Are you safe? A virulent and effective new “virus” is sweeping the Internet that attempts to exploit vulnerabilities on unsuspecting web users visiting legitimate websites. It’s proving effective, since the attack vector is SQL injection on genuine, reputable websites that do not properly enforce good security practices, and so, many users would not reasonably expect to get a problem from such sites. It attempts to exploit 8 known vulnerabilities in Windows software, although these vulnerabilities have now been closed if you have used Windows Update recently. High profile victims include the USA’s Department of Homeland Security and parts of the UK’s Civil Service website. A Google search for the attack code returns over 100,000 results.
Webmasters should check through their website (using an eg ’site:’ search on Google) for the existence of the attack code, which has proven most successful on websites running IIS and MS SQL Server, whilst ensuring that all user-submitted content is properly sanitised to limit the risk of being susceptible to SQL Injection.
More info here.
The Urban Dictionary is a fun website which serves as a kind-of “underground” dictionary, featuring words from everyday “street” vernacular, that you might not find in your average Collins dictionary. Certainly, most of the words would make a proponent of the Queen’s English shudder and shake in frantic disbelief. But nevertheless, it’s a great website, featuring all kinds of humourous stuff. It’s edited somewhat liberally, and resultantly some of the funniest entries are those with a genuine user-submitted definition.
Some examples:
The dictionary is made up of user submitted entries, and woop-de-doo, I’ve had one published. Based on my (now waining, thankfully) addiction to Scrabulous, I coined the term Scrabuluser – a contraction of Scrabulous and luser to mean someone who spends all their time playing Scrabulous. Go me.
If you like the site, you may consider getting their nifty word of the day email.
(This was the 600th post on this blog. Marvellous.)
One of the funniest TV shows ever: Whose Line Is It Anyway? Friday night, around 1030pm was always a humourous time if you weren’t our drinking (in which case, it was perfect hangover fodder for the morning after.)
And if you didn’t know, the (original) UK version was a lot better than the US version, despite featuring the majority of the same, predominantly American or Canadian, comedians. Richard Vranch (on the piano) was one of the smoothest men on television.
Heaps more at YouTube. What’s fantastic about the show is, because it’s all improvisation, you get genuine, fresh comedy, from genuine, fresh comedians. So rather than relying on a script as a lot of entertainers do nowadays, you get to see if people are genuinely funny.
And who better to illustrate my point, than Robin Williams:
Pure gold.