I'm Glad to see that I'm not the only one to have a bad week !!!!!!

I'm not trying to funny, but having a look across the web, and the news papers, it is nice to see that I am not the only one to have a bad week.

We have, again, had to call in the computer engineers, and this time they changed the motherboard (after a somewhat heated discusssion over the old mobile, whilst at work), so we will see what happens next.

The work week has been a nightmare. Several complex and difficult jobs, a meeting with the boss saying that I am not clearing enough jobs in a day (although I did notice he avoided saying that I wasn't "trying" hard enough), and the decoration of Lauras' bedroom has now complete, although I'm not happy. Mum and daughter are as happy as punch, although brother is asking "when is it my turn?". Laura now has her Dolphin Wallpaper and Laminate floor, but I'm not happy. I made a couple of mistakes. I know I'm not a professional decorator, and maybe (THAT'S A LAUGH) I set my own standards to high, but because it isn't perfect, I'm not happy. Never mind, what's done is done, and at least tilly is happy.

And, on top of all this, it would appear that something has happened to the e.mail system attached to one of my own domains - http://www.smudger59kes.co.uk. An one of the upshots of this is, that my daily summary of the various Weblogs I like to keep track off, has vanished into the Internet version of the Bermuda Triangle - boy am I really teed off now.

And to top this all off, the house is again full of sickness. I really feel that I should stop posting "ill-ness" reports, poeple will get the impression that the whole place is a "biological warfare factory", and to be honest, you do sometimes wonder. Mind you the family were well impressed - I lost my voice for two days - so they were well happy

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What has made me smile , a little at least, this week is that the whole world seems to have suffered more from the Power Outage in the USA than the , supposed, major Virus and Worm attack that was making the rounds.

"Net survives power outage There was no slowdown on the internet because of the North American power cuts, say experts. [via BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]"

(Xanga.com)

As a fellow Xangian, I had to feel for John. If you read his log, you can see that my "bad" week seems to have been an absolute dream compared to him. Over the last few weeks, as a few of you are already aware, the Xanaga Sites have suffered from all sorts of nasties, Denial Of Service attacks, the lot. And then, having spent many hours sorting out one of the service failures, John is then woken up to be be told that a huge chunk of the US is now "Power Free", now, after 30+ hours awake, I know that would be the very last thing that I'd want the hear.

"Blackout 'originated in Ohio' Industry experts believe the massive North American power cut began with three line failures in Ohio. [via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]"

Maybe I have a warped sense of humor, but again, I had to smile. When I first heard the blackout story on the news, what struck me was the main emphasis of the news story was not the heroic attmepts of the various companies and indivduals to try and get the power back on. Oh No, the main story was how the various companies and individuals had already got into the "blame game". The US were blaming the Canadians'. The Canadians' were blaming the US, God, a small dog that walked passed the office door at the right time -  - you know what I mean. 

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"Next-Gen Windows Worms Will Be Smarter

"Despite infecting tens of thousands of computers worldwide, the recent W32.Blaster worm is poorly written and inefficient, blunting its impact, according to security experts. However, future versions of the worm could correct Blaster's flaws and spread much more quickly, resulting in service outages on infected networks and causing far greater harm to businesses and individual users on the Internet, experts warn.

"In the end, however, Blaster could do users a favor. A serious--but not devastating--worm of its type might help inoculate the Internet community against future variants that are more virulent, the experts say."

(Peter Raymond)

[via Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes] "

 

I know that Virus's , Worms and the like are a blight on the Internet Users enjoyment of their hobbies, and , of course, daily professions. These "programs" cause untold damage, hassle and grief, as if most poeple didn't have enough to deal with as it is. But doesn't this story give you " a cold shiver" of dread down the small of your back. What these Virus writers do now is bad enough, but to make these types of code smarter - God help us all

 

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UK considered killing Idi Amin Former UK foreign secretary Lord Owen reveals he proposed the assassination of the Ugandan dictator. [via BBC News | World | UK Edition]

Amin 'has escaped justice' Expelled Ugandan Asians who settled in Britain say it is a "tragedy" the former dictator Idi Amin never faced justice. [via BBC News | UK | UK Edition]

 

I remember, when I was a young child, Idi Amin first started to expel members of his own population, and their rather sad and dejected arrival in the UK. At that time, I didn't know the why's and wherefores, I just remember so many Sad Faces, looking shocked and confused, arriving by plane to a strange country. In the following years they have integrated themselves into UK society, that was not without its troubles either. But I didn't realise that, even though Amin had been replaced many years ago, that he had never even been brought to account for his actions at thet point in history. Compared to some of the atrocities that have come to the publics' attention in the years since the 70's (and Rowanda comes to mind), what Amin did seems , almost, small scale - but of course it isn't. I didn't realise that all this had happened that long ago. What would happened if the British Government had had him assassinated?.

 

History is full of "What If's".

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Vatican 'ordered abuse cover-up' A secret document shows the Vatican told bishops to hide cases of sexual abuse, the Observer newspaper reports. [via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

 

I saw this on the news last night. The said document is supposed to be over 40 years old (1962 if memory serves), and I know things were "done differently then", as if that should be used as an excuse. But how could any human being, and especially a person of God, ever sanction such a policy, especially with the possible forfeits for not applying the policy. I just find it beyond belief.

 

At least it has come out now.

 

Lets hope that the real world will prevail and this policy remain where it should be - in the files of forgotten, and regretted, history.

 

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Any questions or comments - click on the links and feel free to let me know

God Bless

Dave