So much for that one

Well, all of my previous predictions turned out wrong. Even the "safe assumptions."

Yesterday, at about 11:45am I became the victim of SpyFalcon. If you haven't heard of this... program... then good for you. I hope you never encounter it. I also hope that someday I encounter the person(s) responsible for coding this. In that situation, I would do what Marsellus Wallace would do. Let me tell you why.

SpyFalcon was disguised as a little program which I intentionally downloaded, hoping to have another video codec to use when converting video files from one format to another. The website from whence it came was dubious, so I exercised some caution. Norton detected nothing during the download, and I even manually scanned the file. Well, as soon as I double-clicked that .exe file I knew something was wrong: it had disappeared.

Then SpyFalcon, a supposed anti-adware program, was launched from my computer. I knew I had installed no such program. It told me that my computer was infected with adware, and if I followed some website and upgraded to a fancy version of SpyFalcon, my problem would be solved. Sure enough, every 30 seconds icons would flash messages from my system tray (the bottom right corner next to the clock in Windows XP) and pop-up ads (some pornographic) would appear. My web browsers were formatted to use some supposed security site as homepages, and threw more pop-ups at me. Hyunmi can attest to this, as she saw me cursing and struggling to get rid of it. Getting hard work done on a computer with this problem is nigh impossible.

I uninstalled SpyFalcon, yet all of the pop-ups and web browser mishaps continued. I found the processes responsible, but killing them was useless; they restarted instantly. I couldn't delete the files because they were in use. Norton found nothing, so that was useless. AdAware couldn't do anything either.

Some searching told me that my registry and Windows System32 folders were infected as well (which I suspected). After trying a number of approaches, including legitimate 3rd party software (which detects SpyFalcon, but will only delete it if you purchase an upgrade), I finally found a program that a French guy wrote. It worked. And I only wasted 6 hours of my day.

Then, I continued to get pop-up ads.

SpyFalcon was kind enough to install software from outerinfo.com, an ad website, naturally. (Do not visit this website.) Funny, but they have an uninstall tool for their software. The only way to get rid of there virus-like adware was to use their uninstall software. How can that be legal?

At that point, even though I was victorious, I was tired from battling villains on par with rapists and drug dealers. I finished up a few things at lab and had a quick dinner before picking up Yilin at her class. So no relaxing for me.

Oh yeah, I also caught a cold yesterday. Yilin told me this morning that she feels sick, too. Great. Computer virus and rhinovirus, all in one day.

Prognosticative Blogging

Most people blog about things that they experience, encounters they have, or people/events that they have heard about. I thought about this and wondered, "Why?" Therefore, I am dedicating this post to blogging about things that I have not yet experienced, encounters I have yet to be part of, and people or events I haven't even heard about.

Thus, the experiment of prognosticative blogging is born. Of course, it comes in many flavors.

1. Short term safe assumptions
Today will be an interesting day. After a slow start in the morning, my experiments will require much more attention. Tonight I will relax at home and do some reading before I meet Yilin once she gets out of class.

2. Random chance occurences
When I go home today, I will see a delivery man on a bicycle get hit by a car. It will be terrible. I will try to help him, and call 911.

3. Unrelated people/events
You will hear a story about a man in Oregon who found a giant squid washed up on shore, much larger than any specimen previously documented by scientists. There will be a number of photos with the news story here.

4. Wildest dreams come true
I will be walking home today and run into Jackie Chan and Jet Li filming a movie in Washington Heights called "Kung Fu Justice in the 'Hood". When I walk by, the directorial tagteam of Ang Lee and John Woo will spot me and ask me to play a minor role. I will get to fly to Hong Kong for the premiere.

5. Are you on drugs?
A freak storm with green clouds will tear in over the Hudson River from New Jersey, raining down frogs and purple octopi. The earth will split open and a seven-armed man will crawl forth, with a sword as a tongue and explosions for eyes. Buildings will melt all around me, and I will be swimming in a thick sky of blue dandelions, bumping into the rock hard clouds as I float away.

I say "Gosh darn, it's been a while!"

Wow. It has been a long long while, hasn't it? For this, I apologize. But I can explain.

First off, it hasn't helped that Blogger has been very slow. (They have been updating the server that my blog is on.) But that is neither here nor there (I'm not sure what that phrase literally means, but everyone uses it).

It comes down to this: my advisor has decided not to apply for tenure. This means that he will have to leave the university. Of course, his "scheduled" departure date is after I plan on graduating, so it shouldn't affect me. However, why take a chance? Therefore, I am busting my butt to graduate 'on time.'

As a result, rugby has suffered, other hobbies have suffered, and blogging is suffering. I do plan on getting things more or less up and running; fewer updates, for sure, but updates nonetheless.

Quick recap: Easter was good. Yilin came to Connecticut, met my dad's side of the family. Or at least those who were there, and everyone had a good time. I ate a lot of food, and loved every single bite.

Yilin's parents were in town this past weekend. Her mom is still here, and today they are shopping.

(I said it would be a quick recap.)

I feel like I am forgetting to write something, so I won't worry about it. Instead, let me tell you to go see the movie "Snakes on a plane." It hasn't come out yet, but it will. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, which is reason enough to see any movie. But in a recent article in "Life", Mr. Jackson reveals to us that the movie was directly influenced by people posting on the internet. The movie went from a PG-13 movie with no violence, nudity, or F-Bombs, to an R-rated gorefest with plenty of T&A. (Ok, so I am exaggerating a bit.) How did this happen? People read leaked copies of the script, posted suggestions to the director, and he listened!

Amazing. But even more amazing is this: People posted fake movie posters, trailers, and began selling merchandise! (The director himself bought $1000 of fake merchandise.) One particular line in one of the fake trailers actually made it into the movie!

I am sick and tired of these motherf---ing snakes on
this motherf---ing plane!

(Guess who says that?)

Anyway, the fact that the public had input on a movie while it was being made is awesome enough to warrant seeing it.

A REAL Fan

There is a man who loves "The Princess Bride" more than anyone ever. Why would I say that? Because he single-handedly re-enacted the "Battle of Wits" scene. It is ridiculous. Watch it here. (Requires WMV.)

Sacre Bleu! Cabane a Sucre!

This past weekend, Yilin and I flew to Montreal to visit her parents (thanks to their generosity), and also to celebrate a timeless Quebecois tradition: cabane a sucre, or "sugar shack." This was probably the most unique meal I have had in years. The idea is that every spring, when the maple sap flows, maple syrup is made and a giant feast is held to celebrate. The particular sugar shack we went to was called "Sucrerie de la Montagne." It is world famous, as is it's owner Pierre Faucher, who is instantly recognizable by his beard. Images of him and his majestic beard, both carved and drawn, decorate every wall, nook, and cranny of the place.

All manner of tasty food is prepared, with maple syrup flowing freely like water. Dozens and dozens of people sit around big wooden tables on big wooden benches and eat this feast. All the while a band will play on a stage, people will be dancing and singing, and everyone has a good time. Of course, there is alcohol to help facilitate this sort of behavior, but I think that the sheer rate of sugar consumption per capita is enough to substitute for so commonplace a drug.

Imagine this, if you will: You pull into a parking lot which is overflowing with cars, only to realize that the only available parking is on the street. Walking up the driveway towards the cabane (that's "cabin" in English, for all the uncosmopolitanites like myself) you see a long line of people waiting to buy tickets. You walk into a very large log cabin, wait for the hostess to seat you, and are faced with the sight of hundreds of people feasting on a variety of foods, all of which are drowning in maple syrup.

Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration. There were hundreds of people feasting, but not everything was drowning in maple syrup. Except for my plate. I ate everything that was put in front of me with maple syrup on top: bread and butter, pea soup (yes, I put maple syrup in my pea soup; at this point Yilin's mom informed me that there was no emergency room open at night within an hour of their house), sausages, meat pie, meatballs, ham, baked beans, omelette, bacon, pickles, pancakes, and sugar pie. If the bottle of maple syrup wasn't communal I probably would've taken a swig. I can't get enough of that maple sugar stuff!

Needless to say I felt as if I had just eaten a Thanksgiving feast. Stuffed beyond belief, and as happy as a clam.

It was good to see her parents again. I always enjoy going to see them in Montreal as they treat me like family. The weather was great, so we didn't even need jackets while we were there. And I also got to experience the hospitality of their neighbors Lilian and Claude, who have their own sugar shack in their back yard! They made us waffles, a cake (I can't remember the name, but it was like an angelfood cake filled with maple syrup), maple-sugar-brownie-square-like things that were great, and "le tire" (I probably got that wrong as I know about 5 French words, all of which I used in the title of this post). This 'le tire" thing is great: you take warm maple syrup and pour it over packed ice, then as it is hardening you roll it onto a popsicle stick. Amazing.

And that is the one word I would use to describe this past weekend: amazing. It was good to get out of lab, good to get out of NYC, good to see her parents, and good to eat a lifetime supply of maple syrup. I have already decided that I am going to build a sugar shack, wherever I live. If I have to build one in my apartment and tap maple trees in Fort Tryon Park, I will. Type II diabetes here I come!