Dirty Spammers Getting Clever

We all get spam every day, and most of the time it's really obvious that it's spam. From the gibberish we get in our inboxes to the obviously fake pop-ups on so many websites, we can usually tell that it's just spam. Obviously somebody is clicking these and purchasing products, otherwise it wouldn't be so pervasive.

Some of them are more clever than others, though.

I came home from work today to a message on my screen. It happened to be a random IM via Skype. Note to Windows readers: I don't recommend opening the link in the screenshot below. Because you run Windows, you run the risk of that link installing malware of some kind.

I did click the link out of curiosity. Because I don't use Windows I'm not at risk of drive-by malware installations. The page is a fairly slick "System Scan" (Scam?) animation that I think could easily have fooled the average Windows user. Think Grandma or your less-than-savvy neighbor who double-clicks links and buttons in Internet Explorer because that's how they're used to interacting with Windows.

I'm simultaneously disgusted and impressed.

Freelance

So I'm toying with the idea of going fully freelance and making a living of it. I've got a few people that are pushing pretty hard for me to work for them so that fits, but I'm super gun-shy after the few years of scarce work between 2001 and 2004.

That really is the only reason I've taken the job I have now. It's rock-stable, a job for the rest of my life if I so choose.

At what expense, though?

One per Month

I'm a software developer by trade and training. The language I've made my living with for 12 years or so is Java. It's like an old pair of jeans - it fits me nicely, it's comfortable and I wear it every day, even if I am starting to get tired of the holes worn in the ass.

I have always had other languages and technologies on my "todo" list, but I've never made the time to actually get to know them more than a couple hours' worth of playing. So to broaden my horizons a bit I'm going to try to adopt a "one-language-per-month" strategy.

I'm already somewhat useful with C, so I'll probably skip that one for now.

This month is Python. Next month will probably be Ruby. Other languages: Lisp, Smalltalk, Objective-C (and Cocoa). Cocoa might get a boost in priority over some others only because of my Mac love affair.

First things first, though: get my day-job hours down to something sane so I have some time for things I enjoy. And leave some time for my other happy pursuits too...

Maybe I'll start using this thing

So I've been reading somebody else's blog that has inspired me to start actually blogging. The problem I have is that I don't really have anything that I consider worth writing about, at least for an audience of others to read.

I could vent frustration about my job: the fact that I'm doing exactly the same work I was doing almost 15 years ago when I got my start in the technology business... or the fact that I've swallowed my principles for the safety net - forgo the risk and incredible reward of something I actually enjoy for the safety and drudgery of working for a megacorp, something I have sworn for my entire adult life that I would never do.

I could vent frustration about the sad, sorry state of affairs of the government of this country, but that's so trendy and everybody else is doing that! I hate Bush, but so does everybody else. I don't care much for the current crop of candidates vying to replace him, either. The candidates I like (ok, really only one) haven't got a snowball's chance in hell of even being nominated for the simple fact that they don't play the game. Do I set aside my principles to back a horse that has a better chance of being nominated, just because he has a better chance of preventing the front-runner from catching the party vote? I must admit that the one thing that Mr. Obama has over any other candidate is that he has clearly stated his policy on technology, and I agree with most of it. Ambitious, perhaps to the point of being unrealistic, but he is at least addressing it!

I could choose not to vent at all, but to post about the happy things. I'm spending time with my son. Even if we're both engaged in our computers independently and doing our own things. And he's a Mac geek too. How proud could a Dad be? :) (OK, so I bought him the Macbook, but he loves it.)

Oh look, I've gone and blogged without realizing it.

Long Time No Post

So it's been quite some time since I've posted anything here. I was browsing through my previous entries and thought I'd follow up on my job interview prep post.

I ended up taking that contract. It started out as a 6-month assignment, and was extended for another 6 months. By the end of the second 6-month stint, I was offered a permanent position, which I accepted.

I took a huge pay cut going from a contract to a permanent role, but I expected that to be the trade-off for job security, which I've definitely got. I'm employed for the rest of my life, if I so choose. I'm not sure yet, because quite frankly the work sucks. I haven't touched a line of code since about 2 weeks after I started there. My title is "Systems Administrator", which is really an exaggeration. It was "Sr. Systems Analyst, MDS" until a couple weeks ago when they completely rewrote almost everybody's title, and in some cases their salaries. This job really does drain my soul. I work >60 hours per week, but that should be coming back down to relatively sane in the near future (a few weeks). Once it does, I might have the energy and motivation to get back on track with technology I enjoy, as well as some more leisurely activities.