heliosj's news, thoughts, geek stuff, and more...

First, after a quick Google search, I realize I'm the last person in the industry to know this was possible, but I figured I'd share what I discovered a few moments ago nevertheless.

I had my mobile phone voicemail setup so if I called my voicemail from my mobile phone, it would just let me right in without a password. I always assumed that it relied on the unique IMEI code to determine if I was calling from my phone, but it doesn't. On a whim, I called my cell phone from another phone while spoofing the caller ID (to that of my mobile number) and it let me right into the voicemail.

Needless to say, I have the password option enabled now.

I only tested this with AT&T, maybe other carriers are a little more secure.

A friend of mine used to listen to digital modes via my HF radio stream. The way he accomplished this was by simply looping soundcard output back into another soundcard. That process always bugged me because it seemed like a perfectly good waste of a soundcard. :) So I came up with this... These instructions presume you're running Linux, have Fldigi and mpg321/123 installed.

Click To Expand

[righteous indignation alert]

We've been browsing the Internet this morning reading more about the financial crisis and we're friggin doomed.

The sooner everyone wakes up and realizes that it's not a Democratic or Republican problem, but rather an problem with the political system at large, the better off we'll be. Members of Congress widely get elected on the backs of greedy special interests, take your pick -- banking, health care, energy. They intentionally make legislation so complex and overwhelming that it's near impossible for finer details to be worked out and scrutinized by reasonable people. The likes of the Patriot Act, TARP, 'Stimulus' Bill, federal budget.. all unwieldy nonsensical legislation intentionally rushed through under the guise of national crisis.

And then let's not forget the all the culture warriors who then try to push their social agendas along side issues that have nothing to do with the situation at hand. Pet causes usually driven by an absolute faith in a magical boogie man or just a plain hatred of group(s) of people who have a different cultural perspective -- north vs south, east vs west, etc.

Stop the ride, I want off.

B

I moved my site to a new server, streaming audio and all...

Let me know if you all notice any issues.

I am originally from Buffalo and I always had a great sense of pride to have that common bond with Tim Russert, a man who I watched intently on Sunday mornings. Though beyond that, his CNBC interview show was always fascinating as well as his regular commentary on MSNBC, especially on 'Morning Joe'.

Tim Russert was one in a billion. We'll never see the likes of him in our life time. It's a truly sad day for America, Tim's extended family.

Peggy Nooan said today: "Tim was a patriot, he had a love of country that just radiated..." Perhaps that should be inscribed on his tombstone.