Category: Connections

March 3, 2004 / 
To:  xorph@xorph.com

From:  support@xorph.com

Subject:  Notify about your e-mail account utilization.



Dear  user of Xorph.com,



Your e-mail account has been temporary disabled because of unauthorized  access.



Advanced details  can be  found  in attached file.



Best  wishes,

   The Xorph.com team                    http://www.xorph.com

And then of course the attachment is a pif file. Wow. One of the better social engineerings I’ve gotten in a while–it certainly beats the hell out of MyDoom. As always, of course, it’s not entirely bad English-free, and then there’s the fact that I am the Xorph.com team.

I still maintain that if anybody ever manages to use all the right words, spelled correctly, in an email virus, that virus will rule the world. Fortunately that won’t happen, thanks to the deep and powerful stupidity of all virus writers. It’s almost like a paradox.

March 2, 2004 /

I had the awesomest idea ever for a card/board game, but it’s kind of already taken. Bah! I guess I’ll just have to sell it via covert deals in alleyways, to avoid copyright suits. As usual.

Post Road Trip Day Something

February 23, 2004 /

I cleaned a lot of plates in Berkeley, pumped a lot of pain in the EFF offices. But I never saw the good side of the city… until I played Illuminati with Leonard, Seth and Zack while Sumana danced to songs about shell accounts.

Actually I saw several very neat sides of the city, including BART (which beats the tar out of TARC, I’m afraid, leaving it with one measly C) and Salon Central. I missed out on the party at City Hall, but I sure heard a lot about it. The weather was gorgeous, and I made new friends (Jacob from Alaska is three, and he and I played hide-and-seek from O’Hare to Louisville).

Recent excursions into Powellian hyperbole notwithstanding, I had a freaking great time in California, thanks entirely to my kind and generous hosts. Even though I’ve been up for about 30 hours trying to grab the tail end of all the work I missed, I don’t regret a thing, and I can’t wait to go back. Maria and I spent a good chunk of yesterday (when I should have been, um, grabbing the aforementioned work-tail) making the first real arrangements for this summer’s Calicomicon journey. The Five Lords of the Texas Eagle will sow terror and reap, um, comic books!

Road Trip Day 6

February 18, 2004 /

Picked up one of Leonard’s dozens of backup clone-bodies in Sin City, so the parity of Leonard:Brendan was restored to full efficiency. We attempted to employ a magnet-gun scheme to make millions at the roulette table, but were defeated when they wouldn’t accept our bets in Berendes Bucks.

We thoroughly rocked Bakersfield, as assisted by Leonard’s mom Frances Whitney, Three-Time Champion of the World. Yesterday, we limped at last into San Fran, Destination City, where I had dinner with a conspiracy of interwebbian luminaries whose URLs I don’t have time to look up right now. Fortunately, I managed to pick the hay out of my teeth before my beef ‘n’ rice ‘n’ plantains arrived.

Today, maybe Berkeley, certainly Salon, then dinner and who knows what.

So I’m gonna have to jump!

</mystery>

February 12, 2004 /

Leonard just called to tell me he’s leaving Little Rock for Louisville, putting him at my apartment some time late tonight. When he leaves on the next leg of his road trip back to San Francisco, I’ll be riding with him, skipping out of work and school for a week to hit Far Points West and fly home a week from today.

As linked in the link above (metalinked?), Leonard has titled this expedition “As Long As I’m Here,” but for me personally it’s Captain Spacedork’s “Conquer the Rest of America” Adventure (I was going to make it “Actually Goes West of the Mississippi,” but then I’d just be lying). I get to meet several luminaries from the NewsBruiser User Galaxy of Stars, including Sumana the Cogent, Frances the Bold, and even the famous Atticus Matkin. I also get to do some recon work in anticipation of my return trip this summer.

I’m really looking forward to the trip, and I’m glad Leonard extended me the invitation, especially in light of the fact that he’s still going to have to do all the driving. I’m sure we’ll both be updating from the road when we can. And Mom, don’t worry, I’m packing all clean underpants.

February 3, 2004 /

You know, etymologically, “sophistication” isn’t really a great thing to have.

Another random word-root thought: I always imagine the action of depending on someone or something to be a kind of leaning on a support, but literally, it means “to hang from.”