Hacked

Posted on February 14, 2006 by admin.presshost

One of my websites was hacked yesterday by a pro Islamic hacker spouting anti-Denmark propaganda. This is the third time that the security of that one website has been compromised and I was beginning to suspect that the owner was being less than secure with his password details or personal computer management.

However doing some further research into it, I found a list of other sites that had been defaced with the same hack and I am starting to think that the weak link in the security chain is at the company which provided me support for their image gallery.

I have successfully used the gallery on that site and another but the problems started when I migrated the site to a new server and had problems getting the SQL database to work again.

The support people were very quick and efficient in getting the site back online, however two days afterwards someone put an IRC Trojan onto the server.

I don’t think the problem is with the company, but I believe that maybe one of their former or current techies is working to a different agenda.

I’m waiting on a return email before I continue but it looks like I might have to delete the account off the server and reinstall it from scratch.

Fun!

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i-mate

Posted on January 27, 2006 by admin.presshost

My lovely Samsung phone that I got so fond of has gone to that great mobile phone graveyard.

Last year I dropped it and the display died. It came back on again after i turned it off and back on again but then, just before Christmas it got dropped again and again the display died. Unfortunately this time it didn’t come back on.

While it was still working fine I really need to have a working phone so I went back to my Nokia which I really don’t like that much.

Ten days later the phone started working again and I was happy but it only worked for maybe another ten days. I woke up one morning and the display in the LCD screen on the front was broken up and when I opened the phone it died again.

So I decided that it was time for something new

I wanted to get a PDA phone because I really do need to have something to organise myself properly and so I got a new i-mate K-Jam.

So far so good. My new bluetooth headset connected straight away and the wireless connectivity found my LAN straight away so I can access the internet on my phone via the LAN anywhere in the house.

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Indonesia – Afterthoughts

Posted on January 7, 2006 by admin.presshost

A little over a week later and terrorists bombed restaurants around some tourist areas saddened me beyond belief but has not shaken my love of that country. I fully intend to go back there one day.

Two months after the bomb and the airline that I travelled on went into liquidation due to the downturn in the tourist trade and again I felt saddened that such beautiful and trusting people are made to suffer in this way by some more radical elements from Java.

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Indonesia – Day three

Posted on December 12, 2005 by admin.presshost

14 September

I got picked up a little earlier today, but most of the morning was lost by me trying to find a place to cash my AmEx travellers cheques. They are in Australian dollars, which turns out to be unacceptable to the banks here in Jakarta. It’s cash or US dollar cheques only.
Tomorrow I will try the airport but let me tell you, I am not a happy camper!

In the afternoon I caught a taxi to Sarinah again where I met up with another chat friend Rini. We took the busway to the old part of Jakarta where we looked around a puppetry museum.

After that I got a taxi back to my hotel in Sunter. I am confident that I now know the direction between the two places, although there is no way that I would want to drive it myself. Jakarta traffic is something else and it has to be seen to be believed.


This is a very large gap for Jakarta traffic, but yet we aren’t going anywhere fast. Above us is more traffic on the tollway.

I thought Bali was bad, but in a crazy mixed up way I could see the logic in it. Jakarta traffic is what can best be described as a cluster fuck!

I had western food (ie. Pizza Hut) for dinner this evening as I needed to give my stomach a rest after mild dehydration yesterday followed by the dodgy food I had in the night market.

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The First

Posted on December 4, 2005 by admin.presshost

After stating that I would not use a Content Management System for my blogging I ended up eating my words. I just decided it would be quicker and easier to get the new blog up and running this way.

I chose WordPress for two reasons. Firstly it’s one of the four auto configured blogs available on the server already and secondly and most importantly because Wyn has been raving about this CMS since he switched to it recently. Guess it shows how powerful word of mouth is.

So, here is my first post and I am impressed how easy it was to integrate the CMS into my existing design.

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Foreign Policy

Posted on November 22, 2005 by admin.presshost

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I do not agree with capital punishment, but I also believe a country should have the right to make it’s own laws and execute them as it sees fit. Ok, maybe that’s a bad choice of word …

There is a lot of public action and protest regarding the Singapore governments intention to hang an Australian man convicted of trafficking drugs. Honestly, people know the risks of taking drugs into countries like that and if they are caught then they only have themselves to blame.

I am getting tired of the complaints by protest groups and human rights groups claiming that the government is not doing enough to convince Singapore that they should offer clemency to this person. Van Tuong Nguyen made his choice when he attempted to smuggle heroin through Changi airport.

Personally, I feel most sorry for his family.

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Photo Friday – Imperfection

Posted on November 20, 2005 by admin.presshost

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Life is rarely perfect, but surely it’s better than this?

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Rally 2005 – Part 2

Posted on November 17, 2005 by admin.presshost

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As it turned out I had a great time at this years rally. My roster was not as hard as last year and not only did I have Saturday night off but I also was able to sleep in on Sunday morning.

It looks like the Rally will be back next year as they have not found a replacement location for it so I’ll be back on the job next year. I am definitely feeling more motivated about it than last year where I was so exhausted by the end I couldn’t even eat dinner at the windup party and was not in any state to drive home afterwards.

I may have made it onto the TV in the UK. A competition was run there to win a drive in Rally Australia and the person who won actually finished the event. That’s no mean feat as the Rally is quite gruelling.

I was the Post Chief on the time control just after the final competition and transport leg before the cars go to service and then the podium so there is always a lot of media attention just outside my control for the priority drivers but once the slower cars come through that is pretty much it as far as the collection of assembled journalists are concerned.

A small media contingency reappeared as the UK competition winner was due to arrive ready to photograph and film his finish of the rally, but at the time he was due to arrive there was no car.

Three minutes later the car came around the corner, flew up the run to the time control, the co-driver waving the time book out of the window. I ran up to the car as the media were filming, grabbed the book and yelled for time… With just 3 seconds to spare before he went into a fourth minute late.

All in all it was a pretty good event. Lots of dramas and lots of action.

And now for some photos!

Rally Australia Service Park at Langley Park. Perth City

Above and below – The new 2006 Ford Focus WRC

The Subaru..(drool drool)

Above and below – Subaru Impreza WRC

More Photos – Thumbnails

Japanese poetry decorate this WRX The end of the rally for Solberg You would think that this was the end of the rally for this car
However by the next day, repairs have been done and it’s passed as roadworthy Taking a well earned break More proof that the milk crate is the worlds greatest invention
(Satellite dish support)
Team members enjoying the wind up party Team members enjoying the wind up party Can you see the dodgy characters I have to work with!
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Rally 2005

Posted on November 6, 2005 by admin.presshost

It’s almost time for Rally Australia again and this year will be the last. The government has decided not to devote any resources to it any more, meaning that many years of hard work has come to nothing.

I got a personally addressed letter from the minister in charge of tourism somewhere near the start of the year that stated that they feel they can get better return for their investment with other sporting events. Apparently they put in about $2 million and the state gets a return of about $8 million.
If I still had the letter I could quote more accurately.

There are a lot of people very upset about the decision but I am not really one of them.

In fact, I really don’t give a shit!

This is something that I have been doing every year since 1990 and quite frankly, I am over it. The last couple of years I have just had no motivation for the event.

I have managed to find it as the event has drawn near, but the build up has just not thrilled me any. I enjoy what I am doing when I am doing it, but these days I don’t want to make sacrifices for the time I spend with my children. It doesn’t matter what the event, if it is a choice between doing something and having time with my kids, the kids will get my attentions every time.

This years rally falls on the weekend when I don’t have the kids, which makes life a little easier but I am actually glad this will be the last year… 16 years now and I think I am just doing it out of habit!

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