When you read about Fearless Leader attacking the Fed for not cutting interest rates, remember that F.L.'s empire is built on borrowed money.
Severe thunderstorm warnings and watches stalk the state. Nothing directly dire here yet. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode . . .
Full length walk logged. No cat friends met. Mockingbird seen but not heard, so I must not have been too near a nest or fledglings. Did not die.
Air temperature 65 F, wind near calm, sunny. Dew point 63 F. Another day where a leisurely stroll will supplant more vigorous pursuits. Scattered showers and thundershowers on the schedule for afternoon and overnight.
“I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” Mark Twain
Item on the evening news that the Senators from Texas are trying to extract a space shuttle from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and transfer it to Houston . . .
First pillage, then burn.
First pillage, then burn.
Our hostas are just starting to bloom. May have a chance to see the hummingbirds again, and bees. Neither hummers nor bees seem to have any interest in the day lilies.
Got home last night about 9pm from a cardiology appointment in Las Cruces (all is fine, annual EKG monitoring me). I pull in to the driveway, then into a path so I can turn around and back in to the carport. I back in so I won't have a problem pulling out if it snows, not that it may ever happen here again.
And when I pulled into the path, something scampered away - BUNNY!
At first I thought it was a cat or raccoon, as those are normal for the area. In my two decades up here, I can't recall having seen any BUNNIES up here, but sure enough it started hopping away! Thus applying my powers of deduction, I concluded it wasn't a kitty or raccoon.
I mentioned it to Russet, and she reported seeing one on the neighbor's property, perhaps we may have a warren in the area. I'm a little surprised as I'd think that coyotes and raccoons would make quick work of one and a population wouldn't be very viable up here on the mountain.
And when I pulled into the path, something scampered away - BUNNY!
At first I thought it was a cat or raccoon, as those are normal for the area. In my two decades up here, I can't recall having seen any BUNNIES up here, but sure enough it started hopping away! Thus applying my powers of deduction, I concluded it wasn't a kitty or raccoon.
I mentioned it to Russet, and she reported seeing one on the neighbor's property, perhaps we may have a warren in the area. I'm a little surprised as I'd think that coyotes and raccoons would make quick work of one and a population wouldn't be very viable up here on the mountain.
Tags:
Back from my stroll around the neighborhood, no cat friends seen. Air temperature was 78 F when I headed out, 82 F now, dew point 68 F, got damp enough to justify my slacking off from that bike ride.
Once again, I have not been keeping up.
Sadly, I am still slogging my way through Cultish. As a dyslexic reader, I get into these weirdly stubborn things. I am SO freaking close to being done with this book that, even though I'm no longer enjoying it, I refuse to give up. Admittedly, this is incredibly stupid. Life it too short for books you aren't enjoying! But, here I am, anyway. To be fair to me, I did take a break to read the first several issues of a 1980s American comic book called American Flagg. I talked my co-host into reading this for our podcast and, I'm going to be honest. I kind of regret that. I had a VERY DIFFERENT memory of these comic books than what is apparently the reality. Oof, they do not stand the test of time! I have literally never seen the n-word (spelled out!) so many times in a mere 12 issues, holy shit.
It should be an interesting podcast, though!
Also, when I was volunteering out at Pride, Jason Tucker who is a comic book affectionado turned to me when I told him what I'd been reading, "Huh. Is American Flagg cyberpunk, though?" Not to spoil the upcoming episode because this is a question we regularly ask of whatever we're reviewing or discussing, but I do think I now know why I thought so having re-read them, at least. I mean, this is hardly a spoiler to the episode or the comics since it is revealed in the literal first panel, but Rueben Flagg did lose his acting job to AI, actually, so I mean, that's kind of prescient, in a way, cyberpunkly-speaking.
But, wow, also a hard read, albeit in a completely different way than Cultish.
Part of my absence here is due, in part, to the fact that we've gotten some really bad news from my brother-in-law, Keven. Keven's test results have come back and the cancer has spread to his bones. The doctors informed him that its incurable and have given him about a year, year and a half to live. I don't even know how to cope with this? I was telling Shawn that you always hear people asking the hypothetical, "What would you do if you found out you only had a year left to live?" But, like that's supposed to be a fun thought-experiment, not Real Life. And, as I have reported previously, Keven is the sibling of Shawn's that my family interacts with the most. He lives within striking distance of our house--just on the other side of the Mississippi in Minneapolis. So, we see him often. Mason has been Keven's odd job man for hire now and most of his in-between college summers. And, like, our relationship with Keven is, like with a lot of family, somewhat fraught? We've had some terrible fights in the past. However, for better or for worse, Keven has been a constant in our lives.
Yesterday, when we found out, Shawn was already at work. She decided that she was just not functional after talking to Keven and so I picked her up and brought her home. We spent much of the day yesterday just trying to wrap our heads arounds this--alternating between crying/staring into the middle distance and doing distracting things like, for her working on her quilt and watching mindless British detective shows, and me randomly coming up with panel ideas for Gaylaxicon (I wrote about ten yesterday! It was kind of soothing in a weird way?)
So, yeah, that's kind of been us.
I hope things are better wherever you are!
Sadly, I am still slogging my way through Cultish. As a dyslexic reader, I get into these weirdly stubborn things. I am SO freaking close to being done with this book that, even though I'm no longer enjoying it, I refuse to give up. Admittedly, this is incredibly stupid. Life it too short for books you aren't enjoying! But, here I am, anyway. To be fair to me, I did take a break to read the first several issues of a 1980s American comic book called American Flagg. I talked my co-host into reading this for our podcast and, I'm going to be honest. I kind of regret that. I had a VERY DIFFERENT memory of these comic books than what is apparently the reality. Oof, they do not stand the test of time! I have literally never seen the n-word (spelled out!) so many times in a mere 12 issues, holy shit.
It should be an interesting podcast, though!
Also, when I was volunteering out at Pride, Jason Tucker who is a comic book affectionado turned to me when I told him what I'd been reading, "Huh. Is American Flagg cyberpunk, though?" Not to spoil the upcoming episode because this is a question we regularly ask of whatever we're reviewing or discussing, but I do think I now know why I thought so having re-read them, at least. I mean, this is hardly a spoiler to the episode or the comics since it is revealed in the literal first panel, but Rueben Flagg did lose his acting job to AI, actually, so I mean, that's kind of prescient, in a way, cyberpunkly-speaking.
But, wow, also a hard read, albeit in a completely different way than Cultish.
Part of my absence here is due, in part, to the fact that we've gotten some really bad news from my brother-in-law, Keven. Keven's test results have come back and the cancer has spread to his bones. The doctors informed him that its incurable and have given him about a year, year and a half to live. I don't even know how to cope with this? I was telling Shawn that you always hear people asking the hypothetical, "What would you do if you found out you only had a year left to live?" But, like that's supposed to be a fun thought-experiment, not Real Life. And, as I have reported previously, Keven is the sibling of Shawn's that my family interacts with the most. He lives within striking distance of our house--just on the other side of the Mississippi in Minneapolis. So, we see him often. Mason has been Keven's odd job man for hire now and most of his in-between college summers. And, like, our relationship with Keven is, like with a lot of family, somewhat fraught? We've had some terrible fights in the past. However, for better or for worse, Keven has been a constant in our lives.
Yesterday, when we found out, Shawn was already at work. She decided that she was just not functional after talking to Keven and so I picked her up and brought her home. We spent much of the day yesterday just trying to wrap our heads arounds this--alternating between crying/staring into the middle distance and doing distracting things like, for her working on her quilt and watching mindless British detective shows, and me randomly coming up with panel ideas for Gaylaxicon (I wrote about ten yesterday! It was kind of soothing in a weird way?)
So, yeah, that's kind of been us.
I hope things are better wherever you are!
Tags:
Air temperature 70 F with dew point 68, wind west about 3 mph, fog at the airport but sunny here. I had vague hopes of a bike ride this morning, but now it looks as if it will warm up too fast. Already soupy out there. As Wife has been known to say, exercise is supposed to *improve* my health.
(![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thewayne Jul. 1st, 2025 10:23 am)
thewayne Jul. 1st, 2025 10:23 am)Well.
What's going on is slightly complicated, and not necessarily a big deal, depending. There are eight flaws found in Brother systems, and they all boil down to one fairly serious vulnerability. A flaw was discovered in how Brother generates the default system administrator password based on the serial number of the printer: if the serial number of the printer is known, you can reverse engineer the password. And here's the problem: if you have not changed that password, THEN you are vulnerable to all sorts of potential mischief! And that's where all the other flaws come into play.
Now, if you changed the default password when you installed your printer, then you're fine. Nothing to worry about. Everything's great. If you didn't, then you need to change it ASAP and patch your printer right now!
This flaw also affects 59 printer models from Fujifilm, Toshiba, Ricoh, and Konica Minolta. I'm assuming they use either Brother engines or the same algorithm for generating admin passwords.
The flaw affects 689 printers, the article provides a link with all of the models listed. Since the default password was built into the printer's read-only memory, it can't be patched. Brother is changing the way they generate the password. But again, if you've changed the default password, you're good. The other flaws are patchable, I don't know if patches are out yet but I'm sure they will be available soon if not already.
https://www.theverge.com/news/694877/brother-printers-security-flaw-password-vulnerability
What's going on is slightly complicated, and not necessarily a big deal, depending. There are eight flaws found in Brother systems, and they all boil down to one fairly serious vulnerability. A flaw was discovered in how Brother generates the default system administrator password based on the serial number of the printer: if the serial number of the printer is known, you can reverse engineer the password. And here's the problem: if you have not changed that password, THEN you are vulnerable to all sorts of potential mischief! And that's where all the other flaws come into play.
Now, if you changed the default password when you installed your printer, then you're fine. Nothing to worry about. Everything's great. If you didn't, then you need to change it ASAP and patch your printer right now!
This flaw also affects 59 printer models from Fujifilm, Toshiba, Ricoh, and Konica Minolta. I'm assuming they use either Brother engines or the same algorithm for generating admin passwords.
The flaw affects 689 printers, the article provides a link with all of the models listed. Since the default password was built into the printer's read-only memory, it can't be patched. Brother is changing the way they generate the password. But again, if you've changed the default password, you're good. The other flaws are patchable, I don't know if patches are out yet but I'm sure they will be available soon if not already.
https://www.theverge.com/news/694877/brother-printers-security-flaw-password-vulnerability
Okay, we don't drive a lot. And we don't have a lot of car air-conditioning days in Maine. But it does help to actually punch the AC button on the dash if you want cool air to come out of those vents.
Air temperature 62 F, wind southwest about 7 mph, fog at the airport station. Can see across the park, so we're apparently under it. And we close the book on another month, for good or ill. Your mileage may vary.
If you've been reading this blog, you will have seen me raving about my Live Action Role Play experiences in Europe in the past few years. Well, suddenly the European LARP experience is coming to the United States!
I'm aware of the following LARP events in the US in the next year. Many of these are being run in cooperation with a European LARP organizer. Some of them are still provisional; others are already sold out (though there is usually a waiting list). Check the websites for details and contact the organizers if you have any questions. And feel free to bookmark my public LARP spreadsheet, which I try to keep updated with every LARP I hear about that's of interest to me. (Which excludes vampire and boffer LARPs, for example.)
- Miskatonic University North America (Lovecraft) - Pennsylvania
Aug 1-3 2025
https://chaosleague.org/miskatonic-university-larp-us - Daemon (His Dark Materials) - Colorado
Run 1: Sep 26-28 2025
Run 2: Sep 29 - Oct 1 2025
https://www.mooneybinentertainment.com/daemon - Hawkins (Stranger Things) - Wisconsin
Oct 2-5 2025
http://hawkinslarp.com - Monstrosity (Erotic horror) - New Jersey
Run 1: Oct 30 - Nov 1 2025
Run 2: Nov 2-4 2025
Run 3: Nov 6-8 2025
https://www.monstrositylarp.com - Bard's Tale US (Shakespeare) - Wisconsin
Run 5: Apr 10-12 2026
https://www.westcoastinteractive.com/bardstale - Lies & Liability (Regency) - Wisconsin
Late April 2026
https://grimmoire.productions/lies-and-liability/ - Outbound Hope Mission (Galactica-ish on a decomissioned warship) - Michigan
Run 1: Apr 30 - May 3 2026
Run 2: May 7-10 2026
https://outboundhopemission.com/ - Conscience USA (Westworld) - Montana
Run 1: Jun 26-28 2026
Run 2: Jul 3-5 2026
http://mooneybinentertainment.com/conscienceusa - Hivemind (1960s spies) - USA TBD
Nov 6-7 2026
https://www.hivemindlarp.com/
Had a catbird regarding me from the front walkway outside my office window. No way to tell if this is one of last year's azalea brood or last year's parents.
Maybe first scentless chamomile blooming, brown-eyed susans, brambles about done. Maybe yarrow, otherwise Queen Anne's lace -- hard to tell the difference in the early stage of bloom, with bicycle botany. Some variety of wild pea dotting purple in the weeds.
No fresh roadkill. Even most of the corpses I reported on my last ride have vanished, whether via 2-legs or 4-legs is unknown. Desiccated lump of skunk fur remains.
No metal birds to report at my water stop but I think the runway is open -- saw a small corporate jet come in for a landing and a high-wing private plane take off. Of course, neither of those would need the full length of our runway.
Got out on the bike, 67 F when I headed out and 77 F when I returned. So I dodged the worst of the heat. Did not die.
15.59 miles, 1:32:08
No fresh roadkill. Even most of the corpses I reported on my last ride have vanished, whether via 2-legs or 4-legs is unknown. Desiccated lump of skunk fur remains.
No metal birds to report at my water stop but I think the runway is open -- saw a small corporate jet come in for a landing and a high-wing private plane take off. Of course, neither of those would need the full length of our runway.
Got out on the bike, 67 F when I headed out and 77 F when I returned. So I dodged the worst of the heat. Did not die.
15.59 miles, 1:32:08
Air temperature 61 F, wind near calm, partly cloudy. City crew started mowing in the park about 0530, one of the unexpected consequences of our location. Maybe trying to beat the heat. Along those lines, I'm unsure if I will get out for a bike ride.
.