And the world's latest phishing attempt is:

Unicode text, yay.  Fuckers.

What's wrong with this e-mail?


Hello, Singapore Airline is giving away 2 Free FirstClass Tickets to celebrate 45th anniversary, Now you can get your tickets too ! go here to get it: http://www.singaporeaır.com/firstclass Enjoy your flight !.


Apart from the fractured chinglish, see anything wrong?


Now have a look at the second last character in the domain name, before the .com.  See it now?


If you mouseover it in Chrome, or copy the link address, what you actually get is:


http://www.xn--singaporear-8zb.com/firstclass



ICANN has seized that domain, but this is the start of a new avalanche of spam with phishing attempts, I suspect.  :(

JFK assassination files release - HOLY SHIT moment!

Check out frame 229 onwards of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU83R7rpXQY .... now we know why his hands went to his throat!  He'd already been shot from the front by the other shooter.

Things I'm glad I don't do

Not this little black duck.

This your brain on feminism

For everyone on father's day - never go full libtard.

Women's hair

Can someone please explain to me:

I get a haircut.  It costs $15, takes about 10 minutes, and at the end of it, it looks like my hair was actually cut.

The handbrake gets a "haircut".  It costs $200, takes about 3 hours, and at the end of it, I have to remind myself to say something nice about it **because it looks exactly the freaking same to me**.  I think it was my wallet that actually got the haircut.

Father's day nominations

It's a fortnight from father's day in Australia, so in advance, I'd like to nominate these two gentlemen for father of the year, in the "stop your bullshit" category:

Latest cryptolocker outbreak

As if the latest crypto ransomware outbreak of NotPetya isn't bad enough, the operator of the e-mail service that the scammer was using for communications (posteo.net) has in what can only be described as a moment of blinding stupidity, shut down the e-mail account he was using.

Yes, no doubt it follows their standard procedures, and I realise that they don't want their platform being used for illegal activity.  But you're fucking morons.  Now anyone who gets infected has zero way of decrypting their PC, because they can't communicate with the scumbag to retrieve their decryption key!

Would it have killed them to act like a responsible netizen, and maybe reach out to law enforcement to offer whatever assistance they could in tracking down whoever was accessing the account?  Nope, fuck everyone, let's just delete it.  Cretins.

The only good news about this is very much hidden inside some further bad news.  Apparently unlike the recent Petya outbreak, NotPetya doesn't generate a valid encryption key - so there's no way of returning a decryption key either.   If correct, there's no point in paying the ransom, because you're just setting fire to money.

Oh yeah - just for fun, it scrubs the MBR too.  Time to reach for the install disk.

What is good news is that the NotPetya installer looks for a certain file on the PC to determine if it's been infected yet, and if it finds that, it aborts.  So while it isn't possible to disinfect a PC, it is possible to immunize one against infection.  Suggest that everyone do so immediately, the batch file linked to on the page is safe.

Here's the code for the enthusiasts:

@echo off


REM Administrative check from here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4051883/batch-script-how-to-check-for-admin-rights

REM Vaccination discovered by twitter.com/0xAmit/status/879778335286452224

REM Batch file created by Lawrence Abrams of BleepingComputer.com. @bleepincomputer @lawrenceabrams



echo Administrative permissions required. Detecting permissions...

echo.


net session >nul 2>&1

if %errorLevel% == 0

( if exist C:\Windows\perfc
( echo Computer already vaccinated for NotPetya/Petya/Petna/SortaPetya.

echo.

)
else
(

echo This is a NotPetya/Petya/Petna/SortaPetya Vaccination file. Do not remove as it protects you from being encrypted by Petya. > C:\Windows\perfc

                echo This is a NotPetya/Petya/Petna/SortaPetya Vaccination file. Do not remove as it protects you from being encrypted by Petya. > C:\Windows\perfc.dll
                
echo This is a NotPetya/Petya/Petna/SortaPetya Vaccination file. Do not remove as it protects you from being encrypted by Petya. > C:\Windows\perfc.dat



attrib +R C:\Windows\perfc

attrib +R C:\Windows\perfc.dll

attrib +R C:\Windows\perfc.dat


echo Computer vaccinated for current version of NotPetya/Petya/Petna/SortaPetya.

echo.

)
)
else
(

echo Failure: You must run this batch file as Administrator.

)


pause

no-ip.com, no-thought.com

dear no-ip.com,

please stop sending me useless and unproductive renewal notices for my reverse DNS renewal account each month.

your service is not worth paying for, I use it because it's free.  if I have to pay for it, I will abandon it for something else.  probably also free, if not I'll pay someone else on the grounds of their being less annoying alone.  spamming me will not change that, so all you are doing is wasting both your time and mine.

I realise that it costs you next to nothing to send me a false-hope nag renewal every month.  please understand that it only cost me a few minutes to automate a response, so from now on, you're wasting your time alone.

like many others in the online industry, you have confused ability to annoy with translation to some sort of branch to profitability.  sorry, but that archaic thinking went out the window right around the time that the average consumer had the technical ability to fight back.  and we're a hell of a lot more agile than you, and with the groupthink of the entire planet focused on you - good luck.  I hope you don't have a lot of investment options yet to vest on that one.

sincerely, and with all due respect, fuck you.

technorantia.

A federal bank with a sense of humour?

Or at least their web programmers, anyway.

Go here http://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/banknote150/ and enter the Konami code.

Vale John Clarke

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-10/john-clarke-dies-aged-68/8430174

See ya, John.  You were a brilliant satirist.

Embedding gfycat GIFs

Just an aide memoir to how to do this, it was enough of a pain to figure out once.

<script javascript="" src="https://assets.gfycat.com/gfycat.js" text="" type=""></script>
<img class='gfyitem' data-id='gfycatmedianame' />

Reset the clock

You know, it would be nice if we could just get through ONE week without a raghead muslim terrorist act, you know?

CCTV of the cultural enrichment in progress:



And the aftermath.  How's that open-door immigration policy working out for you, Sweden?

Overentitled prat of the day

You wouldn't think it was possible for most BMW drivers to be bigger knobs, but yes it can be done.

Note the TWO reserved car park spaces.

Reset the clock...

Another day, another terror attack.  Three people killed with a vehicle, the driver stabbed a police officer before someone could put a couple of bullets into the prick.

Who would do such a thing?

Surprise!

Vault 7 dump

Anyone see these?  Just for posterity, you understand.

https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/cms/page_46628880.html
https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/cms/page_13762756.html

GVLK
Office 2013 Professional Plus - YC7DK-G2NP3-2QQC3-J6H88-GVGXT
Office 2013 Standard - KBKQT-2NMXY-JJWGP-M62JB-92CD4
Project 2013 Professional - FN8TT-7WMH6-2D4X9-M337T-2342K
Project 2013 Standard - 6NTH3-CW976-3G3Y2-JK3TX-8QHTT
Visio 2013 Professional - C2FG9-N6J68-H8BTJ-BW3QX-RM3B3
Visio 2013 Standard - J484Y-4NKBF-W2HMG-DBMJC-PGWR7
Access 2013 - NG2JY-H4JBT-HQXYP-78QH9-4JM2D
Excel 2013 - VGPNG-Y7HQW-9RHP7-TKPV3-BG7GB
InfoPath 2013 - DKT8B-N7VXH-D963P-Q4PHY-F8894
Lync 2013 - 2MG3G-3BNTT-3MFW9-KDQW3-TCK7R
OneNote 2013 - TGN6P-8MMBC-37P2F-XHXXK-P34VW
Outlook 2013 - QPN8Q-BJBTJ-334K3-93TGY-2PMBT
PowerPoint 2013 - 4NT99-8RJFH-Q2VDH-KYG2C-4RD4F
Publisher 2013 - PN2WF-29XG2-T9HJ7-JQPJR-FCXK4
Word 2013 - 6Q7VD-NX8JD-WJ2VH-88V73-4GBJ7
 
Windows 10 Operating system edition KMS Client Setup Key
Windows 10 Professional - W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX
Windows 10 Professional N - MH37W-N47XK-V7XM9-C7227-GCQG9
Windows 10 Enterprise - NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43
Windows 10 Enterprise N - DPH2V-TTNVB-4X9Q3-TJR4H-KHJW4
Windows 10 Education - NW6C2-QMPVW-D7KKK-3GKT6-VCFB2
Windows 10 Education N - 2WH4N-8QGBV-H22JP-CT43Q-MDWWJ
Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB - WNMTR-4C88C-JK8YV-HQ7T2-76DF9
Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB N - 2F77B-TNFGY-69QQF-B8YKP-D69TJ

Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 Operating system edition KMS Client Setup Key
Windows 8.1 Professional - GCRJD-8NW9H-F2CDX-CCM8D-9D6T9
Windows 8.1 Professional N - HMCNV-VVBFX-7HMBH-CTY9B-B4FXY
Windows 8.1 Enterprise - MHF9N-XY6XB-WVXMC-BTDCT-MKKG7
Windows 8.1 Enterprise N - TT4HM-HN7YT-62K67-RGRQJ-JFFXW
Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Standard - D2N9P-3P6X9-2R39C-7RTCD-MDVJX
Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter - W3GGN-FT8W3-Y4M27-J84CP-Q3VJ9
Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials - KNC87-3J2TX-XB4WP-VCPJV-M4FWM

Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 Operating system edition KMS Client Setup Key
Windows 8 Professional - NG4HW-VH26C-733KW-K6F98-J8CK4
Windows 8 Professional N - XCVCF-2NXM9-723PB-MHCB7-2RYQQ
Windows 8 Enterprise - 32JNW-9KQ84-P47T8-D8GGY-CWCK7
Windows 8 Enterprise N - JMNMF-RHW7P-DMY6X-RF3DR-X2BQT
Windows Server 2012 - BN3D2-R7TKB-3YPBD-8DRP2-27GG4
Windows Server 2012 N - 8N2M2-HWPGY-7PGT9-HGDD8-GVGGY
Windows Server 2012 Single Language - 2WN2H-YGCQR-KFX6K-CD6TF-84YXQ
Windows Server 2012 Country Specific - 4K36P-JN4VD-GDC6V-KDT89-DYFKP
Windows Server 2012 Server Standard - XC9B7-NBPP2-83J2H-RHMBY-92BT4
Windows Server 2012 MultiPoint Standard - HM7DN-YVMH3-46JC3-XYTG7-CYQJJ
Windows Server 2012 MultiPoint Premium - XNH6W-2V9GX-RGJ4K-Y8X6F-QGJ2G
Windows Server 2012 Datacenter - 48HP8-DN98B-MYWDG-T2DCC-8W83P

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Operating system edition KMS Client Setup Key
Windows 7 Professional - FJ82H-XT6CR-J8D7P-XQJJ2-GPDD4
Windows 7 Professional N - MRPKT-YTG23-K7D7T-X2JMM-QY7MG
Windows 7 Professional E - W82YF-2Q76Y-63HXB-FGJG9-GF7QX
Windows 7 Enterprise - 33PXH-7Y6KF-2VJC9-XBBR8-HVTHH
Windows 7 Enterprise N - YDRBP-3D83W-TY26F-D46B2-XCKRJ
Windows 7 Enterprise E - C29WB-22CC8-VJ326-GHFJW-H9DH4
Windows Server 2008 R2 Web - 6TPJF-RBVHG-WBW2R-86QPH-6RTM4
Windows Server 2008 R2 HPC edition - TT8MH-CG224-D3D7Q-498W2-9QCTX
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard - YC6KT-GKW9T-YTKYR-T4X34-R7VHC
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise - 489J6-VHDMP-X63PK-3K798-CPX3Y
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter - 74YFP-3QFB3-KQT8W-PMXWJ-7M648
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems - GT63C-RJFQ3-4GMB6-BRFB9-CB83V

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Operating system edition KMS Client Setup Key
Windows Vista Business - YFKBB-PQJJV-G996G-VWGXY-2V3X8
Windows Vista Business N - HMBQG-8H2RH-C77VX-27R82-VMQBT
Windows Vista Enterprise - VKK3X-68KWM-X2YGT-QR4M6-4BWMV
Windows Vista Enterprise N - VTC42-BM838-43QHV-84HX6-XJXKV
Windows Web Server 2008 - WYR28-R7TFJ-3X2YQ-YCY4H-M249D
Windows Server 2008 Standard - TM24T-X9RMF-VWXK6-X8JC9-BFGM2
Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V - W7VD6-7JFBR-RX26B-YKQ3Y-6FFFJ
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise - YQGMW-MPWTJ-34KDK-48M3W-X4Q6V
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V - 39BXF-X8Q23-P2WWT-38T2F-G3FPG
Windows Server 2008 HPC - RCTX3-KWVHP-BR6TB-RB6DM-6X7HP
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter - 7M67G-PC374-GR742-YH8V4-TCBY3
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V - 22XQ2-VRXRG-P8D42-K34TD-G3QQC
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems - 4DWFP-JF3DJ-B7DTH-78FJB-PDRHK

Office Professional Plus 2016 - XQNVK-8JYDB-WJ9W3-YJ8YR-WFG99
Office Standard 2016 - JNRGM-WHDWX-FJJG3-K47QV-DRTFM
Project Professional 2016 - YG9NW-3K39V-2T3HJ-93F3Q-G83KT
Project Standard 2016 - GNFHQ-F6YQM-KQDGJ-327XX-KQBVC
Visio Professional 2016 - PD3PC-RHNGV-FXJ29-8JK7D-RJRJK
Visio Standard 2016 - 7WHWN-4T7MP-G96JF-G33KR-W8GF4
Access 2016 - GNH9Y-D2J4T-FJHGG-QRVH7-QPFDW
Excel 2016 - 9C2PK-NWTVB-JMPW8-BFT28-7FTBF
OneNote 2016 - DR92N-9HTF2-97XKM-XW2WJ-XW3J6
Outlook 2016 - R69KK-NTPKF-7M3Q4-QYBHW-6MT9B
PowerPoint 2016 - J7MQP-HNJ4Y-WJ7YM-PFYGF-BY6C6
Publisher 2016 - F47MM-N3XJP-TQXJ9-BP99D-8K837
Skype for Business 2016 - 869NQ-FJ69K-466HW-QYCP2-DDBV6
Word 2016 - WXY84-JN2Q9-RBCCQ-3Q3J3-3PFJ6

VMWare Fusion Keys
VMWare Fusion 7.0 (10 licenses...)
1J4CL-0Q3DM-H8C7D-0P8HH-9M0K1

VMWare Fusion 6.0 SC/1 keys for DEVLAN use
MN0CQ-6J2D5-H8865-0K3HK-0ETN0

Interesting translation fail

I really can't decide if this bit of Engrish detracts from, or enhances the ad.

New and exciting ways to screw up

I have invented a new and exciting way to screw up and piss the handbrake off simultaneously.

Made her a nice breakfast with a latte and some warm croissants.  She requests some jam.

I should at this point mention that we're fans of the Beerenberg range of jams.  These have labels that are quite similar, with sometimes only minor differences in colour.

So I reached for this one:

And scored this one by mistake:

My minor error was only discovered after deployment in production.

Oops.

Permanent power to the bench

Finally got around to putting some permanent power up to my side workbench today.  I've had a powerboard with an extension lead there for a while now, but I deemed this inelegant and it was time to do something a little more integrated.

Mess?  Who, me?  (You can see the powerboard solution above the bench just below the top crap shelf essential photography props repository).  Mmm, blur.

Ah, that's better,  All done in 25mm conduit with a couple of inspection ports to make life easier hauling the cable through.  Power can still be completely isolate to the bench from the master switch point behind the tool cabinet.

Sometimes I think I'm over computer games. Then I see this.

E-mail readers clicky for Youtube link.

Reddit block user script

Use Reddit and want to block morons who have replied to you, not just sent you a message?

In Chrome, F12 open the consle and paste this in at the bottom and enter.

for(buttonLists=$(".flat-list.buttons"),i=0;i<buttonLists.length;i++)blockButton=document.createElement("LI"),blockButton.innerHTML='<form class="toggle block-button " action="#" method="get"><input name="executed" type="hidden" value="blocked"><span class="option main active"><a class="togglebutton" onclick="return toggle(this)" href="#">block author (hide post)</a></span><span class="option error">are you sure?  <a class="yes" onclick=\'change_state(this, "block", hide_thing, undefined, null)\' href="javascript:void(0)">yes</a> / <a class="no" onclick="return toggle(this)" href="javascript:void(0)">no</a></span></form>',buttonLists[i].appendChild(blockButton);

You'll now see a "block user" link under their stupid comment, and the signal to noise ratio improves significantly.

High point of the year so far

I thought that watching loony lefties have mental meltdowns live as the American presidential elections came in was going to be the high point of the year.

Nah.  It just keeps getting better.

An anti-Trump protester screams 'no' as Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th US President pic.twitter.com/qmsaFmMSkr

— ITV News (@itvnews) January 20, 2017

Just incredible

I grew up watching Steve Davis, Eddie Charlton, and Denis Taylor.  (Note poncy original spelling and Oxford comma too eh mate.)

This bloke is better.

Fake news

I don't know how many people followed the "fake news" furore following the outcome of the US election, where it was found that all sorts of media platforms were publishing what was essentially totally false crap in order to try to manipulate public opinion by making the situation seem like a foregone conclusion.

(Yeah, the Hillaroid was always going to win by 98%.  Yeah, right.)

Here's an example of a fake news expose:  https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/the-strangest-fake-news-empire?utm_term=.ntPqYx0xe#.exxab6K6D

What's particularly funny is that story quotes snopes.com as an "authoritative source" in terms of fact checking.  Here's the snopes ministry of truth:

Hmm... two left-leaning libtards from the-land-of-fruit-and-nuts California, including bonus Crazy Cat Lady and cheating husband who fraudulently used company profits to see hookers on the side, before dumping the wife for a prostitute called Vice Vixen who is still apparently working.

Yeah... I think I'm going to be relying on some slightly more... authoritative sources of news for my daily state-of-the-world education, then a couple of randoms who decide the "truth" is what suits their own political point of view.  Or the one of who pays them the most.

Now, where would we go for such an authoritative, well balanced, researched source of news gathered and published by a hard working set of professional and impartial reporters?

I know, I'll use the Rupert Murdoch controlled press!  Surely that will meet criteria, right?

Um... yeah, until you realise that News Corp basically scrapes its content of social media and regurgitates it as content.  And I demonstrate:

Exhibit 1: reddit thread about an apparent scumbag landlord installing a coin-operated flush toilet in a property in Thornbury, Melbourne.  Much discussion and angst, and in depth legal opinions from people whose knowledge of the law has been gained from watching US courtroom drama on TV.

Exhibit 2: front-page article on news.com.au showcasing this scourge, and actually quoting reddit as a source.

Exhibit 3: reddit thread exposing the stunt as an example of how easy it is to hack the "mainstream media" by exploiting the current generation of lazy, credulous "reporters" whose opinions have been formed not by education by by the inbred process of reading social media and following the mood of the crowd.

Bonus points:

Collage of evidence of one of the redditors hacking News Corp polls with a bot.

Media Watch finally waking up and realising, in their usual self-righteous, holier-than-thou, publicly funded tone of voice.