Back on track now.
Turned the compost and found a major-big red fire-ant nest in there. I was really conflicted. If I apply ant-killer pesticides I might harm the good earthworms and other creepy-crawlies. If I don't, The nest will get bigger and they will spread into the lawn. So I skipped that area, and turned the rest of the compost. After an hour (to let them settle down) I went back and treated the mound. I also found the starts of 5 more mini-nests throughout the backyard. I guess it begins...
Lavie makes fun of me because generally, I will try to capture spiders and crane-flies and then toss them outside. (In fact--Lavie thinks this Kleenex video is me in action!) She doesn't approve of this method of disposal. She likes the SMASH-SQUISH-WIPE-FLUSH method of insect removal from inside the home. I just have an empathic feeling for the little guys...except fire-ants and roaches. Those two groups of creepy-crawlies get the BLACK ops technique: Search and Destroy with Extreme Prejudice.
Digital Forensics Department:
I don't know if Computer Forensics is your cup of tea. Grandpa was an FBI man so I always found this sort of thing fascinating from a technical point of view. I don't get to do "forensics" work on any of our systems...we have an Office of the Inspector General for that sort of work. We just recover the drives and duplicate them for the OIG team if requested. However, if you are interested in this sort of thing here is some linkage.
Helix, "Incident Response, Electronic Discovery and Computer Forensics" is a Live Linux Boot CD that has just released version 1.7 last week. It is really packed with goodies. It also has an auto-run menu of software for the Windows side. But it's real power is on the Linux boot. Check it out.
Penguin Sleuth Bootable CD was one of the first Linux Live Boot CD's I came across. It hasn't been updated in quite a while, but is still useful.
Other Linux Live CD's that are targeted for Forensics and Data Recover that I am aware of: Plan-B, FIRE, Portable Linux Auditing CD (48MB), and FCCU GNU/Linux Forensic Boot CD.
So where do you figure out how to use this stuff and hone your l33t forensics skilz? Two favorite places:
My first is the team over at LiveAmmo Security News. Their blog has quite a few good items of note. The real goodies are their podcasts on Digital Forensics and Hacking Investigations. Go get some!
My second favorite hangout is over at SecurityFocus. They have extensive white papers on security and forensics. Really a great place to learn and do research using case studies.
Not quite forensics related--but informative and fun: Security Now Podcast with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte. (I think I've already mentioned this one recently.)
Have fun! Now onto the Linkage Backlog:
Anime and Manga Department:
R.O.D.-The TV is now out as a boxed set. Kinda pricey though....I will have to eventually pick it up.
R.O.D.-The Manga is now being re-released Stateside. One more series to get hooked on here.
GhibliWorld.com (a.la Howls, Spirited, Kiki, Totoro...) News and Production website.
Software and Hardware Department:
In other news...Damn Small Linux released its Live Linux CD now at V 2.3 RC1. I REALLY like this build. It has one of the fastest boot-times for a Linux Live CD I have ever come across. Even running in QEMU virtual session. Nice work. And it still is just under 50MB in total. Sweet.
Big List of Useful Windows Software, nicely categorized by the SH/SC Wiki team.
101 Free Windows Games, arcade level quality over at the 1up.com site.
Also fun, Retrospec designs and creates awesome Retro-inspired versions of games. For starters, check out Head over Heels. Great screenshots!
Ever wanted to put Internet radio songs on your iPod? Use StationRipper [via downloadsquad].
Mark Rusonovich of Sysinternals shows us how to use his powerfully awesome Process Explorer application to run just about any application in a protected-mode wrapper. This is well worth the read.
The ISC-SANS teams gives us some good security thoughts on the risks of using a personalized website portal as your start-page. Also worth the time to read.
TweakHound shares Windows XP Backup Strategies for Home Users.
Tips on managing your Outlook email Inbox from ComputerZEN master Scott Hanselman.
Quake3 on 24 LCD monitors (thats 10240x3072 resolution!). Wicked!
Science Department:
Emilio Gonzalez discovers two more asteroid impact craters. Much to the amazement of geologists...he did it using Google Earth!
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appears to have successfully inserted itself into Mars orbit.
KV 63: A Look at the New Tomb. All about the newest find in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.
Blog Enhancement Department:
28 Things to put in your Blog's Sidebar: [via listible.com]
The Performancing Team is developing a blogging statistics service. Looks promising.
Other Department:
Steve Rubel over at Micro Persuasion reports that ABC will be offering ad-supported versions of some of their ABC television shows for free. I could support that. Save me the trouble of VCR'ing LOST when I'm too busy.
Ok, enough fun for now.
--Claus
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