I Still Don't Sleep At Night

HACKED OFF

I've missed you all. My captors don't let me do much of anything. I am writing this from an undisclosed location. I have taken all components of AOL from my computer. DSL was a big mistake. I really am afraid for my sanity. I didn't find out yesterday was Friday until 5:00 p.m. All day I thought it was Thursday, my day off. So I had to call in and tell the truth: I forgot what day it was and didn't go to work. P.S. I don't drink or take drugs.

The strange files on my computer are legion now. I can't open most of them. They have taken over control of my phone now too. I tried to call Dell technical support but I got a fake recording and music, not the usual menu and prompt for my service number. I tried to call Microsoft and it didn't seem right either. I know I am losing my mind. I want to dump everything but they'll still have my IP address. I called AOL for help and they didn't have a clue what to do. All their big pitches about internet safety, but when push comes to shove they just don't know. They told me they can't give me a new IP address.

So who do I go to for help? The insane FBI who will look into my background and use the Patriot Act to blame me for something? I think I'll leave those boys alone.

I have finally come to accept the truth. There is no final authority or help for hackers. No one knows what to do. You're on your own baby.

My event viewer is as scary as any Alfred Hitchcock movie. Under "security" are "successful" information reports 60 times a minute. Now remember I am the only user on this computer. But these successful information reports say things like this: User name: Local Service. Domain: NT Authority (This is not my domain). Logon ID (0x0.0x3E.5) Logon Type 5 Logon Process - Advapi Authentication Package Negotiate Logon GUID and a bunch of 0's. Here's another: "A trusted logon process has registered with the Local Service Authority. The logon process will be trusted to submit logon requests. Logon process name: Rasman." Then it repeats, changing the name to Chap or K Sec DD or MsGina. And my McAfee Security Center continues to show on its bar graph that I am 98% protected against everything.

If I ever get back to normal blogging, not to mention living, I plan to share a frightening tale of how right I was about Microsoft spying. It seems they just signed a contract with Homeland Security. What do you know? We'll talk. Wish me well.

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I haven't been able to blog because I've been consumed by my hacked computer. It looks like I'm going to lose everything. I mean files. I don't know about money. They won't let me see my online bank account. I'm not kidding. They keep me from seeing different sites, turn my firewall off and on just because they can, cut me off in the middle of an IM chat, mess up my network connections, and they are doing something to the event log so that a function is stopping and starting over 200 times a minute which takes up the entire log and leaves no room for God knows what else is happening to my computer. It's time to pull the plug. Yep, I have to reformat and re-install Windows and start all over again. And guess what? My printer's broken. Thank you Epson. So I can't even print out what I want to save. The house is on fire: run.

So I want to thank McAfee and Microsoft. Microsoft's constant security bulletins are a joke. They must have whole suites of offices that do nothing but put out security bulletins and update information for windows because they are such a huge security risk. I had McAfee's personal firewall plus, privacy service and virus scan online. You know what I have now besides a computer full of crud? I have files and files that I found that are full of McAfee's codes, protocols, and even how to set up your own virus scan online for free. I wrote and told them that I have this too. I plan on publishing them if they don't give me a refund for the time I don't plan to use their services.

Not only did their services fail me, but they failed me too. When I went to them, frantic about what was happening to me, they did not believe me. They acted as if hacking was not real. I spent over an hour trying to convince a woman named Patricia in online tech support that I was really being hacked. Her response was that it was probably just spyware. Finally she put her supervisor on the phone, Manish Dara. He wasn't any better. They simply do not want to admit that their products could have failed so badly. At that point the hackers cut me off from the online chat. I could not get back. I tried calling the $2.95/minute phone number they posted, and a recording said it didn't work. Good security again. And then, dig this, I thought that knowing how upset I was and how serious my problem was, they would call me. I'm still waiting.

So it's been a hectic mess. I am going a little crazy. Every time I turn on my computer I don't know what I'll find. They are brazen. You would think it is legal to hack. There are photographs of young men, perhaps them. There are scrawled notes, to do lists and personal photo albums that I can't make out. There are some Microsoft security information protocols too I believe. I didn't look through everything carefully. You almost feel like you have to get out of there before they get back. I'm not kidding. Today I searched for *tmp files which is where they keep their stuff. I was transferring it to floppy and CD. I noticed that as I opened a few I was finding a list of the files that I had just copied. That is fast. And it is so creepy. These guys are good.

I have to go to work. Believe me I do not keep the internet plugged in anymore while I'm gone, and you shouldn't either. My friend Anne is already giving me tips for how to keep the "new" computer safe. I know things will be different around here. Goodbye downloads, e-mail attachments and opening e-mail from unknown senders to begin with. There's plenty of changes I need to make.

Gotta run.

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It's no joke. My computer is being hacked and I don't know what to do about it. (Please see August 6th post for reasons I think it is being hacked.) To add to all my other reasons for being suspicious I read today that the Russian hackers like to come in through AOL instant messenger. So that makes me 3 for 3: They like Windows (because they're so vulnerable and Microsoft knows it), fast internet connection and AOL. Here I am come and get me. They did and they have.

Yesterday I found a very helpful site called Gibson Research or I suppose people just call it ShieldsUp for their security test. It's not like a quick scan or something. You are there a while, at least if you want to learn some things. Steve Gibson has come up with some products that he gives away and markets that are unique. The freeware is very interesting. The material about how hackers get in is very specific, well-informed and explained in a manner so that you can understand it without being a computer genius.

ShieldsUp tests Windows' file sharing and common ports vulnerabilities. You can have them test many of the service ports and get specific port information. I learned, for example, that a big problem with Windows (besides lousy security period) is port 135. This is where instant messenger comes in and so do hackers. It's an open port and you can't close it apparently. I read somewhere yesterday that one of the first signs that you're being hacked is that you start getting a bunch of instant messengers popping down. I was getting three at once. It was making me crazy and I couldn't figure out why it was suddenly happening. Now I know at least that I'm just being hacked by a Russian porno ring. Anyhow Steve gives away this program called Shoot the Messenger which I picked up. It at least keeps Windows Messenger in its place. I don't know what to do about all the AOL's that pop up like jack-in-the-boxes.

Needless to say my computer flunked its shields tests in all categories. Thank you McAfee Firewall. Gibson says none of the firewalls stand up though (except the one he is pushing). But still I learned how horribly susceptible to attack Windows is. Microsoft can't get patches and fixes out to every machine fast enough to keep up with the new problems as they develop. Maybe, I'm saying maybe, because I still think Microsoft spies on users, there was some purpose as well to the 16 hotfixes they had to slam on my computer. These things are a mess in terms of security. Go to Gibson's and read what's there and look at his data recovery program SpinRite while you're there. We all might need it one day. I hope not soon.

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ANOTHER BIG BOMB IN IRAQ

I HOPE GEORGIE IS PAYING ATTENTION TO HOW WELL HIS BIG TV SHOW WENT OVER IN IRAQ. HIS PRODUCING DAYS ARE OVER. HE BETTER PUT HIS FCC VETO PEN AWAY DEMOCRACIES DEMAND CONFIDENCE IN A MEDIA THAT REFLECTS THE DIVERSE VOICES OF THE PEOPLE IT SERVES. THEY DEMAND MEDIA THAT TELLS THE TRUTH. AND BTW, WOULD IT BE A SIN TO BE ENTERTAINING? IT ISN'T LIKE HE HAD A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW. SADDAM HUSSEIN OFFERED 25 YEARS OF OF ALL PROPAGANDA ALL THE TIME. THESE PEOPLE COULD HAVE USED A BREAK.

WOULDN'T YOU THINK IF THERE'S ONE THING OUR COUNTRY COULD MAYBE GET RIGHT IT WOULD BE TV? IT'S AN EMBARRASSMENT. GET THIS--THE BUDGET IS SO LIMITED THAT THE CLOTHING ALLOWANCE FOR NEWSREADERS ONLY COVERED FROM THE WAIST UP. (NO OIL, NO MONEY.) OF COURSE THE EQUIPMENT IS A JOKE. AND OF COURSE THERE'S THAT PROBLEM IN THAT WE BOMBED THE HELL OUT OF ALL THE TV AND RADIO STATIONS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS. OH WELL. NEXT TIME WE'LL THINK OF THAT.

THE MUCH FANFARED IRAQI TV HEAD JUST QUIT. IT LOOKED GOOD TO HAVE AN IRAQI EVEN IF THOUGH HE'D NEVER STEPPED A FOOT IN THE COUNTRY BEFORE. FORR RIKABI IS BACK IN LONDON AFTER ONLY THREE MONTHS IN BAGHDAD. HE HAD ONE THING TO SAY, "THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO LISTEN TO IRAQIS MORE, AND NOT JUST IN THE MEDIA SECTOR." SOMEBODY HEARD THE QUOTE AND PUT IN THE NEWS AMAZING THAT HE GOT QUOTED. BUT THEN HE'S BRITISH, ISN'T HE?


YOU GO AHEAD DEAR. I'LL JUST WATCH WHERE THIS WALL USED TO BE
THE IRAQI PEOPLE ARE CHOOSING STARING IN SPACE, LOTS OF SPACE UNFORTUNATELY, ABOVE LOOKING AT THE REPETITIVE, OLD, AMERICAN PROGRAMMING TRANSLATED INTO ARABIC, WHICH IS NOW ON FOR ABOUT TWO HOURS A NIGHT IF THE ELECTRICITY IS ON. THEN THERE WAS THE CENSORSHIP. ANYTHING WITH RELIGION WAS NOT ALLOWED, NOT EVEN VERSES FROM THE KORAN. THERE ARE THERE ARE THE CONSTANT PROPAGANDA MESSAGES AND PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS. (SINGING THE NEW BOSS IS THE SAME AS THE OLD BOSS.) THEY CAN'T GET THE REAL NEWS EITHER. ALL THEY HAD WAS JENNINGS, RATHER AND BROKAW TRANSLATED INTO ARABIC. WE ALL KNOW HOW FRUSTRATING THAT IS. STILL, I THINK THEY KNEW MORE OF THE TRUTH THAN WE DID, DON'T YOU?


A CAUTIONARY TALE FOR TODAY: FCC GET ON IT.
BUT DOUBLESPEAK NAMED "TOWARDS FREEDOM TV, " NOW JUST CALLED IRAQI MEDIA NETWORK, WAS A GRAND BUSH DREAM ALONG WITH THE REST OF THIS UNSPEAKABLE WAR. "THE IDEA ALL ALONG WAS 'TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT IT WAS CONVEYING THE VIEWS OF ORDINARY IRAQIS WHILE BEING HEAVILY WEIGHTED IN FAVOUR OF THE OFFICIAL US LINE.' VETERAN NEWS BOSS STEPHEN CLAYPOLE CITED IN GUARADIAN UNLIMITEDARTICLE IN JULY (A GOOD TIME TO ASK, HAVE YOU SIGNED THE PETITIONTO ROLL BACK MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES?)


DISNEYWORLD, MC DONALDS, MICHAEL JORDAN & GEORGE BUSH

THE BIG INAUGURAL BROADCAST DAY BROUGHT THE FRIENDLY BOMBERS, NOW THE GEORGIE AND TONY SHOW, TELLING THE IRAQIS THAT THEY WANTED THEM TO HAVE THEIR OWN COUNTRY. UNDERLYING THE GEORGIE AND TONY SHOW WAS THE DEEPLY ROOTED CONVICTION SOME SAY, THAT TO SEE THEM ON THE AIR, PRACTICALLY IN PERSON, WAS TO GET TO KNOW THEM AND, OF COURSE, THEN LIKE THEM MAYBE LOVE THEM AS THEIR PERSONAL SAVIORS. BECAUSE EVERYONE LIKES WESTERNERS, OH WHO ARE WE KIDDING? WE MEAN AMERICANS, RIGHT? THEY WANT TO WATCH OUR TV AND MOVIES BECAUSE THEY LIKE US. THEY LIKE DISNEY WORLD, MICHAEL JORDAN. MC DONALDS, AND GEORGE BUSH, BESIDES WE LIBERATED THEM. LET'S SEE SOME APPLAUSE AND GRATITUDE PEOPLE. DICK, WHERE'S THE APPLAUSE SIGN? TOO BAD THEY DON'T HAVE PROSTHESES TO BANG ON WOOD. WELL, THEY CAN USE THEIR FEET IF THEY'VE GOT THEM.

ONLY 10% OF THE IRAQIS OWN A TV ANYHOW. AND THE IRAQIS STILL HAVE AL-JAZEERA AND AL-ARABLYA CHANNELS, UNLESS OF COURSE U.S. FORCES CONTINUE TO ROUND UP AND DETAIN AND ARREST THEIR EMPLOYEES, SUBJECT THEM TO DEATH THREATS, RAKE THE GROUND THEY STAND ON WITH MACHINE GUN FIRE, CONFISCATE THEIR NEWS MATERIAL AND BREAK INTO THEIR OFFICES AND TRASH THEM ALL BY U.S. SOLDIERS WHO HAVE NEVER ACTUALLY WATCHED AL-JAZEERA.

THE VOICE OF FREE IRAQ WALKS OUT ON U.S.
ONE FINAL NOTE BEFORE WE TURN THE CHANNEL--OH WAIT--IT'S A MONOPOLY. THERE'S NO POINT (COULD GET LIKE THAT HERE--WHICH CRAZY FUNDAMENTALIST MINISTER YOU WANT TO WATCH TONIGHT HONEY?) A BROADCASTER WHO BECAME KNOWN AS "THE VOICE OF FREE IRAQ" JUST WALKED OFF THE JOB. HE SAYS THE U.S. IS LOSING THE PROPAGANDA WAR. THIS IS BECAUSE THE U.S. DOESN'T INVEST IN THE IRAQ BROADCASTING SERVICE. (OIL MEN KNOW HOW TO SMELL OIL AND THERE'S NO OIL THERE.) "FAILURE TO INVEST IN THE NEW IRAQI BROADCASTING SERVICE MEANS FOREIGN CHANNELS ARE GAINING POPULARITY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE U.S.," AHMED al-RIKABI SAID. "SADDAM IS DOING BETTER AT MARKETING HIMSELF THROUGH AL-JAZEERA AND AL-ARABLYYA CHANNELS."

DO YOU THINK SADDAM JUST GOT A NEW MANAGER AND A NEW AGENT? THAT WOULD EXPLAIN A LOT. AT LEAST IT WOULD TO THE PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA AND POSSIBLY NEW YORK.

HIDE BARBIE BEFORE THEY MAKE HER A REPUBLICAN

I LEARNED FROM YEARS OF SWAP MEETS, YARD SALES, FLEA MARKETS AND THRIFT STORES THAT YOU JUST NEVER CAN TELL WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO HIT THE GUSHER. YOU COULD BE IN SOME DIVE AND FIND A BRAND NEW DESIGNER OUTFIT JUST YOUR SIZE. INCONGRUOUS SURROUNDINGS IN ANY SITUATION MAKE FOR INTERESTING FINDS. SOMETIMES THIS WORKS IN REVERSE AND ISN'T SO GOOD.

I WAS TAKING A LOVELY STROLL TODAY OVER IN THAT PART OF VIRGINIA, WHERE FRED FIRST PUTS OUT FRAGMENTS FROM FLOYD GETTING VERY NEARLY DRUNK ON THE BEAUTY AS USUAL. THERE WERE CLOUDS YOU COULD HAVE JUMPED ON, ROLLED IN OR JUST DREAMED ON. THERE WERE BIG GREEN TOMATOES SO ALIVE YOU COULD SMELL THEM. THERE WAS A DREAMSICLE OR SHERBERT COLORED MOTH THAT WAS TOO LOVELY FOR THIS WORLD BUT GOD DIDN'T THINK SO. AND THEN I SAW SOMETHING CHEAP, UGLY, TAWDRY. IT COULDN'T BE. WAS IT JUST A BAD JOKE? THE HEADLINE READS "SAY IT ISN'T SO." THAT'S WHAT I WAS SAYING. BECAUSE IT WAS:

"GEORGE W. BUSH U. S. PRESIDENT AND NAVAL AVIATOR." THE ELITE FORCE AVIATOR. A 12" ACTION FIGURE. $39.99. AVAILABLE 9/15/03. GO SEE IT NOW. IT MADE ME SICK. IT MIGHT MAKE YOU SICK TOO!

WHEN YOU GET THERE YOU'LL FIND A LINK ON THE AD FOR KB TOYS. THEY WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE IT. THAT MIGHT BE FUN.

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