Anyone for a game of go-phish?

So after having my email account hijacked, and in the process of preparing a lesson on internet safety for church on Sunday, one of my coworkers came up to me today to ask about an email she'd received, with an executable attachment and the instructions that the IT department was updating some software and needed her to run the attachment.  (My first thoughts were "yeah, right... what's the scam?")

Looking at it, the message appeared to be from "someone" in the IT department, granted someone that I've never heard of, and considering that we have a standing policy that only IT is allowed to install software on anyone's computer, I didn't have any reason to be concerned.

Here's where it gets stoopid: it was not a phishing expedition, no email was being spoofed.  It was a legitimate request from the IT department!!!  Needless to say, I called the help desk to see what they could tell me; I then sent back a few comments about how inappropriate the email was, and received a response DEFENDING the practice! 

Fortunately, our CIO backed me up.

And to get really stooopid: our office manager clicked on the emailed application without even considering that the message should be investigated.

Sciatica

That's what the doctor calls it.  I think it's a royal pain in the butt... or maybe lower back & left leg.

I'm told that time, stretching, and nyproxen will solve my woes.

CHOCOLATE

We received a package from our German exchange student:

The best was either the strawberry filled chocolate or the marsipan filled chocolate.

One more reason not to clean...

A coworker's son had a computer that died.  He was hoping that maybe I could salvage the data for him.  I determined that the power supply was most likely bad.

Plan "A": It's a power supply with a few cables that and that it was of a newer variety that I don't have a spare for.

Plan "B": Swap the hard drive into another machine.  Turns out the hard drive has a cable that I don't recognize.  A little research and I am now introduced to SATA hard drives, but none of the spare part machines are new enough to accept a SATA drive.

Plan "C": Swap the hard drive into the family machine; after all we can always use an extra 250 GB.  So, it's time to open up the family computer and see if there's a SATA port on that mother board... and here's where I make the mistake... as long as I've got the case open (and yes the power's off), I decide I ought to clean out the dust bunnies.

There IS a SATA port, so before installing the new drive, I power back on the computer, and it doesn't boot.  Evidently dust bunnies are critical equipment.

We did have a system crash a couple of months ago, and I had to reinstall Windows, however this time the HDD that Windows was installed on is not being found by BIOS.

Bet I know what I'm doing this weekend...

Leslie Gore vs. Barbro "Lill-Babs" Svensson

I've always been fond of Leslie Gore's music, especially California Nights. However, the most frequently played song, It's My Party, is one that I've never really liked - too whiny. When I heard the Swedish version of the song by Lill-Babs, I found a way to get past listening to the Leslie Gore version. Lill-Babs took an entirely different approach to the situation & I like the positive attitude.

Judge for yourself:

Lill Babs	Translated by me	Leslie Gore
Leva livet, nu ska jag leva livet, ja, leva livet, ja, leva livet. Dom ska få se, vem dom roat sej med	Live life, now I'll live life, yes, live life, yes, live life. They're going to see who they messed with	It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to Cry if I want to, cry if I want to You would cry too if it happened to you
Allt var så festligt med Janne och mej, vi kila stadigt förut, tills Janne mötte Yvonne, då tog det roliga slut.	Everything was so festive with Johnny and me, We were going steady, 'til Johnny met Yvonne, then the fun ended.	Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone Judy left the same time Why was he holding her hand When he's supposed to be mine
Chorus	Chorus	Chorus
Janne och jag såg Yvonne på en dans, och hon gav Janne en blick, dom stod och skratta åt mej, när sista dansen hon fick.	Johnny and I saw Yvonne at a dance; and she gave Johnny a wink they stood there laughing at me, when the last dance was hers.	Play all my records, keep dancin' all night But leave me alone for a while 'Till Johnny's dancin' with me I've got no reason to smile
Chorus	Chorus	Chorus
Kanske att hjärtat mitt värker ännu, men vad bryr jag mej om det, nej, jag ska gömma min sorg, och jag ska skratta och le.	Maybe my heart aches right now, but what do I care about that. No, I will hide my sorrow, and laugh and smile.	Judy and Johnny just walked through the door Like a queen with her king Oh what a birthday surprise Judy's wearin' his ring
Chorus	Chorus	Chorus

Hijacked!!!

My predicament!!!

In case anyone was wondering: I'm not in London; I wasn't held up at gunpoint; I have had not contact with the US embassy in London;  I do not need emergency money sent to me (however, ... nah...);

My gmail account, my facebook account, and my blog (tied to my gmail account) were compromised.  I've been able to recover my gmail account, however, I do not have a contact list at present.  Still working on facebook recovery...

Banks and credit card companies have been put on notice that I am not moving nor anticipating any large transactions.  I've received phone calls from numerous friends, wondering if I really was in London (including my boss).

So... how's everyone else's pioneer day been?

Oh... Item #7 on the gmail security list (http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=2eb176f1cbfe50e5&hl=en) has proved to be useful

7. Check your ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ settings for accuracy.
Settings >> Forwarding and POP/IMAP
Make sure you aren’t unexpectedly forwarding or downloading mail from anywhere; spammers frequently change these settings to ensure you continue sending spam even after changing your password.

Here's what I found... needless to say, I've changed my password... again

Construction Update

Cabinetry and plumbing in the main part of the bathroom was installed & connected before I left for girl's camp.  The toilet was hooked up; it leaks, so it's not turned on.

Girl's Camp was fun, but it was full of mosquitoes.  I was eaten alive.

From there, it's been a weekend of demolition and construction on David & Sarah's living room / dining room.  I did take a couple of pictures:

The molding went in a lot easier with the benefit of a miter saw.  I'll never try it again without one.