Thursday, March 02, 2006
You know a hacker
Well, if you read this blog, and you know me, apparently you know a hacker, or that's what my ISP told me today.
Long story short, I was trying to help someone out with their web site, couldn't log in, got flagged by my ISP for attempted hacking, spent almost 2 hours on hold, had my internet shut off for 2 days, and finally got it turned back on today after a very terse voicemail was left for their technical support team.
The things that make me upset were:
1.) They didn't notify me they were shutting down my modem. No call. No email. Nothing.
2.) I had a heck of a hard time trying to get through to anyone for help.
3.) Why would I hack into my ISP's connection on my HOME connection that happens to be run by my ISP (that's Internet Service Provider, by the way :) )? That doesn't make any logical sense at all.
I was pretty steemed today, but I got over it, and now my connection is back on. I just wish that companies who claim to have only their customer's best interests in mind would actually act like they do.
That's my rant for the night.
Long story short, I was trying to help someone out with their web site, couldn't log in, got flagged by my ISP for attempted hacking, spent almost 2 hours on hold, had my internet shut off for 2 days, and finally got it turned back on today after a very terse voicemail was left for their technical support team.
The things that make me upset were:
1.) They didn't notify me they were shutting down my modem. No call. No email. Nothing.
2.) I had a heck of a hard time trying to get through to anyone for help.
3.) Why would I hack into my ISP's connection on my HOME connection that happens to be run by my ISP (that's Internet Service Provider, by the way :) )? That doesn't make any logical sense at all.
I was pretty steemed today, but I got over it, and now my connection is back on. I just wish that companies who claim to have only their customer's best interests in mind would actually act like they do.
That's my rant for the night.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Tic Tacs
Just thought I'd share a funny story from the weekend.
One of our kids had some Tic Tacs last night at about 11. Since we were starving, he said we could have some. His mom took one that looked like it was still shiny like it should be, and I took one that looked a little more dull for some reason. After we got done eating them, his mom asked him where he got them. He replied that he found them on one of the inflateables he was playing in. Needless to say, we were a little grossed out, but I'm here blogging now, so I don't think it did too much harm.
The camp we were at had an inflateable maze, a 20 or 30 foot tall inflateable slide, a bouncing room, and a rock climbing wall. It really was a blast. The camp itself was gigantic. There were tennis courts, basketball courts, lots of "cabins" where the campers stayed and all sorts of buildings used for classes and the main auditorium where we had most of our meetings.
We started yesterday with breakfast early in the morning, followed by free time until 10:00 for morning worship and sermon. After the morning meeting, we had some free time before lunch. After lunch we had some game time followed by a class on sharing your faith using the Chronicles of Narnia. After this class, the boys had an hour to play on the inflateables. After this time we had dinner, followed by free time and the evening service. After the service they had inflateable time again, but we only stayed about an hour since we were all exhausted.
It really was a fun weekend. I was surprised by what a good time I had. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
One of our kids had some Tic Tacs last night at about 11. Since we were starving, he said we could have some. His mom took one that looked like it was still shiny like it should be, and I took one that looked a little more dull for some reason. After we got done eating them, his mom asked him where he got them. He replied that he found them on one of the inflateables he was playing in. Needless to say, we were a little grossed out, but I'm here blogging now, so I don't think it did too much harm.
The camp we were at had an inflateable maze, a 20 or 30 foot tall inflateable slide, a bouncing room, and a rock climbing wall. It really was a blast. The camp itself was gigantic. There were tennis courts, basketball courts, lots of "cabins" where the campers stayed and all sorts of buildings used for classes and the main auditorium where we had most of our meetings.
We started yesterday with breakfast early in the morning, followed by free time until 10:00 for morning worship and sermon. After the morning meeting, we had some free time before lunch. After lunch we had some game time followed by a class on sharing your faith using the Chronicles of Narnia. After this class, the boys had an hour to play on the inflateables. After this time we had dinner, followed by free time and the evening service. After the service they had inflateable time again, but we only stayed about an hour since we were all exhausted.
It really was a fun weekend. I was surprised by what a good time I had. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Great Weekend
This weekend we were in Carlisle with our PowerKidz group from the church for a Narnia-themed camp about missions, among other things. Even though I'm pretty much exhausted right now, we had a great time. Our kids were great, the meals were great, the sessions were awesome, the praise and worship time was great. Everything was just great : )
The weekend focused on using the Chronicles of Narnia (which, by the way, is an allegory about the life of Christ. If anyone tells you differently, they're not quite right about what they're talking about.) as a way to witness to friends and loved ones that don't know Jesus. It was just awesome to see how simple Christianity is when you really break it down to a child's level. It's so simple. I think as adults we tend to make it too complicated sometimes. We try too hard, when all we really need to do is come to God like a little child.
I was amazed to watch how receptive our kids were to the different sermons and talks given throughout the weekend. When there was a time to pray, they were up there praying for each other, crying with each other, laughing with each other, and when people were bullying their friends, they stood up for each other. It was a great bonding time for all of us I think. I really go to know the kids better and just appreciate spending time with them. Life is so much simpler when you see it from the perspective of a child.
I have so much more I'd like to write, but it's hard to get it all in to words right now.
To my friends that don't know Jesus as their savior. It is my sincere prayer that you make a decision to invite him into your life to be your Savior. It's a decision that you'll never regret, and it's a decision that will save your life for eternity.
The weekend focused on using the Chronicles of Narnia (which, by the way, is an allegory about the life of Christ. If anyone tells you differently, they're not quite right about what they're talking about.) as a way to witness to friends and loved ones that don't know Jesus. It was just awesome to see how simple Christianity is when you really break it down to a child's level. It's so simple. I think as adults we tend to make it too complicated sometimes. We try too hard, when all we really need to do is come to God like a little child.
I was amazed to watch how receptive our kids were to the different sermons and talks given throughout the weekend. When there was a time to pray, they were up there praying for each other, crying with each other, laughing with each other, and when people were bullying their friends, they stood up for each other. It was a great bonding time for all of us I think. I really go to know the kids better and just appreciate spending time with them. Life is so much simpler when you see it from the perspective of a child.
I have so much more I'd like to write, but it's hard to get it all in to words right now.
To my friends that don't know Jesus as their savior. It is my sincere prayer that you make a decision to invite him into your life to be your Savior. It's a decision that you'll never regret, and it's a decision that will save your life for eternity.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Ryan Wilcox on MacTech
My friend and former boss, Ryan Wilcox, just made the cover of MacTech magazine. MacTech is a magazine that has lots of technical articles about cool coding stuff you can do on your Mac.
Congratulations, Ryan. I've always admired your work ethic, your business ethic and so much more about you. I'm proud to have worked with you and proud to count you as a friend. Here's to continued success.
Congratulations, Ryan. I've always admired your work ethic, your business ethic and so much more about you. I'm proud to have worked with you and proud to count you as a friend. Here's to continued success.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Check it out
Warning: the following is a somewhat shameless plug.
If you have a chance, and you'd like, check out Church of the New Covenant's web site. I've been working on the site for a while for the church. It's turning out pretty well I'd say.
If you have a chance, and you'd like, check out Church of the New Covenant's web site. I've been working on the site for a while for the church. It's turning out pretty well I'd say.
Saddam
When can we all quit pretending that there was no possible way that Saddam Hussein had WMDs? Nightline just ran a report the other night that had video or audio (I'm not sure) evidence of Saddam talking about all sorts of things related with terrorism and WMDs (link The Secret Saddam Tapes.
I'm really tired of hearing people say that there were no WMDs and that they were all destroyed back in the early 1990's. Maybe that's true, but I highly doubt it. If it were, why would Iraq have given weapons inspectors such a hard time and kicked them out of the country numerous times? A lot of things just don't add up.
I haven't heard much talk in the mainstream media about this story, and why would they? They have the WAY more compelling Dick Cheney accidental shooting story to talk about, and we all know how important that is to our national security.
Seriously, if anyone ever tries to convince you that the media is way biased far to the right, I'd think twice about what they are telling you. Just look around. Listen. Think for yourself. When we're spending more time talking about Dick Cheney (which was a terrible accident) and not focusing on the evidence that could be vital to our security, something is out of whack.
I'm really tired of hearing people say that there were no WMDs and that they were all destroyed back in the early 1990's. Maybe that's true, but I highly doubt it. If it were, why would Iraq have given weapons inspectors such a hard time and kicked them out of the country numerous times? A lot of things just don't add up.
I haven't heard much talk in the mainstream media about this story, and why would they? They have the WAY more compelling Dick Cheney accidental shooting story to talk about, and we all know how important that is to our national security.
Seriously, if anyone ever tries to convince you that the media is way biased far to the right, I'd think twice about what they are telling you. Just look around. Listen. Think for yourself. When we're spending more time talking about Dick Cheney (which was a terrible accident) and not focusing on the evidence that could be vital to our security, something is out of whack.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Bye Bye, AdSense
I've been running AdSense ads on the site for a while, but I decided to take them down today. I don't like the fact that I don't much control over there content, and they weren't really doing anything except taking up space anyway.
Copyright 2005 Jared Barden
