Today, my very first PayPal spoof/phishing mail arrived. So finally, my e-mail address has been recorded in your average cyberpunk database. Note, that the (Dutch) grammar and spelling in the e-mail is appalling. Just what you expect from a default translation program like Google Translate or Babelfish.
Chinese Government Shows 'Interest'
It's no surprise that a lot of cyberattacks originate from the the 'excellent' People's Republic of China. Some of these attacks are funded by or even originating from the Chinese government. Well, the latter is definitely true.
My (private) ssh server is a point of interest to the Chinese government, since they are trying to get in.
Every couple minutes a possible break-in entry is recorded in my logs. I guess that they decided not to hammer the front door, in order to evade automatic blacklisting of the originating IP.
reverse mapping checking getaddrinfo for mail.zdpri.gov.cn [218.108.28.189] failed - POSSIBLE BREAK-IN ATTEMPT!
I checked the IP and it seems to host the web-mail for the Zhejang prov. Development Planning & Research Institute [1].
I guess it's time to tighten the timers on blacklisting.....
B.t.w. The reporting on the IP was provided by Splunk. Excellent tool for digging in logfiles and reporting.
Extension Tubes and Macro Photography
;)
Soligor Extension TubesSince I have no real specialty (yet) in the field of photography I do own a macro lens (a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG). Playing around in the macro field I find that the 1:1 representation of the subject isn't always what you want. Sometimes you need, or want more magnification. There are several ways of achieving a higher magnification ratio. One of them is using so-called extension tubes.
;)
Taken with a Lensbaby Composer and a 36mm Extension Tube
ThinkTank Retrospective 30 Camera Bag Review
;)
ThinkTank Photo Retrospective 30 - BlackThe ThinkTank Retrospective camera bag series is different from the other regular ThinkTank (shoulder) bags. The normal ThinkTank bags are mainly professional looking. The Retrospective line is much more casual (not as casual as the Domke bags), and it doesn't yell 'THINKTANK'.
Morning Walk
A couple of (highly annoyed) cows I ran into this morning during a nice morning walk. Fog and sun... a nice combination.
More photos can be seen on my flickr page.
Changing Camera Systems?
Don't know how it happened, but last night I stumbled upon several dSLR (Nikon/Canon) versus Rangefinder (Leica) comparisons. Something, I wish hadn't happen. Reading through these reviews / comparisons / user experiences made the (digital) rangefinder concept very appealing. Especially when you're a non-studio / non-portrait / non-macro / non-action shooter..... which fits my profile for about 95%.
Beth Hart Showcase @ Amstelkerk, Amsterdam
Autographed CDMy gf won two tickets for the showcase for Beth Hart's new CD 'My California' for last Friday. I didn't quite know what to expect. I did know some of her older songs, and that's about it.
Since it was a showcase for her new CD, she didn't play much 'oldies'. Not that I cared, since her new album contains more than enough excellent material.
Below, one of her new songs 'Sister Heroine'.
Recorded with a Panasonic Lumix LX3
More photos from the showcase are available on my flickr page.
HDCP Master Key Leaked
The High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) key was leaked onto the Internet. This master key can be used to decode encrypted traffic between certified / licensed devices. No encryption means that the content (mostly movies) can be copied, and/or played on non-licensed devices.
A while back, another copy-protection key was leaked. That key was for BluRay (BR+) titles. This HDCP key is the, so-called, mother-load.
Comment Spammers Do Research
Lately, the comment spam rose exponentially. The is done by automated scripts, usually from compromised PC around the world. This way the original spammer will remain anonymous.
The last couple of days I noticed weird search queries (Google search referrers) in my logging;
Looks like someone (probably in the Hong Kong area) is searching the Internet for specific blogs (I guess SquareSpace blogs looking at the query) that contain certain words / fiels, indicating that commenting is allowed. These keywords match 100% with the field / words in and around the blog comment area. Shortly after these searches, the comment spam came pouring in.
At the moment, the only remedy against these spam comments is to screen every newly submitted comment by an editor, since the automated spam detection on the Squarespace platform is basically worthless. Too bad, since they rock at everything else.
Apple iPhoto Photo Album
For the last 5 years, I've been using the Apple iPhoto application to create my holiday photo albums (five so far). Some might find them too expensive, but I simply love the Apple iPhoto integration, the available templates, and ordering process. Worth every penny in my opinion.
The 46 page photo album of the Spain holiday arrived today. Time between ordering and delivery was thee work days (five if you include the weekend). Excellent, fast, service if I may say so.
The album was created with Apple iPhoto.
Warning: crappy low-light iPhone photo :-)Thankfully, the real thing looks much better.......
The photos seen in the album in the photo above is a 7 photo panoramic overview of Granada, Spain. Taken from within Alhambra.