The Slamlander

Win7 pricing has been released.

This is getting bad folks.

Those who want to upgrade to Windows 7 on a older PC will pay a reduced price for the software. Stand alone versions of Windows 7, that can run on more than one PC, will also be available.

Microsoft said these upgrade options will not be available to Europeans.

"We will not be able to offer an upgrade product within Europe," said John Curran, Windows business lead at Microsoft UK, adding that only the full version of the software will be available to Europeans.

This is market discrimination at its worst.

The upgrade option was not available, Microsoft said, because it was trying to comply with European competition regulations.

Which is pure bullshit! Microsoft didn’t like being called a monopolist and paying billions of dollars worth of fines. Now they are trying to get the fines back out of European customers.

A Commission spokesman dismissed Microsoft’s claim that it was taking the action to comply with European laws.

"For them to claim that this is somehow imposed by the Commission or is going to resolve the problem with the Commission is far from clear," he said. "It’s certainly not because we’ve asked them to do it."

It appears that the commission agrees but will not yet go so far as to state what I just said. This is Microsoft trying to get back at us for those billions of dollars of fines that they were supposed to pay¹

M$ willfully violated the law, was found guilty in court and then willfully refused to pay the resulting fine. They then got fined for failure to pay the fine, with interest, and only made token payment when about to be levied a fine for failure to pay the fine, which was for failure to pay the fine, which was for failure to pay the original fine. All in all, some +20B$² .

Governor Sanford has an affair, big deal! Especially since his wife already knew about it. If it is^okay with her then why is anyone else concerned?

He said his wife and family had known of the affair for the past five months and that he was resigning his post of chair of the RGA.He said his wife and family had known of the affair for the past five months and that he was resigning his post of chair of the RGA.

Mitterand¹ had a lady on the side that even bore him a daughter. She gets along great with the other siblings and even with his wife! In fact, long past his death, they still live close to each other². The line Bill Clinton should have used is “It’s between me, Hillary, and no one else!”

American society doesn’t allow polygamy but they allow divorce, which is a form of serial polygamy. In Italy, Enzo Ferrari had a mistress that he spent most of his later years with. His first wife had personality issues but she bore him children and she was his wife of record. However, the mistress also bore his children but she was only his mistress. The kids all got along fine.

I developed a relationship with… a dear, dear friend from Argentina and as a consequence I hurt her, I hurt you all, I hurt my wife, I hurt my boys, I hurt a lot of different folks.

That’s the part that I don’t get. The wife being hurt is natural, sometimes. At other times it can be a relief, as in Mitterand’s case. The kids aren’t hurt unless a divorce ensues. If the wife is okay with it, why the fuck should anyone else care?

I should note that Mitterand was more henpecked than most, since both of his wives got along too well. Think about it.

There is a bogus email

I got it twice. The first one was with an attachment that ClamWin auto-stripped in my hMailserver (I love ClamWin). The second one was with bogus link only.

People should know, Microsoft NEVER sends either update attachments or links to updates. They ALWAYS make you go through the normal update process.

Update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express (KB910721)

Brief Description

Microsoft has released an update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express. This update is critical and provides you with the latest version of the Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express and offers the highest levels of stability and security.

Instructions

• To install Update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express (KB910721) please visit Microsoft Update Center:

ht://update.microsoft.com/microsoftofficeupdate/isapdl/default.aspx?ln=en-us&id=69856679253865343173165925879729351302763190300486843409431 ¹

Quick Details

• File Name: officexp-KB910721-FullFile-ENU.exe²
• Version: 1.4
• Date Published: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:21:29 -0300
• Language: English
• File Size: 81 KB

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows 98; Windows ME; Windows NT; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP; Windows Vista

This update applies to the following product: Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express

Regardless of what the link text says, the actual link goes to illlihff.com. This is strange because WHOIS gives me this³ .

Domain Name: ILLLHI1.COM

Registrant [1938512]:
        mary ramsden Jamiesonrl@yahoo.co.uk
        410 charlton ave
        south orange
        NJ
        07079
        US

Administrative Contact [1938512]:
        mary ramsden Jamiesonrl@yahoo.co.uk
        410 charlton ave
        south orange
        NJ
        07079
        US
        Phone: +1.973451855

Billing Contact [1938512]:
        mary ramsden Jamiesonrl@yahoo.co.uk
        410 charlton ave
        south orange
        NJ
        07079
        US
        Phone: +1.973451855

Technical Contact [1938512]:
        mary ramsden Jamiesonrl@yahoo.co.uk
        410 charlton ave
        south orange
        NJ
        07079
        US
        Phone: +1.973451855

Domain servers in listed order:

        NS1.2-PROFESSIONAL.COM
        NS1.COMPARE-TRANSLATED.COM

        Record created on:        2009-06-22 12:14:59.0
        Database last updated on: 2009-06-23 09:24:59.823
        Domain Expires on:        2010-06-22 12:15:00.0

–
Pinging the DNS name gets me this

C:\Users\Slamlander.CASELLE-NET>ping update.microsoft.com.ILLLHI1.COM

Pinging update.microsoft.com.ILLLHI1.COM [95.76.65.228] with 32 bytes of data:

Now I take the IP number that DNS gave me and look it up

C:\Users\Slamlander.CASELLE-NET>whois 95.76.65.228

OrgName:    RIPE Network Coordination Centre
OrgID:      RIPE
Address:    P.O. Box 10096
City:       Amsterdam
StateProv:
PostalCode: 1001EB
Country:    NL

ReferralServer: whois://whois.ripe.net:43

NetRange:   95.0.0.0 – 95.255.255.255
CIDR:       95.0.0.0/8
NetName:    95-RIPE
NetHandle:  NET-95-0-0-0-1
Parent:
NetType:    Allocated to RIPE NCC
NameServer: NS-PRI.RIPE.NET
NameServer: SEC1.APNIC.NET
NameServer: SEC3.APNIC.NET
NameServer: TINNIE.ARIN.NET
NameServer: NS2.LACNIC.NET
Comment:    These addresses have been further assigned to users in
Comment:    the RIPE NCC region. Contact information can be found in
Comment:    the RIPE database at http://www.ripe.net/whois
RegDate:    2007-07-30
Updated:    2009-05-18

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2009-06-22 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN’s WHOIS database.

Found a referral to whois.ripe.net:43.

% This is the RIPE Database query service.
% The objects are in RPSL format.
%
% The RIPE Database is subject to Terms and Conditions.
% See http://www.ripe.net/db/support/db-terms-conditions.pdf

% Note: This output has been filtered.
%       To receive output for a database update, use the "-B" flag.

% Information related to ’95.76.64.0 – 95.76.67.255′

inetnum:        95.76.64.0 – 95.76.67.255
netname:        ASTRAL
descr:          ASTRAL TIMISOARA
country:        RO
admin-c:        UPC1-RIPE
tech-c:         UPC1-RIPE
remarks:        ***********************************
remarks:        *  report abuse to abuse@upc.ro   *
remarks:        ***********************************
status:         ASSIGNED PA
mnt-by:         ASTRALTELECOM-MNT
mnt-lower:      ASTRALTELECOM-MNT
mnt-routes:     ASTRALTELECOM-MNT
source:         RIPE # Filtered

role:           UPC Romania LIR
address:        62D, Nordului St.
address:        District 1, 014104
address:        Bucharest
phone:          +40-31-1018100
fax-no:         +40-31-1018101
org:            ORG-ATS4-RIPE
admin-c:        AH1598-RIPE
admin-c:        HMCB1-RIPE
admin-c:        SB666-RIPE
admin-c:        LPT7-RIPE
tech-c:         LPT7-RIPE
nic-hdl:        UPC1-RIPE
remarks:        ***************************************
remarks:        *  for abuse please use abuse@upc.ro  *
remarks:        ***************************************
abuse-mailbox:  abuse@upc.ro
mnt-by:         ASTRALTELECOM-MNT
source:         RIPE # Filtered

% Information related to ’95.76.0.0/15AS6746′

route:          95.76.0.0/15
descr:          UPC Romania
origin:         AS6746
mnt-by:         ASTRALTELECOM-MNT
source:         RIPE # Filtered

People should know and it bears repeating, Microsoft NEVER sends either update attachments or links to updates. They ALWAYS make you go through the normal update process.

UPDATE: I looked at the headers again, using SquirrelMail, which has a much better source view than Outlook. This time I got the correct DNS name. Since this is a live server and definite attempt to obfuscate the DNS name then this may indeed be the actual culprit.

UPDATE1:  I ran it again, using the full DNS link address and got an IP address in Romania. I am reasonably confident in this one.

Well, my email network is running again. One perforce has to watch and maintain such systems, not because they are unreliable, but because they are under constant attack and will erode over time. It would be nice if, like the old days, one could assemble a server that would stand for ten or more years. However, there is always some twat that is trying to break it. No matter how sound your system is, they will eventually succeed.

This is what happened to my systems and they succeeded during a low point for me, when I wasn’t watching. To be honest, the constant supervision is getting wearying. Gone are the days when you can get ten plus years of uptime on a server.

It’s been a while, I know. I’ve been dealing with other issues. True, they are not as grievous as some on my friends list but for me, they are still some things that I can’t ignore.

Some of you may have noticed that my Econ and Politicks posts have tapered off or just plain stopped. They will remain stopped for the moment. Where I used to be glued to the dataflow, both online and on television, I no longer track either. The reason is that it is no longer healthy for me to do so.

The worst that can happen to an Oracle during bad times is for them to NOT BE WRONG. I was highly accurate and correct, I still am. The data flows into my head, it gets processed analyzed and integrated, and a result comes out. I haven’t been wrong, accept for some timing¹ , for years. I said that the jobless recovery was going to go bust, and it did, in a major way. I predicted the housing market crash, albeit years before, and it happened in exactly the manner predicted, even if not on time. At the moment, even the good news is only a little less bad news. The downward slope is only getting a little less steep. In times like this, Oracles want to be wrong² !

Three months ago, I asked the doctor whether the diabetes was causing my symptoms. I hadn’t written anything for months and I was feeling really defocused and having difficulty managing my time. He immediately said, definitively, that it was not a side effect of the diabetes. It was depression. I have never before in my life been diagnosed with depression. Even when my company had to be killed³ , I weathered the storm. My divorce was just another conflict. I never believed that anything could do that to me and here I was diagnosed with depression and put on Cipralex. Yes, it’s situational depression but the situation isn’t going away anytime soon.

That’s about the same time that I finally started the current book. You might have also noticed that was about the time that I dropped out of sight. It also coincided with my email going FUBAR⁴ . 

Well, I actually finished the book and it’s not bad. It’s a whole lot less controversial than the other two but this is just a decent story that isn’t trying to make a social statement. Codewise, I’m still getting it together. That level of focus is still marginal but getting better.

Megan isn’t the only one that doesn’t like Anne Coulter. That’s Megan McCain.

Among many other Centrist Republicans, Anne Coulter leaves me mystified. Where does she get the ideas that Liberals are godless¹ ? In fact, I really want to know why Liberals are akin to fascists when G.W. Bush wasn’t. During eight years of steady incursions and erosion of our individual rights by the “freedom loving” Republicans of the far right; How can anyone claim that they are not fascist? Neoconservative and neofascist, what is the difference?

As much as she espouses Religious Right ideals, Ann Coulter should  be barefoot, in the kitchen, and forced to make babies until she dies in childbirth² . Instead, she is a high flying lawyer/pundit that makes Rush Limbaugh look like a liberal. Anne Coulter does not practice what she devoutly preaches and that makes her a fraud!

Suzie Sparks is nothing like you. She isn’t really very cool: she blends into crowds, she hangs out on the fringes at parties, and wearing shades after dark makes her run into things. She may have sometimes thought that she was special, or destined for greater things, but probably dismissed the idea as a fantasy. She’s got no emotional scars to speak of. And she’s gotten no slack from you.

In general, you care deeply about Suzie Sparks, but you’re smart enough to let her stand on her own, without burdening her with your personal fantasies or propping her up with idealization and over-dramatization. Suzie Sparks is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of her.

Score Breakdown
Do I Know This Guy? 2
You Mean Plaid Is Out? 8
I’m Destined For What? 11
Healthy as a Horse 2
Momma HATES Her! 1
Total: 24

–

The Mary Sue test and more about Mary Sue.

I haven’t even been answering my email. That was just as well because my mail server is FUBAR again.

I have over 100K words in a new book. This one is straight SciFi/Fantasy. I had much fun writing it and the First Draft is now in the can.

More later …