BKaF – Brad Kovach and Friends

I hate to make this appear as a sports site as there are many of those when it comes to a connection with SV.  Just look at the school district site or the Independent site.  You would think the only thing that matters in the universe is sports and maybe the hospital, but mostly sports in the case of SV (I can see the importance of the hospital, but enough with the sports focus please!!!).  Anyway, that is a topic for another post, and I apologize for creating a “Sports” category at BKaF (I promise moderation in all things!).  For now, I focus my attention on the Chicago Cubs.

For many years I have followed the Chicago Cubs baseball team.  For all those years I have experienced nothing but heartbreak.  Technology led me to be a Cubs fan as you had two choices with the advent of cable TV: WTBS and the Atlanta Braves or WGN and the Cubs.  I liked Atlanta’s Dale Murphy, but there was just something about the Cubs that roped me in.

In 1984 I thought we were headed to the World Series, but I soon learned that this would not be the case.  :-( Nevertheless, I have hung in there.  There have been a few other close calls along the way.  In 2003 we were so close I was considering attending the World Series in Chicago, but that dream was dashed in game 6 and later 7 with the Florida Marlins.  Things went down hill from there, until this year.

The Cubs now hold the best record in Major League Baseball:  47 W, 28 L .627.  I watched the Cubs whip up on the hometown AL rivals the White Sox yesterday as the Cubs bats came unleashed in the 4th inning!  It is good to be a Cub fan right now.  My hopes are that this all continues, but in the back of my mind I work to protect my heart.  The Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908.  100 years is a long time to wait, and I have only had to suffer through 42 of those years (part of which was spent in diapers which served as the most of my worries especially when, well you know!).

I wear my Cubs hats proudly wherever I go, and I have had to take the humiliation from St, Louis Cardinal fans for way too long.  It is our time, and I want it to be.  I hope it is.  Go Cubbies!!!

Yes, the critics have crushed The Love Guru, featuring Mike Myers as The Guru Pitka–an American turned Hindu guru.  Even though it bombed in ratings, I think it is still worth 88 minutes and $8.50 of your life.

I’ll give you the list, and you can reveal the spoilers if you want to.

Show SpoilersHide Spoilers

5. Justin Timberlake as Jacques “Le Coq” Grande

Justin Timberlake plays a magnificent-membered French hockey player with a curiously hilarious addiction to Celine Dion and Pop-Tarts/Ketchup pizzas.  Yes, he is “smuggling a schnauzer.”  In a locker room scene with a reporter, Jacques un-towels after a shower and a distinct thump is heard and then many gasps from all witnesses.

What could be funnier than a French man with a Celine Dion fetish played by Justin Timberlake?

4. The Anagrams

The Guru Pitka has many trademarked anagrams/sayings that help him teach.  This is probably a comedic ploy adored by only me and Mike Myers, but flippant intellectual right protection is strangely hilarious.

The trailer showed one anagram: G-U-R-U.  But the movie showcases many, many more trademarked anagrams that are worth seeing.

Clarity, Organization, Charm and Knowledge is another fantastic acronym.  But that’s only one.  There are several more.

3. Stephen Colbert as a sports announcer

Colbert appears alongside Jim Gaffigan as a sports announcer.  He showcases the Colbert sense of humor in a different, refreshing way.

In one part, Colbert explains the five spot (a hockey term) by using the on-screen illustrator.  He proceeds to draw a phallus by highlighting various parts of a picture of Justin Timberlake.  The camera pans out when the images get in appropriate, but watching Colbert actually finish the drawing is hilarious.

2. A Mike Myers cameo

I’ve already said to much.  Reveal spoilers–if you want to.

In the climax of the movie, Mike Myers appears, with Kanye West, saying “I love hockey!”  Myers clearly likes playing more than one character in his movies–but he’s not a narcissistic, role-muncher like Eddie Murphy.

1. Wayne’s World hat tip.

For fans of Myers, a well-placed inside joke is there to reward your years of loyalty.

For any Mike Myers fan, this was an awesome moment.  A car scene, intended to develop the “regression” plot of hockey star Darren Roanoke, involved an argument over the controls of the car stereo.  In switching the radio’s presets, the song Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen plays briefly, during which Guru Pitka (Myers) looks at the camera–effectively breaking the fourth wall–and rewarding his faithful fans with an inside joke.

This week, Thomas brings you, for the first time in video, Cooking With Thomas!  Enjoy his wit as he teaches you to cook a Hot Dog.  Oh Yeah!

In the new, digital economy, security is becoming more and more important. Online accounts are available everywhere. Your data needs to be safe. Security engineers have been paying a lot of attention to online security lately. Here are some trends in online security that are making the Internet a safer place.

1. Security Keys

Multi-factor authentication, or a way of using MORE than a username and password to prove your identity, is making serious advances.

Security keys are one popular multi-factor method of securing online accounts. Basically, you’re issued a device that contains a unique code generation algorithm. On the keychain-sized device, a 6-digit code changes every 30 seconds. The algorithm is shared between your device and the server that you’ll be authenticating with, so the server can generate the number, too. When the time comes to login, both ends of the transaction are able to generate THE SAME NUMBER and authenticate.

Currently, eBay/PayPal is mass-marketing these security devices. You can secure (not that it already isn’t) your account for a one-time fee of $5.00 USD. After your account is secured, it needs a username a password AND 6 digits that change every 30 seconds.  Unfortunately, this is ONLY available in the United States, Germany, and Australia.

PayPal.com

2. Key-Based Authentication

Another advance in the identity-proving arena is key-based authentication. Rather than a username and password, a user has a login key that contains a unique set of information–unique only to the visitor.

The authenticating server is equipped with a public-safe variant of that private key giving the user the digital equivalent of a padlock/key system. When a connection is initiated with a server, your computer encrypts your key in a securely-encrypted tunnel, sends it to the server where it is then decrypted (if you added a password) and matched against the key file (padlock). If successful, you are securely authenticated to the service. Essentially, rather than a short password that you have to type in, you have a long (1024 bits isn’t out-of-the-ordinary) password file that takes the password’s place.

Public implementations of this are still in the works; however, SSH has been using it for a long time now.

Learn more: http://www.laubenheimer.net/ssh-keys.shtml
Secure Shell on Wikipedia

3. OpenID

Attempts at central online identity management have been attempted in the past, but many experts say that OpenID is the best, most efficient and most flexible unified sign on system to bless the internet so far.

Logging in with OpenID couldn’t be easier. Rather than a username/password prompt, you’re asked to provide your OpenID identity URL. This URL can be anywhere. AOL, WordPress, and many other websites host your login identities as OpenID identities. In emails I have exchanged with Facebook, I know that they, too, are working to become an OpenID provider.

After entering your OpenID identity URL, you’ll be sent to your OpenID provider (eg: AOL) to verify your identity. It is up to the particular provider to determine the challenges that grant you access to your account. Verisign Labs, who licensed the PayPal Security Key, is providing OpenID solutions WITH your PayPal security key.  Most challenge with a simple username and password.

More information here: http://openid.net/
VeriSign PIP: http://pip.verisignlabs.com

4. Ambiguous Password Failure

When programming an authentication system, care must be taken to not reveal the underpinnings of the system and its structure.

Many websites will reveal the existence of an account to a potentially malicious user by saying “incorrect password.” The problem exists that with that type of verification, a malicious user knows that an account exists under the requested name and can proceed to breaking in with a brute-force or dictionary attack.

Now, many websites are just saying that the username/password is incorrect. Not only does this foil malicious cracker logins, but it causes the user to reassess his or her login credentials.

Conclusion

If you’ve seen good online security practices in the wild, let the world know in the comments area.

I apologize for my absence. Graduating from high school, working, and sitting on my butt has taken up a great deal of my time.

But that is in the past. Now I am back, and I’m going to tell you about something I love: Comic Books.

Why?

Because they’re awesome.

But first, a little backstory.

I was about seven. My father and I were at the pharmacy, selecting various items (that you typically select in a pharmacy) when my impressionable little eyeball caught a glimpse of something. I moved forward. There, shuffled off into the corner, was a rack.

But this was no ordinary rack, destined to hold such mundane items as greeting cards and little stuffed animals.

No.

This was a comic book rack.

There was a sign that read: Five for $1.00! (The owners of the pharmacy didn’t realize that they had shuffled the holy grail into a corner.)

I grabbed five, I don’t remember their names, but I do remember that they looked ultra-violent, which appeals to a seven-year-old boy. My father, not realizing that because of this one choice, his son would be destined for social-retardedness and eventual mass murder, bought them for me.

Fast forward to present day. Now a socially retarded almost adult, I’d like to share with you this valued and awesome part of my life.

Before I kill you all.

What do you see?

Most of you, I assume, see Superman—a dude whom bullets bounce off of, has x-ray vision, is super strong, and is the defender of Truth, Justice, and The American Way.

What do I see?

I see inspiration. I see strength. I see a purpose. You see, comic books speak to me in a way that few other mediums can.

In no other form is the representation of what makes our species great embodied than in the superhero. He (or She) is selfless, strong, and never tempted by evil.

No matter what the odds, no matter how dark things get, the superhero (or superheroine) stands. Not for a country, not for a flag, but for the undeniable right that all human beings have: to live, love, and die on our own terms. Plus there’s pretty pictures.

So, the next time you see some comic books, pick one up, and check it out. You might like it. Hell, you might even be a little bit inspired.

___________________________________________________

Required Reading:

If you’re still reading, and are interested in some good comics, here’s some personal recommendations:

Superman: Secret Identity

This is a great superhero comic for those who don’t like superhero comics. It’s about a teenage boy becoming a man, finding love, and getting old. And being Superman. It’s one of my favorites.

Watchmen

Considered by Time as one of the 100 greatest novels of all-time, this graphic novel explores the nature of heroes and whether or not the human race is worth anything. And that’s just a small part. Great stuff.

Ultimate X-Men

Team of supermutants. Stuff explodes. Awesome. Understand? I recommend picking up the Ultimate Collections, vol. 1, 2 and 3.

Sin City: The Hard Goodbye

Only for those who like lots and lots of R-rated content, this is the stylistic journey of Marv, a big dumb guy out to get revenge for his dead girlfriend. Excellent, snappy writing, and there was a pretty good movie.

And, as an added bonus/shameless plug:

Jessica and I did a short story a couple years back that I wrote and she drew for a independent collection called Sequential Suicide. I also wrote a story that was illustrated by this dude for the second volume of the collection. You should check it out. And maybe buy it (we don’t make any money off of it, we just want you to read our stuff, and support independent creators everywhere).

Plus, check it out: a video I made for a scholarship competition!

Phew.

-Tom

I don’t know what the problem is. I love cooking. Creating healthy dishes that are filling and delicious makes me feel like the bee’s knees.

But every now and then, I get stuck in a rut — having no ingredients and/or time to prepare, I become utterly bored with the concept of “dinner” and surrender to what I call Food A.D.D.

My creative entree tonight?

A cup of mandarin oranges I found in the fridge; 1/4th of a club sandwich I had in O’Rourke’s Bar & Grill up in Driggs, Idaho; and one of those frozen Tyson chicken fried steak patties (don’t worry, I’m cooking it right now).

…

What the heck? This is the worst idea I’ve had since I thought dressing up as Bulbasaur for Halloween would be cool.

As I munch on this chicken fried steak drizzled in last week’s gravy, I long for the days when it was easy to assemble an at least slightly-balanced meal. Those days were when I was at the college cafeteria, with salad bars and mix-and-match entrees all over the place… and also when I was on a cooking kick after watching Ratatouille at least seven times.

At least dessert makes sense. Cheesecake with brownie crust. Oh, baby.

Even though I prefer to use Linux, I use Windows for one big reason. Even though this juggernaut operating system sucks, there are still plenty of open-source programs to soften the blow. All of these programs are free as in beer, and free as in speech. Enjoy!

1. Launchy

Launchy is the free and open-source program launcher that takes its cue from Quicksilver for the Mac.  Summon Launchy with a configurable keystroke, type enough for Launchy to determine what you’re trying to launch and hit enter!  Launchy will open whatever you typed.  In the picture, Launchy knows that I want to launch Mozilla Firefox.

License: GPL
launchy.net

2. Print Flush

If you hate the way that Windows handles print queue management, you need Print Flush!  Print Flush takes all of the steps involved in emancipating a stuck printer queue and puts them at a double click.  It’s easy enough for your Grandma to use, and I just GPL’d it–loosely.  I didn’t include the GPL license because that would have more-than-doubled the size of the download!  Print Flush is designed to be lean and mean.

License: GPLv3
bradkovach.com to learn more or download now

3. TrueCrypt

I hesitated to put TrueCrypt on the list, but decided to do so because it has one very strong focus: user security.  TrueCrypt is the most robust file encryption system in the world.  TrueCrypt combines open-source and military-strength in a very beautiful, cross-platform solution.  It has support for keyfiles, hidden volumes (which are too cool to explain), and–did I mention that it’s cross-platform?

License: TrueCrypt Collective License
truecrypt.org

4. Pidgin

Instant messengers rejoice!  Pidgin provides open-source instant messaging built on the open-source libpurple.  Supports ANY messenger platform you can think of (except Facebook Chat–but I’m sure it’s coming).

License: GPLv2
pidgin.im

5. WinSCP

WinSCP provides open-source, high-security file transfers using a variety of transfer protocols: SCP, SFTP, and the less-secure FTP.  WinSCP is very stable, very robust, and very easy to use.  Supports SSH keys for extremely secure authentication.

License: GPL
winscp.net

Honorable mentions

I’m including these programs because they are good, but their licenses are somewhat restrictive or they’re not appealing to a massive audience.

1. RSSOwl is a great RSS reader.  It is built on Java, so it is cross-platform.  I happily use it.  It is licensed under the Eclipse Public License which is a business friendly free software license.
2. Notepad++ is a free, open-source file editor.  It features syntax highlighting features for dozens of languages, a tabbed interface, and a powerful find and replace system.  It is licensed under the GPL (good for you!) but it’s rather intimidating to the casual user, which is why it is an honorable mention.
3. Mozilla Firefox is the poster-child for the open-source movement.  Unfortunately, although it claims to be GPL licensed, it is licensed under the MPL or Mozilla Public License.  MPL isn’t GPL compatible, which means that Mozilla Firefox isn’t GPL compliant.  Also, users are subject to the Mozilla EULA, which is a corporate end user license agreement.  That is semi-restrictive–therefore: honorable mention. * See corrections

Corrections

Apparently, with Mozilla Firefox’s source, you get to pick the license you operate under.

Most of the source code in mozilla, including the firefox bits are tri-licensed under the MPL/GPL/LGPL, meaning you pick which license you want to use the source as. It’s not a smelly ExtJs situation. You want it to be GPL, it’s GPL.

- according to itsnotlupus and eurleif from reddit