Every couple of months I get around to clearing out my inbox and so came across this…er…generous death threat I received…let’s see…7 WEEKS AGO! Geesh. Where are my priorities? Wasn’t very prompt in my (still pending) reply.

From: “Alex Brown” <costa04ltd@hotmail.com>
Subject: PAY ASSASIN OR LOOSE YOUR LIFE
Date: Sat, December 15, 2007 5:01 pm
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Priority: Normal

I want you to read this message very carefully and diligently.

I’m a professional; hence you have no need of knowing who I am, where I am from, until I arrange for a one on one meeting. I have been mandated to terminate your life for some reasons listed to me by the contractor – someone I believe you know very well and very close to you. Consequently, I have been following you closely for a month now and have seen that you are innocent of the accusation leveled against you.

In your best interest, do not contact the Police or try to send a copy of this to any security agents, because if you do, I will certainly know through the impeccable assistance of one of the secret agents who is a friend, and you will leave me with no option than to be forced to do what I have being duly paid to do, beside this is the first time I’m turning out to be a betrayer against the ethics of my profession.

Now listen, I will arrange for us to see one on one but before that I need the amount of $14,000.00, you have nothing to be afraid of. I will be coming to see you in your home or you determine where you wish we meet, do not set any camera to cover us or set up any tape to record our conversation, I seem to hold the four aces now. You will need to transfer $7, 000.00 to the account I will provide for you, before we will set our first meeting, after you have make the first advance payment to the account, I will provide you with the tape that contains his request for me to assassinate you, which will be enough proof for you to take up a legal action against him (if you wish to do so) and will tell you what to do and protect you, then the balance will be paid later.

You don’t need my phone contact for now till I am assured you are ready to comply, and being silence on this matter is very dangerous. The choice remains yours, and you have the next 72hrs to make that choice, otherwise you will live your limited life watching your back. A word is enough for the wise!

Signed,
Alex.
i’m is proud to present Cause Effect, a series about real people making a difference. Learn more

Fortunately for me, the priority is only “Normal.” Yet, Alex’s message has all the earmarks of the dreaded Northern Yukon Maphia. Uh-oh.

Hmmmmmmm, the message originates from Nigeria. Dang! I can’t count the number of “very well known and close” friends I have that are in and out of Nigeria. I’m in trouble. And oops, I’ve posted Alex’s message on the World Wiiiiiiiiiiide Web for his handlers to see and now they’re after his betraying ass.

Well, Alex may be holding all the aces, but that just tells me he’s 48 cards short of a full deck. Spellchecker, Alex. Use it. But whatever.

OK, Alex. Lets meet here. We’re expecting your visit.

Do people actually fall for this crap?

Here’s the header:

Return-Path: <costa04ltd@hotmail.com>
X-Original-To: #######################
Delivered-To: #######################
Received: by ################## (Postfix, from userid ####)
id DF26A77488B; Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:01:30 -0700 (MST)
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.3 (2007-08-08) on ##################
X-Spam-Level: *
X-Spam-Status: No, score=1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_40,HTML_MESSAGE,
SUBJ_ALL_CAPS autolearn=no version=3.2.3
Received: from ################## (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1])
by ################## (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2A3057748A6
for <#######################>; Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:01:28 -0700 (MST)
Envelope-to: #######################
Delivery-date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:00:56 -0500
Received: from #################
by ################## with POP3 (fetchmail-6.3.6)
for <#######################> (single-drop); Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:01:28 -0700 (MST)
Received: from blu139-omc2-s21.blu139.hotmail.com ([65.55.175.191])
by server21.snhdns.com with esmtp (Exim 4.68)
(envelope-from <costa04ltd@hotmail.com>)
id 1J3gwC-00054G-GU
for #######################; Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:00:56 -0500
Received: from BLU124-W45 ([65.55.162.186]) by blu139-omc2-s21.blu139.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.3959);
Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:01:09 -0800
Message-ID: <BLU124-W459789C97059BCE2029E59DD610@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary=”_81da18aa-2829-41b2-b7e0-3c784b12b99c_”
X-Originating-IP: [82.128.18.8]
Reply-To: <alexabrown2000@yahoo.com>
From: Alex Brown <costa04ltd@hotmail.com>
Subject: PAY ASSASIN OR LOOSE YOUR LIFE
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:01:09 -1000
Importance: Normal
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 16 Dec 2007 00:01:09.0184 (UTC) FILETIME=[C3176400:01C83F76]
To: undisclosed-recipients:;

And the trace:

WHOIS – 65.55.175.191

Location: United States [City: ]

OrgName: Microsoft Corp
OrgID: MSFT
Address: One Microsoft Way
City: Redmond
StateProv: WA
PostalCode: 98052
Country: US

NetRange: 65.52.0.0 – 65.55.255.255
CIDR: 65.52.0.0/14
NetName: MICROSOFT-1BLK
NetHandle: NET-65-52-0-0-1
Parent: NET-65-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: NS1.MSFT.NET
NameServer: NS5.MSFT.NET
NameServer: NS2.MSFT.NET
NameServer: NS3.MSFT.NET
NameServer: NS4.MSFT.NET
Comment:
RegDate: 2001-02-14
Updated: 2004-12-09

RTechHandle: ZM23-ARIN
RTechName: Microsoft Corporation
RTechPhone: +1-425-882-8080
RTechEmail: ***@microsoft.com

OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE231-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Abuse
OrgAbusePhone: +1-425-882-8080
OrgAbuseEmail: *****@msn.com

OrgAbuseHandle: HOTMA-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Hotmail Abuse
OrgAbusePhone: +1-425-882-8080
OrgAbuseEmail: *****@hotmail.com

OrgAbuseHandle: MSNAB-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: MSN ABUSE
OrgAbusePhone: +1-425-882-8080
OrgAbuseEmail: *****@msn.com

OrgNOCHandle: ZM23-ARIN
OrgNOCName: Microsoft Corporation
OrgNOCPhone: +1-425-882-8080
OrgNOCEmail: ***@microsoft.com

OrgTechHandle: MSFTP-ARIN
OrgTechName: MSFT-POC
OrgTechPhone: +1-425-882-8080
OrgTechEmail: ******@microsoft.com

WHOIS – 82.128.18.8

Location: Nigeria (high) [City: ]

% Information related to ‘82.128.0.0 – 82.128.127.255’

inetnum: 82.128.0.0 – 82.128.127.255
org: ORG-AFNC1-RIPE
netname: AFRINIC-NET-TRANSFERRED-20050223
descr: This network has been transferred to AFRINIC
remarks: These IP addresses are assigned in the AFRINIC region.
remarks: Authoritative registration information for this network
remarks: is available for query and modification in
remarks: the AFRINIC whois database: whois.afrinic.net or
remarks: web site: https://www.afrinic.net
remarks: The routing registry information (route(6) objects)
remarks: may be published in any Routing Registry, including
remarks: RIPE Whois Database
country: EU # country is really somewhere in African Region
admin-c: AFRI-RIPE
tech-c: AFRI-RIPE
status: ALLOCATED PA
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
mnt-routes: RIPE-NCC-RPSL-MNT
changed: **********@ripe.net 20050223
source: RIPE

organisation: ORG-AFNC1-RIPE
org-name: African Internet Numbers Registry
org-type: RIR
address: see https://www.afrinic.net
e-mail: *********@ripe.net
admin-c: AFRI-RIPE
tech-c: AFRI-RIPE
remarks: For more information on AFRINIC assigned blocks, use
remarks: AFRINIC’s whois database, whois.afrinic.net.
mnt-ref: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
changed: *********@ripe.net 20050223
source: RIPE

role: The African Internet Numbers Registry
org: ORG-AFNC1-RIPE
address: AFRINIC, see https://www.afrinic.net
admin-c: AFRI-RIPE
tech-c: AFRI-RIPE
nic-hdl: AFRI-RIPE
e-mail: *********@ripe.net
remarks: For more information on AFRINIC assigned blocks, connect
remarks: to AFRINIC’s whois database, whois.afrinic.net.
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
changed: **********@ripe.net 20050223
source: RIPE

% Information related to ‘82.128.18.0/23AS36954’

route: 82.128.18.0/23
descr: MLTL IP ADDRESS BLOCK
origin: AS36954
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-RPSL-MNT
mnt-by: MLTL-INT-MNT
changed: ****@multi-links.com 20070617
source: RIPE

This sharp looking bird is eyeing a vacant bird feeder while being barked at incessantly by one determined Westie, Rose.

Catch the fever!

Just be sure and do it on the right side of the road.

I just don’t know what to think about the frenzied, feverish pitch in the press over Paris Hilton’s Plight. Give me a moment…

I got it! Nothing!

The main stream media has become worse than a parody of itself. In times past, the pen was mightier than the sword. But the pen wielded by today’s press is out of ink. But who am I to complain? Paris and the press are giving extra life to my little joke.

…is the ground. And beneath the ground, are the crocus.

Or so it was until this morning. There were robins in the trees on Friday. Spring is approaching.

Althouse is having problems with the new Blogger. The “new and improved”, post-upgrade software seems to be as palatable as New Coke. She describes the issues from the blogger’s perspective and I can attest her site is taking a while to load. Haven’t tried to post any comments yet. I noticed similar problems with Gateway Pundit’s site a month or so ago when he was upgrading to the new Blogger. Gateway Pundit’s site always took longer to load, but for several weeks it took a really long time. Seems to be back to normal slow speed now so perhaps the Althouse issues, at least for the visitors, will resolve over time.

I had looked at Blogger several years ago and didn’t much care for the interface and functional layout from a blogger’s perspective. The steps for posting comments still strikes me as rather tedious. I have some doubts about how Blogger tracks web traffic, too. Over the past several months I’ve been working to sort out the JZ:TOL traffic patterns and the trends have been rather interesting. SPAM has been the biggest issue. As I identify IP addresses associated with SPAM, I ban them and they drop out of my traffic statistics. Bots are another big issue. In most cases, I want the bots because I want my blog to show up in search engines and such. But I don’t include bot traffic in my stats. Does Blogger count SPAM hits, even ones that are successfully filtered? Does Blogger count bot scans as if they were visitors? Same questions could be asked of the various third party site meter services.

Eventually, I settled on WordPress and have used it ever since. But there was a deeper criteria for me when looking for a content management system. I had to have complete control over the system. I wanted unfettered access to the web logs, the database, the code and the system. This means it had to be hosted on a machine I owned. This greatly expanded the options for software, backup and recovery strategies, and upgrades.

Granted, the capability to manage such a system is extra work and not something that is desirable for the vast majority of bloggers. It’s a question of trade-offs and accumulated experience. System administration tasks are for me what handling a saw is for a woodworker – not much effort because of the many years practice in handling the tools. Upgrades to JZ:TOL always occur on a non-public mirror site so I can see the effect and assess the impact of any upgrades or code changes. The upside is near transparent upgrades to the public blog. And in the unlikely event of a water landing after an upgrade to the public blog, I have a rollback strategy in place that can restore the previous site in a matter of minutes. Apparently, Blogger doesn’t have such capabilities. Having such a system in place also makes the blog more secure as patches and upgrades can be tested and pushed within hours of the announced patch or upgrade.

Like I said, it’s a question of trade-offs and accumulated experience. When I have a legal problem, even a relatively small one, I hire an attorney. With Althouse, probably not the case.

[Edit History]

2007.02.02

Didn’t mean to imply JZ:TOL is hosted on WordPress. Rather, I use the WordPress software application on my own javazen.com server. Ambiguity fixed.

The dreaded comments CAPTCHA has returned to JZ:TOL. I dislike these, but the volume of comment SPAM has increased dramatically since this blog has been linked by several higher traffic blogs. There are also several common Google searches that seem to land here. I’ve been selectively banning IP addresses (virtually everything from China) for several months, which has helped, but it wasn’t enough. Hence the reintroduction of the anti-spam code requirement to post a comment. Hopefully, the balance between convenience for the commentators and sanity for the webmaster will be tolerable.

Folks in the neighborhood are starting to dig out. My neighbor’s dog, Cher, is loving the weather as well as free reign over the streets.

And then there is the ever steady Jasmine, inspecting my work on the driveway.

Thought I was prepared for the storm, with a good stock of the essentials (beer and chocolate) until my neighbor returned from a mini odyssey to three separate grocery stores to find his version of essentials (chips, chips and…oh, yeah, chips). He happened to mention about half the gasoline stations were out of gas and closing up. Then it dawns on me (Wow! Two sunrises in one day!) that there is only about a 1/4 tank in the truck. The tankers aren’t likely to be making it through this snow for a few days and then it’s Christmas. So, I saddled up my trusty steed (Chained up, actually. All four wheels, no less.) and off I went to fill ‘er up. I found a station close by with gas and on the way there and back passed about a half dozen cars – sedans, mind you – stuck in the snow with people trying to push their way out. Fools. FOOLS! This is Colorado, not Florida. When it snows, you need something like this:

“Protector”, my war pony.