Twitter DNS Compromised, Hacked By Iranian Cyber Terrorists

Posted on December 18th, 2009 by John Sostak

Screenshot of Twitter after the site was taken offline by cyber terrorists (hackers).

Last night Twitter was taken down by hackers who identify themselves as the “Iranian Cyber Army.”  Pretty dramatic, and scary.  Hackers are everywhere, and none of us are safe, so seeing hackers identify themselves with Middle East extremist groups was inevitable.

I think the first and most important thing that needs to be done by us, as Twitter users, is make sure that if you have a Twitter account, you use a unique password that is not associated with other sites, like your bank or website.

Twitter is a young company with an exploding membership.  Young tech companies are less secure.  On this page we have what feels like 50 Twitter links.  They have thousands of developers building API’s, and millions of Tweet’s happening every minute.  They are vulnerable.

The Iranian Cyber Army also attacked Facebook and YouTube.  It sucks to be a member of the Twitter development team this weekend.  For the rest of us, this serves as a gentle reminder.  We rely on the web, and there are thousands of nasty people in the world that want to interrupt our lives, or worse.

Screenshot of Google result for Twitter, December 17, 2009.

Twitter was replaced by a landing page with an image of an Iranian flag.  There is an image above of a Twitter screenshot.  A Google search screenshot can be seen here too.

I’m getting ready for the Blaze football fundraiser, and I wanted to touch on this story, and the lack of attention it is receiving on television.  I am watching CNBC, and rarely does a broadcast block go by on CNBC without hearing something related to Twitter or tweeting.  Twitter is a diaper dandy in the business community.

I realize this is not an enormous story, but there is some drama here.  Is the attack being overlooked because of a long holiday week and weekend?  Maybe it having taken place only 13 hours ago has not allowed the reporters to collect enough information to report. This is a long weekend for a lot of people.

Be careful with your passwords.  Try and use different ones on the sites that you log into, and be even more careful with the ones that access finance and web.

Tags: Cyber Terrorist, Hackers, Twitter

Congress Finally Deals With Important Issues, the Volume Spike in TV Commercials

Posted on December 17th, 2009 by John Sostak

Congressman Cliff Stearns from Florida Demanding Congress to take Action

This article was taken from the Chicago Sun-Times.  It was reported yesterday, and it pleases me to know that we have elected officials, like Cliff Stearns, US Congress, Florida’s 6th District as a vigilant watchdog, protecting consumers and citizens.  The issue is the spike in volume which often happens when a television program goes into a commercial break.

You have probably dealt with this as recently, as…NOW!?!  You are comfortably lounging in your front room, watching Godfather II on AMC, when it cuts to commercial and the volume is so explosive you dive for the remote control, throwing your pug from your lap, knocking over your Miller High Life, and effectively ruining your Snuggie.

WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday voted to level off the abrupt spikes in volume felt by television viewers during commercial breaks.

Tags: Congress, FTC

Almost Rear Ended by Red Volvo at 290-90/94 Merge

Posted on December 15th, 2009 by John Sostak

This is how the Red Volve looked before it slammed into the expressway divider.

I was just pretty lucky.  I was almost rear ended on the expressway.  This is not the best blog post, but there are a few interesting items here.

I was just traveling east on 290, merging onto the Kennedy, with Joy.  I’m taking her to Richard’s Body Shop on Lawrence and Kedzie, because she rear ended someone in this exact spot a couple weeks ago.

Her check engine light has been on since we received her car back from the body shop, so Eddie fixed it, and I took her to get it, she is at work now.

We are driving along, traffic comes to a hard stop at this merge, and behind me I hear tires squeal.  I witness through my rear view mirror a red Volvo separated from my car by one other car swerve into the left dividing wall.  As a reminder to Joy, when collision seemed imminent, I grabbed her knee because I wanted to keep her from be ejected from our car.  I did NOT double fist with white “OH SHIT” knuckle the steering wheel, which would have been understandable.  I love my wife.

This merge always gets tied up.  Last winter I was rear end by a white work van.  It was an HVAC company.  It was about -10 degrees, and in the 3 seconds we looked at each others cars, we were able to assess no damage, we went to work.  I don’t pretend to be a civil engineer, but this is an obviously dangerous merge.  Rather then tieing up all the slow moving city side streets with speed bumps and stop signs, could we target real traffic?

I am soooo grateful that my car was not fucked up, or we were slammed by airbags and injured, while traveling to pick up my wife’s car at a body shop.

Tags: Joy

Chicago Parking Enforcement @ 1 am, the Department of Revenue does not Sleep

Posted on December 15th, 2009 by John Sostak

Typical Chicago Parking Pay Box, Owned by Morgan Stanley

My wife has her car in the shop, so I picked her up at work.  My wife is a nurse, and I left our casa at 1 am to bring her home.  On my way, 2 blocks from our house I drove past a City of Chicago Department of Revenue worker writing a ticket on a car in my neighborhood.  Sleep fast residents if you choose to not conform.  Do NOT make any mistakes, or you will PAY.

The City of Chicago has sold parking to Morgan Stanley, you can read the press release here. Our City is becoming tough to stomach.  It is charging us for everything, and penalizing us for existing.  Since the parking has been sold, tickets are being issued with military efficiency.  Kudos to Morgan Stanley, these guys know how to run a business.  They are yielding an ROI on the purchase of our City Parking.

So, as a business owner and resident, and in my case a city worker, we are being punished because the city is not making money like it did when buildings and property was flipping.  The property tax and transfer stamp money is getting thinner.  I love this city, but it is sometimes infuriating to live here.  To drive at night and see meter maids working the night shift is a sign that the citizens are not a voice anymore, we are now a victim.  Until an election matters, the people that are “voters” will not.

Pity we cannot sell the governing and administration of our city to Morgan Stanley.  I suspect we would run efficiently, and effectively if we did.  As much as I may be pissed at banks, and investment banks in particular, they run well.  In poker, these guys have “the nuts.”  They have the hand, and know how to play it.

In the meantime, can someone discover how many people are working in the Department of Revenue today, versus 10 years ago?  Let’s formulate that, with the overall population, and the active members of Chicago Police and Fire.  Let’s carefully analyze where our government is investing.  I can bitch all night, but what I wish I could do is find a person to endorse that actually wants to improve the Greatest City in the World, Chicago, for the people who live here, work here, visit here.  Does Chicago have a Michael Bloomberg on the sidelines, somewhere?

Tags: Chicago, Joy

I Love The Chicago Bliss & Lingerie Football

Posted on December 14th, 2009 by John Sostak

Chicago Bliss Lingerie Football League

I love the these ladies.  The Blaze are having a benefit with them on Friday, it is going to start at Mahoney’s Pub, in Chicago at Ogden and Racine.  The Blaze will be facing The Enforcers at half time of the Chicago Bliss game in a tug of war.  The enforcers are the Chicago Police Department football team.

The Lingerie Football league game is between the Philadelphia Passion, and the Chicago Bliss.  It is the Biss final home game, and it will be fun.  If you come to Mahoney’s Pub, you can jump on the bus with the Chicago Firefighters and Paramedics that make up the Blaze.  There will be beer, and a chance to win a 40″ flat screen TV.

The Blaze season starts April 10th, here in Chicago against the CPD Enforcers.  I promise, they will not look as good as the Bliss Ladies, and I hope they do not kiss…on the field.  If you want to see a little clip of Blaze football practice, check the guys out on You Tube here.

Going to add some new video soon.  They are practicing tomorrow, and Casey will be getting some more good footage.

Tags: Chicago Bliss, Lingerie Football