Hackers Crack Into Texas Road Sign, Warn of Zombies Ahead

This from Fox News:

Transportation officials in Texas are scrambling to prevent hackers from changing messages on digital road signs after one sign in Austin was altered to read, "Zombies Ahead."

Read the rest of the article here.

Although it is illegal, this is fun hacking. And no, I had NOTHING to do with it.

I passed!

That picture is my Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE), for my Amateur Radio Technician Exam. So, this means that I am now a Ham Radio Technician! I will get my callsign next week sometime, when the information is entered in the FCC database. I'll let you know my callsign when I get it.

Amusing Cartoon

Well, not quite. This morning's temp was 26 at my place. Black ice happens.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I am actually "off duty" today (No day-job, no events), so I am cooking a bird this year. Got the 17lb wonder, and 7 people to feed (including myself). Looks like I will be eating leftovers for a while. I just couldn't turn down the price!

So, just a reminder to everyone: MAKE SURE YOUR TURKEY IS COOKED! As a microbiologist (and a victim of a Salmonella infection last July), Camphylobacter and Salmonella are nasty bugs to get. They can leave lasting effects, and have been known to kill people each year. There are a lot of sites (like www.butterball.com)that will help you make sure the temp is correct, but 165 degrees in the center of the stuffing (if your bird is stuffed), or 180 in the thigh will make sure you don't get sick. Personally, I cook my turkey unstuffed. And don't leave the bird out for people to pick at all day. Bacteria will take every chance to survive. And you are a food source for them as well (That's why we get sick!).

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Well, I walked the walk! It was a lot of fun. Steve, Nicole, Brent, Brandon, little Genna, and I all walked the full 5K walk around downtown Sacramento, going into Old Sacramento, through the K Street Mall, and back around the Capitol. I didn't even feel it! Guess that means I have been walking a lot more lately!

 

The balloon arch all walkers went through at the beginning of the walk

 

The Capitol with the tents on the west side (Front entrance)

 

Pic I took of myself

 

I walked in memory of Annina. She was a good friend and co-worker. 

Annina passed away September 19, 2008.

 

Taken after the walk. Yeah, that's a 2-meter radio on my backpack strap. I am such a gearhead!

Funny Spoof

For all of us who have endured the Viagra commercials over the last several years, this spoof is really funny:



Enjoy

W00T Deal of the Day

UPDATE: They sold out. Almost 8900 units... wow!

All I can say is ORDER IT. $79.99 + $5.00 for shipping gets you a 30 GB Microsoft Zune MP3/Video/Picture unit. This sucker is great!

Downside (if you can call it that): It is brown in color. I took a look at Walmart the other day. Brown isn't bad! For the price, GO FOR IT!

Go to http://www.woot.com/

Do it. I did. :-)

Oh, do it before they sell out, and today only.

Back from San Diego

Wow! San Diego is absolutely beautiful! I went there to attend the NAHMMA (North American Hazardous Materials Management Association) Conference from October 7-12. What an experience! I had the opportunity to work on identification of unknowns, a refresher on some basic chemistry (always useful!), got to tour the San Diego Zoo behind the scenes, and generally enjoy myself after hours as I pleased. It ended way to early! Check one of my previous posts for pictures. I will post an addendum sometime this week, after I go through them all.

A little bit of history

A long-time friend of mine (and Rory's), Craig Miller, discovered recently he may be sitting on money. He bought a Mark-8 computer in 1976. This is one of the original microcomputers, folks. Turns out it may be worth as much as $5,000 - $12,000 (Not bad for not being used since 1980). He has had it stored in his attic and garage.

Wanna see history? Go here: http://mysite.verizon.net/genoahous/Mark8/
(Remember while looking at this, it was before CRT's became popular).

Oldest system I have my hands on is my Atari Portfolio. This little bugger ran DOS, and still works! Wonder how much it is worth...

A Little Tuesday Humor

I was searching over at emsa.ca.gov (Emergency Medical Services Agency here in CA), and got an error when I clicked to search by date instead of relevance. Now, we are laid back here in CA, but this was an interesting response to get. Click on the graphic to read it better.

Note the message.

Me, Simpsonized

How do I look as a Simpson's character?

Go to http://www.simpsonizeme.com and have fun!

Jonny's First Birthday Cake!

Jonny's first birthday was on Tuesday. Due to work schedules, we finally held Jonny's "party" tonight. Well, sort of. It was just David, Candace, Mike, Karen (Mike's GF), Diana, Colin (Diana's BF), myself, and of course, the birthday boy himself! A "micro" party, of sorts.

I gave him his birthday present from me earlier, a baby piano (that 4 key model). He LOVES it! He sat there for a half-hour playing it. Imagine both hands on 4 keys. Now, think Beethoven's 5th! It was great!

So, tonight we got together to sing him "Happy Birthday". Diana made a carrot cake (No nuts in or on it), with cream cheese icing. We got a short of Jonny sans cake:


And then we gave him his piece of cake, and sang to him! He stuck his fingers in the icing, and sat there opening and closing his hands feeling the sticky frosting. Then, he tasted it... "Oooh!!!" is the best description to his response.

Then, he dug in...



















Doesn't he look cute?

He decimated that cake! And conditioned his skin at the same time!













HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY JONNY!

Thar Be Whales In West Sacramento!

Anyone remember Humphrey, the humpback whale? In 1985 (and 1988), he made it up the Sacramento river to Rio Vista (a little north of there, actually) in his wanderings. Well, it seems a few more humpback whales have been wandering from the ocean, made it into San Francisco Bay, and into the Sacramento river! A few days ago, they were spotted in Rio Vista, near the Delta, and yesterday evening, in WEST SACRAMENTO! 79 miles from the Pacific Ocean!

It appears to be a mother and her calf. The mother has something attached to her, possibly a crabber's net. But it doesn't seem to be slowing her down. They are both just swimming along in the river, about 3 miles from the Port of Sacramento. They can't get any further, however. There is a lock that won't allow them further into the river. Now, it is a matter of turning them around and going back out to sea. They are also trying to figure out how to get that net off the mother also.

Sentinel Dome Webcam

I look at a few Webcams, and have some that come up automatically in my Google Desktop. As the title of this entry states, this is the webcam looking out at Sentinel Dome in Yosemite National Park.

Somebody built a snowman up there!