Peter’s Soapbox

40th Anniversary of Osensei Morihei Ueshiba’s Passing

On April 26, 1969, Morihei Ueshiba, best known as the Founder of Aikido and referred to by aikidoka as  Ōsensei (“Great Teacher”) and , died at the age of 85. Ōsensei’s legacy lives on today, as Aikido is practiced around the world, with his students and their students continuing to hand down his teachings.

Scam of the Day: Stimulus Payment, Python, Pants, and Bombing.

This one just came in via my mom. I consider myself fortunate enough to have a mom who can recognize a good scam when she sees one.

And, on that note, is anyone else reeling from astounding spike in spam over the last couple of weeks? I mean everywhere, from email to IM to Skype, to blogs and other web forms. Everything from these scams to the traditional 419 to a “python in my pants.”

Side note:

Dear Spammer, please take note: I used to handle boa constrictors and have no desire to have a python in my pants.

Thanks,

Peter

Thought of the day: can we route the military to do something useful, like bombing spammers? Thanks.

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Return-Path: <stimulus.payment@irs.gov>
Received: from smx74.sover.net (smx74.sover.net [209.198.112.154])
	by spot.sover.net (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id
n05JZW0F066421
	for <XXXXXXXX@mailhub0.sover.net>; Mon, 5 Jan 2009 14:35:32 -
0500 (EST)
	(envelope-from stimulus.payment@irs.gov)
Received: from post.nvozrast.ru (post.nvozrast.ru [212.44.139.147])
	by smx74.sover.net (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id
n05JZVbQ008350
	for <XXXXXXXX@sover.net>; Mon, 5 Jan 2009 14:35:32 -0500 (EST)
	(envelope-from stimulus.payment@irs.gov)
Message-Id: <200901051935.n05JZVbQ008350@smx74.sover.net>
Received: from User ([87.198.234.70])
	(authenticated user test@nvozrast.ru)
	by post.nvozrast.ru;
	Mon, 5 Jan 2009 22:34:35 +0300
From: "Internal Revenue Service"<stimulus.payment@irs.gov>
Subject: Stimulus Payment form it's ready for you to submit
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 19:32:47 -0000
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00D3_01C2A9A6.2E79EE60"
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
X-Bayes-Prob: 0.0001 (Score 0)
X-Spam-Score: 2.60 (**) [Tag at 5.00]
FORGED_MUA_OUTLOOK,L_T_COMBINED,MSGID_FROM_MTA_HEADER,
MSGID_FROM_MTA_ID,UNDISC_RECIPS
X-Spam-Milter-Status: No, hits=2.60 required=5.00 l=75 f=1 st=1
tests=FORGED_MUA_OUTLOOK,L_T_COMBINED,MSGID_FROM_MTA_HE
ADER,MSGID_FROM_MTA_ID,UNDISC_RECIPS
X-CanItPRO-Stream: sovernet:XXXXXXXX@sover.net (inherits from sovernet:default)
X-Canit-Stats-ID: Bayes signature not available
X-Scanned-By: CanIt (www . roaringpenguin . com) on 209.198.112.38
Status:
X-Antivirus: AVG for E-mail 8.0.200 [270.10.2/1876]
X-Antispam: NO; Spamcatcher 5.1.0. Score 2
X-PMFLAGS: 570949760 0 1 PV1H9GJ5.CNM                       

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that
you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment.
Please submit the Stimulus Payment Online Form in order to process it.

A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To submit your Stimulus Payment form, please download the document attached to
your email.

Note: If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you
received a refund anticipation loan, you will be receiving a check instead of a
direct deposit.

Regards,
Internal Revenue Service

Medifast: Success Story. From 208# to 165# in Four Months

I just weighed in at 165.8. Take out the 8oz. coffee and 8oz. soup I ingested prior to weighing myself, and I am now officially under my target weight of 165#.

I win.

Medifast Progress, Below 170, Less Than 5# Away!

Weighed myself a couple of days ago, and I was 170#. Now I’m wearing size 32 pants for the first time in over a decade, if not two. Yowza!

Question for InfoSec Types: Is DHCP a Security Risk?

We recently had an IT audit at one of my clients’ locations. One of the issues raised by the auditor was that our DHCP server was a security risk because it would allow anyone to plug in to the LAN, get an IP address, and start browsing or scanning the network for vulnerabilities.  Continue reading Question for InfoSec Types: Is DHCP a Security Risk?…