October 03, 2003
Photos from a gorgeous day
Photos - I took today off from work to spend a little time with my family. It was also my goal to finally catch up on the lawn mowing. While I used the little push mower, dad did some of the flatter parts of the lawn with the tractor. It was fun showing him around the controls and I think he really enjoyed it. The weather today was near ideal. Michelle and I both took some pictures today so after dinner I worked on this album.
Internet issues - This past week or two, I suspect some users on my local Adelphia network have been infected by recent internet worms and viruses. On several occasions my cable modem lights have been pegged even when my computers are asleep. While I'm not a MS Windows basher, I agree with a recent report that claimed that having such a overwhelming majority of computers running the exact same operating system is risky in terms of computer viruses. My old PC running Linux and my current pair of Macs running OS X haven't had issues with internet viruses or worms, but it's not that they couldn't. If a virus writer wants to affect the maximum number of computers possible, he targets Windows based PCs because there he can get the most catastrophic effect. On the other hand, if computers were a little more diversified with three or four major makers of operating systems and software, I believe these viruses would be less virulent. Nature abhors a monoculture.
Enough of the soapbox. On a lighter note, the Onion had a cute parody on the recent spate of computer worms and viruses. It's entitled, "48-Hour Internet Outage Plunges Nations into Productivity". As distracting as Internet access at work can sometimes be, I have to believe there's an ounce of truth in it. Excerpt:
" An Internet worm that disabled networks across the U.S. Monday and Tuesday temporarily thrust the nation into its most severe maelstrom of productivity since 1992. [...] Shortly after office workers found their web, e-mail, and instant-messaging capabilities disabled, reports of torrential productivity began to reach corporate offices nationwide. "
Twins' new moose - On a recent trip to Parker's Maple Barn, mom and dad picked up a pair of these Beanie Babies named Melvin the Moose. It's a good thing that they got a pair of them with the ways the boys have been always fighting over the same toy lately. It was funny, though, seeing Michael trying to hold his lamb, hold his moose, and suck his thumb at the same time. It was if he needed to grow a third arm.