I keep forgetting all that other stuff

Time is just flying by here at the baby ranch. We are starting to settle in to a nightly routine which is probably going to be helpful for all involved. It’s slow going but the little guy knows what’s about to happen, and that seems like it gives him a more peaceful rest for the first part of the night. I’m quite lucky in that my wife takes the absolute bulk of the responsibility overnight so I can continue to function like a human being at work.

The previous paragraph described all that has been happening lately. I definitely anticipated getting very little done outside baby raising and work. What I didn’t anticipate was the fact that I would continually be in a state of forgetting to do something that doesn’t include baby or work. The bills are paid, my wife makes sure I have food and water, so the necessities are in. What was it I was supposed to buy on Amazon again? Didn’t I have thing that I was supposed to do today?

There’s been two small threads that keep popping up more and more. Well possibly three or four. Any spare brain power I have on the weekends gets sucked up pretty quick trying to work with Elderhaven.org on securing a fantastic grant that would allow them to offer some really neat additions for their elderly residents. I really hope that goes through, I’m less involved than I originally thought I would be, but the management at Elderhaven is quite aware that I’m booked solid for the next 25 years.

Dang… what was the second thing? Oh yes… computer security. I’ve been reading a lot more about the Sony pictures hack than I originally thought I was interested in doing. It isn’t every day the poor security practices of an enterprise-class IT infrastructure are laid bare for people to see and perform their own post-mortem. I’ve seen all of the same problems pointed out so far before at most of my jobs. Password files stored in a Word doc, with the name password on them. Unencrypted. Scary.

And of course there is another security risk that keeps bobbing up, the Rubber Ducky. It’s a USB drive that has been modified to make the computer think it’s a keyboard and mouse (newer version). This modified USB then is able to type and issue commands as if it was a keyboard. Since all operating systems Giant Rubber Ducky in Hong Kong (picture from Wikimedia)automatically detect things like USB keyboards and mice, it allows a quick easy way to load code, simply by plugging in one of these. I really do understand the importance of 1. not running your computer with administrator permissions, and B. disabling USB ports on servers.

(to not run with Administrator permissions on your home computer is smart too)

I already can’t remember what the 3rd thing is, but 4th is a realization that I want to have the ability to play music wherever I am in the house. And I want a remote for it. I took two hours last week and started putting RaspBMC on my Raspberry Pi, and download the Android remote app for XBMC. It wasn’t too long before I realized I’m working on an outdated project, the lead developers have moved on to OSMC which is still Alpha and that the amount of work I put into this is pointless for something I want NOW. I am not looking for a tinker-toy. I sighed and slunk away from the keyboard, slow Charlie Brown music following me through the house. The next day my father-in-law’s Xmas gifts showed up. Inside: cool Very Hungry Catepillar stuff for the kid, and one bluetooth speaker. Thank you sir, not only did you achieve my goal of music in the house following me, but you saved me hours!

I’m trying now to forget that I have a Raspberry Pi that needs something done with it…hmmm… and trying to forget about Androids that are coming preloaded with rootkits.

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