More bullshit from another asshole with a blog

Prescription Drug Generator
19Feb05

Posted by wafwot

I got bored this afternoon… and while watching golf on television, I was bombarded with prescription drug commercials. Of course, we’ve all heard those commecials before, and the list of side effects rattled off by the voiceover.

For the most part, the side effects make the actual ailment seem minor. So, I decided to write a small PHP script that generates a fake drug name, an ailment it’s supposed to treat, and a list of comical side effects. Jason, a co-worker, helped by contributing a lot of side effects. I made a cheesy web page for it and called it done. Check it out at http://www.wafwot.com/pharm.

Below is an example of a generated drug… The generator should be used for entertainment purposes only. No gambling is allowed.

Cineville® For the temporary relief of the common cold. Possible side effect include red tide, vaginal hemorrhaging, sand storms, farsightedness, flatulence, burning urination, bleeding from the eyes, spidermite infection, ozone layer depletion, and blue screen of death.

Old Man Frost
10Feb05

Posted by wafwot

54.jpg I’m getting a little tired of the morning frost. The temperature drops below freezing at night, then gets into the mid 50s in the afternoon. Of course, at 7:30 in the morning, I have to scrape this ice off the car. A 7 minute trip into work takes 30 minutes when you factor in warming the engine up and scraping ice from the windows. C’mon spring!

Can’t Windows Users do ANYTHING themselves?
07Feb05

Posted by wafwot

I was reading the Linux/Open Source news at Yahoo, and ran across an article about MySQL being criticized for the MySpooler “worm.” If you haven’t heard, there’s a new worm out there that’s spreading via MySQL server installations on Windows machines. I have a problem with this article: it’s NOT MySQL’s fault! I had a small jabber conversation with a friend about this:

<wafwot> MySQL is being criticized for not locking down a new installation by default.
<vmann> dumbasses
<wafwot> People are bitching at MySQL for the users’ mistake of not setting a root password.
<vmann> wish i had a windows box to install it on, to show the big bold letters “Change the root password!”
<vmann> i know it’s gotta be like a standard linux install
<vmann> they don’t change it for you, but they always tell you to do so
<vmann> deb installs say it in the post-installation script
<wafwot> Yeah… and who DOESN’T know to change a password?
<vmann> i’m sure rpm probably has something similar
<vmann> i know when i installed it on this mac
<vmann> i had to change it myself
<vmann> it only warned me about it
<wafwot> If it’s a standard install of MySQL, there probably ISN’T a password.
<wafwot> It’s just the root user, no password.
<vmann> i still did it
<vmann> cuz i’m not a dumbass
*wafwot ain’t a dumbass, either!
<wafwot> So because MySQL AB didn’t make MySQL “stupid” for Windows users, they get to take the blame.
<vmann> hehe, well, they do make their money on selling support for mysql
<wafwot> haha…
<wafwot> Fuck, from reading the article, it looks like the Windows version has an installer that sets a default root password…
<wafwot> The default Linux install doesn’t even HAVE a password, and when was there ever a “MySpooler” bot attack on Linux database servers?
<vmann> we did have slammer
<wafwot> Not MySQL, though.
<vmann> true
<wafwot> Wasn’t Slammer an SSL exploit?
<vmann> … Oh yeah, it was, openssl overrun

Here’s my take on the whole thing. If you can’t read documentation, and if you don’t have the brains to change or set a password, then you DESERVE to have your server/machine exploited! Don’t look to place blame! You installed it, you failed to change the default root password… YOU must take the blame for your lack of skills!