the experience with me. I hope that other people would approach riding with an open mind and see how amazing it is. Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.

I honestly cannot tell you how well put together the levels were and how nicely edited the videos were produced. Your attention to detail will get you very far in your field. I hope that a larger developer sees your potential and picks you up for a large project. You have earned it and your time in the spotlight! I can’t tell you how proud I am to see your video and work popping up in my Google Reader feeds on my tech news sites. Quite an amazing talent you have there Doug. I knew you had the talent in you it was just a matter of time before you did a project that really grabbed peoples attention.

Wired did an excellent article on the project that drove the making of this. You can read the full article here: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/08/portal-2-proposal/

For those of you who haven’t seen here is his video and a few new outlet links that have featured it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAoEzP9_uNo

http://www.tophattwaffle.com/?p=2799

When I got the car home I was reading about it online (for performance not reliability as I had looked into that before) and despite me specifically asking him if the HP on the car was the same compared to the manual one, this one was auto, he said yes. When I got home I come to find that its 25HP lower. I then found that there was an upgrade kit that brings it up to 290HP (stock is 235HP on the auto). I got the part number and called the sales guy back. He apologized and tried denying saying that he said they were the same (which he did) and said he would “get me as close to cost” on the upgrade part as he could. So I come in and they tell me its $650 after the “discount”. I call another dealership and look online and cost is $500 MSRP is $650. So again he lied to me on that.

About a week later I am thoroughly washing the car and when I get to the engine bay I find that the intake piping band clamps are all loose and that the car already had the “The Protector” done by the original owner. There was even the sticker in the rear window (they were tinted so I didn’t see it right away). So he was going to charge me $2000 for something the car already had!

Honestly if you know what you want and the price is right then go ahead. Don’t let them push you into buying other additional crap and as always the sales people are full of crap. The only honest person there was the cashier, the finance lady, and the lady that setup my OnStar and XM. The sales person I had was “Rocco”. He is pushy and your a-typical “used car salesman”. I myself are probably never buying from them again. YMMV

I would say that 90-95% of average consumers purchase Apple computers for their false sense of “security”. It has never been that Apple computers didn’t get viruses it is more of the fact that most malware developers didn’t find the Apple platform profitable in previous years. Now that Apple has more of a market share it is now profitable.

There is a malware program called “Mac Defender” that poses as a seemingly legitimate security suite that prompt a user to install. Once the user installs it they are bombarded by porn popups and false AV notifications until they enter their credit card information and pay the $99USD for the program. The main problem is that almost no Apple users have installed any sort of AV or malware protection on their system as they were lulled by Apple ads and here-say into thinking that their computers were immune to any sort of infections.

"Mac Defender" Malware Screenshot

Now Apple has always had this seemingly helpful attitude towards their users in the past up until now. Apple sent out an internal memo saying not to help the users remove the infection and to simply direct them to their nearest Apple store to purchase and install AV protection. The internal memo also states that support representatives to not “confirm or deny the existence of any sort of software or program on their system”.

Apple's Internal Memo Regarding The Malware Issue

As thrilled as I am to see this wolf at Apple’s door hopefully this will be a harsh enough wake-up call to Apple users to get their system protected and stop acting so smug about being ignorant to very real threats to their computer’s. A quick Google search shows that Apple’s message boards are flooded and their support agents are not assisting at all (as well as the complete and utter lack of common sense).

Sources:

• http://blog.chron.com/techblog/2011/05/malware-macpocalypse-is-the-wolf-at-the-door/
• http://www.fiercecio.com/techwatch/story/does-apple-have-what-it-takes-tackle-mac-defender-malware/2011-05-20
• http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/05/02/mac-users-hit-with-fake-av-when-using-google-image-search/
• http://blog.intego.com/2011/05/02/intego-security-memo-macdefender-fake-antivirus/
• http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/modern-mac-owners-need-to-ignore-the-dinosaurs-and-get-protection/12857
• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-mac-defender
• http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/apple-doesnt-love-you-they-just-want-your-money/17323
• http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/05/02/mac-users-hit-with-fake-av-when-using-google-image-search/
• http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apple-to-support-reps-do-not-attempt-to-remove-malware/3362

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4nw5uvMB2I