JaBbA's Hut

I get the feeling that McCain may be feeling a little bit liberated by the fact that there really is very little chance he's going to win. He was completely hilarious, and gracious, at the Alfred E. Smith Benefit dinner tonight.

And so begins the rehabilitation of The Honorable Senator John McCain.

Check out Magnatune. Basically, Open Source music. Good open source music. Artists get 50%. You get high-quality downloads, with album art, guilt-free. And you are encouraged to give away 3 copies.

WAV for burning to CD. MP3/Ogg/AAC/Whatever for playing on your media player. All of it 100% up front, legal, no DRM.

What a concept. Support them. The more they sell, the more artists will try a new way, and the more great music we'll have available.

Also, I wonder what Courtney Love could have done if she hadn't gotten so into drugs. Because she can write amazingly well when she needs to. Well worth a read about just how screwed up the music industry really is.

Look, I hate guns. Really. And I know that cops do bad things sometimes, and need to be held accountable.

But I've seen way too much hand-wringing over police excess in this story:

MIAMI - A fugitive gunman accused of killing a Florida sheriff’s deputy was shot 68 times by SWAT team officers who found him hiding in the woods, according to autopsy results.

Police fired 110 shots at Angilo Freeland, 27, the target of a massive manhunt in central Florida following the shooting death of Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Williams Thursday.

“That’s all the bullets we had, or we would have shot him more,� Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

The guy killed a cop who pulled him over for a traffic stop, killed a K-9, shot another cop and shot at others. He'd shown that he was willing to kill. He was hiding out, armed and dangerous, and was near a school.

110 bullets isn't too high a price to pay to make sure he's not going to kill anyone else in that situation. And maybe Sheriff Judd should be a little more careful what he says to reporters, but that quote is going to make him famous, because even people like me say "Thanks, Sheriff, for doing your duty. And you're entitled to a moment of release after 24 hours trying to track down the man who killed one of your deputies."

Remember "Two great tastes that taste great together" ?

I have a recipie for the next time I take out my brewing supplies. It's a coffee-flavored porter, and I'll use a Dark Sumatran to flavor it.

But Nestle has gone one better - a fermented coffee beverage!

A drink somewhere between coffee and beer could soon be on the menu. Nestec, part of the Nestlé empire in Switzerland, has filed patents in every major market round the world on a "fermented coffee beverage" that pours and foams like beer, but smells of strong coffee and packs a concentrated caffeine kick.

Here's the thing - no alcohol. It looks like beer, feels like beer, tastes like coffee and kicks like coffee.

From Slashdot.

VMWare just came out with a FREE version of VMWare called VMWare Player. It's obviously not the complete $200 VMWare Workstation, but what it lets you do is run any Virtual Machine that was created by someone else. And, of course, they provide a nice selection of pre-built virtual machines.

This is VERY USEFUL. A boon to students and people interested in trying out a different OS.

TaoSecurity has a nice writeup on it.

An email was forwarded to me, with a personal request for help. Apparently, the truck referenced here will be leaving from somewhere in the northeast -- the email came from a peron in Buffalo, NY, and was sent to people involved with the Cleveland Hts schools. Use the Contact Me in the sidebar (which will require you to confirm your email address), or put a comment here, and I'll get you the contact information. Or, of course, if you know me just email me.

Slidell High School is part of the St. Tammany's Parish public schools. I got confused for a short time with a Seventh-Day Adventist school also called "Slidell School", but the call for help is from the public school system. We've all dug deep to help, but there's always more that needs to be done.

TO ALL:

I have received several emails with lists of needs at Slidell Schools in
Louisiana. You will notice the lists are extensive. It is not a list to fill
completely. But it is a complete list of items needed immediately. This will
give some direction to any others who may have items on the list they can
donate. Please pass this information on to them.
As it stands, the donation cut-off date is Tuesday, November 1, 2005. I will
help coordinate packing the truck on that date.

SLIDELL HIGH SCHOOL:

School Supplies:
Book bags - 1,000
spiral notebooks - 2000
Binders - 2000
Packages of looseleaf paper 2000
Pencils - 6,000
Pens - blue ink - 2,000
Pens - black ink - 2, 000
Calculators - TI84 Plus Silver - 250
Calculators - TI-30X IIS - 500
Copy paper - Premium No 4 Xerographic
paper 8 1/2 x 11, White 20 lb.
Spectrum DP Xerographic Bond -
400 cases
Dry erase markers - various colors - 500

Personal Items:
We need school uniforms. Until our students return on October 3 and
thereafter, it is difficult to provide specifics on this information. Our
student uniforms are khaki slacks; white, grey or hunter green collared polo
shirts; white, grey or hunter green sweatshirts or jackets. It costs about
$25.00 for a shirt and pants for a uniform. You can donate cash, checks, or
gift cards for Walmart, Target or Sears and the students can pick out their
own uniform.
We will accept donations of personal hygiene and toiletrie items. Special
needs are feminine hygiene and shaving products.

Desks/Chairs/Computers:
Computers - Windows XP - 50
Laser printers - 20
Presentation Projectors - 25
ELMOs - 25
Switches - 10
27 inch TV's with carts - 50
Overhead projectors - 25
CD's - rewritable - 500
Blank VHS videotapes - 50
Mini DV videotapes - 50
Mini DV camcorder - 2
Digital cameras - 3
Student desks - 1 piece - 50
Folding tables - 60 inch - 50
File cabinet - 4 drawer, locking - 25
Teacher desks - 15
Teacher chairs - 15
Computer tables - 15

Textbooks/Curriculum Materials:
Until our students return on October 3 it is difficult to determine
specifics.
If possible, we will post this later. We have a large influx of new students
from other parishes and the Mississippi Gulf Coast and many of our students
lost their homes and all their belongings.

Counseling:
Following resources would be helpful when counseling students. Many would be
beneficial in the group setting, others could be shown on the school tv
site. Materials are available at School Counslelor Resources, P.O. Box 802,
Culver City, CA 90232-0802/ www.counselorresources.com
1- BX120V-56, Lifesteps: Building Character, Resiliency, and Emotional
Intelligence in Youth (12 series video set) $799.00
1- TMW180V-56- Real Life Teens (21 videos, guides, $945)
1-JAG190V-56-Character in Action 6 video set ($370.00)
1- EUF152V-56 Bullying, Fear, and Depression Video, $99.95
1-JAG150-V-56- Teen Suicide: Finding the will to live (2 video set), $149.00
1-PBS176V-56- The Silent Epidemic: Teen Suicide, $39.95
100-DR102-56-Helping Teens Cope with Death ($9.95each)
2-JAL103-56- The tough stuff series: Immediate guidance for troubled
students ($90.OO each)
2- RPC119-56- Passport Program: A journey through emotional, social,
cognitive, and self-development ($37.95 each).
2-IN128-56 Anger Workout Book For Teens ($23.00 each)

Other Items:
Avery mailing labels 5160 - 5 boxes
White No. 10 regular envelopes -10boxes
9x12 Catalogue envelopes 28 lbs -3boxes
Manila 1/3 cut folders - letter -10boxes
Manila 1/3 cut folders - legal - 10boxes

SLIDELL HEAD START:

School Supplies:
We need bulletin board paper and borders. We also need sleeping mats for
preschoolers (150) We also need outdoor equipment such as a swing set. We
need 150 composition notebooks. 180 book sacs

Personal Items:
Children's underwear for approximately 200 Children's socks for
approximately 200/Similac Isomil Baby Items

Desks/Chairs/Computers:
10 computers for classrooms

Other Items:
We would like for a red cross representative to come to Slidell Head Start
and help out staff and parents apply for the Red Cross finanancial
assistance. We have not been able to send our staff to apply in person since
they have been working with assisting children in shelters and in our
center. We have attempted to call the 1800 number given but we have not been
successful. It is always busy or we get the recording letting us know that
we must keep trying. Many of our staff members have lost either homes or
personal belongings. They are also facing financial difficulties as a result
of Katrina. Please help us!

Well, in a non-election year, JibJab is taking on Wal-Mart in their latest short. And, true to their word, they used the pictures sent to them by their fans to populate the short.

JaBbA is *ROTFLMAO*

The Dutch men were arrested and their huge botnet was taken down last week. These guys were typical of post-2004 hackers - involved in Phishing, Spamming, Scams and DDOS attacks, and profiting from it. These aren't the bedroom teenagers having fun, these guys are real criminals.

This is good news, but don't believe for a minute these guys were the only ones - or even the biggest. My guess is that they got busted because of the DDOS - if they had avoided attacking someone with some clout, they'd probably still be ripping off the little guy.

JaBbA says stay aware.

From an obituary in the Chicago Tribune:

Theodore Roosevelt Heller, 88, loving father of Charles (Joann) Heller; dear brother of the late Sonya (the late Jack) Steinberg. Ted was discharged from the U.S. Army during WWII due to service related injuries, and then forced his way back into the Illinois National Guard insisting no one tells him when to serve his country. Graveside services Tuesday 11 a.m. at Waldheim Jewish Cemetery (Ziditshover section), 1700 S. Harlem Ave., Chicago. In lieu of flowers, please send acerbic letters to Republicans.

(Emphasis JaBbA's)

A true patriot, if there ever was one.

The Shuttle is back in business. Sounded like everyone was holding their breath while it came down. Happened to be able to listen to the whole thing on NPR while driving to work.

Now if we could just get NASA back in the business of pure science, rather than this silly Mars expedition. But it needs to keep flying.

Oh, and I'm back from vacation.

According to Eric Fingerhut, Ohio Gov. Taft will VETO the ban on Stem Cell Research in Ohio. From an email:

GOVERNOR TAFT WILL VETO STEM CELL RESEARCH BAN

Dear Friends,

Your hard work has paid off. Governor Taft IS VETOING the budget
provision that would have banned Third Frontier dollars from being
used for embryonic stem cell research in the State of Ohio. This
is excellent news for the thousands of Ohioans living with diseases
and conditions, such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, Parkinson's and MS,
for which embryonic stem cell research shows great promise.

It is also excellent news for the State of Ohio. It means the
governor's Third Frontier initiative, created to attract businesses
to Ohio and boost the economy, can still be a catalyst for retaining
and recruiting world class scientists and researchers (and businesses
that want to be near them)---an element critical to the success of
the initiative.

There's been a spate of good news about the Cleveland Hts-University Hts schools lately.

It's been a year, but the courts have finally ruled that RIVA truly did fail in their attempt to repeal the levy last year. Not only that, but they have to pay the costs incurred by the School Board in defending against their constant court challenges.

And what happens when you fund a school system?

Well, you get national recognition as a school system that provides "What Parents Want". About 16% of the public education systems in this country qualify for this award - less than 1 in 6. The award criteria include:

Criteria used for award selection include:

- A close match to what SchoolMatch users most often request. Compilation of over 97,000 parent questionnaires completed by SchoolMatch clients reveals parents most often look for school systems that are:

1. competitive in academic test scores and academically solid, but not so rigorous as to intimidate their children
2. accredited
3. recognized for excellence by a national foundation or by the U.S. Department of Education
4. competitive in teacher salaries
5. above average in instructional expenditures on a national percentile basis
6. above average in expenditures for library/media services on a national percentile basis
7. known for small class size

- Availability of programs at the secondary level.
Since relocating parents often focus upon finding a school system that produces a certain quality of "end product" (a high school graduate), only school systems that provide secondary school programs are eligible for the award.

And then the all-important test scores go up. What makes this all the more remarkable is that scores across the region went DOWN - CH-UH was one of the few bright spots in the report.

The district made pretty deep cuts, even with the levy. But they're showing that given the opportunity, the kids are getting a first-class education.


UPDATE Here's the Schoolmatch report for CHUH

From the SANS Newsbites, some good news for once:

New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has filed a lawsuit against Intermix Media Inc. for allegedly installing spyware and adware on people's computers without their knowledge. According to the lawsuit, New York residents downloaded 3.7 million programs, including games and screen savers, from Intermix web sites, but they were not properly notified that the downloads also contained spyware and adware. Intermix senior VP and general counsel Christopher Lipp said such practices are part of Intermix's past, and were established under prior leadership and that the company has ceased distributing the programs in question of its own volition in April 2005. The lawsuit follows a six-month investigation.

This will set precedent for all future spyware prosecution, so it's important they get this right.

Someone has started an online petition asking that Ashlee Simpson be dropped from her "talent" contract and stop performing.

As of this moment, there are 115,400 signatures. And it's gowing fast. Apparently some people really do have taste.

Now if we can just put a ban on any mention of "Nick & Jessica", maybe this country's return from perdition will have begun!

The owner of SmartBot.Net was trying to keep his other businesses, including a nightclub called Plum Crazy, from being attached by the Feds while they go after his spyware business.

But his own General Manager has now confirmed that he did SmartBot.Net business in the club.

BAM! gone. (Well, actually, Seismic Entertainment filed Chapter 7 last week. But regardless, the Feds are getting serious. Finally.)

These guys deserve NO mercy. Take it all away, leave them destitute. They're no better than any other scammer.

Oh, and he's a known Spammer, too. Creep.