Is the Internet Safe?

So I just read an article about how there's an inherent problem with the design of the DNS (Domain Name System) that makes the Internet easy to hack into. Essentially, you type an address into the Address bar, and the DNS translates that into a series of numbers (i.e. IP address) that sends you to the page you want. Well, evidently, that service is easy enough to hack so that you could be redirected to a page where someone asks for your personal information and you could be scammed.

It would be more sinister than the emails that show a link to Chase or National City but if you look at the bottom of the window, the URL shows some random site, so you just want to forward the email to support@chase.com or support@ncb.com (or whatever your bank's website says its email address is) to make them aware of the latest hoax. Here, it would look like it is sending you to the site you want, but when you get there, it's not where you should be.

So anyhow, this article includes a couple of links to sites you should visit to check if your company's dns has been hacked. Well, that just begs the question: how do you know you can trust the link? The assumption is that you're online reading this article, and npr's site has not been hacked, so that link should be fine (although maybe the article should write explicitly what the URL should read), but if you receive the article via a feed into your email, and you've been hacked, couldn't a hacker have written a program that searches for references to this scam and changes the text in the email to redirect you to his site?

Just a thought, Mr. Fox.
(sorry, that's a quote from one of my boys' books, 'My Lucky Day' by Keiko Kasza in which a pig accidentally knocks on the door of a fox's house, and, the fox is amazed at how lucky he is that his favorite dinner should just knock on his door like that. Realizing he's going to be eaten, the pig suggests that because he's so dirty, he should be cleaned first. And because he's so tiny, he should be fattened up, and that because he works so hard, his meat is tough and he should be massaged. In the end, the fox is too tired to cook him and passes out on the floor, and the pig runs off with the rest of the cookies, saying 'What a meal, what a bath, what a massage. This must be my lucky day.' It's cute and fun, and I just love that line. So just be warned that it may appear more often...

The Next Incarnation of Summer Santa?

I just received this email from someone at my sons' school - a Montessori school in Cleveland. I truly believe in the Montessori philosophy, and wonder what I can do to help. Of course, with my son's birthday party coming up, school starting in about two weeks, steady work keeping me busy during the day, this really isn't the best time to get involved in a new project. But then, natural disasters rarely accommodate anyone. School is supposed to open for the children at this school, but can it without means? So now, of course, I'm trying to think of how I can help.

Any thoughts?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cedar Valley Montessori School, located in the heart of downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa was devastated during the recent catastrophic flooding in the Midwest. Cedar Valley Montessori School has been serving the greater Cedar Rapids community since 1971. We had five classrooms, preschool through kindergarten. Please visit our website, cedarvalleymontessori.org for more information about our school and click on the flood link to view pictures.

During the ?Flood of 2008?, in mid-June, our school was filled with approximately 10 feet of water. Volunteers were able to save some of our classroom materials by moving them up to the second level. Subsequently those items have been placed in storage. Sadly, however, much was lost:

? A great deal of both classroom and teacher materials will have to be replaced including manuals, projects, activities, basic supplies, books, furnishings, refrigerators, equipment, shelving, and storage.

? Most of the items within the administrative offices will also need to be replaced including computer systems, phones, security system, filing cabinets, desks, copy machine, laminating machine, and office supplies.

? All of the items in our ?Before and After? school care area were destroyed. Everything must be replaced; such as games, puzzles, activities, books, changing center, tables, cots, chairs, television, DVD player, DVDs, etc.

? We also maintained a fully functional kitchen and will have to purchase tables, chairs, refrigerator, washer and dryer, lunch trays, plates, cups, utensils, linens, etc. Our storage of ?consumable? products was a total loss.

? Due to contaminants we believe our playground equipment will not be able to be saved either.

Our total flood related expenditures will total approximately $300,000. We have been able to compile a detailed list of all items destroyed?

We have found a space to relocate to now we are working on getting everything ready to go in time for the start of the 2008-09 school year! We have been writing grants like crazy and have a dedicated volunteer ?fundraising committee? that has been working over-time.

Any support or resources that you may be aware of would be greatly appreciated

Catching Phelps Fever

I just watched Michael Phelps win his tenth gold medal, in the 200 meter butterfly. It was pretty impressive, though admittedly not as incredible as watching his 200 meter freestyle, when I witnessed for the first time how he seemed to be in a close competition for the first 150 meters, only to see him jump into an incredible lead for the final 50, making it look so easy, like he was just teasing everyone else. In the butterfly, it was a little closer, at least leaving the semblance of competition, but impressive nonetheless.

So I just looked up his Wiki page, not five minutes after watching the race, and it's already been updated to include this tenth medal. Impressive wikiness.

But anyhow, as I was watching the race, the commentators kept talking about how Phelps is incredible, how you're watching history because he's about to win his tenth Olympic gold.

You know, I roll my eyes at most superstitions, but something about sports brings out the fear in me. Perhaps it's from years of being a Cleveland sports fan, when a flippant comment by an announcer about how the Browns' quarterback has not had an interception in ten quarters guarantees that his next pass will be picked off, or that an amazingly consistent kicker will shank a simple field goal attempt on a clear day in perfect conditions - if the announcer so carelessly jinxes him.

Perhaps it is as simple as the fact that I don't really pay attention to what the announcer is saying until he echoes my fears (or when my husband makes the exact same comment, with the exact same words, just moments before the announcer - a skill picked up, no doubt, from years of following Cleveland sports).

So as I'm watching Michael Phelps swim, listening to these announcers predict the future, and I worried. I know what happens. I know the rules. And I worried what would happen that might cause Michael Phelps not to win. It would have to be really bad, given how well he was doing and continued to do. A Charlie Horse? A leg cramp? An aneurysm? What would happen? Man does not have gills for a reason; we are meant to be on land. This fascination with being in the water, with challenging all that is Darwinianly reasonable, it's unnatural, I say. I seriously feared for him more and more as the race went on. And finally, oh what a sense of relief. I was happy for him, relieved for him, at least until next race when the announcers would once again put his life at risk.

I don't know if I can watch him race anymore. I am definitely thrilled for him, but this tension is just too much for me. Perhaps I could just turn off the sound while he races. Yeah, that'll do. Whew.