Just noticed my wordpress was hacked recently. Mcafee shows it as a JS/Wonka trojan. The problem is outlined here http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/possible-hijacked-pages
Basically there is this js function called INCLUDE_DATA that loads some malicious script. Haven’t figured out how it was done, however I noticed some crazy looking javascript in my theme’s header.php. Logging in to my box, I noticed that the files were world writable( whoops!). As a fix I went into “wp-content/themes/<theme_name>” and cleaned up header.php. Then I ran “chmod a-wx *.php” as a defensive measure. This means my theme is no longer editable through the wordpress UI, but that’s alright.
Still not sure how it got hacked. Anyone know how I can trace that info down? In the mean time I’ll be upgrading wordpress and cleaning up wordpress users.
I visited Agora in Athens today, along with thousands of other tourists in this sweltering heat. I wonder if the term “agoraphobic” was coined before or after the influx in tourism ’round here…
Anyway, the lack of posts is partly due to laziness and partly due to the fact that my Wordpress theme broke down after I upgraded. Probably time for a new theme anyway and this time I won’t make the mistake of building one from scratch.
Turkey was amazing. The trip was amazing. Photos will be uploaded within the next week!
Monday is the Mechatronics Design Symposium, a collection of student design projects (hopefully) proving that we’ve learned something useful after five years of schooling. Come check it out - it’s in the Student Life Centre between 2:00-5:00pm, March 31st.
More specifically, come check out Isadora. We’ll be set up near the Turnkey desk.
The tethers are so unsightly!
Here is Dolce, the newest member of our fourth year design project. She is named after a Vivace coffee blend.
Back from a trip to Seattle (visiting Microsoft and Amazon) and a brief foray into Vancouver. Things were great on the business side of things and I will have some thinking to do this week, career wise.
I won’t bore you with those details, though. Instead I will bore you with the other crap. Tuesday morning I awake and head to the bus terminal in Seattle. After a suprisingly good macchiato at a nearby cafe, I board a bus to visit Vancouver, the city I adore so much. I meet Rachel late afternoon on 10th ave near UBC, our old stomping grounds, and we chatted and visited the “crack mansion”. I missed my ol’ roomate dearly and it was great to see her. That night I watched the hockey game (Vancouver won) and went to bed at a reasonable hour.
In the morning I planned a number of coffee places to try, and set out to caffeinate with Rachel. First stop was a new place on 4th called 49th Parallel, who made the best macchiato I’ve tasted (I believe they were using an Australian bean). A few blocks down was the unassuming but equally as good, Elysian Coffee. I had four coffees within two hours, and was feeling quite sick. Made a visit to Beat Street and picked up four excellent records. That night I went for dinner with Caro at the Naam and we resumed our ridiculous conversations from the summer. I miss her already, too.
Met Patrick and Silvie for breakfast in the morning it Kitsilano, then headed to UBC with Patrick. Ironically, the only class I attended all week was a UBC class in computer graphics. It was boring. Eventually it was time to get back to Seattle, so I hoped on an Amtrak train due south. Sidenote: the train is infinitely better than the bus - more leg room and you don’t have to get off to clear customs. It’s worth the extra $10. Met Sebastian on Thursday night who was also in Seattle for an interview, and snuck into Vivace for a macchiato minutes before closing.
After a full day of Amazon on Friday, Alex and I join his friend Christopher for, you guessed it, more coffee. Saturday was filled with much of the same. The Seattle Public Library was an impressive structure, moreso from the inside than the outside. The Seattle leg of the trip was better photographed, so I’ll let you look at the pictures instead of me blabbing.
Being home, visiting the west coast, then finally coming back to Waterloo - it makes me endlessly greatful for all the genuinely amazing people I know.
It’s late, and I’m being sentimental. That probably means I should sleep. Yikes, 4am.
Procrastinating from studying, I wrote a little Python application that scans a list of bands’ Myspace page and gathers concert information. Right now I just have it spitting out shows for Waterloo, Calgary, and Toronto. I haven’t got to sorting shows by date…. sorry about that. If I had more time I’d create a database so you could search by band, city, and date. However, I have a midterm on Monday.
Let me know what you think, or if you want your band added to the application.
The title says it all. I’ve been getting more into house/electro music. Specifically, I’ve discovered the Ministry of Sound Compilations which are infectiously awesome. Work has also started on the fourth year design project, plainly called: The Robot That Learns to Dance. I’m working on the music analysis, Sebastian on the controls, Alex on the mechanical system, and Eugene on the artificial intelligence. I’m guessing we’ll all have a hand everything though.
I quickly learned, after some initial passes at beat detection, that my four year old laptop just wasn’t up to snuff. I’ve purchased a cheap desktop which is running smoothly despite running the pre-packaged Vista. I’m considering leaving Vista on here…. this could be a disaster waiting to happen.
The dancing robot will soon have its own website. I’ll let you know.
I know its a little short notice, but there’s an interesting talk/movie-showing on e-waste happening tonight in Vancouver at the SFU Harbour Centre.
I’d like to spend some time explaining an idea that’s been percolating in my mind for the last few weeks. I’ve run it past Sean and Tina and I think there’s some merit to it but I’d like to refine it some more. Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts on the matter.
The majority of university students I’ve spoken to would agree they spend too much time on their computer. Others add that they also don’t spend much time socializing with their housemates. Now these may seem like separate issues but I think they go hand in hand and exemplify a broader issue with the way we use technology.
To begin, let me outline what I see as the problem in a few points. I’ll elaborate on these further:
- A large dependence on personal computers and the internet to provide us with our information and entertainment
- The human-machine interface (ie: monitor, keyboard, mouse) is too engaging for many applications
- Computers, for the most part, are located in private quarters
The dependence on the internet for our information is unavoidable, and I’m not suggesting we change that in any means. But I think the current way we use computers and access that information makes it very addicting – the result is that we’re on our computers for way longer then we intend to. For example, I’ll go online to check the weather forecast, but while I’m on there I decide to check my email and a couple blogs, maybe read up on some news articles. After a couple minutes I forget why I’m even on the computer in the first place. The other common one is playing music. If I’m doing homework I will naturally open up iTunes, but somehow that always cascades into MSN, email, etc…
Second, computers are designed for interaction, to connect the human user to the underlying software. They’ve come a long way since punch cards and monochromatic monitors. This general purpose-ness of the computer interface allows for very broad range of possibilities; the same machine can be used to listen to music, to create and edit documents, to trade stocks.
The problem I find with the computer interface is that it’s too demanding. Sitting down to a computer, your hands involuntarily fall on the keyboard and your eyes fixate to the monitor. The user feels obligated to interact with the machine even if the specific application may not require it – a contributing factor to the addictive nature of computers.
The last point is arguable; it depends if you regard people spending more time alone as a problem or not. I would say that striking a good balance between social and private life is important. Regardless, most personal computers are found in people’s rooms and so we’re forced to be on our own whether or not we want to.
So if we can agree that these are issues, what can be done to correct, or at the very least curb its effects? Some would say that the problem is inherently a human one, that we are addicted to technology and it’s up to us to make personal choices in order to free ourselves from its grip. I think it’s true that we must be conscious of our interaction and dependence on technology, but that new products and technologies must also be sensitive to the user. Specifically, it should be the aim of designers to create products that are as unobtrusive as possible. The problem with having all our applications and information available through our computer is that we’re stuck with the interface!
The solution, I think, is to move away from general purpose computers and introduce devices that perform specific tasks. Each device can be designed to have an interface that is only as engaging as the function demands.
This transition is starting to take place, although I’m not sure if it’s done out of a conscious effort or if it’s just ‘technology for the sake of technology’. One example I’m thinking of is the ebook reader, a device for reading documents and pdfs. One could easily use a laptop to do the same task, and more. But having a minimal interface customized for just reading documents eliminates the urge of the user to be doing other things, such as checking email. The company Ambient Devices also has a number of products with (somewhat) the same philosophy in mind.
If this is done, these devices could easily be located in a more social environment. The aim of this would be to give people the freedom of going about their lives without the burden of always being on a computer to access their information.
There is more I feel I should add, but my discourse thus far is disorganized as it is. Let me know what you think.